Page 72 of A Curse On Black Lake (Black Lake Gothic Cowboys #1)

Chapter fifty-four

Killian

A few days after trying to revive Eliana’s garden, we’re relaxing after a long day of checking on cattle and everyday chores. The monotony doesn’t seem so monotonous with her. I want to do this with her. I want to spend the rest of my little life with her.

Closing my crossword book, I toss it on the table and grab Eliana’s feet, digging my thumbs into the arches. She squirms and sighs at the same time.

“Ticklish?” I ask her.

She glares at me, and I lightly brush a finger over the ball of her foot.

“Hey!” she yells, yanking her foot away.

Laughing, I reach for her feet again and massage them this time.

“How is that, ma’am?” I ask her.

She purses her lips, trying to hide her smile, but she ends up making a funny face.

Moving from her arch to her ankle, I circle my thumbs. Her head tilts back on a sigh.

“That feels good,” she says.

Further up her calf, I really dig my thumbs in. Eliana hisses, but keeps her leg in my hands.

“Those hands,” she mutters.

“You like my hands, little witch?” I ask her.

She smiles, still leaned back, eyes closed. “You’re working some kind of magic with them,” she says.

I switch to her other leg, doing the same thing. “It’s only fair,” I mutter and move my hands further up on her thighs.

The angle is wrong. I grab the back of her knee, pulling her closer so she’s half in my lap. I reach for her hips, digging my thumbs in over her soft pants.

“Ohhh,” she groans. “I didn’t realize my hips were so tight.”

“I figured they might be, since you’ve been riding a lot more.”

She sighs, and I push in a little more. Her thighs squeeze together, and I’m sure she thinks I didn’t notice.

I glance up to see if her eyes are still closed, but they’re resting on me. Her tongue dips out over her lower lip, and I lift an eyebrow.

Instead of asking, I shift around on the couch, pushing myself between her thighs. They hook on either side of my hips, and she smiles up at me.

“You always seem to know what I need,” she says.

I chuckle. “I don’t know about that, but I recognize this look,” I tell her and press a kiss on her chin.

“What look?”

“The Killian I want you to make me walk funny for a week, look.”

She lets out a bark of laughter and grabs my face. “You got all that from one expression?”

“I did. You’re not as subtle as you think you are.”

She snorts and makes a face. “But what if you’re wrong?” she asks.

I slip my hand under her waistband without breaking eye contact. “Oh, I’m definitely not wrong,” I tell her.

She pins her lips together, holding in her sounds.

“Oh, come on, little witch, tell me how you really feel.”

She glares at me and crushes our mouths together.

Her legs squeeze my hips, and I jerk against her.

She sighs into my mouth, and I sit up, pulling my T-shirt off, then reach for hers, and toss it to the floor.

“Tell me what you want,” I command, dragging my tongue over her chest, between her breasts.

“You,” she says on a breath.

“Be more specific.”

“Okay, you, pantsless,” she says.

I chuckle and leap up to get them out of the way.

She licks her lips and drags her eyes up my body.

“Come on, pants off, even the score.”

Eliana sits up, and my stance widens, wondering if she’s thinking what I’m thinking. She grins. “Who said anything about fair?” Then she surprises me and runs up the stairs.

“Hey!” I yell.

But all I hear are giggles.

“You gonna leave me high and dry like that?” I call.

No response.

I groan, taking a deep breath, willing my body to chill out for a minute, but I can’t because the idea of chasing her makes me want to roar. It feels … primitive.

“Remember, you asked for this,” I yell, climbing the stairs.

There aren’t many places to hide, but I peek in her room first. Nothing.

I check the hall closet, and the bathroom, still nothing.

There’s one more bedroom up here, so I check that and she’s not there. Which leaves my room. The door is shut as usual, so I open it slowly, and she’s not on the bed. Pouting, I turn toward the bathroom and pull up short.

She’s sitting in the chair next to the window, not a stitch of clothing on, with her legs crossed, and her elbows resting on the arms of the chair.

I growl, and she visibly shudders under my gaze. She looks like a queen. Stunning, commanding, and regal, but when I really look, I see love in her eyes, and longing coating her skin.

I see the woman who was made for me.

Mine.

“Someone is confident, aren’t we?”

She lifts a shoulder. “I figured you searched long enough. It’s time to claim your prize,” she says with a half smile.

Damn, I love this woman.

“You’re going to pay for that,” I grunt.

“Oh, am I? How is that?” she asks, goading me.

I take two long strides towards her and lean over, placing both of my hands on the back of the chair.

She tilts her head back, and a glint of defiance leaps out of her eyes.

