To Tempt a Wilde (15 page)

She shoved at his chest and then covered her breasts with her hands, turning away from him, feeling exposed and emotionally raw beneath his molten glare.

Impatiently he batted her hand away and forced her to turn back to face him.

“You don't get to do that. You gave up the right
to do that when you told me you loved me,” he said, roughly, replacing her hands with his and covering her breasts. Thumbing away the cup of her bra he pulled one breast out and ran his fingers over it, caressing her lightly. Toying with her.

Her eyes widened. So she hadn't imagined she'd told him how she felt, the last time they made love. Oh God, he knew…

Althea bit back a moan, fought against
the pull he created, the need for him to make love to her, not just now, but for the rest of her life.

He bent his dark head down and engulfed her breast in his mouth, biting down on the tight nub, hard enough that the sting raced through her body.

“Please, Nate…” The whispered plea fell on deaf ears.

His stinging caresses and laps of his tongue made her arch her body away from the wall, pushing
her breast farther into his mouth.

His hand snaked down her body and pushed inside the silk band of her panties. He sought her out and she moaned when he caught her tight bud, her head rolling to the side at the dual, erotic caress.

He suckled her breasts, pinched and rolled her tightening clit until she grew frantic. Her body was no longer hers to control; she grasped his head, pulling him
closer, both mind and body dizzy with frantic need.

He broke away, pushing her away from him, and she cried out in denial, her eyes snapping open.

Impatiently he snatched off his shirt and swiftly unsnapped his jeans, shoving them past his hard muscled thighs and down his legs, taking his shorts along with them.

His cock sprang free, thick, long and hard.

Althea stared at it, her stomach
clenching in a knot. Slowly her eyes trailed up his body and met his gaze, then she turned away. His anger was there, tightly leashed but evident in the set of his features. The ends of his nostrils had a slight flare, his eyes carried an emotion that blazed fury, mingled with another emotion, one that frightened her more than the anger.

Love. It blazed there, despite his fury. A love so real,
so strong, Althea felt like running, far and fast. A love she was afraid would consume her in its intensity.

In a flash he was on her.

His hands came out and grasped her shoulders, turning her around to face him. She stumbled, her knees buckled and she fell to the floor.

Before her body could make contact, he'd caught her by the waist, easing the rest of her downward fall.

“That's another
thing you don't get to do. Run away from me. Ever again.” The words were a hoarse whisper against her ear as he covered her back with his warm, naked chest.

His tongue snaked out and lapped a rough, hot kiss down her neck, over her spine, ending at the indenture of her waist. When she felt his fingers dig into the flesh at her hips and heard the sound of her panties ripping, she closed her eyes,
her hands braced on the floor, her head hung low.

“Nate, baby…please…” The rest of her words were
cut off in a strangled groan when one thick finger snaked past her moist folds and embedded itself deep within her body.

When he withdrew his finger, she heard his grunt of satisfaction. “You want me. You always do, no matter what. I'll take that, for now,” he growled. Before she could react to
his words she felt the slow, hard invasion of his shaft as he rocked inside of her.

Her body took over from there. Rearing back against his invasion she ground against him, her body on fire with need and love for him. One last time…she'd make love with him one last time before saying goodbye.

The thought brought the burn of tears she'd felt hovering at the back of her eyes to the front, before
one lone tear trickled down her face. She silently cried, even as what he was doing to her body brought shivers of delight to course down her spine.

One last time…

 

Forever…he could make love to this woman for the rest of his life.

As Nate held on to her waist, his fingers holding her body steady, he plunged and retreated into her willing, moist cave. As she moaned, grinding her body against
his, bucking back against him, he knew that it would never be enough with her.

He wanted…needed her for the rest of his life. She was as necessary as the air he breathed. Without her, he couldn't survive.

He rocked into her, his thrusts growing stronger with each drive into her welcoming sheath. Crazed, wild with the feel of her walls closing and clamping down
on his shaft, it was a long moment
before her soft cries penetrated the hazy cloud of lust surrounding him.

