Page 27 of The Copper Heir (The Gilded West #1)

“I’ve never met a woman like you,” he stated honestly as he stared down at her.

She was such a contradiction of qualities he didn’t know what to make of her.

The women he’d known would have played coy or wailed at him, looking for more attention, more money, more time.

He had been so wrong about her when he’d awakened to find her gone.

He’d been angry, in large part because he thought she had used her body to get something from him, proving herself to be exactly what he had hoped she wasn’t.

He’d thought she had intended to seduce him all along so that she could escape, but now he realized what a fool he had been.

Everything she had said to him that day had been the truth.

Of the pair of them, he was the liar. He had taken while she had given.

“You really didn’t plan to seduce me, did you? ”

“It’s a rather moot point now, don’t you think?”

“Not to me.” The pad of his thumb drew tiny circles on her arm. “Why did you run, Emmy? Do you have any idea of the hundreds of terrible things that could have happened to you between there and here?” He did. The images had haunted him the entire time they’d been tracking her.

“Do we have to talk about that now?” She glanced to his arousal again, then looked away, but not before her face flamed pink, causing his heart to shudder to a stop in his chest. Finally gathering her courage, she met his gaze again.

“We have the rest of the night, to, um, forget about everything for a while. Hours until we have to remember who we are. I thought we could enjoy the night we’ve been given.

.. Is it possible to...you know...?” Her gaze strayed downward before jumping back up to his. “Again?”

“Hell, yes.” He had her on her back on the bed so fast that she giggled, though when he reached for her towel, eager to see her body again, she stopped him by grabbing his hands.

“No lights this time. Please.”

Shaking his head he looked down at the slight swell of her breast beneath the plush towel and then back up at her face. The need to see her, really see all of her, controlled him. “You don’t know what you’re asking. I need to see you.”

She chewed her lip as she reconsidered, her gaze straying to his chest. “I want to see you, too,” she whispered.

Smiling, he rose and turned off the electric wall sconces, leaving only a single oil lamp burning on a side table.

Its gentle flame illuminated the bed like candlelight, casting a golden glow over her skin and making their small space seem more private, more intimate.

He held her eyes as he stood by the side of the bed and tugged the sheet free, letting it drop to his feet.

When she lowered her gaze to take him in, his chest swelled with joy when she approved of what she saw and smiled. “Now you.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, but her smile stayed in place as she rose to her knees and loosened the towel.

He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until she dropped it and his breath came out in one low exhalation.

She was beautiful, small and petite, but curvy and perfectly proportioned.

Stepping forward to place his knee on the edge of the mattress, she grabbed his shoulders and they moved as one, him following her down, her legs effortlessly opening to make room for him and sliding around his waist as he settled into the cradle of her hips.

It was as if they’d made love a thousand times, each knowing how the other would move.

His lips brushed hers, parting them so his tongue could slip inside to taste her again.

But it wasn’t enough and already the need to have more was thundering through his blood, roaring in his ears.

He wanted to devour every inch of her to give her everything she deserved.

Tearing his mouth away, he moved down her body, the silk of her skin under his tongue like an exotic aphrodisiac. Making his way down her body, he held her thighs open for him as he slipped down between them.

“Hunter, what are you doing?” She pushed up on her elbows.

He didn’t bother to answer as he lowered his mouth to taste her.

Her moan of pleasure filled his ears and her fingers gripped his hair as she fell back and arched into him.

He sucked until she cried out, bucking against him, then let his tongue lap at her again.

She whispered “please” over and over as she moved against him and he couldn’t wait any longer.

Moving up her body, he pressed kisses along the way before settling himself between her thighs.

He held her darkened gaze as he slowly pressed inside her.

She was so tight still that he was sure he was hurting her, but her hands only grasped at him to pull him closer.

It took three small thrusts forward before her body allowed him to sink in completely.

When he finally did, he groaned through his gritted teeth and fell over her, one hand wrapped tight in her hair.

“Are you hurt?” she whispered.

He almost laughed. “No, God, no. You feel amazing.” He tried to kiss her, but only managed to drag his lips clumsily across her neck.

How she managed to reduce him to this raging marauder, he didn’t know.

He only knew that it would take surprisingly little to send him over the edge.

He wanted to go slowly, but already his hips were rocking against her, eager to take her as hard as he had before.

“Tell me you’re ready.” His voice came from somewhere so deep in his chest that he didn’t even recognize it.

