Passionately Yours (Hellions of High Street 3)

Caro’s sweetly sensuous smile was far more luminous than the dancing flames. “And I you.”

A fierce longing seized him. Need. Want. Desire. And yet, the realization that this was not a last desperate grasp for a fleeting moment of happiness left him a little giddy, as if he had drunk too much champagne.

He reached up, skimming his palms slowly, tenderly over the length and breadth of her creamy skin, committing to memory every dip and curve of her lithe body. The rounded shape of her bottom, the inward sweep of her waist, the swell of her breasts, the perfect dusky pink points of their nips, hardening beneath his palms.

Ye gods, she was so achingly lovely.

Their eyes met and a sound rumbled in his throat—a laugh, a groan, a cry of exultation?

What did it matter? All that counted was Caro.

She leaned down, taking his mouth in a hot, hungry kiss. Her fingers stroked over his chest, twining through the coarse curls, tracing over muscles, dipping down over his ribs.

His blood was pulsing through his veins, and as their tongues twined, deepening their play, he was no longer thinking of going slowly. Grasping her slender waist, he broke off the embrace to raise her from his sweat-slickened belly. For an instant, a lick of cool air tickled between their fire-kissed bodies, then he thrust upward.

“Ye gods, ye gods.” A groan—definitely a groan—wrenched from deep within his chest as he sheathed himself to the hilt in her tingling warmth.

Heat surged through her. Gasping at the ebb and flow of new sensations, Caro watched the wildly flickering shadows of their silhouettes dance across the wind-carved stone.

The two of them, their passions joined. She wanted to make the moment last forever.

This fullness, this friction, making her so intimately aware of her body, and his. Suddenly aware she could set the rhythm of their lovemaking, she rocked back, slowly at first, then faster, faster.

Alec responded with a ragged growl. His body quivered, his hands roved eagerly over her thighs. Then he delved between her legs, his touch found her peak, just above their joining, and all at once her cries were thrumming against the surrounding stone. Waves of pleasure rose in her as he filled her again and again. She slid her fingers through his hair, twining with the salt-damp silky strands.

A primal joy clenched within her.

Alec.

She tightened her legs around his hips, riding him hard. His gaze swirled with smoke and lightning flashes of gold and sapphire. His face, so beautiful in the sputtering light, mirrored her own wondrous joy.

Rising to match her need, he quickened his strokes. The tension coiling within her was becoming unbearable.

“Caro.” He called her name, his voice ragged with need. Beneath her, his hips bucked, and as she arched back the fierce pounding of her heart overwhelmed the fury of the drumming rain.

Dark and light—shadows and flames spun together in a whirling dervish dance of desire. The fire sparked and crackled, and in the next instant she came undone.

The first pale rays of dawn crept into the cave, softening the deep shadows. A damp chill misted the early morning air, but as Caro came slowly awake, the first thing she felt was the steady pulse of Alec’s warmth resonating along the length of her body.

She shifted slightly, smiling at the new sensation of her limbs entangled with his.

“Hmm.” Alec stirred with a lazy yawn and propped himself up on one elbow. “Awake, are you?”

“Yes.” She snuggled closer. “But I’m thinking of falling back into a slumber. For a week, or maybe a month.”

“A pleasant idea,” he drawled. “Assuming our bed were made of something softer than stone.” He gave a mock groan. “I think I am getting too old for roughing it in the wild.” A kiss feathered against the nape of her neck. “Besides, the next time I make love to you, I promise it will be in more elegant surroundings.”

“I don’t care about the surroundings.” Turning, she pressed her palm to his chest. “I care only about you.”

Alec gave a grimace as he rubbed at his bristled jaw. “Even though I look like a wild Highland savage?”

“I thought the savage Scots painted their faces blue.” She leaned in closer and brushed her lips to his cheek. “And unless I am much mistaken, yours is a glorious shade of sun-kissed bronze.”

“I would demand a more detailed explanation of that hue from you,” he said. “However, if I don’t coax the fire to life, I fear my skin shall indeed turn a rather hideous shade of azure.”

Untangling from the blankets, Alex began adding sticks to the bed of coals. Naked, he was a breathtaking sight, his rippling muscles radiating an animal grace. Watc

hing him, she felt her breath quicken.