Wild Lilly (14 page)

She almost fell from his lap as he started to lurch to his feet. Grabbing her, he settled back down and demanded in a fierce voice, “Who told you that? I would never, ever hurt a woman. I just saw Estrella for the first time in a week this morning when I told her goodbye.”

Searching his face, she wanted so much to believe him. When she was in his arms, everything but his touch became unimportant. “Do you swear it?”

His grip on her tightened and he stared into her eyes. “I swear it. When we get back, I’ll take you to talk with Estrella.”

“That’s not nece—”

“Yes, it is. I don’t want you to think that I’d do such a horrible thing, not for a second. I don’t beat women to get them to do what I want. I’m not Lee Krisp.”

“Paul, please, I....” She paused, pieces of Eunice’s conversation falling into place and mixing with Paul’s statement.

“Oh, no...she wouldn’t.” She stared off into the river, green eyes wide with shock.

His grip on her arms tightened until it hurt and he turned her to face him. “Lilly, talk to me.”

“Eunice came by to see me this morning. She said some...not so nice things about you. Including the part about you breaking Estrella’s arm.”

“Eunice?” He asked, his dark eyebrows drawing down in confusion. “Why would she come see you and say that? Lee never lets her out of the house without him.”

She felt the cool tracks of her tears falling down her cheeks, a faint gust of wind drying them against her skin. “I think Lee forced her to come see me. Her back was torn up, and she made an excuse about falling into some barbed wire. She said you just wanted my land and that you’d beat me. She wanted me to leave you alone and go back East.”

He shifted beneath her, his hands dropping from her arms, curling into tight fists. “I’ve never hit a woman, ever. And I’ve never had to force a woman to do anything she didn’t want to do.” He searched her face with his eyes, his big body rigid with tension.

She tried to put her heart into her voice. “I know. Even when my mind started to believe her, my soul didn’t. That’s why I went for a ride.” Her hands gripped into fists as she recalled the last week. “They must have been watching me. Stupid dog, I mean Sampson, has been barking at the river the past few days. I thought it was some weird dog thing he did.” She covered her mouth with her fingertips. “When they saw me ride off into the brush, someone must have told Lee and he sent them after me.”

He cupped her face in his hands, stroking his rough thumbs over the delicate edge of her jaw. “Lee isn’t going to stop. He’ll do anything to get your land.”

She drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “I can’t believe how stupid I’ve been. I never thought people would try to hurt me. It must sound foolish to you, but things like this don’t happen where I’m from. Or maybe they do and I’ve been too sheltered to see it.”

“Don’t be ashamed of believing the best in people. If you didn’t, you never would have given me a chance.” Pain filled his voice, and frustration. She snorted against his shirt while he continued. “You know Lee is never going to stop. He married Eunice when she was fourteen, and she had her baby at fifteen. Their daughter was born mute, and Lee blames Eunice for it. The next three babies were stillbirths. He was always a bully and a hustler, but after the birth of his daughter and the loss of all those babies, something inside him broke. Now, his life is money and power, and he’ll crush anyone who gets in his way.”

Pushing against his chest, she tried to sit. He pulled her back and whispered in her ear, “Please let me hold you a little while longer. The entire ride out here I expected to find you dead.”

He plucked a long blade of grass and ran it over her cheek. She smiled gently at him, at peace in his arms. His lips quirked back in response, and she closed the distance between them, sucking on his lower lip and tasting the faint hint of mint on his breath. Firm hands gripped her bottom and pulled her closer.

“I like this dress. I can feel your skin through it, instead of your bustle.”

He kneaded his fingers firmly into her backside, pulling a groan out of her. The silky touch of his tongue parted her lips and she shifted in his lap, the low beat of pleasure moving through her blood. He pulled away to glance at the camp in the distance and turned back to her with a decidedly wicked smile. “Lay back on the grass, sweetheart.”

