“It had better.” Her whisper came fierce with emotion, thick with feeling. She pressed her lips to the hollow of his throat, intoxicated by the taste of him.
The vow Joshua made not to touch her disintegrated like sand washed away in a river flood. She lay there soft…yielding, all for the taking, a fulfillment of every waking dream that had tormented him since the first time he clapped eyes on her at the Hayes’ farm.
Her full ripe breasts thrust impudently like pink rose buds. Her trim waist melded down over rounded hips, revealing the dark red triangle of her womanhood where he eagerly explored.
He nudged her legs apart, fitting himself snugly in the cradle of her thighs. He groaned as she worked her dewy entrance over the tip of his shaft, digging her nails in his hips. Fully aroused, desire pulsed through his swollen rigid flesh.
His gut clenched tight, his reserve of willpower quickly dwindling. His head dipped toward her breast, he suckled and she moaned, and then he plunged into her, through her barrier, burying himself deep inside her as deeply as he could. He would not withdraw until he’d gotten his fill.
She gasped and he covered her mouth with his, whispering reassurances. He plunged into her again and again, smelling her excitement on the crest of an incredible flood into womanhood. Past and future were obliterated; there was only the here and now for each moment stretching into an eternity of timelessness.
Her whimpers, primeval, universal, wild…her body rose to meet his rhythmic thrusts and his control shattered. Nights of restraint, sleeping by her side, now unleashed, his ardor mounted as she rose to meet his scorching desire. Melding, merging, swaying with oneness, moving into rhythms as old and as enduring as time itself.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders and he buried his face on the side of her neck, the pressure building inside him unlike anything he’d experienced. Joshua thrust his fingers into the flaming silkiness of her hair as she abandoned herself to him, and with every forceful thrust, he claimed her in a raw act of total possession, mindless of everything except the indulgence of granting them both complete satisfaction.
As she peaked, she arched and vibrated with liquid fire. Joshua taut above her, emptied his seed into her. Breathing hard, he rolled her to the side, keeping her intimately joined to him, and reveling in the sensation of her wet warmth, and the brush of her lips against his chest. His chin nestled upon her head and his fingers buried in the fiery waves of her hair. For a moment, he abandoned the fears of the past and future, basking upon the wonder of the intimacy they had just shared.
She ran a fingernail across his cheek. “Joshua…was it…like this for you?”
He exhaled a long sigh of contentment, basking in male arrogance that she was shaken as much as he. He kissed her head, the scent of roses mixed with the musky scent of their lovemaking permeated the air.
“You are exquisite,” he said. She was whirling through a haze of new feelings and desires, and she wanted him to explain what she was experiencing. “Rarely.”
“I’m not going back to England.”
“I suppose not.”
“You’re a clever man to have come to that conclusion.”
“And you are a stubborn witch weaving her spells.”
“Stubborn? You’re the champion of mulish, pig-headedness.”
“You might be right.” He nuzzled his chin into her hair while she stroked down his back.
“I’m staying here in Blackberry Valley with you. My place is by your side. I’ll take the risk.”
“Did I ever have a chance?”
“No.”
Latticed light penetrated the leafy bower high above, and rippled over her full ivory breasts. Her beauty was superb and regal, and in the glowing light of the forest glade, made her more ethereal than ever.
Joshua thought of the million ways he loved her. He was proud of how she pitched in with the Bells, never complaining. Her laughter and the way the children cleaved to her touched his heart. And yes, he endured her flaws. She sharpened her wit on him and kept him guessing at times. He wanted a woman who would challenge him. Her unassuming nature, he found awe-inspiring, not like spoiled aristocratic women he’d met in England. With her steadfast heart, he begrudgingly admired her persistence in rebuffing his detachment.
Juliet listened. To his dark moods, Juliet lifted him into her light. Her integrity, her spontaneity made him look forward to the magic of her every day. She trusted him.
Something sprang free in his chest. Its newness at first, painful, but the feeling resolutely exploded forth with a life and vigor of its own. Something marvelous, implausible, and all-consuming.
“I love you, Juliet.”
“I know,” she said, and then cleared her throat. “Is it possible for you to…again?”
She squirmed closer to him. The woman had no idea how much lust she kindled. “We must make love again to ward off the coming cold of Hó-thó,” said Joshua.
“I’m all for that.”
In answer, he grinned and rolled her onto her back.
