His hand came up to her cheek. He was staring at her mouth. She looked into those blue, blue eyes and everything inside her clenched.
She told herself not to do it, that it was too big a risk. But her heart wasn’t listening. Rising up on her toes, she very softly kissed him. Josh went utterly still.
“We can’t, Tory.” He pushed a copper curl away from her face.
“I know. It shouldn’t have happened the first time.”
Josh just nodded. Bending his head, he brushed a featherlight kiss over her lips, just the briefest of touches. Her breath hitched, came out on a sigh.
His eyes darkened, the blue turning nearly black. “I want you,” he said. “So damned much.”
“I want you, too.”
Josh’s big hand slid into her hair. He pulled her into his arms, his mouth crushed down over hers, and Tory melted. When her lips parted in invitation, his tongue swept in. Instead of stopping, it was as if something broke free. Josh took, demanded, didn’t back away, made her want everything she had missed out on that afternoon.
His kiss was hot, wet, and deep, his hands in her hair, holding her in place as he ravaged her lips. Tory shoved up his T-shirt. Josh dragged it off over his head and tossed it away. Her hands ran over his chest, tracing the hard planes and valleys, the twisted flesh on his side, a mark of honor from the war. In the moonlight he looked like a warrior fashioned in bronze.
Josh unbuttoned her blouse, his fingers steadier this time but not much. He shoved the fabric off her shoulders, let it fall to the porch. Tory unhooked her bra and shrugged it off, rose up and kissed him, felt the heat of his hands on her breasts, big hands, strong and calloused, hands that seemed to know exactly how to touch her, caress her, make her burn.
She moaned, everything inside her aching with need and on fire. Trembling, she bent and pressed her mouth against a flat copper nipple. Josh’s fingers slid back into her hair, holding her in place as she circled the hard tip with her tongue.
He groaned, dragged her mouth back to his and kissed her, first one way and then another, kissed her and kissed her and kissed her. Both of them were breathing hard, gasping for air when he pulled away.
“Tory, baby, if we don’t stop now, I won’t be able to.”
“I don’t want you to stop.” She leaned up and pressed a kiss against his jaw, felt the rough stubble she found so appealing.
“I don’t want to hurt you, honey.”
“You won’t hurt me. Please, Josh. I need you.”
“Jesus, God, you have no idea how bad I want you.” He kissed the side of her neck, nipped the place below her ear just hard enough for her to feel it. “I’m not a gentle lover. If I take you, you’ll know it. Are you sure?”
Heat and need rolled through her, followed by an instant of uncertainty as she thought of Damon. But this was Josh. He had helped her when no one else would. He had been kind to Ivy. This was Josh and she trusted him.
And she wanted him like she had never wanted another man. Just once, she wanted to experience this wild desire, wanted to claim this moment of passion for herself. “Yes . . .”
The single word was all the encouragement he needed. In minutes her jeans were gone and she stood on the porch in nothing but a pair of white cotton bikini panties. The next thing she knew, those were gone, too, and he was kissing her again, lifting her, wrapping her legs around his waist.
His belt buckle jangled. His zipper buzzed down. She was hungry for him, dizzy, and on fire.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I want you inside me. Please, Josh.”
His big hands gripped her bottom as he moved backward, propping her shoulders against the wall. Kissing her hard, he surged upward, taking her deep, filling her completely. When she gasped, Josh cursed.
“I’m sorry. I—”
“Don’t stop. Oh, God, Josh, don’t stop.” She moved on him, taking him deeper, feeling his heavy arousal, the heat, moaning, destroying the last of his control.
Josh drove into her again and again. He was big and he was hard and he felt incredible. Tory clung to him as the first wave struck, sent pleasure burning through her. She moaned and clung to his neck.
The second climax shocked her, left her limp and barely able to hang on. He rode her into another amazing climax—impossible, she thought as he finally let himself go, reaching his own powerful release.
Time spun out, seemed to stand utterly still. Eventually they began to spiral down, Tory limp against Josh’s chest. Kissing her one last time, he slowly lowered her to her feet.
Her legs were shaking. She felt exhausted yet alive with energy. Tory stared up at him. “Oh. My. God.”
