Elizabeth Lowell - Only His

«Caleb?» Willow whispered, trembling.

«It’s all right, little trout.» He lifted her, turning her until she faced him. His thumb skimmed over her lower lip, then pressed sensuously in a touch very like a kiss. «I’ll be gentle as sunlight with you.»

Luminous hazel eyes watched Caleb. Their beauty fascinated him, color shifting between splinters of blue and green and gold, never the same twice, more beautiful every time he looked.

«Are you afraid of me?» he asked huskily.

Willow’s head moved in a slow negative that sent light twisting through her hair and desire twisting through the man who knelt so close to her.

«Some men are rough,» Caleb said, lowering his mouth to Willow’s, stopping a bare fraction from completing the caress. «I’m not one of them. I’ve never pushed a woman who didn’t want me. I never will. Share a few kisses with me, southern lady. If you decide you don’t want me, I’ll let you go.» He lowered his head a fraction more and whispered against her lips, «Do you believe me?»

The delicate caress of Caleb’s breath sent shivers over Willow. «Yes,» she sighed.

The sudden blaze of his eyes was unbearable to her. She lowered her lashes, shielding herself from the golden fire. When his lips brushed softly and repeatedly over hers, she trembled. The few times she had been kissed in the past had been nothing like this. The boys had been as eager as puppies, and as clumsy.

There was no clumsiness in Caleb’s kiss, nor in the lean hands that held her face so gently she was barely aware of them. The brushing contact of his mouth over hers continued slowly, rhythmically, teaching her to anticipate the next warm pressure of his lips, the next shiver of delight when his mustache would stroke the increasingly sensitive peak of her upper lip.

When the anticipated pleasure didn’t come, Willow opened her eyes and whispered Caleb’s name.

«Yes?» he asked, forcing himself not to kiss the mouth that trembled so enticingly beneath his lips.

«Would you…kiss me again?»

«Those weren’t kisses.»

«They weren’t?»

«No more than a handful of sunlight makes a whole day. Do you want me to kiss you?»

She nodded, sending fragrant, silky hair spilling over his hands.

Smiling, Caleb bent down to Willow once more. His lips brushed over hers again in the caress that had rapidly become addictive to her. Then the tip of his tongue slid between her trembling lips. Her breath came in with a tiny, shocked sound and she stiffened.

«Honey? I thought you wanted me to kiss you.»

«I d-do.»

Caleb searched Willow’s eyes, wondering what was wrong. «Then why did you pull back?»

«I…I’m not used to kissing. It’s been…years.»

Black eyelashes swept down, shuttering the leap of passion in Caleb’s eyes. The realization that Willow had been so long without a man’s touch sent a deep shaft of satisfaction through him. Fancy woman she might be, but she wasn’t indiscriminate with her favors.

«That’s all right, honey. We’ll take it slow and easy, as though it were the first time.»

Caleb’s long fingers slid more deeply into Willow’s hair, seeking the warmth of her scalp, rubbing gently. She sighed with pleasure. He caught the soft rush of her breath as he bent and began brushing his mouth slowly over hers, increasing the pressure by tiny increments until her lips were gently parted. This time when his tongue touched the peak of her mouth, she didn’t withdraw. As he slowly and thoroughly traced the sensitive edge of her lips, she shivered with pleasure at the surprising caress. He repeated the exciting touch again before he dipped inside and skimmed the inner softness of her lips.

«Mint,» he whispered against her mouth, smiling. «Share more of it with me.»

She hesitated, then whispered, «How?»

«Lick your lips.»

Automatically, Willow obeyed. She didn’t understand the sudden narrowing of Caleb’s golden eyes as he watched.

«Again.»

As he spoke, he lowered his head until he could follow the hesitant progress of her tongue with his own. She trembled and her hands gripped the hard strength of his forearms, but she didn’t withdraw.

«Mint,» Caleb said in a low voice. Talons of passion sank into him, raking him with need. «God, I’ll never taste mint again without remembering this. Lick my lips, sweet woman. I love the taste of you.»

«Caleb,» Willow whispered.

It was all she could say.

«Don’t remember how?» he murmured. «It’s all right. I don’t mind showing you.»

Lightly, he ran his tongue over Willow’s trembling lips before he eased gently inside, stroking the soft inner surfaces of her smile in a lingering caress that taught Willow just how sensitive her lips could be. Motionless but for the wild beating of her heart, she wished the moment would never end.

And, for a time, it didn’t.

«Your turn,» Caleb said finally against Willow’s mouth.

She made a low sound of disappointment that told Caleb just how much she had enjoyed being caressed by his tongue.

«Something wrong?» he teased.

«I didn’t want the kiss to end,» Willow admitted softly.

«That still wasn’t what I’d call a kiss.»

«It wasn’t?»

«No.» Caleb’s mouth eased over Willow’s for an instant. His tongue flicked out, tasting her. «But we’re getting there, honey. We’re getting there. Now lick my lips.»

Hesitantly, Willow obeyed. At first she barely touched Caleb. The darting caresses could have been born from shyness or could have been the result of an experienced woman’s knowledge of how to tease a hungry man. Motionless, Caleb waited with a hunter’s patience, knowing that sensual teasing worked both ways with a girl as passionate as Willow.

And he had no doubt of her passion. The flashes of it she had revealed were a lure greater than her sun-bright hair and sweetly curving body. The passion in her called to him relentlessly, a siren song of ecstasy and release.

