Outlaw Hearts(63)

There was no going back now, no changing what she had let happen, no denying how she felt. She couldn’t worry about the future or the past, or about the danger of being an outlaw’s woman, for now it was impossible to think of not being at his side. She had never felt more beautiful, more daring, more alive. She moved slightly, grasping his muscled forearm and kissing it.

“So, you are awake,” he told her, kissing her hair then. “I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to move and disturb you.”

She smiled with sweet satisfaction, glorying in once more experiencing the ultimate pleasures of being a woman. “Yes, I’m awake,” she answered, keeping her back to him. Now that morning light made its way through the canvas, she felt suddenly shy about her nakedness. It had all been so easy in the dark of night. She pulled a blanket farther over herself. “Have you been awake long?”

He sighed, nuzzling her neck. “Maybe a half hour.” He smoothed her hair back from her face and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “Do you know how beautiful you are? I’ve never seen a woman who could hold a candle to you, except maybe my mother, but she was dark and you’re fair.” He kissed and licked at her satiny shoulder, gently massaging her breasts as he did so. “Thank you for last night, mi querida.”

She smiled. “What does that mean?”

He moved his hand to gently massage her belly then, thinking how small she was, how he had worried last night at times that he might bruise her, or break something if he held her too tightly. Surely he had hurt her when they had intercourse, yet she had taken him with a wild passion he never dreamed she had in her. In his whole life he had never wanted a woman like he had wanted Miranda Hayes, or ever gotten so much pleasure with one.

“Something I’ve never said to a woman,” he answered. “Something I never thought I was capable of saying…too mushy for somebody like me.” He kissed her shoulder again. “It means ‘my darling’ in Spanish. My mother used to say it to me and my little brother, but certainly not the way I mean it with you.”

Miranda rubbed at his arm. “It’s a pretty language. Do you remember much of it?”

“Sure. I just haven’t used it in years because it makes me think of her, how good she was. It is a beautiful language, maybe too gentle for a man who raids and kills and has his face on wanted posters all over the state of Missouri.”

He reached past her to get something out of one of his saddlebags, and Miranda studied the hard lines of his upper body, still having a little trouble coming to terms with what had happened last night. Why hadn’t she stopped him? It had all seemed as natural as breathing. He moved back beside her, leaning down to kiss at her breasts. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, relishing the ecstasy of letting him lick and taste at her nipples. She had never been this bold with Mack, but Jake had a commanding way of touching her that destroyed all her inhibitions.

“I got us some peppermint,” he said then, showing her a pink stick of candy. “I want to kiss you,” he told her, “but I don’t feel like getting up just yet and looking for the baking soda to clean my teeth, so the candy will have to do.”

Miranda smiled, watching his dark eyes, thinking how handsome he looked even in the morning when he needed a shave and his hair was a mess. He put one end of the candy in her mouth, put his own mouth over the other end, and moved his mouth to her lips. He bit off his end of the candy, and they both sucked on it while their lips brushed.

She felt his hardness, closed her eyes when he entered her again. This time he took her slowly, gently, quietly. She tried to remember how many times he had drawn from her the exhilarating climaxes that left her feeling weak this morning. Little was said between them. They simply enjoyed the quiet morning, the feel of warm bodies touching, the joy of their union  . He swallowed the candy and leaned down to taste at her nipple again, enjoying seeing her in the light of morning, thinking how ripe and beautiful she looked. He wanted to see more in the light, wanted to explore other parts of her, taste her again. Maybe they would just stay here all day. He could teach her all the things he knew about pleasuring a woman, show her there was more than one way to enjoy a man.

But then maybe not. Maybe none of this was right. God, he loved her, but what could he really give a woman like Miranda? Only unhappiness. He shuddered when the life flowed out of him once more, tried to remember if he had ever taken another woman this many times in one night.

He relaxed beside her, and Miranda snuggled against him. “You should use your Spanish more often, Jake. I like to hear it. Maybe you can teach me some.”