He lowered her, never losing contact with her lips. Before she could wonder what he was doing, he kissed his way down her neck, licking and biting at the sensitive flesh. She arched beneath him and buried her hands in his thick hair. He had always been passionate, but now he was fierce.

Through the soft hide of her dress, he gently squeezed her firm breast, running his thumb over her aching nipple. She sighed her pleasure into the sky, watching the branches of the tree above them move in the wind. With one hand still torturing her breast, he began to slide the other up her thigh, a gentle and gliding caress which made her legs part.

Clever fingers soothed her skin, but when he reached the top of her inner thigh, she tried to push his hand away. “Paul, what are you doing?”

He moved his lips to her ear, gently biting the tender lobe. “Trust me, sweetheart. I want to make you melt.”

Her lips quirked into a saucy smile that vanished when he nibbled her sensitive nipple through the dress. Melting sounded like a wonderful idea. Her limbs grew heavy with bliss as he slowly traced one rough finger over the damp curls between her quivering thighs. She tensed, and groaned as his touch soothed the ache, and made it so much worse.

He leaned back, watching her as he stroked slowly back and forth over her slit. “You’re so wet. Hot and slippery like liquid silk.”

She made a half-hearted attempt to pull the dress back down. “Paul, this is indecent! You must stop!”

Instead of moving back, he blew a warm breath over her slit. “Did you know there is a very special place on a woman’s body that if touched in the right way, can bring her unspeakable pleasure?”

Her heels dug into the ground as she tried to squirm away. Shame battled with a desire to let him continue, to find out exactly what he was talking about. “Let me go. Anyone can see us!”

He placed his free hand on her stomach, pinning her hips to the grass. Holding her gaze, he licked at her womanhood and the pleasure of the stroke of his tongue froze her in place. His lips tickled against her swollen flesh. “This little bud right here, at the top of your pussy, guarded by its soft little hood…” His fingers slipped through her slick folds, playing with her nectar, then began gently moving in a circular motion at the top of her mound. Instant pleasure had her toes curling and her hips pressing up into his touch. Paul continued calmly, “is called your pearl, or your bud. If handled the right way, it can make you orgasm, make you flood my mouth with the sweet honey of your release.”

“Paul, you’re scandalous.” Her breath came out in pants as she struggled against his dominating hold. Everything inside of her wanted to give in, wanted him to do wicked things with her body, but her strict upbringing made her protest. “You can’t possibly put your mouth down there. It’s obscene.” The last word came out in a breathy whisper as he returned to stroking her pearl. She could actually feel the blood rushing to her womanhood. She’d once found a scandalous novel hidden among the stacks of books at her college’s library, and even her quick peek inside hadn’t prepared her for this. Lovemaking should be done in the dark, in a bed, between a husband and wife.

“Please don’t. We aren’t married! I can’t lie with a man and give him the gift of my chastity until we are properly wed!”

Even as she protested, he shook his head between her legs, his lips skimming the sensitive flesh that begged for his touch. “I’m not going to do anything that will rob you of your maidenhead. I’m going to tip your velvet now, darling. I’m going to run my tongue over that sweet little pearl of yours until you moan my name. Please trust me with this.”

Her heart slammed into her chest and she turned her head to the side, shame burning in her cheeks. He spread her legs wider and hiked the dress over her hips for better access.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

He slid one finger between her nether lips. Pleasure rocked through her body when he began to caress her bud. “Oh, God,” she gasped. The tension in her body doubled as he smoothed some of her cream over the nub and began to rub it gently. This surely had to be a sin. What he was doing to her body was unnatural. He traced small circles around her pearl, never quite touching where she needed, making her body ache with desire until every swipe of his tongue was a pleasure that almost bordered on pain.

She arched her hips, beyond thought and reason, seeking something to ease the fierce desire. “Please, Paul.” She meant to ask him to stop, to take his sinful mouth away from her, but those words died in her throat when he lapped at her slit with a hungry growl. The sensation of him feasting on her shocked her to her core, awakening her to a pleasure she’d never dreamed of.

