Andrew slid the lacy fabric free and tossed it behind him, but when he bent low again, he touched his lips to her collarbone, her shoulder. The middle of her chest.
Too slow. Kat clutched at his short hair and groaned. “I’m not a virgin. We can go slower the second time? Or the fifth?”
His mouth skimmed her breast as he raised his head to meet her eyes. “You’re not a virgin,” he agreed as his cheeks reddened. “But this isn’t—I’m not—”
“A tiny man?” she guessed, trying to keep from smiling. He was stammering. “Andrew, I’ve seen you with an erection. I didn’t faint. I’m pretty sure it will all work out, anatomically speaking.”
He didn’t share her amusement. “I just don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered.
That subtly, the power shifted again. Maybe it would always be like that between them, a seesaw of give and take, Andrew’s desperate need to minimize the danger to her body against her equally powerful need to protect his mind and heart. They could hurt each other, destroy each other, so easily—so accidentally-They could. But they wouldn’t. For the first time, she was sure. Kat lifted her hands and cupped his face. Gave him the power, because right now she had plenty to spare. “Then we’ll go as slow as you want to. Until I’m whimpering and begging and ready to kill you for how bad I need you inside me.”
His eyes darkened, but he smiled again. “The death threats are sexy.” Then he kissed her, slow and deep.
And endless. Not that he couldn’t kiss, oh hell, could he kiss, but the sheer sensuality of his tongue teasing against hers had her twisting restlessly long before he decided to move on.
To her neck, next, which had her arching her head back in a silent plea that he granted with a soft nip.
He must have liked the way she whimpered, because he did it again and again, until her breaths rasped in and out and she wondered if it was possible to go insane from too much physical pleasure.
Then he moved to her ear. Licks. Nips. He kissed her until she whispered his name, then switched to the other side and started all over, working his way down her throat with a concentration that made her consider snatching the power back and taking him.
But he needed this. Needed every moan he coaxed out of her, needed the pleasure that made her skin flushed and sensitive. Needed her to be ready for him, as if she wasn’t already aching and wet, embarrassingly aroused and ready to beg in earnest.
She did, when his beard scratched across her breasts, his mouth hot and open on her chest. “Andrew… oh, my God, please—” She caught his hair, tried to tug his mouth to her nipple, babbling helpless pleas that she’d have to deny later.
“Please what?” He tugged at the button on her pants.
“Your mouth…” She didn’t finish. Not when it might distract him from finally taking off her pants.
“My mouth,” he agreed. Then he closed his lips around one nipple and sucked hard as he opened her pants.
It felt so good she spent a terrified moment wondering if her shields had shattered. But no—it was her own pleasure, physical and mounting under the skillful play of his tongue. Or maybe deeper than physical, as if his calculated, deliberate seduction stroked across months of fantasy and years of longing.
She needed him. Wanted him. Loved him.
Andrew’s movements took on an edge of desperation as he yanked her pants and underwear off her hips at the same time. He groaned without lifting his mouth or breaking contact, and his hand slipped between her thighs.
This was critical overload. Too good, too much, and not enough by half. She tried to move her legs apart and groaned when she found them tangled in her pants. “Off,” she whispered, twisting to try to reach her clothing without losing the heat of his mouth or the sweet relief of his fingers.
But she lost both as he straightened, up on his knees, and tossed the rest of her clothes aside. “Night stand,” he whispered.
It took her five seconds to understand and twice that to roll to her hands and knees and drag open the drawer. Inside she found an unopened box of condoms tucked next to a couple of paperbacks. Mysteries with vague covers and huge shiny fonts, and she couldn’t believe she was paying attention to books when she could hear Andrew unzipping his pants.
She grabbed the box of condoms and turned to find him naked beside the bed, staring down at her with lust and desire and a tenderness that turned her inside out. “Lie down, Kat.”
For the first time, she saw the cracks in the control, saw that the restraint that seemed so much a part of him was hard-won and too easily shaken by everything she did.
So she eased back against the mattress, the box clutched in one hand. He took it from her with careful movements, pulled one free and put it on.
The bed dipped under his weight as he stretched out beside her, still moving slowly, deliberately. He touched her face, smoothing his thumb over her lower lip.
“How?” she whispered, unable to look away from his face. “How do you want me?”
“Just like this.” Andrew dropped quick, soft kisses on her face as he moved over her and settled between her thighs. The head of his cock rested against her, ready but not pressing deeper.
It could be anticipation…or fear. Kat rubbed one foot over his calf as she nipped at his chin. “I know I’m human. I know you don’t want to hurt me. But I could stop you, Andrew, no matter what. You can let go, because I’ve felt what’s inside you, and I trust you.”
“I know.” He kissed her, his hips flexing. “That’s the best part.” The flexing turned into a gentle rock, forward and back, each motion bringing him just a little deeper inside her.
If her empathy had been weaker, she could have shared it with him. Opened her heart and wallowed in the pleasure he took from her, from how it must feel to press forward one torturous inch at a time. She could have given him the giddy joy that accompanied her body stretching to accommodate his cock.
Dropping her shields would leave them vulnerable to the uncontrolled feedback, but she had words.
And she used them, clutching at his shoulders as his next rock pushed deep enough to steal her breath.
“I’ve wanted this for so long. You, inside me.”
He gritted his teeth, and his arms shook, muscles standing out in sharp relief. “Did you mean it? Let go?”
A fraction of his strength would leave her broken, and she didn’t care. Couldn’t imagine a world where any need he had could be met with her pain. “Show me. All the things we’ve been missing.”
Andrew bent his head and caught her mouth with a hoarse groan as he thrust deeper—not too deep, but enough to dance the line between too good and too much. Moaning, she tightened her legs around his hips, a silent plea for a moment to adjust, then licked his lip.
He froze, then returned the tiny caress. “A minute?”
“A few seconds,” she corrected, rocking up. Taking him, taking the pleasure and the hint of discomfort, the sensation somehow more perfect because it was as imperfect as they were. The rough edges and pain made it real, made it worth it, because it wasn’t easy and they wanted each other enough to fight.
So she bit his lip and growled. “Deeper. I want all of you.”
He echoed her growl as he eased into her, slowly but not stopping until his hips rested against hers.
“Better?”
“Perfect. Told you it would be…” It was the best she could manage when every sense was overwhelmed with him. She smoothed her hands over his tense shoulders, restless now. She tried to ignore the heat of his skin and the way his cock felt, buried so deep. Ignored it just long enough to issue her warning. “If—if I come, I could slip a little. Even with my shields in place…if I’m feeling that much, some of it might leak through.”