She looked at him and there was a wariness in her green eyes that hadn’t been there before. Dropping his arm, he moved back to lean against the tree trunk and couldn’t miss the disappointment and disgust that flashed across her face.
Frankly, it pissed him off. He may be sympathetic, but he’d also been kneed in the nuts and was now floundering in completely untried territory.
‘What was that look for?’
‘What look?’
‘The one you just gave me.’ He was beginning to sound belligerent and he didn’t like that. This woman got under his skin in the worst way.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ She was looking everywhere but at him.
‘Yes, you do. You just looked at me like I was a bug and I want to know why. If we’re going to move forward, then I need you to talk to me.’
‘Move forward? What do you mean?’ Her head jerked up and the look of surprise on her face was almost comical.
‘What do you mean “what do I mean”?’ He blew out a rough sigh and held up a hand when she started to speak. ‘Let’s back this up a second before we begin to sound any more like two-year-olds.’ He smiled at her and she smiled back – a little too tentatively for his liking.
‘OK, what I’m saying is that you just shared with me something that had to be horrific and terrifying for you and that, frankly, has obviously left some lasting damage behind.’
She drew breath to speak and he held up his hand to stop her.
‘Let me finish,’ he said. She relaxed back, cocking her head to one side and looking very kittenish in her anticipation of what he’d say next. ‘I am unbelievably sorry that you experienced anything like that. But I am equally insulted that you would think that would change my feelings about you. I also don’t like the look you just gave me, as if I’d confirmed some suspicion you had.’
She flushed, confirming his notion that she’d been thinking exactly that.
‘If I’m being completely honest, I can barely comprehend what it must be like for you to have lived through that. I find myself flailing here because I want to handle this the right way, and frankly, beyond letting you know that I think you are remarkable and tough and strong. I really don’t know what to say, yet those words feel hollow compared to the scars you must carry.’
He took her hand again. ‘I want very much to get to know you, and what you’ve just shared with me doesn’t change that one bit.’
She gave him a tremulous smile and squeezed his hand, but her words did nothing to set his mind at ease. ‘Look. Don’t feel obligated. It’s OK. I don’t want you to be burdened with this. One of us dealing with it is enough. And, to be honest, I can’t deal with another man treating me like a victim.’
‘Why would I treat you like a victim?’ He refused to let go of her hand when she tugged on it while looking at him like he’d lost his mind.
‘Duh, sugar –’ damn, he loved that drawl ‘– I was raped.’
‘That doesn’t make you a victim.’
If her eyes got any bigger they’d pop out of her head. That lip, though, pulled between her teeth like it was, he just wanted to bite it.
‘What does it make me then?’
‘It makes you a woman who was victimised, but it doesn’t make
She flushed deeper and looked away from him, but he tipped her face up to his. ‘So now, if you please, why’d you give me that look?’
Green eyes bored into his own for several seconds. It was as if she was trying to read what he was thinking. She must have given up, though, because she took a deep breath and answered.
‘I don’t want the same thing to happen that always does.’
‘Which is?’ he prompted.
‘Men always begin to treat me like I’m fragile. That if they touch me with any vigour, I’ll freak out or break. But at the same time, I can get overwhelmed and shut down. I’m tired of the contradiction. I can’t handle that any more. I’d rather just leave it be right now.’
She looked up at him with those emerald eyes awash with anger and pain and his heart squeezed. She didn’t have to fear that from him. He was more worried that he wouldn’t be able to restrain himself enough. He’d never been one for gentle, slow sex. He liked his sex rough, hard, and with a healthy dash of kinky.
‘Bridget, after everything you said, I’m a hell of a lot more worried about pushing you too far too soon.’ He took her hand and brought it to his lips, nipping lightly at her fingertips and enjoying the way her eyes watched what he did. ‘I don’t want to come off like an insensitive ass in light of everything you shared, but from the moment I got you out here by yourself, all I’ve wanted to do was get inside you. I’m not those other guys. I only know that I want to get to know you better, but it would be a complete lie to say I didn’t want to be intimate with you too.’
Wary eyes shot to his but she smiled as she said, ‘I don’t think that makes you insensitive. I want to get to know you too.’ Her voice dropped to a near whisper as she said, ‘Intimately and all.’
He could pretend he was a better guy than he was. He could be all chivalrous and restrain himself, but the truth was he wanted her and she needed to know that she was desirable no matter what had happened to her in the past. It tarnished nothing. If anything, her strength in coping only made her more desirable.
Leaning down, he tugged her closer and brushed her lips with his. They were soft and yielding. He licked the seam and groaned as she opened for him. He’d wanted this from the moment he saw her that day on the trail.
He explored her mouth, all the while fighting the urge to grab her tight and roll her under him. He wanted to feel her along him, feel those breasts smashed against his chest as he ground his cock into her. That would not be the way to proceed here. Not treating her like a victim didn’t mean tap dancing on her scars.
Clamping down on his less productive urges, he pulled back and growled, ‘In my lap, Bridget. Now.’
Her eyebrows shot up at the demand, but she put up no resistance as he gripped her hips and brought her astride him. He kneaded the soft flesh of her ass through the cotton of her capri pants and resumed kissing her.
She kissed him back with an abandon that made him ache to strip her naked and take her. Her hips were nicely padded. He’d never have to worry about getting poked by errant hipbones as he pounded into her. The thought of being inside her had his cock hardening and he groaned as she pressed her hips into his groin.
‘That’s right, Bridget,’ he growled and pulled her hips in tighter. ‘Rub against me. Let go.’
After a moment’s hesitation, she complied and moaned; a deep, low sound that made it that much harder not to let loose and go wild on her. He enjoyed the flex of her buttocks under his hands and the way she deepened the kiss obviously as excited as he was.
Letting go of her, he began to undo the buttons of her top. Gradually unwrapping her to reveal … the absolute ugliest bra on the face of the planet. It was a cage of cotton. Not at all the delicate lace creation he’d been hoping, no,
He eyed the contraption and was relieved to see a front clasp. At least he could open it and push it aside, rather than being forced to look at it any longer. With nimble fingers, he did just that, giving an appreciative groan as all that luscious skin spilled out.
Her breasts were full and large with rosy, pink nipples that jutted out from her body. He had to taste them. He sucked one into his mouth and ate up the sound of her moans. She was practically churning in his lap, rotating her hips and pressing hard against the length of his erection.
He licked and sucked, laved and nipped at her nipples, being sure to give each equal attention. She was rubbing herself hard against him and he was loath to do anything to break her rhythm, but he wanted to see her. Leaning back against the tree trunk, he ate up the sight of her.
Tendrils of her fiery hair were spilling out of her ponytail, framing her face. Her eyes were closed and her head back as she ground against him. Her breasts filled his hands as he massaged them, tweaking and rolling her nipples.
