Tears escaped from Elizabeth's eyes, falling like life-giving raindrops. Reece kissed her eyes, kissed her tears, tasting her heart's blood. Dear God in heaven, forgive me, he thought, but I can't be strong any longer. I can't walk away from this precious gift. I'm only human.
"What am I thinking, Elizabeth?"
Sweet, tingling warmth spread through her, quickly turning to hot excitement. Desire poured from Reece's, mind, desire so intense she felt it in every cell of her body. She shivered from the power of his thoughts.
"You... you want to make love to me." Elizabeth trembled, her body softening, her legs weakening. She swayed into Reece. He covered her mouth with his, taking her with tender fury. Wanting as he had never wanted in his life. Hungry for love. Desperate to claim this woman as his own.
Reece lifted her into his arms, his lips caressing her throat. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Elizabeth gave herself up to the moment, to the destiny neither of them could deny.
Chapter 9
Carrying her into the cottage, Reece held her close, secure in his arms, as he marched straight through the living room. He kicked open the partially closed bedroom door. Elizabeth tightened her hold around his neck, a sudden sense of fear mingling with the anticipation she felt.
Reece was going to make love to her. Now!
He lowered her slowly onto the old iron bed, laying her on top of the crocheted lace bedspread. With her arms still around his neck, she beckoned him downward. He spread his legs, placing his knees on each side of her hips, towering above her, gazing down into her flushed face.
Elizabeth had never known true desire before, had never wanted a man with desperate, mindless passion. Removing his coat, Reece threw it on the floor. Her feelings frightened her, making her wonder if she was prepared to give herself to Reece, to not only abandon her body, but to place her heart and soul into his safekeeping. By his own admission, he was not a man who knew much about love. Would he use her and then discard her after she'd served her purpose?
Elizabeth looked into his eyes, focusing, trying to connect with his mind. She perceived a need and a longing so incredibly intense that her own mind reeled from the power. Whatever else Reece felt was overshadowed by his masculine need to possess, to take, to dominate.
Elizabeth's hand trembled when she reached up to touch his face. "I'm afraid, Reece. I'm so afraid."
No! his mind screamed. Don't be afraid of me. Don't deny me. Not now. I'll die if you don't let me love you.
Shuddering from head to toe, Elizabeth blinked back tears. Dear God, she'd heard his thoughts!
"I'm not going to deny you anything," she told him. "Not now or ever. I want you to make love to me. I want to become yours. But... I haven't... this is my first..."
Circling her wrists, Reece lifted her hands from around his neck and lowered them to the pillow resting above her head. She trembled, her body arching up against his.
"I want to take you right now. Hard and fast." Reece rubbed his arousal into her aching femininity. "I hurt with wanting you, Elizabeth."
Desire, fear, love and uncertainty swirled around inside her. She nodded her head in understanding, giving him permission to do with her as he would.
Tightening his hold around her wrists, he lowered his head to her breasts, nuzzling her through her sweater. When her nipples beaded, he bit them through the heavy cotton material.
"I could do anything I wanted to do to you and you couldn't stop me." Reece stared down at her, his face void of emotion. "I'm bigger than you. Stronger than you. And folks around here will tell you that I can be a mean son of a bitch. You have every reason to be afraid of me."
Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, only a gasping breath.
He released her hands. "But I don't want you to be afraid of me. I want you to believe me when I tell you that I'd never hurt you. I'd never do anything you didn't want me to do."
She did believe him. She knew in her heart of hearts that Reece Landry would never harm her, that despite all the pain and bitterness inside him, he wanted and needed the love only she could give him.
"I trust you," she said.
He groaned, covering her body with his, burying his face in her neck. "Ah, Lizzie, I want to wait, to take my time, to make it good for you, but I don't know if I can. I'm close to losing it right now."
"It's all right, Reece. We have all night, don't we? The first time won't be the best for me, anyway, will it? So let me do the giving this time and you do the taking. Then next time, you give to me. You can-"
He covered her lips with a hot, hungry kiss, his body moving urgently against hers. She felt his hands at her breasts, kneading her through her sweater, then lifting the garment with great haste. Trying to help him, she rose up enough to accommodate the removal of her sweater. His mouth descended, taking one nipple, sucking, savoring, tormenting, while he pinched at the other nipple with his fingertips. Elizabeth moaned into his mouth, writhing as a savage warmth unfolded deep within her.
While Reece fought with the zipper on her jeans, Elizabeth unbuttoned his shirt, spreading it away from his body. She ran her hands over his chest, loving the feel of his springy chest hair, his tight male nipples, his hard muscles, his hot flesh.
Reece brought her zipper down, then tugged on her jeans until he pulled them over her hips and down her legs. He tossed them on the floor. He removed her panties with such haste that he ripped the thin cotton lace.
All the while he removed her clothes, he kept kissing her, tasting her mouth, running his tongue over her naked body, suckling her breasts, delving into her navel. Elizabeth explored Reece from neck to waist, glorying in the joy she found in his very masculine body, covering him with hot, excited little kisses.
Reece unbuckled his belt, unzipped his jeans and jerked them off, throwing them atop Elizabeth's on the floor. She slipped her hands beneath his shirt, scoring his back with her fingernails, delving beneath the waistband of his briefs to cup his buttocks. Reece groaned, his swollen manhood pulsating against the triangle of dark curls guarding her femininity. He jerked his briefs off and kicked them onto the floor.
"I can't wait, baby. I can't wait!" Reece clenched his teeth, grabbed her hips and lifted her up, seeking and finding the heaven between her thighs.
Elizabeth clung to his shoulders, her body arching to accept his invasion, welcoming him. Reece plunged into her, hesitating when he felt her tightness; then when she clasped his buttocks and pushed him into her, he completed his possession, taking her completely. She cried out, the sound an indrawn gasp. Reece stopped, waiting for her to accept him. Nothing had ever felt this good. Nothing!
Elizabeth was his now. She belonged to him. No other man had ever known the ecstasy of her sweet body.
"I hurt you, didn't I?" Despite the winter chill that filled the house, sweat beaded across Reece's forehead and on his upper lip.
Elizabeth rose enough to kiss his chest, his neck and then his chin. "I'm fine. You're the one who's hurting. Please let me take away that hurt, Reece."
On the brink of orgasm, Reece needed no further inducement. Her words prompted him to action, his big body tense as he thrust deeper and deeper into her satiny, gripping heat. Within seconds he cried out, spilling himself into her, shuddering with release.
Elizabeth ached with need, with wanting something she had never known with a man, wanting Reece to be the first and the only one to give her pleasure. When he fell to her side, holding her against him, Elizabeth stroked him, petting his chest, his hips and his thighs.