My Savage Heart (The MacQuaid Brothers) (22 page)

Water stung her eyes, and she quickly scrubbed her hand across the clumping hair, her breath catching when she made out Tal-tsuska standing, ready to leap upon Wolf. She did scream then, a strangled, “No!”

Tal-tsuska’s head jerked up, and his eyes met hers before Caroline whirled away. Frantic to keep her composure, feeling its fragile hold slipping away, Caroline splashed toward the side.

The bank was steep, the soil washed away by the lively current, and Caroline scrambled to get a toehold. She grabbed for a sapling and pulled, trying not to think about what she would do when she reached the weapon.

All she knew was that she must save Wolf. She could not allow him to die because of her.

Caroline lurched forward, falling almost on top of the rifle. She’d never fired one before, but had watched Wolf once when they were coming from Charles Town. It was heavier than she thought, and she nearly staggered under the weight of her sodden clothing and the gun.

But she managed to bring the carved stock to her shoulder just as something rushed past her. She turned, in time to see Tal-tsuska running along the shore. Without thinking she aimed the gun at his fleeing back, and would have pulled the trigger if not for the hand that closed over hers.

Her breath catching, she looked up, into Wolf’s dark eyes.

“Let him go, Caroline,” Wolf said as he gently pried the weapon from her locked fingers.

“But he...” Caroline couldn’t finish. When she’d realized it was her captor running past her, she assumed he’d killed Wolf. And her mind and body had exploded with the need for revenge. That gone, she could barely stand.

“Tal-tsuska only wished to let me know of his displeasure.”

“Displeasure!” Caroline nearly screamed the word. “He tried to kill you.”

“No, Caroline.” Wolf touched her shoulder and she collapsed against him, throwing her arms about his neck. Wolf held her as tightly as he could. “If killing me was his desire, he could have done it from the shore. With one shot.” What he said was true, but Wolf doubted when they met again, his cousin would be so generous.

“Come,” he finally said. “We must find a place to camp.”

“I can keep going.” Caroline pulled away enough to look up at him. She wanted to return to Seven Pines and Mary as quickly as possible.

“Well, I cannot.” Wolf gave her a fleeting grin and brushed wet hair from her face. Then with his arm around her shoulder, he began walking along a path that followed the river downstream.

They stopped on high ground above falls that thundered down to a gorge below. They were both soaked, and Raff emptied his wet pack, hanging a blanket from the low branches of an elm. Then he gathered twigs and started a fire.

Caroline moved close to it, gratefully reaching toward the flames. Since the episode by the river she hadn’t stopped shivering, and the setting sun made her even colder. Still, she shook her head when Raff suggested she remove her wet clothing. He had already shrugged out of his shirt and leggings leaving his strong body covered only by his breechcloth.

“Here.” He squatted beside her and held out a clean shirt. “It is a bit damp around the edges, but the blanket kept it from getting a soaking.” When Caroline still hesitated, he cocked a dark brow. “It is not as if I haven’t seen you before.”

Which wasn’t the problem at all, Caroline admitted to herself as she took the shirt and stood. She didn’t trust herself. No matter all that had transpired since they last made love, she wanted him. Every time she looked at him, Caroline feared he could see the longing in her eyes.

Which was all the more reason she should go off into the woods to change, or at least step behind the blanket. But she did neither. Instead Caroline turned her back on him.

She’d already removed her shoes and stockings, and now stood barefooted on the carpet of pine needles. Her fingers wouldn’t stop shaking as she unlaced her corset. Then came her petticoats. Her shift was last, drifting down around her body on a whisper of air.

Caroline stood perfectly still. The night air tingled her skin, teased her nipples. She wanted to turn to him, to offer herself, but at the last moment her courage deserted her. Taking a deep breath, Caroline reached for the shirt she’d hung from a nearby branch.

His hand stopped her. She hadn’t heard him move, but knew from experience how silent his steps could be. Caroline’s eyes shut as he slid his rough-tipped fingers up her arm. His touch brought heat to her flesh. Her blood pounded through her veins, and thrummed in her ears, louder even than the waterfall’s roar.

