Shayla Black Read online

  When she eased back a moment later, Brock ignored the silent protest within him and allowed her to put space between them. But she did not leave his arms. Instead, she gazed up at him with gray eyes that swirled with so many emotions, he could not separate one from the next.

  “Thank you for being so wonderful tonight,” she murmured.

  Before he could reply, she urged his head down, toward hers, with soft fingers at his nape and opened her mouth below his. She kissed him tenderly. As a way of expressing her gratitude, it was a method he preferred far above all others. Unable to deny her—or himself—he took her mouth gladly.

  Immediately, he tasted something new and sweet in her kiss; he savored the heady essence of need on her lips, sweet as pure sugar. When he sank deeper into her mouth, Brock found that same intoxicating flavor on her tongue.

  Maddie opened to his invasion eagerly, welcoming him with a delectable invitation that stirred him. She flowed like honey around him, all through him. He kissed her again, and again, addicted to this new flavor, to the feel of her.

  She responded beyond his dreams, surging forward, pressing against him. Capturing his nape in a firm grasp, she kept his mouth on hers, a willing prisoner. Passion joined the need he savored in her kiss.

  Unable to resist this new lure, Brock raised his hands to her hair and removed the rest of the pins, which fell to the ground, forgotten. The silk of her tresses spilled into his palms, through his fingers. He wrapped it around his hands, pulling her closer still.

  A low moan escaped Maddie, jolting Brock to his senses. Maddie needed comfort tonight, not lust. Whatever kind of cad she thought him, he would not take advantage of her after such a harrowing ordeal. Brock brushed her lips once more, twice, then began to ease away.

  Maddie’s fingers tightened around his neck instantly. “No.” Her voice trembled. “Don’t.”

  Brock looked down at Maddie’s face, now flushed, lips swollen, red. Her pleading expression struck Brock square in the chest. The question in her eyes suddenly became clear. Would he stay? Would he comfort her with his touch? His body leapt to answer; his mind resisted her vulnerability.

  “Maddie—”

  She inched up to stand on the tips of her toes. She spoke against his mouth. “Don’t leave me. Please. I’m still afraid.”

  Maddie kissed him, a gossamer brush of allure, tempting him while conveying both desire and urgency.

  With her hair still wrapped about his hand, he pulled gently to tilt her head back. Brock stared down into her eyes once more and found that damned question still lingering. Her expression beseeched him.

  Maddie’s face told him she needed him and was fully aware of all she asked for.

  Brock couldn’t breathe for fully ten seconds. His heart chugged in his chest at the thought of giving Maddie everything she needed.

  He could not deny her.

  Bowing to the demand raging inside him, he lifted her and carried her into the little bed chamber, then turned to kick the bedroom door shut. Hell, he could not have left her now for anything.

  “I’m here. I will not go,” he promised.

  Then he layered his mouth over hers with care.

  The welcome on her lips exalted him, beckoning him closer. Brock sank deeper into the kiss, and Maddie opened beneath him once more, granting him full access to the honeyed depths of her mouth. He roamed. Hunger surged, mounting recklessly as she met him, breath for breath, sigh for sigh.

  Maddie released his nape to slide her hands down his chest. In tight fists, she grasped the edges of his coat and tugged it down past his shoulders. The garment fell to the floor. Brock felt a sharp rise of his desire. He must have her. The need that haunted her eyes compelled him.

  As he ended one kiss, she began another, this time edging a bit to the right. Desperate to stay near her, with her, he followed. She tiptoed another step, then a handful more. Always Brock kept pace with her, never allowing more than a whisper between her mouth and his own.

  Maddie swept her lips over his in a tender grazing that made him ache all the more. Then he felt her smile against him before she turned and presented him with her back.

  “Maddie...” He heard the raw desperation in his voice.

  Over her shoulder, Maddie cast him a reassuring gaze. Then she lifted her hair into her hands, revealing the graceful arch of her pale neck—and the row of buttons down the back of her dress.

  Brock wasn’t sure which he wanted first. He stormed both.

