Protecting Rose (21 page)
He grinned back at Rick.
Rose remembered how she ran out the door to find herself at a home in the country. Sheila’s voice mixed with her memories.
“Rose, you did well,” Sheila said. “Now, I want you to wake up. I want you to wake up and remember everything you’ve told me. You will remember everything, but you will not be afraid. Wake up now, Rose.”
Rose opened her eyes and for a moment lost the ability to breathe as the memory of the event rushed through her mind. It wasn’t until she felt herself being lifted and looked into Nate’s blazing eyes that her breath flowed again through her lungs.
“You did real good, babe.” He pulled her into a tight embrace and stroked her hair.
Cassandra! My name is Cassandra.
Nate reached down and tilted her face up toward him. “You got away, babe. You got away.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear, his voice husky. “He didn’t...touch you.”
Realization swamped through her and she grinned. Then she laughed, the relief so intense she grew lightheaded and her legs began to buckle.
Nate wrapped his arm around her waist and held her up. He cradled the back of her head and captured her mouth in a searing, soul-embracing kiss.
All rational thought fled as desire for this man swamped her. There was only her and Nate and the way he made her feel as he worshipped her lips. Her legs became useless for a totally different reason as he tenderly made love to her mouth. Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and surrendered herself to him. She kissed him back with total and absolute abandonment, her need for him naked to the world.
In the distance, a car started and pulled away. Nate kissed his way down her face and nuzzled near her ear. His warm breath against her cheek sent shivers through her.
“Sheila and Rick have left,” he said softly. “It’s just you and me.” He reached up and unclipped her hair, and it tumbled freely down her shoulders.
He then proceeded to sweep her up into his arms and carry her to her room where he laid her on the bed. His eyes blazed with tenderness and heat.
“I want you,” Nate said huskily.
Her heart raced at the unchecked desire she saw in his heavy, lidded gaze. Her breath caught at the way he devoured her with a look of pure uninhibited passion.
She opened her arms and welcomed him into her bed with a matching need. Her body hummed for him. For today, for tomorrow, for however long she could have him. She pushed aside the niggling fear that she would lose him when her memory returned. The only thing that mattered was right here, right now.
He gave her that slow, incredible smile and her body trembled in anticipation. With a wicked gleam in his eyes, he pulled his wallet from his back pocket, retrieved two condoms and tossed them on the nightstand. He kicked off his shoes, grasped the bottom of his shirt, and stripped it off and tossed it on the floor. Her nipples tightened and liquid warmth flooded the apex of her thighs. She waited with bated breath as he slowly unzipped his jeans and pushed them down, along with his underwear, in one smooth move. He straightened and studied her for a long moment. His eyes blazed with unadulterated need and desire as they caressed her.
Her pulse raced at the sight of his sculptured body, bared for her, and she bit her bottom lip, both eager and uncertain. In a glance, she took in his pure awe-inspiring masculinity and ached for his touch, but her mind was hesitant as it acknowledged his immense size and strength. With a nervous gasp, her eyes came to rest on a very erect, very large, very beautiful, but intimidating, male organ. She gasped in nervous anticipation at the thought of accepting him into her body.
At Nate’s low chuckle, she looked up to find him watching her with both tenderness and amusement. Heat rose to her cheeks.
“I would never hurt you, Rose.” Placing a knee on the side of the bed, he slowly unbuttoned her blouse.
She melted under his touch and tender gaze. All doubt disappeared, and she helped him remove her blouse with eager fingers as she kicked her shoes off. Rose lifted her bottom to allow him to pull her slacks down and off her legs, until she was left wearing nothing more than the skimpy black bra and panties purchased on her Chicago trip. She’d changed into them, along with the silk scarf as a confidence booster before her hypnosis session, and was grateful she had. Nate’s sensual gaze flamed into hot molten lava and her pulse increased. Yes, it had been an excellent decision.
“You are so beautiful.” His eyes devoured her.
Taking her by the shoulders, he pulled her up against his hard chest and covered her mouth with his in a long, heated kiss. When he lifted his head and met her gaze with eyes that burned, she smiled, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with every fiber of the feelings she’d struggled with over the last week. Her need for him poured out in her kiss.
Nate gave a husky groan and lowered her back onto the mattress before covering her with his body. The feel of his naked flesh against hers, the thrill of his hands intimate exploration, and his mouth’s sensual seduction left her awash in a haze of desire. Her body burned with pockets of heat wherever he touched.
Rose closed her eyes and a moan of pure pleasure passed her lips as Nate gently kneaded her breasts. With an “oh, baby,” he removed the barrier of her bra. His tongue eagerly stroked a taut nipple before sucking it into his warm, hungry mouth. Shockwaves of pleasure flowed through her. She trembled with desire as his mouth continued its sensual caresses to her other breast.
“Nate,” she moaned. Rose grasped the back of his head and held him against her as his mouth worked its magic. Her body was on fire, never wanting him to stop.
With one last lick of her nipple, he began a slow slide down her body and rained scorching kisses in his wake. His hands roamed over her like a starved man searching for sustenance. He paused at her waist to place soft butterfly kisses across her belly.
