A Man Like Morgan Kane (25 page)

She wanted to forget that he had left her sixteen years ago, alone and pregnant. And she wanted him to forget that he had come back for her and found her married to his cousin a few months later.

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She clung to him as he carried her across the room, out into the hall and into the guest bedroom that Eileen had assigned to him. He closed the door behind them, shutting out the world, closing them off from the day's events and from tomorrow's worries.

Morgan knew that, despite her strength and determination, despite the way she'd held herself together for her daughter's sake,Bethanywas ready to collapse. Emotional collapse as well as physical. Something more than being indicted for murder and having her house vandalized hauntedBethany. Something had happened between his mother and her, something that had thrownBethanyinto an emotional turmoil she couldn't quite handle. He had no idea what that something was. He didn't need to know. Not now. Not tonight. All he needed to know was thatBethanyneeded him.

He flipped the wall switch. Subdued lighting from two huge, stone-based lamps illuminated the autumn-leaves textured wall and softened the rich hues of moss greens, golds and reds that dominated the large, masculine bedroom. He carried her past the sleigh bed and straight through to the adjoining bathroom.

"Morgan?" She questioned his actions when he entered the bathroom, turned on the wall sconces and set her down on the bench in front of the marble vanity.

"You need some tender, loving care, Beth." He knelt in front of her and removed her shoes, his big hands incredibly gentle as they massaged her feet. "This has been the day from hell. I want you to put everything out of your mind and relax and let me take care of you. Just for tonight. As if there were no tomorrow."

His words mirrored her thoughts. They had tonight. What would a few stolen hours of bliss hurt?

Somehow she knew instinctively that Morgan needed her as much as she needed him. Tomorrow she would face all the ugly, bitter truths. Her indictment for murder. Her vandalized home. Her fears for Anne Marie's future. Her guilty heart, realizing more now than ever what an unforgivable mistake she'd made in marrying Amery.

When Morgan caressed the calves of her legs, easing slowly upward,Bethanyreached down and tunneled her fingers through his long, golden hair. With his hands spread out over her knees, he looked up at her.

"Just for tonight." With those three words she placed herself in his care, trusting him to give her the pleasure and the peace her heart and body craved.

He lifted her enough to ease his hands up and under her skirt. He grasped the waistband of her panty hose, slid them over her hips and down her legs. Closing her eyes, she threw back her head and abandoned herself to the luxury of Morgan's loving attention.

With indulgent ease, as if he had all the time in the world, he undressed her. Unbuttoning her blouse slowly, he caressed her breasts through the thin silk, then unhooked and discarded her bra. His fingers plucked at her nipples, insistent yet gentle.Bethanysighed as sensations of sheer feminine delight rippled through her body. Within minutes, he divested her of all her clothing, and she sat before him, gloriously beautiful in her nakedness.

He removed his own clothes quickly and adeptly, then liftedBethanyinto his arms, opened the frameless glass door and walked into the enormous marble-tiled shower. After adjusting the faucets and turning on the water, he guided her down the full length of his big, aroused body, allowing her to feel every throbbing inch of him. The warm spray hit their bodies like a thousand heated, massaging, cushioned
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needle pricks. Clinging to Morgan's shoulders,Bethanystood on tiptoe to reach his neck. Pressing her damp breasts against his hairy chest, she kissed his throat. Morgan groaned. His hardened sex pulsated against her belly.

Holding her securely around the waist, he pushed her gently away from him. She moaned when their bodies separated. He lifted the bar of soap from its niche in the shower wall and began a slow, intimate exploration of her body, lathering every silken centimeter of her wet, naked flesh. When her knees weakened, she tightened her hold on his shoulders. Giving her a gentle shove, he pushed her against the shower wall, bracing her there as he lowered his mouth and covered one breast while he pinched the nipple of her other breast with his fingertips. She squirmed as sexual twinges radiated from her breasts and through the core of her femininity.

Moving downward, he licked a hungry trail across her stomach, over her navel and on to the edge of the dark triangle at the apex of her thighs. He kissed her there, as the water cascaded over him, drenching him. When he slipped his hand between her legs and parted her thighs,Bethanygasped and trembled.

"Oh, Morgan … please … ah…"

His knees rested on the tiled shower floor. His big hands cupped her, spread her, opened her up for his marauding mouth and deadly hot tongue. The moment his lips kissed her intimately, she whimpered. With her hips pressed into the warm marble surface, she flattened her palms against the wall on each side of her, trying to steady her trembling body.

While his mouth made passionate love to her, he reached up to capture her breasts, heightening every sensation as his tongue and fingertips worked in perfect union. As she moaned and writhed, her body squirming against the marble wall, Morgan devoured her with his raging hunger. She cried out, shuddering with the force of her release. He drew every ounce of fulfillment from her, until she collapsed in his arms.

Lifting her, he turned off the water and carried her out of the shower.

Bethanyfelt as if her bones had turned to liquid. She allowed Morgan to take care of her as if she were totally helpless. He set her on the vanity stool and wrapped a towel around her head, securing her long dark hair in the turban. With infinite patience for a man boldly aroused, he rubbed a large towel over her arms, her legs, her breasts, her hips and then eased the towel between her thighs and patted her intimately.

Desire spiraled anew within her. She reached out and caressed his chest. He sucked in a deep breath.

His big hand shook when he grabbed her wrist and drew her fingers toward his sex.

"Touch me." He guided her hand, and when she encircled him, he threw back his head and groaned like a wounded animal.

With moisture still clinging to his hairy chest, legs and arms, Morgan pickedBethanyup off the vanity stool. "I want to make love to you all night," he said, then captured her mouth in a heated, tongue-thrusting kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, accepting and then participating in the ravaging kiss.

