Читать книгу The Virgins - Complete Boxed Set - Grace Goodwin - Страница 12

Cassie

“So wet, Cassie. Is all this for me?” he whispered.

I didn’t know if the wetness coating my thighs was for him, but it certainly was because of him. I’d never behaved like this before. Never let a man other than Charles touch me beyond a simple handshake. Certainly, I’d never let a man take the liberties I was allowing Mr. Maddox. Of course, I’d never, ever felt like I did when he was touching me.

No. This was insane! I was thinking about him as if he’d actually kissed me, put his hands on me before, but he hadn’t. I’d never even laid eyes on him before dinner. It had been a dream—just the same dream for four nights—but they were so real, so similar. So wonderful.

And now, I discovered that being touched by the real Mr. Maddox was so much better.

“I’m not the first man to touch you, am I, Cassie?” His breath fanned my neck, had me angling my head for him.

“No. My husband, Charles.” When I felt Mr. Maddox stiffen, I continued. “He died three years ago.”

“He didn’t make you feel like this though, did he?”

I shook my head, licked my lips. “No,” I replied.

“I’m the only one who can make you burn, Cassie. We’re marked mates. Your husband may have taken you first, but your body knows the truth. No one else will touch you now, no one but me.”

“No one,” I repeated when he removed his fingers then thrust them back inside me.

“This pussy belongs to me,” he growled. “You belong to me. Every little cry, every soft curve of your body, every drop of welcome creaming my fingers belongs to me. Say it, Cassie.”

“I… don’t understand this.”

He grunted in disapproval as he curled his fingers over some magical place inside me. “There is nothing to understand, mate. I found you. You’re mine.”

“Yours? But you don’t even know me.”

“I know enough.”

He withdrew his fingers again, then pushed them deeper as if to emphasize the point. His movements were just a bit rougher than he’d been before and I wiggled against his hand, shifted up onto my toes, overwhelmed by his dominion over my body. I couldn’t think with his fingers conquering me, his mouth covering mine.

He crushed my lips beneath his, his tongue invading as if he had the right to every secret, every fantasy as his fingers pumped in and out of my pussy in a rhythm that stole my breath. I could hear the wet sounds of my desire and I should have been mortified, but it felt too good. I wanted more. I needed—more. Something.

Tearing my lips from his, I fought to regain some sense of sanity with his fingers still filling me and my arms stretched above my head, as if I were some pagan offering and he the god. “I don’t understand this. Why… why?”

“My name is Maddox. Say it.” His fingers withdrew to slip over my folds, circled that eager bundle of nerves, no longer plundering my deepest core. I wanted him to do more and I whimpered. I wanted the fire and sweet release I’d experienced in my dreams.

“Maddox.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No!” The protest left my lips before I could consider my answer.

“I refuse to mate you up against a house for chickens. But that doesn’t mean I can’t find out how sweet you taste.”

Before I could question, he released my hands and dropped to his knees before me. One hand held up my dress, exposing me to his gaze.

“Such a pretty pussy.” He brushed the knuckles of his free hand over the soft curls, then put his hand on my inner thigh, forcing my legs farther apart.

“Maddox,” I hissed. “What… what are you doing?” I glanced left and right, for once a little worried.

His grin made me forget all my concerns. “Your husband never put his mouth on you, then, did he?”

I shook my head. “Why would he—”

A quick flick of his tongue over my swollen flesh had me biting my lip, the question all but forgotten.

“A man puts his mouth here, mate, because it brings you pleasure. And because I want to have your taste on my tongue the rest of the night.”

Deft fingers palmed my thighs, but it was his thumbs that parted my woman’s flesh. Leaning forward, he breathed in my scent, then practically dove in, licking me like I was the finest treat.

My hands moved from the wall to his dark hair, tangling in the long, thick strands.

“Oh God,” I whispered, my eyes falling closed.

This was so wicked, so carnal. I had Maddox, albeit a complete stranger, kneeling before me and licking my… oh God.

“Shh, keep all those sounds quiet and just for me.”

I whimpered as his tongue flicked the bundle of nerves that I would sometimes rub to fulfillment. But every time I lay in bed, touching myself, it had not been like this.

Fingers slipped back inside me, mimicking what his cock did to me in the dream the night before. “You’re going to come for me, Cassie. Now.”

Once, twice, he flicked his tongue, curled his fingers. My head arched back and my hips thrust toward his face. “Yes!” I gasped as my release struck me. It was like the tornado I’d heard about that had struck the nearest town last summer. Wild, tumultuous winds that no one could survive. I was lost, caught on the feelings that Maddox wrung from my body in such a decadent way.

