“I tried to be what I thought a good husband should be,” he snarled as he drew back from her, one hand covering her neck before moving to the buttons at the bodice of her dress. “I tried to give you what I thought you deserved. ”
Buttons were falling away beneath his fingers as a storm raged in his eyes.
“What do I deserve?” She arched against him, one leg rising to hook at his hip, to draw closer to the steel-hard bulge beneath his jeans.
“Everything. ” The material fell back to reveal the black lace pushup bra she wore beneath the dress. “You deserve everything I can give you. Every touch. Every cry of pleasure, every whisper of sensuality that I can give you. ”
“And you know how to give it all?” she panted, her head falling back against the wall as his lips trailed down her neck.
His head lifted slowly. “I know how to make certain you get it all,” he amended.
Keiley licked at her lips, feeling the blood pounding through her body, pleasure ripping over her nerve endings. She was so aroused, so wet now, so desperate for everything his eyes promised that it terrified her.
“No matter how it destroys us?”
He shook his head slowly. “I would never let anything destroy you, Keiley. Ever. I’ll always shelter you. ”
His love sheltered her. She had known that from the beginning, from the first night when he had looked into her eyes and told her he was hers forever.
“You’re my forever,” she reminded him then.
“Always,” he promised, his lips touching hers once more.
“I need to think. ” She closed her eyes against the promise in his eyes. “I can’t just—do this. ”
“There’s nothing to do, sweetheart. ” He caught her bottom lip, licked at it, nipped it before slowly releasing her and stepping back.
“Nothing to do?”
He shook his head slowly the overly long black strands caressing his neck as she wanted to caress it with her lips.
“Just be you, Kei,” he said gently. “All you. It’s about your pleasure, honey. It’s about what makes you burn, makes you scream for more. It’s about your fantasies and desires. I’m just your guide. ”
“My guide,” she breathed out roughly as she clutched the edges of her dress together and stepped toward the stairs. “You’re not guiding me, Mac. I feel more like a very small boat riding a tidal wave. ”
“Become the wave, baby. ” He grinned. “It’s real easy. ”
“So is drowning, I’m told. ” Shaking her head, she started up the stairs, praying her legs would hold her. “I’m taking a shower. I’ll see you later. ”
“Keiley. ” His voice stopped her as she started up the stairs.
Turning, she stared back at him, almost shivering at the power in his expression, the sensuality and pure unadulterated lust.
“Don’t think this to death. Thinking about it will only make it seem frightening, and more than what it is. And no matter what gossip Delia Staten wants to start, no one will know but the three of us. No one, Kei. ”
She nodded slowly. “As I said, I’ll think about it. ”
“You do that,” he murmured. “And I’ll keep seducing. ”
She waved her hand back at him as she moved up the stairs. “Go harass Jethro. I’m too tired and aggravated to deal with you. ”
Mac watched her go with a smile. The short little skirt of her dress skimmed over her perky little butt and swished above her knees. It wasn’t the cutest little summer dress she had, but it did wonders for her lightly tanned legs and bare feet.
She was the most honestly sensual woman he had ever met in his life. Nothing like Delia Madden Staten. Even at twenty, Delia had been a calculating witch. She had been determined to possess him, and Mac had been just as determined to foil her plans.
Hell, that had been more than fifteen years ago. He hadn’t returned to Scotland Neck until he came back with his wife. And it seemed Delia was still holding a grudge.
“I remember telling you that small-town life would make you nuts, Mac,” Jethro drawled from the end of the hallway.