His grip slackened on her arm, his gaze falling to her lips as she nervously licked them.
She felt the brush of his knuckles across her jaw, a touch as gentle as the sigh it produced in her. “Should I be afraid of you?” she asked.
He ran both his hands brazenly down her ribcage, scraping past the sides of her breasts. “Yes,” he said, hauling her against him only to seize her lips with his. Desire raged inside Stella, coursing through her blood and clenching around her womb as hot, forceful lips parted over her own.
Her knees buckled, and she moaned when his mouth slanted over hers, his tongue thrusting wet and sure inside her. His steady arm kept her from falling, one hand over the back of her head, the other shifting to cradle her buttocks and hold her against him.
She yielded to him, responding to the thorough, scorching strokes of his tongue with a fierceness with which she had never been acquainted. Her mouth was ravenous on his, taking everything it could. She felt suddenly so starved, overwhelmed at her first taste of lust. She was sure she could eat him whole and still yearn for more.
He sucked on her tongue, greedily, his lips latching onto it as he drew it into the heated moisture of his mouth. Hot pulses of hunger shot through her; wanton sounds tore from her chest only to die on his mouth.
His grip clenched around her rump, holding her body firmly against his while she gripped his arms and rubbed her body against his with desperation. “Please,” she sobbed against his lips, scraping her nipples against his chest.
He turned rigid, then ripped his mouth away from hers. “Leave.” A hand clamped around her elbow. “Leave now.”
She felt weightless, dazed as he hauled her toward the entrance of the cave, his strides long and determined. “I have nothing to interest a woman of your kind. I never have.” He pushed her out onto the sand, his face both dark and poignant under the moonlight. “Don’t ever come back, ever, or I won’t be held responsible.” He turned to leave, but her quiet words made him turn back to face her.
“Wait, please. I didn’t mean to…I mean, I didn’t…oh, crap.” Stella bit her lower lip and put her arms around herself, shivering as a burst of cool wind surrounded her. She had no way of explaining what had happened, and yet she knew she wanted more, wanted to stay here with him. Sensations swam inside her, fast and wild and exhilarating. Now, out in the moonlight, away from the fires of his kiss and the dark cocoon of the cave, she felt cold and lonely and abandoned.
“Trust me. There’s nothing here for you,” he said, his voice gentler now, and though she saw him reach out to her, his touch never came. His hand dropped before she could feel it, and then he stormed back into the cave.
Of all the…!
Yet insults failed to formulate, for all she could feel and think and know was that she ached for this man, for the solitary, mysterious Villain.
It was a long, long way home.
* * *
“Where were you, Stella? I was worried sick! Kevin was here, and I had to reassure him you were already in bed, or else he’d think you’re completely lacking morals!”
“Not now, Mother,” she said tiredly, closing the front door behind her.
Her mother stood at the base of the stairs. Her eyes were wild, her gray-streaked hair tucked into a nightcap, a few loose tendrils escaping confinement. “Stella, this town is not safe to wander alone at this hour.”
Stella slowly walked past her to the stairs, her hand sliding up the balustrade. “Please, not now.”
Chapter Two
It was a spell. It had to be because it wasn’t a dream. Her eyes were wide open, and every part of her body ached. Little pricks of wanting stung between her legs, and her nipples felt so sensitive even the stroke of air made them throb.
The Villain stood at the foot of the bed, like a vision or a dream or a big, breathing chunk of magic. He should have been a stranger, and maybe he was, but she felt as though she’d been waiting for him, for this, forever.
He was watching her with dark, lustful eyes as she lay there, over a tumble of sheets, naked and needy and waiting for him. And oh, how she wanted him. Enough to beg him. Enough to call him to her. Enough to know he wanted her too.
She knew his name somehow, knew it as she knew her own heartbeat, moaning it out to the dark.
Gabriel.
She must have heard the name before. Her tongue hugged the word as if familiar and dear to her.
Come here and kiss me, Gabriel Hunter.
A pleased, guttural sound vibrated in him as he slowly advanced and lowered himself above her, stretching the full length of his naked body on top of hers. Her thighs parted for him, already weak and limp with desire. The engorged tip of his staff grazed her inner thigh, teasing the curls between her legs, and just that fleeting touch had her bucking up and spreading her legs wider.
He groaned low and deep, palming her buttocks with his hands, squeezing the firm, supple flesh. Then he was shoving up inside her, driving into her with a long, hard thrust.
She bucked under him, taking him in completely. Sweat coated their bodies. Moans and groans tore from their chests while the slick, swollen muscles in her cunt locked around his shaft, and he began to pump her.