Staking His Claim (9 page)

He turned his attention back to her
immediately, pulling her into his torso and sinking his fingers
into her hair. His mouth found hers and he kissed her deeply,
entwining his tongue with hers and letting her sweet scent wash
over him. He kissed her repeatedly, over and over and over again.
She melted against him, and the sweet feel of her innocence
exploded through him, hardening him.

The blood pooled in his groin and he felt
himself surge against the zipper of his jeans. He shifted, trying
to relieve the ache, as he gripped her tightly to him.

He tried to go slow, tried to make it good
for her. As much as he wanted her; he wanted
this
time
to be
for
her.

He pushed the dress from her shoulders and as
it fell to the floor, he lifted his mouth from hers to look down at
her body. He couldn't have begun to find the words to describe her
ethereal beauty or how much he wanted her, so he didn't attempt to
try.

He picked her up by the hips and twirled her
until she was flat on her back in the center of his bed, her body
wrapped in only two small wisps of lace.

He pushed to his feet and quickly divested
himself of his boots, socks, jeans and boxer briefs.

Putting one knee on the bed, he lowered
himself beside her, completely naked, and took her in his arms
without hesitation.

He ran his hand up her side, starting at her
creamy thigh and travelling quickly up her hip, over the indent of
her waist and landed on a lace-enclosed breast.

Her soft gasp and quickened breathing made
his already rock-hard shaft pulse with need.

He reached over to the lamp on the bedside
table and flipped it on. Light glared into the room, making her
blink.

She sucked in her breath and let out a small
noise of panic.

He tried to soothe her as he reached for her
again. "Shh, everything's okay."

"Why'd you turn the light on?" she
whispered.

"I couldn't see you," he stated the obvious,
his hands reaching for the clasp between her breasts. He pushed the
cups away from the small, tempting mounds, his eyes fastened to the
bounty he was uncovering.

A sharp sound came from his throat.

Elaina saw him staring at her uncovered chest
and red flecks of arousal colored his cheekbones as he lowered his
head and covered a nipple with his mouth.

He began sucking like a starving man, his
hand going to her other breast, and pleasure, swift and intense,
had her hips lifting off the bed and pushing against him.

His chest vibrated with the moan coming from
deep in his throat. His lips lifted from her nipple and his voice
rasped against the soft mound of her skin, "You're beautiful,
Elaina. God, you're so beautiful."

She answered him, her heart constricting from
the tenderness of his tone, "You're the beautiful one."

He lifted up at her words and stared at her,
his gaze fixed on her. He peered at her intently, and she felt like
he was trying to see into her soul.

She didn't have anything to hide from him.
She reiterated her words, "I think you're beautiful--I thought you
were beautiful the first time I saw you," she whispered.

"Why, baby? Why'd you keep me in the
dark?"

She stared with longing at him, her heart in
her eyes, "I just knew--I could tell--I wasn't ready and I knew I
wouldn't be able to say no to you."

He visibly swallowed. "Are you ready
now?"

A soft, pink flush covered her face.
"Yes."

"Thank God."

He reached down, smoothed his rough hands
over her sides until they landed on her hips. He divested her of
her panties and tossed them aside.

His gaze roved down her naked body and a
harsh look of satisfaction crossed his features. He lowered himself
back down beside her, and began the slow process of her seduction
all over again.

He kissed her slowly, his tongue swirling
with hers as her hands clenched his biceps. He rolled her nipple
between his finger and thumb, and she began mewling softly into his
mouth. He ran his hand up and down her thigh and lifted it over his
hip, opening her softness to him. His finger slid between the soft
folds at the center of her feminine core, and landed on her slick,
wet clit. She jerked against him, moaning.

He rubbed against her, his finger going up
and down between her clit and the soft opening of her vagina.

She was wet.

He thought she was wet and excited
enough.

He slowly penetrated her with his finger up
to his first knuckle. She was small and her inner muscles clenched
him tightly. He felt the restriction of her hymen, and a fierce,
territorial satisfaction hammered at his guts.

Yeah, that was what he wanted from her.
That
was the beginning of what he wanted from
her.

He carefully manipulated his finger while she
moaned and shivered around him. Her chin butted against his cheek
in agitation, and he sank his tongue in her mouth and began kissing
her as he tested the strength of her virginity.

Sweat broke out on his brow when she
whimpered in pain.

Son of a bitch.

This was going to hurt her.
Goddamnit!
He really, truly, did not want to hurt her.

He carefully removed his finger and slid it
over her clit again. She began mewling in need and panting against
him.

With a vague idea of getting her so hot she
might not feel the pain, he spread her legs wide and dropped down
between them.

Shock hit Elaina when Raul lifted her thighs
over his shoulders and pushed his head between her legs.
"Raul--"

"Shh, be still, it'll be okay."

Her shaking fingers sank in his hair as he
spread her folds open and looked up at her, his face a contrast of
emotions. She saw need, worry, and arousal as he looked at her, his
finger falling on the bud above her sex again.

Pleasure pierced her and embarrassment fled
completely as she watched him begin swiping her with his tongue,
all the while manipulating her clit until she began feeling great
waves wrapping around her spine, flowing from her breasts down to
pulsating need beating through her feminine core.

Her breath came quicker and mingled with the
rough growling noises coming from his throat as he moved his tongue
on her.

His dark, velvet brown eyes tangled with hers
from his position between her thighs, and she knew the look on his
face was going to push her over the edge.

He came to his knees between her thighs,
picked up the condom and began ripping the small package apart.

He rolled it down his length and came back
down on top of her, his mouth landing on hers and his finger
pushing against the pearl above her sex, wanting her as hot as she
had been ten seconds before.

He didn't have to wait that long.

His finger on her clit and his tongue in her
mouth was enough to do it.

