To Love a Stranger (13 page)

“It was a
very
good idea,” he whispered against her lips. His tongue traced the line of her mouth, and she trembled. He nibbled at her bottom lip, and she whimpered. Then he covered her mouth and his tongue dipped inside, and she grasped his shirtfront for support.

His hands roamed over her body, the silken nightgown creating an arousing friction along her flesh. He deepened the kiss, his palms touching lightly upon her breasts. When his mouth left hers at last, it was to travel to her earlobe, where he whispered how delicious she tasted, and how he’d
like to taste her in other places. Then his mouth was on her breast, laving the nipple through the gauzy material of her gown. Suddenly she was free of the gown as it floated to her feet.

Sweeping her high in his arms, Pierce carried Zoey to his bed, then stepped back to admire her.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Zoey asked, suddenly aware that Pierce was dressed differently than he had been at supper.

“You talk too much,” Pierce hedged as he dropped to the bed beside her and kissed her again, driving all thought from her mind but this man’s arousing kisses.

“Do you want me, Zoey?” His hands skimmed her body, his touch promising unimaginable delights.

Zoey swallowed reflexively. She couldn’t lie. “Yes, I want you. Are you gloating now?”

“Not gloating, love, elated.” He rose abruptly and tore off his clothes. Then he stood very still, allowing her gaze to traverse the length of his body slowly.

Despite the languorous haze she was in, her mind registered his arousal, the beauty of his naked body, and she ached in that place where she wanted him to be.

“You’ve seen me before, love,” he reminded her softly when he saw her mouth fall open in wordless wonder.

“Not like this.”

The longer she stared at that male part of him, the larger and harder it grew. It rose now like a solid column of marble against his stomach, amid a forest of dark, curling hair. The air about him
seemed charged with vitality. There was no denying the extraordinary power of his chest, arms, and thighs, for they rippled with muscles. His stomach was whipcord-lean, and his legs long and sturdy. Yet there was a grace about him despite the latent promise of incredible strength.

Zoey had always admired Pierce’s features, and she did so again. Strongly chiseled, rugged, implacably handsome, his face was graced with vivid green eyes that seemed to plumb the depths of her soul.

Those eyes were now crinkled with amusement. “Do you like what you see?”

A spreading warmth tinged Zoey’s cheeks. “As you said, I’ve seen it before.” She looked away, focusing on anything but Pierce’s daunting erection.

“Don’t be frightened, love, I’ll try not to hurt you.”

The bedsprings creaked as he stretched out beside her and took her into his arms. Zoey’s breath caught in her throat; she was surprised at the softness of Pierce’s body beneath his muscles. She’d never felt anything more satisfying than her flesh meshed with his.

His hands caressed her as he stared into her eyes, telling her without words that he wanted to please her. His head lowered and he took her nipple into his mouth, laving the taut bud with his tongue, sweeping it into his mouth, grazing it with his teeth. Zoey grasped his head, not to push him away but to bring him closer. She surged against him, moaning softly as he plied his mouth, lips, and tongue to her other nipple, lavishing it with the same attention.

He licked a trail of fire between her breasts, traveling down the length of her belly, planting his weight firmly between her legs as he kissed the insides of her thighs.

“Dim the lamp,” Zoey said anxiously. “It isn’t right for you to … to look at … me.”

His eyes were glazed with passion as he raised his head and gazed into her eyes. “I want to look at you. You’re beautiful all over.” Then his strong hands slid beneath her thighs, parting them as he began to slowly caress the moist petals of her womanhood. He moved his hand gently, massaging and pressing and plying his fingers in the most amazing ways.

Zoey shuddered. His touch was light, exploring, thoroughly intoxicating, so seductive she could deny him nothing. She arched upward, and he obliged the sweet demand of her body by taunting her with the swift thrust and withdrawal of a finger inside her tight sheath.

Zoey cried out, consumed by raw, arousing feelings she’d only imagined in her dreams. Deep within her secret being she knew that this kind of overwhelming desire could only be experienced with one man. No other man but Pierce could make her feel like this.

