Emma squirmed out of the bed covers and lifted herself onto his lap, running her hands up his arms and onto his neck. She pressed a line of kisses over his cheek and onto his jaw, lingering near his ear. Her breath was warm against his skin as she whispered, “Thank you, Zach.”
“No. Please. Don’t thank me.” He settled his hands on her hips, holding her still. “I didn’t—”
She bit his earlobe. Hard. And he sucked in a breath.
“I can thank you if I want.” Emma leaned back, trusting him to balance her. “You’ve given me a gift.”
Zach started to shake his head. To deny her words. But she pulled her top over her head and all he could do was groan. His cock was thick and hard between them, pushing against the zipper of his jeans, and he grunted as she rocked forward, pressing herself as close as she could.
She tugged at his shirt, and he helped her to pull it off. Then he rested one hand behind her back between her shoulder blades, holding her, and sank his other hand into her hair, tangling his fingers into the silky strands that he’d been admiring earlier. He tightened his grip, letting it sting a little, and she let out a shaky sigh. Then he tilted her head until he could take her mouth at the perfect angle. Her lips parted and he let himself get lost in the feel of her, in the glide of her tongue, the way her weight shifted in his lap, and the slowly building ache between them. Letting himself forget his fears.
He guided her to lean further back, balancing her on his lap as he ran his mouth down her neck, onto her breast to circle her nipple with his tongue. It hardened to a stiff peak and he sucked it between his lips in deep pulls, loving how she twisted in his lap, pressing herself harder against his rigid length.
His Shadows swirled through his belly and up, pouring out of him in a long, sensuous wave, and for the first time, her Shadows truly entwined themselves with his. The essence of Emma—strength and courage and kindness—wrapped itself around him.
Her building arousal fed into his, and his overwhelming need for her fed back to her, until it was impossible to separate them.
Emma wrapped one arm around his neck and slid her free hand down his chest to work at the top button of his jeans. He grazed her nipple with his teeth and she fumbled, but she got it open, and then she found his zipper and tugged it down.
His cock sprang free and she circled her thumb over the head before gliding her hand down his length and closing her fist around him. He nudged his hips up, pressing deeper into her small hand. She gripped him firmly, using the tight fit between their bodies to add heat and pressure, sending tingles up his spine in molten waves.
“Zach?” She ran her thumb over the head of his cock again, spreading precome. “Can you…?” She gestured to her cotton panties, the only barrier left between them.
Zach shuddered. “How much do you like them?”
“Destroy them,” Emma whispered.
He twisted his fingers to form a small Shadow blade, and then simply cut them off her. Emma lifted her hips and the scraps of fabric fell away.
The flush already climbing her chest deepened, and he ran his mouth to her neck, where her pulse throbbed beneath her smooth skin, and sucked. Her hand still gripped him firmly between their bodies, and her hips nudged forward, rocking against her own fist.
She shifted, leaning forward and taking her weight onto her knees, and he knew that in the next second she would slide down onto him and every last rational thought would disappear.
He held her steady with a hand on her hip. “Give me a moment, Emma, love.” His words were rough. “I need to get a condom.”
Emma paused for a moment and then lowered her forehead to his. “You already know I’m on the pill. I want to be with you like this.”
God. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She lifted her hips, positioning herself over him. “Is this whatyouwant, Zach?”
He had to make a decision. Choose what he wanted. While his cock wept in her hand and his entire body ached to be in hers. While their Shadows danced together, connecting them at every level. And there was only one answer he could possibly give. “I just want you.”
She sank down slowly, taking him inside her body in torturous increments. Taking him into her clenching heat until he was surrounded by her, just as he was surrounded by her Shadows. They were soft and hazy, vaguely formed, but they wereher. And she was everything.
He sent out a writhing coil of Shadow tendrils, running them up her body to twist around her nipples in exactly the way she liked, freeing him to hold her hips with both hands—supporting her body as she rose and fell—and then he kissed her.
He lost himself in her mouth. In the wet heat of her tongue on his, sliding and exploring, while her body clasped and ground down on his. She balanced herself on his shoulders and rocked forward, shuddering, and the ecstasy coiling around his spine climbed higher.
Zach sent out another wave of Shadows, supporting her, holding her. Her hand still lingered between their heated bodies, close to where they were joined. “Emma, use those clever fingers. Touch yourself, sweetheart.”
He knew the moment she found her clit. Her walls clamped down on him and she shuddered, losing the rhythm of their kiss to breathe heavily against his mouth.
Emma’s face fell into the crook of his neck, her teeth grazing against his skin as she whimpered, her hips rocking more frantically. Zach twisted his Shadows against her breasts in time with her movements. Then, keeping one hand on her hips to support her, he slid the other hand further around to tease a finger around her back entrance.
She moaned against his neck, her fingers moving faster between them, her body coiled tight around his as their Shadows spun faster together.
He nudged against the tight ring. “Emma, can I?”
