A Second Chance (35 page)

‘
Always
,
’
she whispered, hot tears prickling under her eyelids. ‘
Because
I know it
’
s you, there in the pictures and here with me
.
’

She
saw him
bend toward her
and knew he would kiss her.
She felt weak and slow,
like
a spectator watching from the sidelines, the thought
barely registering in her brain
that she should stop it before it escalated into something be
yond her control
. Instead she waited, breathless and excited, for the first touch of his lips on hers. She knew the taste of him already,
having
sampl
ed
it
before
, and
she craved it even more.

Nothing tasted sweeter than
the
warm, firm mouth that came possessively over hers, finally closing the space between them with a finality that left no room for second thoughts.
With sudden clarity she knew that this was exactly where fate
had been
leading her since the moment she
’d
confessed her feelings to
Liam
at Laura’s party twelve years
before
. To this one glorious moment where she was his, all the doubts cast aside as he molded
their bodies together
, shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip, every inch of her body aware of his iron
-
hard frame.

Her arms went around his neck,
aware of
the softness of his hair
,
her fingers
weaving through it unhurriedly as she responded to the pressure of his lips demanding an answer. She felt his hands urgent and strong as he
pick
ed
her off her feet into the cradle of his arms. Never once breaking the kiss, he carried her to the carpet, lowering
her
carefully to its shaggy softness. Her
shoulder blades
were against the floor, yet she
was unaware of
its hardness.
Rather, she was
floating,
the
sweep of his impatient hand from her waist up to her chest dizzying with promise of more to come.

She held her breath, waiting
for him to finally cup
the
breast
swelling
under the flimsy
material
of her bra. It
seemed
like forever
before
his fingers
embraced
the mound with
the
familiarity of someone who had done it a thousand times before. His lips caressed hers as he started to stroke her, exploring the firm flesh and teasing the hardened tip with the lightest of touches.
The sensation
was unbearable
,
and she moved restlessly under his body, demanding more. He obliged, his fingers pushing the fabric of her shirt
up
and unbuttoning it slowly, one tiny button at
a
time.

His mouth left her lips now, following the path of her skin from her throat to
her
collarbone
, skimming the delicate
structure with
the tip of his tongue. She shivered in response and felt him smiling against her skin, the movements of his lips as light as
the
brush of a butterfly
’s
wings
.
Her fingers went to his scalp, pressing him against her chest as she felt his mouth
graze
the swell of her breast
.

At the same time, his
hand went down to her
leg
,
fingers
wrapping around her ankle
,
then
reaching up to caress her
cal
f
.
With unnerving slowness
,
his hand slid behind
her knee, pulling her closer,
wrapping
her leg around his hip. The contact was intimate and close enough for her to
f
eel
the imprint of his erection. Her body jerked in involuntarily response, eager to be even closer
.
He steadied her as he raised his head, his eyes even more obsidian in the
excitement that
flushed his cheek.

‘
Wait
, J
ade.’ For one horrible moment she thought he would put a stop to their lovemaking, his sense of responsibility winning one more battle against the desire and passion they shared. But to her immense relief, he didn’t
mention anything of the sort this time
.
With h
is
hand possessively wrapped around her body, holding her close to him, he asked
with
a devilish spark in his eyes
,
‘I don’t really know this house as it is,
S
weetheart. The carpet was the only soft thing that registered in my mind, but if there
’
s anything better, you
’
ll have to be the guide.’ He kissed her again, the insistent pressure of his hips against the softness of her belly urging her to speak up right away.

‘
I
… I don’t think there is much better to be had
.
’
Her voice shook
as he watched her with his gaze that could melt
Arctic
ice
.
‘
T
he carpet is fine with me
.
’

He laughed and scooped her even closer,
cr
u
shing
her against his frame.

‘No drop sheets available?’
W
arm
and seductive, his lips brushed against hers as he looked at her expectantly
.
‘
M
ake
up your mind fast
,
because patience isn’t
one of my
top virtues right now
.
’

She
shook her head and pulled him back down to her, afraid that if left too long
,
he might start to actually question
the whole thing. Yet, it didn’t look like she was in danger of anything even remotely similar happening. Quite the opposite
.
She
felt the cool evening air against the heated skin of her naked upper body and welcomed the warmth of his muscular chest covering her with unmistakable purpose.

