hair and flipped them up. “Just like you,” Tony said. “You are the same as those deer. Wild and free, despite the fact you live in a civilized, controlled environment. You shouldn’t feel bad when your true nature yearns to break free. You should celebrate it. Not all the time, but sometimes. When it’s safe. When you’re with me.”
He kissed her and she moaned, feeling her hunger and love for him filling her up.
Her passion boiled over like a Texas storm cloud, taking away her reason and giving her only pleasure until he broke off the kiss. She whimpered and touched her tender lips, wanting only his taste, his scent, his touch all over her.
“Let your wild child out,” Tony whispered in her ear, then caught her mouth with his again.
Hot, passionate and wild, the kiss went on and on. She forgot about Justine, her father, her quest for the judgeship and her doubts about a future with Tony. All she knew was her love for him, here and now. She marveled at the feel of his mouth, his taste, the sound he made when he sucked in air and the feel of his heart beating against her own.
She was free. They were free.
Free to feel. Free to enjoy each other despite the years and the heartache that had separated them for so long.
But then Tony broke their kiss once again. Her knees caved and she sagged against him. Surprised by her sudden weight, he stumbled backward and tripped over a root. He caught himself by twisting, then winced as he righted both himself and her.
“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I hurt you.”
“It’s nothing,” Tony said. “Come here.”
“Where—”
He led her to an outcropping of rocks beneath a large tree. They were completely off the path now. Secluded, but still close enough to hear someone if they came toward them. Slowly, Tony sat on a large flat boulder and patted the spacious area next to him.
Heat zipped through her veins.
She sat beside him and placed a tentative hand on his thigh. Did he want what she thought he did? Did he want to make love out here, out in the open, or would he be horrified by her attempts to take things in that direction? She was afraid of misreading him and as a result her touch was hesitant. Fleeting. He swallowed hard and placed his hand over hers. Picked it up and pressed it to his lips before placing it back on his thigh.
“Don’t tease me, baby. I’m about to explode as it is.”
His unexpected confession sent sensual quivers through her limbs. It made her tummy turn somersaults. “I wasn’t meaning to tease.”
Tony moved her hand farther up his thigh until her fingertips swept the length of him on the inseam of his jeans. “I want to be inside you. Here. Give me your wild side, Linda. Please.”
Once more they kissed for several moments, rubbing their hands over one another’s hair and bodies. She protested when Tony raised his head. He kept stopping. Why did he keep stopping?
“I won’t stop. We won’t stop. But I want you naked. Now.”
She stopped protesting.
And reached down to take off her clothes.
While she stripped, Tony did the same.
They came together as wildly as Tony thought her to be.
She rejoiced in that wildness, but she also rejoiced in the other things he made her feel.
Beautiful. Sexy. Loved.
Linda felt bombarded by sensation, emotional and physical. She no longer knew where she was. The world ceased to exist. Only Tony was there. In her mind. In her heart. In her body. She felt a familiar pressure building inside her, but didn’t fight it.
She embraced it.
Welcomed it.
When she came, she came looking into Tony’s eyes.
* * *
Several hours later Tony dropped Linda off at their hotel and drove to the motel where Justine had said to meet him. Thinking positively, he was dressed to go to Club Matrix, but because he was prepared for the worst, he was also wired.
Yet another reason not to get naked with Justine.
As if he needed another reason.
As if the memory of being inside Linda would ever allow him to do such a thing. Ever allow him to want or love another woman again.
He shook his head to clear it.
He couldn’t see Justine with thoughts of Linda clouding his head. He had to be careful. Very careful. If she was taking Rapture and had put a bounty on Linda’s head, she was seriously dangerous. He took some comfort in the fact that Yee would