Chapter 14 #2
Reflexively, Braden’s body arched against her palm and fingers, letting her have her way with him as he tasted the pure heaven of her mouth.
Maggie feared she might faint as her head swam from the taste of him, from the silken feel of his rigidness under her fingertips. Never had she imagined what a man would feel like. Braden was so strangely soft and hard at the same time. Like velvet stretched over steel.
Aye, she wanted this man. And if this was the only way she could have him, then she would take it.
For this moment in time, he was hers, and she would love him the way she’d always dreamed of loving him.
With the whole of her heart.
There would be no holding back. No timidity.
She would never want any other man to touch her like this. To kiss her. Hold her. Braden was the only man she would ever burn for. To the devil with her fears.
Braden picked her up in his arms and waded with her back to the shore. He placed her down on the plaid she had stretched out on the bank for them.
“You had this all planned, didn’t you?” he asked with a light, humorous note in his voice.
Maggie nodded.
“And if I had turned you away?”
“I wouldn’t have let you,” she whispered, then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head to hers for another long, deep and satisfying kiss.
Braden didn’t disappoint her as he plundered her mouth like a Viking of old. She sighed in contentment, and ran her hands down his lean, hard back.
He was the man of her dreams and she was going to enjoy this.
His muscles danced and flexed beneath her palms as his chest rubbed against hers. Exciting her, teasing her. Pleasing her.
Oh, but the man felt good. He tasted even better.
Her hero. Her love.
How she wished she could keep him like this forever. Lost in this moment where there were only the two of them. No past, no future. Nothing to separate them.
It was perfect.
He left her lips and trailed a scorching kiss to her neck where he suckled and teased her flesh with his tongue and teeth. Maggie arched her back, writhing in pleasure as his hands skimmed over her body. Down her freckled arms, over her waist to where he cupped her hips in his hands.
As he moved toward her breasts, she stopped him.
He looked up with a frown.
“This is my fantasy,” Maggie said with a sheepish smile.
Then, Maggie rolled him onto his back and straddled his waist.
She took a moment to savor the feel of his hard, taut muscles caressing the sensitive place between her legs.
It felt so strange the way those muscles contracted as he breathed.
Instinctively, she pressed herself against him eliciting a quiver of expectation through her body and a deep growl from Braden.
All the feelings she had buried, surfaced then and she gave herself over to her dreams and fantasies. To all the times in her life when she had imagined him at her mercy.
And for the moment, he was all hers. She felt strangely empowered and invigorated. He might leave her come the morning, but he would never forget her.
Never.
Braden stared up in awe of her as he felt the hairs at the juncture of her thighs gently tease his belly.
“And just what does this fantasy of yours include?” he asked as he watched her watch him.
Her smile grew wider. She dipped her head toward his and instead of giving him the kiss he expected, she lowered her mouth on to his throat.
Braden hissed in pleasure at the heat of her mouth as she seared him. Her tongue darted over the stubble of his neck, teasing and tormenting him with wave after wave of ecstasy.
It was so strange. He couldn’t count the women who had done that to him in the past, and yet none of them had ever made him feel this odd sense of rightness. This sense of wholeness.
And what terrified him most was the fact he couldn’t push her away. He needed this in a way that defied explanation.
She leaned forward to where her breasts were flattened against his chest and he shook all over.
“Maggie,” he breathed raggedly, running his hands over the smooth, satiny skin of her back.
Then she moved her mouth lower.
Slowly, thoroughly, she covered his chest and arms with her scorching kisses. Her breasts pounded against him, flaying his chest with pleasure as her hands explored every inch of his skin.
Braden couldn’t remember a woman ever being so bold with him. One who seemed to get her own pleasure from giving it to him. It was incredible.
And in that moment, he realized just how much his little blossom meant to him.
Saints have mercy on his soul. Whatever was he going to do?
Push her away.
He’d sooner die, and yet he knew that he would have to leave her.
Don’t think about it.
Nay, he wouldn’t. He would just savor the moment and the woman. Live it without thought of tomorrow. Right now, there was just the two of them and he wouldn’t let anyone, not even himself, separate what they were sharing.
Maggie reveled in the sounds of Braden’s moans and growls filling her ears. She should probably be embarrassed by her actions, but she had made her mind up. If she were going to do this, then she was going to do it completely and without reservation.
Before this day ended, she wanted to know him from the top of his head, all the way down to his toes.
That thought foremost in her mind, she dipped her mouth to the flesh of his hipbone. Braden sucked his breath in sharply between his teeth as he quivered beneath her.
Maggie laughed in her throat as she continued her relentless exploration of him.
Who would have thought that such a brave, strong man could be laid low by a simple caress?
That knowledge gave her power and excited her all the more.
He was hers.
Braden buried his hand in her hair as he fought the urge to take control of the situation. He would have his chance to fill her shortly. For the moment, he would content himself with letting her have her way with him.
But it was hard. And getting harder by the minute.
