The dampness of lace clung to her, that sheer barrier no defence against his marauding tongue, and as his fingers probed beneath the lace Leonie felt her knees buckle as she fell to the floor beside him.
‘Lean back,’ he instructed huskily, bending his head as she obeyed, his mouth closing hotly on the nipple that had escaped his attention earlier, sucking strongly at the aching bud, easing some of her tension, but evoking another one between her thighs. As if he was aware of her discomfort his hand trailed to the valley between her thighs, discarding the briefs that hid her from him, covering that fiery mound with his palm as he explored the moist vulnerability between her legs, feeling her readiness for him, entering her to ease some of the aching desire.
She was out of control, trembling all over, too weak to even support her weight on her knees as she fell to the floor, taking Hawk with her, sure she would die if he didn’t go on.
She groaned her dismay as he suddenly left her, watching him through narrowed lids as he threw off his shirt before slowly taking off his denims, standing between her parted legs as he revealed the throbbing shaft that promised so much pleasure Leonie was mesmerised by the glistening velvet.
‘Tell me if I hurt you,’ he groaned as he moved between her thighs, drawing her apart and up to him, entering her slowly, sinking deeper and deeper into her flesh as she surged up towards him. ‘God, that’s good!’ His head was flung back, his eyes closed as she sheathed the full length of him, closing around him, moving against him.
His mouth claimed hers, one hand against her breast, as he slowly began to move inside her, almost withdrawing completely before thrusting back to his fullest, his tongue entering her mouth in the same rhythm, the dual invasion leaving her mindless and begging for release.
Her whimpers of ever-increasing pleasure seemed to drive him beyond control, surging into her with fierce power, pulling her legs wider apart so that he could enter her more deeply with each thrust, the fire in her loins burning out of control as quake after quake of pleasure washed her higher and higher, knowing she had taken Hawk with her as he became rigid inside her before spilling himself, hot and powerful, into her waiting warmth. She took his gift greedily, moving against him until she was sure he was completely pleasured, her arms about him as he collapsed weakly against her breasts.
Neither of them spoke, as if they knew something rare would be destroyed if they did. And soon they had no need for words anyway; Hawk was hardening inside her as his mouth moved against her in slow drugging kisses.
This time their lovemaking was hot and quick, Hawk rolling over to pull Leonie above him, holding her hips as she rode them both to shuddering release, his teeth biting hungrily on her offered nipples.
Exhaustion quickly claimed her; she was unaccustomed to even one of those earth-shattering explosions that had taken her to the heavens, having reached that pinnacle twice, her body racked by only slighter, smaller rockets of emotions in the interim. She fell asleep with her head resting on Hawk’s chest and their bodies still joined, feeling complete for the first time in her life.
Morning brought with it a rude awakening!
‘Your little diversion didn’t work!’ Hawk rasped furiously.
Leonie woke slowly at the sound of his anger, knowing instantly that she was alone in her bed, that the body she had nestled up to in the night after Hawk had carried her here some time before dawn had been removed. She opened heavy lids to look up at a fully dressed Hawk, fury glittering in accusing grey eyes.
She sat up, pushing the hair from her face, pulling the sheet up over her breasts as she realised her movement had bared them to his gaze. Not that he looked as if he could be aroused just now. Except to anger, of course!
‘What’s wrong?’ She blinked to clear the exhaustion from her mind, her body aching from the fierceness of the lovemaking she and this man had shared the night before. Maybe she should feel uncomfortable about having made love with a man who had been a stranger to her until yesterday afternoon, but the pleasure they had shared precluded her feeling anything but gratitude. She now knew what it was like to feel completely a woman, a desirable woman.
‘What’s wrong?’ he repeated scornfully, the forceful lover of the night before replaced by a man held in the grip of burning anger. ‘You knew damn well that Hal and Laura weren’t coming back here last night, and you used your body to distract me from that fact.’
‘What?’ Her eyes were wide with disbelief.
His eyes glittered coldly. ‘Don’t play the innocent with me!’ he stormed, the heavy stubble of a beard darkening his jaw, giving him a piratical look. ‘You went to bed with me last night purely as a way of diverting my attention from the fact that Hal and Laura weren’t returning—a fact that you were well aware of when you brought me here!’
The tiny bubble of hope that had begun to emerge from their closeness last night was firmly burst, the small bud of trust withering and dying, and Leonie assumed her air of detached recklessness like an old, well-worn glove. ‘I believe it was your idea that we make love, Hawk,’ she mocked lightly. ‘But you’re right, I did know Laura and Hal were away for the whole weekend. You’re completely wrong about my motives, however.’
‘Oh yes?’ he prompted contemptuously.
‘Hm,’ she nodded. ‘I had it more in mind that you might look a bit more favourably on their relationship if you had what you seemed to want—me.’ She met his gaze challengingly, knowing that none of her inner disillusionment showed; she had learnt long ago to hide her true feelings. ‘Obviously I misjudged the situation,’ she added derisively.
‘Damn right you did!’ growled Hawk. ‘Care to try a little blackmail of your own?’ he prompted softly.
Her eyes widened, then she gave a slow smile. ‘It wouldn’t look too good to Hal if he were to find out you’d taken me to bed, the sister of the woman he loves, only hours after meeting me,’ she taunted. ‘But I wouldn’t do that to Hal, Hawk,’ her eyes flashed. ‘He doesn’t deserve to be hurt by knowing what a bastard his father is!’
His mouth thinned. ‘Maybe I ought to tell him, just to show him how far you and your devious sister are prepared to go!’
Her trembling hands gripped the sheet in front of her. ‘Maybe you should,’ she agreed flatly.
‘But I won’t,’ he declared. ‘It’s bad enough that I know what sort of a fool I was last night. But if you think what happened made me look with favour on Hal’s and Laura’s relationship you couldn’t be more wrong; God knows what your sister is capable of if you’re capable of going to bed with a man to give her what she wants!’
Leonie sat forward in the bed. ‘What are you going to do?’ she asked.
His mouth twisted, his eyes mocking her. ‘Whatever it is you can depend upon it being a direct result of what you did with your sexy little body last night!’
And he had left her then.
If Laura had been any other than what she was Hawk would never have got away with asking them to wait a year before marrying; he would have lost his son. He hadn’t realised, still didn’t seem to realise, that it was because of Laura that he still had a son who loved him.
Hawk’s daughter had been conceived that night in his arms when Leonie had briefly begun to hope again, even her veneer of cheerful recklessness stripped from her when she learned that she carried his child.
Looking at Hawk now, as he faced her so steadily across the lounge, waiting for her to deny that Holly was his child, Leonie knew he was the last man she should have gambled even the tiniest piece of love on, that it was just as well he had killed the emotion before it had even begun to possess her. She would have been destroyed utterly by caring for this man. Or his child.
‘If you’ve come for Holly I’m sure June could have her things packed in about half an hour or so,’ she told him calmly. ‘Do you have someone you can get to take