JAKrentz - Witchcraft (11 page)

"Yes," she managed breathlessly, answering all the questions he had asked, both implied and explicit. "Oh, yes,
Cavenaugh
."

"Oh, God, Kim. Come to me, lady, and let me make love to you. I've been aching for you. You don't know what it's been like having you in my house but not in my bed." The ardent plea unlocked the last of her reserve. Kimberly wrapped her arms around him and made no protest when he pushed the cotton shirt up over her head. Her loosened bra fell to the floor and
Cavenaugh
inhaled sharply as he drank in the sight of her breasts. "Firm and ripe." He ran his thumbs over her budding nipples. "Just like my grapes a t harvest. I want you so much, sweetheart." Nestling her head against his chest, Kimberly closed her eyes and let the enthralling sensations sweep through her. Vaguely she was aware of
Cavenaugh
lowering her to the floor. She felt him spread the suede jacket under her before he urged her onto her back. And then he was lying beside her, undoing the fastening of her jeans. "We're all alone," he rasped. "Just you and me. It's perfect. Absolutely perfect. You're perfect." She smiled up at him, her eyes glowing with feminine mystery behind her half-lowered lashes. "I didn't think it could ever work between us ... "

"Just let me do the thinking now, Kimberly. I'll take care of you. I'll make it good for you. I swear it." His palms tugged at the tight-fitting jeans until they were forced down over her hips. He dragged the bikini underpants along with them.

A moment later she lay naked. Her body flushed under the heat of the desire she could read in him. Tremulously she put her fingers on the buttons of his work shirt. He rested his palm possessively on the flat of her stomach as she fumbled with the task of undressing him. "You're shaking like a leaf," he observed with passionate amusement. "I know."

"Are you afraid of me?"

"Do I look afraid?" He lowered his head to taste one of her throbbing nipples. "You look beautiful."

"
Cavenaugh
, I'm not the only one who's shaking. Are you afraid of me?"

"I probably should be," he growled, letting his fingers glide down to the juncture of her thighs. "Any sane man is afraid of witches." He seemed fascinated with the way her body moved instinctively under his hand. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and then began to struggle with his jeans. But he grew impatient with her fumbling and sat up to finish the job.

Kimberly took in the sight of his completely nude body, fascinated by his obvious need. Strong and hard and powerful, he gathered her close, letting her feel every tough plane and angle of him. His fingers shaped her curves, exploring the softness of her as if discovering something totally unique. His unabashed delight in her was intoxicating, Kimberly discovered. She'd never experienced such excitement and anticipation.

It was all swirled into a pervasive warmth that captured her senses. "I want you," she finally choked. "You sound astonished," he murmured as he forced her legs provocatively apart with his hand. "I am. I've never wanted someone like this," she admitted in absolute honesty. As if her words were more than he could resist,
Cavenaugh
moved, sprawling along the length of her, finding a place for himself between her thighs. The heat of him burned into her skin and the heaviness of his smoothly muscled body was a glorious, crushing weight that seemed to excite every inch of her. Kimberly caught her breath on a sob of expectation mixed with a strange trepidation as she felt his hardness poised on the brink of her feminine core. His hand moved between them briefly, teasing the exquisitely sensitive region until she cried out and sank her nails into his shoulders. "You're so sweet, so ready for me,"
Cavenaugh
muttered in tones of masculine wonder. "Do you really want me so much, witch?"

"Yes, ah,
Cavenaugh
, yes!" And then he was thrusting deeply into her, the impact of him making itself felt throughout her body. Hot, demanding, deliciously overpowering,
Cavenaugh
took possession of her in a way that made him as much her captive as she was his. Kimberly clung to the man above her, holding him close with legs that wrapped around him and arms that were silken bonds.
Cavenaugh
moved into her, claiming her body with elemental passion, giving her all of himself in return.

The rhythm of his lovemaking claimed her and she was meshed in perfect harmony with his own pulsating desire. When her body tightened in warning of the impending climax, Kimberly called
Cavenaugh's
name and he buried his mouth against her breast. She felt his teeth against her skin and the sensation sent her over some invisible edge. "Oh, my God,
Cavenaugh
!"

