The Prospective Wife (17 page)

Even if she’d wanted to dispute either of those facts, she couldn’t have; what Kat saw in his eyes made her insides dissolve.

Matt ran a single finger softly over the lovely angle of her jaw. He felt her quiver and his eyes darkened. ‘And I’ve been thinking about getting you into it—’ his hand pressed against the mattress ‘—since almost the first moment I set eyes on you. This was always inevitable, you know, Kathleen,’ he purred persuasively.

Kat didn’t need persuading. ‘Inevitable as in I’d be a push-over?’

She gave a small, self-derisive smile which turned into a tiny shriek as he placed one hand square on her chest and pushed her over in the literal sense.

‘Gosh! I’m a fallen woman.’ Despite the benign nature of her fall, Kat felt as breathless as if she’d just bungee-jumped from a ten-storey building.

His low laughter was warm and caressing. ‘That sounds promising…’

The smile died from her lips. ‘It is,’ she told him huskily.

Their eyes locked and neither smiled.

Without saying a word he took hold of her legs underneath the knees and swivelled her fully onto the bed. There was a flattering urgency about his actions.

It didn’t occur to Kat to tell him not to exert himself; he seemed to know exactly what he was doing. It’s probably just as well one of us does, she reflected, stifling a surge of uneasiness.

Heart pounding, she lay there passive and pliant as he planted a hand either side of her head and stretched out beside her.

An expression of wonder in her eyes, Kat reached up and let her fingers drift featherlight over his lean face. Matt turned his head and kissed the palm of her cupped hand.

‘You really are quite, quite beautiful,’ she breathed with husky reverence. It was a confession she’d been aching to make; Kat found the experience remarkably liberating.

A smile that was tender and at the same time ferocious curved his lips in response. ‘A somewhat battered beauty…?’ His hand went to the scar on his cheek.

‘I want to kiss the scars, all of them,’ she announced dreamily.

‘Is that so?’ He extended the kiss from her palm all the way down the inner aspect of her slim arm in a series of soft feathery kisses until he came to the delicate blue-veined area of her wrist.

He groaned and pressed his face into her open hand. ‘You have absolutely no idea what’s it’s been like having you touch and yet not touch me, if you know what I mean.’

Kat knew
exactly
what he meant. She looked at the back of his dark head and was swamped by a mixture of feelings that ranged from outright predatory to a tenderness that bordered on the protective. Despite the wild contrast, she didn’t feel any conflict; she’d never felt anything in her life that felt this right.

She ran her hand over the curve of his strong back, feeling the responsive quiver of tight, taut muscles as she did so. When the feelings got too raw to bear, she buried her face in his shoulder and eagerly drank in the warm, intimate, very male scent of his aroused body.

‘Me too!’ she whispered fiercely as he rolled onto his side and took her with him.

His hand slid smoothly under the slippery fabric of her dress. Kat caught her breath as his fingers touched her skin; the contact was electrifying.

‘Your skin is so soft,’ he rasped thickly as his hand glided smoothly over the warm skin of her calf.

By the time his fingers had reached her thigh, Kat was gasping noisily for breath. When they slid under the lacy hem of her knickers and touched the silky fuzz between her legs, she cried out loud at the shocking intimacy.

‘You don’t like that?’ Matt knew she did; he was just greedy to hear her say it.

‘I do! I do!’

Her heavy eyelids lifted and she found his cerulean eyes were fixed unblinkingly on her flushed face. Kat swallowed; there was something raw and basic in the taut, driven expression on his face.

Tears welled in her eyes; she was literally drowning in a sensual sea of sensation. ‘Don’t stop!’ she pleaded.

Desperate to be closer to him, she shuffled her body sinuously forward until they were virtually joined at the hip. She squirmed some more as she felt the hard ridge of his arousal grind against her sensitive pelvis.

Their eyes locked and the sexual tension became so heavy she didn’t dare breathe. Without losing eye contact, she lifted her leg and hooked it over his narrow waist, effectively locking him against her.

That wasn’t the only thing it did. A deep growl vibrated in Matt’s chest as he felt her hot, moist, feminine sweetness open up for him. He slid one finger forward over her slick wetness and touched the tight nub of flesh.

Kat just dissolved inside.

