He shoved her against the rough cabin wall and increased the passion of his thrusts as Houston threw her head back and loudly exclaimed her pleasure. And when the last hard, fiery thrust came, Houston screamed.
For a moment, Kane held her suspended and she clung to him as if for her life.
After several long minutes, he eased both of them down to the bed, and snuggled her so close she could barely breathe. “A screamer,” he murmured. “Who would a guessed that a lady would be a screamer?”
Houston was too exhausted to reply before she fell asleep in his arms.
Chapter 17
When Kane woke the next morning, it was full daylight. After a few long moments of grinning at Houston’s nude body cuddled next to his, he caressed her bare rump.
“Time to get up and fix me some breakfast.”
“Ring the bell on the table and the maid will come,” she murmured as she buried her face deeper into his warm chest.
With one eyebrow raised, he looked at her. “Oh, good mornin’, Mr. Gates and Leander. So nice to see you.”
Houston reacted at once, sitting up poker-straight in the bed, grabbing the sheet, and wrapping it about her so that only her face could be seen.
It took her only seconds to realize that Kane was teasing. “What a terrible trick to play!” she accused, but Kane had started to laugh at the sight of her covered so primly, and all of it done so quickly. She tried her best to not laugh with him, but found it impossible.
“I guess I don’t have to worry ’bout Westfield anymore,” he said as he left the bed and began to rummage in the food that had been packed for them.
Houston lay back in the bed and watched him with a great deal of interest. His body was indeed better than that of the strongman she’d invited to The Sisterhood meeting, strong muscles, wide shoulders tapering to a small rear end atop heavy thighs—thighs that could rub on hers and make her body sing.
Casually, Kane turned to glance at her, but when he saw her expression, he dropped the food he was holding, stood and held out his hand to her.
She took it and he pulled her out of the bed and drew her close.
“I hadn’t planned to spend much time up here, but maybe you wouldn’t mind it if we spent a few days alone together, like a honeymoon, except not in Paris or some place like that.”
“I’ve been to Paris,” she whispered, moving her hips closer to his and gently rubbing against him. “And I can honestly say that here is better than there. Now, what were you saying about breakfast?”
With disbelief on his face, Kane pushed her away. “If there was one thing that I learned as a kid, it was that toys are precious and you don’t wear them out on the first day.”
“I’m a toy to you?”
“A grown-up toy. Now, get some clothes on and let’s eat. I thought I might show you some old minin’ ruins around here. I just hope I’m man enough to spend all day with you.”
“I think you are,” she said through her lashes as she coyly glanced down at the part of him that showed no qualms about “wearing her out.”
Quite firmly, he took her shoulders in his hands and turned her around. “I got a extra shirt and pants over there and you go get dressed—and I want every button done up and nothin’ left hangin’ out to drive me crazy. You understand that?”
“Completely,” Houston said, her back to him; she was grinning so hard that her skin was stretching.
When they were dressed and had eaten, Kane led her up the side of the mountain. Chandler was at 6200 feet elevation and now they were at about 7500 feet, making the air cold and crisp. Kane didn’t seem aware of the fact that Houston wasn’t used to the climbing or that her riding boots weren’t made to grip the slippery rock, but led her straight up, past overhanging rock that looked as if it were about to fall on them.
“Is it much farther?” she asked once.
Turning, Kane held out his hand to help her over a particularly difficult rock. “How about a rest?” he asked as he began to remove the pack of food from his back.
“I would appreciate it very much,” she said as she took the canteen he offered and drank deeply of it. “Are you sure there’s a mine up here? How could they get the coal out?”
“Same way they get all coal out, I guess. What do I know about coal mining?” He was looking at her intently and, when he seemed satisfied that she was going to live, he turned away.
“Do you come up here often?”
“Whenever I can get away. Look through there at those rocks. Ever see anythin’ like ’em?” Down through the mist of the valley she could see a razorback formation of rock that rose straight out of the ground, looking unnatural and dangerous. “What do you think caused somethin’ like that? It’s like some giant tried to pull the rock out of the ground, got it halfway up and stopped.”