Chapter 16

The firelight danced over her smooth skin. Watching her stretch to flip off the sweater had him gulping back a groan. Her body was tighter than he’d imagined through her clothes. She came toward him, her hands resting at her sides, the pants she wore as part of her costume hugged her curved hips and thighs.

His skin had a gilded edge to it with the flame behind him, his face in shadow bringing the fluttering back to her stomach. She couldn’t see his eyes. Couldn’t even begin to tell what he was thinking. She reached for him, her knuckles grazed over the fur along his belly and she relaxed a little when she felt the tiny shudder. She shifted to the side and he turned with her, the gold light highlighting the sharp angles of his arresting face.

He grasped her wrist and felt the fluttering pulse. He placed her hand on his chest and followed her lead as she just touched him. He’d never felt more desired with just a touch. He’d become so jaded about his looks over the years. He knew how to use them to his advantage, but to feel the desire so blatantly without a word moved him. Words were empty in his world; the compliments meant nothing to him. He tugged the bottom of her shirt up, needing to feel her, needing the contact.

Tessa gasped when the coolness hit her back and the heat of the fire and his gaze roamed her front. His touch was butterfly soft as he cupped her breast, the tips of his fingers rough as he swiped over her nipple. She shivered; the ache was so sweet she nearly cried. Her head fell back as her eyes closed and the cry she tried to stifle was lost when he captured her nipple with his teeth and tugged ever so gently.

Her skin was so soft he was almost afraid to touch her. But seeing her perfect breast with the tight pink nipple and the way she practically curled into his touch he couldn’t resist her. Her skin was soft as water and the taste of her was intoxicating. He dropped lower and circled her waist dragging her forward. Her head tipped forward and her spring green eyes were nearly black with want. He caught her mouth in a slow, deep kiss, letting their tongues tangle as his fingertips drifted down her spine.

She gasped as his thumbs dipped into her pants, dragging the cotton over her hips and his palms rode over her flesh, rounding low on her ass as he broke the kiss. He knelt before her and she swayed when she lost eye contact with him. He raked his fingers down the back of her thighs as the stretchy fabric pooled at her knees, trapped by her boots. His breath was hot on the slim triangle of lace at her center as he unzipped her boots and freed her completely.

He was amazed at how smooth she was everywhere; the milky softness of her skin seemed to be endless. He’d been tempted to drag the panties with her pants, but wanted to enjoy the unwrapping just a little longer. Each sigh and shudder drove his need higher. He helped her step from her tangle of boots and pants, dragging his fingertips along her inner thigh and bumping over the heat of her as he stood.

She swayed into him, the intensely sensitive tips of her breasts brushed along the coarse hairs of his chest leaving her whimpering. She wanted to wander his entire body with her own hands, to feel every inch of him, but her mind was so blank she could barely stop the thready keening from escaping her throat. Her skin felt like it belonged to someone else. That she couldn’t possibly take another touch without screaming.

He twirled her so that the backs of her knees were against the bed. He knelt into the wide mattress, lifted her into the center of his bed and settled her beneath him. He brushed one knee between her thighs and hovered over her. Her skin was bathed in fire, creating shadows in the dip of her flat belly and the curve of her ribs as she shuddered.

“Shhhh,” he whispered gently and dropped a soft kiss on her cheek then began touching her everywhere. The rough texture of his jeans abraded her inner thighs as the soft, crisp hairs of his chest met her aching nipples. His touch was infinitely gentle and the swirl of passion with the unexpected tenderness left her at such a loss of words. She could only feel, only experience each brush of his fingers and mouth as he eased her more fully into a fog of lust and awareness.

His jeans felt like a vice over his swollen cock, but drawing out each breath and sigh was far more important to him right now, than burying himself inside of her. He traced the column of her throat with the tip of his tongue, nipping her collar bone as he brushed her nipples with his hair darkened skin. He dipped lower, taking the stiff little points into his mouth, swirling his tongue around and around until he could suck one deep in his mouth.

She arched beneath him, a rough cry escaped her as her fingers slid up his back, gliding over he play of muscles along his back and into his hair. She could feel his arms strain as he held himself off of her, his arms bulging with a ripple of tendon and sinew that wasn’t obvious when you saw him at shows or even wearing a simple shirt. But he was strong and with each stroking kiss and undulating pass of his thigh against her sex she felt herself drift until each touch merged into a cluster of buzzing nerve endings.

He felt her loss of control, knew exactly when it happened. When the murmurs of his name blended into incoherent moans and her grip bordered on the painful. He eased her back, scraping his teeth from breast to rib, and from rib to the sweet dip of her stomach. She shuddered and he eased the lacey strings of her panties away, until the copper flame of her mound gleamed in the light.

She was destroyed. Every part of her felt too drugged to move and yet when she felt his hot breath between her legs she cried out even before she felt the sweet glide of his tongue inside her.

He pushed his thumb inside of her, feeling the slick wetness of her draw him deep as he found her tightly hidden clit. Without a thought he tasted her, needing to experience the very heart of her. She screamed his name and his gut churned with the need to drive inside of her. His cock nearly banged against his zipper as he rode the first wave of her release.

She arched off the bed, her eyes flashing open to see his blonde head between her thighs before the riptide of orgasm dragged her under. Until she choked on a sob so load she felt the guttural groan in her own throat.

He slid off the bed and shucked his jeans, continuing to rub against her pulsing clit as she came again against his hand. Her aching sob when he pulled back to snap the condom into place nearly destroyed him. He climbed back between her legs, dragging her under him so he could fit them together from thighs to lips.

When she felt him drive into her, the sense of relief was so profound she cried out again, wrapping her legs around his hips to drag him even deeper.

He lifted her thigh to increase the thrust and his brain shut off. She was slick and tight with the bruising pulse of another orgasm as he slammed inside of her, heedless of her needs, finally allowing himself to let go.

The rhythm was intense and the power of each stroke left her shattered. He felt huge inside of her, as if he was going to drive her apart and yet she took every stroke even managed to fuse their lips together as she felt the gut wrenching moan escape him.

His body was tense and yet graceful as she became aware of him as a man again, not just a jumble of emotions and feelings. His whole body quivered as he poured himself inside of her, the choking cry as he buried his lips in her neck left her wrecked.

This time it was she who shushed and soothed with a gentle touch as his sweat slicked back heaved with exertion. His body was heavy with fatigue and the bone melting relaxation that can only come with complete release.

She gently stroked his hip with her thigh and took his weight, loving the feel of him so at ease in her arms.

“That was only hour one,” he said sleepily against her ear.