PASSIONATE ENCOUNTERS (24 page)

“Two can play at that game, sweetheart,” he warned raggedly,
looking deeply into her eyes. As he held her gaze his hands slid up to her
collarbone, beneath the shirt, slowly moving the material until it glided over
her shoulders and down her arms, landing in a heap at their feet. His fingers
went to the triangle of lace between her legs and without hesitation gave a
sharp tug.

Emma gasped, her eyes rounding when she glanced down to see
the thong hanging in Mike’s hands.

For the first time she was completely naked before him.

Mike was certain he was seeing perfection. His warm gaze
traveled over her hungrily, taking his time in a visual caress that almost did
him in. She was no slim-hipped maiden blushing with embarrassment, but a
shapely woman with enough curves to fill his hands and satisfy his every need,
with enough confidence in her sexuality to stand completely nude before him,
taunting him with her rose-tipped breasts and slender waist, the sensuous flare
of her hips and thighs.

The hair covering her wet pussy.

She surprised him by saying softly, “I believe it’s your
turn, Detective.”

A grin played upon his mouth. “I believe I undressed you,”
he pointed out in a sexy voice, leaving no doubt to what his meaning was.

Emma reached forward, her fingers taking hold of the
waistband of his pajamas. “If you insist,” she breathed gently, not showing the
least bit hesitation. “I think I can handle this.” She slowly began to peel his
pajama bottoms from him.

Mike wasn’t sure he could handle it. Their gazes clung. When
Emma dropped to her knees before him to complete the task he felt her warm
breath upon his torrid flesh, and closed his eyes tightly trying to think of
something else. Yet nothing came to mind other than the wicked thought of her
loving him with her sweet mouth, again. He prayed for inner strength, and
patience.

His very salvation.

“Damn…” He let go weakly, his eyes bolting open when he felt
the unexpected. Before rising to her feet, Emma had leaned forward, giving his
throbbing shaft a lingering sweep of her tongue.

“You have a nice body,” she whispered with obvious pleasure,
rising gracefully before him.

Mike grabbed her shoulders, the blood pounding in his veins.
He lowered his mouth to hers, devouring its softness. Swallowing her moans of
hunger and acceptance, answering the trust of her eager little tongue with his.

One hand slid down her taut stomach to the swell of her
hips, exploring her thighs and then moving up slowly. Emma stiffened slightly
when his fingers tested her willingness and gently slipped between the damp
folds protecting her clit. She was wet and warm, and swollen like a berry.

“Did I hurt you?” He pulled back slightly, waiting for her
response.

She shivered. “God no! You’ll hurt me if you don’t continue.
I want you, Mike. I want you inside me so badly I can’t…”

His savage kiss cut her off; the picture her words conjured
up fired the lustful emotions in him until he’d reacted out of control. She
arched against him; the feel of her dampness and heat against his pulsing flesh
the final straw. With barely controlled restraint, he gently eased her down
onto the bed, following her there and covering her body with his.

Emma welcomed him with an eager show, wrapping her arms
around him, parting her thighs and arching against his throbbing hardness. She
returned his ardent kisses, explored wherever she could reach him with her
tongue and open mouth. Murmured heated words against his ear that were meant to
enflame him even more.

His hand curled around her breast, bringing the tempting
fruit to his mouth as the need to taste a taut nipple overcame him. She cried
out when his mouth closed around her, his tongue continuing the torture once he
had her stiff nipple inside. Her hands fell to his head, her fingers threading
through his thick hair.

“Mike!” she gasped, then again when one hand trailed down
her body to the spot between her legs.

He slipped a finger inside; the wet heat of her muscles
closed around him, holding him imprisoned.

“What, sweetheart? Tell me what pleases you.”

“Oh, Mike…” Emma began to thrash her head against the
pillow, her hips moving uncontrollably when he teased and explored her hungry
flesh with tender strokes, gliding over the nub of her desire until she was
twisting beneath him. “Please…”

Mike moved to her other breast, loving it with the same
amount of attention and zeal he’d given the first. She had beautiful breasts.
She was beautiful. Nothing else mattered.

