Sweet Reckoning

CHAPTER FOURTEEN IMPATIENT FRECKLES

Kaidan and I said our good-byes to the others and took a cab together, all the while searching the skies. This seemed too good to be true. I didn’t want to think that way, but I’d never wanted anything as badly as I wanted this night with Kaidan. After two years of longing, we could finally be together, and it would bring us some measure of safety.

I still couldn’t believe this was possible. I’d been so paranoid about the hilt and its unforgiving judgment that I hadn’t taken into account the power of love and loyalty, for which the Sword of Righteousness could not fault us. It seemed so obvious now. So right.

“Grand Canyon’s right over there,” the cabbie said, pointing to the left. “Your place ain’t far. You could probably walk.”

As we drove past, we stared through patchy trees and saw railings along a dry, rocky ledge, and then nothing. Just a massive drop and a sky darkening into dusk. Kaidan and I cuddled closer as we leaned toward the window to peer out together. It was almost enough to make me forget everything out there in the world that wanted to hurt us. But Kaidan never forgot. He peered around at our surroundings again in that protective, cautious way, and it brought me back to reality.

Minutes later we were parked outside a modern log cabin. An uncontrollable grin split my face as nerves overtook me once more.

Kaidan and Blake had been busy boys during our wait this afternoon. Along with getting the rings, Kaidan had scored an amazing resort cabin.

The cabbie drove away, leaving us standing on the front step in silence. I stared at Kai’s badge for what felt like a long time before he touched my chin and I met his eyes. The night was warm, and yet I found myself shivering.

Without warning, Kaidan picked me up, cradling me in his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“Er . . . carrying you over the threshold. That’s what I’m supposed to do, right?”

I giggled and he gave the cutest sheepish grin. “I think it’s supposed to be the threshold of our home, but I like it.”

He held his face an inch from mine. “This is our home tonight. Anywhere with you is my home.”

Love for him lit every corner of my soul. I held myself up with my arms around his neck, giving him a soft kiss. “Take me inside,” I whispered. The scent of sweet and spicy citrus filled my nose.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Inside, I drew a deep breath as he set me on my feet and closed the door. I said a silent prayer that no whisperers would find us this night, and I vowed to myself not to spend our time together worrying. I would focus on Kai and let him distract me.

The cabin was exquisite. Everything from floor to ceiling was natural stone and wood beams. It had a rustic atmosphere, with the added luxury of modern amenities.

We walked into the single room with its steepled roof, and I covered my mouth to stifle an excited squeal. The bed. The bed! I’d never seen anything like it. The headboard was part of an enormous tree, and the branches jutted out high over the top of the king-size bed like a canopy. I ran to it and jumped into the fluffy comforter made of soft fall colors.

“This is so awesome!” I bounced on my knees, grabbing a silky brown pillow with turquoise trim and squeezing it. Kaidan stood against the wall with his hands in his pockets, looking amused.

I leaped off the bed and grabbed his hand, pulling him to the bathroom, where I clapped my hands at the sight of an oversized claw-foot tub. A sliding door caught my attention next and I opened it, walking out and gasping.

“An outdoor shower!” I said. The area was enclosed by stone walls for privacy, but open to the darkening sky.

Kaidan stood in the doorway. “I’m having flashbacks of the sixteen-year-old girl I took on a road trip who got excited over every little thing.”

I blushed and he stepped out onto the stones, cupping my cheek and then sliding his hand into my hair. “It’s adorable, luv,” he whispered. And then he kissed me.

My heart started pounding as his lips moved against mine. For the first time ever we wouldn’t have to be careful or hold back, and it sent a nervous jolt to my core. I didn’t know what to do. I knew how he made me feel, like we could never be close enough, but I didn’t know how to channel those instincts.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

I shook my head, feeling foolish. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Anna?” He stayed close, not taking his hands off me.

“Hm?”

“Have you ever felt as if you were fumbling around awkwardly when we’re together?”

“Um . . .” I thought about it. “I guess not.”

“Exactly. Some things come naturally, so don’t overthink it. I’m going to take care of you.”

Oh, my. Major chills.

“But,” I whispered, “I want to take care of you, too. You have to show me what to do.”

His smile was wickedly sexy. “I’m not as hard to please as you might imagine. But don’t worry—I’ll show you anything you want.”

I swallowed a dry lump in my throat.

“Also . . .” He cleared his throat and sounded serious now. “Two days ago when Father told me he was sending me to seek you out . . . I went to the doctor first. Just in case anything were to happen with us—not that I thought it would, but I just wanted to be sure.”

“Oh,” I said as it dawned on me and I thought of Marna. “To make sure you’re really . . .”

“Sterile, yes. And I am.”

The thought of getting pregnant hadn’t crossed my mind. Even after everything with poor Marna and Jay. I was grateful he’d thought of it.

