CHAPTER 10
Cara’s heart beat in a staccato of longing as Tyler led her to the edge of the bed, wearing only a white towel wrapped around his waist. For the first time, she could view his hard, tight, masculine body. She loved the dusting of black hair on his chest and lower arms. It turned her on even more, and the heat between them rose and crackled.
Cara breathed in the scent of sage soap as Tyler knelt down before her, an intense look on his handsome face that made her ache for him. He lifted his hands and opened the button of the pink silk trousers at her waist, then cupped her hips. As he slowly pulled the material down her curved thighs, he rasped, “Sit down on the bed, Cara.”
She felt slightly dizzy as he held the material in place so she could sit comfortably on the mattress. She was now partly naked and could feel his hunger mounting for her. But Tyler wasn’t in any hurry, his hands caressing her slender legs as he eased the silk off each of her limbs, setting the material aside. When he leaned over and caressed one foot, then the next, her skin tingled with zings of fire as he slowly skimmed her thighs. Then he moved back to her feet, as if memorizing—no, worshipping—her body.
He sat up, leaning against his heels, and pulled one of her feet up on his towel-covered thigh. The light was minimal in the room and Tyler reminded her of a powerful jaguar, even at rest, always alert. His long, rough fingers moved across each of her delicate toes and she saw him smile, his head bent as he began to massage each toe on her right foot. “Why are you smiling?” she asked him, her voice catching as he aroused her.
“I’m looking at your red toenail polish,” he said, meeting her curious gaze.
“I’ve always painted my nails,” she said, laughing.
Shaking his head, Tyler rasped, “I always wanted to see you like this,” he admitted, now serious. “I swore if I got another chance, I was going to take my time loving you. Is that okay with you?”
More than okay. “You’re really surprising me,” she managed hoarsely, and then moaned as he expertly moved his thumb and forefinger around each of her toes, gently massaging each one. The sensations were delicious and completely unexpected.
“Do you like what I’m doing, sweetheart?”
Moaning, she whispered, “Oh, yes, that feels so good, Tyler. Ohhh, that feels wonderful. By the end of the day at school, my feet are aching. This is heavenly.”
“Well, you won’t have to worry about that again,” he promised. “I’m sorry we had to be apart for nearly two months,” he added, working on her delicate toes and graceful feet—slender, like the rest of her. Now, he placed her other foot on his thigh and began the same ritual of massaging each of her delicate toes, then her arch and heel.
“Mmmm,” she whimpered, closing her eyes. “I’ve never had a man love me like this before . . .”
It made him feel wonderful to give back to her. Cara’s belief that he was a good man gave him hope that he could please her fully. He’d had almost two months to put his broken marriage to rest within himself. Now, he was starting his life all over again. It hadn’t been as hard to do as he’d first thought. Maybe his grief had finally dissolved, leaving the past where it belonged. But there wasn’t a night that went by that he didn’t dream of physically cherishing Cara.
At last, his heart was fully engaged, and touching her now was different from the way he had dreamed it would be. Her skin was firm and satiny beneath his exploring hands, and he plumbed her depths beyond just the physical. He allowed her sighs, her moans of appreciation, to fully enter his heart and take root there. These new feelings warmed him as never before, welling up into a newfound joy.
Cara was his miracle, bringing his desire for rebirth to them both.
Sliding his hands up her deliciously curved thighs, he leaned over and kissed her round belly, hearing her give a swift intake of breath. Her honey scent was overpowering as he licked her voluptuous skin with his tongue, feeling her begin to breathe more heavily as she opened herself even more to him, wanting to be taken by him even as he continued to seduce her. Someday, they both knew that she would carry his baby. The thought overwhelmed him, and he ached for the time when he would father their child.
Tyler savored her curved thighs that surrounded him in their warm, velvet embrace. He was determined to make Cara first in his life from now on. All he wanted was to pleasure her, hear these sweet sounds rising in her throat, watch her nipples contract and harden beneath that silken material as she begged to be touched at her deepest core.
“Lie back on the bed,” he rasped, staring deep into her glazed eyes. Tyler heard her quickened breaths and saw the growing need for him in her eyes, begging for culmination. He arranged her so she lay fully on her back, then eased onto the bed and straddled her, his knees bracketing her full hips. His towel fell away and he dropped it on the floor. Slowly, he pulled the thin straps of her gossamer top off her shoulders, and was dazzled by the perfection of her small, perfect breasts, the nipples so tight that they lured him to them, begging to be touched.
