She tugged at his shirt and he ripped it in two, flinging aside the pieces. Mara gasped, more turned on than she cared to admit by the sight of the animal driving him so hard. He was out of control and her only thought was bring me with you. She wanted that wildness. If this was going to be her last time, she wanted everything. She wanted all the insanity in his blood to be rushing through hers too. Only if she got it all would it be the closure she needed.
Their clothing only lasted a matter of seconds, and then they were flesh to flesh. He was so hot his skin seemed to burn right through hers, branding her with his scent, his need. He pivoted, pinning her between his body and the wall. Mara cried out, surprise and arousal blending in the sound. He was so strong. For a man with no control of himself, he was in perfect control of her.
Michael caught her wrists, trapping both of them above her head with one hand. “Admit it,” his dark voice rumbled into her ear before his mouth slid down the side of her neck. His sharp teeth nipped at the sensitive point where her neck met her shoulder and Mara moaned.
“Admit…what?” she panted, arching into his touch as his free hand cupped her breast, plumping it then sharply tweaking her nipple. Sensation shot straight to her pussy. She pressed her thighs together, wet and wanting.
“You need me,” he growled against her skin, licking his way down to her breasts, teasing flicks that made her writhe. He shifted his hand to torment her other breast and sucked the nipple he’d released into his mouth.
“Michael.”
“Admit you love me.” He took her other nipple into his mouth, catching it gently between his teeth. His fingers speared between her folds, sliding to either side of her clit and curling just barely inside her. Mara gave a ragged gasp. She was tuned to his touch, primed to do nothing but feel, all thought long since abandoned. Her only coherency was the need for more. Michael released her breast and lowered himself to his knees. A devilish smile quirked his sexy-as-sin mouth and her heart stuttered. More.
Michael pressed her back against the wall and hooked one of her knees over his shoulder, so she was completely open to him. His hand held her pussy, inches from his face, though his fingers stayed still and he made no move to bring her over the edge. Mara squirmed in his hold, urging him to give her the rhythm she needed.
“Michael,” she murmured breathily, his name both praise and plea.
He leaned forward and flicked his tongue across her clit. Mara gave a short, sharp shriek and her hands locked on his shoulders for balance. He was the only steady point in her world. He lapped against her again and she nearly saw heaven. Need built underneath her, coiling like a spring.
“Admit it, Mara.”
What was she supposed to be admitting? She could barely remember her own name. Right now she’d admit to being the Queen of Sheba, as long as he didn’t stop what he was doing.
“Yes,” she moaned, the only word she knew.
He set his mouth against her, sucking her bud into his mouth. The delicious pressure popped inside her and she came in a rush, sobbing his name. Pleasure rippled through her limbs, making them feel heavy, but Michael wasn’t done. He kept sucking and teasing her clit until she was back on the edge of need before she had time to come down.
He brought her again, a fast, hard, shuddering orgasm that wrenched through her, bone-deep.
In a moment of pleasure-induced clarity, Mara remembered why they were here. Their last time. She wanted it to be good for him. He’d already made it beyond good for her.
She threaded her fingers through his hair, palming his scalp and pulling him back. He put his thumb on her clit, as if marking his place, rubbing it in a slow circle.
“Come up here,” she pleaded. “I need you inside me.”
He shrugged her knee off his shoulder, rising so quickly he had her leg wrapped around his hip before she had a chance to lower it. He caught her other leg and lifted her, settling both her legs circling his waist. Mara wrapped her arms around his neck, expecting to feel him pressing into her, but Michael surprised her. Always surprising her…
He spun them away from the wall, crossing to the bed and lowering her gently onto her back on the mattress.
Something in his care, his tenderness, brought tears to her eyes, but Mara blinked them away. Michael was wonderful, but even if this was their farewell, she refused to cry. He pressed a kiss onto her lips, so soft and sweet it was more the promise of a kiss than a kiss itself.
She wanted more than promises she would never be able to redeem. Mara sank her hands into his hair again and pulled his head down to hers. She feasted on his lips, drawing on them and rolling her body in a sinuous wave beneath his until they were both back on the sharp edge of need.
He notched himself against her entrance and Mara released his mouth on a moan. “Last time…” she panted. “Make it good.”
An odd flicker passed through Michael’s eyes, but then he pressed inside her in a slow, luscious stroke and Mara couldn’t think to wonder about it. She couldn’t think of anything but the thick, hard feel of him stretching her tight.
He brushed her hair away from her face, framing it with his hands and dropping a kiss on her cheeks, her temples, and beneath the curve of her jaw. His eyes were an intense, burning blue and she couldn’t look away. Holding her gaze, he drew back and thrust slowly back again. Mara angled her hips to take him a fraction deeper. He thrust again and she released a ragged sigh. Before it had been a thundering rollercoaster of lust, but this was a sultry, sensual vise of passion, tightening slowly around them.
Michael took up a measured, punishing rhythm. Each stroke dragged along every nerve inside her. She gripped his buttocks, trying to urge him higher and harder, but Michael kept his brutal, deliberate pace. Her breathing matched his, their groans catching together at the end of each thrust. Mara felt like she was being held at the edge of madness.
Then, finally, he began to increase his tempo bit by bit. His eyes still bore into hers like blue lightning, branding her to her soul. His speed picked up, his thrusts growing rougher, and Mara reveled in the animal behind each fierce lunge. She needed all of him, every bit, even the wildest parts. Only then would she be free of him. She couldn’t find closure without a complete surrender.
She threw herself into this moment with all the passion he poured into his life. He pistoned into her, growling words that might have been her name or something more tender. They raced for completion together, a wild, bruising sprint. Mara flew over the edge first, with Michael a heartbeat behind. She burst into a thousand points of light as his hips jerked between her thighs.
He collapsed against her, his weight pressing her down into the mattress. Mara closed her eyes, drinking in that delicious heaviness for the last time, trying to imprint this moment into her memory so she would have it forever.
No wonder people always talked about break-up sex. It was incredible. Transcendent. Mara couldn’t think of better words to describe it, at least not until her brain came back online. She wanted to hold onto this moment, make it last, but exhaustion stole over her. Wrapped securely in her lover’s arms, Mara slept, resting easy.
Chapter Eight
Mara leaned against the schoolhouse window, watching the kids tumbling over one another in the schoolyard. It was a gorgeous day. Probably one of the last perfect days of spring. The sun shone warm and pleasant, gearing up for the ungodly hot summer days to come.