Part 21 (2/2)
”I realize I wasn't in full control of my mind, but I certainly don't recall saying that. In fact, just the opposite is true.”
”I thought you hated me for not being the kind of wife you wanted. I just wanted you to understand that I couldn't live with a man who openly courts danger and violence.
”I did understand, but facing Bull was something I had to do. I had hoped you would understand my need.”
”Then we're still at an impa.s.se,” Storm said bitterly. ”If you cared for me, why didn't you come to the reservation? My note told you exactly where to find me.”
”I told you before, I saw no note. I suspect Laughing Brook made sure I never saw it.”
”Laughing Brook,” Storm repeated with scathing sarcasm. ”Why did you bring your mistress here?”
Grady sighed in exasperation as he explained with commendable patience, ”Laughing Brook never was my mistress. She's like a little sister to me. I'd never bed her.”
”But ...”
”Laughing Brook was born on the ranch. It was her home until her father took her away six years ago. She loved my parents and expressed a wish to see them again before returning to the reservation. You've been to the reservation. You've seen how difficult life is for the People. Can you blame her for wanting to visit Peaceful Valley?”
”Are you denying that Laughing Brook wants you? She wants to be your wife. She expects it.”
”Why can't you accept the fact that I don't desire Laughing Brook in that way? It was wrong of her to deliberately hide your note, but I can't find it in my heart to hate her. She's been like a mother to Tim since Summer Sky's death.”
”How do you feel about me, Grady?” Storm asked bluntly. ”Do you love me?”
Grady opened his mouth to say the words Storm yearned to hear, then closed it abruptly. He had loved Summer Sky and she had been taken from him. If he bared his soul, what a.s.surances did he have that loving Storm wouldn't destroy her just as it had Summer Sky? What he feared most was losing Storm. He had tempted the G.o.ds these past years by living on the fringes of the law, and now that he had a second chance at happiness he feared his love would harm Storm just as it had destroyed Summer Sky.
For the first time in years he was frightened of the evil forces that had controlled his life. Frightened for Storm's sake.
Besides, Storm had never expressed love for him; quite the contrary. She despised him for the kind of life he had led and for the violence that followed him. The pa.s.sion they shared was something neither of them had counted on. If he never had anything else from Storm, he would have her pa.s.sion.
”My G.o.d, Grady, don't you feel anything for me?” Storm cried, turning away. ”I'll pack my things and leave. I won't hurt your parents by remaining where I'm not wanted.”
”Not wanted?” Grady repeated, swinging her around to face him. ”I've always wanted you. I've never wanted anyone like I've wanted you.” His blue eyes glowed with a savage inner fire and his expression was fiercely possessive. ”I've always prided myself on my ability to control my needs and emotions. But with you all my resolve and willpower flees like leaves before the wind. I have no need for pretty words and vows. My actions demonstrate what I feel for you.”
”Your actions merely tell me you are a virile animal whose l.u.s.t cannot be controlled,” Storm said. Grady winced but did not contradict her.
”I don't deny it, sweetheart,” Grady said. The intensity of his lowered voice sent a thrill of apprehension down her spine. ”I cannot control myself where you're concerned. Call it l.u.s.t or whatever you like, lady, just know that you're mine and you're going to return with me to the homestead when I leave Cheyenne.”
She answered quickly, over her choking, beating heart. ”You'll have to be more convincing than that.”
Grady's face went slack with disbelief then flushed with pleasure when he realized what her words implied. Without further hesitation he swept her into his arms.
Chapter Eighteen.
Storm experienced the same hot breathlessness she felt every time Grady touched her. The air around them seemed to be thickening, vibrating, turning dark with emotion. With an efficiency of movement Grady released the fastenings on her dress and bared her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His lips lowered slowly until they were hovering over the exposed flesh swelling in avid antic.i.p.ation of his next move. His breath was so warm she could feel her skin sizzling from the contact. Though he hadn't actually touched her b.r.e.a.s.t.s they felt heavy and full, the nipples engorged by the sweet abrasion of his breath.
”You're trembling; are you cold?” The smile in his voice told her he knew exactly what made her tremble.
His lips touched her flesh.
She made a strangled sound and involuntarily arched upward.
