She swayed, breathing hard, eyes hazy. Sex-crazed brain. He'd seen it before and thanked the universe for it now.
“I want skin.” He gripped the edge of her tank and pulled it up, over her breasts, cleared her head, and tossed it aside. Lust and need killed his patience. Appreciation of her beauty would have to come after satiation.
“Hell, yeah,” he growled, hands gripping her tight waist, thumbs skimming the ripped abs. “Lots and lots of skin. Fuck, you're gorgeous.”
Unable to stand the distance another second, he wrapped his arms around her slender body and drew her into him.
Oh, the feel of her in his arms. Perfection. Completion.
“Keira.” He had to hear himself say her name while he was holding her, equivalent to a pinch assuring him he wasn't dreaming. “Keira.”
She planted her mouth on his throat, sucked. Grazed her teeth toward his ear. He rocked in a full body shiver and let out another moan, gritting his teeth. Her hands swept down and around to his belly, lower, squeezing between their bodies. Fingers wrapped around his shaft.
A zing of pleasure-laced pain cut off what little air he'd gathered, and a strangled grunt stumbled out of his throat.
“I remember just what you like,” she whispered in his ear as her strong, smooth, talented fingers proved her one hundred and fifty percent right. “You taught me everything.”
Fire spit into his blood. He hadn't been able to even kiss another woman without thinking about Keira in either desire or comparison. And now he had her. Authentic Keira O'Shay. Her freckles sparkling in his shower, her perfect breasts molded to his chest, her amazing fingers working his cock in that inquiring, demanding signature way that drove his dreams and woke him panting and sweating in his empty bed. A way he hadn't taught her at all, but one she'd explored and discovered all on her own in her never-ending desire to find the most visceral ways to blow his mind.
“Keirâ” His tongue felt as swollen as his dick, now filling her hands. Brain felt as swollen as his balls, throbbing to get in on the action. “I can'tâ”
“Then don't.”
One small hand released him, pushed between his thighs, rose to cup his balls. Squeezed.
Pleasure gushed through his groin, his pelvis. He groaned, long and deep. His eyes fell shut. White light burst against closed lids.
Not yet. Goddammit, not yet, you pathetic SOB.
“It's okay,” she encouraged as if she'd heard him, her voice layering with the motion of her hands and enticing him toward climax. “It's been so long.”
The muscles of his thighs shook, fought to keep his knees from buckling. His fingers cramped from where they'd clenched in her hair.
He cracked his lids and found Keira's bright eyes intense on his face. Mischievous. Knowing. Powerful.
“Keira . . .” His voice was gravel, his brain dust. He didn't know what he wanted to say. Couldn't form the words. He was gone. Slipping off the ledge without another sliver of strength to hold on to.
“I know, it feels good. So good,” she whispered. Seductive. Erotic. One hand massaging between his legs, the other alternating stroking the underside of his penis, wrapping the head. “And when you come, I'm going to watch. You remember how I love to watch?”
Her hand rocked, letting the slick skin slide through her palm. Pumping. Fast and hard.
Not yet. Not fucking yet.
“Yes, now.” Those blue eyes glittered at him with excitement and challenge and lust. “Right fucking now.”
Her words exploded on impact. The orgasm bolted through his system without warning or permission. Bursting through his groin, up his torso, out his limbs. Searing, fiery, liquid pleasure.
Â
Keira braced herself on the stone wall behind her as Luke's body arched and his sex lunged in her hands. Eyes closed, jaw clenched, face awash in fierce pleasure, he was the sexiest thing Keira had ever seen. She ached to have him inside her, but she'd blown that chance with this impulsive move.
When his body made one last hard jerk, then quaked in mini-shudders, she decided his gratification was completely worth postponing her own.
She closed her eyes and leaned in, kissing his chest, soaking in the feeling of power and love and hope flooding in until she thought she'd burst with a happiness she hadn't felt in years.
Luke's chest rose and fell with panting breaths. He coughed, slapped a hand against the rock wall behind her, and groaned again, dropping his forehead against her shoulder. And she couldn't help but chuckle.
“Laugh while you can, baby.” He bit the hollow between her neck and shoulder. Tingles shot across her skin. “ 'Cause you are so going to pay for that.”
“Soon, I hope.” She kissed his chest, turned her head, and whispered in his ear, “Real soon.”
He caught her mouth with his own and she draped her arms around his neck.
“I'm thinking now,” he said against her mouth, then swept his tongue between her lips. He pushed off the wall, put both hands at her waist, and lifted her off the floor.
She held tight, wrapped her legs around his waist, smiling against his mouth. “Dreamer. Maybe in half an hour.”
“Wanna bet on that?” Grinning, he stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel, dragging it around her back. “A blow job for the winner?”
She snorted, rubbing her fingers over his beautiful lips, imagining them between her legs doing all the amazing things that made her lose brain cells. “That's stupid. Bet for something you're not already going to get.”
He tripped, caught the wall with one hand. Keira squeaked and tightened her arms around his neck.
“Christ, Keira.” He glared at her with mock anger. “Don't do that.”
She waited for him to right himself, open the bathroom door, and step into the bedroom, then leaned in and nibbled on his ear. “Don't do what? Tell you how I'm going to put my mouth on you? Lick you? Suck you until you scrâ?”
She was the one to scream. He threw her. Just tossed her in the air like she weighed nothing. She landed in the middle of his bed, covers fluffing, hair flying. Before she could clear the wild strands from her face, he was on top of her, pinning her with his body.
