He stayed deep within her as he lowered his head and kissed her with his tongue and teeth. She was gasping and in need of oxygen when his lifted his head. He took another stroke and Emma was lashed with a hot tide of sharp pleasure. And then he stilled once again. His jaw clenched as he looked deep into her eyes. "Are you gonna give me any shit tomorrow?"
He thrust his hips at her again and Emma couldn't hide her reaction from him when she felt another jolt of pleasure. Her eyes slipped closed and although she tried to stay still, it was impossible and she pushed up against him.
"Emma." He wanted an answer.
"What?"
"You planning on giving me shit tomorrow?"
"What do you mean?" Her voice sounded as confused as she felt.
"Are you gonna put up a fuss about getting married? I want it done tomorrow and I need to know if you're planning on being difficult--putting up a fight."
She pushed against the strong hand that still held her captive but his grip only tightened and he didn't release her. Her breath snagged and she had the urge to push against him again. It was a feeling that was getting more pronounced by the second. "Why do you need to know right now?"
"Because I want to come inside you this time," he gritted between clenched teeth.
Emma flushed red and her lips trembled but she remained silent.
His lean hand ran over her cheek and over her forehead and into her hair in a soothing motion as he offered an explanation for his question. "The first time I spilled myself on your stomach. It will be more pleasurable for both of us if I come inside you, but I need to know if you're gonna marry me first."
Emma's mind raced as she thought of the warm, thick liquid and she came to a conclusion. "That was--that was the seed? The seed that makes a baby?"
Luke felt completely gutted by that question. The innocence of this girl was going to be the death of him yet. "Yeah, sweetheart."
"And you want to--to come in me?" she borrowed his term with a flush of embarrassment.
"Jesus, yes." He answered with a stroke of his hips, followed quickly by another.
Emma squirmed against him as pleasure from his movements, sharp and intense, hit her and made her lift her hips against his. He continued to take deep strokes of her body as he waited for her answer.
"Answer me now. You will marry me tomorrow?" This was it; he was at a point where he needed to know how this was going to end, how much control he needed to have. Above all else, he wouldn't risk a baby if she refused to marry him. He thought he could force her to do what he wanted, but in the end, she was the one that had to agree to say 'I do.'
He hung on a suspended moment of agony before she answered him.
"Yes," she said on a gasp as she pushed against him.
Her answer was like a godsend to him, he knew he was losing it fast, but she was like fire in his arms and he thought he might be able to bring her to a climax this time if he could hold out long enough, and he knew that wasn't going to happen as long as he was on top. As soon as he had her agreement, he released her wrists, grabbed her firmly by the buttocks, flipped to his back and brought her over him with one quick movement that never separated their bodies.
Chapter Twelve
Emma was stunned when she found herself on top of Luke in such a dominant position. But the thought passed quickly and all she felt was the depth and fullness of him inside her. It was an incredibly, luxuriant feeling. It was almost a feeling of decadence. It was something that she couldn't describe and wouldn't even try.
And then he pushed her torso up and moved her knees over him in a way that had her almost sitting on him. Shock and bliss combined slid down her spine. Her hands landed on his chest to hold herself upright and he grunted in what sounded like satisfaction. "That's right, baby."
He lifted one hand and slid it to the white fullness of her breast and palmed it completely. Emma felt her nipple harden and push against the rough pads of his fingers as he tweaked it. Liquid heat flooded between her legs and she felt the intense need to know his strokes again.
"Luke," she moaned in agitation.
"It's all right, baby. Like this," his voice was almost guttural as he put both hands on her hips and lifted her almost completely off him, and then let her fall back over him as he thrust his hips up at the same time.
She let out a moan and the sound of her pleasure bewitched him. It sent a craving, a compulsion through him that made him want to keep her locked away in his bedroom forever. He gritted his teeth against the need to flip her to her back again and instead, he helped her take a few more strokes, teaching her the way of it until she took over and began riding him in earnest.
Luke watched her in the still of the night, sliding over him so gracefully, whimpering softly as she learned her first real taste of desire. How could he have been angry that she'd been untouched? Nothing in his life had been this good, nothing he'd seen or felt could ever compare to seeing Emma as she experienced lovemaking for the first time. His lovemaking. She would never know another's.
She began to move frantically, as if she needed something and didn't know what it was. But he did.
He slid his hand down and put his finger on her silken pearl and began stroking it, in tandem with the movements she was taking on him. "That's right, baby. Just feel it." His voice was low and deep and filled with a hunger he couldn't begin to deny.
Emma felt his touch on her where she needed it the most and it was bringing a bit of relief but it wasn't enough. She continued to lift herself over him, again and again in the only way she could that seemed to bring a balm to the wildness inside of her.
She was mildly aware that Luke's breathing was as rough as hers and that he strained against her while he touched her between her legs and rolled her nipple between his thumb and finger.
Suddenly it was as if a wire broke, and the tension was released and fluid sensation encompassed her in a million bolts of pleasure that spread through her blood. Her body strained against his as satisfaction pure and simple slammed through her, relaxation took over as she found the remedy, the comfort for the desire that had her in its grip. Inertia took over as she fell to his chest, but she found it wasn't over yet as he gripped her by the hips and jerked her up and down four, five, six times as he thrust up into her and then stilled as he groaned, a sound that came deep from his diaphragm, and Emma felt the hot, wet release of his seed in her womb.
He lay slack beneath her, and she fell to his chest again and rested her head in the crook of his neck as their sweat mingled together, while their pulses finally slowed and evened out.
They lay like that for a long while, and contentment unlike any she'd ever felt before, infiltrated her entire being. His hand ran idly up and down her waist and she felt herself slipping off into sleep.
She savored the moment as the movement of his hand began to slow and she knew that he, too, was about to fall asleep. His breathing evened out, and the words he whispered were the last thing she knew before slumber took her.
"That's the way it's supposed to be."
****
Emma rode next to Luke on the buckboard and tried not to keep from fidgeting and continually looking at the gold band on her left ring finger.
His mood was not exactly dark, but he wasn't thrilled and she could certainly tell.
He'd awakened her that morning before dawn, and told her they were leaving right at sunrise. Emma had put on her best dress and bonnet and prepared a quick breakfast that they ate before they left for town.
Luke had planned for the circuit judge to marry them, but he knew that wouldn't be possible if the judge was in another city. And that was indeed the case as they found out when they got to town.
He'd pulled the buckboard in front of the sheriff's office, and helped her down.
Reed Elgin wasted no time when he saw them and immediately told them the culprits were caught and awaiting trial. It seemed to be a clear-cut case and that they would be found guilty. They had been caught red-handed
with items that were taken in not only the robbery that Emma had been involved in but the several before it. They were being kept in the jail in the next town. Relief spread through Emma. It had always been at the back of her mind that they were out there, the men that were murderers and thieves and knew her face. She took a deep breath of relief.
Luke quickly moved on to the subject at hand. The sheriff listened to Luke's request for the judge and only a small amount of consternation could be seen on his face by a tic in his cheek. The sheriff's eyes roved over Emma as if he already had the knowledge of what they'd done, and a sharp tide of embarrassment came over her when she realized that he suspected they'd already been intimate.
"The judge will be here again in two weeks. I guess y'all will have to come back then." The sheriff's eyes looked between the two of them with a frown on his face. "I guess that'll give Mrs. Martin some more time to make sure she's doing the right thing by marrying you."