  Releasing the groan he could not keep in, he trailed his lips across the sweet jasmine skin of her neck, even as his shaking hands found the first of her buttons. Maddie shivered. Her pulse fluttered. Encouraged, he plied the flesh just below her hairline with tiny nips of his teeth as three more of the tiny buttons came undone. To this, she moaned and arched her neck until her head lay against his shoulder and they rested cheek to cheek. He soothed the sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder with his tongue and his heated breath. The last of her buttons gave way.

  Brock grazed the graceful arch of her throat with slow fingertips, then caressed her arms in a downward stroke, easing the dress from her. The fabric hung about her hips, at the mercy of her petticoat. At her waist, he found the ties for the voluminous undergarment and quickly saw them freed. He eased the mass of her clothing down her hips until it pooled about her feet.

  Maddie, clad only in her corset, stockings and chemise, stepped away from her clothing and set her small fingers to the buttons of his shirt. With every button she released from its catch, she pressed her sweet mouth against his burning skin. From the top of his chest down, he felt the aphrodisiac of her mouth brushing lower until she kissed his navel. Brock thought he might explode.

  When Maddie stood again and gave him a soft smile, she eased the starched cloth of his shirt away. Breathing became bloody difficult with her hands and eyes touching him in ways he had long craved. She did not try to seduce him; tonight she reached out to him in supplication. Brock found that more tempting than anything he’d ever known.

  He guided his hands in a slow journey down her back, unlacing her corset and removing it as he went. Then he smoothed his hands down to her hips. Her lashes fluttered closed. His fingers settled there, pressing her in, as close as he could get her. With a moan, she clung to him.

  Brock ceased thinking then. Instead, he reveled in sensation and closed his eyes, forgetting everything but the need trembling between them. He kissed Maddie again, a skimming of mouths, followed by a long, sweet sampling. As before, she received his mouth with an honest hunger tempered by entreaty. Thick and insistent, desire curled inside him.

  It was a melding as much as it was a kiss. Brock sensed her everywhere, against his flesh, her taste on his tongue, her scent in his nostrils, the smooth ivory of her shoulders and the swells of her breasts available to his hungry gaze. Everything was more heady because he knew she wanted him, needed him.

  Then he removed her chemise and stockings in silence. Finally, Maddie stood before him, flushed and naked and trembling, her pulse beating at her throat as she waited for his touch. She bit her lip in anticipation.

  Maddie sent a cautious gaze up, deep into Brock’s green eyes. She read lust there, definitely. But she also read understanding, as if he realized she needed his touch to believe everything would be all right. Elation swept over her, along with a sense of connection she had felt all night.

  No, that wasn’t quite true. The connection had grown tonight, but she had felt it from the moment she’d first met Brock five years past.

  “You look so beautiful,” he whispered, reverent.

  Maddie knew he meant each word with a sincerity that brought tears to her eyes once again.

  “Touch me,” she entreated. “Please.”

  He reached for her. Their mouths met, and Maddie felt a surge of elation at his acceptance.

  The man kissed like the very devil. His lips warmed and possessed her, conveying desire and security in a single sweep. Maddie melted,
her body swaying against the hard breadth of his. His tongue conquered her mouth. She could only grasp him tighter as he took her to heights she had scarcely before imagined while reassuring her that all was right and good.

  Pressing him closer, Maddie sought relief from the building, tingling ache. The fine dusting of hair on his chest grazed her nipples. The movement shocked her with sensation, and she arched to him, seeking him.

  As if her wanton demands were the most natural in the world, Brock cupped her breasts in his large palms, still slightly rough from his years of labor. His thumbs flicked across her tight crests. Fire shot down her breasts and belly. She moved restlessly against him, never questioning how he could both arouse and console her at once.

  With Brock, nearly anything was possible.

  Eager for more, for him, Maddie reached out. She stroked a hand across his wide chest, delighted by the solid slabs of muscles carved on his chest and abdomen. Wondering if he felt the same sensitivity as she, Maddie brushed his flat nipples with the pads of her thumbs. He rewarded her with a hissed rush of breath. The realization made her pulse soar.

  Pressing his mouth to the sensitive curve of her neck, he plied her with kisses. The beginnings of his morning beard chafed her skin, adding to the dizzying sensation.

