He looked up and couldn’t look away.
‘The soup?’ she prompted him.
‘Good…thank you.’ Maybe he needed another bowlful. He couldn’t remember eating the first. He badly needed a distraction from Liv.
She ladled some into his bowl, her hands soft and small and competent. Her breasts pressed into his shoulder as she leaned over him, and as she walked away to return the saucepan to the stove he imagined encircling her hand-span waist. Thinking about the swell of her hips beneath his hands was becoming an obsession. He must not dwell on rounded buttocks he knew for sure would fit his palms. And he must not picture himself easing his way
between those firm thighs clad in that soft blue fabric, or allow his eyeline to wander up to where the swell at the apex of her thighs was giving him a hard-on. In desperation he banged his spoon down and stood up. Clearing the dishes, he recited the alphabet backwards with a degree of concentration that would have impressed a monk.
‘I’m glad you enjoyed the soup,’ she said as he joined her at the sink. ‘Now I know what you like…’ Her gaze slipped to his lips. He wasn’t imagining it.
‘You promised to let me know my fate,’ she reminded him, brushing past as she went to put something away in a cupboard.
‘Did I?’
‘You know you did, Cade,’ she reproved him.
She brushed past him again and her light fresh scent overwhelmed him. He turned to look at her—or more precisely he drank her in; he inhaled Liv and her innocence. It was a long time since anything had made his senses dance like this, and he was in no hurry to move on to discuss whether or not she’d got the job as his housekeeper.
‘Well?’ she said, coming to stand in front of him. ‘You can’t delay any longer. I want an answer, Cade.’
His answer was to toss the tea towel into the laundry basket Liv had seemingly conjured up. If she accepted the post at Featherstone there would be a lot more required of her than cooking soup and polishing dishes; it would require a major investment in time and dedication.
‘Cade? Do I get the job or not?’
The jutting chin of his candyfloss warrior made him want to smile.
‘You think this is funny?’ she said tensely.
‘No, no, of course I don’t—’
‘This situation is anything but funny for me. I need a job, Cade, and if you’re not going to—’
‘Let’s not jump to conclusions—’
‘No, let’s not,’ she fired back. ‘You shouldn’t take me for a fool who can be strung along until you tire of having me around. You owe me an answer, Cade.’
He ground his jaw, staring into eyes that weren’t afraid to take him on. And all the time he did that he was conscious of the lust storm battling with his sensible inner man. The lust storm won. He wanted to lose himself inside her. He wanted oblivion, and this time he did groan.
‘Are you okay?’ She was immediately concerned.
‘Fine…I’m fine…’ Too much blood rushing to the head.
The clock ticking on the mantelpiece measured the heartbeats dividing them. Could only he feel the whirlwind overtaking them? Liv’s face told him nothing, other than the fact she was caring, and lovely, and vulnerable, and that maybe they needed each other. Reaching out, he wound a strand of honey-coloured hair around his finger and very slowly drew her close.
CHAPTER EIGHT
LIV was quivering with awareness at the thought that Cade was going to kiss her again. And terrified that he might too…This was what she had been longing for and yet…And yet she was scared; scared and so far out of her depth there would be no rescuing her if he made a move. She was already committed to Cade in her heart, and if you added the physical side to the mix she was lost.
As he drew her close against him feelings surged through him—need, hope; the need for comfort and the hope that she would give it to him. To feel the pressure of her body against his was indescribably wonderful. She was soft and yet strong, supple and eager. Maybe it was the scent of her that intoxicated him; the scent of a woman, pure and lovely and untouched by all the violence and cruelty he had known. He wanted to feed on her innocence and have it flood through his veins until he forgot…
Cade was careful not to frighten her. He made it so easy for her to forget her fears, and gave her the opportunity to relish each exquisite moment as he drew her towards him. When there was no space between them he told her exactly what he would like to do in a low, husky voice that made her bite down on her swollen lips in an attempt to silence her whimpers of expectation. Cade had none of her inhibitions. All the time he was reducing her to a mass of heat and dizzying sensuality he wore the confident look of a man who knew exactly what he was doing. At first she was unsure what he expected of her, and moved hesitantly in response to his erotic suggestions, but when she finally found the courage to lift her arms and caress the strong column of his neck with her fingertips she was telling him without words, I want this.