Matt watched as her head fell backwards. A shudder shivered up his spine when the keening note emerged from her open mouth. Eyes blazing, Matt bent forward and drove his tongue deep inside her mouth.

His wickedly lustful tongue and lips didn’t let up their onslaught, not even for a second. Kat was swept along on the dizzying tide of his hot desire. All the time he sucked and bit, his fingers were stroking the aching core of her until she felt she’d die from sheer pleasure. Somewhere along the way Kat surrendered control with a feeling of joyous release.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, he stopped.

Kat was lying on top of him by this point; her dress was rucked up around her waist, revealing a lot of creamy thigh and the suggestion of a firm, femininely rounded bottom. Matt burrowed his dark head into the pillow and pressed his nose up against the side of hers; their breath mingled. Kat’s teeth were clenched; she was shaking feverishly. Deep tremors shook Matt’s entire body intermittently.

‘Tell me you want me, Kathleen.’

That was easy. Kat was almost disappointed that his request wasn’t tougher. She was completely consumed by a burning desire to prove herself and her love, if not by word but by deed. She’d prove she’d do anything for him, absolutely anything to please him; she couldn’t wait for the opportunity to demonstrate this willingness. Part of her was terrified by the level of commitment, and part of her revelled in the erotic possibilities.

‘I want you, Matt.’

Matt’s eyes were closed, but his deep sigh had a smugly satisfied sound to it. He sat up and, loosening his tie, pulled it over his head. Still straddled across his knees, Kat had no option but to sit up too.

Holding her eyes, he flicked open the top button of his shirt. A nerve was pulsing spasmodically in his lean cheek; he was close enough for her to feel the fragrant warmth of his uneven breath across her cheeks, close enough for her to appreciate the fine even texture of his skin, close enough for her to be racked with a searing need to touch him—she did.

As she placed her hand flat on his belly she felt the sharp contraction of tight firm muscles beneath her splayed fingers; a tiny mewing sound of pleasure emerged from between her parted lips.

Eyes demurely downcast, tongue tucked firmly between her white teeth, she flicked him a sultry teasing look. A languorous sigh caused her aching breasts to strain tightly against the lightly boned bodice of her dress.

Matt’s eyes followed the rapid undulating motion; his scrutiny inflicted further damage to her breathing. With agonising slowness, he began to slide one narrow strap over her shoulder. When the strap hung loose, he began to turn his attention to the remaining one.

He didn’t seem to have any trouble locating the zip down the back of her dress. When gravity didn’t immediately oblige him he gave it a helping hand and peeled the soft fabric back until her breasts were revealed.

The key fell forgotten to the floor. There was a sibilant hiss of indrawn breath. The blood rushed to her cheeks and, without thinking, she raised her hands to cover herself. Shaking his head, Matt caught her wrists and firmly drew her arms away.

‘Never…never…’ he reproached huskily. ‘Dear, sweet…but you’re incredible.’ His half-closed eyes gleamed as they followed the gentle sway of her pink-tipped breasts.

Kat’s momentary doubts fell away; her mood soared to dizzying wanton heights.

‘Touch me.’ Her words were half plea, half defiant challenge.

With a groan Matt buried his face in her breasts; he drank in the scent and softness of her with the desperation of a starving man. She felt his hand curve around one aching breast, felt him take the weight of it before he slowly drew the engorged peak into his mouth.

Kat’s back arched and her mouth opened in a soundless moan. Her head fell backwards; the urgent motion sent the last of her hairpins adrift, leaving the pale silky tresses to flow unrestricted to midway between her shoulderblades. She couldn’t speak; she could hardly breathe! His attentions shifted to the neglected breast. Her nipples burnt with pleasure; the ache deep in her belly grew almost unbearable in its intensity.

‘Please!’ she begged brokenly, twisting her fingers tight in his thick wavy hair. ‘I want you to love me, Matt, please…!’

Matt lifted his head. There was dark flush along the crest of his cheekbones; his eyes were dark and strangely unfocused. For a moment Kat felt a flare of fear—he looked like a stranger—then as he continued to stare down into her face the blank, carnal expression faded.

‘Just try and stop me…’ he growled, pushing her down across the bed, only pausing to rip off his shirt with flattering urgency before he joined her. ‘That is to say,’ he corrected himself with a frown, ‘you could stop me…
just.
But, hell, you’re not going to, are you…?’

