back to her mouth, he tasted the honey inside, then parried the delectable thrusts of her tongue as they staged a mock battle, each knowing there would be no losers in this skirmish.
Sara soon found kisses weren’t enough. She kicked off her slippers and swung her legs up and around so they were resting across his lap. He pressed against her so that she half reclined in the cozy corner.
With his chest touching hers, she arched upward while exploring the muscles of his back. His skin was warm and smooth, inviting her to roam further. Their breaths mingled intimately as the embrace grew ever deeper.
“This isn’t going to be enough,” he said in a low growl, deserting her lips to nibble on her ear. “I need to touch you…all over.”
“I need it, too,” she whispered, frustrated with the clothing that interfered with sensuous stroking.
He lifted his head. “Your bedroom is close. It has a lock on the door.”
She could have refused. She could have weighed the situation and wisely refrained from giving in to temptation. It hardly crossed her mind. “Let’s go there.”
He stood and pulled her to her feet, then carried her on the short trip to the guest room. Standing her by the bed, he turned on the lamp, then closed and locked the door.
When he returned to her, her knees went weak as he took in all of her, from her head to her toes, his gaze rampant with hunger. With casual movements, he began to undress. She did the same. He finished first and helped her.
“Your hands are cold,” he said, catching them between his and pressing her palms to his chest. “You can warm them on me. I’m burning up.”
She nodded. “So am I. Inside, I feel as if a thousand fires are burning. Here.” She touched his lips. “Here.” She touched each of his nipples with a fingertip. “Here.” She slid her hands down, past his waist, his abdomen. “Here.”
Cade caught his breath as she touched him intimately. His body reacted eagerly, and he felt sixteen again with all of life still before him, his hopes high and certain.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this,” he told her, skimming the covers aside and gently pressing her onto the bed. Lying beside her, their bodies in full contact, he wondered if life had ever been this good or felt so right.
She touched his face so tenderly, he felt humbled by it and by the passion he felt for this woman, his childhood friend and long-lost sweetheart. When he smiled, she did, too. It did something to his heart, causing a strange ache inside that unpredictable organ.
Sara had never been so consumed by physical need, so driven to explore and excite another with every caress. A spark of wildness ignited her blood, and she writhed and moaned in his embrace, loving his masculine touch, the sensation of every part of her touching every part of him.
“Come to me,” she demanded after hours, days, eons had passed in hot, desperate kisses.
He caught her wandering hands and held them captive against the mattress. “I will,” he promised. “Give me a minute.”
This time he was prepared, she saw, as he removed a packet from his jeans and affixed the condom in place. She held her arms up to him when he turned back to her.
“I didn’t plan this far in advance,” he murmured, joining her again, “but I wasn’t sure I could stop again if things got heated between us.”
She nodded in understanding. “This time I don’t want to stop.”
He would have loved her for her honesty if nothing else. But there was more between them than the moment. A lifetime, he thought. A lifetime of waiting for her.
He moved over her, stroked her intimately, then slowly entered. Her quick inhalation told him how much pleasure she experienced as they merged into one.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Cade, yes!”
Everything became centered on the two of them after that…sweet words, sweet kisses, then bliss…sweet, sweet bliss…
Feeling her climax, Cade let go the reins on his own passion and took his fill of her, thrusting again and again until he was spent, and even then he didn’t want to stop, didn’t want it to end. He felt her tense beneath him, then heard her little gasps of ecstasy as she responded to him yet again.
Pleasure, so deep and primitive it rocked his soul, shot through him. He wanted to shout in triumph as a sense of primal possession rolled over him.
After they regained their breath somewhat, he turned them to the side, still holding her close.
Sara laid an arm across him and rested her head on the pillow beside his. Outside the wind off the ocean blew around the cabin, but inside they were snug and safe.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything like that,” he said, kissing along her temple.
He turned the lamp off and pulled the covers over their cooling bodies. She was glad. The dark hid the tears that slipped unbidden from her closed eyes.
“See how easy it is,” Stacy shouted, looking back over her shoulder at the two adults who trailed behind her.
Sara nodded without loosening her grip on the reins or the saddle horn. Beside her, Cade chuckled.
“Try to relax,” he encouraged. “You’re hinged in the middle. Let the movement come from there.”
“That’s easy for you to say, but your muscles haven’t frozen in position.” She flashed him a quick smile as he laughed, then went back to concentrating on her horse’s movements while she hoped the mare wouldn’t make any sudden decision to run or something. “I may not be able to walk when I get off.”
“The lighthouse isn’t far,” he said.
The Point Reyes lighthouse was their destination this morning. Stacy had knocked on her door at seven o’clock and told her they needed to get on their way in order to beat the crowd.
Sara had been startled out of a deep sleep and relieved to discover she was alone in bed. She’d slept so soundly she had no idea when Cade had left her side.
A funny, warm thrill ran over her as she thought of the night and the passion. The closeness afterward had been a surprise, an unexpected gift….
“Stop thinking like that.” Cade’s deep, quiet tone broke into her wayward musing.
He reached out and stroked her cheek as heat rose to her face. His smile was solemn even though a flame burned in his eyes.
She lifted her chin and told him, “I was wondering about the lighthouse and how lonely it must have been for the lightkeeper to live there day in and day out for years and years.”
“Often a wife and family lived there, too.”
During the ride, she questioned him about the ranch and how he’d come by it. He told her he’d used a legacy from his maternal grandparents as a down payment.
“Against my father’s advice,” he added ruefully.