Tyler grasped her hands, guiding them above her head as he held her gaze, his erection rock hard against the warm softness of her abdomen. Leaning down, he captured one of her rosy nipples, sucking gently on it, her moan vibrating through him as he gave her more pleasure. He wanted Cara soaking wet and ready to receive him. Her eyes were closed as he lifted his mouth away from the nipple, observing the growing tension and excitement on her face. He kept her wrists crossing each other, lightly held in place with one of his hands in case she wanted to free herself. When he licked her other nipple, Cara’s hips instantly lifted in response. He couldn’t hold back his groan as his erection was trapped between the slick dampness of their bodies. Slowly, he began to thrust against her, feeling the sleek velvet of her body against him, glorying in the sensations as he continued to focus on her nipples.
He wasn’t surprised when she tried to open her thighs to him, silently asking him to enter her.
“Not yet, Cara, not yet,” he crooned, easing forward, nipping her slender neck, hearing the protest that vibrated in her exposed throat. The trust Cara gave him, the surrender of her heart and body to him, touched him so deeply that his eyes burned with unshed tears. Tyler wanted to worship her forever. Lifting his head, he crushed his mouth against hers, feeling her fuse with him, her hunger for consummation equal to his. He hardened even more—if that was possible—and he almost considered climaxing outside of her. Strangling that desire with steely control, he took her willing mouth, sliding his lips against hers, feeling her smile beneath his, relishing her enjoyment of all he was sharing with her.
Easing from her wet, hungry lips, he lifted his leg, releasing her hands and kneeling between her spreading thighs. Brushing his fingers lightly against her core, his fingers instantly became soaked. She was so turned on, so ripe, so ready for him.
Leaning across her, Tyler placed his erection against her entrance, slowly rubbing against her, teasing her. She instantly reacted, groaning his name, her hands settling around his narrow hips, trying to pull him forward, trying to get him inside her. He placed his elbows near Cara’s shoulders, his hands framing her flushed face, drowning in the glistening gold-brown diamonds reflected in her luminous eyes. She was such a sensual creature, and he could feel her primal challenge to him as she lifted her hips, grazing him, making him groan with her wetness as she teased him in return.
Gritting his teeth, he nudged himself into her, watching her eyes grow cloudy with urgency, her pleading whimpers tearing from her parted lips. She felt like a hot, tight, wet glove beginning to envelop him. Tyler wasn’t going to tease her, instead, he wanted to slowly open her, get her to widen and accept his thick length. First, her body needed to relax, instead of clenching against him as he slowly thrust another inch into her.
Then, Cara choked and froze.
“Am I hurting you?” he demanded, his voice a rasp.
“It’s . . . it’s . . . uncomfortable,” she managed. “Give me some time so my body can adjust to you, okay?”
Pressing his sweaty brow against hers, both of them breathing rapidly, he urged, “Take it easy, sweetheart. We have time. Just relax, and tell me when it’s okay to move . . .”
How much he enjoyed talking with her, pleasing her first, not second. It didn’t take long before Cara lifted her hips, giving him the silent signal.
Tyler felt her walls around him slowly relax and welcome him, the fluids slick and plentiful. He leaned down, sampling one of her nipples. She cried out, panting, her fingers digging frantically into his shoulders. Her body contracted and he could feel her getting ready to climax. Gently, he began a slow, pleasurable rhythm, slipping a little deeper into her warm, willing body. Each time she whimpered, calling his name, wanting more of him inside her.
When he was fully engaged, Tyler knew exactly where those super-sensitive nerves could be found. Cara’s breathing became shallower as he pulled one of her nipples into his mouth, suckling her hard and feeling her buck, arching her back and crying out as he urged that jagged fire that would explode through her boiling lower body.
At the same time, he began short, hard strokes to trigger that cloister of nerves. Her cries heightened, Cara sobbing his name as she tightened around him. In moments, her hands grasped his shoulders as her lower body jerked, back bowing, her orgasm overwhelming her. Lovingly, he stroked her, allowing her all the time she wanted to enjoy the intensity of her orgasm as it rippled through her lower body.
Minutes later, exhausted, Cara barely opened her eyes. Tyler’s erection was thick, throbbing, and she could feel him holding himself back, trying not to come. Weakly, she lifted her legs, wrapping them around his narrow, taut hips, pulling him as deeply as he could go inside her. He filled and widened her, making her feel like an opulent sexual creature—female in ways she had never experienced before this.