He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to ease his thrusts.

He needed to see her beautiful eyes as he made love to her. Needed to see if there was love in them. That what she'd said was true.

She might be able to hide, dodge and pretend with others, but not with him. Not when he made love to her. When they made love every
emotion showed on her face.

He deftly eased out of her. Grasping her hips, he flipped her so that she lay on her back. Centering himself between her legs, he bumped them farther apart and eased back inside.

Her groans, soft, sweet as he was fully embedded inside her, spurred him on, made him so hard for her he felt nearly out of control, making him go as deep as he could within her wet, warm,
willing body. He didn't stop until he was so deep inside her body he felt the end of his shaft invade her womb.

He blew out a grunting breath of air and slowly flexed his hips, dragging out of her clenching heat until the tip of his cock hovered at her entry before driving back, deep.

As he began his sensual drag and pull into her body, he glanced down at her and saw that she'd shut her eyes
and her face was turned to the side on the thick rug, her long lashes resting against her high cheekbones.

Her eyes were closed, he knew in an attempt to shut him out.

Not this time.

He took her hands within his, raised them so that they lay flat on the rug, and held her tight.

“Open your eyes, Thea.” The demand was made and she responded immediately.

Slowly her passion-filled eyes opened
and their gazes locked.

Her dark eyes were glittering with a dark sheen of tears. They held so much emotion it made his heart clench. Made his hold loosen on her hands. He drew out slowly, feeling her clenching heat on his shaft, and slowly pushed back inside her, forcing away the desire to plunge into her over and over until she was weak and stake his claim.

“Oh God, Thea…what are you doing
to me?” The words were torn from him as they stared at each other, their gazes locked as they made love, neither one of them able to look away.

She shook her head and said nothing, her hips slowly moving, accepting him into her body.

The gesture was so vulnerable and helpless it made every male instinct to protect what was his rise and surge to the front. Her vulnerability was what did it to
him. Broke him down on levels he never thought were possible. Made him realize just how much he loved her. How bleak his life had been without her, and how much more bleak it would be without her in it.

He adjusted her on his shaft and with painstaking slowness ground inside her. He wanted to feel her. Every part of her.

He wanted to savor every part of her, saturate and drown himself in her.
He wanted to make her his for all time.

 

Althea felt the change come over him and opened her eyes slowly, meeting his intense gaze. When he first entered her body, she'd felt his energy, impatient…angry. Now as he stroked inside her, his tempo changed, the look in his eyes making everything in her go soft.

She licked her lips, wrapped her legs around his waist and brought him close.

“Oh
God, Nate…I love you,” she said, the words a soft whisper and totally unexpected. But she didn't regret them. She felt her eyes burn, felt the tears as they slipped down her face. “I love you so much.”

He bent down, captured her lips with his as his strokes grew stronger. When he brought his mouth to her breasts, her body arched sharply off the floor and she moaned softly.

He grasped her hips,
grunting as he stroked inside her. His strokes grew demanding, his thrusts painfully sweet as they became more powerful. Although the rug they lay on was soft, she knew she'd have bruises from the power of his thrust, but she didn't care. The only thing that mattered was what he was doing to her, the way he was making her feel, both inside and out.

“Oh God, Nate, Nate, Nate, Nate…” She shut her
eyes, light-headed as the pleasure he gave her spiraled and grew out of control.

Frantically she clutched at him, her nails scoring his back. He reared his big body away from her, the muscles in his neck standing out sharply as his body tensed, his grip on her hips punishing.

On and on he pressed and retreated, rocking into her,
his thrusts hot, hard and satisfying until she screamed out her
release.

“I love you, Althea!”

She heard his roar from a distance as she gave in to the mind-blowing release, her body no longer hers to control.