Sensation exploded inside him at Liv’s first, tentative touch. The urge to celebrate life in all its wonder was overwhelming him, but still he held back. He couldn’t bear to frighten her with the force of his desire. But there was only so long he could resist her…only so long before he found himself brushing her lips with his mouth and sharing her sigh. He kissed her tenderly, exploring her lips with his tongue and teasing them apart, and then he deepened the kiss as she melted against him, pressing as close as she could in the hunt for release. He kissed her neck, rasping it with his stubble to feel her shudder of arousal, and made a light pass with his hips, before a firmer one that made her sob with need. She wanted to feel his erection rubbing against her and clung to him as he worked his hips again. Bringing her pleasure was his only goal now. He wanted her pleas more than anything; he wanted to see her come apart in his arms. He wanted to hold her while she bucked uncontrollably beneath him. He wanted to keep on and on until they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Cade’s kisses grew hot and passionate as she gave herself to him. Her breasts had grown infinitely tender under his caresses, and when he slipped his hand between her legs she cried out with gratitude, mad for him. She needed this like air. This was the moment she had been waiting for all her life, only with Cade it was so much more than she had imagined. She opened herself to him, craving sensation, parting her thighs so he could explore. She wanted nothing to stand in the way of his skilful touch…so delicate, so intuitive. It was as if he could feel what she felt, and could increase the sensation for her at will. She was so swollen, so sensitive, so alive, and so desperate to banish the haunted look from Cade’s eyes.
For him it was all about heat, hunger, strength; everything colliding in a downhill rush to mind-cleansing sensation overload. He could feel the heat rising in Liv and responded urgently. The only thing holding him back now was the fact that she was so tiny and delicate, and he didn’t want to hurt her. He kissed her hungrily, greedily, in an explosion of passion, his tongue plundering, and their teeth clashing in a hunt as old as time. And all the time Liv whimpered beneath his hands, moving constantly to show him what she needed and what pleased her best. But she was in such a rush. She tugged off her sweater before he could even get to it. He refused to be hurried, and, closing his eyes, allowed his sensitive finger pads to map her breasts. Sensation after sensation swept over him as he traced each tiny detail…delicate lace protecting the gloriously full swell. Nipples teasing him, hard like pebbles against his palm. Reaching behind her, he unhooked her bra and cast it aside so he could suck and taste and tease to his heart’s content and Liv’s satisfaction.
Her hands worked busily to rip Cade’s T-shirt clear of his belt. She was desperate to feel his naked flesh against her. He cooperated to help her yank it over his head and she gave a sharp involuntary cry as she drank him in…the bulging muscles, the tan, the taut, hard stomach, the perfection of him. He was like a sculpture cast in bronze, and she wanted more of him; she wanted all of him. To have all that power and strength at her disposal was intoxicating. Closing her eyes, she drifted free on a cloud of sensuality. She was lost in an erotic dream in which Cade had the starring role. Sensation rippled through her and came to lodge in pulsing pleasure beats between her legs as she moved restlessly, telling Cade without words what she needed from him now. Tracing the lines of his massive shoulders, she learned the road map of muscle and scar tissue. The soft, hard irregularity of him, all of it seemed perfect to her. She wanted Cade, she wanted the ultimate caress, but even more than that he moved her in some profound and almost mystical way.
She was sex, she was woman; she offered him escape. Would he ever get enough of those wonderful b
reasts, of weighing them and sucking them? He longed to lose himself in the dark, fragrant shadows of her body and never come up for air. He teased her with his fingers as he backed her towards the kitchen side and as they moved she dragged his hand back between her legs where she was missing him already. He laughed softly against her lips, knowing how much she wanted him. He could feel the hot, moist swell of her body through her underwear and her pulsing need for release. He smiled against her lips as he backed her, step by step, across the room, while she kept her legs parted and her pelvis thrust towards him, which allowed him to trace the overheated area without once touching where she wanted him to.
‘Please,’ she gasped, writhing to try and catch some pressure from his fingers.
‘Please,’ he mocked softly, allowing her one lingering skilful stroke. She cried out; her mouth fell slack with pleasure, and then he was on the move again, kissing and stroking and teasing his way to their destination. When they got there he managed somehow to reach behind her and open the drawer, still kissing her. Rooting around, he found what he was looking for. Armour in place, he lifted her onto the side and nudged his way between her thighs. He had her lace briefs off before she was even settled and she lost no time in locking her legs around his waist. ‘Yes,’ she moaned, leaning back in his arms.
He was out of it—lost in another place, eyes closed, searching, preparing, teasing and anticipating. Liv was swollen with need and moistly welcoming, while he was hard, rock-hard. He made a pass with just the tip and she cried out to him. He made another, and caught inside her. It was the point of no return. His hips were flexed, his muscles tensed in readiness, but her cry had changed to one of fear.
‘What?’ he gasped, hardly able to come back down again in time—his lungs were heaving, his heart pumping furiously, he couldn’t think straight…At first he didn’t get it, but then he did. And was horrified by what had almost happened. He’d been so close; so dangerously close. ‘’ What haven’t you told me?’ he ground out, head back, eyes and jaw locked against the truth. But he knew. He knew without her even telling him.