A small strangled cry escaped her as he kissed her intimately. Braced against the wall, she arched closer to him, to the sweet torture of his tongue, to the ministrations of lips and teeth that sought and found, teased and conquered. She wasn’t aware that her robe had fallen away and in the firelight her naked body was visible to him. She didn’t realize that his shirt had been cast aside and that her fingers were digging into the sinewy cords of his shoulder muscles. She began to shudder and quake, and he slowly pulled her down on the floor, to lie with him. His hands molded over her, and he kissed her lips before tasting of the sweetness of her nipples again.
“I’ve dreamed of this,” he admitted. “Oh, I’ve dreamed of this so many times....” His lips found hers again, and he guided her hand to the waistband of his jeans. Her fingers worked of their own accord, and soon he was free of clothes, his body supple and sleek. She noticed several scars on his legs before her gaze landed on the length of him, hard and proud.
“Beautiful, beautiful, Nadine,” he said, poised above her.
She writhed beneath him, feeling the soft scratch of his chest hair against her breasts, smelling him and tasting the saltiness of his skin.
“I’ve waited a lifetime for this,” he admitted.
Tears touched the backs of her eyes as his knees gently prodded her legs apart. “Me, too, Hayden. Me, too.”
Their mouths met, tongues mated and Nadine lost all perception of time and space. He plunged downward and she arched up to meet him, eager for the feel of him. His movements were firm and hard, nearly angry, and she met each of his virile strokes with her own savage hunger.
The lights dimmed, the world seemed to spin, and in a breathtaking final surge, he thrust into her, falling against her and flattening her breasts as she shuddered with her own release. Thoughts reeling, her breath released in short pants, she clung to him and wished that she was thirteen years younger.
Then, they had had a chance. A future. But now they could have nothing. The course of their destinies was already set on vastly different paths. The best she could hope for was a short, passionate affair, the worst, a one-night stand.
Chapter Eight
NADINE STRETCHED AND sighed contentedly. Her dreams had been so wickedly sensual. She’d been with Hayden.... Her eyes flew open and she felt the weight of his arm around her waist, realized that the comforting warmth against her back was his chest and that the slight tickle at the back of her neck was Hayden’s breath. His downy legs were angled beneath hers and she was as naked as a baby jaybird.
Oh, Lord!
She tried to scramble to a sitting position, but the hand splayed beneath her breasts pinned her close to him. “Awake?” he mumbled against her hair, and Nadine blushed.
“I can’t believe that I...that you...that we—”
“Believe it,” he whispered huskily, and the timbre of his voice caused a tingling to spread through her skin.
“Hayden, this is insane!”
“Maybe.” He lifted her hair off her neck and placed a soft kiss against her nape.
Her silly body responded by trembling and she silently cursed herself. Sleeping with Hayden! Making love with him! Becoming one more of the women in his life who could be bought with a fancy trinket, a piece of jewelry or a few kind words. Just as her mother had predicted. A blush rose up the back of her neck as she remembered how easily, how eagerly, how desperately she’d wanted him. “This can’t happen!”
“It already did.” He kissed her ear, and she shuddered.
“Stop it! I’m serious—”
“So am I.” He gently rotated her, forcing her to stare into slumbrous blue eyes. The hint of a smile played in the darkening shadow of his beard and for the first time since seeing him again she caught a glimmer of the boy who had captured her heart so many years before.
“We’ve behaved horribly,” she said, but couldn’t help the grin that tugged at the corners of her mouth.
“Wantonly,” he agreed, his face a sudden mask of mock-seriousness. But his eyes twinkled.
“Without any responsibility whatsoever.”
Nodding, he said, “We should be punished.”
“Punished?”
“Mmm.” He threw back the covers and his gaze raked down her body. “Let’s start with you.”
“Me?” she said nervously.
“You’ve been very, very bad.” He brushed his lips across hers softly, deepened the kiss, then when she responded, drew back his head. “Uh-uh.” Rolling her onto her back, he took both her wrists in one hand and held them over her head.
“Hey, wait a minute—”