I could feel my inner walls rippling around his fingers. His fingers continued to pump in and out of me, but his pace had slowed, his licking subsiding to tender kisses on my intimate flesh.

My skin was damp with sweat, my body soft and pliant. I could collapse to the ground in a puddle if not for Maddox’s hands on my hips. Slowly, I opened my eyes and grinned. Grinned down at the face that was so new to me and yet so familiar. When he saw my smile, he grinned, too. I should have been embarrassed by the evidence of my arousal glistening on his lips and chin, but if I felt so good because of him, I wasn’t going to worry.

Letting go of his hair, I sighed, tried to calm my racing heart.

“Maddox—”

“Cassie!”

It wasn’t Maddox’s voice that called my name. It was Mr. Anderson and I froze in place like a frightened rabbit, too scared to move or make a sound.

Maddox’s fingers stilled but did not move from between my thighs.

“Cassie!” Mr. Anderson called again. I could picture him standing on the back stoop looking for me, squinting out across the prairie, trying to catch a glimpse of me, straining to hear my reply. I wasn’t on the prairie. I was pressed against the chicken coop, my dress hiked up to my waist, my drawers on the ground as a man knelt before me.

“I’ll be right there!” I yelled, a bit too loudly, but I did not want to chance my employer becoming curious or coming out of the house to look for me. “I must do the dishes,” I added, for Maddox.

His fingers slipped from me, leaving me empty and I moaned. His hair was so dark, like midnight, was long and thick. I itched to run my fingers through it once again, to revel in how soft it was. Now was not the time, for Mr. Anderson might call again if I did not hurry, would perhaps even come looking for me. The idea of having him discover Maddox on his knees before me, my slick essence coating his fingers and face, had the cooling effect of a bucket of water from the creek at spring thaw tossed over my head.

Instead of helping me into my drawers, he forced me to lift one foot, then the other, for them to come free. Holding the white undergarment before him, he said, “I’ll keep these.”

“But—”

“You won’t forget me as you finish your work.” With all the gentlemanly manners I’d imagined from a noble lord, he lifted my hand to his lips and placed a soft, lingering kiss on my palm, his caress right on top of the birthmark. Heat swirled through me at the odd gesture and I nearly swooned, dizziness swamping me.

I would have stumbled, but he stood to his full, towering height. “I’ll see you later, Cassie. I will come to you tonight, in your dreams, and you will see my face this time as I fuck you. Tomorrow, you will be in my arms again, I promise you.”

He stood and stepped back, let me go back to the house for my evening chores. I did not mind the tasks, for once, for I was well satisfied and had a handsome man—a well-skilled lover—to think about.

And that night, alone in bed, he did find me in my dreams. I awoke once again with my nightgown bunched up about my waist, but this time my hand was between my thighs and two fingers were inside me. I’d never, never, done something like that before, but I was so wet, so empty that I stroked myself to another orgasm, my hips shifting on the bed. I wanted more than my own touch, for it hadn’t been Maddox’s fingers deep inside me in the dream, but his… cock.

In the dream he’d said he would come to me today, take me in his arms and make me his forever. He’d stroked me with his cock and I’d let him, wanted everything he had to give me. And now, awake and aware of all that had been said, I had no doubt whatsoever he would follow through on his promise to hunt me down and fuck me until I begged for release.

I promised to find you, to claim you, to make you mine. He’d even said he’d mate me. That was the one word he spoke that confused me. Mate. Not wife, not lover, but mate.

I was a woman, not a wolf.

Once I woke, sleep would not return and I feared I might never rest again. When dawn threatened, I climbed from the bed and dressed quickly, deciding against my favorite blue day dress because it would remind me of yesterday, of him.

I only owned two dresses, and slipped into my faded green-and-yellow work frock before tiptoeing down the back stairwell, careful on the fourth step not to step on the spot that creaked. Going out the back door, I closed it quietly behind me, then I breathed.

My work shoes were next to the back door and I slipped my feet into the familiar leather. The sky was still dark, but the birds were chirping and I knew dawn was close. The cool air felt good on my heated skin, my damp thighs, although it did nothing to cool my eagerness for Maddox. I didn’t understand it, this… this frantic need to be with him, to touch him, to know he was near.

I should hate myself for my weakness. While I was a widow, I should have some decorum, some level of virtuousness despite what I’d shared with Charles. Far from innocent, I had somehow transformed to a wanton, letting a stranger do what he wished with me—Maddox had certainly been the dominant one—to find my pleasure. It was inexplicable. Truly. But I didn’t care. For once in my life, I was just feeling, just living, not wondering what others would think or focused on doing what was best in order to survive. For once I was exhilarated, for Maddox wanted me.