She stopped struggling, sank into the soft mattress, and reveled in all his hot muscle and warm skin. “Oh, yeah, now this is more like it.”
She ran her hands down the cords of muscle roping his arms as he levered himself over her. Wiggled beneath him and sucked in a breath of surprise when that hard, hot length rubbed her thigh. “No way.”
A slow, sexy grin turned his mouth and crinkled the corner of his eyes. “Not quite a hundred percent.” He rocked his hips, rubbed against her. “But soon. In the meantime . . .”
He maneuvered his knees between hers and pressed them open. A jolt of lust hit her.
He slid lower, dropped his hot, wet mouth over one nipple and closed down hard. Pleasure wiggled its way down her torso, filled her sex, and made her rub against his hips. His tongue licked, circled, teased. His mouth sucked. Keira's head dropped back. Her feet dug into the mattress, her hands into his wet hair.
“Luke . . .” Jesus, she could barely speak. “Luke. We still need . . . There's a lot, I mean, to talk about . . .”
He lifted his mouth only to shift to the other breast and plump it with his hand as if preparing his attack. “I picked up condoms.”
His mouth came down. Teeth scraped across her skin. She groaned. Lifted her hips. He met her pressure and rocked, their rhythm instinctively perfect.
“What?” She jerked at his hair. “After that speech in the shower?”
“I picked them up before I knew I'd be giving the speech.”
His mouth closed over her breast, suckled hard. Sensation rocketed through her body. She arched under him, cried out.
“Where?” If he didn't stop, she'd come right now. “Where are they?”
“What's the rush?” He grinned up at her. “I'd like to see you come this way. That would be new.”
“Not funny.” She scooted back, levered herself up on her elbows, unable to think straight let alone contemplate the ramifications of him reading her mind during sex. “If you want that blow job, tell me where they are.”
His eyes darkened with lust. “Nightstand drawer.”
“Nice. I'm looking forward to that.” She smiled, twisted, and reached for the drawer at the edge of the bed. “But right now, I need something else.”
She fumbled with the drawer, her mind already three steps aheadâpackage open, condom rolled on, slow and torturous, the length of his cock rubbing over her, getting nice and slick for the first tight ride in.
“Keira,” he moaned.
She grinned. Okay, this mind thing could be really fun.
Her fingers searched blindly as his tongue traced the tattoo on her lower back and the upper curve of her ass.
“This is so sexy.” His voice came out in a low growl and spiked heat down her chest. “I can't even tell you.”
His mouth closed over the skin at the base of her spine as his fingers floated up her back, out over her ribs, and down her sides. His hands slipped underneath her hips. His fingers spread toward her aching center.
Her eyes glazed over. Her hand grasped the drawer for support. She closed her eyes, dropped her forehead to the mattress. “Yes.”
Just a little more. A little more.
His fingers dug into her skin, holding her still. His hot mouth covered her center, kissed.
“Luke,” she cried. “God, Luâ”
His tongue seared a path along her opening, cutting off her ability to speak. Then he moved on, his teeth closing around the flesh at one hip.
“No,” she rasped. “Don't stop.”
“More later,” he promised. “I have a lot to see. A lot to do. Don't rush me.”
Frustration rippled through every muscle. She snatched the box from the drawer, shoved a finger under the edge, and pried open the thin cardboard. That's when the cover caught her eye.
“Multicolored and . . . tropical flavor?” She shot a
what-the-hell
look over her shoulder.
He dragged his mouth toward the curve of her ass, lifted her hips a little higher, separated her legs a little more. Keira's breath caught in anticipation.
Yes
.
“It's all they had,” he murmured against her skin, moving away from the spot that needed his mouth most. “Beggars and choosers and all that. Wasn't sure I'd ever get to use them anyway.”
“All they had? Where did you go, a gas station? And only three?” They would need so many more. “Are you on a budget or something?”
He laughed and looked up. “I grabbed ten bucks from Teague on the way out the door and, no, not quite a gas station, but it was a mini-mart with limited options.”
“You couldn't have bought
two
packages?” She poured the contents into her hand. “Or did they sell out? I can imagine multicolored, tropical flavor condoms are in high demâ”
Luke's strong hands closed around her waist and flipped her on the bed. He cut off her squeal with his mouth, kissing every thought right out of her brain.
When he pulled back, he was breathing hard, his eyes fierce and hot. “There are plenty of things I can do to you that don't require a condom.”
One hand pushed between their bodies, slid down her stomach, and stopped at the thin strip of hair. His fingers feathered the edge, making her hips rock toward the motion, searching on a moan.
“I will give you as much as you want. As fast or slow as you want. As hard or soft as you want. In any goddamned position you want. Condoms or no condoms, you will want for nothing. I promise.”
“Show me,” she whispered. “I'm starting to think you're all talk, Ransom.”
With a slow, sexy smile, he slid his hand lower. Keira held her breath as he brushed his fingers past her pounding clit so gently she almost believed she'd imagined the touch. Then one finger made a deep sweep over her opening and pushed inside.
Oh, God.
Her eyes squeezed closed. Body clenched around his touch. Hips lifted to drive him forward. A sound emanated from her throat, followed by a long, drawn out,
“Yeeeees.”
With slow, deep movements, Luke thrust and rubbed until she was panting. He purposely stayed away from the very spots that would have led her to release three times by now. If he'd wanted to he could bring her from zero to climax within sixty seconds. He'd done it countless times beforeâin the hushed back row of a movie theater, a temporarily deserted engine bay at the fire station, the center table in a crowded restaurant.