Morgan carried her into the bedroom, laid her in the middle of the bed, atop the topaz gold sheets, and came down over her. His lips covered hers as he lowered his body. He parted her legs and sought entrance into her hot, damp depths. With his mouth eating at hers, sucking, nibbling, consuming, he lifted her hips and rammed into her. She cried out from the earth-shattering sensation of having him buried deep inside her.

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Every muscle in his body tensed as he willed himself under control. The pleasure was almost beyond enduring. Simply sheathing himself within the tight fist of her womanhood brought him to the brink. But he wanted to make this loving last, at least long enough to bringBethanyto fulfillment once again.

When he withdrew from her, she whimpered, clinging to him, trying to bring him back inside. He plunged again, then withdrew and delved deeply. Stilling his movements as quivers of impending release warned him how close he was to losing himself, Morgan placed his lips over her breast and drew one tight nipple into his mouth.

She squirmed beneath him. Shudders of excitement trembled through her. She lifted and lowered her hips, then lifted them again, telling him of her need.

The moment he felt her tightening around him, her feminine mound pressing harder and harder against him with each upward thrust of her body, Morgan gripped her hips and jackhammered into her repeatedly. She cried out as fulfillment claimed her, the force of her release like a magnificent explosion that went on and on and on.

With one final lunge, Morgan emptied himself into her. Spirals of pleasure spread through his body, a thousand electrical currents of erotic sensation. A deep, hard groan surged from his throat in a long, tormented rumble.

Falling to her side, he eased her up toward the row of pillows at the head of the bed, then reached down and brought the multicolored blanket up to cover them.Bethanylay in his arms, the aftershocks still rippling through her body. When he caressed her arm, she shivered, her skin ultrasensitive.

Neither of them spoke. No words of love were exchanged. No promises for the future. No mention of tomorrow. They belonged to each other. Body and soul. But only for tonight. For the few precious hours between now and dawn.

As if afraid tomorrow would never come or perhaps afraid that it would come too soon, Morgan and Bethany slept briefly only to awaken again and again to seek each other in the darkness and claim the ecstasy they could find in no one else's arms.

The first time Morgan woke, moonlight streamed through the thin beige curtains. Wavy shadows danced across the bed. Bracing himself on one elbow, he turned and gazed down at Bethany, who slept peacefully at his side. He had buried his feelings for her so deep inside that he'd been able to pretend she meant nothing to him. But the moment he saw her again, all pretense vanished in the wake of the gut-wrenching emotions she brought to the surface.

He could not stop his hand as it reached out and touched her, his fingertips gliding over her face, down her throat and across her delicate shoulder. She roused, her eyelids fluttering as she opened her eyes and looked up at him. She smiled, and a hard knot of desire formed in his belly. She draped her arm around his neck and drew him to her, inviting him to take what he wanted.

"Beth, I don't ever want to hurt you again." He eased the covers off her naked body and caressed her satiny flesh. "I'm so very sorry that I left you, that I—"

She cut off his words with a kiss that ended all rational thought. Curling herself around him, she urged
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him to action. He took her quickly, losing himself inside her welcoming warmth.

Hours later, just as the dawn light spread a mingled pink haze across the horizon,Bethanywoke to find Morgan's big, heavy arm draped across her. Easing out of his hold, she sat up in the bed, resting her back against the headboard. He mumbled incoherently in his sleep and turned over onto his back. The topaz sheet and multicolored blanket slipped below his waist, revealing his broad chest and narrow hips.

Bethanysucked in her breath at the sight of him. Big. Hairy. Muscular. Powerfully male.

The first faint light of day illuminated the room with a soft, pale glow. She looked at him, drinking her fill.

How many long, lonely nights had she dreamed of a moment like this? She had spent her lifetime loving Morgan Kane. She had tried to deny her true feelings, to pretend that she hated him, that she never wanted to see him again. But now she knew the truth and the truth broke her heart anew. Morgan had come back toBirminghamfor her sixteen years ago. He had come back the day she married Amery.

If only she'd been older, wiser, stronger, she would have fought her mother and Morgan's parents. She would have gone against their wishes and refused to marry a man she didn't love. How different things might have been if only she had waited. She could have saved herself from a loveless marriage. She could have prevented Amery's tragic death. And she could have given Anne Marie her real father long ago. It was a wonder Morgan didn't hate her. But he didn't.

He might not love her, but he still cared. And he still wanted her.

Bethanyflung the covers to the foot of the bed. Morgan stirred, but didn't open his eyes. She leaned over him, breathing in the smell of him, that strong, unique scent that was Morgan's alone. She ran the tip of her index finger across one tiny male nipple. Morgan groaned. She repeated the process. He groaned again. When she replaced her finger with her tongue, Morgan threaded his fingers through her long, dark hair, gripped the back of her head with one hand and grabbed her hip with the other.

Dragging her over on top of him, he surged up and into her, taking her by surprise. She gasped as he filled her fully.

"Morgan." Her breath caught in her throat. "We—we need to talk. I have to explain—"

"Later." Clutching her hips, he lifted her up and then settled her back down onto him. "Much later."

And the ride of her life began, slow, sensuous and steady at first. And then as a thick heaviness descended upon her, she fought it, tried to conquer it, by riding him harder and faster. With each stroke of his sex deepening and expanding, taking her completely, the tension inside her tightened.

She had lived without this wild ecstasy for far too long, without this magnificent man she loved to the point of madness. She didn't know if she'd ever get enough, not even if they found a way to make their passion last forever.

* * *

Late that evening, they stood in the middle of her living room inForest Parkand assessed the day's accomplishments.

Exhaustion weighed heavily on her shoulders, draining her of the last ounces of strength she possessed.

The day had been long and tiring and she'd tried to do far too much. Morgan massaged her shoulders.

She relaxed against him.

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