Rampant

“Only then?”

His eyebrows lifted. “No. Hell, no. But you always look as if you absolutely have to have sex—” his voice went low “—right there and then…and that does bad things to me.”

Appraising him from under hooded eyes, she grabbed his T-shirt and pulled him to her for a hungry kiss. His hands roved over her breasts and in around her waist. Moving up against him within the confines of seat and seat belt, her back arched. She groped his shoulders, his back, needy and wanting.

“I want to get out of the car for a few minutes,” she blurted, and she could hear the restrained need in her own voice. She wanted to be out there, in the wheat field.

She gave me a taste of intimacy, and I want more.

“I think it was near here, the place in the vision, and I want to try to find it.” Pure, vibrant energy flowed in her veins, and she felt strong again, powerfully female and undaunted by all that had happened the night before.

She got out of the car, knowing that he would follow, and made her way along the grassy bank at the edge of the road until she came to a gap in the hedge. A public footpath sign pointed into the field beyond. The crop had already been harvested, and the ground was covered in stubby, shorn stalks. A path meandered through it, a simple earthen track worn into the crop by walkers. Grayson was close behind her. Quickly, she followed the trail across the field, looking left and right.

Turning on the spot, she scanned the landscape on the horizon. The sun dazzled her and she lifted her hand to shade her eyes. “It looks a lot different, I thought…I thought it was the same place, but now I’m not so sure.”

Grayson followed, but he only looked at her, and he had a fiercely possessive look in his eyes, making her want him ever more badly.

“It may well be the place,” he said, grabbing her into his arms and holding her tight against his hard, leanly muscled body. He stared down at her, longingly. “The landscape changes slowly over the years, it can be very subtle.”

“Wait, the tree is the same.” She pointed, broke away, and then headed toward the oak that stood at the brow of the hill. Her blood raced as she approached. Flanked by hedges on either side, the old oak looked different, but she was sure it was the same place. Something inside her knew it was. The roots were massive and lifted up from the earth around the base of the tree. The branches overhead gave shelter, offering a shady haven. Running her hands over the rough bark she embraced the tree, and then turned her back to lean up against it, looking at him as he ducked under the low-hanging branches and closed on her under the canopy of leaves.

He confronted her and narrowed his eyes, his expression fascinated as he observed her actions. “Are you going to tell me about the vision?”

He didn’t look as if he was even thinking about that. They were stalking each other. “Yes, but not yet.”

He was so handsome. All she wanted in that moment was to tell him what he wanted to hear and have him make love to her. But there was something deeper nagging her. She needed to know, did he only want her because of Annabel? He was observing her as much as he was doing research on the house. She was tied into this at a deep level now, and he wanted to examine her as if she were an artifact. It was getting to her, and she knew she mustn’t let it. She wanted him badly.

Those intelligent eyes of his flickered with curiosity as he watched her. He knew how turned on she was, he always knew. And he was too, she could see it in him—barely restrained lust. The bulge at his groin was large, the look in his eyes intense. The anticipation she’d felt was building, and the way he looked at her—as if he was undressing her by magic—stoked the fires that were already flickering wildly inside her.

“I want you, Grayson. I need you to make love to me.” Cards on the table, but she wasn’t done yet. Lifting one knee, she rested the flat of her foot against the tree trunk.

“I’ll make love to you whenever you want me to.” His tone was quietly amused, as if he knew. He touched her hair. As he ran his fingertips down its length and stroked the column of her neck he looked at the places he touched, as if to possess them more intimately.

Sensation fluttered wildly all over her, the mere touch of his fingertips sending her body wild.

“Grayson, I need to know that it’s me you want.” She rocked against the tree as she spoke. It was hard to do this, and not just go for the reward. Edgy, demanding need was creeping under her skin, and her body needed the promise of imminent contact.

His gaze dropped before lifting to meet her demanding stare. “All I want to do right now is show you. I want to undress you, to kiss every part of you before I make lo

ve to you. I promise that you will know exactly how much I want you, when we’re done.” He put his hand beside her head on the tree trunk, his tall frame engulfing her.

The look in his eyes left her in no doubt he meant to take action, and soon. Her senses were full of him, the pulse in her groin thudding wildly, but still she wanted him to say more. It was a hankering need to have a part of him for herself, something she would hold inside of her, and treasure, when they were apart. “Talk to me some more.”

“It’s hard.” His voice was a low whisper. “I find it really hard to express myself about this sort of thing, verbally, but I can show you.”

She saw it then, a hint of vulnerability in those gorgeous eyes of his. That surprised her, deeply. Could it be that he was struggling with the task she’d set him? How strange that this man who was such a good lover could be shy about expressing his sexuality and desire in words.

He ran his thumb over her lips, connecting with her intimately through that softest of touches. It was a simple, tender request for closeness, and his eyes grew shadowed when she didn’t respond. She wanted to reach out and comfort him, but her instincts told her it wouldn’t be the right thing for either of them right then. For a few seconds she didn’t know what to do, then the essential female in her responded to the situation and urged her on.

She opened the buttons on her shirt, exposing her bra to him. “Grayson, I need you.” Her nipples were knotted and chafing. “Tell me, what do you see?”

He stared at her for the longest moment before he responded. “An incredibly attractive woman.”

She brushed her fingers over her nipples, inhaling audibly when the touch lit a flare inside her.

His eyes focused. “A woman who is sexually aroused.”

“Yes,” she encouraged, “and I’m aroused because of you, Grayson. Because right now I want you so much I can’t walk away from this situation.”