B00CQUPUKW EBOK (25 page)

“Oh, my sweet wife,” Bryce groaned.  He caught her arms and crisscrossed them above her head.  Their wedding bands joined with a soft click as he laced his fingers with hers and pinned their clasped hands to the mattress.

Moonlight and firelight bathed the tortured contours of his passion-filled face.

He slowly withdrew to her opening then slammed into her, harder and deeper than he’d done before.  He rotated his hips in a circular motion against hers, magnifying the wet friction of their mating dance.  A pearl of sweat dripped from his chin unto her chest.  The room began to spin around her.  Kaya’s eyes closed and her mouth opened in a silent scream as he withdrew slowly again, then plunged into her, so deeply he moved the air mattress a couple of feet along the cherry floor.

Her back arched.  A new flood of tears stung her eyes.  Her heart rumbled in her ears.

On the third thrust, he let out a furious roar and collapsed on top of her, his body convulsing violently, his hips pumping wildly in the throes of his orgasm.

Those final thrusts sent spasms of ecstasy humming from Kaya’s heart to her toes.  Her thighs and legs shook violently around his waist; her toes curled and her fingers tightened around his to the point of pain.  Her body constricted as taut as a bowstring as her wet flesh parted on his final thrust, then closed around him, sucking him into her, gripping him, holding him cozily and deeply inside until her heart and body exploded into a kaleidoscope of blinding heat just as he flooded her womb with the hot liquid of his release.

Harsh sounds erupted from them as they lay in a tangled, convulsing web of wet exhaustion, panting for air.

A long while later, Kaya kissed the side of Bryce’s head resting on the mattress close to her cheek.  So this was what it was all about.  No books or videos could have prepared her for this exquisite liberation of her body, mind, and spirit.  She was completely satiated, yet oddly hungry for more of him.

The cream was on the pudding.  More precisely, inside it.

Kaya tightened her arms about Bryce’s drenched body and ran her fingers down the slick muscles of his back.  He was a heavy man, but she loved the feel of his weight on her, the rapid, yet soothing thud of his heart against hers.  It was the only way she could ever carry him.

He made a sound deep in his throat when her muscles contracted around him.  Even though he’d decreased in size, it still stretched and filled her to completion.

Kaya gazed out the wall of windows.  A full moon was peeking its way through the line of pine trees that bordered the lake.  In a few hours she would have to leave this bed and return to life as it was before.  But for now, she would enjoy this new experience of the aftermath of lovemaking.

She started when Bryce rolled over on his back and pulled her on top of him without breaking the union of their sexes.  He sat up briefly, searched around for the tangled duvet, and yanked it up and over them.

He kissed her forehead and settled back down.  “You okay?” he asked, stroking his hands down the length of her body.

“Perfect.”

“I didn’t hurt you too much?”

“You were as gentle and patient as a man could possibly be in this situation.  I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.  What about you?” she dared to ask.  “Did you enjoy every second of it?”

“Oh, God, yes.  You’re a very sensual woman, Kaya Fontaine, highly charged.  I just have to touch you and you begin to tremble, kiss you and you come all over yourself and me,” he said with a soft chuckle.

Kaya shivered at the tender feel of his hands on her body.  Her skin loved his hands.  “I guess that’s a good thing?”

“The best.  It’s been a very long time since I made love like this, Kaya.  Years, actually,” he added with a hint of desolation in his voice.  “I know you worry about the women I’ve been with over the past few years.  Don’t, my darling.  With them, it was just sex.  You satisfy me, you complete me in a way I never expected to be satisfied and completed again.”

He didn’t have to say it, but Kaya knew he was referring to his time with Pilar.  She wasn’t jealous of the woman, just sad that Bryce had to go through the horrible experience of her death.  She was grateful he felt comfortable enough to be honest with her.  “I didn’t expect this tonight,” she said on a lighter note. “You were supposed to be drunk and stupid and back at your penthouse.  But here you are sober, satiated, and in my arms.”

“Maybe I was a little stupid for calling you out in front of our friends.  I’m sorry for that.”  He squeezed her.  “I was just wound very tightly with my need for you, for this.”