Not one of the women I knew in town spoke of dreaming about sharing a bed with a man before they married. I’d never heard one hint of the idea. While the married women did not often speak about what occurred in their marriage beds, they did talk. Yet, not one had mentioned sharing such wicked dreams. No one ever talked about dreaming about a man and having him appear, as if by magic. And most of all, no one had ever talked about their man being so skilled with his hands, his mouth and his cock. They’d mentioned lying still and bearing it, not getting so wet that I could hear my own desire, pick up the scent of it in the air as Maddox used his fingers and tongue to bring me to climax.

No one had ever mentioned doing that behind their chicken coop. I put my fingers to my lips to stifle a heady giggle.

To complicate and confuse me further, Maddox had said he’d dreamed of me, too. I could understand having someone appear in a dream, for I’d had dreams of Mrs. Anderson after her death and she had not come back to life. That wasn’t uncommon, dreaming of the people one sees each day. But Maddox had dreamed the same dream, had described it in some detail and it had matched mine.

While I wanted him in my bed, I knew that was the line I could not cross, for Mr. Anderson and the others would easily know of our illicit interactions. I could not be here when Maddox woke. I could not stare into his blue eyes over the breakfast table and pretend to be unaffected or deny what had occurred behind the chicken coop. Surely what we’d done would be painted on my face for all to see. I needed to get away, clear my head before I was forced to confront him again.

Stepping off the back porch, I walked through the damp grass. Glancing back at the house, I wondered if he still slept, if he wore his clothes to bed or if he was as naked as in the dream that still lingered in my mind? Long, lean muscles, smooth skin with a smattering of soft hair. I knew how he felt, how he smelled, how he tasted, for I’d put my lips on his body before he’d flipped me onto my back, nudged my thighs wide and worked his thick manhood into me.

The sensation had startled me awake and now I needed to escape the dark desires riding me, urging me to sneak to his room and—

Shivering—and not from cold—I refused to finish that thought, instead dashed toward the creek, my palm still tingling, heated from the touch of his lips.

Maddox

My mate was running away from me as if I were a predator and she my prey. I watched her slip out of the house and onto the back porch. I knew nothing about my mate, her beliefs or her customs. Hell, I only knew about Earth from what the ship’s systems had offered and those weren’t completely accurate. The Montana Territory was wild and rugged, barren and desolate, oddly beautiful. It was nothing like the elegant and ancient cities of Everis. My civilization was millenniums old, our culture and traditions unchanged in hundreds of years. On Everis everyone had a place, a destiny determined by birth or tradition, our cultures thousands of years beyond the primal acts of war, or tribal thinking, fighting for resources or survival.

On Everis, none went hungry. None were ever abandoned or alone. We were one of the oldest planets in the Coalition, our culture and customs stately and respected.

The rugged unpredictability of this place kept me constantly on edge, and with both my enemy and my mate here, I struggled to adjust. Even with Cassie, I felt off-kilter for she was not what I had expected. She did not know who or what she was.

I gripped her dainty drawers in my hand. When I’d slid them down her thighs, the fabric had been damp with her arousal, had touched her pussy, and still held her scent.

Slipping from my place atop the roof of her home where I’d spent much of the night standing guard watching for Neron’s approach, I followed her, my footsteps silent in the tall grass. I had to watch over her, protect her, even from things she did not know existed.

She ran from me, from the intensity of our mating bond, and yet I could not feel regret that I had slipped into my mate’s mind as she slept. I knew the way to her mind now, could enter her dreams at will. The physical contact we’d shared just hours ago made it easier for my mind to find hers, for my fantasies to pleasure both of us as we slept. Physical contact was too banal for what I’d done to her. Seeing her pussy for the first time, licking and sucking on her wet pink folds, making her come against my mouth was… transcendent. I knew her taste, her scent, the sounds she made when she came. No matter where I was in the future, I would never sleep alone again, and neither would she. I would join her every night until we were mated and from then on. We were one, our minds already linked as I longed for our bodies to be.

Cassie’s effect on me was even more dangerous than I’d first feared. My desire was now obsession, especially now that I could still taste her on my tongue. I’d kept her garment because her heated scent lingered. How foolish and impulsive, but I had to balance my voracious need with her lack of knowledge about her mark. If she didn’t know about the mark, then she didn’t know about Everis.

Sighing, I knew it would be a struggle for her to grasp her new reality—her mate was from another planet. Hell, she had to grasp what a mate was and that she had one. I knew I asked much of an Earth woman with zero knowledge of the vastness or diversity of life in the universe.

