been afraid to touch herself. Evie bit back a cry as Tyler's fingers entered her, but his mouth was smothering hers, swallowing all the cries and whimpers, taking her response and giving it back to her in the magic of his fingers.
She was weeping for more by the time he rolled the linen off her hips. His kisses moved inexorably downward, pressing her breasts, roaming lower, while his hands played along her thighs, pushing away the hampering material until nothing lay between them but the air and their need. When Tyler touched her again, Evie nearly rose from the bed.
She shuddered as Tyler tenderly parted her legs and bent them so she could receive him more easily. She shuddered. She didn't want him to do this, but she didn't want him to stop either. She felt hollow and scared, and the pleasant sensations were rapidly receding as Tyler moved between her legs and she felt he hot iron-like rod brushing against her.
But Tyler teased at her lips again, parting them with his tongue, inciting her to match his movements until she was writhing with hunger. His hands circled both of her breasts, caressing, kneading, tantalizing the tips until Evie cried for more and raised her hips to the rhythm he created.
Gently caressing, he slid his hands to her buttocks, lifted, and shoved into her. He caught her cry with his mouth, held himself still while she adjusted, and moved slowly when she shuddered with the need. She was too tight for him to fit easily, too scared to encourage him, but he seemed to understand. He moved gently, until she began to respond, and he kissed her.
Evie couldn't believe he was doing this to her. She couldn't believe she was letting him. The intimacy was incredible, overwhelming, but she didn't even know this man. She had a stranger's body inside hers, filling her until she felt stretched at the seams, retreating until she grabbed his shoulders and asked for more. She couldn't bear it when he withdrew. Her hips followed his, and he began moving faster.
This was Tyler Monteigne, the gambler, the ladies' man. He was using her as he had used countless other women, and she was letting him. She was more than letting him. She was wrapping her legs around him, raising herself to him, and begging and crying for more as he plunged in and out until her head spun with desire and her body was out of control and there was nothing more to this world than their two bodies joined as one.
He gave a harsh cry and drove deep inside, but even as his body rocked into hers, his hand slid between them to caress the aching bud there. The unutterable pressure in Evie's womb gave way to uncontrollable quakes of pleasure beneath his expert touch. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she clung to him, tightening around him while he buried himself deep and exploded beneath her touch.
It hadn't hurt, and it had been more pleasurable than Evie had ever imagined. Why then, did she feel such terror when Tyler kissed her and moved inside her again?
"You're my wife now, Evie," he whispered against he ear. "You're mother of my child."
Just the words enhanced her terror.
"When are you going to stop lying to me?" he demanded.
His eyes seemed to glow golden in the darkness above her, and Evie had all she could do to keep from screaming as she felt that man part of him stir to life within her again.
He wouldn't stop until she told him. She didn't know if she ever wanted him to stop.
Chapter 17
It was nearing dawn and they lay entangled in sweaty sheets. Evie couldn't move if she wanted to, and she didn't have enough energy left to know what she wanted. She liked the slick sheen of Tyler's hair-roughened leg against hers. She couldn't imagine her breast without his strong fingers wrapped around it. Idly, drifting in and out of sleep, she tried to imagine him lifting his hand away from her, and all she could envision was cold and loneliness.
Whatever they had just done was better than cold and loneliness. She was vaguely aware that she was sore. Tyler was large, she was inexperienced, and they had done "that" more times than she could count. Once they had just lain joined, too exhausted to do more, until their bodies had rebelled and rocked them together and exploded within minutes of their first movement. Another time they had