His for the Taking - By Ann Major Page 0,39
playground. Not that a broken arm slowed him down. Within a day he’d learned to do everything one-handed. The only time he complained of pain was when the doctor twisted his arm before he set it. Oh, and he did wax philosophical when he was snuggling with me in bed one morning about how easy it was to break an arm.”
“He sleeps with you?”
“No. But he comes in a lot of mornings to cuddle before my alarm goes off.”
His son was tough. But he was affectionate, too. Pride swelled inside Cole, and so did another, less easily defined but fiercely possessive and all-consuming emotion.
His gaze locked on Maddie’s face. She was the mother of his son. Was that why he felt a profound need to claim her?
“I’ve gotta go,” she said.
“It’s a nice day for a swim.”
She shook her head. “There’s Miss Jennie to see about. She is the reason I’m here.”
“Well, you call me if you change your mind. Since we never went skinny-dipping, I say it’s time you earned your bad reputation.”
“You’re incorrigible,” she whispered with a grin, lowering her lashes as if she hoped that would lessen the sexual charge of their nearness.
“Call me if you want to swim,” he repeated. He touched her arm, running his knuckles down the smooth skin, which caused her to shiver.
“You come over here and try to bully me into a marriage. Then you have the gall to invite me to go skinny-dipping? Neither is going to happen!”
Ten
What was happening to her? What mysterious power did Cole have over her?
Maddie felt both wet and hot beneath Cole’s devouring gaze as she slowly peeled her jeans and panties down the length of her legs.
Sunlight poured through the thick canopy of leaves that surrounded them. The blaze lit up the soft scarlet blanket Cole had carelessly tossed onto the grass beside the icy green pool; the blaze lit her up, as well.
How could she so easily succumb to whatever wanton suggestion he tossed at her? How could she do this when Noah’s future hung in the balance? Had she no will of her own? Was he right about their marriage being the best thing for Noah? He was certainly right about her wanting him.
Quickly, Cole yanked off his own clothes and laid them on top of hers on a limestone rock. When he gathered her body in his arms, the exquisite shiver that went through her made her cling to him. His warm, rough hands slid down her shoulders and closed around her waist. Then he pulled her slowly down on the blanket and covered her with his powerful body so that his heat enveloped her.
Cole’s hands stroked her gently until she was so hungry for him she lifted her legs and urged him to take her. Her whole body was tense and aching for release, but he made her wait, made her beg in throaty, pleading purrs while he stroked and kissed her. Finally, when she felt as though she might explode, he smiled as he slid his body lower down her length so that he could bury his face against her sex. She cried out in pleasure when his tongue caressed and then dipped inside those secret lips.
“Take me,” she whispered. “Just take me.”
“Patience, my love,” he murmured.
Using his seeking mouth and velvet tongue as instruments of pleasure, he soon had her melting and yielding everything. Instead of feeling ravaged and abused, as she had for so many years, she felt cherished and adored.
“You are beautiful,” he whispered. “The most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. You smell good, too.”
She felt beautiful, vibrant and aglow.
With a slow, delicate rhythm he licked her, skimming across her velvety interior until she was a quivering mass of nerves ready to fly apart at the slightest flick of his tongue. Only when the pleasure was unbearable, only when she was burning up and on the brink of release, did he stop.
“Don’t!”
“Don’t what?” he murmured.
“Don’t stop.”
“Who’s stopping?”
Easing his body over hers, he thrust deeply inside her. Arching to meet that one forceful stroke, she came, crying out his name as a sudden gust of wind made the leaves above them swirl in an emerald-green blaze.
“Mine,” he growled fiercely. “You are mine.”
He crushed her to him even more tightly. Then driven by his own feverish urgency, he began to move inside her, faster and faster, and with such force that he stole her breath. Strange how after his sweetness, she didn’t mind his violence and passion. His breathing