“Thank you,” I whispered. My knees were trembling. Seriously, I could not get my body under control. Those bedroom eyes were short-circuiting my functioning abilities.

“Anna . . .” Uh-oh. His voice was low and gravelly.

“Hmm?” I cleared my throat.

“Remember when I told you I wanted to introduce myself to every freckle on your body?”

Mesmerized, I nodded, not trusting my voice.

“Well, it’s time.”

I couldn’t breathe. Kaidan closed his eyes and inhaled. When he opened them again, they were half-lidded, and a rumble came from the back of his throat.

“You smell so damn good.”

He grasped my hand and led me back through the bathroom to the main room. Blood rushed through my body. I stared at his strong back and shoulders. My husband. The boy who’d stood at the summit, ready to die for me when my life was threatened.

He let go of my hand and went to his bag.

“I asked Marna to pick up a few things for us—some clothes for tomorrow, food and whatnot. She said she downloaded mood music as a gift. I’m a bit frightened.” He pulled out a music dock and set it up, clicking an MP3 player into place and pushing Play. A popular romantic song came on.

Kaidan made a face. “Country music?”

“I love this song!” I laughed when he groaned.

“Maybe we should listen to my playlist instead.” He reached into his pocket, but I shook my head, not in the mood for heavy metal.

“Come on, Kai . . . my freckles are getting impatient.”

He straightened, standing tall, and his eyes crashed into mine as his badge spun and pulsed. My heart banged at my own bravery, then stumbled inside my ribs as he came closer, bringing with him a cloud of incredible earthy, citrusy pheromones.

“Well then. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

I expected the tearing-off of clothes to begin, but instead he kissed me like we had all the time in the world, his mouth and tongue warming me, then heating me. He moved me backward as we kissed, until my bottom hit the edge of the bed. A tickle began at my hips—the feel of his fingers gathering the silk of my dress upward, slowly.

I was breathing hard when he finally pulled it over my head. I kicked off my shoes, sending them flying. He let me lift his shirt off him, but stopped me when I went for his shorts.

“Not yet.” Again with the wicked grin.

He reached behind me for the clasp of my strapless bra, and as it fell a rush of self-consciousness made me cover my chest. He narrowed his eyes, and I felt like I needed to explain, even though he’d seen me naked already.

“They’re . . .” I couldn’t even say it. No doubt Kaidan had seen all kinds of rockin’ bodies in his time. Mine would not be one of them—at least not in this department.

He put his hands over mine and looked at me very seriously.

“I assure you, they’re perfect.”

He gently pulled my hands away. My chest heaved with nervous breaths as his eyes trailed down, took in the sight of my nearly naked body, and then closed. When they opened they were as stormy as ever.

“Like I said. Just right. On the bed with you now.”

Nerves. So many nerves.

I climbed onto the bed and the sweet torture began as he lay on his side next to me and continued taking his time kissing me. I tried to squirm closer, but he laid his hand firmly on my hip to keep me in place. When his mouth moved down to my shoulder, I let out a moan and saw him smile. He kissed a tiny freckle there I’d never paid attention to in my life. Then, slowly, he made his way across my collarbone and down my chest from one side to the other. My fingers were buried in his hair.

Kaidan made good on his promise. My freckles were very happy, spoiled rotten even, but the rest of me was desperate and jealous. And he’d barely gotten started. When he got to my lower stomach, I was breathing way too hard.

He bypassed my lacy white panties, keeping them on, and I was certain now he was trying to send me into a state of insanity. His mouth landed on my inner thigh. My hips bucked and I made a really embarrassing sound of yearning.

He chuckled and pushed my hips firmly down. Again. Not funny. Then continued working his way down my leg.

I whispered, “Please,” needing so much more.

“Not yet,” he said, all maddening slowness.

I whimpered when he rolled me to my stomach and brushed my hair aside. My back felt ultrasensitive to the caress of his warm mouth. I clutched the downy covers and tried to control myself. How was he not going crazy? I knew he must be because I could smell his pheromone cloud of zesty, sweet oranges and limes around us, but his self-control was incredible.

My lower back was particularly sensitive and I gasped as he kissed me there. When he got down to my panties I felt his teeth gently bite through the lace, and he emitted a low growl. His fingers tightened on my hips and I smiled into the downiness.

“Take them off,” I said.

He didn’t hesitate, pulling down the lacy cloth.

I dared a peek over my shoulder and saw him staring at my naked body.

“My God,” he breathed.

I flipped over and he loomed above me, both of us breathing hard. I stayed very still as Kaidan gave me a stare, starting from my rumpled hair all the way to my red-painted toes. I curled my finger through his belt loop and tried to pull him down to me, but he released my finger, lifted it to his mouth, and nipped it with his white teeth.