When he skimmed around to her breastbone, her head fell back against his chest, and she began to tremble. His lips touched her exposed neck, the rounded curve of her shoulder, and Caroline moaned.

It was she who brought his hand down to cover her breast, he that rubbed his thumb across the distended tip. His lips were hungry now as they feasted on the underside of her jaw. Caroline could feel the hard throbbing length of him against her back and her legs spread.

His left hand pushed lower, past the slight swell of her stomach. His fingers tangled with the tight curls guarding her womanhood, and Caroline squirmed against him.

But before she could turn to face him, his teeth nipped at her earlobe. His tongue was hot as it followed the curve, his voice husky as he whispered, “You realize, of course, that you shall regret this by the light of a new day.”

R
egrets. Caroline closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on what he said. But it was the feel of his tongue, the vibrations of his words through her head that held her attention. She turned in his arms, the sensual slide of her skin over his heightening her desire to a fever pitch.

He held her loosely, and Caroline leaned back against the hands clasped at the small of her back. Her breasts filled, missing the contact of his body. Slowly she lifted her arms till her palms flattened against his chest.

She heard his quick intake of breath; but, other than that, he didn’t move. In the firelight his face seemed cast of bronze, the flesh pulled taut, the handsome bones standing out in bold relief.

Caroline could see in his stark expression the price he paid for holding himself still. Especially when she began a careful exploration of his muscled chest. Her fingers spread, following the hard ridges, trailing the line of tattoos.

When her nail skimmed over the hard nub of his male nipple, she felt him tremble. “Caroline.” Her name was filled with raw emotion.

Her hands stilled and her eyes lifted till they met his. The burning passion she saw in the dark depths made her bolder still. “I don’t want to think about tomorrow,” she murmured, her voice breathless. “I don’t want to think about anything but the way you make me feel.”

Her lashes lowered. “The way I feel when I look at you.” Silently her gaze caressed his body, the wide breadth of shoulders, the strong rack of his ribs. “Touch you.” Her fingertip traced a crescent-shaped scar that only seemed to make his body more perfect. Then followed the elongated V of a tattoo down his muscled stomach.

“Please,” she whispered, her eyes locking again with his. “Let me forget everything but you... at least for this night.”

She didn’t wait for his answer, but pressed her lips to the hot skin of his chest. The pounding of his heart thundering in her ear, the salty taste of his skin urged her on. His hands flexed spasmodically, but he allowed her the freedom to explore.

She wet a trail of discovery down his flat stomach with her tongue, while her fingers tested the lattice of bone and sinew across his back. He still wore a leather breechcloth though it did little to hide the size and power of his manhood.

Her hands moved lower, as did her open mouth. “Let me...” she felt his stomach muscles quiver against her lips. Anticipation coursed through her making the simple job of untying a knot seem endless. But again he allowed her the time she needed. Then he stood before her, tall and straight, legs apart, and gloriously naked. And now Caroline was the one quivering.

She couldn’t stop shaking as she let her hands follow the natural curves of his body. Lightly, lovingly, she touched him, and he seemed to thrust forward, filling her hand with his hard, hard length. Satin over steel, she longed to know more.

At the first touch of her mouth to him, he yelled a shattered word. It was Cherokee, and Caroline couldn’t understand what he roared to the heavens. But she was beyond caring. His hands which had dropped to his side as she moved lower now dug into her hair. With each fresh foray of her tongue, his fingers tightened around her skull.

Caroline’s own fingers clasped the tight curve of his buttocks as she clung to him, savoring his feel... his taste. Savoring, too, the spring of desire that wound tighter and tighter within her own body.

“Stop!” Wolf realized the force with which he shoved her away and dropped to his knees in front of her. His hands still tangled in her curls as he tilted her face up to his. The kiss he gave her was openmouthed and carnal. When he tore his lips away, it was to scrape his teeth along the tense cord of her neck. He bit her earlobe. “Any more of your sweet torture,” he breathed, “and I would have spilled my seed. Besides,” he moved to the underside of her chin. “Now it is my turn.”