She moved her hand again to cup the pulsing ache between his legs. And then to his utter amazement, she moved her head and took him full into her mouth.
Braden shook all over as her tongue toyed with him. He hissed as he stared in awe of her auburn head buried between his thighs.
She had no idea what that sight did to him. Her selflessness, her giving. She wasn’t just taking pleasure from him like his other lovers. She was sharing the moment with him in a way no one ever had before.
And he loved her for it.
Unable to stand anymore, he had to touch her. To taste her.
Maggie looked up as Braden shifted his body. “Braden?”
He flashed a dimpled smile as he stretched out beside her with his head toward her feet. He positioned his hips even with her head.
“Don’t stop,” he said, his eyes warm and wicked.
Before she could respond, he nudged her thighs apart and buried his lips against her.
Maggie closed her eyes and moaned at the feel of his tongue delving deep inside her.
Oh, it was incredulous. Never had she experienced such unbridled pleasure. Wanting to feel more, she opened her legs wider. He took her invitation.
She bit her lip and groaned deep in her throat, then returned to the tender ministrations she had been giving him.
The mutualness of it touched her profoundly. This equal sharing, equal giving. It was splendid. Heavenly.
And if they survived the MacDouglas, she was going to find some way to keep this man with her. No matter what it took.
She was a fighter. Would always be a fighter and she wouldn’t give up on Braden. Never. Not until he belonged to her both heart and soul.
Braden’s head spun as he again felt her mouth and tongue close around him. He cupped her hips to him as he ran his tongue over her and felt her shiver in his arms.
She was incredible. And to think, all these years he had never once given her a second glance.
You were a fool!
Aye, he surely was. But not any more. He would never again be blind to her.
Never again ignore her.
And the possessiveness he felt toward her scared him even more. Because at this moment, she had captured his heart in a way no other woman ever had. In a way he knew no other woman ever could.
She alone could destroy him. She alone held power over his heart, and he trembled at the newfound knowledge.
Maggie couldn’t believe what was happening. Where she found the courage to do these things with Braden, she didn’t know. But oh, how wondrous. The togetherness of their union touched her all the way to her soul. It was so deep, so fulfilling, so incredible that she never wanted this moment to end.
The heat of his mouth seared her as he teased and suckled. And even more incredible was the feel of his fingers plunging inside her. In and out and around. Her body quivered and jerked as her head reeled from the sensations.
She closed her eyes. It was too much for her. And just as she was sure she would die from it, her body exploded.
Maggie threw her head back and screamed out in release as the world spiraled and careened around her.
Never, never had she experienced such a thing.
And still his tongue tormented her.
“Oh, Braden,” she sighed.
He laughed almost evilly as he kissed her thigh. “I’m not through with you yet,” he said, his tone warning and yet somehow playful.
He rose up between her legs and positioned his body over hers. Maggie reached up and buried her hands in his hair as he used his knees to spread her legs wider.
He brought his lips down upon hers, then plunged himself deep inside her body.
Maggie froze as pain overrode her pleasure. “Braden?”
“Shh,” he whispered against her lips. “Give it a moment.”
Braden leaned back, away from her, ever so slightly and reached his hand down between their bodies until he found her nub. Maggie quickly forgot the pain as he gently toyed with her body, building her pleasure again.
He was so thoughtful and kind. From what she’d heard of other men, she knew most didn’t care whether or not they hurt a woman her first time. But Braden did.
And it was what she loved most about him.
Instinctively, she rubbed herself against him, impaling herself even more deeply than before.
Braden bit his lip as he felt her moving against him. “Aye, my love,” he said, closing his eyes to savor the warm, tight heat of her body around his. “That’s it.”
His breathing ragged, he let her take control of the moment as she milked his body with hers.
Never had he felt the like.
Opening his eyes, he saw the look of wonder on her face. Aye, she liked being in charge.
Ever one to please her, Braden rolled over without withdrawing from her.
Maggie sighed as she found herself on top of him again. She stared in awe of him and at the strange feel of his body inside hers and between her legs.
His eyes dark and gentle, he reached up and cupped her breasts in his hands. She covered his hands with her own, then lifted her body up, drawing herself down his shaft.
“Aye,” he breathed. “That’s it.”
And then his hand returned to cup her between her legs as she rode him hard and fast.
This time when she came, he joined her.
Sated and exhausted, Maggie stretched out on his chest and simply enjoyed the feel of his arms around her as his breath stirred her hair.
Braden leaned his head back, shaken by what had occurred between them. He had known she would be a firebrand, but never had he guessed the full depth of her passion.
Worse, he was far from sated.
If anything, he wanted her more than ever before. Because now that he’d experienced her love, he knew she truly had no equal.
And that scared the devil out of him.
Maggie lifted her head up to look down at him.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, her brows drawn together into a deep V.
“Nay,” he whispered as he ran his hands over her back. It wasn’t really a lie.
In truth, things had never been more right.
Likewise, they had never been more wrong.