conversation focused on him that he hadn’t been aware how little he knew about her until she was gone.
What had prompted her to open up to him now? Was she starting to trust him a little? Trust him enough to tell him about her problems?
They walked west in companionable silence, enjoying the play of rich oranges and purples across the sky. The clear night allowed the sun to glow red for a long time before it disappeared below the horizon. As daylight faded, they retraced their steps.
As peaceful as he felt with a soft, curvaceous Rachel relaxed against his side, the closer they got to his beach house, the more anticipation tightened his nerves into bowstrings. His earlier decision to take things slow now became the biggest mistake he’d made in months. Why had he taken Rachel first to dinner then on this long walk on the beach when they could have grabbed takeout and eaten dinner off each other’s naked bodies?
Need tightened his gut as he watched Rachel dust sand off her feet on the deck. Patience snapping, he caught her hand and pulled her into the house.
“I can’t wait another second to kiss you,” he said, closing and locking the sliding glass door. Putting his arms around her, he tugged her hard against his body.
A breathy laugh escaped her. “Then I guess we’d better get started.”
His lips captured hers in a fervent kiss that paid homage to her vulnerability while giving her a glimpse of how waiting had fueled his impatience. She met his demand with no sign of her earlier hesitation. Her arms came around his neck. He cupped her head and held her still for a deep, exploring kiss hotter than any they’d exchanged. She arched her back, pushing her lower half against his erection, letting him feel her urgency.
“Make love to me, Max.” She tugged his shirt free of his pants and found his skin burning for her. “The romance has been nice, but I need you inside me.”
In complete agreement, he drew her down the hall toward the master bedroom. Flinging aside the comforter, Max stripped off his shirt and kicked off his shoes. Despite the cool air blowing across his naked shoulders, he felt feverish. Kissing Rachel set him on fire. Making love to her threatened to reduce him to ash.
“Max.”
He turned at the sound of his name and caught Rachel staring at him, her hand behind her, sliding down the sundress’ zipper. The look in her eyes stopped his breath. The uncertainty lurking in their velvet blue depths was gone, replaced by confidence. She looked radiant in the rapidly fading evening light.
The smile she offered him was equal parts bold and encouraging. “Are you going to stand there and watch or help?”
She didn’t need to ask twice. He brushed the straps off her shoulders and the dress fell to a pool at her feet. Clad in a lavender bra and matching panties, she stood still for his inspection, her chest heaving with each ragged breath.
“Beautiful.” He played his fingertips along her collarbones and then dragged reverent caresses along the bra straps to the edge of the bra. “Your skin is like silk.”
She placed her palms on his abs and fanned the fire banked these five years. But he’d promised himself he’d take it slow. He wanted to learn every inch of her skin again.
Her fingers crept down his stomach, past his belly button to the low ride of his waistband. Beneath the buttons that held his jeans together his erection strained toward her questing touch. A groan erupted as she freed him. His hard length speared at her belly, searching for the soft, hot sheath that awaited him. Before he guessed her intentions, she grasped him in her hands.
Sensation exploded through him. A guttural moan tore from his throat as she closed her hand around him. The years fell away. There was no awkwardness in her caresses. She remembered exactly how he liked to be touched. Before her ministrations could cause a premature end to their fun, he swept her into his arms and deposited her on the bed.
“I get to play first,” he told her, rolling her beneath him and pinning her hands above her head.
Her thighs parted as he inserted one leg between them. She bent her knee and rocked her hips, grinding her pelvis against him in a slow, sexy wiggle that short-circuited his willpower.
He captured her mouth with his again, his tongue easing past her full lips to sample the exotic pleasures that awaited him beyond. Frantic mewling noises erupted in her throat as she tugged to free her hands. He released her, having better uses for his fingers than holding her captive.
“Better,” she murmured, hands riding his shoulders and back with provocative flair.
Taking his time, he drove her mad with feather-light kisses across her soft, fragrant skin. Inch by inch, he eased his way down her body, revisiting all her ticklish spots and the ones that made her gasp. Five years had gone by, but he knew her body as well as he knew his own. Maybe better.
His teeth latched on to the lace edge of her bra. Tugging at the material caused her to hiss impatiently through her teeth. He buried his smile between her breasts, trailing his tongue up one round curve just above the line of silk. He wrapped his fingers around her straps and eased them off her shoulders, but made no attempt to draw the material lower. Her breath came in erratic pants as he retraced his tongue’s path, this time dipping below the fabric.
“You’re being awfully darned slow about getting me naked,” Rachel complained, arching her back to reach her bra catch.
It loosened, but kept her covered. She pushed hard on his shoulder, rolling him onto his back. He grabbed her hips and brought her with him. The bra fell, exposing her small, perfect breasts.
Max palmed them with a sigh of sheer joy. Her bra sailed somewhere off to his left as he began relearning the shape of her. Already her nipples had peaked into dark buds. Max half closed his eyes in satisfaction at the hitch in her breath as he fondled her.
Below where she sat, his erection prodded against her lavender panties, seeking entrance. She leaned forward and rocked her hips. His sensitive head slid against the silk of her underwear, so close to her heat he thought he might go mad with wanting.
She reached behind her and seized him. Max’s mouth fell open in shock at the intense pleasure that washed over him. A groan ripped from his chest as her fingers played over the head of his erection. His focus narrowed to her hand and the acute agony denying himself the satisfaction his body craved.
He pulled her hands away and meshed her fingers with his. He closed his eyes to block out her happy smile and the passion glowing in her half lidded gaze.
Not one of the women he’d been with since the day she’d left had brought him to the edge this fast. Control had never been a problem for him until Rachel had entered his life. Max sucked air into his lungs, struggling to clear the fog of passion before something happened they would both regret.
“Condom,” he rasped out.
“Where?” She sounded as impatient as he felt.
“Front pocket.”
She stabbed both hands into his pockets and plucked out a condom. “You came prepared,” she said, dismounting.
The bed sagged to his left. Max shoved down his pants and opened his eyes in time to see a naked Rachel rip open the foil packet with her teeth and poise the condom over the tip of his erection. Clenching his teeth, Max let