He leaned up and kissed her, long and deep so she could taste herself on his lips, while he continued to torment her with his wickedly skillful fingers. “My pleasure,” he murmured against her mouth.

His hands moved away, and were replaced by his tongue. She sat upright, gasping in shock as he gripped her hips and brought her back to his wonderful mouth. Her breath came in short pants as her body rocked against his lips. He lapped at her core, long and slow licks from top to bottom, like a man eating a peach.

“You taste so good,” he sighed in-between licks. “Fresh like rain.”

The heat in her blood began to overwhelm her when he fastened his lips around her bud and began to gently suck. She lost herself in the rhythm of his tongue, cries of delight escaping her lips as his hold on her hips tightened. It was so good, so beyond anything she ever imagined. She began to shudder against his mouth, and gripped his head with a wordless cry.

The pleasure seemed to peak, to fill her head like the rush of a waterfall, making her blind and deaf to anything but the sensation of his rhythmic sucks on her pearl. She hovered, instinctively straining for something more. When his finger gently probed the entrance to her vaginal sheath her body seized with an unbearable tension, then shattered into waves of pleasure while she ground herself against his lips. He continued to lick at her, gentle strokes of his tongue that made her twitch and shudder. Her whole body seemed to throb and a bliss washed through her limbs, making her soft and pliant in his grasp.

She lay against the grass, limp and spent. He gave her one more lick that pulled a shudder from her body. Lying next to her, he held her close while his hands moved in a restless dance over her body.

“What was that?” she asked in a ragged whisper, the nerves of her body still buzzing with delight.

“Your, uh…release. Your orgasm.” He nibbled on the back of her neck and she could smell her musk on his breath. The scent at once shamed and delighted her as he used that talented tongue of his to lick at the side of her jaw. “Thank you for trusting me to give it to you.”

She flushed, feeling incredibly naïve, but she had to ask. “Am I-I’m still a virgin?”

His chuckle had a harsh edge to it that made her shiver. “Yes, you are still intact. Just aware now of what your body can do.” His voice dropped an octave and he stroked her fingers. “When you’re alone, you can rub your pearl and think about me, make yourself orgasm as you think about my mouth on that pretty cunny.”

“Paul,” she said in tone that should have been scolding, but instead came out in a breathless whisper. He took her hand in his and used the tip of her finger to rub a little circle pattern on her belly. Her body clenched as she realized that he was teaching her the motion he used, showing her how to mimic his touch.

She could feel the evidence of his arousal like a piece of steel against the curve of her backside. Feeling bold, she moved against him and smiled when he groaned and thrust back.

“Lilly, please. I am trying to behave myself.” His words were offset by another thrust against her backside, a groan rumbling in his chest as she wiggled back. With a muttered oath, he pulled her dress back into place and gave her bottom a swat.

She rolled over and gave him a slow kiss, tasting herself on his lips. “That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever felt.”

He gave her a pleased smile and nuzzled her cheek. “Thank you for trusting me.”

They enjoyed another long kiss, drinking each other in as she pressed her body to his. Before things could go any further, three sharp whistles from the camp pierced the air.

They stood and Paul helped to dust her off and remove some blades of grass and leaves that had become stuck in her braid. He placed his hands on her hips and turned her to look at him, his expression unusually grave. “Lilly,” he said in a hesitant voice and ran his hand down her side. “Would you consider selling your land to me?”

The words dampened her feeling of bliss and she frowned up at him. Of all the times to talk about selling her land, this wasn’t one of them. She considered stomping on his foot, but her moccasin versus his boot would leave her with a sore foot. Instead she put some ice into her reply. “Paul, you know I want to hold onto that land.”

The hand stroking her side paused, then resumed. “Lilly, as long as you own that land, Lee will keep coming after you. I won’t be able to keep you safe. The thought of you being harmed, and me unable to protect you....” His voice broke on the last word and she held his cheek in her hand.