She rocked against him with desperate yearning, her inner muscles tightening at the white heat scalding her. Her breathing grew erratic and ragged as his hard, straining form moved against her, branding her with his desire.
Her whimpers turned to moans as her own hips began moving in a rhythm that was ancient, mindless, elemental. She could hear Heath whispering praise for her passion all the while. He was more demanding now, plunging inside her, sending her into a frenzy of need. She felt frantic, unable to get enough of him.
Lily tossed her head wildly, her helpless cries spilling from her throat and filling the hush of the cabin.
Even so, the shattering, searing explosion caught her by surprise. With a scream, she sank her teeth into the raw silk of his bare shoulder as ecstasy ripped through her.
Heath followed right behind. His head thrown back, his neck corded, he drove into her one final time. A hoarse groan burst from him as his climax erupted in a powerful stream.
Lily absorbed his fierceness, her body clenching again and again around him as the firestorm took them both.
In the aftermath, Heath collapsed upon her, his breath as tortured as hers. They clung to each other bonelessly as the fire slowly receded.
The last shimmers of passion were still glowing inside Lily when Heath finally lifted his head. He looked as jolted as she felt, his eyes dazed yet tender as he surveyed her flushed face, her swollen lips.
“Did I hurt you?” he rasped.
“No,” she said hoarsely, offering him a dreamy smile. “Not in the least.”
“Good.” His arms tightened about her for a moment, crushing her naked breasts to his chest. Then keeping her legs wrapped around his hips, Heath lifted her up and carried her to the bunk, where he laid her down.
Searing tenderness filled him as he stretched out beside Lily’s warm supple body and drew her close. He was still breathing hard after his powerful climax, still shaken by what had just happened between them.
No woman had ever demolished his sense of reality as Lily did. When he had come inside her and felt her shatter around him
, he had splintered in a thousand fragments.
And Lily had experienced their passion as intensely as he did, Heath was certain. She had been pure desire, uninhibited and wild.
Hearing her soft sigh, he held her closer. This was what he craved, he thought, his fingers twining in the dark chestnut strands of her hair. Lily warm and weak from his lovemaking, clinging to him, her heartbeat as uneven as his.
A fierce joy engulfed his heart at the memory of how incredible it felt to be buried inside her. How right it seemed. The strength of his response still startled him.
This was new to him, though, this overpowering need to be with one woman. He had never wanted anyone the way he did Lily.
But then he’d been slightly off kilter since the first moment of meeting her.
And now? Heath wondered. He had to acknowledge that Lily mattered to him in a different way than any woman ever had. She was everything he wanted, everything he desired.
Curious how he’d never thought he needed anyone before Lily. But the sense of completion she gave him only made him realize what he had been missing all this time.
It was not only being with her, sharing her life, that could fulfill him, either. He wanted to be as intense and passionate about life’s endeavors as she was.
A quiet smile touched his mouth as he recognized the maze of emotions running through him: Possessiveness and tenderness. Awe. The need to cherish her always. Love.
He was in love with Lily, Heath admitted, marveling at the realization. The feeling had been stealing over him for days now. His pursuit of her might have started as a challenge, but he had fallen hard for her.
And winning her hand in marriage was no longer a game to him.
His smile faded as reality reared its taunting head. He considered Lily his wife now, yet she continued to fight him tooth and nail. Somehow he would have to make her accept the inevitability of their marriage.
He would redouble his efforts to woo her, Heath promised himself. It was now imperative that he make Lily fall in love with him.
She wasn’t willing to give him her heart yet, he knew. Yet a moment ago when he’d looked deeply into her eyes, he had caught a fleeting glimpse of something hopeful, something infinitely fragile in the dark depths. But then passion had taken over and rendered them both mindless with pleasure.
One thing was certain, however, he swore as he wrapped her more tightly in his arms.
He wasn’t going to let her go.