Nothing But Time (29 page)

“I see,” he said thoughtfully
, nipping at her earlobe before pulling back to meet her gaze
. 
“Shall I take you around this second base then, Kate, and see if you hold it against me?”

“Batter up,” she whispered and Brand ducked his head, catching her lips f
iercely with his once more.  His left hand cupped her breast fully, squeezing tenderly while hi
s other hand shifted directions, pushing up her skirts
to stroke her inner thigh.

Each caress produced such overwhelming sensations that Kate could feel each keenly yet focus on neither.  That changed when Brand’s m
outh left hers and he d
ucked his head to capture her waiting nipple between his lips.  Kate gasped as he licked and then suckled
,
arching her back
and
surrender
ing
to his will.

The
touch of his tongue
sizzled a direct path down her center, tightening her core with a delicious ache.  Her head
buzzed
and her senses reeled so that Kate couldn’t even think.  All she could do was feel.  Feel his hands, his mouth.  His lips, his tongue.  His other palm skated up her bare thigh
, shoving her skirts up to her waist. 
Kate momentarily wonder
ed
where her pantalets had gone but then
all thought was lost again
as his fingers brushed the curls at the apex of her legs.

Kate flinched at the contact
with a shudder and a moan.  She didn’t know how to react to the s
ensations Brand evoked in her;
each caress was like an electrical current, zinging along her nerves, jolting her with a rush of feeling.  She quivered and trembled as his fingers parted those curls and
nudged her legs apart to stroke
her core
.  H
er legs tensed then relaxed before tensing again against the uncertainty of what dizzying f
ervo
r might assault her next.

Hearing Kate’s helpless moan, Brand stifled a smile of pure male satisfaction as he nuzzled her neck, his fingers caressing her tender flesh as she mewed, arching against his hand. 
Returning his lips to her
s,
he plundered her deeply capturing her cries and sighs as they emerged. 
Already she was in a daze of passion, so quickly roused to the breaking point as she had been the previous night.  Never had he known a woman so
reactive
, so openly
fervent.  There was no calculation in her responses.  She didn’t moan to feed his self-esteem, to laud his skill.  Her vocalization was the result of her honest passion, the passion he roused in her.

In truth, he was on the verge of losing himself to that same ardor, Brand realized.  The detachment, both emotional and physical, that he usually maintained with ease with women was quickly waning leaving him as atremble with
the
power of their shared ecstasy as Kate was.

And she’d hardly touched him
yet
beyond caressing his chest!

Her
passion
fed his and Brand thought that just watching Kate as ecstasy overtook her might be enough for him to reach his own release.  Though he’d rarely allowed himself the luxury of finding release during foreplay, his promise not to c
ompromise Kate fully might
leave him with little other recourse unless he wanted to wallow in frustration.

Kate cried in protest as h
is
lips left hers but that cry turned to a gasp of surprise as h
is
mouth
replaced his hand at her core, his lips and tongue curling around the small nub that served as the hub of her smoldering need.  Heedlessly, she tried to pull her hips away but his big hands pinned her to the chaise while he feasted upon her sensitive flesh.  He licked, suckled and teased her forcing Kate up the mountain of rapture with astonishing speed.  Within moments, her body was pulsating, weeping in surrender.

Circling her moist entrance, Brand smiled with masculine satisfaction as he dipp
ed into her once more.  She was hot and wet, begging him for mercy, her body writhing with passion as she cried out against the approaching tempest.  The sound tore at Brand sending a shudder of need through him as his body demanded that he give
her what they both wanted, that he
strip
Kate bare and possess her completely.  He wanted
to
take her, plunge into that welcoming
moisture;
he ached with the need to surrender to his craving.

“Brand, Brand,” she implored breathlessly, clutching at his head as if she might squeeze completion from him.  But Brand drew the torment out bringing Kate to the brink of release again and again until she was sobbing her surrender. 

He watched her climb to the pinnacle of ecstasy, her head thrown back, lips parted.  Finally he let her fly, glorying in the magic of seeing her come apart in his arms.  She cried out his name hoarsely as he wrenched every last bit of pleasure from her until finally she collapsed, his name a whisper on h
er
lips.

Soft lips brushed hers and Kate opened her eyes to catch Brand watching her.  Though she was throbbing with satisfied rapture, Brand’s eyes still burned with fire.
  Drawing his head down to hers, Kate kissed him
tasting her essence on his lips and
allowing the passion to build once more.  For the nirvana Brand had just delivered her to, he deserved some of the same in return.

Running her hands over his shoulders, she pushed his jacket off.  Brand eased away from her to push it off and Kate tugged at his shirt indicating that it should go as well.  He obliged her revealing his smooth, thickly muscled chest, broad shoulders and rippling abs.  With a hum of appreciation, Kate smoothed a hand across his belly before catching
him about his waist and
urging hi
s heavy weight
back down.

Brand shook his head.  “I would see you, Kate.  If I might.”

Kate felt passion flood her anew at his soft, husky words.  She wanted to please him, wanted to deliver him to the same rapture she had just found.  Rolling off the chaise, Kate stood and slowly worked the remaining buttons on her bodice before spreading it wide and lowering it off her arms.  Locking her gaze with his, she more quickly undid the ties of her skirts and petticoats until the multiple layers dropped into a pool at her feet.  Clad only in her corset and chemise, Kate reached up to untie the laces just below her breasts but as he
r
hands came up, his eyes locked on them and, as if reading the desires of his mind, Kate
caught her breasts in her palms, lifting and squeezing gently.