Her hands went to the rough fabric of his jeans, searching for the buckle of his belt. She wanted all of him, she thought dazedly, as his hands mimicked her movements with her own pants. In the end it was Liam who
pushed
off his pants with one impatient gesture, taking with them the rest of his clothes. Watching his naked body, muscular and beautiful in its unashamed masculinity,
J
ade
swallowed hard, waiting for the familiar feeling of apprehension to mix into the medley of sensations she was experiencing.

But it didn’t come,
her
sense of
the
rightness of it all making it as easy as breathing as he reached for her
.
T
heir naked bodies entwined together in the first moves of the dance of love
with
nothing awkward
about it
.
S
he welcomed him into her, reveling in his strength.
Her fingers traced
the muscles of his shoulders and back
as they bunched
with each powerful thrust of his hips.
He drove
deep into the very core of her feminine being,
establishing
a hypnotic rhythm as they moved in perfect harmony.

Jade
’s
whole being
dissolv
ed
into nothing more
than
a sensation of pleasure
, and she gasped
in surprise as he stopped moving suddenly, his body shaking with
the
effort to control his passion. She looked up into his eyes, amazed by the intensity of his stare, his dark eyes looking into very
center
of her soul.

‘
It
’
s even better than what I imagined
,
’ he said quietly, kissing her lightly on the tip of her nose. ‘
And
I
have
, many times, believe me
.
’

‘
So
have I
,
’ she whispered, reaching up to brush his dark hair
o
ff
his sweat
-
slickened forehead.

He kissed her again, his lips
savoring
the shape and taste of her mouth with unhurried thoroughness that was deceiving
ly different from
the impatience that
had
guided his body only seconds
before
.
Yet his need caught up with him soon, his kiss
becoming
heavier and more
demanding
as he started moving inside her once again,
resuming
the rhythm that
had
guided him before. She felt him stretching her inner passages with his heavy, throbbing manhood,
her body on fire.

Each of his moves resonated inside her more and more powerfully, until she resembled a fine
ly
tuned instrument in the hands of a virtuoso. She felt her pleasure building into a fiery inferno where nothing else existed but the touch of his skin under her fingertips and his breath fanning her face, the urgency of his moves matching her own
expectancy
.
S
he
was waiting
,
every cell of her flesh burning with impatience that begged to be appeased
,
the
sooner
the b
etter
, or else she’d surely
combust.

She
felt as if she
were
running
towards some invisible finish
line
, breathless and trembling. And just as she thought she couldn’t handle that sweet onslaught of emotions any longer, the first tremors of ecstasy caught up with her, almost too powerful to be endured. She moaned loudly, her nails digging into his shoulders as she trembled helplessly
,
akin
to
a leaf in a stormy night. She felt her muscles contracting around his thick length, his body jerking forward in response. She thought she heard him say her name,
as he reached his own pinnacle of pleasure
, but
she
wasn’t sure
.
S
he couldn’t be sure of anything, as wave upon wave of raw pleasure washed over her, the whole world disappearing in
the
gold and red haze of a powerful climax.
A
myriad of colors flicker
ed
under her eyelids, squeezing tears of pure joy down her hot, flushed cheeks
.
Liam was still inside her, his forehead resting against the place where her neck joined her shoulder, his lips tracing the skin in a gentle caress
.
She didn’t want him to move
;
inside her and with her body wrapped around him to keep him away from the rest of the world, he belonged to her.
N
othing and no one
could
keep them apart, the sound of their labored breathing the only sound that broke the peaceful silence. But it couldn’t last
,
of course. She was aware of it, even before he had lifted himself from her
eve
r
so minimally, propping himself on his elbows and looking down into her face as he slipped out of her.

‘Hey
.
’
H
is
voice was tender and a bit
hesitant,
as if he wasn’t quite
sure of her response. He was still struggling to breathe normally, his heart rate drumming loud enough for her to hear as she
rested
so close to his
bare
chest. ‘
Are
you
okay
?’