Hell on Wheels: A Loveswept Classic Romance (16 page)

Ah, hell, that she might be cold hadn’t even occurred
to him. Selfish to the end, always thinking about his own needs first. Well, not tonight, dammit. He would make this the best lovemaking she’d ever experienced.

In one swift move he stood and scooped her into his arms. He kissed the surprised look off her face before carrying her inside, slamming the door with his foot, not stopping until he reached the darkened bedroom.

He set her down and fumbled until he found the switch to the bedside light. A soft illumination filled the room. The double bed was as she’d left it that afternoon, blankets neatly tucked in, the edge of the white eyelet sheet folded back against the blue blanket. With one yank he undid her handiwork. It gave him a supreme sense of satisfaction to know he could now act out the fantasies that had tortured him earlier in this very room.

He would have fallen to the bed and dragged her with him, but the slightly dazed look on her face gave him pause. Slow down, he cautioned himself. He would scare Victoria to death, or more likely disgust her, if he went after her like a stallion in rut.

He ran his hands along the collar of her robe, then framed her face and kissed her as gently as he knew how. Her response was not gentle though. She came alive, all sweet, hot fire. Less tentative this time, she clung to him, her nails biting into his bare shoulders. She rhythmically rubbed the back of his calf with her foot.

He ran his hands along the sides of her neck, insinuating them beneath the robe and scooping it off her
shoulders. It fell at their feet, and she kicked it aside with an abandon he wouldn’t have thought possible, meeting his bold gaze with one of her own. He made quick work of the sleep shirt, sweeping it over her head, then pausing to feast his eyes on the gentle curve of her waist and the perfection of her breasts, creamy, soft-looking, the rosy tips hardened into pouty peaks. Without conscious thought he dipped his head and took one of her nipples into his mouth.

She gasped and trembled, then moaned as her knees gave way. If he hadn’t been holding on to her, she would have fallen.

“Whoa, there,” he said, moving her closer to the bed so she could sit down. He was awed by her response to him. “I never made a lady swoon.”

She looked up at him with liquid eyes and a tremulous smile. “That’s never happened before. It must be sensory overload.”

He laughed soft and low. “Honey, we haven’t even begun to get overloaded.” With that he flicked open the buttons on his jeans, watching her face all the while. Her eyes grew noticeably rounder as he freed his arousal from the confines of clothing. She didn’t say a word, but her gaze never left him.

When he’d shucked out of denim and cotton, he waited for her to climb under the covers and make room for him. When she didn’t, he realized she was taking all her cues from him. He wondered if she was inexperienced, or just unsure of herself where he was concerned.

He picked her feet off the floor and tucked them beneath the blankets, then walked around to the other
side of the bed and climbed in. “You’re not scared, are you?”

“A little,” she admitted. “Not scared, really, just apprehensive. I haven’t had time to get used to the idea, and it’s not something I take lightly.…”

He laid one hand on her tummy and rubbed slow, sinuous circles. His action silenced her. “Don’t be frightened. I would never do anything to hurt you. We’ll just take it slow.”

Victoria closed her eyes, concentrating on the hypnotic movement of his hand on her abdomen. No simple touch had ever felt so erotic. She would be content to lie there all night and revel in the simple gesture.

But Roan definitely wasn’t content with that. He trailed teasing fingertips up and down her arms, her neck, her face. He massaged her breasts, squeezing the nipples between his thumb and forefinger until she thought she would die from the exquisite pressure.

Each time she reached for him, wanting to explore his lean, sinewy body, he stilled her efforts by removing her hand or gently reprimanding her, insisting that she relax and let him pleasure her. She was too weak with wanting to argue.

By the time he slid her panties down her legs, she was an inch away from begging him to take her. She tried to urge him atop her, but he stubbornly resisted, laughing wickedly. “Man, you’re hot.”

She didn’t deny it. She could only hope he wouldn’t tease her about it later. She was going against every sensible bone in her body, and she didn’t care.

He stroked the brown curls at the apex of her thighs.
“I just don’t want to rush things. I want to be sure you’re—”

“I’m ready,” she said through gritted teeth. She’d been ready fifteen minutes before.