“Yes, yes,” she breathed the words out and her arms tightened around him.

He moved inside of her then, awed with how easily she moved with him.

It was like she had been made for him, as if they had been made for this.

Tiny gasps tore from her lips and he was mesmerized watching her face flush with her pleasure.

The complete abandon with which she gave herself to him made her even more beautiful somehow and was his undoing.

Just moments after she cried out for him, he followed her over the edge of bliss.

This time he managed to fall to her side, tucking her slight body into his as he struggled to catch his breath.

It had been a very long time since sex with a woman had left him feeling this way: weak and barely coherent as he struggled to sort out his thoughts.

What was it about this woman that brought him to his knees?

After a few minutes, she stirred next to him, snuggling closer.

He rolled and brought her against his chest, not even bothering to try to make himself not touch her.

There was no hope of him keeping his distance from her.

Absently, his lips brushed across her brow and his palm moved up and down the satin skin of her back just wanting to touch her.

She brought out a strange protectiveness in him that he didn’t quite know what to do with.

He imagined McNally’s pudgy fingers touching her, hurting her, and the very idea of it made him angry.

She wasn’t his to protect, but that thought didn’t sit well at all.

“Why did you run?” The question came out before he could call it back.

She inhaled deeply, still trying to catch her breath, and nuzzled her cheek against his chest. “I had your gun when I left. I was safe enough.”

He wanted to laugh outright at that, but figured it would be a very bad tactical move, so he settled for reminding her of the night they’d met.

“You had your gun when we found you that night. Why run? You must have known I wouldn’t have hurt you.

Do you still think I would hurt you?” His fingertips brushed back wisps of dark hair from her face.

She shook her head. Raising up to look at him, he was almost leveled by the direct innocence of those blue eyes.

“The men in my life haven’t been overly concerned with my best interest. I needed to get away because I couldn’t be a part of what was happening between you and Ship anymore.

You have to understand.” She paused and took a deep breath, as if debating what she would say.

The uncertainty in her face tugged at something deep within him.

“It’s not just me. I have sisters and I need to get them away from Ship and his men. ”

A horrible thought crossed his mind, making his heart pound as if it was trying to break through his chest. “Is it that bad with him? Has he hurt you?”

“No, I don’t mean in that way. Life with him is unstable.

They drink all the money they steal and I can’t see anything changing.

Once the girls are older he means for them to marry men in his gang and I can’t let that happen.

I don’t want that life for them. He wants me to marry one of his men.

I’ve put him off that plan for a while now, because I can’t bear the thought, but. ..”

But one day she might not be able to put him off any longer. She didn’t say those words, but she didn’t need to say them. Clenching his teeth, he forced himself not to react and especially not to wince from the lie of omission he was about to commit.

She didn’t know that he hadn’t really needed to track her down.

Zane had gone back into Whiskey Hollow that night after leaving them at the shack and had encountered Jake on his way to her farm.

He’d followed the saloon owner and found the girls and brought them to Helena just in case Cas and Hunter never found Emmy.

If they had the other two girls to exchange for Miguel, it wouldn’t matter if she had gotten away.

She wouldn’t know that, not until tomorrow when he had to tell her.

He hated the lie, but it was necessary. He wanted one night with her before tomorrow came and they were back to being outlaw and hostage.

It would happen. There was no doubt in his mind that the momentary truce couldn’t last. Even if by some miracle it did persist, he couldn’t offer her anything.

He was an outlaw and he couldn’t turn his back on the vow he’d made to his brother.

“With fifty thousand dollars you’ll be able to buy a new life for your sisters.”

“Hunter...” She squeezed her eyes shut before lowering her head back down to rest on his chest. “I can’t take that money.”

“You can.” He squeezed her to him, choosing not to think of the day she would leave him and put that money to use.

Sucking in a deep breath, she held it and then let it out slowly, almost as if she was in pain. “Do you think that’s what this was about? The money? I didn’t do this for the money.”

“I know, Emmy. I know. I want you to have the money. Consider it an apology for having to take you.”

She laughed then, a sound he hadn’t heard enough, but was coming to crave. It was strange how things between them could be so easy, as if they really could be friends. “Fifty thousand dollars for kidnapping me? That seems excessive.”

He rolled her onto her back so quickly that she let out a yelp. “What can I say, I’m a man with excessive tastes,” he murmured as he nipped her chin and slid into the space between her thighs.