Moonwitch

She tried to draw away from him, but Kyle moved his hands beneath her, holding her silken bottom in a relentless grasp as he lifted her hips to make her more accommodating.

“I told you to be still.” His voice was deep and soft and utterly determined.

Selena gasped again as he renewed his wicked assault, but she could only let her head fall back in helpless surrender as Kyle stroked her with his tongue, penetrating her warmth. He was arousing a pulsing, heated ache deep within her, one that frightened her with its newness.

How could she allow him to do this to her? Selena wondered dazedly. Yet he was her husband. Her thoughts fled as the throbbing intensified. All she could do was feel. She clutched at Kyle, her fingers tightening reflexively in his thick hair, which was still damp with rain, hardly aware that the hushed moans she heard were coming from her own throat. Her hips writhed as she sought to escape the hot brand of his tongue. Her body pulsed with fire.

“Don’t hold back, Moonwitch,” Kyle’s stirring breath whispered against her. “Let it come.”

Frantically, she flung her head from side to side, fighting the blinding tension that was building inside her. And then her entire body went rigid as Kyle at last sparked a slow, devastating explosion within her. Wave after wave of heat shuddered through her, leaving her trembling and gasping for breath.

It was a long moment before the wild beating of her heart slowed and her reeling senses returned to something resembling normal, and another long moment while Selena lay there, wondering what had happened to her. Her skin was flushed and hot now, when it had been chilled only a moment before.

“That’s better,” Kyle said softly, with approval.

Through a haze of desire, she heard his murmured words. Slowly, she opened her eyes to find Kyle brazenly watching her. His greedy lips were wet, his own gaze smoldering with golden fire. Suddenly shy and acutely embarrassed, Selena averted her gaze.

“No, don’t look away. We’ve only begun.” The words were a husky resonance as he eased himself up and covered her with his powerful, muscular body.

He settled himself gently between her thighs, his penetration long and slow, carefully allowing her body to accept his full, hard length, all the while watching her flushed face, the way her breath quickened and her dazed eyes widened with startled desire. He had awakened this prim and proper lady into a tantalizing creature who breathed passion and sensuality, and he wanted to savor every moment of it.

And he did. He held himself utterly still inside her silken warmth, clamping down on his own frenzied need, moving only the fingers of one hand as he teased her erect nipples, letting the heat build again until her soft whimpers and arching body told him she was hot and throbbing for him.

And then he slowly began to move his tautly muscled buttocks, burying himself deeper and deeper, keeping a fierce rein on his own passion until finally Selena’s luscious mouth parted in ecstasy and her throaty cry echoed in the cabin.

Then he swelled upward again, letting his control shatter and his own reservations shatter with it as he claimed her fully and filled her with the urgent desire he’d been keeping so tightly in check since his first possession of her that moonlit night on the beach. It was only when his shuddering release was over and his breath was coming in ragged gasps that he even remembered why he had harbored any reservations at all. And by then, he couldn’t find the energy for regret. His rock-hard body glistening with sweat, Kyle collapsed on her, barely remembering to protect her from his weight with his arms as he lay against her, spent, sated.

Later, when he could think again, he realized how still Selena had grown. And when he forced his thoughts to focus, he knew her reserve had returned in full measure. Amazing, Kyle reflected, especially when she was still lying beneath him, joined to him in the most intimate way imaginable. Then he remembered his vow to end their marriage. She would be shocked and embarrassed, of course, thinking she had done something shameful with him.

Amazing, Kyle thought again, that he should want to reassure her.

He raised his head slowly, searching her face and seeing the crimson blush on her cheeks. “1 guess this means,” he said quietly, his gaze filled with a rugged tenderness, “there won’t be an annulment, after all.”

Chapter Eight

Selena woke late the next morning to the sound of the bosun’s shrill whistle piping out orders to the schooner’s crew. The sea was now relatively calm. The violent rolling of the ship had ceased, and bright sunlight streamed in the porthole window.

Selena blinked at first to see the strange walnut-paneled cabin, then blushed hotly to remember precisely what had occurred there during the long night. But she was unable to summon an appropriate sense of shock when she realized that she was naked beneath the blankets.

Missing the warmth of Kyle’s large body, she raised herself up on one elbow—gingerly, so as not to aggravate the stiffness of her own body and the ache in her bruised ribs. She was alone in the large bunk, which surprised her. She had expected to find Kyle collapsed in exhaustion, if not because of his superhuman efforts during the storm, then because of his similar efforts during their numerous and fierce bouts of lovemaking. There wasn’t an inch of her that he hadn’t touched or tasted, it seemed. Her breasts were swollen and sensitive, while the hollow between her thighs was tender from his frequent ministrations.

Selena was further surprised when she glanced around the cabin. The wet clothing that had been strewn haphazardly over the floor and furniture now hung neatly on pegs, and her blue sprigged muslin gown had been laid over a chair before the massive desk. She had no doubt, either, that the water pitcher would be filled with fresh water for washing.

Kyle’s thoughtfulness brought a soft smile to her lips. At least she hoped it had been Kyle who had straightened the cabin. She was still too new at this business of being a wife to be comfortable with the intimacies they had shared or the thought that one of his crew would guess from the condition of the cabin what had occurred between them.

Wife. The word had a pleasant ring to it…a wonderful ring.

A glow warmed her as she remembered his decision not to seek an annulment. It was what she had hoped for, the chance to prove to Kyle that he hadn’t made a dreadful mistake in marrying her. Perhaps their relationship would be different, now that he had accepted their marriage. Perhaps he would come to love her now, the way she loved—

Drawing a sudden breath, Selena slowly sank back onto the mattress. She was falling in love with Kyle. Or had fallen. That alone explained this delightful warm glow, this excited quivery feeling. Now she knew why she had been so terrified for him during the storm, why she felt such a fierce yearning to be with him now.

Somewhat shocked by the thought, she stared up at the ceiling. It didn’t seem possible. They had been married scarcely a week, and most of that time Kyle had existed in a state of smoldering anger over being forced to wed her. Yet s

he had been attracted to him from the first. To his strength, his lust for living, his kindness and compassion… his passion.

She was still considering this revelation and reflecting on the tenderness of Kyle’s lovemaking when she heard the bosun’s whistle again. Eager, yet shy of seeing her husband once more, Selena slid out of bed and began to dress.

Kyle wasn’t on deck, she discovered when she went above. In the aftermath of the storm, the crew was hard at work repairing the damages to the ship—mending sails, overhauling the rigging, renewing ratlines and clearing the deck of debris. But to a man, they stopped work as Selena passed, tugging caps and forelocks in deference, greeting her with welcome grins.