She held on to his shoulders to steady herself and hoped he wouldn’t be turned off when he saw all of her. “So we’re going for full disclosure?”
He rolled the shirt above her breasts, his full attention on her body. “Oh, yeah.”
The air felt cool on her bare skin, and her nipples hardened. He cupped one breast, leaned down and licked the nipple. Her legs went weak, and only her grip on his shoulders kept her from sliding to the floor in a boneless heap. He slipped one arm around her, drew the nipple into his mouth. Fire shot through her, like a lightning strike spiking different directions. She dropped her head back with a groan.
He pulled back and straightened. “Raise your arms.” His voice was low and guttural. She lifted her arms, and he pulled off the shirt. She was completely exposed and felt vulnerable, but then his hands were sliding over her body, slow and sure.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he murmured, the sincerity in his voice sending a heated glow through her.
“So are you.” She started her own explorations, awed by the contrast of rock solid muscles and smooth warm skin. “But you’re not fully disclosed yet.” She tugged at the tented boxers, but he stopped her.
“Uh-uh. You already got to touch. My turn.”
Her protest was cut off by his mouth taking possession of hers and totally distracting her. The man could kiss. And move incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he had her flat on the bed and was spreading her legs and staring at her like a fox eyeing a rabbit.
Then he was kissing her and touching her more. Despite his obvious arousal, he didn’t rush. He returned to her breast, swirling his tongue over the nipple before taking it into his mouth while he caressed the other breast.
Pure sensation flowed like molten lava through her veins and headed due south. She arched against his mouth, and he made a low sound in the back of his throat. The electricity sparked between them, tingling along her skin.
Then he moved his attention to the other breast. Her body was engulfed in flames now. She twisted against him, trying to touch him in return, but he was evasive. He ruthlessly used her body against her, keeping her in such sensory overload, she couldn’t think straight.
Finally raising his head, he swept his hand down her body. He paused when he touched the scar where her ruptured spleen had been removed eleven years ago. Leaning down, he kissed it gently. His action touched her deep inside, a balm to her soul.
Without comment, he continued the downward sweep over her body. He stroked his fingers over her belly and her thighs, down and back up, trailing them through the brown curls but not quite touching where she desperately needed him to. “You’re so soft. So womanly,” he murmured, repeating the motion.
She was wet and aching between her legs. “Luke!”
“What?” he asked innocently, teasing her mercilessly with another near-strike sweep over her abdomen.
She clamped her hand over his wrist, tried unsuccessfully to move it down. “God, Luke, please! Touch me.”
“Oh, is that what you want?” He slid his hand between her legs. “Like this?”
More electricity shot through her and she almost jolted off the bed. “About time!” she managed to gasp.
He laughed softly and stroked her, and she moaned. Slipping a finger inside her, he kissed her breast, murmured, “You sure you’re ready for this?”
She groaned, arched against him. “I was ready an hour ago.”
“So impatient. Haven’t you ever heard that good things come to those who wait?” He slipped in a second finger, started a devastating rhythm. He knew exactly what he was doing, and she was helpless to stop him.
She began unraveling. “Luke!”
“Go for it, babe. I’ve got you.” He stroked harder, pressed his thumb against the sensitized nub, and sent her into total meltdown.
It was a tsunami wave of pure pleasure. She was so lost in the sensation of her first social orgasm all she could do was ride the wave. When reason returned, she found herself breathless and cradled in Luke’s arms.
She should be embarrassed, sprawled nude in a pool of light, having just come apart from his expert touch. Talk about exposed. But all she could think was that she wanted more. She slid her fingers inside the waistband of his boxers and jerked them down, freeing his swollen penis.
“I want these off—now!” she said fiercely.
He complied this time and then she had him in her hand and decided payback was in order. It was another new sensory experience for her as she explored his impressive length. He was big, he was turned on, and he was all hers. She caressed and teased until suddenly she was on her back, and he was settling between her legs.
