Emily McKay - The Hudson's - Luc, Jack and Charlotte

She met Luc’s gaze and moved her lips in a silent Wow . He nodded with a slight smile on his face. She pointed to her watch and mouthed, How long?

“About thirty minutes,” he whispered.

Gwen watched the horse giving in to total rest and drank in the moment of pure peace. Luc slid his arm around her, inviting her to lean against him, and she did. Rubbing her cheek against his jacket, nestled in his embrace, she couldn’t remember a time when everything in the world had felt more right.

As if they both knew how extraordinary this moment was, she and Luc stood in silence for the next quarter of an hour. Pyrrha finally stirred and rose to her feet. She looked in Luc’s direction, as if to make sure he’d kept watch over her, then strolled around her stall.

“Amazing,” Gwen said.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “I’m starting to understand why you like it here.”

“Totally different from L.A.”

“It’s all boiled down to the basics,” he said, turning toward her and sifting his fingers through her hair.

His gaze wrapped around her with a primitive possessiveness, and she felt an echoing need inside her. Her heart pounded against her rib cage and she spread her hands over his hard chest, relishing his strength. She knew his strength went deeper than sinewy muscle and bone. There was something in his manner, in his spirit.

He slowly lowered his head, giving her every opportunity to turn away, and took her lips with his. Gwen sighed in relief at the sensation of his mouth on hers, firm yet sensual, taking yet giving. Three heartbeats later, she wanted more.

He pulled his mouth from hers and rubbed it over her hair. He slid one of his hands beneath her open jacket down to the small of her back and pulled her lower body against his. His arousal felt so right against her. He felt so right.

She felt a boundary inside her rip from one end to the other and raised her hands to cradle his head as she drew his mouth to hers.

He crushed her mouth with his, sliding his tongue inside, seeking and seducing. Wanting to feel all of him at once, she grasped for his back, pulling him closer. He made a barely audible growl that vibrated in her mouth.

Pulling back, he looked down at her, his nostrils flaring. “Don’t start anything you don’t want to finish,” he said.

She sucked in a shallow breath, waiting for her defenses to rise like stone walls. But the only thing she felt was pure want and need. She wanted him more than she feared his destruction of her.

“I’m not,” she finally said, then issued her own challenge. “What about you?”

His eyes widened slightly at her dare, and he lifted her in his arms. “I’m ready for everything you want to give me.”

Her mouth went desert-dry at the blatant sexual intent in his eyes.

Carrying her to the sleeping bag on the floor, he laid her down, then followed. Taking her mouth in a mind-blowing carnal kiss, he pulled off her jacket and sweater. Her bra seemed to dissolve beneath his hands. She felt a wisp of cool breeze, but he quickly covered her with his body and hands.

Desperate for the sensation of his naked skin, she pulled at his jacket and shirt. He helped her by shrugging off the layers. His golden skin was smoothly muscled and warm. He lowered his hard chest to her breasts, and a sigh of gratification sizzled from both their mouths.

He lowered his mouth to her breasts and an explosive need rocked through her. Undulating beneath him, she slipped her hands between them, tugging at his jeans.

He swore under his breath and rolled to the side so they could finish undressing each other. After he’d shoved down her jeans, he barely let a second pass before covering her again with his body.

“I want to touch you everywhere at once,” he muttered against her throat as he caressed his way down to her breasts. He drew one of her nipples into his mouth at the same time that he slid his fingers between her legs, immediately finding where she was wet and swollen for him.

“You feel so good. Got to have you,” he said and pushed her legs far apart. Lifting her hands above her head, he stared at her for a moment, and she felt as if lightning snapped between them.

Aching for all of him, she lifted her hips and he thrust inside her, filling her completely. She was still for a moment, absorbing the exquisite intimacy of his flesh encased in hers. She felt as if her very soul was entwined with his.

Then he began to rock in a delicious rhythm that took her higher and higher. The coil of excruciating tension inside her grew tighter with each breath she took. She moved in echoing counterpart to his thrusts. When he bent down and his chest meshed with hers and he took her mouth in a kiss, her heart and body were overwhelmed. She went up and over the edge, convulsing in waves of pleasure.

A heartbeat later, he took one last searing thrust and his release shook his powerful body, sending a vibration all the way to her core.

Their harsh breaths were the only sound in the quiet barn. Gwen’s heart and mind raced. No man had ever inspired such passion in her, not even her ex-husband. Neither had she ever felt such a bone-deep connection with another human being.

The reality thrilled her at the same time that it terrified her. Suddenly she was sure of nothing except the fact that Luc Hudson had blown her safe little world to smithereens.

Luc rolled to his side and pulled Gwen flush against him. His blood finally traveled from his crotch to his brain. That had been stupid as hell. Sure, he’d been determined to have her, but he hadn’t planned to take her without protection. A woman like Gwen, she had to be on the Pill, he thought. She was too beautiful, too sexual not to have a backup plan. Surely she’d had other men since her divorce….

The idea left a bitter taste in his mouth. Irrational, he told himself. Enjoy the moment. Enjoy the woman. She was different. Good different. He slid his fingers through her silky hair and relished the sensation of her breasts against his chest, her breath on his throat. He wanted her again.

He reined in his carnal urges. Barely. “As pleasurable as this was and as much as I want to repeat it immediately, I’d rather have you in a real bed.”

She gave a low husky chuckle that tickled his skin and wiggled against him. “Not a bad idea. I’m with you. A mattress is much better than the ground. Maybe it’s something about turning thirty.”

“Speak for yourself. I got over sleeping on the floor by the time I turned twenty-five.”

“That’s because you’re a spoiled Hudson,” she said, rubbing her face against his chest as if she couldn’t resist drowning herself in him.

Something in his gut twisted. “I’m not spoiled. I work my ass off.”

She slid her hand over his bottom. “Feels like it’s still there to me,” she said in a wicked voice.

He gave a short laugh and tilted her head up so he could look into her green gaze. “You are amazing.”

She bit her lip and closed her eyes, then opened them again. “Who, me?”

He shook his head. “How can you not know? You’ve been named sexiest woman of the year.”

She pulled back slightly. “Is that why you wanted me?”

“No,” he said without hesitation. “I want you—” He broke off and shook his head. “I can’t even say all the reasons. For a man who makes his living knowing the right things to say, that’s crazy, isn’t it?”

She exhaled and leaned against him as if she trusted him. “That sexiest woman of the year was wearing a ton of makeup and fake eyelashes for that photo shoot. They put highlighter on the tops of my boobs and positioned me so I squeezed my breasts together to create more cleavage. Fake tan and highlighter on my thighs. Fake me. This is the real me.”