He slid his hand between her legs. She gasped as he parted the petals of her womanhood and teased her with one finger. “So you are.”

“Roan …” But she realized there was no reasoning with the man. Just as always, he had his own agenda and he wouldn’t be swayed from it. Well, fine. For once she couldn’t really find fault with his behavior.

“Tell me you want me,” he whispered, sliding his finger deeper inside her.

But she was beyond words, and the best she could do was moan his name.

He chuckled again, withdrew his hand, and covered her body with his. “I like the way you say my name,” he said between hot, wet kisses. “Your voice turns me on. Always has, from the first words out of your mouth.”

She responded by opening herself to him and settling him in the cradle of her thighs. He closed his eyes and grew still, as if savoring the moment of their union. Then he sought the warm haven she offered.

The moment he entered her, her concentration was focused purely on the hot center of her desire. She felt like she’d been hurled from a slingshot into a vast sea of pleasure, and in moments she reached a summit so divine, she thought she would die from it.

She was still reveling in wave after wave of ecstasy when Roan thrust three or four times and cried out, his whole body tensing as he found his release. The moment
was so intense, so unexpectedly swift, Victoria was stunned for a few moments. But gradually she floated down to earth. Her breathing slowed, her heart rate returned to something close to normal.

Then she giggled. “See what you get for making me so hot and bothered?”

“I think I made myself more hot and bothered than you. Just be still a minute,” he said when she moved her legs to a more comfortable angle. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“Mmm, I have no intention of leaving.”

He kissed her forehead and brushed her damp hair from her face. “You’re incredible. So beautiful.”

Embarrassed by his praise, Victoria said nothing. But he continued, telling her just how terrific she was in terms that grew more and more explicit. Pretty soon she caught on to his game and joined in, praising his virility, his exquisite skill as a lover. And she wasn’t exaggerating one bit. Every sexual encounter she’d had up till then—and there hadn’t been that many—seemed bland and featureless compared to this soul-wrenching union with Roan.

He stirred inside her, and she started to object, afraid he was going to pull away. But the stirring turned into a small thrust, then another, and another.

“That’s impossible,” she whispered.

“Oh, yeah?”

There was no denying that he was fully aroused once again. Victoria closed her eyes and went with it, moving with him, pulling him more deeply into her. Incredible, she thought. Pretty soon she discovered it was possible,
for him as well as her. He waited until she tipped over the edge of the universe, and then he joined her.

Victoria had never seen such stamina. By dawn she was exhausted, having made love, dozed, and made love until she’d lost count. Roan had just awakened her again by kissing her stomach and tickling the inside of her thigh.

She was tempted. But Nelva was an early riser, and Victoria would just as soon her mother didn’t see her exiting the guest cottage in her nightclothes as the sun came up.

Victoria ruffled Roan’s hair. “Come here, you, and kiss me properly.”

“Mmm, any way you say,” he said in a sleepy voice before obliging her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and opened herself to the kiss, acknowledging the syrupy warmth that spread through her body. Roan’s hand strayed to her breast, but she halted his gentle assault. “One would think you’re trying to get in a whole lifetime’s worth of sex in one night.”

“Maybe I am. Think of all the time we wasted, all those nights we spent in two motel rooms …” He kissed her neck and teased her ear with his tongue.

She wiggled and pushed him away. “Roan …”

He halted his attempted seduction and looked into her eyes, his face filled with concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, except it’s getting late …”

He smiled back, reminding her of a mischievous little
boy. “Oh. If that’s all …” He again fondled her breast, and this time she let him. His touch felt so familiar, as if they’d been lovers for years instead of hours.

But she couldn’t let him get too carried away. The sky was growing lighter with each passing minute. “Not that this isn’t lovely, Roan, but I really do have to go,” she said, dredging the words up despite the desire that bloomed inside her yet again. “I don’t want Mother to know.”

“Why not?” He teased her ear with his tongue. “You’re a big girl.”

“I’m still a little girl when it comes to my mother.” She tried to sit up. “Come on, the coach is about to turn into a pumpkin. It’s time for Cinderella to go back to her own castle.”

