10 Ways to Steal Your Lover (6 page)

 
      
And so had she. He didn’t say it, the
same way he wasn’t saying she was sounding like a child. He didn’t have to.

 
      
She sighed, the indignation abandoning
her. Nothing about this situation would allow her to be indignant ever again.
“Sorry, you just…surprised me.”

 
      
“You like surprises.” He turned his back
again.

 
      
She used to. Since he wasn’t looking, she
let herself look at him again, considering. Okay, seeing Kane naked wasn’t
exactly a surprise she disliked, but she wasn’t admitting that any time soon.

 
      
She ventured into the water, turning her
back to him, letting the streams push her hair from her face. Eyes closed, the
warm water slowly began to leech the strain from her muscles and her mind. Just
when she fully relaxed, she felt his hands slip into her hair, massaging with
shampoo he must have grabbed from the basket. It felt so good after the initial
jump that she didn’t bother getting upset about it. She’d already allowed him to
stay, what was the point or arguing?

 
      
But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t ask
questions.

 
      
“Kane, what are you doing?”

 
      
He didn’t play coy, something she’d
always genuinely liked about him. Charm wasn’t exactly his strong suit, but he
wore his honesty like a favorite shirt she could appreciate. “How am I supposed
to convince you that being married to me is a good thing if I don’t treat you
like my wife?”

 
      
She reached for one of the sponges,
snagging the liquid soap at the same time. If he wanted to pamper her like
this, she could enjoy it. Meanwhile, she’d scrub the rest of her body and let
him talk. “Your wife is going to get her hair washed by you all the time?”

 
      
He gently rubbed her temples, working his
fingers over her scalp until her head fell back into his hold. “She will
whenever she wants me to.”

 
      
She had to smile. “Life on your ranch
must be more luxurious than I imagined.”

 
      
“Well, it’s not like this place, with
people waiting on you hand and foot, but it’s a good life. Hard work, I won’t
lie. Town is close enough for whatever we want to get or do, but it’s quiet
most of the time. Peaceful. We’re a working horse ranch, everyone there has a
job and a purpose, which is a lot more satisfying than most might think. You’ll
go to bed tired, but you’ll go to sleep happy.”

 
      
In his arms. Held safe and cherished.
Knowing that she was the center of his world. He didn’t say it, but she knew
that much was a given. The woman who got to be Kane’s would be everything to
him. Absolutely everything.

 
      
He turned her around, his gaze warm on
her face as he tilted her head this way and that to rinse her off. She watched
him through heavy lids, the concentration he put into the task. The man could
seduce her so easily. But there had to be more to being with him than
overwhelming sexual chemistry. More than simple promises, even if simple was
what she dreamed of.

 
      
“What else happens to this mythical wife
of yours every day?”

 
      
His eyes lost the sharpest edge of
hunger, seeming to take in that she wasn’t about to let herself fall into his
arms so easily. “Besides the fabulous hair washing and the incredible sex?”

 
      
She didn’t want to smile at that, the
same way she didn’t want her hands to settle on his chest to feel his hard
muscles or the warmth of his skin seep through her fingertips. Kane Wilkensen
did not need encouragement, not with his rings on her finger and her body all too
willing to reacquaint itself with his. She did both, though, because Kane just
had that effect on her. As if he had some sort of special pass directly to the
most impulsive parts of her. Which was ironic, really, since he was the least
impulsive person she’d ever known.

 
      
Maybe that was what attracted her so
strongly. The man needed a good mussing most of the time and every part of her
itched to do it. Until this morning, she’d never given into it, but she could
see now that he’d let her. Any time she wanted to.

 
      
And oh, she wanted to muss him really bad
right now.

 
      
That firm mouth of his curved and he pulled
her closer, picking up the cue with that subtle arrogance of his and making
himself right at home with their combined nudity. His hands slipped through her
hair to her back, cupping her flush against him. “My
not-as-mythical-as-you’d-like-to-think wife would wake up to slow kisses and
the smell of incredible coffee.”

 
      
“Are we talking breakfast in bed now?”

 
      
“Maybe for special occasions, but I’ll be
honest, I’m not much good in the kitchen beyond coffee and toast.”

 
      
She patted his chest soothingly. “If
that’s the case, our mythical children are doomed. I’m not much of a cook
either.”

 
      
“That’s okay, I already have a cook on
hand.”

 
      
Her brows rose. “Oh, why didn’t you say
so? By all means, continue.”

 
      
“With the mythical wife or the mythical
children?”

 
      
“I honestly had no idea your imaginary
life was so diverse.”

 
      
“Oh, there’s tons of surprises in my head
I’ve been holding back from you.”

 
      
Delilah laughed resignedly. This had to
be the most ridiculous conversation to have with a naked man, but she didn’t
want it to end. When it did she was either going to jump him or leave and that
last option might not be as likely as she hoped.

 
      
“I have a lot of land, so there’s no
reason to limit how many children we might have. I always wanted a bunch of
brothers and sisters like my cousins had but my parents died before they could
have any more. Truth is, I’d love to have a big family.”

