Loving Evangeline Read online

  She couldn’t bring herself to tell Robert, at least, not yet. She was afraid he would feel pressured to ask her to live with him, when he seemed perfectly satisfied with things the way they were now. It was difficult to think of anyone pressuring Robert to do anything he didn’t want to do, and he might not offer, but neither did she want him to think she was hinting that he should. It would be best to find an apartment or house for rent first, then tell him about it.

  For that matter, she hadn’t told Becky, either. She hadn’t told anyone. She had made her decision, but hadn’t managed to come to terms with it yet. Every time she thought about moving, tears burned in her eyes. She couldn’t bear to go into the explanations and listen to the arguments.

  She didn’t let herself think about who was behind all these financial maneuverings. First she had to concentrate on saving the marina and finding a place to live. After that was settled, she would try to find out who had been doing this to her.

  “What kind of errands?” Robert asked, nuzzling her ear. His hand stroked warmly over her stomach, then covered her left breast. Her nipple, still sensitized from the strong suckling he had subjected it to a short while ago, twinged with a sharp sensation and immediately puckered against his palm. Her breathing deepened. Rather than becoming less intense with familiarity, his sensual power over her body seemed to increase each time he took her.

  “I have to pay a few bills and do some shopping,” she lied, and wondered why he’d asked. He had no compunction about taking over every facet of her private life but seldom inquired about what she did when they weren’t together.

  “Why not put it off until tomorrow?” His nuzzling was growing a bit more purposeful, and she closed her eyes as pleasure began to warm throughout her body again.

  “I can’t,” she repeated regretfully. He rolled her nipple between this thumb and forefinger, making it even harder. She caught her breath at the tug of desire, as if the nerves of her nipples were directly connected to those in her loins.

  “Are you certain?” he murmured, pressing his open mouth against the rapid pulse at the base of her throat.

  Going fishing didn’t tempt her, at least not in this heat. Lying in bed with him all morning, though, was so tempting it took all of her willpower to resist. “I’m certain,” she forced herself to say. “It has to be done today.”

  Another man might have turned surly at having his advances refused, but Robert only sighed as he rested his head once again on the pillow. “I suppose we should get up, then.”

  “I suppose.” She turned into him, pressing her face against his chest. “Hold me, just for a minute.”

  His arms tightened around her, satisfyingly tight. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she whispered. “I just like for you to hold me.”

  She felt his muscles tense. Abruptly he rolled on top of her, his hair-roughened thighs pushing hers apart. Startled, she looked up into slitted green eyes, glittering beneath those heavy black lashes. She couldn’t read his expression but sensed his tightly contained violence.

  “What—” she began to ask.

  He thrust heavily into her, the power of his penetration making her body arch and shudder. He had had her only a little while before, but he was as hard as if that had never happened, so hard that she felt bruised by the impact of his flesh against hers. She gasped and clutched his shoulders for support. Not since the first time he’d taken her had he moved so powerfully. A primal feminine fear beat upward on tiny wings and mingled with an equally primitive sense of excitement. He wasn’t hurting her, but the threat was there, and the challenge was whether she could handle him in this dangerous mood, all raw, demanding masculinity.

  Desire flooded through her. She dug her nails into his muscular buttocks, pulling him deeper, arching her hips higher to take all of him. He grunted, his teeth clenched against the sound. Evie locked him to her, as fiercely female as he was dominatingly male, not only accepting his thrusts but demanding them. The sensation spiraled rapidly inside her, burning out of control, and she bit his shoulder. He cursed, the word low and hoarse, then slid his arms under her bottom to lift her even more tightly against him. All of his heavy weight bore her into the mattress as they strained together.

  The sensation peaked, and Evie cried out as she shuddered wildly in the throes of pleasure. His hips hammered three more times; then he stiffened and began to shake as satisfaction took him, too. He ground his body against hers, as if he could meld their flesh.

  The room slowly stopped spinning about her. She heard the twin rhythms of their panting breaths begin to calm. His heartbeat seemed to be thudding through her body, until it was in sync with her own. Their bodies were sealed together with sweat, heat rolling off them in waves.

  Their first lovemaking of the morning had lasted an hour. This time, it hadn’t taken even five minutes. The fury and speed of it, the raw power, left her even more exhausted than she’d been before.

  What had aroused him so violently? After their first night Robert had been a slow, considerate lover, but he had just taken her like a marauder.

  He was very heavy on top of her, making breathing difficult. She gasped, and he shifted his weight to the side. Pale green eyes opened, the expression still shuttered. His mouth had a ruthless line to it. “Stay with me today,” he demanded.

  Regret pierced her, sharp and poignant. “I can’t,” she said. “Not today.”

  For a split second something frightening flickered in his eyes, then was gone. “I tried,” he said with rueful ease, rolling off her and sitting up. He stretched, rolling his shoulders and lifting his muscled arms over his head. Evie eyed his long, powerful back with pleasure and approval. The layered muscles were tight and hard, the deep hollow of his spine inviting kisses, or clutching hands. He was wide at the shoulders, his body tapering in a lean vee to his hips. She reached out and ran a lingering hand over the round curve of his buttocks, loving the cool resilience of his flesh.

  He looked at her over his shoulder, and she saw a smile come into those green eyes. He leaned over to kiss her, his mouth lingering warmly for a moment; then with a yawn he was off the bed and heading toward the shower. She watched him until he closed the bathroom door behind him, drinking in his tall, naked body. She felt like smacking her lips, like a child drooling after a tasty treat. He was a fine figure of a man, all right. Sometimes, when she saw him sprawled naked and sleepy beside her, it was all she could do to keep from attacking him. She lay in bed for a while, listening to the shower run and entertaining a wicked, delicious fantasy in which he was tied to the bed and totally at her mercy.

  But a glance at the clock told her that time was still ticking away. Sighing, she got out of bed and slipped into his shirt, then went to the kitchen to make coffee.

  When she returned, he was just coming out of the bathroom, a towel draped around his neck but otherwise still completely naked. His skin was glowing from the shower, his black hair wet and slicked back.

  “I put on the coffee,” she said as she went to take her turn in the shower.

  “I’ll start breakfast. What do you want this morning?”

  The thought of what she had to do that day killed her appetite. “I’m not hungry. I’ll just have coffee.”

  But when she had showered and dressed, she went into the kitchen to find that he had his own ideas about what she was having for breakfast. A bowl of cereal, as well as a glass of orange juice and the requested coffee, was sitting at her customary place at the table. “I’m really not hungry,” she repeated, lifting the coffee cup and inhaling the fragrant steam before sipping.

  “Just a few bites,” he cajoled, taking his own place beside her. “You need to keep up your strength for tonight.”

  She gave him a heated, slumberous look, remembering her fantasy. “Why? Are you planning something special?”

  “I suppose I am,” he said consideringly. “It’s special every time we make love.”

  Her heart swelled in her chest, ma