held her so tightly she would have fallen to the carpeted floor.
Finally he drew back with a ragged sigh, resting his forehead on hers. ‘Hello,’ he greeted her belatedly.
She gave a shaky laugh, her hands still clinging to his broad shoulders. ‘I dread to think what you could do with “Hello, darling"!’
He shook his head to clear it of the sexual haze. ‘I have no doubt we’ll find out,’ he said gruffly. ‘Are you ready to go?’
The question held much more than its surface significance, at least, for her, but one look into his arrogantly assured face when he arrived and she had known she was more than ready, that she had probably been waiting for tonight all her life. Her relief that she had waited, and not fallen into that trap a lot of her friends had by sleeping with men they were merely fond of, was immense. She knew with certainty that somehow during the last three weeks—probably instantly she saw him—she had fallen in love with this enigmatic man, that she had been fighting a losing battle.
‘I’m ready,’ she nodded, smiling shyly, knowing her mouth had to be bare of lipgloss by now, and not really caring. Justin was looking at her as if he would like to eat her, and her mouth felt swollen and red enough without the aid of artifice.
Later they were alone in his apartment, although Caroline doubted he had actually cooked the delicious meal they served up together. No doubt he had someone that came in to cook and clean for him, her presence unobtrusive in the extreme; Justin didn’t give the impression of a man who hurried home at the end of the day to spend time cooking.
The food was deliciously prepared and cooked, smelt wonderful, too, and yet neither of them did justice to it. Caroline couldn’t keep her eyes off Justin for more than a few seconds at a time, her anticipation high, and he seemed to be lost in brooding silence as he absently pushed the food around on his plate.
‘I can’t wait any longer!’ He suddenly threw his fork down, pushing his plate away to stand up. ‘Caro, I need to make love to you. Very badly.’
She could see just how badly by the fevered glitter of his gaze, his hands clenched at his sides. And if she were honest—and that seemed to be what Justin demanded of her—she couldn’t wait any longer, either.
She stood up, too, her legs a little shaky, and then they were in each others arms, and it was just as if there had been no break from their earlier impassioned kisses, Justin’s mouth wide and moist against hers, his tongue moving into her fiercely at the same time as he pulled her thighs high against him.
He was hard and pulsating against her, groaning low in his throat at the satiny feel of her thighs, his kisses becoming even fiercer, devouring, filled with hunger as he began to pull off her clothes.
Caroline felt a shiver as the cool air caressed her body as her gown fell at her feet, the feel of Justin’s dinner jacket abrasive against her naked breasts, rubbing against the tips, filling her lower body with a warm ache that flamed moistly as Justin touched her there.
He suckled on her breast, drawing it hungrily into his mouth, the pleasure-pain causing her to whimper low in her throat, breathing shakily, her back arched as she pushed herself against him.
He drew just as fiercely on the other nipple while his hand cupped and caressed the breast he had abandoned, holding her up against him as if she weighed nothing at all.
She couldn’t stand it any more, needing more, needing it all, pushing frantically at his jacket, their mouths fused together as Justin helped her with the removal of his clothes, sinking down on to the floor with her, lying between her parted thighs as he moved restlessly against her.
She cradled either side of his face as their kisses went on and on, moist and hungry, fevered, Caroline arching against him as he continued to caress her aching breasts.
His legs felt abrasive against her as he moved above her, increasing her passion, the ache between her thighs becoming almost a pain.
And then he came into her, slowly, not forcefully, easing her sudden tension, gently penetrating the barrier that parted and finally moved aside altogether. There should have been pain, but there wasn’t, only an unfamiliar feeling of fullness, a slight discomfort that made her muscles contract at the intrusion.
And then Justin began to move within her, gently stroking her, the heat instantly returning, consuming, until her breath was coming in strangled gasps, her head thrashing from side to side as she knew she was about to shatter, to be devoured by the burning ache that filled her whole body now.
Suddenly her back arched, her thighs thrust fiercely against Justin, her eyes wide with wonder on Justin’s face as the pleasure exploded, imploding in a million different places in her body.
Justin continued to thrust against her, and as one wave of pleasure ended another began, until she felt it would never stop, awestruck as she watched the savage beauty of Justin’s face as he grimaced as though in pain, groaning loudly, suddenly even more fierce against her, driving her over the edge again as she felt his own fevered release.
He gently lowered his weight against her, burying his face in her perfumed hair, his breath deep and rasping. ‘It was more,’ he finally groaned, ‘so much more than I even imagined!’
She could never have imagined anything as devastatingly shattering as the passion they had just shared. She didn’t need to be experienced to know that it had been something special. She hadn’t known whether she would be able to feel pleasure at all the first time they made love, but it had been never-ending, and even now she wanted him again. As she felt him stir against her she knew that it was what he wanted, to.
He looked down at her questioningly as his passion rekindled. ‘Are you all right?’ His voice was husky.
A delicate blush darkened her cheeks. ‘I don’t hurt at all,’ she assured him softly, finding her shyness utterly ridiculous considering the intimacy of their positions.
He frowned. ‘You’ll probably be a little sore tomorrow,’ he warned sympathetically. ‘But as long as you feel OK now?’ Still he hesitated about repeating that fiery splendour.
‘I feel fine,’ she said gruffly. ‘I feel better than fine,’ she added determinedly. ‘And I want you again, too.’
He smiled his satisfaction with her answer, and it made him look more rakish than ever, his hair tousled, the eye-patch giving him a devilish look.
She tentatively touched his cheek near the black patch. ‘What happened?’ She frowned her concern.
‘A dissatisfied client,’ he dismissed shruggingly, bending to move his lips against her throat.
Her frown deepened, even though his lips sent a delicious thrill down the length of her spine. ‘I thought you always won?’
‘Not my dissatisfied client,’ Justin gently mocked. ‘I made sure he was put away.’
Her fingers stilled against his cheek. ‘But if he was put in prison …’
‘They all get out eventually,’ Justin explained tautly. ‘I do my job, Caroline,’ he added softly as she shivered in reaction. ‘This man just happened to believe there was something personal in my prosecution of him. When he got out of prison he paid me a little visit.’ He frowned.
She was still
