Branded Read online

  With an abruptness that startled her, he stopped his sweet torment and dropped his head to the pillow. “Turn around,” he ordered his tone harsh.

  Heart pounding, throbbing, confused and disoriented, she swallowed again. “I-I don’t understand, is something wrong?”

  “Hell no. You’re beautiful, Lily. I’m rock hard and aching for you. Turn around and you’ll see.”

  Wobbly as a newborn foal, Lily did as he asked, turning so that she faced his long, muscled legs—and his thick cock. Again, she was amazed by the sheer size of him, from his impressive manhood to the top of his dark head to his big feet.

  She stared at his erection, wanting to taste him. The thought of taking him into her mouth made the throbbing between her legs intensify. All she had to do was lean forward, brace one hand on the bed, and open her mouth.

  He fondled her breasts, teasing her aching nipples back into tight buds. She closed her eyes, feeling as if she were suspended in air, unable to move one way or the other.

  “Does this feel good, sweetheart?”

  Incapable of coherent speech, she nodded. His hot breath feathered against her wet, slick flesh, and she wanted nothing more than to lower herself until he understood. She couldn’t say the words, those sinful words. “Please, Troy, I...”

  He ceased his assault on her tender nipples and caressed his way to her backside, grasping each cheek and spreading her open just the tiniest bit. Lily had never felt more exposed...or more excited. She wanted—no, needed—him to bury his tongue in her aching passage. Hot cream dripped, burning a path down the insides of her thighs. Her legs shook with the effort to hold still for his perusal.

  Please don’t make me beg.

  “Bend over, Lily,” he whispered “Brace your hands on the bed.”

  She closed her eyes for a brief, fortifying moment, then did exactly as he asked. Her breasts brushed his abdomen, and she wanted to rub her aching nipples against his the hair on his belly. His impressive erection lay just inches from her face. She didn’t know why, particularly after what she’d nearly been forced to do earlier, but she wanted to pleasure him with her mouth. All she had to do was open her lips and—

  He ran his hot tongue along her slick folds, starting at her throbbing nubbin and ending with a stab of his tongue in her tight opening. She stared at his hard cock, her mouth literally watering with the desire to taste him.

  Giving in to temptation, she balanced on one hand and wrapped her fingers around his smooth, iron-hard shaft. Troy gave a slight jerk and blew out a hard breath. He replaced his mouth with his fingers, fondling her. “Stroke me.”

  He lifted his hips, urging her to give him the same pleasure he’d been giving her. The unfamiliar pressure that had been slowly building dissipated, helping her to focus. She moved her hand up and down his thick erection, wringing one groan after another from him. He caressed and squeezed her backside as she explored him from the base of his shaft to the head and back to the sac below, gently cupping him.

  He let out a low growl. “You’re driving me crazy, Lily.”

  Emboldened by his words, she opened her mouth and took him in, just an inch. Her lips closed around the smooth silky flesh, and by instinct alone, she slowly worked her way down, never imagining she could take so much of him. She pulled back up, stroking his cock with her lips and tongue, sucking on the tip while giving his balls a gentle squeeze.

  “God, yes.” He leaned forward to sink his stiff tongue inside her, and Lily nearly wept her relief. He traced her inner lips with his thumbs while driving his tongue in and out, then moved down and sucked her swollen nubbin into his mouth, drawing on it before letting go with a loud sucking noise.

  Lily tried to concentrate, working her lips and tongue down his thick shaft, desperate to please him. But that same pressure was building again, and she couldn’t hold back this time. She moved against his darting tongue, bracing one hand on the bed while stroking his now slick shaft with the other, eyes squeezed shut, bottom lip caught between her teeth.

  He murmured something she didn’t understand, leaned forward and caught her arm, breaking her grip on his cock. “I want to be inside you when I come, Lily.”