"Now, Kim. Give me everything now. I'll keep you safe."

She shimmered beneath him and before the delicate convulsions had rippled completely through her body he was following her, huskily shouting his own release. Kimberly sank down into a gentle oblivion, unaware of the hard floor beneath her, unaware of the unromantic surroundings provided by the old shed. She knew only that she had shared the most profound sense of intimacy that she had ever experienced. It might prove a fleeting thing, but while it lasted it was incredible. And in that warm, vulnerable moment she was certain that Darius
Cavenaugh
had felt everything she had felt. The relationship between them was changed for all time.
Cavenaugh
slowly released himself from her body, moving onto his side so that he could gather her against him. His cradling arm felt warm and comfortable and strong. "Are you going to be furious with me later?" he asked evenly, green eyes poring over her love-softened face. Mutely she shook her head. "For making love to me? No,
Cavenaugh
. It felt ... right." His mouth crooked gently. "I knew it was going to be like this."

"Did you?" She twisted lazily in his arms. "You should have told me."

"I think I tried to on a couple of occasions but you weren't listening."

"Ah,
Cavenaugh
. How was I to know?" she asked simply. He leaned down and brushed his mouth against her lips. "In the future you'll just have to trust me to know what's best for you." She smiled mischievously. "I wouldn't dream of putting so much responsibility on your shoulders. You've already got more than enough to worry about."

"More than enough?"

"
Ummm
." She ran her fingers through his silver-tinged hair. "I've seen the way everyone in the household and on the estate turns to you for advice and help on even the most trivial matters. And you always stop and give it. It's a wonder you have time to get any of the winery's real business done." He exhaled slowly, as if enjoying the lingering moment of total relaxation.

"I suppose you're right in a sense. When I arrived two years ago everything was in such chaos that I had no option but to become totally involved both with what was left of the family and the business. People had been floundering. Julia's marriage was in a mess, Scott was having emotional problems because of his father's rejection of him, Aunt
Milly
was distraught over my father's death, the employees feared for their jobs and the wine wasn't doing well in the markets. On top of that, the estate was going into bankruptcy."

"So you stepped in and took over responsibility for everything and everyone. You did your family duty, and now you're trapped by that duty." The brackets at the edges of his mouth tightened slightly. "I don't see myself as trapped, Kim. I chose to do it." Instantly she was sorry she'd phrased her words the way she had. "It doesn't matter whether duty chose you or you chose it. Your life has been completely changed by it. What was it like during the days you ran that import-export business?"

"I'm sure you'd describe my life-style back then as considerably freer than it is now," he said easily. Absently he stroked slow circles on her arm. "A lot of traveling with basically only myself and Starke to think about. And Lord knows Starke can take care of himself."

"Where on earth did you find him?"

"In the middle of a street riot in some miserable little country in the Middle East. I was in town making a deal for some rugs and Starke was there to ... well, another kind of deal. We were both in the wrong place at the wrong time. Things got nasty and by the time it was over we were partners. Two years ago when I decided to take over the winery after my father died, he opted to come with me."

"You must be close friends."

"Depends how you describe close friends, I guess. I probably know him as well as anyone, but there's a hell of a lot no one will ever know about Starke."

"Why did you go into business for yourself? How did you escape being groomed to take over the winery?" Kimberly asked. "I had no interest in the winery when I was growing up.

I wanted to do something more exciting with my life. I wanted adventure and action and the challenge of making my own fortune."

"And you found all that?"

"Oh, yes,"
Cavenaugh
agreed with a cryptic smile. "I found it."

"But when the chips were down, you came back to assume your responsibilities to your family." Some of the warm intimacy disappeared from
Cavenaugh's
green eyes. "You have a way of making family responsibilities sound like a grim fate to be avoided at all costs."

