Naomi woke, screaming. Someone was shaking her.
“Angel. Angel. It’s only me.” Bobby’s deep voice, laced with concern, floated over her like a silken veil. Still she trembled, and perspiration dripped from her hairline.
“Was it a nightmare?” Bobby pulled her into his arms and kissed her clammy forehead.
His warm, hard body was like a rock in an ocean of torment. She clung to him, making no sound. Had it been a nightmare? She couldn’t remember.
“It’s all right now,” he said.
His melodic voice soothed her, but still she shook. The inky blackness of the night frightened her. “Bobby?”
“What, angel?”
“C-Could you light the lamp?”
“Yes, but I’ll have to let go of you for a minute.”
She nodded against his hard chest and he released her. Within a minute, a flame flickered in the lamp on the night table and chased the eerie darkness away.
Naomi breathed easier and regarded Bobby’s bare torso. She hadn’t seen him unclothed since she’d come across him bathing in the creek. Had that been only a day ago? Naomi felt as though she’d aged a decade since then. That day he’d been far away. Now he was close, within arm’s reach. The golden tone of his shoulders had darkened to honey-bronze in the glimmering lamplight. Curly dark hair dusted the sinewy muscle of his chest and abdomen, and his coppery nipples stared at her, begging to be touched. She reached for one with a shaky hand, but stopped herself. She dropped her gaze to his navel, to the line of hair leading to what she’d seen that day, to what his trousers now hid.
“Angel, you need to stop doing that.”
Naomi lifted her gaze to his smoldering amber eyes. “Stop what?”
“Stop looking at me like you’re starving and I’m a seven course feast.”
Naomi’s face heated. She was thankful Bobby’s shadow cloaked her in darkness, hiding her warm blush. “I...I wasn’t...” She gulped and surveyed his handsome stubbled face. Why lie? This man had witnessed her darkest moment. She had little to hide from him now.
“You are beautiful, Bobby Morgan. As finely made as any man.”
A lazy smile curved his full, kissable lips. “You can’t talk like that either, Naomi.”
She smiled, but she knew when he called her Naomi, rather than angel, he was about to get serious.
“I mean it. You have no idea what you do to me, darlin’. And to know you...that you’re...”
“That I’m what?”
“Damn, angel. You’ve been through hell today. I’ve got no right.” He swung his feet to the side of the bed and sat up.
She touched his upper arm—how glorious the muscle felt beneath her fingers—to stop him. “No right to what, Bobby?”
He turned and met her gaze with his own. “To want you like this.” He cupped her cheek and skimmed her lips with his thumb. “And I do want you. More than I’ve ever wanted a woman. More than...” His voice cracked.
“Don’t be troubled, please.” Naomi covered his hand with one of hers. His fingers were long and thick, and the hair on his knuckles tickled her palm. She gave his thumb a soft kiss. “I want you too.”
He sighed, removing his hand. “Damn it, Naomi. You don’t know what you’re saying.”
Naomi took his hand back and entwined their fingers together. His swearing no longer bothered her. It was just...Bobby. And she liked everything about Bobby. She liked... No. Warmth filled her body. She loved Bobby Morgan. Though they hadn’t met under ideal circumstances, this man was her destiny. She knew it with her whole heart.
She smiled, hoping he could see the love in her eyes. “You think I don’t understand what happens between a man and woman. I do. I have married friends. I know there’s more than the kiss we shared.”
“That kiss, angel, it was—”
“It wasn’t a mistake. I thought it was at first. But it wasn’t.”
He chuckled and squeezed her hand. “I was going to say it was the best kiss of my life. No lie.”
“Me too. Of course it was my only kiss.” She smiled.
“Darlin’—” He cleared his throat. “You’ve been through a mighty hard thing today. You need time to heal. I can’t. Not right after that. No matter how much I want to.”
Naomi brought his hand to her lips and kissed each rough calloused finger. “You are so kind. So sweet. But Bobby, what happened with Ike today convinced me of something. I don’t ever want to be in a situation again where a brute like him could take something I can only give once.” Naomi took a deep cleansing breath and summoned courage for what she was about to say to this man she adored. “As God is my witness, I will be the one to choose when, where, and to whom I give myself for the first time.” She breathed again, her pulse racing, as she unbuttoned her cotton gown and let it fall from her shoulders, exposing her bare breasts. “I choose here, and I choose now. And I choose you, Bobby Morgan.”
