Page 42 of The Autumn Wife
She tasted of wine. He drank his fill with his nose pressed against the soft pillow of her cheek. Wine had been fortification, no doubt, to propel her to this barn. He wondered how long she’d paced in the cabin, contemplating coming to him.
He nudged her lips open, though he knew he should move slowly and gently. But his mind vaulted forward to when his hips would be between her thighs. To when her bottom would fill his palms as he drove himself into her.
She made a startled gasp against his mouth as if she felt his mental thrusts.
Just before the point of drowning completely, he pulled away and seized hold of his better self.
“Don’t stop,” she sputtered, throwing her arms around his neck. “I want… I want…”
“I know what you want. I want you, too.” With one hand, he tugged at the rawhide tie that secured the end of her braid. Plunging his fingers between the braided sections, he loosened the luxurious softness until her hair unfurled down her back. “You should never bind your hair.” He combed his fingers through it, down, down, down. “Not in front of me.”
A little convulsion shuddered through her, lips parting in breathy surprise. Had her husband never told her how lovely she was?
Of course he hadn’t, the fool.
“I used to watch you from where I stood on the scaffolding,” he confessed, teasing her with a kiss on the jaw and then at one corner of her lips. “Especiallyas you drifted in and out of the schoolhouse to lay the dinner table. You walk like a ship sailing in a breeze. I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”
Her eyes shimmered.
“For so long,” he said, pulling her against him, “I’ve wanted you in my arms like this.”
“And I, you.”
The sound was breathy, full of wonder, and hit him with gale force. This feeling between them was madness, sure to end in tears, but he knew that this loving was going to happen tonight.
“I’ll give you everything you want, Ceci.” He spoke against her cheek. “I’ll give you what you don’t even know you want.”
Tonight, he would make their loving unforgettable.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Had she ever really lived?
The thought rose like a spark from a campfire, winking out before Cecile could gather the mental clarity to seek an answer. There would be time enough for contemplation later. Right now, delicious sensation rippled through her body everyplace where their bodies touched, convening on a low ache that only Theo could satisfy.
“The shift,” he whispered. “Take it off.”
She did as he bade, seizing handfuls of the cambric. As she lifted it, the warmth coming from the iron stove painted the side of her leg higher and higher. She lost sight of Theo as she pulled the gathered fabric over her head, but she heard his intake of breath as she exposed herself and tossed the cloud of fabric away. Those eyes were as green as theshallows of the river where she and Etienne had once lived, calm waters reflecting sunlight.
Theo went speechless, a muscle in his cheek flexing, his Adam’s apple bobbing, his breathing quickening.
Under that hungry perusal, she no longer felt an urge to hide herself or cower. She pulled her shoulders back, giving her breasts a prouder tilt as the nipples beaded into a tingling tightness. She swayed, silently willing him to lay his fingers upon the path his eyes had blazed.
As his gaze reached her hips, he paused and his expression darkened. She wondered why—and then flinched. She’d forgotten about the array of burn scars. There was no way to cover them when she was naked. A thought shot through her mind.Please don’t ask. Don’t bring that monster into this room, into this sacred moment.
She grasped Theo’s hand, urged his fingers open, and placed his callused palm against her scarred hip.
“It was a long time ago. That’s…over.” She flattened her hand over his. “The scars are long healed.”
“The physical ones are.” He stretched his fingers to cover as many as he could. “But wounds as cruel as these must run deep.”
He dropped to a knee, seized her hips, and replaced his hand with his lips. She held his shoulders for balance, quivering as he kissed each scar.
Once done, he shifted, pressing his forehead against her abdomen with a groan, kissing the button of her navel.
His fingers dug deeper into her hips. “I will never hurt you, Ceci.”
“I know.” She loved that he used the pet name. The sound of it chimed through her.