How she savored his strength, his power as a man! She luxuriated in the gifts he continued to bestow upon her. Her hips now thrust against his, tearing a primal growl from him, his fists bunching into the covers on either side of her head. Another vibrating growl tore out of him. He stiffened, surging his hips against hers, fusing with her, and she felt his hot release as he whimpered with ongoing pleasure.
Tyler collapsed against her afterward, his head resting against hers, breathing harshly, sweat running down his face. Cara smiled weakly, enclosing him with her arms, needing this, needing him. Nothing had ever felt so right as this very moment with Tyler covering her, his weight like a heavy, warm blanket against her panting, wet body. Their sweat mingled and small rivulets combined, trickling down across her skin.
Cara leaned over him, her lips claiming his, tasting him as he reclaimed her mouth urgently, thrusting his tongue into hers, making her moan. He threaded his fingers through her long, black hair, drawing her to him, hungry again and demanding access to her swollen lips.
She sighed with pleasure, so exhausted she could barely move. She lay there, wrapped in wonder, grateful for this man in her life.
Tyler finally moved. Looking down at her, he said, “You’re so sexy and beautiful.” He kissed her smooth brow, her cheek, her nose and finally, grazed her lips. He levered himself up so they remained melded at the hips, most of his weight off her. Then, slowly, he pulled out of her. He looked at her with the deepest love he had ever felt, and she gave him a soft smile, her hands sliding down his arms, accepting him completely, and making a humming sound of utter satisfaction as he removed himself from her.
“I love you, Tyler Hutton,” she whispered, her voice low and filled with emotion. “You are incredible . . . I feel so satisfied, and all I can say is, thank you . . .”
Her husky words sank into his thudding heart. “I love you more than life, Cara. Now come close and lie on your side with me. We need to sleep in one another’s arms.” He brought her against him, wrapping his larger body in a curve around her smaller one, her head coming to rest on his shoulder, drifting towards sleep.
They had just made an incredible breakthrough, escalating their already serious relationship. Kissing her silky hair, smoothing his knuckles down her flushed cheek, he watched her slide into the folds of sleep. When her body sank against his, her lashes closed, her breathing grew shallow, and he knew she was sleeping.
His heart felt as if it were going to explode—right now, he felt more joyous emotions than he’d ever experienced at one time. Cara had given him a second chance, and now, she was his. Forever.
*
Cara awoke slowly, barely able to open her eyes. She laid on her side, curved against Tyler’s larger body, his arm across her waist, holding her close even as he slept. There was a clock on the bed-stand that read five a.m. She had another hour before she had to get up and get ready for work.
“You awake?”
She smiled a little, hearing Tyler’s sleepy voice near her ear. “Yes. Just woke up.”
He groaned, and then rose up on one elbow, staring at the clock.
“0500.”
“I have to get up at six to get ready to go to work.”
He sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Hmmm, we have an hour . . . good.”
She turned onto her back, looking up at him. He was beautiful when naked, an incredible male specimen. There was no fat on his body, just pure, lean, hard muscle. “Why is that good?” She realized her own voice sounded husky with sleep.
He sat up, pulling up the covers to his waist, pushed his back against the headboard and reached into the bed-stand drawer. “Because,” he said, “I have something I want to give to you. Come over here, sweetheart.”
She scooted over to where he sat, snuggling beneath his left arm, resting her cheek against the warmth of his skin on his broad shoulder. “Oh?”
A boyish smile curved his mouth as he gave her a mischievous look. “First, give me your hand.”
She offered her left hand and he slipped a red velvet box into it with the lid open. Gasping, she stared down at the set of wedding rings. Only, this wasn’t a typical diamond set. There were small chocolate- and pink-colored diamonds on the engagement ring. The wedding ring was a simple solitaire pink sapphire surrounded by very small, chocolate-colored diamonds.
“This,” she whispered, sitting up, the covers falling to her waist, “is so beautiful, Tyler!”
He slid his arm around her waist, watching her delight with the colors of the gemstones. “I know it may be too soon to ask you to marry me, Cara, but I wanted you to know that these rings are yours whenever you want to wear them.”
“We haven’t had a chance to live together, that’s true,” she said, touching the pink faceted sapphire lovingly with her fingertip.
“I don’t want you to feel rushed.” He shrugged a little. “This set promises you that I’m serious about you, about us, and my hopes for a very happy future together.”
“It’s a promise,” she whispered, choking up, her eyes brimming with tears as she held his somber gaze. “I know we love one another. That’s never been the question.”
