He held her upright with his hand on her stomach while he ran his mouth down her legs, rolling down each garter as he went, then tossing her shoes aside. He finally came back up to her mouth. “You have fine soft hair on your legs,” he said, sounding like a scientist observing a different form of wildlife.
She could just blink at him as she put her arms about his neck. “Oh, ’Ring, make love to me,” she whispered.
&nbs
p; “As soon as I finish playing the overture,” he said against her lips, making her smile, then he turned her around. “Let’s see the back of you.”
He held her against the wall as he ran his hands over the back of her, kissing her down her spine, around her buttocks, then down the backs of her legs. When he reached her heels he nipped at them, making her squeal with pleasure and lift first one foot and then the other.
She turned to face him. Her body was hot with wanting him, and she’d had enough of his power over her. She wanted a little power of her own. She slipped away from his grasp when he reached for her.
“Maddie,” he said, his voice full of yearning, his hands out.
When he looked at her like that she knew she would be able to deny him nothing. “Off,” she said, pointing to his trousers.
He grinned. “Mustn’t disappoint a lady.”
She watched as he sat on the floor and pulled his calf-high boots off, then stood again and slipped his trousers and knit underwear down to his ankles and easily stepped out of them.
Maddie stood back against the wall and took her time looking at him. Having grown up around mountain men and Indians, she’d often seen men wearing nothing but breech cloths, but somehow ’Ring was more magnificent than they were. And in the middle of his body was rampant evidence of his desire for her.
She looked back at his face. “Is all that for little ol’ me?” she asked, and was very pleased to see him blush all the way to his shoulders.
“Come here,” he growled, reaching for her, but Maddie ran a few steps to escape him.
’Ring stood where he was, his mouth agape as he saw parts of her jiggle.
Maddie suddenly felt very powerful, for it was she who had absolute control of this magnificent man. She opened her mouth and sang the second set of trills from “Ah, fors’ è lui.”
’Ring was on top of her in a second. All two hundred pounds of him hit her and knocked her to the floor—and his aim was perfect. His mouth hit hers precisely, and all his maleness entered her femaleness in one smooth move. Out of instinct her legs went around his waist as he began to move within her. At first he was slow, slow and deep, but within seconds, as she lifted her hips to him, he began to move deeply and quickly—and Maddie met his every move.
She wasn’t aware they were scooting along the floor until her head hit the wall. Her neck bent and her shoulders began to slide upward, and ’Ring’s mouth made contact with her breast. In his urgency he sucked a little too hard, a little too painfully, and Maddie cried out. Her legs locked even tighter about his waist.
When she was bent nearly double by the wall, ’Ring tightened his arms around her waist and lifted her, never losing their connection, then stood up with her clasped about him. He took a step toward the piano, but then he paused. She opened her eyes to look at him, saw he seemed to be considering something.
She wiggled against him, and he closed his eyes, and the next moment she found her back against the wall. She held on for dear life as he began to move again. Excitement began to build and build in her as her nails dug into his back and her ankles locked, holding him close.
“Yes,” she said, and took his earlobe in her teeth. “Yes.” She stuck her tongue in his ear and he slammed into her with such blinding force, that for a second she couldn’t see as she saw bright white light and her body rocked in tremors.
It was minutes later that she was able to breathe again, and she could feel ’Ring’s heart thudding against her breast.
He took a few steps backward with Maddie locked around him, then he knelt with her, pried her legs from his waist, smiled at Maddie’s groan when their connection was broken, then lay down on the floor, Maddie held securely to him.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered as she lay with her head on his shoulder, her fingers twining in the hair on his chest. He didn’t say anything, so she rose on one elbow and looked at him. She ran her fingertip over the frown lines in his forehead. “What is making you frown?”
He kissed her fingertip and held her hand against his chest, then looked at her. “I understand now what drives men. I understand what my father was talking about.”
“Your father talked to you about women?” She snuggled her head back against his shoulder, thinking how well they fit together.
“Tried to.” Suddenly he hugged her so tightly she almost cried out. “Maddie, my beautiful LaReina, I would like to give you as much as you’ve given me. First your voice and now this.” He ran his hand down her arm.
She stretched luxuriously, moving her legs by his. “You’ve given me Laurel.”
“That wasn’t enough to repay you for this.”
She laughed. “What if I told you I wanted the moon?”
“I’d give it to you.”