Free Shadow's Stand by Sarah McCarty

middle of her back pinned her to his thighs. Against her stomach, she could feel the prod of his shaft. Against her rear the weight of his hand. She couldn’t escape, couldn’t do anything except lie there as his fingers cupped her right buttock. Hot and heavy, they burned through her pants like a brand. He didn’t move. The tension rose within her, responding to that provocative heat, gathering in her core, weakening her resolve. She wanted nothing more than to disprove his claims, but when Shadow’s fingers spread across her rear, teasing the crease, anticipation flared right along with it, gathering the heat into an ache between her thighs. She squirmed and bucked, driving his fingers deeper, the feeling higher. She wanted his hands on her rear, smoothing over her skin.
“Let me go.”
“Not yet.”
Now. It had to be now. Before she embarrassed herself. “Please.”
But he didn’t have any mercy for her, just more passion, more desire. Another tantalizing spank, just a little bit harder than the last, a little bit lower. Followed by another and another. She wished it hurt, she needed it to hurt, but each spank was carefully measured to give only the sweetest pleasure. It felt so good.
“Dear heaven.”
“This isn’t heaven, honey. Just the first step on the path.”
The first step. She shook her head, digging her fingers into his thighs, throwing herself sideways, but he was too strong, too in control. And she wanted more. More of that pleasure/pain that pierced her with the sharp thrust of desire. She was so close to something sweet. She could feel it. “I can’t…”
“Yes, you can.”
The promise poured over her in a rough caress as hot as the emotion within her. She wanted to know where this could take her, where all this feeling went. And the only man who could tell her was Shadow. Her husband.
“Please!”
“You pleading for me to let you up, or for me to continue?”
A sensible woman would’ve demanded the former, but the wild woman inside her, the one she had not known existed before today, wanted her to continue. The one who was still in control told the truth. “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. Spread your legs”
She did, helpless to do anything else. Soft as a feather, his hand slid between her thighs, cupping her intimately, pressing high between her legs, finding a sensitive spot, stroking and rubbing with ever-increasing pressure, until with a speed that shocked, the tension exploded, tearing through her in hard pulses of ecstasy. It was too much. Too much. She reached out, needing something, someone. A sob broke past her control.
There was nothing and then there was Shadow, turning her gently, lifting her into his lap, cradling her through the last few tremors. Shadow’s lips brushed her temple. Her cheek. The balm of tenderness in the wake of fire was more than she could stand. And yet everything she needed.
“Are you all right?” he asked in that drawling rasp.
She didn’t think she’d ever be all right again. She didn’t recognize the woman she’d been in his arms. Didn’t recognize the woman who wanted nothing more than to be back in them. She wasn’t weak or needy, but he’d made her feel ecstatically both. The only answer she could give him was a shake of her head. Brushing her hair off her face, he wiped away the first tear.
“I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to go that far.”
The most emotion she’d ever felt and he hadn’t meant it? Another tear followed the first. She hated him and she hated herself. His thumb lingered on the corner of her mouth. “You’d burn me up if I let you.”
She’d been without shame. Her father was right. She was fit only to be a concubine, but not because of her blood. Because of the lewdness of her nature. Lowering her gaze, she apologized.
“Honey, I’m not complaining. A man wants a wife who burns for him. And who can set the same fire loose in him.”
“But that’s not me, for you?”
His touch was gentle, but his truth was