“Never more so.”
He led her to a small bed at the rear of the cottage, and Lucy settled back against the soft mattress.
James watched her with a hunger that made her heart race.
“I suppose it’s my turn now,” he said with a seductive grin as he shed his unbuttoned shirt and began working to unfasten his trousers.
After toeing off his boots and letting his trousers fall, he climbed onto the bed, his palms planted on either side of her body.
His legs slid between hers, and he stilled, arching over her, staring into her eyes.
“I’ve never wanted anything more than this,” he told her on a raspy whisper.
Lucy reached up and stroked her fingers through the thick fall of dark hair on his forehead.
“I’ve never wanted any man but you,” she told him, certainty in every single word. She opened her mouth to say more. To assure him that she wouldn’t stop wanting him after this single night together, or even after a lifetime at his side.
But he took her breath away. He’d knelt, scooping her backside into his hands and nuzzled his lips against her center.
One finger traced her slit, then he chased it with his tongue.
Lucy gasped at the heat of him. He’d touched her center once, but now his tongue explored andfound a spot so sensitive that she bucked and gripped the counterpane in her hands as he lapped at her there.
“James.” She wasn’t certain what she was calling for. More, faster, deeper. But she knew what was coming.
He did too. Easing back just for a moment, he whispered against her, “Let it come, love. I want to feel you burst against my tongue.”
Lucy slid a hand down to run her fingers through his hair. Then grip his shoulder, stroke along the back of his neck.
Her body drew taut as sensation built. He used his tongue masterfully, lovingly, seeming to know exactly what she needed. Then she felt the thick tip of his finger slip inside her and fireworks burst behind her eyes. She shook like she’d been shocked, the tremors somehow adding to the pleasure.
She called his name, and he was there, over her, his lips on hers.
“You’re exquisite,” he whispered between kisses. “We do this as you wish it. Tell me if it hurts or there’s something you dislike.”
“I like it all. I want all of you.” Lucy felt the hot insistent press of him at her center. She was so wet, so sensitive, that she moaned as he thrust inside her and she bucked to get him closer.
There was a flash of pain, and James stilled as if he was so attuned to her feelings that he knew.
“Are you all right?”
Lucy laughed and bent up to kiss him. “I’m far better than all right.”
She felt glorious. This felt glorious. Being with him, feeling their bodies connected, their breaths synchronizing as one.
He made her feel safe, desired, adored.
“I’m ready,” she whispered, arching her hips up to take him deeper.
When he began to thrust, he held her gaze, his dark eyes intense, sparking with blue fire. But she thought she saw something else there too. A promise. A certainty. That this was just the beginning.
Then he shifted his hips, bent to take her nipple between his lips, and his rhythm became hungrier, faster, deeper. Exactly what she wanted.
She needed him as much as she could feel his need for her.
“Lucy,” he began murmuring. “Lucy.” He repeated her name like a plea.
Her name on his tongue pulled her to that precipice again. Faster this time than ever before, she dug her nails into his shoulder as she fell. And he came too. A moment after she cried out, he groaned her name.
