firelight flamed along his hips as Tyler dipped his tongue one more time into the recesses of her mouth. His hand caressed her breast, and when she gasped and arched into him, he couldn't stop.
Evie gave a wild cry of triumph as Tyler plunged into her, filling her, stretching her, forcing her to follow him in his mad ride as he withdrew only to surge into her again. She didn't think about what she was doing. She only knew she was in Tyler's arms again, that he had come for her, and that she would never let him go. The violent joining of their bodies was testimony to that. Nothing could ever put them asunder again.
She cried out her ecstasy as Tyler delved deeper and carried her with him into regions hitherto unexplored. She was lost now, running through a mindless landscape with only Tyler for guide. And as her body slammed into an unseen mountain, she shattered in his arms, and knew the joy of his echoing shout.
Still throbbing, they lay together afterward, their skins soaked with sweat. Evie had never felt more alive in her life, and she stretched her thighs to wrap around him.
"Lord, Evie." Tyler felt himself stirring again, as if dying and coming back to life once wasn't enough. "We're going to kill each other if we keep this up."
"If this is the way to heaven, then I'll gladly go," she whispered in his ear.
"I don't know if it's heaven or hell where we're headed, but we're getting there fast." Tyler finally summoned the energy to roll over to keep from crushing her, but he pulled her with him, keeping her trapped in a tangle of legs and arms so he could feel her along the length of him.
"I love you," she murmured against his skin.
Tyler pretended not to hear, but his arm tightened around her. "We've got some problems, Evie," he reminded her.
"You came for me." Evie stretched out along his length.
"I have half a mind to paddle your behind for running." Tyler ran his hand down her back to cup that soft part of her anatomy. He could feel the heat build in his loins as he stroked her there. Holding a naked Evie wasn't conducive to logical thought.
"I didn't think I would be much help to you if I was behind bars, too," she reminded him. "And I thought the Hardings might help. I wasn't running away, I was running to."
"The Harding ranch is west, not east. You'd better start learning directions, sweetheart. Hale wasn't taking you to the Double H. He was taking you here."
That brought Evie out of her moonstruck lethargy. She pushed up on her elbow and stared down at him. "Why would he do that? The carriage axle broke. He'd just gone back to get help. He'll be back shortly." At that thought, Evie swung toward the edge of the bed.
Tyler caught her waist and pulled her back. Without any of the restraint that Evie had shown, he closed his mouth over her breast and suckled until she cried out and melted into his arms again. Then he raised his head and kissed her mouth. When she was firmly back in place, he leaned over her.
"I think it would be beneficial to his health if he realized that you're truly my wife. What better way to show him?" he asked tauntingly.
"Tyler!" At this indication of his intention, Evie wriggled beneath him. "If the preacher wasn't really a preacher, I'm not your wife. Besides, that would be embarrassing. Let's get out of here now."
Tyler pinned her shoulders to the pillow and held her still. "You are my wife, and what better place could we go but your father's house? We've not had this much privacy since we married. And he assured me we could have the use of the place for as long as we liked."
"My father's house? This house belongs to my father?" Evie stared up at him.
"I'm certain your Mr. Hale had a reason for choosing this as his headquarters. Why don't we ask him when he returns? In the meantime, what better place could we be? I'm in no hurry to go anywhere. My only concern is that Ben and Daniel and your cousins may blow the whole damned town up while we're gone."
He was distracting her deliberately. Evie knew she shouldn't be here, doing this with him. They weren't really married, and they weren't doing anything to prevent babies. And she didn't really care. That