Page 85 of Long Past Deadly

She was safe.

He’d handle it.

But she shouldn’t sell him short. He might want her to touch him, too. He dropped a hand to hers and helped with the belt, letting her handle the zipper.

He stood to toss his boots, then placed his cellphone on the nightstand and stripped out of the rest of his clothes. She didn’t shy away from her curiosity. He had warm-toned skin, scars that needed loving attention, and maleness begging for touch.

He let her look with a quirk to his mouth, then pulled her feet closer. Black work shoes tossed off, he teased her out of her black slacks and blue panties. Expecting a playboy grin at her nakedness, his serious, loving expression buoyed her confidence. She dropped her hands, overriding the need to shield, and let him look.

“Oh, Jesus, Lani. You’re beautiful.” On top of her again, he eased her legs around his body. “You know that, right?”

“Only your saying so matters to me.” Her fingers itched to trace his shoulders, the muscle lines, the curves. So she did. He drew a sharp breath, swearing quietly. His hardness pressed at her soft opening, and she took a moment to savor. She’d read lines mirroring this reality in romance novels, but the experience was so much more seductive.

He lifted her hands away and trapped them on the bed. “Not so fast, honey.”

She sighed. “Yes, show me…”

“I know what you need. Let me take care of you.” He cupped her left breast and kissed the nipple, sucking the tender flesh into his mouth. She’d always been convinced men were the only ones obsessed with breasts. But by the time he gave her right breast the same attention, she’d lost herself in a haze of restless need and knew the truth. Girls could want, too.

Somewhere in there, he’d released her hands, and she caressed his flanks and ass, while tasting the skin across his muscled chest. Having intimate hands on him was better than anything she’d ever experienced and helped crumble her walls.

His hands caressed her hips, and his mouth followed across her stomach, dipping into hollows and leaving sweet sensations on soft flesh. She bit her lip and sighed with the shiver exploding from nipples to toes. When his fingers stroked the most intimate part of her, she came off the bed with a small scream.

“Easy, Lani.” He shifted to kiss her again, his tongue tracing her lips, tasting her mouth, turning her inside out. His fingers slipped inside her, first one then another – stroking, teasing the heat higher, higher. The ache was unbearable.

She dropped her legs from around his hips and let go. “Don’t make me wait.”

“Hold tight, Wildcat.” He kissed her again, and she answered with abandon, nipping at his lips and tasting him over and over. He pulled his fingers from inside her, then the length of him was there. He pushed in slowly and gave her time to adjust, but she was crazy with an aching heat, burning hotter ever second. She wanted harder, faster, but the tightness surprised her. She gave way to his experience.

Each little bit stretched and burned, yet raised the Oh-My-God-finish-this factor. When the pain came, she jerked upward into his arms and hissed. He eased back, but she wouldn’t let him. “In, God, please, Quaid.”

He took her at her instruction and slid deep before pausing to let her breathe. She didn’t need it. “More.”

“You are so demanding,” he teased. “Let’s do this.”

He carefully pulled out, and she moaned her dissatisfaction until he drove back in. The rhythm came faster and faster, and she had no idea what her body was doing. Floating on sensation, she gazed at Quaid’s face and found concentration and devotion there.

She went with his simple guidance because his every move wound her tighter and tighter. More than aware of his strength, she put her hands of his hips and let the give and take roll through every fiber of her being. She exploded in a burning tumble of sensation, surprised and breathless. Gasping, she moaned. The need to keep him fully in her persisted. She lifted a leg around him, letting him move as he needed, but keeping him close. God! Hers. He slid deep one last time and climaxed; she could feel the moment and hear it in his voice, then he collapsed on her with a moan that mirrored her own. “Jesus, Lani.”

“Oh, yes.”

Long minutes passed. She wanted to stay like this for as long as possible. Life was complicated and when the hell would there be more time for this. But once definitely wasn’t enough.

His rough voice planted her firmly back in reality. “Are you okay?”

She swiped at the tears, surprised by their presence. “No. I’m stunned. I’m bedazzled. I’m hooked.”

Quaid laughed. “Unusual, but I like it.” He sobered, wiping her tears. “This wasn’t the way I thought our first time would go.”

“So you thought about it?” She kissed his jaw, reluctant to drop her leg and release him.

He shrugged, his hand stroking over her nude body. “Obviously, you did, too.”

“Not consciously. It was more of a decision. Right person.”

He lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. “Right person.”

She licked her lips. “What now? Again?”