“Playtime’s over,” he growled, nipping her lower lip and then ravishing her mouth. He stroked her to ensure her readiness and fitted himself against her. She felt real pressure then, realized this first time wouldn’t be easy, given his size and her virginal state, but she didn’t care. She pushed upward, felt the burn, couldn’t control the involuntary gasp.
“Whoa! Slow down.” He slid his fingers through her hair, cradled her face.
A sudden floating sensation warned her he was up to something, but before she could object, things got fuzzy and surreal. She was drifting in a dream state, unable to move or think coherently. There was pressure between her legs, but it didn’t seem real, and it wasn’t painful.
Then the mental fog cleared a little, and she saw Luke above her. He moved, and she felt him inside her. He pulled back, slid in, creating an amazing friction. She was still a little punchy and a lot confused.
“What happened to the grand entry?” she demanded.
He grinned, leaned down and ran his tongue along her ear. “We skipped that part. We’re going straight for the good stuff.” He stroked again, and she forgot about the logistics.
“Oh, yes,” she moaned. “Do that some more.”
He laughed and slid in deep, and she arched up to meet him. It was good—no, more that good—it was incredible. It was Luke. It was physical, it was emotional; it was an intense, primal act between a man and a woman.
She gloried in it. She stared up at him, taking in the lines of his face, made harsh by need and passion. She met his thrusts, her body completely in sync with the rhythm of his. When it became too intense, sucking her into a maelstrom of sensation, she closed her eyes.
She and Luke were totally attuned to one another, linked mentally and physically. When she exploded this time, he was right there with her, his deep groan reverberating through her.
As they both shuddered and then collapsed together, gasping for breath, she was shaken by the startling realization that sex, with the right person, was far more than a mere physical act. It was a spiritual experience, and an act of love, transcending Earth and time.
At least on her part. She had no illusions that it had been anything but just sex for Luke.
It was going to hurt big time when they went their separate ways. But for now, she basked in the afterglow of fantastic sex, and celebrated the demise of her virginity.
SHE woke slowly from a deep and dreamless sleep. She was groggy and disoriented, but a relentless voice kept calling her. Surely it wasn’t . . .
the Belian
. That got her attention and brought her more quickly to a conscious state.
“Marla, wake up. I know you’re tired, but I need you to wake up.”
She blinked her eyes open, stared up at Luke in confusion. “Luke? What’s going on?”
He was sitting on the edge of the bed, and he was nude. “We have to get out earlier than planned. Here, try to sit up.”
“But . . . why?” She pushed up with his assistance, her mind muddled. It was still dark outside, with the light in the room coming from a nearby lamp. She looked around her, at the navy sheets and comforter. This wasn’t her bed . . . wait. Last night she and Luke—Her gaze whipped down to her bare body. The sheet was pooled around her hips and her breasts were just waving in the breeze, so to speak.
“Oh.” She grabbed the sheet, yanked it up over her chest. “I—I’m having a little trouble functioning.”
She looked back at Luke, gorgeous in all that bare skin, and saw he was holding his cell phone. His startling blue gaze was steady and focused on her. “You’re having trouble because you’ve only had a few hours sleep and I put you into a deeper sleep level after we . . . settled in for the night.”
“Oh. Yes. That.” Her gaze dropped to his morning erection, then jolted back up to his face.
He shrugged. “It has a mind of its own. Sorry to wake you, but Adam called a few minutes ago. There’s a new development, and we have to get moving. Everyone will be here in about thirty minutes. I’m going to take a quick shower. You need to get ready as fast as you can. You functional yet?”
“I think so.” She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, keeping the sheet against her body. Even with last night vivid in her mind, she just couldn’t bring herself to parade naked in front of Luke.
“Okay.” He rose and headed for the bathroom. “Meet us downstairs when you’re ready.”
He had a great butt. She watched until the bathroom door closed behind him before she stood and started looking for her nightshirt, which she found in the corner where he’d tossed it last night. The memories of last night were coming back to her. The soreness in her lower body was further proof she wasn’t imagining anything. It had been . . . incredible.