“I’m not done yet.”

I fell back, as his mouth lowered to my stomach again, working his way down.

Oh, wow.

Over that next hour I learned Kaidan was true to every claim he’d ever made about being good at what he did. It wasn’t fair to the rest of the world that a man like him existed. My body was spent as if I’d run a marathon, and considering that Kaidan was still mostly dressed, I knew he was just getting started.

System overload.

As he lay next to me now, leaning over me, placing angelic kisses on my lips, I was barely conscious enough to unscramble the single thought running through my mind.

I’m still a virgin.

“You can nap, luv,” he whispered.

That cleared my head. This was no time for napping! I pushed up on my elbows and glared at him. It must not have been scary enough because he chuckled.

“It’s your turn,” I said.

His chuckling stopped and turned to a heated stare as I moved closer to him. I leaned in and nuzzled his ear. He pulled my hip closer.

“My sweet little vixen.” I heard the arousal in his voice, so I licked his earlobe, and he hissed, trying to roll on top of me, but it was my turn to push him back.

No sex yet. I wanted to do to him what he’d done to me.

This time when my shaking hands went to the buttons on his shorts, he didn’t stop me. I could feel his racing heart against my shoulder. He let me undress him, and in that moment, as I acquainted myself with all of him for the first time, I learned the power of being a woman—the weakness in his eyes brought on by my touch—and the underlying trust and love I saw there. My nervousness disappeared, replaced by curiosity and a desire to make him happy. It brought me tremendous satisfaction as he reacted and lost himself in the caress of my hands and my lips.

Afterward we showered in the moonlight, lost in our new knowledge of each other. But each kiss and touch was overshadowed by one repetitive thought.

I’m still a virgin.

We wrapped ourselves in towels and went back in, eating sandwiches on the bed while Kaidan made fun of the pop love ballads on Marna’s playlist. Funny how he knew the words to so many of them.

When we finished dinner, I looked at the clock. Kaidan had walked to the window and stood staring out, towel still around his waist. I refused to let him think too much. I didn’t want any insecurities of his to rise up between us.

“Hey,” I said softly. “It’ll be midnight soon. Our wedding day is almost over.”

His face clouded, and my stomach tightened.

I stood on the far side of the bed. “Come here.”

Kaidan walked over slowly, keeping his eyes on me in my towel. When he got to the other side of the bed he put his joined hands on top of his head and eyed me across the king-size expanse. He made me feel crazy in so many ways.

I reached for the edge of my towel, and before I could think too much about it, I pulled it off, letting it drop to the floor. The cloudiness in his gaze turned stormy. I crawled across the bed toward him. I watched the surprise and lust flash across his features as I reached him and raised up on my knees to face him. My heart was beating overtime.

“Are you scared?” I asked him.

The master of lust seemed to have lost his cool because his response was a grunted, “Hm?”

“Been too long?” I cocked my head to the side. “Out of practice?”

He hadn’t been with anyone in eight months. For Kaidan Rowe, that was an eternity.

His eyes got wider than I’d ever seen them, full of indignation, and I felt a rush of mean potency in my blood. Acting as the vixen he often called me, I reached out and pinched his nipple. Hard.

He let out a small holler and grabbed my wrist. With my other hand I tore off his towel. In a movement too quick for me to comprehend, he was on top of me, pinning me to the bed.

“You win,” he ground out, breathing hard.

I wanted to laugh at the thrill of my victory, but his seriousness snuffed that urge. I tried to move my hips up to him, but his body pressed me down. I stroked his cheek, which had grown a five o’clock shadow, and he rested his forehead against mine. I felt his worries creeping in—the deeds of his past haunting him.

“This is right, Kai. We love each other.”

He closed his eyes. “I’d do anything for you.”

“Just love me,” I whispered.

“I need you to know this is different for me. I’ve never felt like this with someone. I don’t just love you, Anna. I adore you.”

I kissed him, and when he pulled away his hair hung around his eyes in sexy strands. I knew from the deep look he gave me that this was about to happen.

“Don’t look away from me, Anna,” he said.

I nodded. Nervous. Excited. “Okay.”

“If you need to stop—”

“Kai. I’m not fragile.”

“Right.”

I watched him swallow, then close his eyes as a shiver ran through his body. When he opened his eyes again, color poured through the air around him—the vivid, hot pink of passionate love.

Kaidan was showing me his colors.

It was my turn to swallow hard as I beheld the special gift he was offering. Under his thick aura of love was a strand of gray worry and even darker self-loathing. I wished I could make those go away, but only he held that power. Still . . .

“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered back.

I hitched a leg around him to pull him closer. He shifted above me, his body powerful and graceful. His hips curved toward mine and I moved to meet him, gasping at the contact. I never took my eyes from Kai as we became one.