His warm wet tongue slashed over her right nipple. Made ultrasensitive by her pregnancy, the sensation was exquisite. When he s.h.i.+fted to caress the other nipple, Storm groaned in sheer delight.
Grady raised his head and looked deeply into her eyes. ”Your body has missed me.”
”I have no control over the response you force from my body.” No matter how much or how often Storm tried to deny her feelings, her body betrayed her.
”Am I convincing enough yet?”
”I'd rather you told me how you felt.”
”And I'd rather show you. I've missed you too.” His head lowered and his mouth closed on her left breast.
Storm gasped as the strong suction of his mouth created a fire in her blood she hadn't known since she left Oklahoma-pulling, drawing, his teeth gnas.h.i.+ng on the engorged nipple. The heat he was creating became a tingling ache between her thighs. Commanding the last of her dwindling strength, she tried to rise from the bed. She could see the pulse beating wildly in Grady's temple and his breath coming faster, harsher, as he s.h.i.+fted his weight off her. For a moment she thought he meant to let her go, but he merely pushed her back down and began to strip off his clothes.
In moments he stood before her naked, proud, magnificently aroused, and she stared at him in utter fascination. She could see Grady like this every day of her life until she grew old and never tire of the sight of him. He stood over her, all bronze masculinity, the powerful sinews cording his thighs, the smooth, tight musculature of his stomach, the taut roundness of his b.u.t.tocks. His blue eyes glowed with dark fire, his mouth heavy with sensuality. His eyes intent upon her face, he bent and stripped her bare.
She tensed, exposed, burning, as his gaze slowly slid down the length of her body. She clenched her legs tightly, but he merely smiled and shoved them apart, moving between them. His fingers began caressing her, ma.s.saging, then plunging into the center of her.
Her body arched up from the bed and she gave a tormented cry.
”Are you becoming more convinced?” He was breathing harshly, his muscles taut with tension, his face fierce as his long, hard fingers moved rhythmically in and out of her.
By now Storm was beyond speech as her head wagged from side to side. She begged him to end her torture, but Grady was just warming to his pleasurable task. Lowering his head, he touched his tongue where his fingers had been moments before.
”Grady!”
She tried to close her legs against this unorthodox intrusion, but Grady shoved them farther apart, settling more deeply into the cradle of her thighs as his mouth and tongue delved deeply into the sensitive core of her womanhood. He lashed her relentlessly until pleasure so intense it stole her breath shuddered through her. Allowing her no time to recover from the volatile release he had forced from her, Grady slid upward and thrust into her. His fullness stretched her, filled the emptiness of the past months without him-made her complete.
Wildness seized Grady as he plunged and thrust, long, hard, short, gentle, losing all control now as he felt Storm's moist heat surround and enfold him. She was just becoming accustomed to one tempo when he changed it to another, each stroke bringing her once again to the brink of madness.
Just when Storm thought she could stand no more, Grady added a new dimension to their loving when he kissed her deeply, his tongue moving wildly in her mouth to the same tempo as his thrusting below. He reached around and cupped her b.u.t.tocks, bringing her up hard to his every thrust.
”Hurry,” he breathed, raising his head. ”I can't wait much longer.” His expression was blissful agony, his nostrils flared as his thrusting hips grew more forceful with every movement.
Suddenly the tension broke and she surged upward convulsively.
Grady cried out and clutched her against him.
Spent and limp, Storm lay unmoving as Grady lifted himself from her and sank down on the bed beside her. His breath was still coming harsh and quick, his black hair tousled, making him appear amazingly young and vulnerable.
Storm's hand slid across her belly where her baby lay sheltered in her womb. The slight bulge beneath her fingertips reminded her that she hadn't told Grady yet about their child. She wasn't quite ready for that, she decided as she deliberately reached down and pulled the sheet over her nakedness. Grady still hadn't proved to her that he was finished with violence. For all she knew he would still partic.i.p.ate in gunfights with men who came to Guthrie to challenge him. Once he learned she was carrying his child she would be forced to return with him to Oklahoma. Both Blade and Shannon had promised they wouldn't tell Grady about her pregnancy until she was ready, and she hoped they intended to keep their word.
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