Only 05 - Autumn Lover

at the first touch of his lips. The kiss changed in an instant, becoming hard rather than gentle, demanding rather than comforting.
    Elyssa didn’t care. She put her arms around Hunter’s neck and lifted herself into his embrace. The feel of his body against hers made her moan again. The adrenaline of fear flashed into another kind of response.
    Wildfire raced through Elyssa, burning her until she moaned once more.
    It was no different for Hunter, wildfire consuming him, making him forget all the reasons why he must control himself.
    Wrong girl .
    Wrong time .
    Wrong everything .
    Yet Hunter let himself be pulled down on top of Elyssa. Then he fitted himself to her until he lay between her legs. Every swift, hard movement of his hips told of his arousal, and every movement of his tongue was a blunt statement of his intent.
    Hunter’s hand swept up between Elyssa’s legs until he held the hot center of her in his palm. His hand flexed and she gasped, arching up into the unexpected caress.
    Even through layers of clothing, Elyssa’s heat shocked Hunter, delighted him, made him shudder with raw need. He cursed as he searched for a way through her clothes.
    And as he searched, he caressed.
    “Hunter,” Elyssa said brokenly. “Oh, Hunter, what are you doing to me?”
    “What does it feel like?” he asked, his voice thick.
    “Heaven.”
    Hunter shuddered as a bolt of desire went through him, a pleasure just short of pain.
    Elyssa twisted slowly against Hunter’s hand, increasing the sensuous pressure of his palm between her legs.
    “Pure…wild…heaven,” she said.
    Hunter took Elyssa’s mouth again, grinding against her, desperate for her. The ragged sounds of pleasure she made drove him like a whip.
    Sanity returned in the form of three spaced rifle shots.
    With an effort that left him shaken and furious with both of them, Hunter pushed away from Elyssa.
    Blindly she reached for him. He grabbed her hands.
    “Stop it!” he hissed.
    At first Elyssa didn’t understand.
    “What?” she asked, dazed.
    “Stop chasing after me,” Hunter said in a raw voice.
    “But—”
    “Unless you want a roll in the hay,” he said, ignoring Elyssa’s attempt to speak.
    “What?”
    “This!”
    Hunter slid Elyssa’s hands down his own body until they caressed the rigid, hot flesh she so easily aroused in him.
    Elyssa’s eyes flew open.
    “If you want a fast roll,” Hunter said with deadly contempt, “I’m ready, willing, and by-God able to oblige. But that’s all it will be, Sassy. Fast sex.”
    Hunter thrust Elyssa’s hands away and went to Bugle Boy. He pulled his rifle from the scabbard. An instant later he fired three rounds into the air.
    “Get up,” Hunter said.
    “What?”
    “Get up! I’m warning you, Sassy. If you push me into touching you right now, I’ll take you where you lie on the ground and to hell with whoever rides up.”
    Elyssa scrambled to her feet with more speed than grace. She was shaking with a combination of anger, hunger, and the aftermath of fear.
    “You wanted me as much as I wanted you!” she snapped.
    “Not quite. I stopped. You wouldn’t have. Next time I won’t, Sassy. I’ll give you what you’re begging for. Count on it.”
    “Fancy man, I wasn’t begging for anything!”
    “The hell you weren’t. You were twisting and crying and—”
    The sound of a horse galloping closer cut off Hunter’s incautious words.
    He was grateful. The memory of just how hot Elyssa had been was bad enough. Talking about it made him ache to his back teeth.
    “Can you ride?” Hunter said through clenched teeth.
    As an answer, Elyssa turned her back on him and walked to Leopard.
    Hunter let out a quiet sound of relief when he saw that she didn’t limp.
    So help me God, next time I’ll take what she’s offering , Hunter vowed.
    It’s not like she’s a virgin looking for a husband. She’s an experienced little flirt who is no better than she has to be .
    And in bed, she would be damned good .
    “I’m going to check on something,” Hunter said. “Mount up, but stay here.”
    Elyssa didn’t respond.
    “Morgan will be along in a few minutes,” Hunter said. “Wait for him.”
    Silence.
    “Do you need help mounting?” Hunter asked reluctantly.
    Without a word Elyssa positioned Leopard on the downhill side of her. She got into the saddle with less than usual grace, but she got on alone.
    “You better be over your sulk when I get back,” Hunter said, swinging on board