Brand’s eyes flew to hers, the scalding heat in them searing away the devilish grin that had been forming on her lips.  He came to his feet before her, hi
s hands covering hers until their
hands
were caressing her breasts as one.  Encouraging her to continue, Brand quickly unlaced the corset letting it drop at her feet as he gathered up her chemise pulling it higher, higher and over her head.  That done, Brand dropped back on to the edge of the chaise, his
blue
eyes searing her from head to toe as he looked his fill.

By God but she was lovely, Brand thought as he reached out to run a sweeping palm over Kate’s rounded hips.  As he had know
n
it would be, her body was lush with bountiful breasts and flaring hips.  But unlike every other woman he had known, there was little softness to her body.  She was firm, muscular.  He could feel the muscles across her midsection and belly and see them in her thighs as he had felt them in her bottom.  It was the body of an active woman and Brand realized he had never seen one so sculpted, so appealing.

Running his hands up her thighs, Brand caught Kate by the hips and drew her closer, placing a hot kiss to her belly before his thumbs reached out
to
spread her dark curls.  Keeping her tightly anchored, Brand kissed her there,
his tongue darting out to taste her remaining passion. 
Kate moaned and he could feel her thighs trembling.

Focusing on Kate’s face, Brand parted her and dipped a finger into her core, watching as her lips parted with a sigh of relief promptly followed by a groan of frustration as he slowly withdrew the digit. 

“Brand,” she whispered.  “I want to see you, too.”

Ignoring her, he thrust his finger deeply once more, withdrawing it to couple it before teasing her once again.  Kate gasp
ed
with a whimper at his invasion, her arms encircling his shoulders
as she arched against him.  But tugging at his hair, she asked again.  “Please, I want to see you, feel all of you against me.”

Nearly undone by her seductive words and the images that flowed through his mind, Brand hesitated knowing that he couldn’t risk the loss of a barrier between them. 
His body ached to possess hers.  Any good intentions would be lost if he were to feel her soft skin pressing against the length of his body.  “I cannot, Kate, if we are to refrain from completing the act.  I cannot risk it.”

Kate closed her eyes
and drew
in a deep breath.  She wanted to tell him that she didn’t care, that she wanted him anyway.  Impulses and rash decisions, she thought with a shake of her head.  How could one experience the joy of Brand’s hard body without giving into them?

With a tug of her hand, Brand urged Kate down to the chaise once more and
, giving in,
Kate laid down next to him as he ran his rough palm up the length of her body from thigh to breast
.  Sensing that Brand would be a generous lover sacrificing his needs for hers, Kate knew that this time she wasn’t going to be content laying supplicant before him.  She might not have him completely, but they would share this nonetheless.

She pulled him down against her, glorying in his weight as he pressed her i
nto the chaise.  His chest chaf
ed against her nipples and, as if sensing their need, Brand dipped his head to lavish her breast
s
with attention.   Kate raked
his back lightly as her teeth found the sensitive tendons at the base
of his neck
and mimicked the action there
, sucking and nipping
.

Distracted from his purpose, Brand took her lips with his once more forcing Kate to give him
the reins in their love play but Kate would have none of it.  She wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him against her.  She could feel his erection pressing against her and knew, were it not for that last barrier, she would welcome him into her body in that moment.  Temptation paired with her impulsive need to cast aside their agreement.  Hadn’t she only just today told him that she wasn’t ready to have sex with him?

Her body certainly was.  Brand reached between their bodies
strok
ing
lightly between Kate’s thighs, stoking her fire once more.  She was still warm and moist, her body receptive as he slid his fingers easily inside of her once more. 

Taking her lips with his, Brand lavished attention on her mouth while continuing
to ease his fingers in and out of her slick body, rotating and curling
the digits
as he did so. 
Kate clenched her body around him,
gripping him, begging for more.  Brand gave it to her employing the pad of his thumb to stroke the tiny nub that was the center of her desire.  His thumb circled and rubbed as his fingers continued their assault and soon Kate was writhing beneath him, panting for release.

“Brand!  Damn it, I want…”  With a huff, Kate met his kiss ferociously.  Not content to lay prostrate to his worshipping hands, Kate’s hands went to the fastenings of his trousers, pulling at the buttons until she had them loosened.

“Kate, I told you…”

“Hush,” Kate whispered as she slipped her hand down. 
Her
hand circled him
rousing
a guttural moan
that
was torn from
Brand
as she stroked the long length of him with a hum of appreciation.

“Ahh, God!  Kate!” he moaned as she
rotated her hand around him, sliding her hand up and down. 

“Live with it, Brand,” she whispered teasingly into his ear.  “You’re coming with me this time, once way or another.”

Kate caressed him again, savoring the hard length of him.  He was thick and long, pulsing with desire.  While Brand’s fingers resumed their invasion of her body, Kate imagined his
throbbing
erection taking the place of his fingers.  Imagined him thrusting inside of her, filling her, stretching her.  She was dizzy with the images, the fantasy compounding the torment Brand was playing on her.

But she wasn’t alone.  She could hear Brand’s breath panting against her neck as they pleasured one another.  He was losing control just as she was, his fingers thrusting harder up inside of her as her grip upon him tightened.