In that moment, before she closed her eyes and allowed the orgasm to sweep her away, she looked up at him, past the dew of sweat that ran in streams down her face, and knew her fate was sealed. It had been the moment she'd met him.

She belonged to
him, mind, body and soul. For as long as he wanted her, she was his.

A
lthea's eyes parted, opening slowly. The strength of the orgasm had nearly made her pass out, lost in his strokes, his kisses, his love. It was a long time before she could even open her eyes.

When she did, it was to find his light brown gaze on hers. At some point he must have gotten up and found a sheet, and now it lay over the both of them.

He lifted her hand from where it
lay on his chest and brought it to his mouth, placing a kiss in the palm.

“When I came back home and found you gone, everything faded to black. I never want to feel like that again. Why did you leave, Althea?”

The question was straight and to the point. But she'd expect no less from him, that was who he was.

She sat up and turned to face him, worrying her top lip with her teeth. Running a hand
through her hair,
she didn't know where to begin, what to say, where to start.

He reached up and brought her back down to the rug, pillowing her head with his chest.

He ran a hand over her hair. “Just start at the beginning. I promise whatever you tell me, whatever happened, won't change the way I feel about you, baby.”

Althea played with the soft, springy hairs peppering his hard chest, trying
to figure out in her mind how to start.

Taking a fortifying breath, Althea began to speak, sharing things with him that she hadn't told anyone, things she hadn't told Lilly. Things she'd never said out loud to anyone, afraid to speak them, as though saying it aloud would give them more power.

She hadn't known how she'd feel even as she poured out her story to Nate. Expecting to feel fear, instead
she felt free, freer than she had since her father had died. It wasn't until she finished that she realized the burden that had begun to lift after she spoke to Lilly had cracked open even further. When she stopped, he turned her around to face him.

There was a frown on his face, as he pulled he tugged her closer.

“And this man, this man your father mentored— Reggie—has been after you ever since?”

“Yes, no matter where I go, he ends up hunting me down. And…and he's found me again.” She paused, took in a deep breath and plunged in.

“There…there were a few times I think I saw him at
the ranch. I put it down to the state of hyperawareness I've been in for the last couple of years.”

Althea then told him of the times she'd thought she'd seen Reggie on the ranch, only to feel silly when it
was just one of the ranch hands.

“I thought it was all in my mind. God, I've been running so damn long…looking over my shoulder for what seems like forever. I thought I'd finally lost it, was seeing things that weren't there.” She stopped, pausing when his frown increased. “I know, I know…it was all in my—”

He stopped her, placing a kiss on her mouth. “No, baby, it might not have been. Describe
him for me,” he said, and Althea felt that queasy feeling return, her belly filling with an anxious knot as she described him to Nate.

“Son of a bitch,” Nate mumbled. Jumping from the floor, he raced over to his jacket in the corner of the room and retrieved his cell phone.

Praying he'd gotten enough juice in the thing, he turned it on, thankful that two of the cells indicated it had recharged
enough in the car to place a call.

“Baby, what?”

He turned to her. She had the sheet he'd covered them with wrapped around her body, her hair a disheveled mess over her head. Although the situation was critical, his instincts telling him that the man she was describing was the same guy his foreman had mentioned, he felt his cock stir again at the picture she presented.

The stark white of the
sheet was startlingly erotic against the dark brown cream of her skin. With her
hair tousled, her lips puffy from his kisses, she was the picture of any man's erotic dream come to blazing life.

He kept his eyes on hers as he phoned his brother, briefly asking him about the ranch hand he'd hired, the one with the odd résumé. As he listened to Holt tell him he'd check on him, the other part of
him was fully concentrated on Althea.

He saw the moment her eyes widened, saw the swift breath she took, her tongue snake out to wipe across her full sensual mouth the longer he stared at her.

He spoke a few minutes more with his brother before he ended the call, and with his eyes still on hers, he opened the old chest and withdrew several pillows he'd spied earlier before coming to join her
on the thick rug.