Pierce removed his finger, smiling when Zoey uttered a cry of protest. Then he placed his mouth where his fingers had been and kissed her there. Zoey nearly flew off the bed. After several agonizing minutes Pierce abandoned his succulent meal and moved upward along her body. Soon he’d kiss her more fully there, but not now. He was too hot for that kind of play. Unless he wanted to disappoint
Zoey, he had to keep a cool head about him. He wanted her first time to be memorable.

“You’re hot and wet and nearly ready,” he murmured as he rose above her.

Lost in pleasure, Zoey moaned a senseless reply. She wanted to touch him, to feel his warm flesh against her hands and mouth. Raising her head, she pressed kisses against his chest, his neck, his shoulders, anywhere she could reach, while her hands roamed over his body from his shoulders to his buttocks. Now it was Pierce’s turn to moan.

“You’re driving me crazy, love,” he gritted from between clenched teeth.

“I want you, Pierce, all of you.” Cupping his face with her hands, she brought his lips to hers, touching them with a sweeping, savage kiss. Doing as Pierce had earlier, she flicked her tongue seductively against his lips, then delved past the barrier of his teeth, to stroke his tongue.

A guttural groan escaped him, shattering the silence of the night. “Enough!” He raised himself slightly and guided himself to the portals of her sex, where he was welcomed by the sweet moisture of her arousal.

Zoey tensed, fear gripping her. He felt hard, and much too large. He wouldn’t fit! He’d tear her in two. She should have thought about the consequences instead of acting impulsively.

Pierce sensed her fear and tried to soothe her with gentle words as he eased inside her. “It will only hurt for a moment,” he whispered into her ear. “Relax, it will be much easier if you don’t tense up.”

She bit her lip in consternation. “You’re too … I mean, are you sure we’ll fit?”

Pierce chuckled. “Women have been doing this since the beginning of time. Trust me.”

“I—”

He took her mouth in a searing kiss, kissing her again and again, distracting her from her fears, moving down her neck to her breasts, suckling and licking her nipples. He continued his tender torment until she was arching against him, expressing her need without words. When she surged upward again, he thrust into her, breaking through her barrier in one swift stroke.

Zoey screamed and tried to push him away. The pain was nearly unbearable. All the pleasure up to this moment was forgotten as Pierce’s punishing weapon tore into her.

“I’m sorry,” Pierce crooned. “The hurt won’t last long, I promise.” He held her down with the force of his body as she struggled against him. When she had quieted, he began to move slowly.

Pain consumed Zoey. She tried to escape, but Pierce held her down with the sheer strength of his body. But after a few minutes a strange thing happened. The pain began to recede, replaced by something far more pleasurable. She felt him inside her,
really felt him
. He was huge, but she was stretching to accommodate him. Then he flexed his hips, pressing deeper, creating a friction that wasn’t unpleasant. He moved again, nearly leaving her body, then thrusting into her once more, gently but forcefully.

His whispers encouraged her to move with him, to take him deeper. Strangely, Pierce had evoked
something savage inside Zoey. And as the pain turned to pleasure, she offered herself up to him, arching sharply to meet his thrusts, taking him as deeply as she dared. His passion swept her upward and beyond as he gripped her buttocks in strong, callused hands and lifted her.

“Am I hurting you?”

She caught her breath. “No.”

“Then take all of me, Zoey,” he said as he ground himself against her. “Take everything I’ve got.”

She flung her head back as she rode the storm of his passion, cresting the waves of pleasure, one after another, swelling and expanding with each thrust. Higher and higher they flew, each plunge of his hips coming stronger and faster than the one before. Until there was a constant ebbing and flowing, hot, bright, emerging into a need so violent it nearly overwhelmed her.

Pierce was lost to the heat and unexpected violence of Zoey’s response. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine she could be like quicksilver in his arms. She was everything he could hope for and more than he deserved.

A growling cry strained the tendons of Pierce’s throat, mingling with Zoey’s gasping breaths. Striving for the stars, Zoey stiffened as a light burst inside her, sending excruciating pleasure spiraling through her. She heard Pierce cry out, then knew nothing more as she went from sunlight into darkness.