He was going to love Emma the way she deserved to be loved.

Because he loved her.

Chapter 21

Tears slipped through Emma’s closed lids as Mike made love
to her in a tender, loving way. Taking his time and seeing to her every need,
as well as his own, loving every square inch of her as though she was a
goddess. Someone he cherished. As if he loved her.

She didn’t know how much more she could take as his mouth
moved over her aching breasts in a scorching path, firing the hunger in her a
thousand times over with his teasing tongue and gentle teeth. Her fingers
clutched his head, torn between pulling him away and holding him closer. Never
had she experienced such shattering pleasure, not even in her wildest dreams. His
touch sent currents of desire licking through her, forcing her to match his
urgency with her own lusty demands.

Man against woman, flesh against flesh, her breasts tingled
against Mike’s hair-roughened chest. He seemed to take great pleasure in
torturing her hungry, aching flesh, teasing her until she was squirming with
need. His hands were everywhere at once, finding the pleasure points that
nearly drove Emma mad. Suddenly he moved, seeking a different pleasure.

“Mike!” she gasped. His roaming mouth deserted her swollen
breasts, searing a trail along her rib cage to her stomach and heading for the
spot his fingers were tenderly exploring. She wasn’t certain she would be able
to stand that particular torture again, even while half of her yearned for it.

“Mike…” She squirmed beneath him, but not because she wanted
to escape what he was doing to her, but because his skilled touch sent her to
even higher levels of ecstasy. She moaned in sweet agony when his mouth
replaced his probing finger.

“Mike!”

The exquisite feeling of his warm, raspy tongue sliding
inside her was more than Emma could bear. She shuddered as a sweeping sensation
exploded through her body, signaling the end was fast approaching. She tensed.
“Mike, please, I need you now.”

Whether it was the desperation in her tone or the fact he
sensed her close release, Mike crawled up her body until he was poised at the
brink of her womanhood. Emma’s hands fell to his taut buttocks, urging him
inside. Urging him home. Her body was quivering beneath him, her breathing
ragged.

Their eyes met, glazed with desire.

“What are you waiting for?” she gasped with bewilderment,
feeling control slipping away as an explosion of liquid fire consumed her. She
strained toward Mike’s powerful erection, feeling the pulsing tip of him at the
gates. Teasing and waiting, but for what? Why didn’t he take her?

As the first wave of a powerful climax overwhelmed Emma, he
thrust forward, intensifying the effect as his hard flesh brushed against the
pleasure spot his tongue had manipulated. Her scream was lost on his lips, her
hands clenching his buttocks the same time her legs wound around his hips.
Another wave and another hit Emma, leaving her body jerking in uncontrollable
pleasure beneath him.

“That’s what I was waiting for,” he said in a low growl,
wrenching his mouth from hers.

He didn’t move. Just lay there between her thighs until the
spasms gradually changed into tiny tremors.

“I wanted to feel your orgasm when it hit,” he admitted in a
ragged voice, kissing Emma between words. “Even now your muscles are caressing
me, drawing me toward my own release.”

She was too exhausted to speak, barely managing to lean
forward enough to give his chin a gentle bite. She clenched her muscles tighter
around his throbbing penis, whimpering when his hips finally began to move.
Each thrust was drawn out in a long, slow sweep of his hard flesh joining hers,
sinking deeply inside her body, and caressing her womb. And it was Mike’s
undoing when she leaned forward, twirling her tongue around his nipple and
tugging at the small, taut nub with a careful love bite.

His low grunt pleased Emma immensely and she attacked his
other nipple. He picked up speed, his movements almost wild as his need
escalated out of control. Her hips left the bed each time to meet his downward
thrust, her hands learning his hard, muscular body in an excited search as they
moved in exquisite harmony with one another.

The turbulence of his passion swirled all around Emma, the
recently banked fire surging through her blood once again, more than matching
her need to his. Mike began to thrust without control, wild in a way that
revealed his hunger, his power. She tightened her muscles around his pounding
flesh knowing it would give him pleasure. He grunted low, clutching Emma to
him. The force of his powerful climax was pure and explosive, ending with a
final deep plunge as he collapsed against her, shuddering.