He stood, and pulled Caroline gently to her feet. Unable to resist Wolf touched the tip of her breast and watched it tighten. She was so responsive, so giving, and he wanted to give to her in return. Trying to rein in his passions he led her to where he’d hung up the blanket. It was still damp, but he yanked it off the branch and spread it on the ground. Then he lifted Caroline, and lowered her onto the woolen surface.

For a moment Wolf only stood, staring down at her, wondering at her perfection. When she raised her arms to him, he lay down beside her, returning her smile. Wolf tried to ignore the tightening around his heart as he traced the fragile lines of her face with his thumbs.

He had once thought she would never survive the harsh life of the frontier, but she had proven him wrong. The cameo was stronger than she looked.

“What does that mean?”

Until she spoke, Raff didn’t realize he had. Now he whispered his fingertip across her bottom lip and translated the words, “You are beautiful,” to her. Even by the flickering light of the fire, he could see her blush.

“My words embarrass you?” Wolf bent forward to kiss her nose, the tip of her round chin.

“You make me feel beautiful,” Caroline whispered, barely able to catch her breath as he skimmed his mouth toward her ear.

“It is because of the power you hold over me.” Wolf spread her pale curls onto the blanket, fanning them around her face. Then, unable to control himself any longer, he angled her toward him for a kiss. Deeper and deeper he drove his tongue until they were forced to separate to breathe.

“God, Caroline.” Wolf’s heart pounded, and he ached. He wasn’t sure he could take this slowly; give her all the pleasure she’d given him. When his mouth went to her neck, he could feel the gooseflesh prickle across her skin.

“Are you cold?” She tasted of honeysuckle and sweetness and he couldn’t stop feasting on her skin. He’d worked his way down the valley between her rounded breasts before he realized she hadn’t answered. He lifted his head and stared down at her questioningly.

Slowly her eyes focused on him, and she shook her head. “I’m hot,” she finally managed to say, and Raff smiled. He burned with desire.

Her nipples seemed to reach out to him, and Wolf took one then the other into his mouth. She moaned when his tongue flicked across the crest.

But now his patience was at an end. Savagely he tore his mouth away to forge a path down her stomach. At the juncture of her thighs, he paused and buried his face in the tight curls, breathing in her musky scent. He lifted her legs, feeling her sudden jolt as his hand skimmed across her moist heat.

Then he touched her with his tongue. The convulsions began almost immediately. Deeper and deeper, Wolf savored her release, stoking the fires until she collapsed on the blanket. Then he reluctantly moved his mouth to her thigh.

But the flames still burned brightly in him; and when he moved up her body, he found it easy to rekindle the spark in her.

Caroline tingled all over. Every place his mouth touched vibrated, sending out rays of heat. The small of her waist, the underside of her arm. He seemed intent upon covering every part of her, making her want him again. By the time he skimmed up across her collarbone she was gasping for breath and near begging him. Her hands clutched at his back.

His first thrust was deep, the second shattering. Caroline threw her head back and cried out her joy as waves of ecstasy swept through her. The sound mingled with the rushing water, the night sounds of the forest. And the pleasure purged her memory of the blood and pain... at least for the present.

When Raff joined her in release, Caroline held on to him as tightly as she could. His head dropped beside hers, his face buried in the hair he’d washed. He stayed that way so long Caroline thought he’d fallen asleep. But then his raspy whisper fluttered the short curls around her ear.

“I must be heavy.”

“No, you’re not,” Caroline lied. She didn’t want the spell to be broken yet.

Raff seemed to understand, or perhaps he felt the same, for he rolled them to their sides without breaking the seal of their lovemaking. Her head rested on his arm, and he brushed a stray lock of hair from her face.

“Isn’t this better?”

His smile was infectious. All the more so because she rarely saw it. Now she traced the sensual line of his lips with her fingertip. When she stopped near the corner, he slowly drew the digit into his mouth. Caroline’s insides turned to liquid.

She closed her eyes lest he see in their depths the smoldering of her desire. But as he caressed her with his tongue and teeth, she realized his passion was as volatile as hers. She moaned when, fanning her remaining fingers across his strong jaw, he hardened inside her.

“I cannot seem to get enough of you,” he said as she trailed a damp line down the underside of his chin. She skimmed her nail across his breast and his lower body jerked. She raised her leg, wrapping it over his hip.