Still, this was different. This was Skye.
“So . . . pizza or Chinese?”
“Is that really what you want, Edge? Or is it me you want?”
He was already aroused. He went even harder. “You’re what I want. I’ve wanted you for months, wanted you for what seems like forever. I just . . . I don’t want to rush you.”
Skye simply stepped into his arms. “I don’t want Chinese.”
Edge bit back a groan and kissed her. What started soft and gentle deepened and went hotter, wetter, mouths mating, bodies straining to get closer. Every second felt like an eternity—or an instant—he couldn’t be sure. He wanted more, wanted everything. Wanted all of her, and he wanted it now.
Instead, he just kept kissing her. One of his hands fisted in her thick dark curls, and he tipped her head back to trail kisses along her slender throat. He could feel her heart beating, her pulse thrumming faster than his own.
He wanted to take her against the wall, drag her down on the floor. It didn’t matter. He just wanted her.
His brain finally began to settle, to accept what was going to happen. Scooping her up in his arms, he carried her down the hall to his bedroom. They had all night, he reminded himself, as he set her on her feet next to his king-size bed and started kissing her again.
Soft pink lips, the scent of flowers on her skin, the sexy taste of her. God, he could kiss her forever.
He felt her palms on his chest as she eased a little away from him. “Before this happens, we need to talk.”
He only shook his head. “I think we’ve talked enough. You’re here. I’m here. We both want the same thing.” He leaned over to kiss her again, but Skye moved away.
“It’s about my leg. I need you to be prepared. I don’t want this to go wrong.” Her eyes filled, and he wanted to kill her ex-fiancé.
“It’s not going to go wrong. I know what happened in Afghanistan. Your brother told me.”
Her head came up. “Conn talked about me behind my back?”
“I forced the issue. I told him it was important. I needed to know what was holding you back. I know you were wounded. I know what the explosion did to your leg. I don’t care.”
She blinked away the wetness. “You might when you see what’s left of me.”
He caught her shoulders. “I’ve seen men blown in half right in front of me. I’ve seen men’s chests ripped open by shrapnel. Your leg isn’t the part of you I’m interested in.” His hands slid down to cup the ripe fullness of her breasts. A thumb brushed over her nipple, which hardened into a tight bud, and a little sound escaped her throat. “Do you trust me?”
She moistened her kiss-swollen lips. “You know I do. I’ve trusted you with my life more than once.”
“Then trust me with your body. Trust me to make everything come out right.”
The uncertainty faded from her eyes, turned into a flash of the confidence that was so much a part of her. Reaching for the hem of her sweater, she pulled it off over her head and tossed it away, shook out her heavy dark hair. A lacy pink bra thrust up pale twin globes like a feast he couldn’t wait to devour. He moved closer, pressed his mouth to the soft swell of one and then the other.
Skye unhooked her bra and tossed it away, and Edge groaned as the fullness spilled into his palms.
“Beautiful,” he said, kissing her again, trailing kisses lower, till his mouth replaced his hands. He could feel her trembling as he suckled and tasted, laved and savored each delectable mound.
Things progressed more rapidly after that. Both of them stripped off their clothes and stood facing each other, Skye holding her skirt in front of her, the last barrier to her nakedness.
Edge eased the skirt from her hands and tossed it over a chair. Conn hadn’t lied. The leg wound was severe, the burn scars ugly. Skye looked at him as he caught her hips and began kissing his way down her body, from her breasts to her naval, along her left thigh, crouching, moving lower, trailing kisses all the way to her scarred ankle. She made a little sound in her throat.
Edge rose and very gently kissed her. “Do you know what I see when I look at your leg?”
Skye swallowed but said nothing.
“I see a badge of courage. A mark of heroism. I see a woman who sacrificed herself to save the life of a fellow soldier.” He drew her closer, till her body pressed the length of his. “You feel that?” He was hard against her belly. “That’s how much I want you. Nothing is going to change that.”
With a quiet sob, Skye went into his arms. He held her a moment before his mouth came down over hers. The kiss lingered, deepened. It didn’t take long before both of them were panting, their hearts racing. Lifting her against his chest, he settled her in the middle of his big bed and eased down beside her. He spent time enjoying her breasts, ran his hands over her narrow waist and flat belly, began to stroke her.
Skye shifted restlessly, her arousal strengthening, growing hot enough to match his own. “I want you so much,” she said. “Please, Edge.”