  Restless now, Maddie sent her hands roaming down the flat plain of his belly, to his hips. She caressed the curve of his taut thigh. He tensed, and she realized Brock was holding his breath.

  Continuing to stroke him slowly, as she might a cat, he arched to her touch, allowing her more access to his flesh, moaning his encouragement. His reaction made her feel strong, desirable, and powerful for once. Not cold at all. She gave him pleasure, and he let her know it.

  With a nudge to bring her face back to his, he possessed her mouth again. She felt his hands roaming her back and buttocks in urgent sweeps. Brock pulled her closer until she was flush against him, feeling every inch of his body. Maddie could not miss the male part of him that stood thick and hard. For her. He sent her blood zinging through her body with thrill.

  Before she could speak or move, Brock banded his arms around her and lifted her to the bed. The cool coverlet at her back contrasted with Brock’s heated body upon her chest and belly.

  Not a moment passed before Maddie felt his mouth at her breast. She gasped as his tongue wielded pleasure across the pebbled tip of her breast once, twice, again until he sucked her in, the sensation making her sex clench with need. Her breathing turned harsh. Pleasure roared down to her body, to her dampening sex, drowning her senses. Her flesh felt as if it began to glow with need.

  “Brock...”

  Maddie couldn’t say any more. Instead, she fisted her hands into his hair and held his mouth to her breast in desperate fervor. She arched into his heated embrace.

  In response to her entreaty, Brock lifted her other breast to his waiting mouth. His lips stroked her; his teeth scraped her nipples. He drove her delirious by fondling the sensitized breast he had previously devoured. The pleasure at both her nipples tightened the potent pressure blazing through her body. She writhed beneath him, seeking relief.

  As if he understood her growing need perfectly, Brock slid his hand down her ribs, smoothed his palm across her belly. Then he covered her mound with his hand. Maddie tensed, then cried out for his touch.

  His fingers pressed inside her, burning as he stretched her to accommodate his thick digits. His thumb delved into her slick, swollen folds. An instant later, he found the bud of her pleasure and began to stroke it in a soft rhythm. She gasped, arched, and felt herself moisten in earnest.

  When he bent his head to take her breast in his mouth again, her excitement mounted to unbearable levels. She found herself parting her legs farther, like a wanton. Soon she was wriggling in search of relief. Her sighs became moans; her moans turned to groans. A tingling insistence built in her aching sex. The pinnacle of this mounting pleasure rose up to her, so close... She panted out an incoherent moan that sounded, even to hear ears, like the plea it was.

  The explosion she sensed hovered mere seconds away. Maddie lifted her hips to Brock, wanting the pleasure so badly she had to restrain herself from crying out.

  “Damn, not alone,” he muttered, his face stark with tension. “I want to feel you around me.”

  Maddie wasn’t sure what he meant. His hands left her suddenly, and she cried out in protest. She felt him fumbling between them. A bare instant later, his breeches were gone, he gathered her hips in his hands, and began pressing inside her.

  Feeling him against her seemed a relief, but Brock moved without haste, easing in—but never completely—before withdrawing once more. Desire screamed inside her. Her need rose to seemingly impossible heights. She needed more.

  Above her, perspiration began to dampen the dark hair about his face. His expression was a study in concentration, jaw clenched, gaze fixed on her mouth.

  Not content to lie passive, Maddie planted a hard kiss on his lips and surged her hips up to him. She quickly realized Brock was larger than Colin had been. Discomfort stung her immediately, and she pulled back.

  “You’re so damn tight,” he panted in her ear. “Relax, sweet girl.”

  She nodded and tried to do as he asked, truly. But she wanted him inside her so badly, yearned for him to bring her to the magical place she’d only read about in Aunt Edith’s Kama Sutra, for she had no doubt he could.

  In a languorous sweep, he took her mouth with his. She urged him to hurry, mewled for him to impale her. The delicious kiss only added to her tumult. The mating of their mouths seemed to last an eternity. He neither surged farther into her body nor left it.

  Patience and skill, he showed both in equal measure. Maddie soon felt herself sink into his kiss, her taut limbs relax. The heels of her feet relaxed against the mattress. She lowered her hips and spread her thighs wider.