“Is this it, then?” he asked, his voice alarmingly flat and featureless. “Am I back to being a gentleman?”

Victoria smoothed his hair from his face. “You mean, should we go back to being friends and nothing more?” She giggled. “What are you, crazy? You think I’ll be able to walk away from the best night of my life and not look back? Don’t you have more faith in your seductive powers?” But she chose her next words carefully. “We still have the rest of the trip.” Not the rest of our lives.

A smile spread slowly across his face. “Sometimes you surprise the hell out of me, Vic. I was ready for you to turn all proper and insist we forget this ever happened.”

“I could never forget. No matter what else—” She cut herself off. “Want to drive into town today?”

He seemed taken aback by the abrupt change of subject. “Sure, I guess. What for?”

“I thought we might visit the drugstore.”

“Ohhh. Jeez, babe, I never even thought … you mean, you aren’t …”

She shook her head and shrugged helplessly. “I guess we should have discussed this earlier. If it’s any consolation, I have very regular cycles—”

He silenced her with a kiss. “I don’t think I want to hear this. Let’s not borrow trouble. We’ll go to the drugstore.”

She found it nearly impossible to pull herself out of the bed, but somehow she managed it. She left Roan stretched out on top of the covers, naked and uninhibited, grinning like a tomcat.
And well he should
.

She’d actually thought about protection earlier, but seeing no way to procure anything at that hour of the night, and unwilling to stop what she’d started, she’d pushed the thought from her mind. It was unlikely she would conceive at this stage of her cycle, but of course there was no guarantee. Oddly, the possibility of her carrying Roan’s child wasn’t nearly as upsetting as it should have been.

The next three days were the most idyllic Roan could remember. He and Victoria spent their days enjoying farm life and all its simple pleasures. They borrowed two horses from the neighbors and galloped through fallow fields, made homemade ice cream, fed the chickens, and collected eggs. He didn’t even mind
when Nelva, declaring they should earn their keep, pressed them into service weeding her flower garden.

Thoughts of his sister’s death plagued him relatively infrequently now. When he did think about Kim, the pain seemed a little less intense, the guilt less oppressive. He even entertained the possibility that he might deserve forgiveness. Someday. Maybe it was the healing touch of the sun and fresh air and an absence of stress, or maybe it was the fact that Victoria had accepted him warts and all. Whatever the reason, he felt better than he had in a long, long time.

At night Roan waited on the front porch of the guest house for Victoria to come to him. Each time he feared she wouldn’t show, that she would change her mind and see the foolhardiness of carrying on with someone like him, a man who couldn’t offer her the things she so richly deserved—a permanent home, stability, peace of mind. But each night she came, and they made love until they were too exhausted to move. By their fourth night together, even Roan was willing to admit he’d reached the limits of his sexual prowess. They lay together, sweating and spent, but instead of drifting to sleep as they usually did, Victoria decided she wanted to talk. About them.

It was the moment Roan had been dreading, because he didn’t have any answers for her.

“You know, this whole thing has been like a dream,” she said. “I don’t want to wake up.”

“Me neither. But the storms are calling you, right?” She’d been unusually focused on her computer earlier
that night, and Roan had guessed that something interesting was going on in the skies.

“The weather is heating up again. Amos won’t even give me a clue, but I think Missouri is a good bet for tomorrow. Of course, there’s no law that says we have to leave.…”

“We can’t stay with your mom indefinitely. She’s been more than hospitable, but she must be getting pretty sick of us by now. Besides, this is your one chance this year to chase storms, and I don’t want to keep you from it. We’ll still have nights on the road, right?”

“Yeah.…”

He was instantly alert. “You don’t sound too sure about that.”

“It’s just that when we leave here, I’m afraid the spell will be broken. I guess that sounds silly.”

“As a matter of fact, it does.” He leaned up on one elbow so he could see her clearly. “Victoria, I craved your body before we got here, and I’ll still be craving it when we leave. You’re not Cinderella, I’m definitely not Prince Charming, and I don’t believe in magic spells. I want you in my bed whenever, wherever we happen to be.”