After a few quick touches, Willow grew bolder. Her tongue lingered, tracing Caleb’s slow, lazy smile. She discovered that his lips were as smooth and warm as satin left in the sun. The rim of his mouth was as sensitive as her own, for she distinctly felt the shudder of response that went through him when she circled his lips with the tip of her tongue. The knowledge that she could affect his powerful body to that extent made something deep within her uncurl and stretch like a cat awakening. Sensations pierced her as passion rose and prowled through her on unsheathed claws.

Without knowing it, Willow leaned closer to the seductive strength and heat of the man who held her face so gently between his hands. Her tongue caressed him again slowly, thoroughly, eased daringly between his lips, learning the sleek resilience of his inner surfaces, returning to trace again the intriguing difference in textures, tasting him and herself at the same time, the piquant flavor of mint intermingled with a man’s heat.

When Willow finally lifted her head, Caleb’s eyes were closed but for glittering slits of gold.

«Was that a kiss?» she whispered.

«Not quite,» he said in a husky voice.

«Did I miss something?»

«Open your mouth and I’ll show you.»

«What?»

«That’s it,» he breathed. «Just like that.»

With a smooth movement of his head, Caleb bent and captured Willow’s mouth. The tip of his tongue skimmed the inner surfaces of her lips in a caress that became more exciting each time she felt it. When his tongue slid between her teeth and tasted her with a new intimacy, she stiffened, then let out her breath raggedly.

«Almost there,» Caleb said, his mouth against Willow’s. «Open more for me, honey. Let me taste that sweet, teasing tongue of yours.»

For an instant Willow hesitated, but the temptation of Caleb’s mouth overcame her shyness.

«A little more,» he coaxed, looking down at her deep rose lips with a hunger he couldn’t conceal. «Just a little more…yes, let me see you, taste you…»

Caleb’s words ended in a groan as his mouth fitted seamlessly over Willow’s parted lips. The velvet penetration of his tongue was both a shock and a revelation to her. The slow withdrawal followed by an even deeper penetration wrung a tiny cry from the back of her throat.

The sound made every muscle in Caleb’s big body tighten. Slowly, thoroughly, he continued seducing Willow’s mouth, teasing and caressing her tongue, luring her into his own mouth, showing her how exciting a kiss could be. The languid dance of seduction and retreat continued until Willow knew nothing but the frantic beating of her heart and the taste of Caleb spreading through her like fire after a lifetime of cold. She slid her hands from his forearms to his shoulders and from there around his neck, pulling him closer. His arms came around her in return, gathering her against his chest until her nipples nestled against hard muscle.

Pleasure rippled through Willow as her breasts tightened in a rush, making her tremble. The pressure of Caleb’s hands increased, arching her more and more deeply into the embrace, shifting her against his body with sinuous motions. She made another sound of pleasure and instinctively opened her mouth farther, wanting more of his taste, his heat, the sweet friction of his tongue caressing her. The strength of him was an incredible lure, for he fitted perfectly against the untried hungers of her own body.

The kiss changed, deepening with each broken breath Willow took, each helpless movement of her body. Her sensuality seared through Caleb, shaking him. He had never known a woman to respond so completely to a kiss, a fire spiraling hotly upward, burning out of control. Nor had he known what intense passion he himself was capable of, fierce heat and hunger claiming him, shutting out the world.

Caleb forgot the game of seduction and retreat he had been playing, forgot caution, forgot everything but the girl twisting like fire in his arms, burning him alive. His hands kneaded from her back to her hips, ravishing and cherishing her in long strokes. His tongue mated with hers in wild, seething silence and his fingers sought the smoldering center of her.

The clothes Willow wore were no barrier to Caleb’s passionate seeking, for herpantelets had no seam between her legs. With a thick sound of satisfaction, Caleb slid his fingers between layers of thin cotton. He caressed the soft, hot nest of hair at the apex of her thighs and then he touched the even softer, hotter flesh beneath.

Willow stiffened in shock. Reflexively she struggled against Caleb, clamping her legs together and grabbing his hand, trying to push him away. It was like trying to push away a mountain.

«No, Caleb, please don’t!»

«It’s all right,» he said thickly. «I won’t hurt you. Your’re so soft, so hot, perfect for me.»

His hand flexed and his fingertips slid over her with shocking intimacy.

«No, you said just kisses. Oh God, Caleb, please, please, no!»

For an instant Caleb stared down into Willow’s frantic face as they both measured the futility of her struggles against his much greater strength. Where he was touching her she was sultry, yielding, weeping passionately for him. The temptation to take her despite her words was so great that he could feel himself yielding, sinking into the silky fire of her body.

Willow sensed the overwhelming power of Caleb’s body, looked at his savage gold eyes, and prayed that he was a man of his word.

«Caleb,» she whispered. «You promised. Please. Stop.»

Abruptly, Caleb pushed away and surged to his feet, furious with Willow for refusing what her body so plainly wanted and equally furious with himself for wanting her so much he had lost his head. For a long, crackling moment he looked at her.

«Fancy, lady,» he finally said through his teeth, «some day you’ll be on your knees in front of meagaint — but you won’t be begging me to stop.»

Caleb turned on his heel and walked away, leaving his flat, cold promise to echo in the silence.

As Caleb had predicted, rain came again to the mountains. The sound of it was welcomed by Willow, for the silence had become oppressive.

Caleb hadn’t been in camp when she had finally gathered her dry clothes and her courage and had returned to the fire. All seven horses still grazed in the meadow, silently telling her that, wherever Caleb had gone, he would be back. The horses couldn’t tell Willow when, however. She gathered edible greens in the meadow and tried to forget what it had been like to be kissed by Caleb Black until the world burst into fire and he was the burning center of it.