Page 38 of If The Fates Allow
Tame him indeed. She had learned a few lessons on their ride, and wiggling her bottom, she caressed the painfully hard erection pressing into her back. Noah grunted and released a colorful string of explicit words.
“If you would have allowed me to get my hands,” she boldly reached behind her, pressing her palm to the hard ridges she had yet to taste, “or mouth on you, this wouldn’t be so painful.”
Noah pressed his lips to her neck, his teeth scraping the line of muscle there. “Stop.”
She didn’t stop, craving to hear that hitch in his deep voice again. “I think I understand how it works,” she whispered. “It wouldn’t take long with you in this state, and the woods are thick. No one would see us.”
“I need to get you home. It’s well past dark, and our time is up.” Air sawed roughly in and out of him, bringing him to an almost panting state. “Please stop, or I will do more than use your mouth.”
Intrigued, her fingers gripped as much of him as they could through the material of his trousers. She had no idea how large the male anatomy could grow, but Noah was much bigger than the glimpse she caught of Paul.
“Such as?”
His head snapped up. Eyes wild with only the barest hint of control in them, his breathing turned shallow as she continued to move her hand. “I will use your body. Right here on the side of the road, I will use you in ways you cannot imagine, and I don’t want to do that.” His hips thrust forward, and he shuddered. “I don’t want to have you like that the first time. I want you in a bed. Naked and with your legs spread wide when I fill you.”
Willa’s lips parted, her gaze holding his bravely. “Tell me more.”
“I want you wanton and lost in your desire for me. As lost as I am whenever you are near.” He groaned, his eyes closing as he continued to rock against her palm. “Your cries, Willa. I will own your cries. I will own your screams. All of you will belong to me. Forever.”
Forever.
The word crossed his lips, and with it, a song rose on the wind. Coming in off the bayou far ahead, the sound had ice crystallizing in Willa’s veins, flowing with its cold truth directly to her heart. A heart that could never be his, no matter how much it yearned to.
This was wrong. It wasn’t fair to her, and it certainly wasn’t fair to lead Noah into believing she was free to do as she pleased when she was just as trapped as Cal.
Sitting straight in the saddle, she spoke softly as she watched the sway of moss hanging high on the tunnel of oaks leading to Haven House. “You’re right. Our time is up.”
The heavy stream of Noah’s breathing halted abruptly behind her. “Willa.”
“Yes?”
“Look at me.”
Tears stung, and she cursed herself. This was no one’s fault but her own. She had allowed him in and, by doing so, had entangled them both thoroughly enough that the impending separation was going to cause unforgettable pain. All for a moment of pleasure. All for a memory she would cherish for a lifetime.
“I need to get back.” Holding on to Hope’s mane, she kept facing forward. “My parents will begin to worry if I’m out too far past sunset. I’ve never done such a thing.”
“Willa.”
She didn’t need to turn to know her name was being uttered through clenched teeth, and when she ignored him again, Noah swung down off Hope’s back.
“We’re walking the rest of the way.”
“I would rather ride, thank you.”
Noah’s large hand landed on her thigh and squeezed. “Get off the horse, Willa.”
Head high, she scrambled to maintain the small shred of dignity left in her and remained seated on the horse. “I’m feeling rather winded and would like to rid—eeek!” Wide-eyed, she tried to kick him away when he tickled her inner thigh. “Do not do that!”
Refusing to cease his torment of her leg, Noah bared his teeth as he ordered her yet again. “Then get off the damn horse.”
“Fine,” she huffed, swinging her leg over to dismount. This time around, she got off the horse with much more agility than she knew she possessed and stood before him with her hands on her hips. “Happy?”
Yanking her to him, he snarled a single word before capturing her mouth. “No.”
The kisses before this one were playful, exploratory even. Soft and lingering, they allowed her to learn as they went. He hadn’t pushed her out of feeling anything but comfort, permitting her to lead, which was probably why she lost her head.
But this kiss…This kiss was nothing like the others. It wasn’t playful, soft, or slow. It was greedy, a desperate claim that screamed his intentions.