“Damn!” Bobby stood up and raked his hand through his already tousled hair. “Naomi, I make my living hunting men. I kidnapped you. Now I’ve committed murder. I’m a fugitive runnin’ from the law. I got nothin’ to give you. Nothin’.”
“You’ve got yourself. That’s all I want. You.”
He sighed and plunked back down on the bed, not facing her. “I got nothin’. No right at all to love you.”
Naomi’s heart jumped, but she held herself steady. She smoothed her palm over his sleek shoulder. “You’ve got the right to love whomever you please, Bobby. I’d be honored if it were me.”
He turned then, and she saw the truth in his eyes before he said the words. Her insides melted.
“It is, darlin’. I haven’t loved another in twenty-two years. Time was, I thought I might have forgotten how. But I love you, Naomi, with everything I am.”
She leaned forward, kissed his lips and whispered, “I love you too. Only you.”
He crushed her into his embrace. “I couldn’t think straight when I saw Ike with his hands on you. You’re mine. All mine. No other man will touch you as long as I live. I promise.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing against her cheek. “If he’d harmed you—”
“He didn’t,” Naomi said. “You came for me. I trust you.”
He took her mouth in a searing kiss so passionate and possessive that the cadence of his heartbeat sounded in her ears, in synchrony with her own. Their tongues mated and tangled, their moans answered each other. Bobby cupped one breast and flicked his thumb over her hardened nipple, igniting sparks along her flesh that traveled downward to the wet place between her legs. All the while he kissed her as if he couldn’t get enough of kissing her. When he finally broke away, she panted, her breath puffing against his neck as he rained kisses over her shoulders, down to her swollen breasts.
“You’re so beautiful, Naomi. I swear I’ve never seen a more perfect creature.” He cupped both breasts and stared at them.
Naomi’s skin rippled with tiny little shocks. “Now you’re the one looking at me like I’m a feast,” she said with a shaky giggle.
He didn’t meet her gaze. Instead, he lingered over her bosoms, squeezing them, kneading them. “You are a feast, angel. For my eyes, my nose, my mouth, my hands.” He raised his gaze then, a teasing smile gracing his mouth. He inhaled and plucked a nipple. “I bet these taste as sweet as your lips. Sweeter even.”
Naomi gasped when he kissed one. First he licked it, and his tongue probing her sensitive nipple was a delicious sight. The tingles it sent through her heated her blood. But nothing compared to the exquisite sensation when he sucked it between his lips. She moaned, entangling her fingers in his hair, pulling him closer against her chest.
His suckling and tugging ignited a trail to her heated core. His rough beard scraped the delicate skin of her breasts as he nibbled, adding to the fiery sensation. Naomi wanted more, all he had to give.
When he reached between her legs and touched her there, she nearly jumped off the bed. Blazes ripped through her in a kaleidoscope of images so vibrant and bold, she was sure she’d flown out of her body and was soaring to the stars themselves. Her voice called out Bobby’s name as she hurtled forward, backward, and then plummeted back to the bed where he was kissing the tops of her breasts and rubbing the smooth folds between her legs.
“Bobby.” She panted, and her voice sounded not her own. “Bobby, that was so...so...”
He looked up and smiled. “That was only the beginning, darlin’. I’m gonna take you there and back again so many times you’ll be plumb tuckered by the time we’re through.”
“Oh, my...”
Bobby slid her gown over her hips, down her legs, and tossed it to the floor. Naked, she lay before him, eager for him to see all she had to give.
He eyed her appreciatively, his amber orbs burning gold. “Like I said, a feast. A beautiful feast, Naomi Blackburn. From your violet eyes to your cherry lips to your sweet nipples to those gorgeous black curls between your legs, right down to your pretty little toes.” His voice rasped. “If you want to stop, tell me now.”
Stop? Had he lost his mind? “If you stop now, Bobby Morgan, I’ll personally turn you over to the law.”
“Thank God,” he said, and slid down her body and spread her legs. “You’ll like this, I think.”
