Captive Eden by Brenda Williamson Page A

destroyed had resurfaced. He
clenched his hands, angry that he feared she’d hurt him again.
    * * * * *
    Eden lifted her head when she heard the crunch of gravel.
    “Brant Sullette!” She squatted back down in the water. “How
dare you stand there watching me without…What are you doing?”
    She put a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun to get a
better look at Brant shucking off his clothes. Beauty had a form and it walked
toward her. The sight of Brant’s lean, hard body stirred desire deeper into the
pit of her belly. He waded into the water and stopped within inches of her. The
surface of the pond came to his waist. She stared at his abdomen grooved with
muscle.
    “I want you, Eden.” His touch glided along her shoulder.
    She shook her head. “I haven’t rested. You said I needed
rest.”
    “You look refreshed.” He moved his hand beneath her elbow
and guided her up.
    Rising from the concealment of water, she exposed herself to
his gaze.
    His large frame seemed to envelop her as he pulled her to
him. His face neared and his lips swept across hers. She shivered from both the
cold of the water and the intimacy of their embrace. When his mouth pressed
against hers again, she parted her lips and allowed his tongue to enter.
    She whimpered at the touches he placed on her back and over
her bottom. The work-roughened palms stimulated her flesh with the kind of heat
she craved.
    “I want you,” he said it again as if she had forgotten his
statement.
    Eden hung on to him, giving her silent approval.
    His kisses became more passionate and their bodies fit together
tighter as if they’d never get close enough. He slid his hands over her
shoulders, down her back and cupped her bottom, squeezing and massaging her
right into the hardness nudging her belly. With a firm grip on her thighs, he
hoisted her up to his waist and she locked her legs around him.
    “Charlie told me you said you were sad because you missed
someone very much,” he spoke close to her ear. “Who was it?”
    “Do you really need to ask?”
    He kissed her cheek, her temple and her forehead.
    “I missed you,” he whispered in her ear so low she almost
didn’t hear him.
    “Oh, Brant.” She cried and hugged him, afraid in the next
moment she’d wake from the perfect dream.
    “My Eden,” he murmured, crushing her in his arms.
    To understand her religion, Brant often had her read to him
from her Bible. He loved hearing the book of Genesis. She thought it was
because it sounded as if Eve was under Adam’s rule much the way the Indian
squaws were under the rule of Indian braves. But she later learned it was
because of the paradise where the lovers lived. As she was named Eden, Brant claimed
she was his Eden because there was no better place he’d rather be than in her
arms.
    His kisses dried her tears and the enchantment washed away
years of loneliness. He carried her to a patch of grass and eased her to the
ground. The angry man who had wanted to take her son away had finally transformed
into the caring one who had always treated her with tenderness and love.
    For a time, they remained quiet, kissing and caressing. She
moved her head, twisting to give him the access of her neck. His firm lips
sucked and kissed against her pulse. He nibbled on her earlobe, and without
missing an inch of skin, he kissed his way to the other side of her neck.
    His kisses ventured to her breasts. Moving lower, his long
black hair tickled her belly. A laugh erupted from her and for the first time,
he looked at her with a genuine smile.
    When it faded, his solemn expression worried her.
    “I am sorry I frightened you at the ranch. I was angry with
you,” he said.
    “You had every right to be.” She stroked a hand over the
back of his head.
    “If you had come back after Charlie was born, I would never
have let you stay with your father.” He pressed kisses lower, making her squirm
anxiously.
    “I didn’t know that. I believed you didn’t want me