Beverly Barton - The Outcast

The very nearness of him, the hard, demanding strength of him, the heady, masculine aura surrounding him sucked Elizabeth into a vortex of desire, a whirlpool of passion that demanded she surrender herself.

Reece shuddered with a fierce need to possess the woman in his arms, to lay her down and cover her with his body. He inched his hand up her back, under the fall of silky dark hair, lifting the coffee brown strands, burying his face against her neck, gripping the back of her head with his open palm. She smelled of fresh sweetness, clean and pure.

Elizabeth clung to him, losing herself in the moment, in the feel of him, the hard, lean-muscled feel of a man. Her heart fluttered inside her, like a trapped bird fighting to escape. Her heart longed to escape, to soar, to join with his and become a part of him.

She felt the wild, racing beat of his heart as she laid her face against his chest. She heard the loud, strong pounding. Her whole body throbbed with a need so intense she wanted to scream, to cry out for release, to plead for the exhilarating torment to end.

Reece lifted her head, turning her to face him, lowering his mouth over hers, laying claim to her lips. Elizabeth greeted his kiss with hungry anticipation, relief shooting through her. The tension mounted higher and higher when he thrust his tongue inside, devouring her with his need.

Elizabeth's fingers bit into his shoulders. Reece's free hand roamed down her back, grasping her buttocks, caressing her with a tender fury. He held her head immobile, drinking deeply from her sweetness, wanting-desperately needing-all she had to give.

Their bodies pressed together, her breasts crushed to his chest, his maleness throbbing against her stomach.

Reece tried to speak, tried to tell her how much he wanted her, but words seemed redundant. He raised her thermal top, easing it slowly, inch by inch until it lay in a fat roll under her arms. Her full, round breasts, the nipples jutting into sensitive hardness, beckoned his touch. Reece delved one hand down the back of her thermal bottoms, then reached out with his other hand, covering her breast, kneading softly, then playing with her nipple, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger.

The sheer, agonized delight of his touch spiraled through Elizabeth like fire along a thin trail of kerosene, flames burning higher and higher, quickly out of control. She writhed against him, moaning with a pleasure close to pain.

Shoving back his unbuttoned shirt, she caressed his chest. She loved the feel of his tight muscles, the thick mat of curling chest hair, the tiny male nipples tight with desire.

"I want you," she told him on a breathless sigh. "Make love to me."

She knew what she was asking-all that she was asking. Reece knew only part. He could not know that, tonight, he would give her his child.

She could have turned from him, said no, refused them both the unequaled pleasure of loving each other. She could ask him to use protection, but in her heart of hearts she knew that she did not want to refuse him, she did not want to prevent his seed from creating a new life within her body.

She loved Reece Landry. And she wanted his child.

Reece pulled the thermal top over her head, tossing it to the floor, then lowered the bottoms down her legs and over her feet. She stood before him totally naked, the moonlight creating a halo around her body. Reece shrugged out of his shirt, letting it fall where it would. When he unzipped his jeans, Elizabeth stilled his hands, covering them with hers.

She dropped to her knees, burying her face against him as she clutched the waistband of his jeans and tugged them over his hips. The faded jeans dropped slowly down his legs, landing in a pile of denim at his feet. Reece kicked his pants out of the way.

Elizabeth caressed his stomach, then spread her arms around him, cupping his buttocks, squeezing them.

Reece moaned. She smelled the heady fragrance of his arousal and breathed deeply, savoring the elemental maleness that was uniquely Reece's own. When her lips touched him, he trembled, sighing, almost crying with pleasure.

Her inexperience brought out her insecurities, but the depth of her love overcame her innocent shyness. She made love to Reece, drunk on the power she possessed over him, reveling in the wanton groans she elicited from him. When she took him into her mouth he grasped the back of her head, guiding her, teaching her with his touch.

Unbearable pleasure rocketed through Reece, spilling out of him, saturating the very air he breathed. His chest rose and fell with each labored breath. Slowly withdrawing himself and dropping to his knees, he lifted her face to his, tasting himself on her lips.

Smiling, she shut her eyes, giving herself over to him, allowing him free rein of her body. He deepened the kiss. She clasped his shoulders. He caressed her, his big hands roaming over her back, her waist, inching upward to lift the weight of her throbbing breasts. He kissed her lips, then her chin, gliding his tongue down her throat. Stopping his pilgrimage in the hollow between her breasts, he gazed at her and smiled.

"You certainly know how to bring a man to his knees, Lizzie."

Laughter erupted in her chest, bubbling up and out of her. "Oh, Reece, I-"

He silenced her with his mouth, obliterating her words, keeping her from declaring her love for him. She didn't have to say the words. Her actions spoke for her.

Taking her hands in his, Reece stood and lifted her to her feet. He led her out of the living room and down the hall, pausing every second or two to kiss her. When they entered the bedroom, she lay on the bed and opened her arms, inviting him into the warmth, the passion, the love he could know only with her.

Reece could no more deny her than he could will the sun not to rise or the earth to stop revolving. He came down on top of her, covering her body with his. He made a banquet feast of her, nibbling, tasting, sampling every inch of her, devouring her with his fierce desire.

Elizabeth squirmed beneath the mastery of his hands and mouth, learning exactly how much pleasure a man can give a woman if he chooses to do so. And Reece Landry chose to take her to heaven that night, to give her abundant sensual joy.

Her breasts begged for his attention, then ached with throbbing need when he touched them, kissed them, suckled them. She felt herself drifting in a sea of ever-increasing awareness, finding herself on the brink of drowning in rapture when Reece spread her legs and pleasured her with his mouth. She cried out as her body shook with release.

He lifted himself over her, gazing down at her damp face, her flushed cheeks, her lips moist and open.

"You're an angel, Elizabeth. My angel."

He took her then, before she could respond, before she could proclaim her love. He filled her completely, her body, her heart, her soul. As surely as she knew she loved Reece Landry, she knew this moment was meant to be.

They loved with a wild abandon that neither had ever known or would ever know again, except in each other's arms. It was madness. It was ecstasy.

And when they reached their climaxes, she first and he following quickly, they lay in each other's arms, in the cool, dark stillness of the night, neither of them speaking. He listened to her breathe; she listened to him breathe. Reece pulled the covers up over them. He kissed Elizabeth on the forehead. She snuggled against him.

Smiling, she laid her hand on her stomach. No matter what tomorrow brought, she knew she would never lose Reece. She carried his child in her body. He would be a part of her forever.

Chapter 12

Reece sat straight up in bed, the sheet and quilt falling to his waist. Adrenaline pumped through his body like flood-waters from a broken dam. Something had awakened him. He ran his hand over his face, blinking his eyes. Listening intently, he heard only the sound of his own heartbeat, and Elizabeth's soft, steady breathing as she lay nestled at his side.