But she didn’t have time to think about it now. Something had obviously happened with the Belian. Marla looked around for a clock, found one next to the lamp. 5:00 a.m. It couldn’t be good if Adam was rousing them that early. She hurriedly slipped on her nightshirt—inside out, she realized—and went to take a shower in the other bathroom.
Everyone was there when Marla came downstairs forty minutes later. Luke, Adam, Damien, and Barrie were standing in the den in powwow formation, serious and forbidding. She came into the den and saw Kara and Julia were at the kitchen table, working on Luke’s laptop. Marla could feel the tension in both rooms.
She opted to talk to Kara and Julia, rather than interrupt the powwow. “Good morning,” she said, entering the kitchen. “What’s going on?”
Julia looked up from the laptop, and Marla was dismayed to see how tired and haggard she appeared. “I had another vision last night.”
Marla went over to give her a hug. “You look awful. What did you see?”
“Gee, thanks for the compliment.” Julia leaned back in the chair. “I saw another church explosion, which apparently means the Belian already has another target. Adam thinks he—it—may have chosen multiple targets, even before yesterday.”
“Damn it,” Marla said, then looked askance at Kara. “Sorry for the profanity.”
“Oh, no offense taken. I said more than that when Damien told me.” Kara shook her head. “This is the worst Belian I’ve ever helped track. It’s killing whole groups of people.”
“Adam and I were up most of the night, looking at churches online,” Julia said. “He also talked to his contacts at Homeland Security and the Dallas police, and we passed the church description along to them. Since today is Sunday, and people will be going to services, they’re debating how much to warn the general public.”
“Why the hell wouldn’t they warn people?” Marla demanded. “There’s a good possibility this thing will blow up another church today.”
“Our concern exactly,” came Adam’s voice from behind her. She turned to see him standing in the entryway. He was in full business attire, in a severe black suit, white dress shirt and jewel-toned striped tie. She wondered if he ever wore jeans.
“We’d like to try to find the church before we put out a public alert. We have to balance the safety of the members of one church against the Belian escaping and continuing its bombing spree elsewhere. Our police contacts are canvassing the local officers for a list of all white churches in the area, which will be passed along to me.”
Marla turned to Julia. “It’s white?”
“What I saw was. An old white church, with huge arched stained glass windows.”
“Great. That could be any number of churches.” Marla looked back at Adam.
He was staring at her thoughtfully. “We’re leaving right now to check all of them.” He turned to the others, who had gathered near the kitchen. “We’re going in four units: Luke and Marla, Barrie by herself, Damien and Kara, Julia and me. Take your digital cameras. Stop at every church on your list, take a picture to send to my computer, and then do a quick walk around. If there’s no Belian energy, move on to the next church. Be quick about it. Check in with me every thirty minutes.”
“And if there’s no sign of the Belian?” Julia asked.
“Then police patrols will be posted at every white church in the area, and will turn away anyone who attempts to attend services. It will be done as unobtrusively as possible. They’ll tell people it’s a gas leak or some other building problem.”
Marla breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully no one would die in a bomb blast today.
“If we don’t find the church by eight o’clock, the police will move in to warn people away. Let’s get going,” Adam said. “Luke, a few other things.”
The way he kept looking at Marla, she had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what had happened between her and Luke last night. But when he faced them, he said, “If the Belian was watching the church that blew up yesterday, and I’m certain that it was, then there’s a good possibility it will recognize you and Marla, as well as your truck. Since Barrie’s in uniform, she’ll take her police squad car, so I want you to use her personal car. And I’d like a private word with you, Luke.”
“Okay.” Luke looked at Marla. “Give us a minute?”
“My purse is upstairs. I’ll go get it.” As she started up, Adam and Luke began talking in low voices. She looked back to see Adam gesturing with one hand and Luke’s jaw tensing. She’d bet the farm they were talking about her.