I allowed her to get far enough ahead that she would not hear my whispered communication with Thorn, but close enough where I could see her unbound hair and the color of her dress in the distance. I tapped the O-C behind my right ear and waited for Thorn’s deep voice to rumble through my head.

“Thorn.”

“I found her.”

“Does she carry a mark?”

“Yes. On her palm, just like an Everian female.”

“I assume you have acquired her and are on your way to the ship.”

“No. There are—” How could I say this? “—complications.”

“Uncomplicate them.” For him, it was simple. Toss my mate over my shoulder and carry her back to the ship. He’d not been affected with the awakening of his mark, of seeing his mate, of touching her. He did not understand the complications of being mated to an Earth woman.

“She doesn’t know what she is. She’s an orphan and knows nothing of our world or our ways.”

“Where is she now?”

“Running from me. I am simply reporting in to tell you I might need a few more days to… persuade her to come back to Everis with me.”

He had the audacity to laugh. “Divine luck to you, Mad. You’re going to need it.”

“Fuck you.”

His laughter cut off abruptly as he disconnected and I shook my head, grinning despite the fact that I chased my mate over long stretches of rolling hills. I’d explored the area upon approach, and was confident I knew her destination.

A few minutes later, I knew I’d been right. Quietly, I walked toward her where she sat surrounded by trees. From my research, the stately giants were called cottonwoods and often lined creeks and rivers, their roots drinking water from beneath the ground. Cassie sat on a large gray rock, her shoes rested a few steps away on the shore and her bare feet dangled in the ice-cold water. The swiftly moving water was no deeper than her ankles, the water’s edge lined with the tall cottonwoods obscuring my view of what might be on her other side.

She’d opened the top of her dress, the top third of the buttons undone, and her skin glistened under the first rays of Earth’s rising sun where she’d splashed the cold water on her chest and neck. My cock pressed painfully against my simple Earth pants. I was eager to lick every one of the drops of liquid that beaded and slid down over her smooth flesh.

She seemed content, relaxed, her head thrown back and her eyes closed. The rising sun kissed her skin with a soft pink glow and I struggled just to stand and admire her. Not wanting to disturb her peace, I was content to come upon her slowly. She jerked with a start, as if startled by something I could not see. She turned her head to her right, away from me, toward the trees lining the water’s edge.

I was not close, but my hunter’s ears heard her voice clearly. I used every hunter’s sense I possessed and activated the heat scanner and bio-electric monitor implanted in my right eye. If anyone or anything were near, I would know; their heat signature or the bio-electric impulses of a beating heart would appear on my retinal monitor.

I saw nothing, and yet she spoke to someone.

“Who are you?” She held the top of her dress closed with one hand.

The reply was masculine, a low deep rumble I could not make out, even with my hunter’s skill and I increased my pace, moving steadily toward her. This was impossible. My scanners picked up nothing, and yet I heard a man’s voice with my own ears. Cassie answered him.

“But, I don’t know who you are.”

Another rumble as her visitor replied as I edged around to the side, trying to position myself between my mate and the voice, where I could protect her, but unable to do so because of the giant trees.

Cassie shook her head and pulled her feet out of the water, reaching for her shoes, her discomfort obvious. “I don’t think so. I have to get back.”

She leaned over, her delicate hand straining to reach her shoes. Shaking. She was shaking.

All pretense of stealth forgotten, I raced toward her. “Cassie, come here at once.”

Her face lifted in my direction and a startled squeak left her before she grabbed her shoes and hopped off the rock. “Just a minute.”

“Now!”

She rolled her eyes and walked toward me. I rushed to meet her, moving swiftly to place her behind me. Pulling my ionic pistol from my pocket, I approached the rock so I might see who had frightened her.

Scanning the area, I found the wooded area appeared to be empty, but in the mud lining the shore I saw the imprint of a man’s boots. Very large boots.

Cassie’s hands settled on my back as I completed my scan of the area. Nothing, unless you counted the two stalwart fish hugging the edge of the water, a small, furry creature burrowed inside the nearest tree, and birds, most still sleeping in their nests. So who had frightened her so? And why hadn’t my scanners picked him up?

“Who were you talking to?”

“I don’t know who he was. I’ve never seen him before.” Her hands tightened into fists in my shirt and I turned, pulling her shivering body close, tucking her safely against my heart as I hid my pistol away. My anger began to simmer, knowing that someone had frightened her.

“What did he say? What did he want? Did he threaten you?” I’d hunt him down and kill him.

She shook her head, the strands long and wild down her back, and I relaxed a bit until her next words registered. “No. He gave me a message.”

“A message?”

“Yes. It was for you.”