Pierce dropped his head into the crook of Zoey’s neck, his heartbeat pounding against her breasts. Damp tendrils of hair clung to her forehead, and
he brushed them aside with a trembling hand. Then he lifted his head and rolled weakly to his back, one arm flung over his eyes. He felt Zoey stirring and rose up on one elbow to stare at her. Her eyes opened slowly and she smiled at him.

“I didn’t mean to be so rough. Are you all right?”

Tears burned her throat. She hadn’t known it would be like this. She’d expected the pain and hoped there would be pleasure, but she’d imagined nothing like the brilliance Pierce had shown her. How was she ever to live without him now that she’d experienced the splendor he was capable of giving her? She tried to move but found she was too weak to do more than lie limply beside him.

At length she said, “I’m fine. I had no idea it could be like this.”

“Why, Zoey? Why come to me now, when we could have been enjoying one another all these weeks?”

His eyes glowed with predatory brilliance in the yellow light from the lamp. His body glistened with the sweat of his exertions, and his fierce expression told her there was still more to come this night, much more.

“You’ll be leaving soon.” Zoey shrugged, as if that explained everything. “I … I wanted to know what it felt like to be a wife before you left.”
Your wife
, she thought but did not say.

“You’ll be a wife again one day,” Pierce predicted, wondering why his words sounded hollow. “Some man will come along and sweep you off your feet. In time one of us will get an annulment
and you’ll be free to experience this with another man.”

Impossible
, Zoey thought. “What about you, Pierce? Will you find another wife?”

“Never!” Pierce vowed with such fervor, Zoey was inclined to believe him. “You know how I feel about marriage. My mother wanted out of her marriage so desperately she left three small boys behind. I’ll give no woman a chance to abandon any children of mine. Do you have any idea how devastated we were? I was the oldest and capable of dealing with the loss, but Chad and Ryan never got over the loss of our mother. The knowledge that she loved them so little still affects them today.”

“I’m sorry, Pierce.”

“So am I.”

“But you did marry. You said yourself you were married once. You must have loved a woman at some time or other.”

Pierce gave a snort of laughter. “I tried to replace my mother with another woman, but it didn’t work. I chose the wrong woman. After our annulment I gave up all thought of having a woman in my life on a permanent basis.”

“What happened?”

“You don’t want to know. I just chalked up the experience to bad judgment. It won’t happen again … ever. Marriage isn’t for me.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Soon,” he temporized. He gave her a heart-stopping smile. “Did anyone ever tell you you talk too much?”

She opened her mouth to reply, and he slanted his lips over hers, stealing her words. He kissed her
long and hard, angling his body over hers, letting her feel how much he wanted her again. Suddenly he rose, went to the washstand, found a soft cloth, dipped it in water, and returned to her. Then he gently wiped away all traces of blood and seed.

“You’re not too sore, are you?” he asked hopefully. “I want you again.”

The thickness of his sex rose against her hip. The strength and power of him were awesome. The thought that he was swelled with need for her again moved her in ways she didn’t understand. It pleased her that he wanted her again, and she wouldn’t have denied him had she been hurting.

“I want you, too,” she admitted shyly. What she really wanted was to touch him. To feel his vibrant flesh beneath her fingertips. Holding her breath, she reached out and closed her hand over him. He jerked in response and spit out an oath.

“We’ll save this kind of play for another time,” he said hoarsely, removing her hand. “I don’t think I can stand your hands on me right now.”

He parted her thighs and eased himself between them. Then he rose up on his knees, opening her wider, placing her legs over his own thighs. She waited impatiently as his hungry gaze devoured her. She rocked her hips in invitation, but he still didn’t come into her. He gave her a wicked smile as he lowered his mouth to her.

Zoey screamed as his tongue found a place so sensitive she lost the ability to think. Holding her hips in his large hands, he parted her and stroked her with the roughness of his tongue.

Her release came suddenly, violently. Her body spasmed and she cried out his name. She was lost
in the dark brilliance of her climax when Pierce flexed his hips and thrust into her.

Sinking high and deep, he lifted her hips to bring him deeper. He felt her spasms squeezing him all the way to the root of his sex. He kissed her mouth, knowing she tasted herself on his lips and pleased that he’d been able to pleasure her in that manner. Then he thrust once, again, and felt his own release overtaking him.