“Paige…” His voice vibrated with uncertainties, though his gaze was fever-bright with desire.
“I want this. I need this,” she whispered, then gathered her courage to admit her strongest weakness, her greatest fear. “I need you.”
Not giving him a chance to reject her, she cupped his jaw between her cool palms, brought his mouth to hers and kissed him, pouring every emotion she felt for him into that fusing of lips, that tangling of tongues. He didn’t deny her, but then she knew he would never refuse anything she asked, not if her request was within his power to grant.
His selflessness made her love him all the more.
Her hands skimmed down his neck and slipped into the collar of his sports jacket, tugging it over his shoulders, down his arms, and letting it fall to the floor. He wasn’t wearing his shoulder holster, but she knew he wasn’t without a weapon. She continued to kiss him, aggressively, endlessly, searing her senses and inflaming them both. The thought of the impending danger they faced made her need for him more vital. Her fingers fluttered to the buttons on his shirt, but he caught her hands before she could part the material.
He tore his mouth from hers, his breathing harsh. “Give me a minute,” he murmured, his voice rough with arousal.
Those sixty seconds felt like an eternity to Paige. She watched him toe off his loafers, then bend down, lift his right pant leg and hastily remove the holster he’d secured there. He withdrew a snub-nosed revolver, set it on the nightstand next to the bed, and returned to her, his eyes glowing with golden heat and promise. Plowing all ten fingers into her hair, he closed his mouth over hers, picking up where they’d left off with a long, greedy kiss she returned with equal fervor.
Within seconds, they were wild and on fire for each other. Paige knew this wouldn’t be a gentle loving; what she longed for was fierce and primitive, and Josh was well on his way to giving her the untamed joining her heart and body clamored for.
She nearly tore off his shirt in her haste to touch bare skin. He shrugged out of the garment, and she rubbed her palms over his chest, dizzied by the feel of heat and muscle. She skimmed lower, over his flat belly to the waistband of his pants, struggling to unbuckle his belt. An encouraging moan purred in her throat when he reached behind her, unzipped her dress, and trailed his fingers down the ever-widening path to the base of her spine. She lowered her arms, and the silky fabric slid down her body and pooled around her feet, leaving her scantily clad in wispy cocoa-colored panties and a matching sheer lace bra. His pants and briefs quickly followed.
He reached to pull her close, to rid her of her lingerie, but she had other ideas. She broke their kiss and looked her fill of him, savoring every inch of his naked body. And he let her, though she knew by the tense set of his jaw it took incredible restraint. He was a gorgeous man, his body honed and tightly muscled. She stroked the breadth of his shoulders, touched her fingertips to his chest, lightly circled his navel…and explored lower, her gaze inexorably drawn to the thick arousal jutting from the nest of dark hair between his thighs.
Before she reached her destination, however, he grasped her wrist and jerked her hand away. “Paige, I can’t take much more,” he said gruffly.
She licked her dry lips, moistening them with her tongue. Her heart pounded in her chest as she thought of all the things she wanted to do to him. With him. Erotic things to remember for a lifetime. “Let me touch you,” she whispered. “Please.”
His eyes darkened, and she knew he wouldn’t refuse her provocative request. But she never could have anticipated his next move. Holding her gaze with his, he lifted her hand to his lips and sucked each one of her fingers into his mouth, thoroughly wetting them, then slid his soft tongue over her palm. Her stomach clenched and she grew damp, liquid, ready.
Lowering her lubricated hand, he wrapped her fingers around his straining shaft. She stroked his rigid length with her slick palm and he grasped her face between his large hands and kissed her, slipping his tongue deep within her mouth, enticing her with his own brand of seduction. And with each silken glide of her fingers he grew impossibly harder, thicker…
He groaned helplessly and lifted his mouth from hers. “Too fast,” he muttered, stopping the motions of her hand.
She was breathing hard, her pulse racing. Yes, she did feel a little out of control, but she reveled in the uninhibited sensation. Her heart hammered, with excitement, anticipation and an urgency he instinctively understood.
With a dark oath, his mouth descended once again, crushing hers in a lush, rapacious kiss as he guided her back until her spine was flattened against the cool wall and his hot body pressed intimately into hers. He buried his face into the curve of her neck and she arched into him, gasping when his erection slid against the silk covering her mound. She moaned and tilted her hips, needing him inside her, half out of her mind for him to ease the building ache there.
“Josh, now,” she begged, moving shamelessly against him.
“Not yet,” he breathed hotly against her skin. Grasping the straps of her bra, he pulled them down her arms, just until her breasts sprang free from the lacy netting. His hands plumped the flesh, squeezing, caressing, then lifted her straining nipple to his mouth so he could suckle the tender nub of flesh.
A jolt of sexual longing swept through Paige, rendering her breathless.
Josh charted a path of wet kisses down her belly, bathed her navel with his tongue, while dragging her panties down her legs. He nudged her thighs apart, wasting no time in taking her deeply, carnally, with his mouth and tongue. She sucked in a breath and dug her fingers into his hair as her knees threatened to buckle. His tongue flicked, teased, stroked her slowly, sensually, drawing out the incredible pleasure until it became too intense to bear.
He pushed her over the edge and she soared, climaxing with a low, keening cry she couldn’t hold back. Tremors rippled through her body, and he carried her the entire way.
For the briefest moment he left her, opening the nightstand drawer and groping for something inside-a condom, she realized in a dazed fog as she watched him tear open the foil pack and roll the protection onto his erection.
He glanced at her, his chest rising and falling, his gaze dark with unquenched passion, yet tinged with hesitancy, too. He made no move to reach for her, leaving the next decision up to her.
Unhooking her bra, she let it fall to the floor, then stepped toward him. Her palms pressed against his chest, guided him back until his legs hit the edge of the mattress. She followed him down onto the bed, straddled his hips, accepted the fullness of him and rode him. His hands were everywhere, fondling her breasts, rubbing her thighs, clutching her hips so he could drive deeper…
With a low, masculine growl, he rolled, pinning her beneath him, so they were face-to-face. Heart to beating heart.
She touched his jaw, stared into his eyes. “I love you, Josh,” she whispered, the words slipping out of their own accord. She didn’t regret saying them, couldn’t, not when tonight held so many uncertainties, so many risks.
“I know,” was all he said, then lowered his head and kissed her sweetly, tenderly.
He made love to her with exquisite slowness, extending their time together for as long as possible. Eventually, his measured thrusts gained momentum. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she lifted her hips, urging him deeper, urging him to fill the darkest part of her soul. Languid strokes became harder, quicker, a succession of rhythmic lunges that made him groan and shudder and finally reach his own powerful orgasm.
Minutes later, when he finally recovered, he lifted up on his forearms to stare down at her, and brushed away tendrils of hair from her face with his fingers. A gentle smile curved his mouth, but an awesome sadness filled his eyes. “How’s that headache of yours?”