She hated that mark for what it had done to him.Her hand went down to it, her fingers running along it.She wished that she could absorb some of the pain he must have felt when it was done to him.
She brought his hand up and placed its scarred back to her cheek, surprised that he allowed it.Her gaze went to his eyes, and they were as frozen as ever, watchful, waiting.She moved his hand to her lips and kissed the scar lightly as if it were something honorable rather than unspeakably ugly.
His fingers tightened around hers, and then his lips were back on her lips, the kiss desperate and hurting and angry, consuming her.
Shea didn’t know whether she had done the right thing, whether he was trying to punish her, or forget, or … whether he did care for her a little, in spite of himself.
She wanted to make him forget all the bad years, all the pain, all the suffering.She wanted to bury them all, if only for a brief time.
Her response to his kiss tried to tell him that.It seemed as if she had been waiting all her life for him, for this, for the extraordinary way she felt when he touched her, when those probing, angry eyes met and clashed with hers.
His kiss deepened at her response, at her ready acceptance of him, at the way her body gravitated toward his.His tongue was no longer gentle, but hungrily invasive, as if he still wasn’t sure whether to be punitive or …
Loving.There was a hint of that in the gentleness of his fingers as they ran up and down her body.His arms went around her waist, and he rolled over with her so she was lying naked on his clothed body.She felt the throbbing of his sex and little fires starting to glow inside her.She maneuvered herself to get closer and closer, and then she pulled away from his kiss and started to unbutton his shirt.She wanted his skin next to her skin.She wanted no physical barriers.
When she rid him of his shirt, her hands ran up and down his chest as his had done with her body.She felt him quiver, tauten.She leaned down and shamelessly ran her tongue along his breastbone.
“God, Shea,” he whispered.
“Did anyone ever tell you that you taste good?”she said, smiling to herself at the utter astonishment in his face.
She moved her mouth to his neck, brushing it with kisses, savoring the saltiness of it.She was acting so totally unlike herself, so wanton.She didn’t even know how she knew what to do.She justknew.She felt so seductively alive, particularly when she saw the way he unsuccessfully tried to hide the desire burning in his own eyes, those glimpses of sheer, startled pleasure.
He groaned, and Shea felt his hands go down to the buttons of his trousers.She lifted herself slightly so she could unbutton them herself and slip the trousers from his hips.And then there was nothing between them, and she felt his manhood press tightly against the now-heated entrance between her legs.
Rafe rolled over so he again was on top, his body hovering mere inches above her, that straining part of him touching and teasing the increasingly sensitive part of her femininity.
For a moment she felt fear, as if she’d roused something she couldn’t control.Then his mouth came down, touching her face lightly, with such restraint.His body lowered all the way, and she felt him begin to enter her, slowly.
Fear melted, and she was filled with desire, with need for him, with an aching craving for what was coming.But he felt very strange, very large, and intrusive, and the pain came so unexpectedly that she couldn’t hold back a whimper.
“Christ.”The word exploded from him, and he hesitated.But despite her pain, the need was still inside her, building, boiling.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered.
But still he hesitated.
“Please,” she pleaded.She needed whatever it was he was giving.
She felt him move again, even more slowly than before, and his lips feathered her cheeks with caresses, as he carefully continued, his muscles taut with control.And then the pain started to fade, replaced by rivers of delicious sensations as he moved inside her.
“Oh, Rafe,” she said, astounded at the wonder of what was happening.His rhythm quickened, and she felt the core of her grasp and tighten around him.Her own body was suddenly moving in concert with his.
And then she couldn’t think anymore, just feel.Feel and feel and feel.And want to give.She wanted to give him pleasure and joy and happiness and forgetfulness.She wanted to change every bad thing into something glorious, just as he was doing to her.
Suddenly, there was a tumultuous explosion inside her.Pleasure rocked her, going on and on until she thought she could stand no more.She closed her eyes at the miracle that had just happened, and she felt his body relax, settle down on hers with a sigh of contentment.
After a few moments he moved slightly, rolling her to the side, so his weight wasn’t on her.His hand reached up and touched her cheek with such sweetness, she thought she might die happy at that moment.
“I …” He hesitated, his word’s obviously coming with great difficulty, and shadowed by regret.“I didn’t know … that you were a virgin.”It was an apology she didn’t want.
Some of the joy seeped from Shea.Of course he wouldn’t have thought she was a virgin, the way she had responded to him, or perhaps because she was Randall’s daughter.But his assumption hurt.She felt her face suddenly flush with humiliation.
And then his hand was touching her cheek.“Don’t,” he said.“It’s just that I’ve never … I’ve never been with a virgin before,” he finished awkwardly.“I’m … dammit,” he added.“It shouldn’t have happened.”
“A lot of things shouldn’t happen,” she said slowly, “but I don’t think this was one of them.”
He moved away, breaking the joining of their bodies, but his hand closed around hers, keeping it captive.He closed his eyes, as if he wanted to close out this scene.
