Ready for Marriage?: The Marriage Ultimatum / Laying His Claim / The Bride Tamer. BEVERLY BARTON

out of his pants so she could continue. When all the buttons had been slipped free of their moorings, she slowly spread the shirt wide, sliding her palms up his chest and out over his shoulders until the shirt fell down past his elbows and he was able to shrug out of the rest of it.

      His chest was broad and solid, dusted with a faint ‘‘T’’ of dark hair that arrowed down to his navel and disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans. He reached up to his shoulders and captured her hands again, drawing them down between them and she realized he wanted her to unbuckle his belt as well. She swallowed.

      The one time she’d had sex in college, it had been dark and furtive, and the guy had left practically as soon as he’d finished. She’d never seen a naked man’s body in her entire life.

      And while she understood that he was allowing her to get comfortable with her own state of undress, she couldn’t seem to make her fingers move. She glanced up at him, and he smiled as he lowered his head and took her mouth again, pulling her to him and kissing her thoroughly until the fire inside her was raging again and she was twisting against his hot, bare chest, wanting, needing more contact.

      She felt his fingers at her back for a moment, and then he was tugging her bra down her arms, tossing it aside. He made a single rough, hoarse sound and the room spun for a moment as he laid her back on the bed again. His hands were swift and sure, taking her skirt and panties off in a single motion, and when she was naked, he hovered over her for a long moment, his eyes traveling over every inch of female flesh he’d revealed. He lifted a hand and laid it gently right over the triangle of crisp, curling hair, and one corner of his mouth kicked up. ‘‘A natural blonde,’’ he said softly. And then he was gone, moving off the bed to get rid of the rest of his own clothing.

      Kristin lay watching as he stepped out of his pants. He wore stretchy, snug briefs that did nothing to hide the ridge of arousal beneath and her pulse raced. He was barely contained by the fabric, and in a moment he hooked his thumbs in the sides of the briefs and shucked them off as well. She couldn’t look away, couldn’t pretend to be matter-of-fact. He was big, heavily made and if a man could get any more aroused, she couldn’t imagine how. He slowly put one knee on the bed again, and as he leaned forward, his sex fell against her belly and she jumped. He was hot and hard, so hard, and without conscious thought she wriggled her hips beneath him, seeking a satisfaction that eluded her.

      Derek lowered himself slowly onto her, pushing her thighs apart and making a space for himself. The action sandwiched him between their bodies and she could feel him, firm and gently moving against her belly. He bent his head to her breast then, and she jumped as his lips closed over one nipple. He swirled his tongue around the tight peak time after time, and just when she thought she couldn’t stand the rising tension any longer, he drew her deeper into his mouth and began to suck strongly at her. She almost shrieked aloud, her body surging up against him as electric shocks of sensation ran straight from her breast to her womb. She was trembling, panting, her legs moving restlessly around his hips.

      Derek made a low sound of approval. He shifted to one side and she opened her mouth to protest his leaving, but the words turned into a breathless moan of pleasure as his fingers slid up the inside of her thigh. He brushed lightly over the curls he found there and she was startled to realize how wet she felt. Then one finger probed deeper, sliding between her soft folds and her back arched as he suddenly pushed the digit deep, deep inside her sensitive channel. There was no pain, only an exciting sense of pressure and an irresistible urge to move against his hand. He laid the fleshy pad just below his thumb flat against her and pressed strongly, and she clutched at his shoulders. ‘‘Derek, I want…Derek!’’ His name became a cry of release as the tight coil of desire that had drawn together inside her suddenly flew apart. Her body was out of her control, bucking and surging against his hand, her back arching repeatedly as her fingers gripped his shoulders. He touched her relentlessly, pushing her beyond pleasure into a final paroxysm of climax that left her limp and gasping, too drained to move, completely shocked by the force and power of her first orgasm.

      Then, before she could recover, before she had time to get embarrassed at her own abandon, he drew his hand away and levered himself over her again. She could feel the heavy length of him as he drew back on his knees and placed himself directly at the moist, pouting entrance to her body. Slowly, he flexed his hips, using his hands to open her to him, and she shivered at the first blunt, probing contact. He leaned forward, supporting himself on his arms as he pushed himself deeper.

      ‘‘Kris.’’

      She looked up at him and was startled by the fierce, intent look on his face.

      ‘‘Put your legs around my waist,’’ he commanded.

      She obeyed instantly, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and linking her ankles behind his lean waist. The position tipped her up into an even more intimate contact and she drew in a sharp breath.

      He grinned, a mere baring of his teeth, and muttered, ‘‘Hang on,’’ and almost before the words registered, he was moving strongly against her, gasping as his body arched against her in the throes of his own fulfillment.

      When he finally was still, he lifted himself away from her and rolled to one side. He pulled her against him, kissing her temple gently as she cuddled close. ‘‘You all right?’’

      She couldn’t suppress a smile. ‘‘I’m fantastic.’’