The wild beat of his heart pulsed into her lips. She moved down in an ever-so-slow path, until she fell to her knees. Dark hair curled around her knuckles when she pushed her hand back, exposing as much of him as possible.
The heat at her core became a raging fire while she stared at him. A vein pulsed beneath her fingers, tawny skin stretched taut. She leaned closer and breathed in his musky scent, soap and sandalwood and something else all colliding in her nose. A carnal need to taste him filled her and she touched her lips to the rounded tip.
She planted a small kiss there. Brushed her mouth across smooth skin. Flicked her tongue out.
He groaned and gave a gentle rock into her caress.
“Is this good?”
“God, Red . . .” His breath came out in a shudder and his fingers closed around handfuls of her hair. “I . . . it’s . . .”
Her lips curved against him.
Speechless was good.
She ran her tongue in a circle before tracing the little ridge encircling the head of his manhood. He quivered beneath her fisted palm and a heady thrill ran through her. When she licked harder, his hips left the wall.
“Christian.” His name escaped her, reverberating back with each muffled syllable wrapped in husky need.
She opened her mouth, letting him slide a fraction inside and he growled, the low sound vibrating through him at the same time as a roll of thunder. The grip he held in her hair tightened, each tug sending little waves of pain entwined with pleasure right to her core.
Her teeth scraped across him as she let him in farther. Holding him like this, in her mouth, sent the space between her legs pulsing. She began to emulate the movement she wantedthere. In and out, little wet noises punctuated the air.
How deep could she take him?
She opened wide and slowly, ever so slowly, slid forward. A strangled sound came from above her when his dark hairs tickled her nose.
“Dear God. I can’t.” He pulled her head away from him, loosing her contact on him in one slick motion. “Any more and I’ll lose control.”
She pressed one last kiss to him and rested her forehead in the hollow between his thigh and manhood. “That sounds rather nice.”
“I want to be inside you when that happens, love.”
The word sent an ache through her as she lifted her gaze to meet the dark intensity of his. She nuzzled her nose into the coarse curls brushing her cheek and ran a single finger along his length, pausing when she encountered a sticky drop of moisture at the very end. He stumbled to the side and pulled her to her feet, capturing her mouth with his before she could protest.
His hands skimmed down her arms and he interlocked his fingers with hers. Pulling her arms back, he dropped his lips to her neck and began to suck. She tried to reach out to him, but he held her hands just beyond reach. Without being able to support her weight on him, her knees began to shake.
He pivoted so her back was to the bed and dropped his mouth to the valley between her breasts. The soft touch sent her back arching and her nails dug into his fingers.
“Christian. Please.”
A wicked smile played across his lips as he touched them to one aching nipple. He licked. Blew a puff of air across it. She gasped out with a shiver as the already-hard point tightened further. He took a step into her, nudging her backward. Again. And again.
Until the bed bumped against her thighs.
He released her hands and swept the netting aside. A moment later, her blouse fluttered to the floor. Without wasting time, he unbuttoned the fall of her breeches and humid night air brushed acrossher damp skin.
The pants sagged open and his knuckles brushed into copper curls. An approving murmur rumbled through his throat as he flipped his hand and cupped her. When he pressed a finger into the swirling heat at her core, she grabbed at his shoulders.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dreamed of this.” His finger slid into a slick pool of wetness and he bent to her ear. “Feel how ready you are for me?”
Hot breath fell across her neck and her eyes drifted shut as a thousand prickles of sensation swept over her. If she could capture one feeling to commit to memory, that would be it. His finger slipped into her and she bit at the skin beneath his collarbone to keep from crying out. No. Definitelythatfeeling. Delicate and intense all at once while sending her pulse hammering.
He pulled free. Plunged back in. Caught her gasp with his mouth.
The solid weight of his chest pressed into her shoulders, followed by the conspicuous jab of his erection at her belly. Beneath his force, she sat on the bed. Soft linen tangled in her fingers as he deepened the kiss. His gentle pressure increased until she fell back into the plush sheets and he covered her body with his. Her mind began to unravel at her meager attempt to cataloguethisfeeling.
She lifted her hips and ground them against Christian’s as he fumbled with the waistband of her breeches. He began to peel them down and she drew her legs up to help. They tangled around her boots and he let out a growl. Breaking the kiss, he stood. Warm lantern light washed over him and her breath caught at the sight of him standing between her legs. The flickering glow accentuated every muscle, the barely-there curve of his side where it met his hip. The proud display of everything that made him a man hanging in plain sight.
