Do Not Forsake Me(44)

“That feels wonderful. How did you learn to do that?”

He grinned, thinking about the prostitute who’d taught him all the right ways to make a woman relax. “You don’t want to know. Just enjoy it.” He kept working his hands gently, deeply. He felt the tension leaving her, his own desire building to do more than touch. He wanted to taste and explore every part of her body, wanted to love her and be loved in return. He pulled her closer, moved his hand in gentle strokes over her abdomen, her breasts, back to her neck, her shoulders, down her back again.

“I hope you’re happy with me, Lloyd. I mean, I’ve seen how other girls look at you.”

Lloyd grinned and kissed her neck. “Katie, when a Harkner man loves his woman, none of the others mean a damn thing.”

“It’s just that we got married so quick, I’m scared you’ll regret it. Maybe you’ll wonder if you should have seen about some of the other single women in town.”

He massaged her hips. “Katie, listen to me. There isn’t another woman in town who attracted me like you did. I gave it time, thought about others, but it always came back to you. I came to your place Saturday because I couldn’t get you out of my mind. So never compare yourself to anyone else, okay?”

She grasped his forearm and kissed it. “Okay.”

“You just keep in mind that I don’t take getting married lightly. If I didn’t think you were extra special, why would I have chosen you to be a mother to my son, who I love beyond my own life?” He moved his hand over her breasts, around to her hips and up her back again. “You just relax. That’s an order.”

“I’m just so scared. That could have been you down in the street today.”

“You just remember I’ll always be with Jake Harkner when I ride off. A man can’t ask for better. We always have each other’s back. Pa wouldn’t have got hurt if I’d been there and seen Little Jake running down the street.” He turned her onto her back. “And I do care for you, Katie. You remember that too.” He trailed his hand down over her belly again, moved it under her gown to suggestively massage the inside of her thighs.

She drew in her breath and reached up to trace his eyebrows, his cheeks. “Lloyd…you’re my husband now…and you have needs…and…” Her face turned red with the blush he’d come to find sweetly amusing. “I want to be your wife in every way.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He leaned down and kissed her softly, continuing his gentle caresses, waiting for her reaction, figuring that after the way their union   got off to such a shocking start, he’d better be careful. It felt a little strange moving from close friends to something more. But she was right. He definitely had needs. And she definitely felt good, every curve, every bit of soft skin…soft lips.

His kiss grew deeper, and as his hand moved over her belly again she opened herself to him, whimpering in that way a woman has of saying she wants more. He gently stroked her, felt the heat, moved a finger into her folds and felt the swelling of that sweet nub that told him she ached for more. His kiss deepened even more when she didn’t resist his touch. Now he felt on fire for her.

“I want you, Katie,” he groaned. He moved between her legs and pushed her gown higher, leaning down to taste her breasts.

Katie ran her hands into his long hair, over his muscled shoulders, whispering his name. Lloyd savored her breasts more aggressively, needing to satisfy long-buried needs. He toyed with her sweet spot until her body shuddered in response to a long-overdue climax. In the next moment, Lloyd pushed himself deep inside her, making her cry out and arch up to him. She dug her fingers into his shoulders.

“Don’t go away again,” she whispered. “Not tonight.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he told her between kisses, burying himself deep inside of her, wanting to give her a child—hoping to fill the place in her heart and her arms that had been so cruelly emptied when her first baby died. He wanted to give her that and more—his love, his life, his soul.

Her breath came in gasps as he rammed himself deep and rhythmically, in an almost desperate need to prove to himself that everything did indeed turn out all right and they were all here and alive. Finally he could no longer avoid his own climax, spilling his seed deep. Once the pulsations finally ended, he lay there on top of her, kissing her over and over. “I’m so sorry I left you here alone.”

“It’s all right,” she answered between kisses.

“I should have realized.”