“It’s okay,” Kaya said.  If he hadn’t called her out, Michelle and Libby wouldn’t have given her advice about making the next move, and she wouldn’t be in his arms right now.  “I have no regrets.  But you seemed quite drunk when you left the table, yet you definitely have your wits about you.”

He chuckled.  “I was just putting on a show for the others.  I’d decided to stay here before the evening began.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t want to leave you here alone, and since this is Alyssa’s first night away from home, I wanted to be here in case she woke up crying for you during the night.  I told Michelle to call my cell if she did.  I would have gone to bring her home.”  He stroked his hand down her hair, playing with the tendrils, spreading them over his chest.

Tears escaped from the corners of Kaya’s eyes and melted into the hairs on his chest.  No wonder she loved this man.  He was thoughtful to his core.  He risked her hearing his nightmare to make sure she was safe and that Alyssa was taken care of.

In Kaya’s eyes, Bryce Fontaine was a true hero.  But sometimes heroes were just as lonely, vulnerable, and scared as the people they protected.  Sometimes, heroes needed someone to rescue them.  She wanted so much to ask him about the scene she’d walked in on, but knew this wasn’t the time.

They’d just shared something wonderfully new and present; she didn’t want to bring his shattering old past into it.  “I’m glad you stayed, Bryce.”  She pressed her lips into his chest.

“Me too.”  He cradled her face in his hands and raised her head.  He rubbed his thumbs across her cheeks, wiping at a lingering tear.  “Thank you for this unexpected, beautiful gift,” he said, his eyes intent as they bore into her very soul.  “I could never have hoped for anything so precious.  I cherish you and our vows even more now.  I hope you believe that.” 

Before Kaya could respond, he kissed her lips softly then placed her head tenderly back on his chest.  “Sleep now,” he murmured, wrapping his arms possessively and protectively about her.  “You must be exhausted.”

Moments later, his breathing grew calmer and, finally asleep, he slipped softly from inside her.  Her body missed him terribly, but her senses were filled with the smell of sex and love.  He would have no other nightmares tonight.

A smile spread across Kaya’s face as she surrendered to the thick blanket of fatigue hovering over her.  She didn’t know making love was such hard work.  But it was a leisure in which she looked forward to indulging herself over and over again.

“I love you, Bryce,” she whispered into the night as her eyelids fluttered shut.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Bryce awoke to the soft, warm body of his wife tucked securely against him, the tempting swell of her buttocks pressed into his stomach, his morning erection trapped between their tangled thighs, and the aromatic aftermath of a long night of passion wafting up his nostrils.

He remained quiet and motionless, savoring the simple delight of awakening with a woman—
his woman
, in his arms.

He hadn’t had that for some time.  Not since Pilar.

He’d had sex with many women over the past few years, but he’d never
slept
with one.  He’d always been anxious to leave their beds when his lust was slaked.

Things changed for him last night.  When he’d made the decision to sleep at
L’etoile du Nord
, he’d had no idea he’d be making love with Kaya, but once she was in his bed, there was no turning back.  Once it was over, he’d honestly intended to steal away from the bed and the house after she fell asleep.  But some unknown force had kept him grounded.

His wings had been clipped, and he didn’t mind one damn bit.  He’d finally found a cozy nest that made him feel at home, that offered him warmth from the cold, shelter from the storms of his life.

Only now he realized how much he missed this intimacy of lazing around in bed the morning after a night of passion, of making love in front of the fireplace while snow or rainstorms raged outside.  He missed the simple pleasure of going into the office with a smile on his face, knowing his woman was waiting at home for him at the end of the day.

Bryce sighed deeply and tightened his arms about Kaya, grateful that their time of separation had come to an amazing end.  He’d so wanted to spare her from the speculations surrounding their marriage he knew were fueled by his continued residency at Hotel Andreas.  He’d wanted to move into
L’etoile du Nord
after they were married, but he couldn’t when his nightmares had been resurrected and were still so fresh.  He wasn’t ready to discuss Pilar with his new wife.  He couldn’t bear Kaya’s pity or her sympathy.

But as fate would have it, she offered him neither of those emotions.  Instead, she gave him love in the purest, most innocent and passionate form.

She must have been curious about his nightmares and his screams ringing through the night, yet she’d asked no questions.  He was certain she knew he’d been dreaming about Pilar, the wife he still loved, yet she hadn’t turned away from him.  She’d loved him instead.

