One King's Way

  “Why don’t I walk you to it?”

  Rain bit her lip in thought and Craig wanted to bite it for her instead. “Just walking me to my flat?”

  “No funny business.” He reiterated his promise from a few weeks ago.

  “Okay.”

  They were passing a bakery in Bruntsfield when Rain made a moaning noise that caused his blood to heat.

  “Oh, I love this place.” She gestured to the bakery window. “They have these delicious little cupcakes but they’re so expensive. I treat myself to a box every few months.”

  She went to pass the place but Craig wrapped his hand around her waist and tugged her gently toward the shop door.

  “What are you doing?”

  He didn’t answer. Instead he led her inside, smiling at the girl behind the counter before dropping his gaze to the cakes. He spotted the cupcakes. According to the signs there were chocolate and caramel, pecan and maple, raspberry ripple, lemon drizzle, and vanilla and strawberry.

  “What are your favorites?” he said.

  Rain stared at him wide-eyed. “You can’t buy me cupcakes.”

  “Why not?”

  She opened her mouth to answer and seemed to realize there was no reasonable answer. She finally settled on, “You just can’t.”

  He grunted in amusement. “You can tell me your favorite or I’ll choose for you.”

  “If I remember correctly her favorites are chocolate and caramel and raspberry ripple,” the girl behind the counter offered with a giggle.

  Craig grinned at her and she blushed. “Thank you. We’ll have three of each.”

  “Three of . . .” Rain grabbed his hand. “You don’t have to do that.”

  He looked down at where she held him and smiled before squeezing her hand. “I know I don’t.” He paid the girl and took the box of cupcakes before handing them to Rain.

  She stared at the box as if it were precious gold. Tentatively she took it and then looked up at him with a warmth in her gaze that made him feel ten feet fall. “I’ll share with you.”

  Tenderness mingled with desire soared through him. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Rain was quiet when they left the bakery and Craig worried she was taking the gesture and overanalyzing it in her head. He was just about to voice his concerns when she gestured across the street and said, “The library. Gosh, I haven’t been to the library in years. I miss it.”

  He was bemused by the somewhat random comment. “Aye? Well I haven’t been in a library ever. School library when forced but not a public library.”

  Her eyes grew round with astonishment as she stopped in the middle of the pavement. “You’ve never been in a library?”

  “Never.”

  “Well we’re going in, then.”

  “It’s okay. I’ve never been that inclined to go in.”

  “But you’re missing out.” She started hurrying toward the crossing and Craig had no choice but to follow her across the street to the library. “When I was a kid and things were really bad I’d go the library,” she said, and he felt that pang in his chest again picturing her as this lonely wee girl searching for solace somewhere. “It was just a building, but inside was magic.”

  They stopped and stared at the library entrance.

  “I could be a kid in America who was part of this amazing babysitters club, or I could be the Count of Monte Cristo seeking revenge. I could be a pirate in the Mediterranean or Wendy in Neverland or Lucy in Narnia. I could be anyone but who I was. And back then I needed it.”

  “Rain,” he said, the word sounding hoarse because there was a large lump of emotion in his throat caused by her retrospection.

  She seemed to shake herself, throwing him an offbeat smile. “I don’t need the place so much anymore, but I’m taking you in here just so you can smell it.”

  Her playfulness relaxed him. “The smell?”

  “The smell.” She strode forward, the automatic door opening for them, and they wandered into the library.

  “I just smell new carpet,” he said as they wandered into the main reception where you could check your books out by yourself with the self-serve machines or at the counter, where a librarian gave them a cheery smile.

  “It does smell like new carpet,” Rain said, wrinkling her nose in disappointment . . . and then just as quickly as it appeared the disappointment melted into an “Aha!” expression. “This way.”

  He followed her past aisles of stacks, through the DVD library, and into the very back of the building into the reference section.

  A smell of mustiness hit them as soon as she began walking down the stacks. It was darker here.

  “I thought the books in this section might be older and less used. They’ve got that wonderful musty smell.” She stopped, turning to face him in the small space.

