When Bowe yanked the triangles of her suit to the sides, she leaned up on her elbows. With heavy-lidded gray eyes, she watched as he bared her luscious breasts.
At the sight of her nipples, his cock pulsed, about to rip through his jeans. "I'm going tae suckle you so hard you'll feel me for the rest of the day. Do you want me tae?"
He groaned when she arched her back and fisted her wee hands in his hair to pull him down to one of her breasts. Sucking the peak in bliss, he felt it stiffen and bud under his tongue. As he moved to the other, he said, "Mariketa, you've the finest body I've ever seen. And I've a thousand things I want to do to it, but canna decide where to begin."
She moaned when he closed his lips on her other nipple. "Whatever you're going to do, do it quick! I'm close."
He leaned up, his brows drawn. She wouldn't last through him preparing her body to receive him. He decided to bring her off before he took her.
Eager to feel her between her thighs again, he plucked free the black string at her right hip. Would she be as wet as before? When he moved to untie the bow at her left hip, she wriggled over to give him better access, as if she couldn't wait to be rid of her clothes.
Still raised up on her elbows, she stared—rapt like him—as the V of material in the middle slinked down, revealing her auburn curls. He choked out the words, "Part your thighs. Show me how wet you've grown."
In answer, she whimpered and let her knees fall open. A groan broke from his chest when he saw her sex was glistening for him. His cock swelled to be inside it, the pressure in his heavy ballocks nearing pain. His hand shook as he lowered it to stroke her.
At his first touch, her head fell back; he sucked in a breath, thinking he might spend that instant. "So hot and slick. I canna imagine how you're goin' tae feel gripping my shaft."
She lifted her head once more, her brows drawn. "Oh, gods... Bowen... "
He spread her flesh with his thumb and forefinger, about to use his other forefinger to rub her tight little clitoris. Her short, soft moans grew louder with each of her breaths. So close...
The rising seed in his shaft made it throb for relief. Yet even as he was desperate to pin her hips to the ground and plunge it inside her, he wanted to savor the sight of Mariketa on the razor's edge.
Her reaction was the most erotic thing he'd ever seen.
Her piercing glinted in a filtered ray of sunlight as she began to shake. Her breasts were so plump, her swollen nipples jutting, as if begging to be sucked more. She looked from where he was about to stroke her, then breathlessly gazed up at him, meeting his eyes.
"Bowen, please... "
Mari lay back, lowering herself off her elbows so she could grasp his wrist, pulling his free hand down as she rolled her hips up.
MacRieve shook his head hard, as if he didn't believe what he was seeing. "Only with me, witch," he rasped, raking his gaze along her body. "This must be all mine."
At that moment, she'd have told him anything. Her voice sounding throaty, she murmured, "Only with you."
"Then come hard for me." One flick of his big finger sent her over. With a strangled cry, she arched her back sharply, undulating her hips to his hand in abandon. "Good girl," he rumbled in her ear as she helplessly writhed. "You like that."
On and on it continued until the pleasure became too much, and Mari had to press his hand away. Finally, he allowed her to stop.
As he knelt between her spread legs, he yanked open his jeans, shoving them to his knees. His heavy erection sprang free, and he bit out a curse when her hands shot forward for it. She adored the feel of him, lovingly stroking his entire length up and down until he groaned and bucked his hips, shoving his shaft through her fists.
Then he slipped his middle finger inside her wetness, making her moan and him hiss, "So tight." Gritting out the words, he said, "Doona want to hurt you. Need tae make sure you're ready."
The muscles in his neck were corded with strain, his chest slick from the falls and sweat. His gaze flickered over her body, but always returned to her eyes, as if he was as aroused by looking at them as he was by her breasts.
"Witch, if you doona stop with your soft palms, you're goin' tae bring me off."
She licked her lip but kept working his throbbing flesh. As he eased a second finger into her, she felt herself on the verge yet again. "Bowen... "
"I'm beginning to recognize that tone. You're no' near done, are you? I knew you'd be like this. I knew it."
Just when she thought he would hastily replace the fingers inside her with his shaft, she began to come in a wet rush and cried out.
"I can feel you squeezing me. S'over." With his free hand, he enclosed hers in a fist, pumping their hands hard, rasping, "I canna hold my seed, Mari." His body tensed, going perfectly still, then he gave a brutal yell. At the last second, he aimed away from her body. She gaped as he spurted out into the sand beside her, over and over, stunned by how magnificent this big male was in his wild pleasure.
When he'd finished with a shudder, she sank down again, and he sprawled on his back beside her, his penis still pulsing. Even as he lay there, seeming dazed, he reached over and seized her hand in his—just to hold it as they caught their breath. After the things they'd just been doing, he felt the need to hold her hand.
They stared up at the muted sunlight, side by side and hand in hand.
Mari, the water just got too deep, and you're in way over your head.
When he turned to her, his eyes were warm amber, and the corners of his lips curled. "You could no' please me more. Could no' possibly." He seemed in an elated mood, as if she'd just capitulated far more than she actually had.
And she knew that Bowen MacRieve was excited because, for probably the first time in nearly two centuries, he truly had begun looking forward to the future.
But she didn't want him to get his hopes up when she had no place in her life for him. Even if she forgave him for trapping her, and even if she knew encounters like they'd just shared would only get more cataclysmic, she also believed that she would have to radically alter her life to be with him. And she wasn't sure she'd be ready to do that for someone she loved, much less for someone she merely desired.
No matter how strong that desire was.
"Now, tae get you ready—"
She pressed his hand away and sat up. "No, I'm done."
"You're done? We're just gettin' started! Did I... did I do something wrong?"
With a shrug, she began dressing. "We need to get going."
His brows drew together. "Do you regret what we've done, then?"
"I'm not unhappy that we were together like this. But I'm not happy either."
He yanked his jeans up. "What would it take tae make you so?"
"Look, MacRieve, I wasn't giving you lip service before—you're not the guy for me. Yet you just assume that I'm on board for whatever you finally decide, and that's not how this will work. While you're trying to make up your mind, know that mine's already decided. There isn't any place for you in my life."
"Even after this?"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, after all the 'wenches' you've nailed and bailed, you of all people should know that one hookup means nothing."
"Nailed and bailed? What in the hell are you talking about?"
"Cade told me about the female you two fought over."
"Damn it, she crawled into bed with me!"
"And now your cruel comment to him last night makes perfect sense. Of course, you couldn't kick her out of your bed for your friend?"
"I'd had some mead, and dinna even recognize her as the one he wanted."
She quirked a brow. "One wench among many, huh?" she asked, turning from him.
Mariketa was prickly, no doubt uncomfortable at the speed this thing between them was moving. But her coolness didn't daunt him in the least, because he now knew that he could win her. She had just cried out his name. His. He'd been prepared to fight for her; after this, he would only redouble his efforts.
Bowe had feared this witch could make all his sexual dreams come true—and he'd dreamed constantly.
Now he knew she could.