Her breath caught when he lifted his head to look into her eyes and, with a slow grin, slid her panties down her legs and off her body, tossing them on the floor along with their other clothes. She shivered in anticipation when he lowered his head and continued his sensual assault down to the very heart of her.
She gasped when he nuzzled between her thighs and proceeded to kiss his way to her core. Sliding his hands under her bottom, he cupped her cheeks in his palms and lifted her up to caress her with his tender tongue. Desire shot through her. Like a flower petal absorbing the sun’s warmth, her legs opened for him.
He gave a low growl, and covered her center with his mouth and took her high into the clouds. The feel of his silken tongue’s sensual strokes was absolute paradise. A sweet tension grew deep within her womb as pleasure radiated through her. An incredible overwhelming sensation built to a mind-numbing bliss. She was breathless and trembling as her body begged for release.
“Oh! God,” she moaned, not knowing how much more of this pleasure she could stand.
With a low, husky laugh, Nate inserted his finger into her soft feminine heat. He flicked the swollen bud between her legs with his tongue before drawing it gently into his mouth, savoring it. The gentle strokes of his finger increased with the rhythm of her moans.
He thrust another finger inside her as his tongue made a long slow stroke over her most sensitive area. “Mine,” he murmured against her heated flesh.
With just his softly spoken word, Rose flew apart with a cry of ecstasy. Tossed into the heavens amid a thousand brilliant lights, she floated among the stars in the haze of passion’s bliss before falling gently back to earth. Boneless from the intense orgasm that had rocked her she lay breathless, lost in the pleasure of the aftershocks.
Nate continued to lavish her with gentle kisses. As he leisurely worked his way back up her body, stopping to sample her breasts, before returning to capture her mouth. The taste of her essence on his lips, both erotic and thrilling, sent sensual tingles from her brain to her center.
She was overwhelmed with a rush of love for him. He continued to kiss her passionately, and her body once again craved his heady touch. The pleasure he had just shown her with nothing more than his mouth had her wondering what other surprises he had in store for her. She wanted him deep inside her. Wanted...needed to know him as only a man and woman could, in the most intimate way. Baring her soul for his eyes only.
Her body still ached for him. “Nate, please make love to me.”
He lifted his head to look at her with both amusement and hunger. “I thought that’s what I just did.” He grinned, buried his hands in her hair, and took her lips for a sweet, tender kiss.
“I want you inside me,” she purred against his mouth.
“Oh, baby.” He moaned and crushed her lips with his in heated passion.
The raw need and sensual power of his kiss stole her breath. She wanted to be taken by him. By this man, who held her heart now and forever. No matter what her memories brought.
Desire shot through her, and she returned his kiss with the same passionate intensity. The feel of his lips, the touch of his hands as he claimed her body in the most intimate of ways, ignited a fire within her that only he could quench.
She wanted him inside her, filling her up with his passion. She squirmed beneath him. “Now, Nate. I want you now,” she pleaded.
He chuckled. “Whatever you say, ma’am.” He retrieved a condom off the nightstand and sheathed himself, before he nudged her legs apart and pressed his erection between her thighs. Her breath caught in anticipation.
“Look at me, Rose,” he said hoarsely.
Rose opened her eyes, not even having been aware that she had closed them. Her body quivered with desire. Nate’s stormy eyes simmered with need as he watched her.
With a sexy smile and one driving thrust, he entered her.
Rose was unprepared for the sharp pain at the contact. Her surprised gasp stilled him. His body shuddered as he attempted to rein in his passion.
She met his shocked gaze. Saw a dawning realization and the quick look of self-condemnation when he acknowledged what she now knew. She was...had been...a virgin.
Sonofabitch.
Nate’s gut clenched.
I really need to kick my ass!
She was a virgin, and he’d just taken her fast and hard when he should have taken her slow and gentle. He’d known the moment he felt her barrier, but had been unable to stop. At the sound of her pained gasp, he’d felt like a total bastard.
Son.of.a.bitch!
This time a slow grin spread across his face.
She’s a virgin
.
He looked into her eyes and saw an answering realization. She was a virgin. She wasn’t married, and it was a final confirmation she hadn’t been raped.
Even as his brain struggled to process the fact that she’d been a virgin, his body seemed to have figured it out quite nicely as he grew harder within her.
Mine,
his inner caveman declared.
He went perfectly still, allowing her body to adjust. Sweat beaded on his brow from the effort, his breathing ragged. “Baby, I didn’t know,” he murmured, his voice husky with both passion and remorse. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Rose touched his cheek, and a seductive smile curved her lips.
“Don’t stop, Nate.”
With a groan, he lost the internal struggle to slow down and selfishly relinquished himself over to the sensual pull of Rose’s body.
He cupped her face to kiss her honeyed lips. “It won’t hurt again,” he promised. He began to move inside her with slow, gentle strokes, all the while raining kisses across her face. His senses on high alert for any further signs of pain or discomfort. Nate was both relieved and filled with triumph when she wrapped her legs firmly around him, arched into him and met his thrusts. He covered her mouth with his and increased his sensual rhythm as her body melted under his. Her soft moans of pleasure gave him encouragement.
