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She pressed her mouth against his shoulder to muffle the sound that escaped her. Wes’s arm came around her waist, holding her steady.

The pressure of his thumb increased. Kate’s breath broke. Her body tightened around his fingers as the climax swept through her. She clung to him, muscles pulsing while Wes kept touching her through the last shuddering waves.

For a while she could do nothing except breathe. Wes kissed her temple. Kate lifted her head and found him watching her. The tenderness in his expression threatened to become more overwhelming than the pleasure had been. She reached for him.

This time Wes did not stop her. Kate stroked him until the muscles in his abdomen tightened. She kissed his chest, then the side of his neck, enjoying every rough breath she drew from him. He caught her around the waist and kissed her hard.

Desire rose again almost immediately. Kate wanted more than his hands. She wanted all of him. Wes seemed to understand.

He turned off the shower. The sudden quiet made the storm beyond the bathroom window audible again, rain beating against the glass and wind moving around the house.

Wes reached for a towel. Kate caught his hand before he could pick it up. He looked at her. She stepped closer and kissed him.

They dried only enough not to soak everything they touched. Kate walked backward into the bedroom with Wes following, his mouth moving over hers while one hand remained at her waist.

The backs of her knees touched the mattress. She sat down and pulled him down next to her.

His mouth moved down her throat, across her collarbone and over her breast. Kate pushed her fingers into his damp hair as he drew one nipple between his lips. He knew what she liked now. The realization made her smile, but the smile disappeared when his hand moved between her legs again.

Kate opened for him. Wes slid his fingers through her wetness and into her, the touch more deliberate than before. His mouth remained on her breast while his hand moved with a steady rhythm.

Kate’s hips lifted. He drew back before she could reach another climax. Her eyes opened. Wes shifted lower.

Kate knew what he intended before his mouth touched her. Her fingers twisted in the sheets. The first stroke of his tongue sent a sharp rush of pleasure through her. He moved slowly, exploring her with his mouth until Kate stopped trying to predict what he would do next.

She gave herself over to it. Wes held her thighs as his tongue moved across her, finding the exact pressure that made her breathe his name. He repeated it. Again.

Kate raised her hips toward him. Wes slid two fingers inside her while his mouth remained on her, and the combination pushed her rapidly toward the edge.

Her body tightened. She tried to hold on. She could not.

The climax hit harder this time, drawing a cry from her as her fingers clenched in the sheets. Wes continued until she reached down and touched his shoulder, too sensitive for more. He kissed the inside of her thigh before moving back up the bed. Kate was still trying to catch her breath when she reached for him.

She drew him up over her and kissed him as he settled between her thighs. For a moment he looked at her.

Kate cupped the back of his neck. “Yes.”

He entered her slowly.

Kate’s eyes closed as he filled her. She drew him closer immediately, answering before he had any reason to pause. When she opened her eyes, his gaze was fixed on hers.

Wes began to move.

The first strokes were slow, his weight supported above her while Kate slid her hands down his back. He drew back and drove forward again, and the angle sent a new rush of sensation through her.

Kate wrapped one leg around his hip. He moved deeper. The bed shifted beneath them as their rhythm built. Wes lowered his head and kissed her, but the kiss soon broke because neither of them could keep their breathing steady enough.

Kate held on to him. This was not the same as their first night. Then, everything had been about finally touching after days of wanting. Tonight she knew the shape of the man in her arms beyond his body.

She knew his patience. It could infuriate her, because he would not make a single decision for her, even when that would have been easier for him. She knew his quiet pride in his orchard, his affection for Penny, the way he respected her parents enough to let them make mistakes rather than taking over.

And she knew there was a bear inside him who had recognized her before Wes even saw her face. None of that frightened her now.

Wes slid one hand beneath her knee and raised her leg higher. The change in angle made Kate gasp. He paused. She tightened her leg around him and pulled him closer. Wes understood. His next thrust went deeper.

Her hands gripped his shoulders. He moved faster now, still controlled but no longer cautious, his hips driving into hers with a rhythm that made thought increasingly impossible. Kate met him stroke for stroke. Pleasure gathered again, slower this time but deeper.

Wes lowered his mouth to her breast and drew her nipple between his lips. Kate cried out and tightened around him. His rhythm faltered. Only for a second.