  He immediately became aware of the fact that they were alone and her body was mere inches from him.

  “What do you think?” she said.

  “I think it smells a little nasty,” he admitted with a chuckle.

  Rain giggled and looked around them. “I guess the smell can only be charming if it triggers pleasant memories.”

  Lust rushed through his whole body. Lust, need, and an overwhelming surge of tenderness for this woman. “I guess,” Craig said, as he reached for her box of cupcakes, and ignored her questioning gaze. “That means . . .” He placed the box out of the way on one of the shelves. “I should make a pleasant memory here, then.”

  Rain

  Without warning Craig’s lips came down on mine in a hard, greedy kiss that demanded a reaction. We teetered back against the wall.

  The heat and strength of him overwhelmed me as his large hand gripped the back of my neck and his other slid around my hip, pressing our bodies as close together as possible. I wrapped my arms around him, my hands digging into his back, my legs trembling with adrenaline and need as he caught hold of his desperation and gentled the kiss. His tongue teased my own, making me shiver with delight. The smell of him, the taste of coffee on his tongue, the feel of his warm hands gripping me tight . . . it sent a bolt of lust straight between my legs and I wobbled in my high heels.

  Craig’s hand tightened around my neck and he groaned, the vibration of it surging through me, skimming down my body and teasing my nipples. His kiss grew harder again, more demanding. My nails dug into his back in reaction as he tried to destroy any semblance of control I had left.

  He succeeded.

  The feel of his erection digging into my belly sent me spinning off the edge of the earth. Arousal was sizzling throughout my blood, suffusing my skin until I was flushing like mad. The need grew hungrier as Craig’s hand slid up my waist. His thumb caressed the curve of my breast and I sagged deeper into his hold. He broke the kiss, pulling back only an inch to gaze into my eyes. His own were filled with so much heat and need I felt a surge of power rush through me. I’d never felt that way before. It was intoxicating.

  I reached for him, forgetting everything but the euphoric way he made me feel. I kissed him, nipping hungrily at his mouth. Craig groaned into me and flexed his hips against me so I could feel how hard I was making him.

  He broke the kiss suddenly. “Let me take you home?” he murmured sexily, his lips trailing lush kisses along my jaw. This time we both knew what he was suggesting.

  I shuddered with want at the thought. “I don’t know,” I breathed out softly, fragments of my concerns slowly piecing themselves back together after they were blasted to smithereens by his seduction.

  “You do know, Rain. Stop over-thinking this.”

  “I’m not.”

  Both his hands were suddenly cupping my breasts. He squeezed them as he pressed his dick deeper into my belly. “Do you want me inside you?” he growled in my ear.

  Yes, yes, YES!

  “I—I— I don’t know,” I stammered.

  He flicked his tongue against my earlobe. “I think you do know. I think you want my mouth between your legs, my tong
ue making you come first, and then my cock.”

  Excitement flooded me in a torrent of shivers, and I gasped. “Craig . . .” I moaned, suddenly not so sure which one of us had the power anymore.

  His lips brushed mine and I reached to transform the kiss into something deeper, something wetter, but he pulled back. “Admit it, Rain. Admit you want me inside you.”

  “Don’t hurt me,” I found myself begging all of a sudden.

  Craig pulled back to stare at me, the heat now mingled with tenderness. “I will never intentionally hurt you.”

  Was that good enough?

  Say yes! Oh my gosh, say yes before you expire on the spot!

  Just staring into his beautiful, smoldering eyes was making me ravenous for him. I tugged his head down, our lips crashing together. His arms encircled my waist, fusing our bodies together as our kiss turned hungry again. Craig’s kiss turned deeply sexual, voicing his impatience for him, and his strong hands slid their way down my back and under my butt, squeezing me harder against him. I gasped into his mouth. “Yes.” I broke the kiss, breathing hard. “Yes, I want you inside me.”

