Reaching around her for the shower gel, she heard him thumb open the cap and smelled the spicy citrus scent she would always associate with Luke. Using his warm strong hands, he ran his soap slicked fingers over her body, making quick work of washing away the day’s grime. He turned her like a doll, moving her so he could wash every inch of her, paying special attention to the curve and swell of her breasts, his thumbs brushing with deliberate slowness over her tight nipples. She arched into his touch, overwhelmed with the absolute certainty that she’d never get enough of this man. His pressed the pads of his fingertips into her lower back, working out the knots. When he adjusted the shower spray to rinse the soap from her body, the hot water took the last of her tension down the drain with the suds.
“May I?” She held out her hands for the shower gel, and he squirted a dollop into the center of her palms.
Rubbing her hands together to work up a lather, she ran her fingers over his strong back, relishing the feel of his muscles under her palms. She kneaded soapy fingers into his tight shoulders before pulling him to her for a kiss. His mouth met hers, and she licked at the water beading on his lips. Letting her soapy hands glide down his arms, she found his hands, twining her fingers with his as he took the kiss deeper, breathing through her as the water rained down on them.
When she tried again to reach for him, he stopped her before she could wrap her soapy fist around his cock. He manacled her wrists with his hand as he rinsed the last of the soap away. Leading her from the shower, he snagged a bath sheet from a hook on the wall and wrapped her in the soft white terry cloth before grabbing a towel for himself. With quick brisk strokes he dried his body while she watched, lost for a moment in the sheer masculine beauty of the naked man in front of her.
Discarding his towel, he scooped her up bath sheet and all and cradled her against his as he carried her from the bathroom and to his bed.
LUKE WANTED CLAIRE with a need that was more like what he felt for food or air than the simple pleasure he was used to. He’d seen her crying in the shower and something in his soul had roared to life with the need to protect her, shelter her and take her pain away. He’d stopped her when she reached for him because he wasn’t sure how he’d ever keep his control with her hands on him. It had been all he could take to let her wash his back.
And God, holding her in his arms, having her warm round body curled against him while her damp head nestled under his chin was almost his undoing. Balancing her in his arms, he nudged the duvet down and gently laid her in the center of his bed. He took a deep breath, praying she wouldn’t see how unsteady he was. What the hell was going on with him? With hands that managed not to shake he started unwrapping the terry cloth from her body, leaving her naked in front of him like the best present he’d ever received. Raising her arms above her head, she stretched, her back arching.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” he said, his balls tightening against his body in delicious anticipation. “Stay just like that. Keep your arms above your head.”
She looked up at him, her gaze meeting his, her green eyes dark and wide. Keeping his gaze locked on hers, he climbed onto the bed and up her body, pausing to cup her breasts. While she watched him he drew first one nipple and then the other into his mouth, suckling her until her eyes drifted shut and her fingers gripped the headboard. When her breath came in shallow gasps and her luscious lips parted, he straddled her, his iron hard cock jutting between her breasts. She raised her head to swirl her pink tongue around his aching round head, and his hips thrust forward on their own.
She opened her mouth and ran her tongue along the underside of his cock. The flash of her green eyes and the look that said she knew exactly what she was doing to him did him in. He fisted his hand in her damp hair, anchoring her head to the pillow while he guided his cock between her lips. Sucking greedily, she raised up to take him deep in her throat meeting his need with a hunger of her own.
“Fuck, Claire,” he said, the strain clear in his voice. “Suck me, sweetheart. That’s it. Take all of it.” He crooned the stream of words while she worked her hot mouth up and down his cock, hollowing her cheeks as she pulled away. He felt the movement deep in his balls, as if every stroke of her mouth was drawing his climax from him, coaxing him closer and closer to the edge until he didn’t think he could hold back a moment longer.
Forcing himself to pull away from the pleasure she offered, he wedged his hips between her legs. She parted eagerly for him, opening and angling her hips to give him better access to her core. He couldn’t wait a moment longer. He needed to be inside her more than he’d ever needed anything. Guiding her knees up and out, spreading her legs wide, he palmed her ass and raised her hips until he was in line with her body. His cock nudged her tight swollen opening, and he sucked in a deep breath.
Keeping his gaze locked on hers, he slid home seating himself deep inside her body. Her eyes widened, her sweet mouth opening to a round O of pleasure. Wedded together in the most intimate way she looked deep into his eyes, and he saw himself reflected in the green pools. It was as if more than their bodies connected. Somewhere deep inside him he felt the tug of her soul reaching for his.
It was more than he could take and at the same time not enough. A small quiet part of him realized in that moment it would never be enough. He could never get enough of her, never get close enough to her. Even his body inside hers wasn’t enough. The vulnerability of how much he’d come to need her overwhelmed him even as it terrified him. He couldn’t do it. He didn’t know how to love her so he did what he knew, retreating to the one thing that had always served him.
He thrust, rolling his hips, deliberately dragging the head of his cock over the place just inside her opening that he knew would take her over the edge. Her eyes fluttered closed and her back bowed as he drove inside her, thrusting with punishing abandon. Claire gripped the headboard with knuckles gone white, her breath punctuated with cries of pleasure which shot straight to his cock.
Using every ounce of control he had, he fucked her, determined to have her screaming his name in pleasure before he found his own release. But when she opened her eyes and her gaze met his, something in his world shifted and suddenly he wanted so much more for both of them than another orgasm. He opened his mouth, the words that would change everything on the tip of his tongue but he caught himself at the last minute without saying anything.
Instead he reached for her hands, gently peeling her fingers from the headboard. Her arms immediately went around his back, and he slid his hands through her hair, resting his weight on his elbows while he cradled her head against his chest. Stroking into her over and over, he held her nestled against him, precious and cherished while he tried to show her with his body the things he couldn’t bring himself to say out loud.
He felt the moment her climax started. Her pussy tightened around his cock, milking him and she cried out, her lips scorching against his chest. His cock throbbed and his balls pulled tight to his body, pulsing as he emptied himself into her, branding her even as she stole what was left of his heart.
