Angel Creek Read online

  “Do you have family nearby?” she asked.

  “I don’t have any family at all, or at least none that I remember. I guess that’s why I’ve drifted the way I have.”

  “And you’ve never been married?” She immediately said, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t pry.”

  “I don’t mind answering. I was planning on marriage once, but she died. That was ten years ago.”

  “Do you still love her?” Why couldn’t she control her unruly tongue? She had no business at all asking him such personal questions, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She felt her face heat at her rudeness, but he treated the question as easily as if it were about the weather.

  “In a way.” Thoughtfully he continued, “Celia was a wonderful person, truly worth loving, and I still love the person she was. But I’m not still in love with her, if you understand the difference.”

  “Yes, I do.” Olivia was astonished at the relief she felt.

  They came to a small stream and walked along it until they reached a log that had been placed across it. Olivia looked back at the picnic, blinking in surprise at how far they were from the others. Only a few people were visible from where they were, most of the townsfolk hidden by trees and brush and the curve of the meadow.

  “Perhaps we should go back,” she said a little nervously.

  Luis stepped up on the log and held his hand out to her. “And perhaps we shouldn’t. The explorers would have taken forever if they had never ventured out of the sight of the crowd.”

  She bit her lip, then cautiously placed her hand in his and let him help her up onto the log. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. Olivia Millican had never done anything as outrageous as wandering off with a strange man; but then, she thought a little rebelliously, Olivia Millican had always longed to travel. Perhaps it was time to start paying attention to the secret Olivia. After all, she felt perfectly safe with Luis.

  The log rolled unsteadily as they made their way across it, but fortunately they needed only a few steps to cross, and then Luis was clasping her waist in his strong hands and lifting her the rest of the way. She felt as if they had crossed a huge obstacle to their explorations, rather than a small stream. She didn’t think she had ever been in this area before.

  They walked beneath the trees, and Luis pointed out different kinds of birds to her. She was enthralled, for she had lived all of her life in towns, and the limit of her knowledge about birds was that she could tell a robin from a crow. Behind them the sounds of the picnic faded completely away, and she could hear only the birds and the wind rustling in the trees, their quiet steps, and their voices. He was holding her hand, his strong fingers wrapped securely around hers, the heat and roughness strangely reassuring. She ought not to let him hold her hand, she thought, but she didn’t do anything to stop him. They should return to the picnic. She said nothing.

  They were as alone as if miles from town, wandering deeper and deeper into the forest. She wondered if her parents were worried but knew they would simply think she was with friends.

  The rich smell of the forest satisfied something deep inside her. The contentment shone out of her face as she looked up at him with a luminous smile, and without thought Luis reacted to that sweet femininity, pulling her into his arms and bending to her mouth.

  Instinctively he kept the contact light, feeling the softness of her lips and letting her respond at her own rate. Olivia did so by degrees, beguiled by the tenderness of the touch and the hard warmth of his body. Her forearms, which had been resting on his chest while she subconsciously decided if she should push him away or not, slid up, and her hands laced around his neck as her body made its own decision. It felt so good to be held by him like that, so she snuggled closer. His taste was intriguing, so she instinctively parted her lips to taste him more, and that was all the encouragement Luis needed. He put his hand on the back of her head and held her while he deepened the kiss, first gliding his tongue over her lips, then slipping it inside when she didn’t protest. He felt the little start of surprise she gave, but it was followed immediately by sweet yielding.

  Olivia was dizzy from the pleasure of kissing him. She had been kissed a few times before—she was, after all, twenty-five years old—but no one else had ever kissed her with an open mouth, inviting her to part her own lips. She shivered with delight at the sensation of his tongue first touching lightly, then moving deep inside her mouth. She jerked at the unexpected invasion, expecting it to be awful, but the swift rise of intense, heated pleasure instead had her pressing closer to him.

  “You’re so sweet,” Luis murmured against her mouth as he slanted his head and returned for more of those hungry, invading kisses.

  She had never felt passion before, never suspected that any man could make her feel that way. She had never before let any man hold her fully against him, her breasts crushed into his chest. It felt wonderful, she thought dimly. Her breasts ached, and that hard pressure seemed to ease them. Another ache was growing in her, deep in her belly, and she couldn’t understand it or find ease for it.

  He raised his head, staring down into her dazed blue eyes. His own eyes were hot with need. He was breathing hard, but so was she, her soft breasts heaving. Luis recognized all the signs of an aroused woman, but he also plainly saw the innocent bewilderment behind the passion.

  He hadn’t brought her out here for this, he told himself. He had watched her for a long time, noticed how she kept trying to evade Bellamy, and had impulsively asked her to walk with him. But now they were alone, and he hadn’t been able to resist that sweet mouth.

  He could have her now. He could lower her to the moss-covered ground and have her skirt up before she fully comprehended what she was doing. As inexperienced as she was, she wouldn’t have an inkling how to control her own desires. But a hasty seduction would likely be the only time he would ever have her; he knew women well enough to know that afterward she would go to any lengths to avoid him. That wasn’t what he wanted. She was so sweet he wanted to lose himself in her time and again, and the only way to do that was to be patient and truly win her.

  He realized all of that but couldn’t bring himself to let her go without tasting even more of her. He began kissing her again, tightening his arms around her and positioning his hardness against her soft mound. He felt the gasp she gave, took it into his mouth, and kissed her beyond her alarm. Slowly he sank down to his knees, taking her with him.

  Boldly he put his hand on her breast, squeezing it through the cloth, but that wasn’t enough. He wanted to feel her warm, naked flesh. Olivia arched away from the touch, her eyes flying open.

  “Don’t be frightened,” he crooned, lulling her with more kisses, stroking her breast and ribs.

  “You—you shouldn’t do that.”

  “This is part of making love. Does it feel good?” Some women found it painful rather than pleasurable, so he was always careful to ask.

  “Y-yes,” she stammered. “But that isn’t the point.”

  “What is the point, then?” He continued kneading her breast, and he found her tight little nipple with his thumb. She gasped again as he rubbed it, and hot color tinted her cheeks.

  “That—that we shouldn’t be doing this.” She closed her eyes, involuntarily concentrating on the wonderful sensations.

  “Do you want me to stop?”

  “No,” she moaned. Then her nails dug into his shoulders. “Yes. We have to.”

  “Not quite yet,” he whispered, and he slipped his hand inside her bodice. Olivia gave a pleasured cry at the searing heat of his palm on her naked breast. Her nipple was very hard, thrusting eagerly forward. Swiftly he opened her dress so that both breasts were bare, then bent her back over his arm and took one of the succulent little buds into his mouth, circling it with his tongue before pulling at it with a hard sucking motion.

  She shook and shuddered, straining against him, soft little cries coming from her open mouth. The ache low in her body had grown beyond her control, and she wri