My skin itches to feel hers against my own. I want to taste her, feel her, tell her how much I love her with every breath.

“I guess you’ll have to find out,” I murmur, leaning into her lips.

Her confidence drops for a second, and I chuckle. “Baby, you wanted to play? So let’s play.”

She shifts again, squeezing her thighs, and reaches for me.

I groan, white-knuckling the back of the chair.

Her small hand squeezes and releases, bringing me to the edge of myself far too quickly, so I pull away.

“Oh, you don’t like when I play back?” she snaps.

“I thought you said I could claim my prize?” I say, getting on my knees.

Her eyes widen as I push her legs open and slide my hands under her thighs, pulling her to the edge of the chair. Her chest moves up and down rapidly, and apprehension crosses her eyes.

“Talk to me, baby,” I tell her, sitting back on my heels.

She pins her lips together, and I wait for her to decide. “Don’t stop,” she says.

Sitting up straight, I grab her hips and lean in, throwing her off balance as our mouths meet, and I coax her lips open, sweeping my tongue against hers. Working her up slowly until she’s a puddle in my hands.

Her calloused hand grips the back of my neck, holding onto me. I nip her tongue, and she pulls back on a gasp as I lightly scrape my teeth over her jaw before coming back to her mouth.

“Killian,” she whimpers.

I hum and slip my hand between her legs. She pants roughly, arching her back. Leaving one more kiss on her lips, I start working my way down her chest to her legs.

Our eyes lock as she looks down at me, and my heart falters in my chest. I want to go slow and careful with her because I want us to feel every breath between us. But the caveman in me wants to pin her to the floor and ravish her.

My mouth meets her center, and her eyes widen a fraction before I move my tongue. She sighs, dropping her head back, as she slips her hand in my hair, gripping it, while I bring her to the edge. But I won’t let her fall. Everything could crumble around us, and I would never let her fall.

Her sounds drive me wild, taking all the restraint in my body not to blow it on the floor. I feel her fingers tighten in my hair, pulling the strands. I can tell she’s almost there, and I stop.

Eliana gasps and growls in frustration. I chuckle, dragging an arm across my mouth. “Is this my punishment?” she asks.

I chuckle and sit up, kissing her aggressively.

“Please,” she whines.

“Hands and knees, on the floor,” I command.

She quickly drops to her knees and does as I say, looking at me over her shoulder. I groan at the sight.

My hands grip her hips, dragging them over her light brown skin. I lean over her spine and whisper in her ear. “This is your punishment,” I murmur and kiss the edge of her jaw before sinking into her.

Eliana cries out, dropping to her elbows, and pushes her hips back into me. Sputtering words I can’t make out.

I lean over, wrapping her hair around my fist and tugging it back. She moans again and reaches back to me trying to grab on, but I slap her hand away.

“No fair,” she whimpers, sitting all the way up, her back to my front. Releasing her hair, I slide my hand around to the front of her throat and press the other to her stomach.

“You can take it, little witch,” I grunt.

Eliana whimpers, digging nails into my forearm. “It’s you,” she gasps.

“Hmm?” I hum into her skin trying to keep my pace.

“You make me feel wanted, powerful,” she moans. “You make me feel treasured,” she says breathlessly.

Sure, we’ve been like bunnies, but this is more. It’s not only love; it’s desperation to be connected to her as deeply as I can be. This is a devotion so intense it terrifies me. It means I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, of trying to attempt a life without her.

“Because you are my treasure, darlin’,” I grunt.

Eliana moans as her body loses its rhythm against mine, and I can feel the flicker of release crawling up my spine.

“You are my undoing, Eliana Greer,” I grunt into her ear.

Her head lies back on my shoulder, and she mumbles something as her body tightens for a heartbeat before her release slams through her and rips mine out into the open.

“Killian.”

She chants my name with every breath, and my thighs shake. Turning my head, I kiss her until we can’t breathe, and even then I try to take more. A tear rolls from her cheek as we breathe against each other, and I bare myself to her.

“I’m desperate for you, Eliana, every waking hour, every minute in my sleep I dream of you. You’re all I ever want to think about. There isn’t a line I wouldn’t cross, bridge I wouldn’t burn. My obsession has no limits. My desperation knows no bounds because they never existed for you.”

Her eyes finally open, focused on me, and we’ve stilled — stuck in this moment. Time freezes only when I’m with her.

“I love you,” I rasp.

Her lips part as a tear escapes her eye, and it feels like she’s about to say it, but she doesn’t.

I’ll wait. I am a man of my word. I’ll wait for her to be ready to say it. There is no other option. She is my one and only. She’s worth going to the grave for.