“You’re so hot down here. Already burning up. Is this for me, baby? All this fire?” Shade cupped me with his whole hand, ground down with the base of his palm, and groaned as though he’d found a treasure.
I nodded, all my focus on Shade’s body and hands and deep, husky voice. Sensation washed down my spine. Tingles raced through me. Desire slicked me hot and wet under his fingers, and I spread my legs wider.
“Shade…” I shifted against him, ready for our bodies to line up and lock. I could barely stand the emptiness where he should be, moving inside me and filling me up.
“I want you. Need you. Fuck, Tess…” Shade’s breath came heavy against my neck. He rocked up, gripped my head with both hands, and captured my mouth for a fevered kiss that stole my breath and wound its way so deep inside me that my soul got tangled up in the embrace.
I clutched his shoulders and devoured him back, need tightening every inch of me. But it was more than that. The distinct feeling of handing myself over to someone else—and not just physically—hit me in a startling rush. A wave of heat engulfed me, and I pulled back with an audible gasp.
Shade looked down at me, his eyes heavy-lidded and his heart pounding so hard that I felt each thudding beat. He pressed the pad of his thumb against my lower lip and gently dragged at it. I flicked my tongue across his finger, and his eyes darkened, a low sound rumbling in his chest.
His reactions thrilled me. That catch in his breath. The sudden hardening of muscles. The gaze that hazed over with desire, just like I knew mine did. Here, like this, I knew with absolute certainty he was honest.
“Too many clothes.” My whisper surprised me when the rest of me was so thunderingly alive and on fire. “I want skin. Your skin.” I gathered Shade’s shirt and lifted.
He sat up and tore his shirt over his head. My mouth went dry at the sight of his lean, strong body, still sun-bronzed from life on Albion 5. He was a masterpiece, truly beautiful. I traced the sculpted indent near his hip, my eyes riveted to the line of muscle. “So warm and solid.” It was as though he’d absorbed the summer heat from his home planet and brought it here for me to bask in.
“Believe me, that’s not the only part of me that’s hot and hard,” he said wryly. His hands hovered at my waistline. “Skin for you, too, starshine?”
My lips kicked up at the corners. I was already halfway to naked, but I liked that he’d stopped to ask. “Wild, romping sex will be kind of hard with these pants on,” I teased.
A laugh cracked out of Shade. “So, it’s wild and romping you want, is it?” Smoldering promise lit his eyes, making my belly tighten.
I grinned as he peeled my pants down my legs and tossed my quickly removed underthings aside. I wiggled out of my open shirt and bra and shoved them off the bed without looking.
Shade stripped off the rest of his clothing, his shoulders and back rippling with each swift, concise movement. I watched in blatant appreciation, an eager flutter warming me. “You’re sinfully gorgeous, you know. Like a warrior of old, worthy of songs and stories.”
Shade chuckled, some incredulity sneaking into his expression. “You’re the gorgeous one, but you can go ahead and sing my praises if you want to.”
He stretched out next to me on his side, and my eyes dropped to where he placed one big warm hand on my stomach. I liked seeing it there. His fingers pressed a little, a possessive tightening that tugged hard at several fantasies inside me.
“Maybe later,” I said. “Or if I get drunk. I’m not much of a singer otherwise.”
“I can’t picture you drunk at all.” Shade slid his hand around my rib cage and tipped me onto my side, facing him.
“It doesn’t happen often.” I let my gaze slowly roam over his naked body. I admired every inch of him that I could see, from the dusting of dark hair on his broad chest to his powerful, capable hands that seemed ready and able to fix anything, to the impressive erection that jutted between us.
I studied it, tilting my head a little. “I love the fact that I know what that big thing feels like.Inside me.”
Shade coughed out a laugh. “Baby”—he nudged my chin back up, and our eyes met—“I love the fact that youletme inside you.” His face turned serious. “Sometimes, I think about it—us, together—and everything gets so tight and hot and wound up inside me that I can’t breathe anymore.”
I swallowed, knowing just what he meant. That hot burst of feeling, the excitement and memory and anticipation all converging into enough unstable energy to make every sensitive place on my body shiver and ache. It happened nearly every time Shade touched me. Or when our gazes locked unexpectedly. Or when I closed my eyes, and he filled my vision anyway.
My pulse drummed heavily in places I didn’t usually feel it as I stroked my hand down his torso, touching him from shoulder to hip bone. Hard planes, warm skin, crisp hair, solid muscle. Shade’s body tightened under my fingertips. His cock pulsed, and my heart skipped a beat. This man was an addiction.
Lowering my hand even farther, I gently wrapped my fingers around his erection. The warm weight of his arousal, rock-hard but velvety soft, sent a need-charged current of desire through me. I stroked him, loving how his lips parted and his breathing accelerated. His eyes grew unfocused.
Shade rocked into my touch, and I worked my hand over him faster. His breath hitched, a rasp in his throat. A bead of moisture appeared at the tip of his shaft. I swiped my thumb over it, spreading the slick warmth.
“You’re the sexiest woman alive.” He twisted his hand in my hair. His fist closed, tugging my head back. “The hunger on your face. What you do to me.”
Shade angled my mouth so that he could feast on it. I didn’t know who took and who gave, but the deep, consuming kisses left me panting and reaching both hands up to grip his shoulders as he rolled on top of me.
“Tell me,” I whispered, his weight pressing me into the mattress. I brought my knees up, settling him more intimately against me. All he had to do was adjust the angle, thrust, and penetrate. Everything down low pulsed hard at the idea, needy and ready.
“Fuck, baby, I felt that.” Shade’s breath shuddered out.
I dragged an openmouthed kiss up the side of his neck and nipped his earlobe. “Tell me what I do to you.”
