perfect union.
His breathing became rough, uneven. She heard and it turned her to mush. She fisted her hands in his shirt and breathed in his exotic smell. All man. Masculine and exhilarating.
Jake eased back and gently rubbed his thumbs across her wet cheeks. “Okay? No more dream bad guys?”
More than okay, she felt totally wonderful. As though someone had poured a vat of warm chocolate over her. This was what she had been waiting for her whole entire lifetime.
He bent his head and placed his lips against her forehead. Nuh-uh. Not what she wanted from him at all.
Digging her hands in his hair, she pulled his head back and put his lips where she wanted them. On hers. Her tongue slid inside his mouth. The all-consuming flames instantly sprang between them, as she’d expected—as she’d hoped.
Sensation after sensation raged through her. Rainbows of bright colors. Textures and shapes, a tapestry of passion.
Frantic to touch him—everywhere—Mary kept half her brain concentrating on the taste of his mouth and on worrying his lips between her own. And with the other half of her fuzzy mind, she fought to open the buttons on his shirt. A button popped. Then something ripped. But the sounds only served to spur her on.
At last she reached her goal, warm skin and chest hair. The sensation of wiry hair against her fingertips was erotic. She wanted to plant her lips there, replacing her fingers. She needed a taste of him. Of all of him. The pulse right below the surface at the base of his neck would be a great place to start. His salty skin and all those fascinating hidden ridges and creases came next.
“You’re killing me here.” He dragged his mouth from hers, panting hard.
Through his sensual haze, Jake knew his breathing wasn’t the only thing growing hard. She was too close. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t remember why they shouldn’t be doing this.
“Am I hurting you? “
Exasperated, Jake pried her fingers off his shirt and placed her hand against the hard ridge lying under the zipper of his pants. “What do you think?”
“Oh.” Her voice was deep, flirty. “Then don’t stop now.”
Before he could stop her, she began lowering his zipper. The sound mesmerized him. Like someone scratching their way out of a dilemma. His every sense went on alert. The feel of her luxurious hair against his skin. The sound of her breathing coming from her mouth in small pants. When she looked up into his eyes, he saw fire.
He felt something inside him clutch, then give way. He’d seen her willingness. Her longing. Through her sensitive touch he’d found she not only had gentleness and passion, but empathy as well.
It had been a long damned time since he’d wanted anything—anyone this badly.
His erection popped free. Mary sighed deeply and took him in hand. Her obvious pleasure at touching him was contagious. He rolled her to her back and ran his hands down her rib cage and up to cup her breasts.
Her mouth brushed over his briefly, setting fires where she kissed. Just enough to burn through any of his remaining boundaries. He covered her mouth and kissed her back relentlessly. Her lips and tongue stoked the flames of his desire and burned any questions or regrets away like so many cinders blowing in the wind.
“Mary.” A single word. A single breath.
And he was lost.
The blood coursed through his veins, leaving his brain and rushing to his extremities. He was out of control. Defenseless against his own needs.
Desperate, he slid her arms free of the bra, pulled it to her waist and then filled his hands with her lush flesh. Her breasts were firm and as soft as rose petals. As he thumbed over the nubby tips, her chest rose and fell. She moaned through pursed lips. His fingers had found perfection, but his mouth hungered for its turn.
He lowered his head to take what he wanted. When his mouth closed over the hard and pebbled peak of one breast, she arched upward with a gasp. Pulling her deeper into his mouth, he laved his tongue back and forth over her nipple. It grew harder—and so did he.
Ignoring the growing ache in his groin, he kept his attention focused on Mary, on her reactions to his moves. As he moved to the other breast, she whimpered and moved restlessly under him. He took a nip of the tip, just a tiny bite. She jumped but made it clear she liked what he was doing, digging her fingernails into his shoulders and holding him right where she wanted. Blowing air over her to both soothe and stir, he kissed and suckled her breasts until she begged.
“Jake, please. I want…I want…”
Yes, Jake knew what she wanted and was determined to please them both. Why he shouldn’t seemed lost in a haze of need and desire.
He flattened the palm of his hand on her belly and felt her muscles quivering under his touch. Inching his fingers beneath her panties, he soon reached his goal—all that glorious heat in the lush curls at the center of her thighs. He brushed aside any silky material standing in his path. With her help he pulled the undergarment down and off, frantic that nothing should stand between them.
He shoved his own slacks out of the way with one hand while he used the other to stroke and torture. Her thighs fell open and she lifted her hips off the bed. Finding her already wet and hot, he bent his head and dipped his tongue into her sweetness.
Mary groaned, struggled and urged him back up her body. He obliged her, blazing kisses over her belly and across the valleys and curves of her body. Then she reached down and gripped him with both her hands, using a gentle touch that drove him wild.
He jerked and went rigid. Her touch ruled his moves. But he didn’t want gentle from her. His whole body felt like molten lava and Jake knew he couldn’t last much longer. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands up over her head.
Looking into her face, he found her glazed eyes fixed on him. “Now, Jake,” she said through a sob. “I beg you. Hurry.”
She lifted her hips, inviting him inside. With a last bit of clarity, he reached into his pants pocket for his wallet. He found the silver-wrapped condom and had it freed and installed within seconds.
Moving over her again, he let the tip of his erection nudge her swollen flesh. She writhed. Whimpered. He leaned his hips forward, brushing his length against her for a second time while she cried out her pleasure.
The sound enflamed him, engulfed him, as blood pulsed and pooled in the part of him begging for quick release. His own ragged breathing blocked the tiny niggles of guilt already building deep inside his chest.
When he brushed her entrance for a third time, she bucked upward. Her whole body pleaded for him as she rubbed herself against his length and called out his name. Every inch of her wept with wanting, and she begged him to hurry.
With amazing self-control, Jake gently pressed his hard length inside her entrance. Testing. He needed this to be good for her. Better for her than for him.
Her internal opening surrounded him with tiny tremors. Like welcome-home hugs. Hearing her making explicit noises of pleasure, he pressed a little deeper into the shock waves. But he wanted her to be just as wild with need as he was. With some regret he made a slow withdrawal, only seconds later to inch forward again.
She tensed but murmured encouragement. Her body was like a warm, welcoming paradise, tight and wet. The greatest gift he’d ever been offered. He pushed deeper, trying not to rush.
Feeling her body start to contract around him, he slid himself farther toward ecstasy. So hot. Slick. Tight.
Just before he succumbed to the madness, it hit him. Too tight. There might not be any barrier, but no one had ever come this way before. He suddenly knew for certain that he was the first.
Her first? Was it possible?
He used the last bit of his resolve to lean up on his elbows and look down at her. Her face was the picture of