"Maybe it's just because I know how twisted they can become."
Cavenaugh
appeared to be sorting through his next words. "Kim, if your father had really loved your mother he wouldn't have given her up to please his family. And he wouldn't have spent the rest of his life pretending you didn't exist. He would have fought to make his parents accept you and your mother ... Blame his own weakness for what he did to her, not his sense of family responsibility." Kimberly suddenly became very aware of a certain chill invading the old shed. "I think we're about to lose our sunny afternoon," she observed with a lightness she was far from feeling. "Clouds are starting to form."
Cavenaugh
levered himself up beside her, slanting her a speculative glance. "Which, translated, means you don't want to talk about the situation regarding your grandparents, right?" "
Cavenaugh
, I always said you do have some amazing powers of perception." He finished pulling on his jeans and reached down to help her to her feet, his eyes lingering on her full breasts as she fastened her shirt. "You have some amazing powers, yourself, witch. I feel like a new man this afternoon." His words halted her
em
otional
withdrawal. Kimberly looked up at him and felt a return of the warmth she had been feeling earlier. But what she felt for him now, she thought fleetingly, went far beyond warmth or even passion for that matter. Deliberately she thrust the realization aside and smiled brilliantly. "I hope I was a more interesting tonic than some of those concoctions Ariel is always serving up."

"You're much more than a tonic, Kim, and you know it." He took her hand. "Come on, honey, much as I hate to end this very satisfying idyll, I'm afraid we have to get back to the house. I've got a thousand and one things that have to be done this afternoon."

"Winery business?"

"Right. There's a new marketing plan that I've got to go over and a report from the accountant's office."

"It can't have been easy pulling the
Cavenaugh
Vineyards out of the red these past two years," Kimberly observed slowly as she allowed him to lead her back toward the house. "It's been a challenge," he agreed dryly. He didn't release her hand after they came within sight of the house. Instead he clasped her fingers tightly in his own all the way through the garden and up to the back door. Anyone watching from the house could not have missed the intimacy. And anyone watching would probably be able to guess how she and
Cavenaugh
had just spent the past hour, Kimberly realized uneasily. A part of her went on the defensive when she saw Julia hovering in the hall. But Julia did not appear to be the slightest bit concerned that her brother might have just made love to their house guest. She greeted them both cheerfully and glanced at
Cavenaugh
with obvious relief. "Oh, there you are, Dare. I've been looking for you. Aunt
Milly
and Ariel want to invite half the world to this party we've been planning, and I said I'd check with you."

"No one gets invited who isn't personally known to either you or me, Julia, you know that. I don't want any strangers in the house until those kidnappers have been caught."

"That's what I told them you'd say.

They're working up a guest list now for you to go over. Oh, and Scott has been scouring the place for you, too. He wants you to help him add a new section to his train track. And I was wondering if you'd talk to that car dealer for me. I'm not getting anywhere with him. He simply won't fix that problem in the transmission free of charge. Claims it's not under warranty. I know he'll back down if you deal with him." "Uncle Dare, Uncle Dare," Scott excitedly, tearing around the corner with a miniature train tunnel in one hand. "I've been looking for you. Come and help me set up my new tunnel." Before
Cavenaugh
could respond, Aunt
Milly
appeared in the hall, the ever-present Ariel right behind her. "Here's the preliminary guest list, Dare. Julia said you'd want to go over it. We have to get the invitations out soon so we were hoping you'd get a chance to look at it this afternoon."
Cavenaugh
reluctantly extended his hand to take the list. "All right, Aunt
Milly
. Scott, let's take a quick look at that train track. Julia, get me the dealer's phone number and I'll--" It was too much. After two full days in the
Cavenaugh
household, Kimberly knew things were always like this. It was time to put a stop to it. She stepped forward and removed the guest list from
Cavenaugh's
hand. When he glanced at her in surprise she smiled serenely and turned to the others. "I'm afraid
Cavenaugh
doesn't have time to worry about the guest list or the car dealer this afternoon. He has to go over a marketing report and some papers from the accountant." She glanced pointedly at her watch. "It's only three-thirty on a Wednesday afternoon. A time when every other executive in the country is concentrating on business.