Kat gazed across at him with open adoration. ‘That’s not an option at this stage,’ she told him huskily.

‘You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that.’

Kat lifted herself up on one elbow and pushed a hank of long blonde hair from her face; her skin was damp, her breathing one step away from hyperventilation. Boldly she reached across and ran a hand all the way down the leanly muscled torso.

Eyes dark and smoky with desire, Matt reached for his belt buckle.

Kat shook her head. She bent over and kissed him deeply. ‘I want to,’ she explained huskily when they eventually parted.

With a tiny nod of assent Matt rolled onto his back. One arm curved above his head, his eyes half-closed, he watched her fumble with the belt and zip. He only got occasional glimpses of her face; her long hair hid it from view.

The zip slid down and he heard her startled intake of breath. His self-control snapped.

‘Sorry, but this is torture.’ He slid his legs over the side of the bed. Two seconds later he was back beside her, naked and marvellously aroused.

Kat stared; she couldn’t help herself.

‘Touch me, Kathleen.’

Kat gulped and raised her eyes with difficulty. ‘I’d like to, only I don’t want to do anything wrong.’

‘Wrong…?’

‘The thing is, you see…’ She screwed her eyes up tight—this was
so
embarrassing. ‘I’ve never actually done this before.’

There was a long disbelieving silence, during which Kat’s feelings of inadequacy were multiplying by leaps and bounds.

‘Are you trying to tell me,’ he began in an odd voice, ‘that you’re a…a…’

Kat sighed. ‘Virgin,’ she admitted gloomily. Elbow crooked, she anchored her hair off her face and gazed over at him. ‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it.’

Matt swallowed. ‘Oh, you should have,’ he assured her throatily. And I probably shouldn’t ask this, he thought, asking anyhow,
‘Why me?’

She almost told him.

‘I must have been waiting for the best.’

Kat felt relieved when a slow smile spread over his face; he had been looking pretty grim since she’d fessed up.

‘How,’ he asked, drawing her towards him, ‘can you know something’s the best if you’ve no room for comparison?’

‘I’ll know.’

‘You nervous, angel?’ He kissed her softly on the lips.

Her eyes, wide and trusting, melded with his. ‘Not with you.’

The muscles in his flat belly contracted sharply as he gasped. Eyes aflame, he nuzzled the sides of her mouth before sliding his tongue between her teeth with skilful deliberation.

‘This is going to be worth the wait,’ he promised huskily.

‘I know!’ she cried blissfully. Then, ‘Will you show me…?’ Her eyes slid down his body and she swallowed. ‘How to touch…?’

‘I will,’ he promised thickly.

Soon he was begging her, begging her to stop. Kat complied with the utmost reluctance, consumed by a relentless curiosity about his body. He kissed her a lot more then, and stroked and caressed her until her skin was singing.

She half closed her eyes when he slid her dress down over her hips. Her thighs trembled as she felt the garment slide lower. She could feel his eyes, through her closed eyelids, watching her. Did he like what he was seeing…? She wasn’t normally plagued by insecurities about her body but, God she hoped so!

Kat’s body jerked and her eyes shot open at the touch of his lips against the soft feminine curve of her belly. Her head fell back and she moaned and squirmed as his tongue continued to inscribe delicate shapes over her smooth flawless skin. All the time his hands were moving, stroking gently, skimming lower and lower.

It felt the most natural thing in the world to open her legs wide for him, invite his touch to grow more intimate. When she felt the lash of his tongue her body bucked and she cried out in protest.

Matt wouldn’t let her twist away; he held her down gently but firmly while he told her in that sinfully sexy voice of his how beautiful she was, how much he needed to touch and taste her. It wasn’t long before Kat’s cries were of encouragement, not protest.

Kat hadn’t known her body was capable of feeling this way; it reached the point where his lightest touch was driving her insane. The tiny ripples were running visibly across her stomach by the time he positioned himself between her legs.

Matt was breathing hard, his face a rigid mask of restraint. Her fingers dug in his back and she screamed shamelessly at him when he hesitated.

‘I need you inside me nooow…!’ she wailed, pressing desperate kisses on the smooth, hot skin of his chest.

There wasn’t the pain she’d been expecting, just a deep glorious feeling of completion as she closed tightly around him. Then he was moving, stroking her inside, and she realised there was more, and more of him too, as he sank deeper into her.