After he arranged the pillows to his satisfaction, he brought her back down to lie on his chest.

“Is everything okay? What did your brother say?” she asked.

With him speaking to his brothers, the reality of her situation had returned, ending the euphoria from their lovemaking.

“Seems like the new hand may have been this mother—guy, Reggie. I've got both of my brothers hunting
him down now. He won't get far.”

“You think he's still at the ranch?” Althea asked, one part of her fearful that he was, the other part hoping that he hadn't been on her trail since she'd left.

“Your brothers…Lilly,” she said and he stopped her, kissing her softly.

“Don't worry about my brothers. They can take
care of themselves and Miss Lilly. They've alerted the foreman and they're heading
toward town where he's staying to get his ass.”

His voice had taken on a hard edge, one that sent a shiver to slide down her spine. She almost laughed, thinking that for once she feared what they would do to Reggie once they found him. Almost.

She snuggled closer to Nate, feeling protected within his strong arms.

He feathered his hand over her hair and she felt him place a kiss at the crown
of her head.

“You won't have to worry about him anymore, baby. My brothers and the others will get him. He'll never hurt you again, I promise.”

She held him tightly, content to lay within his arms.

“Do you love me enough to marry me, Althea?”

The question made her jump, her head bumping against his chin. She heard his grunt, and pushed away, her eyes wide.

“Marry…” She stopped, cleared her
throat. “You want to marry me?”

“Well, not if you keep abusing me,” he said, rubbing his chin, a sparkle of humor in his eyes. “But barring that, yes, I want to marry you. I've never loved anyone the way I love you. I never knew a love like this could exist. Never thought I could ever have someone like you in my life. The way you make me feel. The way you laugh, your stubbornness, your humor…everything
about you, I love.”

He stopped, brought her close. “Please. Marry me, Thea… Please don't make me walk this earth without
you.” The plea was raw, his voice barely above a rough growl. “I want to wake up to you each morning…”

“I want your face to be the last one I see at night,” she cut in, wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing his mouth down to meet her.

The kiss was long, sweet and satisfying.
He drew away from her, cupping her face with his palms, his gaze searching hers.

“So this means yes? You'll marry me?”

She allowed the tears to flow unchecked and nodded her head to his loud whoop. Laughing past the tears, the laughter gave way to sensation when he lifted her, brought her back down on his body and slowly filled her.

 

“Nate? Baby? Where are you?” Althea called out. When she
heard no answer, she wrapped Nate's coat closer around her body, wishing she'd thought to throw on something more to cover herself, and ventured farther outside.

After their last lovemaking, he'd lifted her into his arms, and walked through the small cabin before they reached a partitioned area with a bed.

It hadn't mattered to Althea that the bed was barely big enough for the two of them; she'd
wrapped her body around his. The fear of the last twenty-four hours and Nate's lovemaking had been her undoing, and within minutes she was asleep.

She didn't know how long she'd slept, enough that the early dawn light was now peeking through the cracked blinds.

The cabin was so small that it was soon obvious
that he wasn't inside, and so she'd quickly grabbed the nearest piece of clothing, which
was Nate's jacket, stuffed her feet inside her sneakers and gone outside.

“Nate, baby where are you?” she called out again.

She walked around the side of the cabin when she didn't see his truck, realizing he must have parked it on the side instead of the front. It had been so dark last night that she hadn't been able to tell where they'd entered.

“Nate, whe—” Althea stopped.

She couldn't move
a muscle.

His body on the hard ground, unmoving. From the angle his head was away from hers, she saw blood oozing down his temple.

With a cry she raced toward him.

She dropped to the ground, her heart pounding frantically, her fingers running over the gash in his forehead as she brought his head into her lap.

She leaned down, reassured when she felt his breath fan against her face.

He was
alive.

“Baby, baby, please, wake up, oh my God, Nate…” Her voice trailed off when she heard soft laughter coming from behind her.

