She stared long and hard into his eyes.
He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. “That one was easy.”
“I still have a second question.”
“Shoot.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Nick captured her lips in a long, heated kiss. “Your question?” he murmured against her lips.
Her heart fluttered and she found this question both harder than the first, and even more urgent with the rise of longing claiming her body. “Do you have protection?”
Nick reached into the nightstand and lifted out a foil package.
A smile spread across Mary’s face and an exquisite ache built between her legs. She jerked the sweater up and over her head, dropping it to the side of the bed.
Leaning over her, Nick kissed the swell of her left breast peeking out of her black lace bra. His fingers slid around her back to unclasp the hooks. With deliberately slow movements, he eased the straps from her shoulders, tugging them down her arms until her breasts sprang free.
Mary shivered, her nipples puckering at Nick’s heated gaze. She wanted to see him naked, to feel his skin against hers. She pushed his shirt up his chest, eager to touch bare skin, feel his strength and warmth beneath her fingertips.
Nick sat up and removed his shirt, tossing it to the floor. Then he was on his feet beside the bed, loosening the button at her waistband and easing the zipper downward. He kissed her belly, his fingers sliding beneath the elastic of her black bikini panties with slow, sensual care. Mary almost screamed with frustration. She wanted him inside her. Now. Hard and fast.
At last, he tugged her pants and panties down her legs. Completely exposed to his view, Mary had never felt more desirable.
Then Nick removed his own clothing, his gaze locked with hers, as each item dropped to the floor until he stood in all his naked glory.
Mary’s mouth watered as though anticipating a tasty dessert.
Nick St. Claire was a perfect specimen of all that was incredibly male and sexy. From his smoldering eyes, broad shoulders, ripped muscles and well-defined abs to that part of him standing at bold and beautiful attention. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Never more certain in my life.” A thrill of power surged through Mary. She’d made him that hard. He wanted her. She scrambled to her knees and reached out for him, dragging him back to the bed, where he lay down beside her.
Nick held out his hand, the foil packet between his thumb and forefinger.
Mary grabbed it and ripped it open with her teeth.
A smile spread across Nick’s lips. “Anxious?”
“Shut up.” Back on her knees beside him, she ran her hands over his chest, down his rock-hard abdomen and lower, until she clasped that needy part of him in her hands. She loved the velvety smooth hardness between her fingers. She stroked him, marveling at how big and straight he was.
Nick’s hands caressed the insides of her thighs, his index finger delving between her folds, stroking her until an electric jolt of energy speared through her loins.
She couldn’t take much more before she shot over the edge and came undone. Mary slipped the condom over him and straddled his waist, poised over him. “Nick.” Her legs spread wider, lowering her down until he entered her.
“Yes?” He grabbed her hips and stared up into her eyes, his own deep pools of ink. He pushed upward, entering her slowly.
Mary gasped. “This doesn’t change anything with us, does it?”
Still partially embedded, he paused, his eyes widening, then narrowing. Then he flipped her over onto her back.
The movement was so sudden, Mary squealed.
“My sweet Mary.” He smoothed the hair from her face and touched his lips to hers. Then he settled between her legs, pressing deep, filling her to full. “This changes everything.”
Chapter 12
Nick woke before Mary the next morning and stared down at her in the light shining across her face from the edge of the curtain covering the window. His mind raged that he’d broken the cardinal rule he’d imposed on himself when he’d become an SOS agent, never get involved. At the same time, he couldn’t ignore the feel of her soft curves spooned against the harder planes of his body.