She became frantic in his arms, and he knew
she was about to detonate. His abs clenching in vicious need, the
muscles in his neck cording, he pushed himself between her thighs,
pressing her knees apart and hooking her legs up and around his
waist. He lunged into her, taking her virginity with one smooth,
hard thrust of his hips, pushing himself into her until he didn't
know where he stopped and she began.

The blood pounding through his veins in a
deep primal rhythm, he felt her take a shuddering breath and gave
her to the count of three heartbeats to absorb the fullness of his
intrusion. Then her muscles began contracting around him and he
felt the shimmer began to take her. He began stroking her, pushing
his hips in and out, stroking her in time with the pulsing
contractions of her inner muscles.

His lips landed on hers again, his hips
pumping into her, and he felt it the second the orgasm took her
body. She screamed against him, the sound muffled by his tongue and
mouth over hers. She shimmered in his arms, and he pummeled into
her, his erection engorging with the last influx of blood, his
ejaculation strong as he erupted inside of her, following her over
a precipice of pleasure so intense, he didn't know how he'd managed
to live this long without it.

Elaina came back to herself, the glaring
light from the lamp not allowing her to hide from anything.

Raul lay on top of her, still deeply imbedded
in her, the only things keeping him from crushing her were his
elbow and forearm holding him apart from her, just enough so she
could draw breath.

Her mind screamed from stunned shock at the
way it had been between them.

Was this normal?
Was sex always like
this?
Surely not.
She bit her lip as her heart rate slowly
receded. She expelled a shallow, shaky sigh.

His voice rumbled from the pillow above her
head, "Did I hurt you?"

Surprisingly, no
. "No." It was all she
could manage.

That one fast climax against the barn earlier
in the evening hadn't prepared her for the complete and total
intimacy of sex. Sex with Raul Vega.

Christ.

He was right. She never had a fighting
chance. Had she
ever stood a chance against him?

A barrage of images inundated her
brain
. The first time she met him when his rough palm held her
hand for as long as he reasonably could. The day at the feed store
when his anger and jealousy were already apparent. His temper when
she had run out of gas. The first time he kissed her in the study.
Tonight, with his head between her legs.

Suddenly, it was all too much for her to
handle.

"I want to go home."

Raul's big body jerked over her, and he
surged to new life inside of her. "No."

Elaina whimpered and pushed her hands against
his shoulders. "I can't breathe."

"You can breathe just fine," he grunted over
her, his hands lifting her face up to his and his eyes devouring
hers, trying to see inside of her.

She closed her eyes against him and he
growled low in his throat at the small defiance. When he spoke,
there was a silken thread of warning in his tone, "Open your eyes,
Elaina."

He hung in suspended animation above her,
waiting for her compliance. She held her eyelids closed a few
pulsing moments, long enough to let him know she only opened them
because she wanted to.

The beautiful brown orbs glistened up at him,
fury and determination coming from their depths. She spoke through
gritted teeth. "You're not being fair. I need a moment, Raul. Is
that
too damn much
to ask for?" She pushed against him,
hard.
"Get off me!"

Her fury sparked an answering emotion in him,
and he jerked away from her, forgetting all about being
careful.

Her body didn't release him easily. He was
fully aroused again, and the friction against her delicate inner
skin resulted in pain that made her flinch as tears flooded her
eyes.

"Shit!
I'm sorry," he bit out as he
rolled away from her.

She caught her breath and pushed herself up
into a sitting position with her back against the headboard.

He rolled to his back, dragging oxygen in and
out of his lungs, physically trying to subdue the violent urge to
grab her again. He clenched his jaw in suppressed need and silently
watched her. He saw her gaze slide down his body and she stiffened
visibly at what she found. His eyes followed hers to his erection,
and he knew that what she was seeing was threatening to her. She'd
been a virgin until only minutes before, and now she was
experiencing sex in the stark aftermath. His cock was no doubt
intimidating to her, and the soiled condom and blood weren't things
from a fairytale.

It wasn't something he was used to seeing, in
fact couldn't ever remember seeing blood of any kind on his cock.
Knowing it was her blood, her virgin's blood, gave him a swift kick
in the ass and the realization that no matter what kind of shit he
was going through, she was feeling more.

He rolled to his feet and walked to the
bathroom and quickly cleaned himself. It did little to relieve the
heat in his groin. He retrieved a warm, wet cloth and brought it
back to her.

She was watching him walk back toward the
bed, her eyes skipping down to his full blown hard-on, like he was
a snake about to strike. She clutched the covers to her chest.

If he hadn't felt like a piece of shit
before, the look on her face cinched it for him. He couldn't do
anything about his unruly cock, but he bent down and pulled on his
boxer briefs.

He saw a slight flare of relief in her eyes
from the underwear he pulled over his hips, and he sat on the side
of the bed facing her.

He held the cloth in one hand and took hold
of the covers with the other and began slowly pulling them away
from her body.

She resisted. "No."

"Yes."

"I can do it," she said, holding out a hand
for the cloth.

"I want to do it," he demanded.

"No."

"Are you about to ask me to take you home?"
His voice was sharp.

"Yes."

"Then give me this. Please."

It was the
please
that did it.

She let go of the covers.

He held her eyes with his and slowly pulled
the sheet and comforter down her body until they were pushed to the
foot of the bed. Slowly, he lowered his eyes to her naked body.

He gently pushed her knees apart, and the raw
emotion on his face as he saw the effects of his handiwork left no
room for her embarrassment. She saw unmistakable tension in his
face as he put the cloth to the feminine mound between her legs and
began to softly cleanse away the blood, the sweat, and the smells
of sex.

Elaina was utterly unable to speak as he
performed this service for her. Everything he was feeling was
there, right before her eyes. Possessiveness, satisfaction
,
tenderness,
ownership.