15
When Marley awokethe next morning, the sun had already risen, casting the darkened cave with a fiery pink glow. Mack once more stood at the mouth of the cave with his back to her, only this time he was clothed, a state which she found utterly disappointing, no matter how well he filled out that black T-shirt.
The taut set to his shoulders was gone. Marley quickly slipped into her bra, choosing to forgo her flight suit for the moment, and padded over to him. Suddenly shy, she pulled back just before she touched his shoulder and instead crossed her arms over her middle and stared out at the gorgeous scene. The sun appeared enormous on the horizon, having risen over the trees in a giant fiery arch that painted the green leaves a glowing gold.
A wave of shimmering heat and humidity glinted over the canopy, bending the air and the horizon. It was breathtaking. Even so, she couldn’t help but steal a quick peek at Mack out of the corner of her eye. His chiseled expression showed about as much emotion as the stone cave in which they stood. Marley shifted from her left to right foot and tucked her arms more tightly around her body. Had she been too forward last night? Was he disgusted by her actions? She blushed at the thought of how brazen and bold she’d been—she had never ever been that outgoing with her former husband.
But something about Mac’s raw pain and masculine earthy power had stolen her ability to think. She’d only been able to feel, her emotions bouncing off his and combusting into conflagration that had sparked to life the first moment she laid eyes on him.
Mack still hadn’t acknowledged her presence. Maybe he reallywasdisgusted with her . . . Maybe he couldn’t stand to look at her. If last night had been no more than an adrenaline-fueled sex session for him, he wouldn’t have any more use for her now that he’d burned off that remaining energy. That thought hurt more than it should. Then again, what could she expect after having a one-night stand with a man she’d met that morning?
Self-righteous anger followed the hurt. What right did he have to look down on her?
He was pretending like she wasn’t even there, like their sex had been meaningless. When it had completely changed her.
Marley parted her lips, ready to tell him exactly what she thought of him and his irritating highhandedness, but Mack beat her to the punch. He turned and stared down at her with such banked intensity, it stole the thoughts straight from her lips.
“Are you okay?” His gruff voice scraped across her sensitive skin. It was all Marley could do to hold back a shiver of pleasure.
“I’d be better if you’d quit ignoring me and tell me what you’re thinking.” If it’s that you loved last night and I didn’t disgust you . . .
He brushed a strand of hair back from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear in a gesture that was one hundred percent comfort. “I’m thinking you must be completely disgusted with how I lost control last night.”
Disgusted? With him? When he’d given her the best orgasms she’d ever had? “How could I be disgusted with you?”
He searched her gaze, his rough palms staying near her cheek but not touching. She could feel the heat radiating from his skin to hers. “I was too rough. I took advantage of you.” There was uncertainty dancing in his eyes, something she found completely heart melting and vulnerable.
“I think I was the one who took advantage of you,” she said with a teasing tone in her voice, hoping to ease some of the turbulence rolling off him in waves.
Her attempt failed. She could see it in the way his mouth tightened and his granite jaw ticked beneath the thickening shadow of a beard. “I’m not joking, Marley. You’re vulnerable after all you’ve been through. I knew better. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I need to tell you that I really am sorry.”
Oh, this man took stubborn to a whole new level, and if her heart didn’t feel like it was swelling to near bursting in her chest, she’d let her irritation win the battle over the draw of his mouth. Instead, she pictured his family as he tried to pull away. Then she took his hand and placed a kiss on his palm, closing her eyes briefly when she got a quick inhale of his scent. “It hurts my feelings that you’re apologizing for giving me the best sex of my life.”
She felt a fresh wave of heat stain her cheeks, having never been so blatant with her words or her actions—at least not in her sex life.
She heard Mack’s sharp inhale and chanced a look at him. His nostrils flared and some of that cloying guilt had disappeared. He scanned her, his gaze landing on her shoulder and her neck, and then he went all hard again. “I marked you.”
A shudder of pleasure worked down her spine. Yes, he had marked her on the inside and the outside in the most primal way imaginable. “And I loved every minute.”
She could practically smell desire pouring off him, and if it hadn’t already been so hot, that look might’ve melted her on the spot. As if an invisible chain linked them together, Marley found herself drifting toward him.
“Christ, woman, if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to take you again right here and right now.” He let his thumb drift over her cheekbone, and a caress that should’ve been comforting instead sparked the flame inside her. The need rose up inside her—fierce and insistent. Marley licked her lips, savoring the memory of how he’d tasted.
“I wouldn’t complain.”
There was a tender soreness between her legs, but she didn’t care. At this moment, she wanted Mack more than she wanted food or water. More than she wanted to find a way out of this godforsaken jungle.
She sensed the moment Mack changed his mind. The particles in the air shifted outward, physically changed from all that power. He took her mouth and kissed fiercely enough to melt the rising sun. Before she could process that, he had her turned around facing just inside the cave. He grabbed her hands and put them on the wall, unbuttoned her pants and shoved them down, and kneed her legs apart. Within seconds, he was nudging at her entrance from behind, his thick cock plying easily through her soaking wet folds. Mack grabbed her hips and buried himself to the hilt with one hard thrust.
“Mack!”
“I’m not going to be gentle, Marley.” He punctuated that bold statement by drawing out of her and slamming back in so hard that she rocked up onto her toes. He stretched her and filled her like nothing else, so she felt every last inch of his hard, satiny length inside her.
Mack made good on his promise, pounding into her with a hard ferocity so that all she could do was hold onto the wall for support. Her orgasm hit her just as hard and fast, knocking the strength out of her knees. Mack groaned in her ear, planted himself deep inside her one last time and came.
Marley couldn’t move—it was all she could do to keep standing. Mack fixed his clothes and lifted her pants before turning her to face him.
The cold shell he’d erected that morning was gone and there was a primitive look of possession in his eyes that made her thighs clench in reaction. She pulled him down to her, taking his lips. She didn’t want to let any distance return. There was a tenuous bond between them, one that made her feel alive in a way she hadn’t felt in years and she knew it was all because of Mack.