  * * *

  I barely remember getting back to my flat. I do remember fumbling so much with my keys that Craig had taken them out of my hand and opened the door. As soon as we were inside I strode down the hall toward my bedroom, hearing his footsteps following behind me. I stared at my bed—a studded, upholstered boudoir bed with a curved headboard and curved footboard. Very feminine. Very me. I glanced over my shoulder at Craig. He was so very masculine. Perhaps the most masculine man I’d ever kissed in my life. The idea of him on my bed sent a possessive thrill through me.

  Rain, you are so screwed.

  A flutter of nerves mingled with anticipation awoke in my belly as I stood in my bedroom, feeling his intense energy at my back. I wasn’t a virgin by any means, but as the heat of him pressed against my back, as his fingertips coasted lightly over my bare arm and his breath whispered across the back of my neck, it seemed more than it ever had before . . . everything was heightened to a level of sensation I’d never experienced.

  Craig’s hands rested on my waist for a moment before sliding down over my hips. He caressed me, almost in a reassuring, comforting way. And then he slowly pulled the zipper on my skirt down. The material clung tightly to my body so he had to guide its release, his hot breath scattering over my bottom and the backs of my legs. I tingled with need. I stepped out of the skirt and Craig turned me to face him.

  I lifted my gaze to his and felt that power overwhelm me again at his expression. His eyes blazed, and his jaw was set with need and determination. Yet despite the fierceness of his countenance he was physically gentle and patient. Eyes still on mine, he plucked at the buttons on my shirt, unhurriedly, one by one, until my chest was heaving with my labored, excited breaths. Craig eased the shirt open, his fingertips teasing my skin as he nudged it off my shoulders with excruciating slowness. It dropped to the floor on top of my skirt.

  Craig’s eyes traveled downward as his fingertips trailed back up my arms, across my collarbone, and down toward the rise of my breasts. He followed the rise, goose bumps prickling my skin in the wake of his touch. My breasts swelled and my nipples peaked with anticipation.

  “Craig,” I murmured hoarsely.

  In answer to my needy plea he gripped my hips, gently pulling me against him so I could feel the hard rigid length of his arousal.

  “Take your hair down,” he said, voice thick and low.

  “Craig.” His words for some bizarre reason intensified my need, slickening the heat between my thighs. I reached up with trembling fingers and began to pull the pins out of my hair. I let the pins fall to the floor as my hair fell in waves around my face.

  “Fuck,” he breathed reverently as he cupped my face in his hands. “You are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Do you believe me?”

  Perhaps I shouldn’t. Perhaps I should have hardened myself against his compliment, but there was a ferocious sincerity in his eyes—like he needed me to believe him.

  “I believe you,” I whispered.

  His thank-you was a slow, sexy kiss that had me swaying in my heels.

  His hands moved to my hips and cool air whispered between us as he stepped back a little to discover me.

  And discover me he did.

  With light strokes he learned every inch of me with his touch—my ribs, my waist, my belly, my bottom, my thighs, the backs of my knees . . . The tormenting gentleness of his hands only increased my anticipation and arousal.

  And then he unhooked my bra, nudging the straps down my arms so it fell silently to the floor. Craig’s eyes darkened as he stared at my naked breasts, watching my nipples pucker into tight needy buds.

  “So fucking stunning,” he murmured hoarsely as he reached up and cupped them.

  I moaned and arched into his touch. Ripples of desire undulated low in my belly as he played with my breasts, sculpting and kneading them, stroking and pinching my nipples. I thrust into his touch, whimpering my need for him.

  Unable to take any more without tasting him I slid my hands around his neck and pulled his mouth down to mine. I immediately parted my lips, inviting his tongue inside. He kissed me roughly, groaning as he pinched both my nipples. I gasped and his growl of satisfaction made me flush with pleasure. I was so wet. I couldn’t remember ever being this ready before. As if he’d read my mind, Craig coasted his hand down my stomach and over my knickers. He rubbed his fingers over them and broke the kiss when he discovered they were soaked with my arousal.

  “Darlin’, you’re so fucking wet.” He nipped at my lips. He slipped his fingers beneath the silk of my underwear and rubbed his thumb over my clit.