  Without warning, he grasped her hips and positioned her on her back, thighs spread, backside all the way to the foot of the bed and her heels barely hanging on to the edge of the mattress. He knelt on the floor before her, slid his palms beneath her cheeks and lifted her, wasting no time in bringing his hot mouth down on her throbbing flesh and drawing her swollen pearl back into his mouth.

  He ate at her with fierce possession, clutching her cheeks tight, lapping, licking, sucking, bringing her right to the edge of a precipice she’d never been to before. She arched her back and cried his name as the most powerful explosion of sensations flooded through her from her hot core to every nerve in her body.

  Before she’d had a chance to recover and catch her breath, Troy stood and grasped one of her ankles, holding it up while he guided his engorged cock into her slick passage. Lily swallowed him eagerly, feeling deliciously lethargic and lazy. She licked her lips and smiled up at her wonderful man. He met her gaze, his expression fierce as he sank into her. Hooking her ankles over his shoulders, he started moving, in and out, slowly, building that exquisite pressure again.

  Lily had to fight to hold his gaze. The incredible feelings coursing through her were like a drug. And she wanted more. So much more. A lifetime’s worth of nights like this with the man she loved.

  His hips pumped harder and faster. He dropped her ankles and covered her, positioning her legs around his waist. She wrapped her arms around him and met him thrust for thrust as he drove into her. Their mutual cries of satisfaction filled the room as Troy delivered her to heaven for a second time.

  They lay in each others arms, breathing heavy and ragged. Lily had never been happier. Troy loved her; she was sure of it and could finally say the words in her heart. “Troy, I lo—”

  “I’ll leave at first light. I’m...” He squeezed her tight for a brief moment, then sat up and climbed out of bed. He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I’m sorry, Lily.”

  Heart pounding furiously, Lily watched him shrug into his clothes, pull on his boots, and adjust his Stetson on his head. Dear God, this couldn’t be happening—not after what they’d shared. How could he intend to just up and walk out of her life after loving her so completely? She scrambled to her knees, clutching the sheet to her throat. “Troy, you can’t mean this! I need you. I love you!”

  “Lily, you feel beholden to me because I stayed on after John died. You feel indebted because I stopped those two—”

  “Troy Hammond, don’t you dare tell me how I feel.” Lily nearly choked on her anger. “I’ve been in love with you since the moment I laid eyes on you. Even John...”

  He finally turned to face her, his expression guarded. “Even John what?”

  Tears pooled in her eyes. Her husband had known how she felt about Troy and had been oddly approving of it. He’d never confronted her, but John had respected Troy, had started to think of him as the son he’d never had. “John knew how I felt about you. He told me you were a good man, that if you became my husband, you’d make sure the Triple M prospered and became the biggest cattle ranch in Texas.”

  Troy looked truly stunned. “John told me if I ever hurt you, he’d make me pay, even from the grave.” He swiped a hand through the air, encompassing the bed. “I took advantage of you, Lily. You were vulnerable and I—”

  “You loved me, Troy. I had no idea a woman could feel such pleasure.” Her cheeks flamed at the admission.

  He took a step toward her, his expression guarded yet hopeful? “Tonight you thought someone was peeking in on you, and instead of comforting you, I ravished you.”

  “You did exactly what I wanted you to do.” Lily caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “Troy, I have a confession to make, I never saw anyone peeking in the window.”

  A slow grin spread across his face. He took anot
her step toward her. “You mean...you seduced me?”

  She gave a slow, pleased-with-herself nod.

  Troy tossed his Stetson onto the chair and closed the rest of the distance between them. Lily squealed with delight when he grasped her ankle and flipped her over, positioning her on her hands and knees. He bent over her to whisper, “You’ve been a naughty girl, Lily. I think someone needs to teach you a lesson.” He gave one cheek a soft slap.

  “And that someone would be you?” She heard his trousers hit the floor and throbbed with anticipation.

  “Damn straight.” He opened her slick passage and entered her with one possessive thrust. “You’re branded now, Lily. Mine, now and always.”