Like what? She closed her eyes and braced herself, figuring he was ready to take her. There would be pain when he came inside her. She accepted that. She also knew she’d bring him intense pleasure, and that pleased her. She wanted to please him more than anything in the world.
When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and found him staring between her legs.
“You sure are pretty down here, darlin’,” he said.
He touched her, and a moan escaped her lips.
“And wet, too. So wet.” His voice had changed again. It was even lower and raspier. Wild, almost. Primal. “I need to taste you.”
He couldn’t mean...
But he did. And he was. The soft strokes of his tongue against her private parts made her whole body sizzle, and when he sucked on her, licking a certain place, she was catapulted back into the frenzy of passion and emotion, only this time she soared even higher. She cried out his name as her body tingled and burned, and when she floated downward, she opened her eyes and met his gaze. He was smiling at her, and something moved inside her. It stretched her, but it was not unpleasant, and she realized it was his finger.
“I’m going to add another finger, angel. Don’t be afraid. I want to stretch you first, to get you ready for me.”
“I...all right. I trust you.”
“I know you do, and you’ll never know what a precious gift that is to me. That you want me to be the one who—” His voice wavered a little. “And after what you’ve been through. I love you so much. I’m going to make this good for you.”
She smiled, wanting to abate his fear for her, trying to hide her own apprehension for his sake. He eased another finger inside her, and though it smarted at first, he moved it in patterns so gentle and touched a sensitive spot that made her shiver.
“You like that, angel?”
Embarrassment flooded through her. Oh, yes, she liked it. She liked everything he did to her. But could she say it? She squeezed her eyes shut. “Yes,” she murmured.
“Don’t be shy with me, darlin’. I love you. I want to make you feel good. It pleases me. So tell me if you like what I do to you.” With his free hand, he squeezed hers. “Open your eyes, Naomi, and tell me how I make you feel.”
“It...when you move your fingers like that...” Her voice trembled and she inhaled sharply and then exhaled, calming herself. “I like that, Bobby. I like your fingers inside me. It feels nice.”
He smiled, his dimple twinkled, and his amber eyes looked genuinely happy. She hadn’t often seen happiness on his handsome face. That she put it there thrilled her.
“I think you’re ready for me now, angel.” He dislodged his fingers and stood, his hands fumbling with his trousers. “It will still hurt, but I’ll help you through it, all right?”
Naomi nodded, unable to tear her gaze from the bulge in his duckins. He pushed them downward, and his arousal sprang outward. Unable to stop herself, she gasped, and then clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Angel?”
“I’m sorry.” She blinked. “It just...looks different.”
He grinned. “This is how it looks when it’s ready for you.”
“But I don’t see how—”
His chuckle eased her nerves. A bit. “People have been doing this since the dawn of time. It’ll work. Trust me.”
“I do.”
Bobby shed his trousers and climbed in bed, his body covering hers. The hair on his chest tickled her nipples. “Naomi.”
“Yes?”
“When I come inside your body, that makes you mine. Do you understand?”
“Y-Yes, Bobby. I’m yours. I always was.”
He cleared his throat, his swollen cock brushing against her wetness. Shivers raced through her.
“What I mean is, I love you. I want to take care of you, and I’ll—”
She covered his lips with her fingers. “You’re a good man, Bobby Morgan.” She smiled, hoping he could see in her expression everything she felt for him but couldn’t put into words. “Now take me quickly. I want you inside me.”
He crushed his mouth to hers and thrust into her. His kisses muffled her cries from the pain. He stayed inside her, letting her get used to the fullness. All this time, he soothed her with numbing, drugging kisses, and her body changed, stretched, sheathed him, until she knew, in the depths of her soul, she’d been created for this moment.
For this man.
He seemed to know the exact instant she was ready, and he moved inside her, pulling himself out then pushing back in. The movement stung at first, and then burned, and then turned to a fierce wanting. She found herself meeting his thrusts with her hips, moaning into his mouth as he pumped into her, trembling as his chestnut curls brushed against that tiny nub that brought her pleasure.
When she shattered, he ripped his mouth from hers, groaned her name, and pushed into her with his whole body.
“I love you, angel. My God, I love you so much.”