Page 37 of The Bastard Heir
Without waiting for permission, she moved her hand between them, stroking him through his trousers. He gasped against her ear. “I want to touch you,” she said, already working the fastenings so he couldn’t let some misplaced sense of duty to her honor make him tell her to stop.
“You should not,” he said against her neck, but he made no attempt to stop her. In fact, he raised his hips a little so she could slip her hand inside and grip him.
“Oh, Castillo.” He was bigger than she’d thought. She’d felt him through his clothes, but having him in her hand offered her an entirely new perspective. “You’re bigger than I expected.” His response was to bite her neck, an action that was about a hundred times more pleasant than it was painful.
Testing the size and shape of his erection, she stroked the length of him with her palm. “Is it okay if I squeeze?” A strangled groan was his only response, so she gently squeezed her hand around him, testing his hardness. When she slackened her hold, his hips pressed forward in what felt like an involuntary thrust into her palm. “You’re so much harder than I thought you would be.”
He groaned out her name, thrusting again, and she flexed around him. She wasn’t certain if that meant she’d gripped himtoo hard or not, but he rose to look down at her. “We should stop before I come.” He didn’t seem inclined to remove himself from her hand, though, and the slight distance was enough that she could look down and see his hard length in her hand.
“I want you to.” She couldn’t see him as clearly as she wanted. She longed to have the time to explore him, but it had to be almost morning by now and they’d already stolen too much time. “Please, Castillo? Please let me help you?”
He shook his head. “It’s not right.”
“How is it different than what you did for me? I could put my mouth on you—”
He groaned, almost like he was in pain, and covered her mouth with his before she could finish. Then he drew back just enough to whisper against her lips. “It’s not the same. I’m not an innocent. I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t take that innocence from you.”
“You’re not taking anything. My innocence is mine to give to whomever I want. I want you, Castillo. I choose you.”
He mumbled something in Spanish and rolled over onto his back, taking her with him. “Only your hand,” he warned, and then covered her hand with his and showed her exactly how to stroke him.
It was fascinating watching the muscles of his body tense and flex as she pleasured him. His hips pumped up from the bed as he thrust into her rhythm. Unexpectedly, his palm found her bare breast and closed over it. She leaned into his touch, her body still alive with need, but this was about him. It was only a moment before his body started to tighten, and he gritted his teeth against the coming wave of pleasure. He groaned her name, his eyes squeezed shut, and then his release warmed her palm. She hardly had a chance to savor the moment of satisfaction, because he tumbled her onto her back, one hand in her hair as he kissed her breathless.
Chapter Fifteen
Castillo got up early the next morning and stayed out all day riding the property from one end to the other. The wedding was coming up and Castillo was worried Derringer was planning something for that day. Though the man must’ve taken a hit the day before by losing so many men along with his son.
Castillo tried to feel a sense of victory over that, but all he felt was hollow. The lives lost were senseless. Derringer was the only man Castillo wanted to bring to justice for what he’d done.
The sun was low on the horizon, slowly making its way down past the mountains. Beautiful rays of pink and orange painted the land and sky. Normally Castillo would take a moment to appreciate the beauty, but he was too busy appreciating the beauty of the woman on the balcony. She stood next to the railing, her head resting against a post as she gazed out into the distance, looking east, away from the sunset. He wondered if she was looking for him. His heart thumped harder.
Last night was vivid in his mind. He could still smell her on his skin. Every time he’d closed his eyes that day, he’d seen hersplayed out before him. Her skin pink against the white sheets as she whispered his name and dug her fingers into his hair. He laughed because he was dead tired and already rigid with wanting her again. He wanted to go to her and pull her into his arms, to hear her tell him that everything was going to be all right as she curled herself around him. They’d go to sleep and he’d keep her in bed all morning the next day. Being with her made him feel like everything could work out. She made him feel as if there was a dawn at the end of this long stretch of night he’d been going through.
There were enough guests now that he could hear the din of their conversation from across the yard. He’d planned to go in through the back, since he was a bit dusty from riding and needed to change his clothes. But they’d already come out for the sunset, indicating that he’d probably missed supper. He was too tired to care and his arm ached. He’d go into the kitchen and find something left over.
Carolina was on the opposite side of the house from everyone, as if she’d come out from her room to look for him. He moved across the yard from the stables, hoping that he wouldn’t draw any attention as he skirted the edge of the house and took the stairs leading up to the second floor balcony. His boots were quiet on the wood floor as he made his way to her. Somewhere about halfway across the veranda, he caught a hint of her lavender scent. He wanted to wrap himself in that scent.
“Carolina,” he said when he was close enough that he was certain the people downstairs wouldn’t hear him. She stiffened but melted into him when he put his arms around her. He had meant to wait, to stand there and talk to her, but as soon as he came close his hands reached for her and he pulled her back against him.
“Castillo,” she whispered and turned her face up to him.
His fingers cupped her cheek as he leaned down to kiss her without bothering to look to see if anyone else was watching them. When he was with her, she was all he saw. It was as if he was sucked in by her flare for life, as if he only woke up when she was near. Her taste was so familiar to him now, he craved it as he drank from her lips.
Clenching her fingers in his hair, she moaned a little, deep in her throat, as she opened to him. After a moment he pulled back enough to take a breath and stare down into her pale blue eyes. “I missed you.” It was the most honest thing he’d ever said to her. There was no skirting the truth or leaving anything out. He’d missed her every moment that he’d been away, starting with the moment he’d left her bed that morning.
She smiled and, though the light was faint, he noticed a blush staining her cheeks. “I missed you, too.”
He kissed her again and then dragged his mouth over her cheek to her neck, unable to get enough of her. He raked his teeth across the sensitive skin below her earlobe, smiling when she gasped. He wanted to touch her all over and find every single place that made that sound fall from her lips. There was something alluring about her strength and independence, and the way he could make her beg with her need for him. And he needed her, too.
Need. How had that happened so quickly? Last week he’d been empty, but now he was filled with her warmth and craved even more of it. He wanted to hold her, to protect her and bask in the heat of her intensity. She was brave and intelligent, and possessed a fierce curiosity. All his life he’d imagined he wanted someone soft, demure and biddable. She was everything he never knew he wanted in a woman, and he couldn’t get enough of her.
He kissed down her neck, breathing in her scent as he tasted her with the tip of his tongue. She was perfect. She leaned intohim and he folded his arm around her, unable to resist touching her more and closing his hand around her breast. Her hand covered his to hold it there.
“I can’t understand this.” She didn’t elaborate, but he knew she meant this pull between them. He didn’t understand it, either, but it didn’t matter. It was there and he simply wanted to savor it and whatever time they had together. He was a danger to her, but surely risking this little bit of time together wouldn’t hurt much, as long as he didn’t take more.
She curled the fingers of her other hand tighter in his hair, and pulled a little, sending a shiver of pleasure down his spine. He was hard against her already and wondering how he’d ever get through the next days of her presence without taking her innocence. If she asked him right now he’d take her into her room and this time he’d let her use her mouth or whatever else she wanted on him.
Finding her puckered nipple through the fabric of her dress and undergarments, he circled it with his thumb. She sighed and pulled his mouth to hers for another kiss. Her tongue stroked his as she took control of the kiss this time. He could only imagine how exciting getting her in bed would be. She was too strong-willed to allow him to take the lead the entire time and he loved that.