  “Oh God.” My head fell back, my arms gripping tight to his biceps as I undulated against his touch. “Craig . . .” The plea fell from my lips before I could stop it. Our gazes locked as the pressure inside of me began to build.

  “Darlin’,” he breathed, watching me reach for it. “I knew you were fucking magnificent.”

  At that I shattered. “Craig!”

  Suddenly I was swept up off my feet as Craig lifted me into his arms and carried me to my bed. He hooked his fingers into my knickers and I tilted my hips to help him ease them from my body. He discarded them on the floor and stood staring down at me spread out on my bed. That awesome feeling of power returned as his hungry gaze devoured me.

  His erection strained against the zipper of his jeans and I was suddenly really rather desperate to see him naked too. But instead of divesting himself of his clothes, Craig trailed his fingers across the tops of my feet, around my ankles, taking a slow, sensuous journey up my legs. He reached my knees and looked up at me.

  “Open up,” his deep voice rumbled.

  Oh my holy orgasm.

  I did as he asked and melted into the mattress in anticipation as he nuzzled his mouth against my sex. He licked my clit, pressed his tongue down on it, and sensation blew through me. And then he slipped two fingers inside of me and the tension began to climb to the heights. “Oh my holy . . .” Orgasm! I arched back on the bed, my inner thighs trembling. “Yes!” The tension inside of me snapped and I came in hard pulses against his mouth.

  I both heard and felt Craig’s satisfied chuckle against my inner thigh before he began pressing kisses up over my belly. He fell between my open legs, and the friction of his jeans against my skin felt more erotic than I could ever have imagined. My thighs tightened against his hips when his lips closed around my nipple. He sucked deep, hard, a pleasurable pain rushing through me as he moved against me. As he had done with his hands he began to play my breasts with his hot mouth until I was on the brink of coming undone all over again. He began to move his hips into mine, his jeans-clad hard-on catching my clit as he thrust against me.

  “Oh God,” I whimpered, my fingers digging into his back. I was in sensory overload. “Come inside me.”

  “Fuck,” he grunted and suddenly there
was cold air wafting over my skin as Craig sat up. The bed moved as he clambered off it with far less patience than he’d just been showing. Apparently he’d pushed himself too far. My fingers curled into my duvet, tightening into the fabric as he was revealed to me. Broad, muscled shoulders and arms and well-defined abs that reinforced my original suspicion that he visited the gym regularly. No man just naturally looked that freaking good.

  And then his jeans were gone and my mouth fell open on a pant.

  He had the most perfect dick I’d ever seen. Now, they weren’t the most attractive things to look at, but what they could do to a woman was. And the idea of what Craig’s long, thick dick was possibly capable of had me practically drooling. I watched him grab a condom out of his pocket and roll it up his long length.

  I drew my gaze up from his throbbing erection and he grinned and winked at me like the cocky son of a bitch he was. Surprisingly it only amused me.

  Seeing my smile, that smugness in his expression turned to heated tenderness and he put a knee to the bed. His hands curled behind my knees and I gasped in surprise as he pulled me toward him. Angling my hips, gripping tight to my thighs, he held my legs open as he kneeled between them. I let out a moan as he nudged against me and then pushed inside. My slick wetness eased his way and I grabbed purchase on his biceps as I tilted my hips.

  Craig’s jaw grew taut as our gazes locked. “Fuck,” he uttered as he plunged deeper.

  He looked between us as he pulled out to the tip and then he watched his cock slide back inside of me. His breathing grew stuttered. Watching him watch our bodies was the biggest turn-on ever.

  “You feel so good,” I whispered to him.

  He looked up at me, eyes blazing. “You feel fucking amazing.” His grip on my legs suddenly tightened and he braced on his knees. Craig began to pump in and out of me with harder, deeper thrusts that triggered the climb to climax.

  “Rain,” Craig groaned, fucking me harder now. “Rain . . .” he hissed, his jaw growing taut as he held off his own climax.

  I was panting hard against his rough thrusts, the tension inside of me coiling tighter and tighter, my cries growing louder and higher. Craig slipped his hand between us, his thumb rubbing over my clit.