Page 55 of In the Dead of Night

Nick obliged by ripping open his shirt. Buttons popped and fell to the floor. Sara caught a glimpse of dark hair, rounded pectoral muscles and an abdomen as hard and flat as granite. Then he was working off the shirt and pulling her to him.

His chest pressed against hers, bringing forth another rise of arousal. She could feel it pulsing between her legs, her panties going damp.

She hadn’t intended for the situation to go this far. Kissing was one thing. It was safe. Controlled. But having sex with Nick Tyson was going to be something else altogether.

But Sara wasn’t going to stop. For better or for worse, she wanted this precious time with him. Wanted it more than she wanted her next breath.

His arms went around her shoulders and back. Crushing her to him, he kissed her full on the mouth. Sara wrapped her arms around his shoulders, marveling at the hard-as-stone feel of his muscles. She kissed him back with an abandon she hadn’t known existed inside her.

Nick pulled away and rose. Puzzled, Sara looked up at him. “Come here,” he said, extending his hand to her.

The next thing she knew he swept her into his arms. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders. With the other she cupped his cheek and turned his face toward her for a kiss. Hugging her against him, he kissed her hard, his tongue sliding into her mouth and going deep. She could feel him trembling now and it pleased her to know she had the same profound effect on him as he did on her.

He pushed open the bedroom door with his foot. The door swung wide and he stepped inside, not bothering to turn on the light. Midway to the bed, he let Sara slide from his arms. The instant her feet hit the floor, his hands were all over her, seeking, exploring.

Sara felt as if she were drowning in sensation. She’d never known what it was like to want with such ferocity. Her fingers trembled violently as she worked to open his belt. When it came away she fumbled with the zipper of his jeans. He’d removed his shirt. She couldn’t keep her eyes off the dark thatch of hair and sinewy muscle. He had the most magnificent chest she’d ever laid eyes on.

He worked the bra from her shoulders. His fingers brushed at the sensitive flesh of her belly when he unzipped her jeans. Sara’s legs trembled so violently, she wasn’t sure she could step out of them, but she managed.

Wearing nothing more than her panties, she moved to climb onto the bed. But Nick stopped her. Taking her hand, he turned her to face him. Light bled in through the partially open door. Sara could see the dark shadows of his eyes. The taut slant of his mouth. He was fully aroused, his breathing rushing out as if he’d just run a mile.

Dipping his head slightly, he took her mouth in a kiss. He might as well have doused her body with gasoline and tossed a match because Sara went up in flames. Her blood felt superheated, as if it were searing her veins. She kissed Nick with wild abandon. Locking her hands with his, he backed her toward the wall.

Her back made contact, but that didn’t stop him. He kept coming until he pressed full length against her. Sara’s senses spun with overload. There was too much sensation. Too much pleasure. Her brain couldn’t seem to process it all.

But her body could.

A sigh slid from her lips when he took her hands and slid them along the wall so that they were above her head. He captured her sigh with his mouth, stealing her breath, the last of her rational thought.

Moving his right hand lower, he slid her panties downward. Sara could feel his hand trembling against her. She wanted to tell him everything was going to be all right. That she was nervous, too. But she was so caught up in the moment, her voice failed her. All she could do was speak to him with her body.

Her panties fell away. She gasped when he lifted her, wedging himself between her knees and pressing her against the wall. He took her mouth with a hunger that verged on insanity. At the same time he slid into her center and went deep.

The shock of pleasure wrenched a cry from her throat. Lurching forward, she opened, took him more deeply inside her. He began to move in long, slow strokes, and the room spun into gray.