I love you, Bryce
.

Bryce closed his eyes and opened his heart as the whisper of those four little words caressed his tormented soul.

Kaya loved him
.

Her declaration had reverberated through him again and again long after she was asleep.

Her love had kept his nightmares away at least for the rest of the night.  He’d never been able to fall back to sleep after being jarred awake.  But he had last night.  Kaya had calmed him.

Bryce’s mind reeled from the pleasure of his serendipitous discovery.  Of all the things he could have imagined Kaya to be, a virgin was not one of them.  He’d tried to go slowly then, but once he’d been sheathed inside her tight heat and felt her velvet muscles contracting around him, he’d lost all control.  

Bryce gritted his teeth.  That jerk of her ex-boyfriend had lied to him.  If he ever laid eyes on that worm again, Bryce swore he’d choke the life out of him.  He was so happy Kaya had had enough sense not to let that weasel touch her.  She would never know what he’d witnessed in her apartment the night he’d flown down to Florida to confront Jack.  The thought of it still made his blood curdle.

Even before he’d returned home or knew that there was a second will that gave him custody of the children, Bryce had decided to marry Kaya in order to keep her in Granite Falls, far away from Jack.  He was determined to bring her under the protection of his house and his name.  After what happened to Pilar, no one would dare question his motives when it came to protecting his wife.

Bryce held his breath as Kaya turned completely around in his arms. 

He gazed down at her delicate face bathed in the early morning sunlight streaming through the glass wall.  She was so beautiful, and she was his.  He kissed her forehead and stoked his hand down her back.

“Hmm,” she murmured, and snuggled closer to him.

He bent his head and kissed her lips.

Her eyelids fluttered open, and her chocolate eyes peeked up at him.

“Hey, you,” he said, smiling at her.

“Hey.”  She seemed confused for a moment then color rose to her cheeks when his erection brushed the insides of her thighs.  Her lashes crash-landed and her chin dropped to her chest.

“Oh, no,” Bryce said, hooking a finger under her chin and raising her face.  “You don’t get to play coy, Mrs. Fontaine.  Not after the night we just shared.  You practically seduced me.”

“I seduced you?”  She was immediately on the defense.  “The way I remember is you had a nightmare.  I came to wake you up.  You knocked me over.  Held me prisoner in your arms.  Made me take my panties and your boxers off, and had your way with me.  I didn’t seduce you, Mr. Fontaine.  You seduced me.”

“Oh yeah, you’re right.  I did do that, didn’t I?  I’m sorry.  Wouldn’t happen again.”

“I’m sure you are.  And it better happen again.”  She socked him playfully.  

“Ouch,” he uttered on a laugh.  He captured her hand and flattened her palm against his chest.  Compared to him, she was so small.  His protective instincts mounted inside him.  He caught her other hand and laced his fingers with hers, their wedding bands fusing together like their bodies had fused last night.  He wondered if she remembered saying she loved him, or if she knew he’d heard her.

Bryce had declared his love for only one woman in his lifetime, and he’d been unequivocally certain when he’d spoken the words.  He cared about Kaya; he enjoyed being around her, and now with her, but he didn’t know if he loved her.  He’d closed his heart to love and bared it to lust for so long that he’d forgotten what love felt like.

 “I was dreaming about Pilar when you woke me last night,” he said, feeling it was time his current wife knew about his late wife.  Maybe opening up to Kaya would help clear the cobwebs from his mind.  “I was dreaming about the night she died.”

“I know.”  She squeezed his hand.  “Do you have the nightmares often?”

Bryce gave the room a swift sweep of his eyes.  It was the one floor of the house he never had the heart to finish after Pilar died.  This is the place where they would have fallen asleep each night and awakened each morning locked in each other’s arms, just the way he was locked with Kaya right now.

He took a moment to let that awareness sink into his brain.  It wasn’t as troubling as he’d expected, but surprisingly comforting instead.

“You don’t have to talk about it,” Kaya said.

“I want to,” he responded, realizing she’d taken his silence as hesitation to talk about Pilar.  “One of the reasons I don’t live in this house is because it reminds me of Pilar.”