* * *
*

“I love you.”

A thrill shot through Emma at Mike’s unexpected confession,
yet something in his tone warned her to be cautious. He hadn’t exactly said it
as though he was happy about it. He rolled, pulling her with him so that she
ended up curled against his side. He kept his arm around her and she placed
hers over his damp chest. Tilting her face slightly, she peered at him
expectantly, and with worry.

“But?” she finally asked, not certain she wanted to know his
answer. She doubted telling him she loved him too would have any effect on him
now.

His heavy sigh sounded anything but encouraging. “It hasn’t
exactly come at a good time.”

“Love usually happens when you least expect it,” Emma
agreed, feeling a dull pain creeping inside her heart. Mike’s tone indicated he
didn’t know which way to turn so she decided to set him at ease.

“Look, Mike, I know how you feel. I don’t want you to feel
that just because we’ve, ah, made love a couple of times that you owe me any
commitments or anything. I’m a big girl and I don’t break that easy. It’s okay
if you want to keep it strictly sexual between us…”

What in the world was she saying? Her blabbering was a clear
indication she was nervous and not handling the situation very well. She took
in Mike’s shocked expression, her first warning that she’d gone too far. His
brows were arched with obvious disbelief and he was looking at her as if she’d
suddenly sprouted horns. Lowering her eyes couldn’t undo the damage but it gave
her time to pull herself together.

“Is that what you think I want?” His voice held a sharp edge
to it, gaining her attention again. “You’re crazy if you think I’d treat you
with such little respect, Emma. I’ve tried not to let my feelings get involved
with anyone. At least until Melissa is grown and out of the house. But you’re
different. Not because I’m some horny divorcee who can’t keep it in his pants.
I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“I never insinuated…”

“Didn’t you? You’re the first woman I’ve ever made love to
in this bed. I’m not going to insult your intelligence by saying I haven’t had
my fair share of sexual encounters, but that’s all they were. The couple of
serious affairs I had turned sour fast when I brought them home to meet Melissa
and they realized we came as a package.”

“Mike, I didn’t mean it that…”

He didn’t let her finish. “Could you live with that
arrangement? Come to think of it maybe it’s not such a bad idea. A sexual
relationship with no-strings attached; what more could a man ask for?”

He sounded bitter.

How could things have gotten so mixed up so fast? Emma could
understand his anger but if he’d only let her finish. “Let me explain…”

He rolled before she could complete her statement and she
suddenly found herself pinned beneath him. She gasped, but it wasn’t fear that
held her motionless. She’d seen him angry before but not like this. Yet in
spite of that he was growing hard against her.

“I love you,” she breathed softly, almost desperately,
needing him to accept the truth. “I think I fell in love with you the moment I
gazed into those steely blue eyes of yours. Do you think it’s been easy finding
myself more attracted to you every time we bumped into each other? Trying not
to let my heart get involved because I knew you didn’t want to?”

Tears slowly found their way down the sides of her face,
wetting the pillow beneath her. “Mike,” she continued in a choked voice. “I’m
not asking you to make a choice between me and Melissa. I would never do that.”
He had to believe her.

He stiffened, his eyes intense upon her face as though
searching for the truth. She forced herself to make eye contact with him,
willing him to understand, silently pleading with him to give them a chance.
She knew his inner turmoil, knew he was torn with decisions that would change
all their lives. She could see the mixed emotions churning in his eyes, her
heart going out to him.

“No!” he finally swore, pounding the mattress next to Emma’s
head. “I made a promise to myself that Melissa has to come first. I’m not going
to change my mind about getting involved with you, Emma.”

An angry snort left her. “It’s a little late because we’re
as involved as two people can get…”

“You know what I mean. This was a mistake…”

“Mike, no…” To her mortification a sob escaped her. She bit
down on her lip to keep from pleading with him, until the taste of blood filled
her mouth and the lump in her throat threatened to choke her. Couldn’t he see
how much she loved him?