Free Dark Heat: The Dark Kings Stories by Donna Grant Page A

she wasn’t about to waste a moment.
    He returned to the rug a few moments later with an array of food and some wine. She couldn’t stop grinning. A picnic in front of a fire. It was as if he had delved into her most sacred fantasies.
    She sat up as he handed her a glass of wine. There was no denying the desire in his eyes as he bent and gave her a quick, mind-blowing kiss before handing her a piece of cheese.
    They sat before the fire and sampled the food before them. With the flames casting the room in an orange glow and her body sated and warm, Cassie had never been happier.
    “My first winter picnic,” she said.
    “Winter picnic? I’ve never heard it called that, and lass, you’ve been missing out.”
    “Apparently. What else have I missed out on?”
    His moonlight blue eyes darkened. “I’d love to show you.”
    “Is that a promise?”
    “Aye.”
    He said it with a smile, but she saw something flash in his eyes. Regret? Apprehension? But it was gone too quickly for her to be sure.
    “I have a feeling the Dreagan Distillery is more than just a job and a home. Are the others your family?”
    He offered a piece of bread and shrugged. “In a way, aye. We’ve been together a verra long time.”
    “They don’t approve of me, do they?”
    He paused with cheese midway to his mouth. Slowly he lowered it and shook his head. “It’s difficult to explain. I’ll deal with them.”
    “Is there anything I can do?”
    “Just be yourself,” he said, and covered her hand with his.
    Around Hal she found that remarkably easy. She loved to hear his laugh and watch him smile. And when she would find him watching her, it made her stomach flutter.
    It was as she was on her way back to the living room from cleaning up that Hal grabbed her and spun her toward the wall. He pressed her against the wall as he molded himself to her back. She felt his arousal against her, the heat and hardness of it causing liquid to pool between her thighs.
    “I need you,” Hal whispered.
    Cassie turned her head to the side, her mouth open in a moan as Hal reached around her and parted her folds. She closed her eyes as he spread her slickness over her sex.
    “So damned wet,” he said.
    And then the blunt head of his cock replaced his fingers. Cassie gripped the wall as he filled her, stretched her. He wrapped his arms around her middle to hold her as his hips began to pump.
    Her desire was only banked, and flared quickly and brightly at his touch. No one had ever touched her body like Hal, and certainly no one had ever made her feel such passion, such lust.
    Such hunger.
    His face moved beside hers, their rough breaths mixing as he thrust inside her. He was plunging so deep that he was moving her against the wall.
    And she loved every moment of it.
    The angle from which he entered her allowed him to go deeper than before, touch her in ways she had never thought possible. He commanded her body and demanded she give him everything she was. It never entered her mind to refuse him.
    All too soon she felt the tightening in her lower stomach, a signal that she would soon peak. Hal must have felt it as well, because he increased his tempo.
    And then her world shattered into a million pieces. She tipped, fell into a chasm of profound pleasure. Her scream was locked in her throat as Hal gripped her hips and pumped desperately until the climax took him as well.
    The passion sent her higher, winding tighter and tighter inside her until it burst free in another orgasm, wringing a strangled cry from her lips.
    The splendor once more took them, enfolded them and swept through them until they were holding each other up.
    Gradually, the afterglow faded.
    Cassie wrapped her arms around Hal when he turned her to face him and then lifted her in his arms. She rested her head on his shoulder as he climbed the stairs to her bedroom.
    She had no idea how he could still move after such lovemaking. Her body still tingled from the orgasm, but more from his