Page 141 of The Trouble with Tigers
His turn. He grasped her hips in his hands, flipping her beneath him in one move. He had to show her. She was his and only his.
Using more restraint than he knew he had, he drove into her, again and again. Slow, deep thrusts, while she clung to him, wrapping arms and legs around him as if she couldn’t get close enough.
“Zeke, Zeke, oh, please.” She urged him faster, deeper.
Need twisted him inside out. But he held the reins tight, and drove her relentlessly toward her ultimate release.
Beneath him she arched and shuddered, crying out in nonsensical gibberish while she raked her nails into the sweat soaked skin of his back, until, crying his name, she came apart.
He drew out her pleasure, giving her all he had, pushing the limits of his own control 'til he had no choice but to rip himself out of her, erupting his own hot seed in the cold night air.
Afterward, he collapsed beside her and hauled her close, both of them breathing hard, their arms and legs entangled. Everything about them entangled. Jesus, didn’t she see?
“I love you, Zeke,” she whispered.
If he had the energy to speak, he’d tell her she owned him, body and soul. Eyes closed, his lips curved in a smile of total and complete contentment. With Kitty in his arms, he let himself sink blissfully into the sleep of the dead—and met the old baron once more.
Regal in his gray uniform, he stood, arms crossed, eyeing him askance.
“I did everything I could to protect her,” Zeke argued. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
The baron shook his head and dread filled him.
Looking around he saw he was no longer at the inn. He was in a shipyard. Cargo ships and sailing vessels jammed the slips. He glanced into the water at the quay and saw his own reflection. He’d grown old and haggard. A man utterly and completely alone.
He straightened. Spun in a circle looking for the baron. He was gone.
“Tell me what to do,” Zeke shouted.
No answer came.
An emptiness he’d never known had his knees buckling, bringing him face to face with his reflection again.Tell me what to do, he repeated silently.
Like a whisper through his soul, he heard an answer.
“Open your eyes.”
He was suddenly and completely awake, Kitty’s supple, warm body in his arms contrasting sharply with the cold dread churning in his gut. Reflexively his arms tightened—and Kitty murmured sweet, unintelligible nonsense in response.
He released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Just a dream. Just an annoying, meaningless dream.
His manhood, it seemed, had awoken before him and now urged him to wake her, to prove to himself how not alone he was. But the church bells tolling in the distance told him to move.
He uncoiled his body from hers. The emptiness from his dream returned with a vengeance.Get your head straight, man.Think about what needs doing.
First, he’d see to his horse. Next he’d have a word with the innkeeper, assuring the man kept his mouth shut about Zeke’s late night arrival. Then he had the long ride to the post where he’d stipulated Caden send his important telegram.
He still had to work out whether to return here or head on to Maidstone. He'd have to rely on instinct there, since he didn’t know what Hastings was up to. If only he didn't have to leave.
He turned his head to gaze at Kitty, still sound asleep. He didn’t want to go.
He traced his fingertips down the length of her hair, then slipped his hand beneath the covers to roam the curve of her hip, skim the softness of her belly. Her skin was like the smoothest silk, and warm like sunshine. He inched closer, helpless to resist cocooning her body with his once more.
She felt exactly right. It almost hurt.
She’d changed him. Somehow sneaked under his skin and taken up residence. If he lost her now, it would be like losing a part of himself. The truth slammed him like a punch to the gut. She’d made him need her.
Visions of his father swam before his eyes. Broken. Weak. All because of a woman. Zeke had sworn he’d never make such an idiot of himself. Except now that he had, he had an inkling of how his father might have felt. For the first time since his father’s decline into depravity, Zeke felt a modicum of charity for the man.