  A moment later, Brock eased into her completely.

  The sensation of her body stretching to accept all of his cock made her gasp. The tingling joy of it was so strong, and she wanted him so badly...

  With a tortured moan, Brock withdrew, then pushed into her again slowly. Too slowly. And this time when Maddie lifted her hips to him, she encountered no resistance from her body, only unimaginable pleasure mounting at a breathless pace.

  As Brock thrust, Maddie met him halfway, eager to feel him inside her again. Their pace increased, and Brock fit a hand between them to touch her sex again. The dual sensations of pleasure sent her breath careening out of control. Her heels found the mattress again as the pressure built, coiling, aching, and sending her soaring to the edge of pleasure. But these sensations were multiplied. The pleasure wasn’t just under that little bud of sensation. It was inside her deep, where his cock kept prodding a spot that made her gasp with every thrust. It had swelled and now tingled, alive, ready to burst.

  “You’re ready, Maddie,” he breathed against her mouth.

  She could make little sense of the overwhelming sensations, much less his assertion. “No.”

  Immediately, he ceased all movement and remained buried in her tight sheath. Her body tensed in protest, ached as if she had a fever. Above her, Brock’s breathing grew labored. A rivulet of sweat ran down his neck.

  “No!” she cried out. “Don’t stop.”

  Maddie felt him give her that devil’s smile against her mouth as he resumed his thrusts, this time quicker, with more force than before. The tingling between her legs surged to life again with a vengeance, dominating her flushed body. His fingers on her most sensitive place sent her soaring hard and fast to the edge. She dug her fingers into his shoulders and mewled.

  The magic feelings built, tightened, converged, making her sizzle. “Yes. Yes! Oh, yes!”

  The pleasure crackled, then peaked, spreading ecstasy like liquid delight all through her as her sex shuddered around him. Brock cried out above her, and she felt a flood of warmth deep inside her. After a moan that bespoke satisfaction, he kissed her mouth and lay
atop her, his face in the crook of her neck.

  No wonder the Kama Sutra had failed to adequately explain the amazing sensation of release. She could hardly describe the enchantment of it herself.

  Lethargy began to spread through her body, so intense she’d rarely known its like. Brock stroked her shoulder, his soft touch keeping her attuned to his nearness. He pressed tender kisses onto her neck, her shoulder, as if he worshipped her, as if he had made love with his heart, like she had.

  A rush of released emotions barraged her. Maddie curled her hand in the hair at his nape and cuddled into the warmth of his body. A sense of utter tranquility suffused her. She sighed.

  He raised his head and brushed stray curls from her face. “Maddie?”

  The concern shone in the glitter of his green eyes. She drew in a deep breath, searching for the words to describe how she felt. “I never expected, never knew... I’ve never felt like that.”

  She expected a swagger of a smile. Instead, he merely nodded. “We are good together.”

  Brock closed his eyes and frowned, looking as if he wanted to say more. When he opened them again, his eyes gleamed bright with resolution. “Very good together, in many ways.”

  His gaze became very serious. Maddie found herself holding her breath.

  He brushed a gentle thumb along her damp cheek. “Marry me, Maddie. Truly. I know I’ve lost our wager by making love to you tonight—”

  “Tonight had nothing to do with our wager,” she refuted instantly. And she meant that.

  The thought of sullying the bliss they had shared with their bet made her stomach roil. No, tonight had been about the fact she’d needed someone—needed him—and he had been there for her in every way. Maddie refused to think of it otherwise.

  Yet she could not imagine resuming the terms of their wager after tonight. Next time he came to the cottage to seduce her into marriage, she would likely agree to anything, now that she knew the magic of his touch.

  How would she resist him?

  Or should she?

  Maddie exhaled raggedly and realized Brock stared at her intently, awaiting her reply to his unexpected proposal. She had none to give. The man who had held and helped her tonight was not the man who had threatened her with debtor’s prison. He was not the same man who seemingly delighted in her discomfort and doom. Indeed, he had done all he could tonight to keep her from either. Surely such a man would not treat her or Aimee cruelly.