 
      
So would she. She bit her bottom lip,
reality hedging its way closer. That had been the biggest stumbling block in
her relationship with Craig. He’d adamantly not wanted children, never wanting
to have to choose between them and his career. It had taken her until their
engagement party to realize he didn’t even consider choosing when it came to
her. Which was why she’d… she’d…

 
      
She frowned, trying to remember. What had
she done about it, because she knew she’d done something. Something important.
She just couldn’t remember what.

 
      
“I have this dream of Christmas mornings
where the entire living room turns into this sea of wrapping paper and there’s
so much noise and laughter you can’t even hear yourself think. I know some
people think that would get on your nerves but I can’t imagine anything
better.”

 
      
She looked up at him, unable to keep her
distance from a statement like that. Not when it so closely mirrored what she
wanted most in the secret recesses of her heart. Turned out to be a big mistake
though, because she fell into his gaze and lost herself in the absolute longing
she saw there. The need and raw desire he made no effort to hide.

 
      
“I have a dream for every holiday, actually.
Where the house isn’t absolutely silent and it feels like a place where
memories are being made instead of a place where all the memories are almost
gone.”

 
      
She drew in a breath, or she tried to,
but her chest was too tight. all the intensity he usually kept bottled tight
was right there for her to see, under the thinnest thread of his control.

 
      
“You may not believe me, Del, but every
damn one of them starts and ends with you.”

 
      
“Kane…” Her warning was half-hearted at
best. His fingers inched down the small of her back, edging toward the highest
curve of her rear and to be perfectly honest, she wanted him to reach for it.
The highest part, the lowest part, then on to trace the crease between to where
the moisture gathering had very little to do with the water pouring over them.

 
      
It was wrong to want him this way, she
knew that. In her head.

 
      
Her heart, though, had other ideas, and
her body was agreeing with all of them.

 
      
“You didn’t marry Craig. You married me.
Even if it only lasts for this one day, I want to make love to my wife. I want
to touch her and taste her and have her know it’s me inside her. Inside you.”

 
      
She couldn’t tear her gaze away if she
wanted to.

 
      
“If you don’t want me when we figure this
thing out, I’ll let you go. It’ll rip my soul out, but I’ll do it for you.
Until then, I just want— I need—”

 
      
She never heard what he needed, because
he gave up trying to explain and just kissed her.

 
      
He was out of control and he knew it, but
Kane didn’t much care. Not when Delilah was kissing him back, straining to get
closer, her breasts mashed to his chest.

 
      
He wasn’t being gentle, but neither was
she. Her hands clamped onto his shoulders, nearly pulling him off balance. Her
gasp when his hands settled onto the globes of her ass, gripping tight, only
fed the inferno of need inside him.

 
      
Hauling her up, he settled her above his
cock, groaning in relief when her legs tightened like a vise around his hips.
The tiny part of him that worried she wasn’t with him for this fell silent. She
was with him. She was nearly ahead of him, her hips rocking, seeking. One kiss
might as well have been a stick of dynamite for both of them.

 
      
That was the last thought he was able to
complete.

 
      
Her back found the wall and the kiss
broke, but not the passion. The jarring shift of her body to the wall lowered
her, the wet lips of her sex enveloping the tip of his cock in an erotic slide
that sent lightning bolts right up into his brain. He grabbed her arms, pulling
them open until he could grasp her wrists and hold them up against the wall.
The position left them balanced precariously, staring at each other with
flushed faces. Her eyes glittered at him, her lips parted for each panted
breath. Each beat of his heart throbbed his cock incrementally deeper into her,
but it wasn’t enough. Not yet.

 
      
With all his being, he wanted to slide
home, but he waited, barely breathing, holding onto this moment for as long as
he could. Savoring the devouring hunger that tore through him and the sweetness
of her desire. She wanted him. Until she couldn’t think of anything but drawing
him deeper into her pussy and allowing him to stake that claim. He could see it
on her face, feel it in the thick dew coating his shaft. Nothing else mattered
in those seconds but the fire building between them.

 
      
Except one thing…

 
      
“Kane,” she whispered, tightening her
muscles around him as she shifted her hips to push him deeper. “Now Kane, I
need you now.”

 
      
Who was he to keep her from what she
needed? Hissing a breath, he sank into her heated depths. She surrounded him,
her back arching to take him further.

 
      
In that single heartbeat, the storm
broke.

 
      
Flattening himself to her, his skin on
fire to feel her across as much of it as possible, he pounded into her. Wild
cries filed the room like the steam, her hold so tight he didn’t know how he
could possibly keep moving. She writhed, clamping him inside and out, but still
he shafted into her.

 
      
The world might have ended, could have
for all he cared, but he couldn’t stop. She came, those delicate muscles of
hers rippling over him, again and again. Blindly, he sought her breast, licking
the hard nipple before wrapping his mouth around it. He sucked hard, which made
her hips buck in response. Changing his attention to the other, he found the
same delightful reaction, only this time she cried out again.