She didn't know how to contain herself and she didn't try; she moaned, she gasped, she shuddered in an ecstasy of sexual tension and pleasure, her head turning from side to side in utter abandonment She was swollen and tender and barely realising what she was doing as her fingers tangled in his hair, holding his head to her breasts as she arched against the passion that was consuming her.
'Candy…' Quinn whispered, lifting his head and kissing her again, his body tautening still more as she unmistakably kissed him back. 'Candy, I soon shan't be able to stop. You know what I'm saying?'
'I don't want you to stop.' She was past false pride.
'Are you sure?' He had raised himself slightly, shoulder muscles bunching under charcoal silk, and now she let her hands and mouth answer him as her fingers struggled to pull off his shirt with touching inexpertise, her mouth covering his chest in feverish little kisses.
His fingers moved to capture hers, but only to guide her as he helped her undress him, and then he undressed her, slowly, sensuously, careful to keep her desire high— he had seen the momentary apprehension in her face as she had seen the full power of his manhood and he didn't want her to be frightened of him. Not for a moment, a second, did he want that.
He continued to touch and taste her for a long time, carefully building sensation upon sensation until she was begging him, in small, helpless, guttural sounds, to possess her utterly. But even then his head dipped and nuzzled every part of her, her full, rounded breasts, her slender waist, flat belly and long, long legs. Her skin felt like pure silk and the perfume emanating from her skin was heady, and as his tongue and his hands pleasured her he had to remind himself, time after time, to control his own desire until she was open and ready for him. He mustn't rush her. It was her first time and she deserved all the experience he could bring, but his skin was burning and his body was hard and waiting was the hardest thing he had ever done.
When he did ease himself between her wet thighs she was ready for him, and not as tight as he had feared, and because of the hunger raging through him he was soon plummeting to his own summit even as he tried to do it gently, so as not to hurt her.
Candy had her legs locked round his body as she moved with him, aware even in her innocence of how unstintingly he had put her needs before his own, and now she went with him into a world of colour and light and brilliance as pain and ecstasy combined until she felt herself shatter into a million tiny pieces at the same time as he uttered one primitive, savage cry of exultation.
And then, as she continued to cling to him, he gathered her into him, his fingers stroking the small of her back soothingly as she drew in long, shuddering breaths against his body and felt the hard slam of his heart against his ribcage.
They lay locked together for a long time in the mellow sunshine and Candy was amazed—considering the intimacy they had shared and the things Quinn had done to her— that she felt no shyness. Instead there was a repleteness, a consuming satisfaction that outweighed any diffidence.
'Well, now, little wife.' She felt Quinn's fingers at her tousled ponytail and then her hair was swinging free to fall in thick waves about her bare shoulders. 'Now you know how much I want you,' he murmured thickly, stroking back her hair and moving her so that his eyes could roam her uplifted face. 'Did I hurt you?'
'No.' And he hadn't, not really. And then, because she couldn't imagine ever being closer to him than she was at this moment, she whispered, 'I didn't think you wanted me, not in that way anyway. You…you left me last night.'
'You didn't think I wanted you?' he said incredulously, drawing away a little and reclining on one elbow so that the full length of his magnificent body was stretched out beside her for her eyes to feast on. 'I've done nothing but want you since the first time I saw you, curled up in the waiting room chair like a beautiful bronze kitten.'
'But you didn't…I mean, you never tried to…' She was suddenly bashful and acutely aware of her nakedness as Quinn's eyes narrowed and he shook his head slowly.
'Ridiculous child,' he said softly. 'Candy, you had told me how you felt about that side of things, the pain you carried from your childhood. What did you think I was going to do? Make you feel worse? Would that have helped? Besides, physical intimacy was not necessarily part of the proposal,
not until you were ready at least.'
Proposal. This was still just an arrangement to him, not a thing of the heart. She shivered, suddenly quite cold, and immediately he reached out and drew her against the warmth of his body.
'I want you, Candy, don't ever doubt that,' he said huskily, his body hardening against hers in such a way she couldn't doubt what he was saying. 'I want you more than I have ever wanted any woman.'
She felt the surge of his desire against the soft roundness of her belly and suddenly she wasn't cold any more. He had never pretended to love her, not like Harper, Quinn had been totally honest from day one, and that was a vital ingredient for any marriage. But he had just revealed that she was important to him, and that was essential too. It would have to be enough for now. She had his name, she had his body, and if she could find the key to unlock the steel enclosure he had built round his heart then that would make all the heartache worthwhile.
She had to be patient. He was kissing her, his hands moving slowly over her satin-smooth skin as he stroked and petted her, teasing her sensitised skin with the alien feel of his own rough body.
He didn't know how she felt and she had to keep it from him, had to allow his feeling to develop naturally, without any pressure from herself.
His hands slid down her body and he lifted her buttocks up to meet the thrust of his manhood, moving softly inside her at first and then, as her face mirrored her enchantment at the pleasure he was inducing, faster and faster.
He could feel the small rhythmic undulations deep in the core of her, and he matched his movement to her gathering passion so that as their shared pleasure grew to an unbearable pitch they were together all the way. And then they were consumed by the fire and light again, floating away into another sweet world where sensation was the master and the past, the present and the future all combined in a shattering explosion that left no room for anything else.
They stayed far longer than planned at the farmhouse, and every moment was engraved in Candy's memory. Now Quinn shared the huge four-poster bed and she knew the bittersweet joy of sleeping beside him all night and waking to see his face on the pillow next to hers in the morning.
They made love often, and in the most unlikely places; Quinn was insatiable, and she matched him kiss for kiss and passion for passion.
They swam in Mart's beautiful swimming pool, which was housed in a big extension with its own changing rooms, showers, bar and bevy of loungers and easy chairs, besides an excellent gymnasium, sauna and steam room. Quinn opened the big glass doors at the end of the pool to the sunshine, and they enjoyed a barbecue each night on the patio beyond, when they feasted on steak and chicken dipped in herbs and spices and salad and baked potatoes.
They walked the grounds, hand in hand, finding new hidden idylls and little wooded dells in which to make love, and they laughed together and talked together, each of them confiding some of their own bitter truths and past pain. And yet through it all, even as Candy delayed their departure each time Quinn asked her if she wanted to leave and start the tour he had planned, she was aware he was still keeping part of himself from her. The important part. The part which Laura had damaged so badly when she had killed herself and their son.
He was gentle with her, incredibly tender and understanding in their lovemaking, wickedly amusing at times and gloriously sexy all the time, but he wasn't hers—not as she was his, if he did but know it.
And it made her desperate to stay on at the farmhouse, where it was just the two of them without anything or anyone from outside to interfere with their growing relationship.
She didn't want to be like Laura, she reassured herself time and time again when darts of panic assailed her. She didn't want to own or control every part of his life and say who he could see and what he could do. That wasn't it at all. She just wanted to love him and know that he loved her. It really was that simple.