She’d always flown too close to the flame. Why stop now? To emphasize her words, she bit into his shoulder, right next to the Celtic knot. If she had to keep using her teeth to show him she was serious, she would. The sense of his power, of his absolute self-control, was all around them. It was reflected in his eyes, in the way his muscles jumped. In the bruises along his face. She’d do anything to get that control to snap.
It was close, but he was still holding on. She wanted him to let go, so she scraped her nails down his back to his tight butt, digging in.
He growled low, settling against her. A warning, way too late, sounded in the back of her head. Was she making another mistake? Finding a challenge and jumping in without thinking? Her heart pounded, and she opened her mouth to speak, when he dropped his head and swept his rough tongue against her nipple.
The words sputtered in her throat. A roaring between her ears drowned out that slight thought of caution. She dug harder into his butt. He lifted his head and kissed her again, this time commanding a response. She gave him what he wanted, kissing him back, her entire body on fire.
He scraped his whiskered jaw down her neck and paused, reaching for the bag still on the floor. “Wolfe said he had supplies.”
It took her a second to follow his statement. She blinked. “Oh. He probably didn’t mean—” Yep. Raider took out a box of condoms. So Wolfe had meant that? Or did the soldier always carry a big box?
Raider lifted up, his nostrils flaring. “We have supplies, but again, you sure?”
Definitely, especially since they had protection. “I’m sure,” she said, her voice hoarse. This was intimate on a level she hadn’t anticipated.
“All right.” He nipped her neck, swirled his tongue around both nipples, and kept moving south, kissing her belly on the way. He took his time with both of her hipbones, nipping and leaving slight marks, driving her crazy. Then he continued down her body.
She swallowed, tiny shocks zipping through her straight to her core. Then he kissed her. Right there, right where she wanted him. He stroked his thumb over her clit, lighting her entire body on fire. She mewled, her thighs shaking. Hot streaks of desire, raw and deep, seared through her.
He clamped a hand on her hip, pressing her into the mattress. Then he lowered his dark head and flicked his tongue against her needy bundle of nerves. One finger entered her, and he licked her, looking up with that black gaze.
That alone nearly sent her into orgasm.
Then he smiled against her flesh, the sight as devastating as the sensations he created. He kept her in place, kissing and licking, winding her higher and higher, and she writhed and moaned, needing to fall over. He made her ride his fingers and mouth, drawing out her need, until she detonated with a small gasp.
She cried out, latching onto his hair, her eyelids shuttering as ecstasy took her away. He played her body like he’d spent a lifetime memorizing each curve. The orgasm rolled through her and then hit harder, somehow prolonging the devastating pleasure. When she couldn’t take any more, she softened to the mattress and tugged on his hair.
He nipped her one more time, and electricity shot to every nerve in her body. She jerked and a moan escaped her.
Then he took his time on his journey back up her body, licking, nipping, and touching every inch on the way. She’d had no idea the indent of her waist was such a sensitive place. Or the underside of her breasts. Even the center of her palms gained a kiss as he drew up her hands and pressed her knuckles onto the bed, holding her in place.
With him over her, so strong and attentive, she was taken away. Taken, period. Never in her life had she felt like this. A combination of need and vulnerability and desire mingled inside her until she couldn’t focus on any one thing.
Except Raider. For the moment, there was nothing else in the entire world but Raider Tanaka. And she wanted him inside her. Now. He quickly rolled on a condom, his gaze piercing hers.
Holding her in place with the long line of his muscled body pressing her into the bed, he returned to her mouth, kissing her with an intensity that ratcheted up her tension at a breathless speed. His body was warm against hers, heated even, and his erection rubbed enticingly against her needy sex.
She lifted her knees on either side of his hips. “Stop holding back. I’m ready.” God, she needed him to lose control. To join her in being taken over by this. “Now, Raider. Give me all of you.”
He went utterly still and lifted his head, his eyes the darkest of midnights with no stars. Dark and deep and powerful. His hands flexed against hers, and then he shifted his hips, poised at her entrance. Slowly, intently, he penetrated her, all of him taking her over.
Even though she’d been ready, and wanted him, she gasped at the invasion. He took her, big and full, inching inside and giving no quarter. He went steady, and tingles exploded one after the other inside her, even as she rode the perfect edge between pleasure and pain.
Her body relaxed to take him, and the feeling was so overwhelming that she shut her eyes.
He paused, halfway inside her, and gently kissed each of her eyelids. Soft and gentle. Understanding. Tears pricked the back of her eyes, and she blinked rapidly to keep something of herself separate. But he saw everything—he felt everything. There was no hiding from Raider.
He continued pressing inside her until he’d taken her completely, going deeper than she’d realized anybody could.
She opened her eyes again to meet his gaze. The intimacy of the moment, of him all the way inside her, of his sweetness in the unexpected kiss, overtook her.
“Now,” he whispered, his smile all masculine intent. He pulled out and shoved back inside her, not holding back. Then he started to pound.
Her body responded way before her mind, lifting her hips to meet his thrusts, wanting everything he could give her. The tension inside her spiraled up until she gave up breathing. She curled her fingers over his, unable to move her hands and touch him. The inability to move, the total control he kept over her body, drove her up higher than ever before.
He angled his body more over her, and slammed into her, rubbing across her clit.
She gasped, biting her lip to keep from screaming. Lights flashed behind her eyes and she climbed higher, trying to get to that peak that was so close. So damn close.