“I agree. But I’m concerned about what your parents might think if I didn’t show you and them, my intentions toward you. I know Latinos are very tied to ceremony, and marriage is very important to them, and their family, as a whole.”
She smiled a little. “You’re right. I know my parents try to be modern, but we have some very old, good rules about marriage. I know they’re okay with us living together, but I think you were very wise in giving these to me. I’ll show them to Mama and Papa. I’m sure it will make them feel even better about us and our trial period of living together.”
“That’s what I thought.”
She picked out the engagement ring. “But I want to wear this one, Tyler.”
His brows moved upward. “Really? To reassure your parents about us?”
“No . . . nothing like that.” She placed the ring in his hand. “You can slip it on my finger. I want to wear it because I know our living together is only going to make us happier and happier. I know we’ll get married, but it should be at such a time that my parents feel comfortable with it. In our culture we have long engagements, a year or longer.”
Chuckling, he said, “Hey, I’m fine with anything you want, sweetheart.” He slid the ring on her slender finger, admiring the flashes of chocolate and pink as she moved her hand slightly, enjoying the glimmering colors. “My dad made this set of rings for you. I flew home for a weekend to see my folks and told them about you, about the dreams I had of marrying you some day. My dad asked me the color of your eyes, and then he asked what kind of woman you were. I told him you were all heart.” His voice lowered. “He took me out to his gem office and pulled out this pink sapphire. He’d found this early on in his mining days and had held onto it because it was flawless as a faceted gemstone. When he asked me if I thought you might like the combination of chocolate diamonds and the pink sapphire, I told him I felt you’d love it.” Lifting his head, he met and held her tearful gaze. “Was I right? Pink sapphires are pretty rare and this one is very large, which makes it even more rare.”
“You were right.” She reached out, grazing his cheeks, loving the way short strands of hair dipped across his brow. “When I saw the chocolate diamonds, I thought they were almost the exact color of my eyes.”
“They are, but they have gold in their depths when you’re happy, Cara.” He caught her hand, kissing the back of it. “Or when we make love to one another . . .”
She sighed and rested her brow against his naked, warm shoulder. “This wedding set is so special because your father made it for me. I hope I can meet your parents soon.”
“I figure, if you’re open to it, Cara, we could fly up to Montana after school is over in early June. My parents are so excited about you. I had a photo of you and they thought you were beautiful.”
She felt heat moving into her cheeks. “Maybe that would be a good time to talk about setting a wedding date, and get them in on the ground floor. Perhaps a mid-December wedding would work for them? I get a holiday break then, through the first week in January.”
“Sounds good to me. Where would you like to go for a honeymoon?”
“I—well, I never thought about that before, Tyler . . . and it would cost so much money.”
“That’s something you don’t have to worry about,” he countered. “I make two-hundred and fifty-thousand dollars a year. We can afford to go to the place of your dreams.”
Her eyes widened over the amount. “But where I want to go is so far away.”
“The world is yours, Cara. All I want to do is make you happy and enjoy every hour of every day with you.”
Wincing a little, she said, “Then, I’d love to visit Australia, but not just anywhere there. I want to go to the Red Center, to Uluru. I want to meet, talk, and be with Aboriginal people. Mama had me read a book about the bush people and I fell in love with them. These people are survivors, Tyler. They live in a harsh desert climate. I saw color plates of their cave drawings, just like Mama’s people and their petroglyphs. When I was little, I loved drawing them. When I saw the Aboriginal petroglyphs in the book, they were similar to ours, and I got curious about why there would be such a crossover when we lived half a globe apart.”
“Then,” he said, “we’ll go. We’ll make it a two-week trip. As an operator, I worked out of Alice Springs in Australia on a couple of missions. That town is near Uluru. Let me research this more and we’ll decide where we want to get a hotel. Then, you can make connections with the Aboriginal people because they live all around that area. How does that sound?”
She gave him a sudden grin, squeezing his hand. “Wonderful! I’m so excited! I never in my wildest imagination thought I’d get to Australia to visit these wonderful people!”
Tyler gathered her into his arms, placing the jewelry box on the bed-stand. He cuddled her against him, feeling her soft, womanly warmth, drowning in her eyes shining with gold in their depths. He kissed her tousled black hair. “I can see that our life together will hold a thousand wonderful surprises, Cara. But you are definitely the best surprise of all. We’re going to have a good life together. Forever.”
END