She wrenched her head to the side, her heart seeming to come to a complete and utter stop. Slowly she raised her eyes to meet Reggie's dark, flat gaze.

He grinned at her, the smile not reaching his eyes.

“You've led me on quite the chase, baby, haven't you?” he
asked, raising a finger at her and shaking it. “It's taken me a while, but I knew in the end we'd wind up together. The places you had me going…quite the
journey you and I have been through together. But now we're back together, and nothing—” he glanced down at Nate, whose head was still pillowed on her lap, a sneer crossing his thin lips “—and no one will ever come between us again.”

Althea
was so afraid she felt nausea welling. But she knew she had to keep it together. Reggie was a ticking time bomb. Any minute he'd go off and with it, she knew he'd kill Nate and then her.

As he continued his loathsome diatribe, all Althea could do was just look at him.

His appearance was shocking, his clothes were ragged, the pants he wore frayed around the hem and his black loafers worn. She
forced herself to remain calm, keeping her eyes on Reggie as he circled her, his speech growing more and more incoherent.

The hair on his face was spotted, not fully grown in, reminding her of some kind of mangy dog. Her gaze traveled over him, over his filthy clothes, the runover shoes on his feet and back up to his face.

A part of her mind separated from the horror that was taking place as
she slowly stroked Nate's head in her lap.

Lost in grief, her misery had been fathomless after her father's death. She'd often relied on Reggie for everything from simple things, like reminding her what day it was, to the greater issues, such as taking care of her father's business. He had been her rock during a time of unrelenting pain.

Looking at him standing there, wiping the blood from the
man she loved from his hands, a wild, strange crazy-looking smile on his face as he told her how happy
they'd be together, the life he had for her…her fear and loathing for him, what he'd done, what he'd taken from her, transformed instantly into something frightening in its intensity, becoming a living, breathing entity of its own.

As though coming out of a daze, Althea carefully placed Nate's
head on the ground and rose. From deep within a primal yell emerged, lodged deep within her throat, and she ran toward Reggie. She saw the surprise cross his wretched face just as she grabbed him.

With her hands clawed, tears running down her face, she reached for his throat.

Surprising him, she tackled him to the ground, going down with him. They rolled, her anger and fear giving her a herculean
strength.

When they stopped, she spied a long, thick log of wood nearby. Scrambling away from him she crawled toward it and rolled around in time to see him coming after her.

She rose, the thick wood clenched tightly in her hand and swung at him, bringing him to his knees as she simultaneously jumped to her feet.

When he hit the ground, she was on him again. Straddling his body, she brought
her makeshift bat back and swung again, this time catching him a glancing blow against his temple

“You crazy bitch!” he screamed, grasping his head with both hands, trying to protect himself against her blows, writhing on the ground in pain. Althea raised the bat back again, all the rage inside her bubbling to the front.

“You took everything from me!” she yelled, hitting
him with the wood, this
time against his back. “My father, my life…you took it all away!”

Her chest rose and fell, her body heaving as she pummeled him, raining blows on his body as he writhed on the ground in pain.

“Tortured me for two years, followed me, attacked me, made me so afraid there were times I just wanted to curl up and die!”

She swung again, barely missing the connection with his face.

“Now you want
to take my life from me again? Wrong damn answer…never again! Never again will I run from you!”

There was no answer from Reggie, his body still, unconscious, but Althea didn't care.

Althea thought back to how she'd felt the day the authorities had informed her that her father had died while on his boat, out on the water, alone, with a note admitting what he'd done, had taken his own life.

“You were the thief. You were the one who stole my father's clients' money. And you killed my father.” Her last words were spoken in a coarse whisper, tears falling down her face, unchecked.

She stared down at him, her breath coming out in harsh, painful gasps above his unconscious body. “Now you want to take the man I love from me, the life I'm trying to build?” She raised the wood high above
her head.

“Never again will I run from you again, Reggie. Never.” The last words she uttered were barely above a whisper.