and gave a brittle half-laugh. ‘Why the hell would you want to bed a cripple?’ The tone was bitter, angry, but she could hear the unhappiness beneath.
‘Because it’s not your leg I’m worried about.’
His eyes narrowed but the tension gradually disappeared from his face. He huffed out another laugh, the hollowness gone. ‘Good point.’
He took her hand, lifted her fingers to his lips and brushed a kiss across the knuckles. The gesture was so sweet and so unexpected, she felt herself flush.
‘I don’t want to disappoint you,’ he said, his eyes shadowed by something she couldn’t read.
She had no idea what he meant, but he sounded as if he was getting all serious on her … And it was the last thing she wanted.
This wasn’t serious. It was her first and last wild, reckless, wanton fling. She didn’t want to know him and he didn’t have to know her. Serious was for Miss Fixit. Who was dead and buried.
‘As long as you can hobble to the bedroom—’ she grasped his hand in both of hers, tugged him towards the kitchen door ‘—believe me, you won’t.’ If he didn’t hurry up, something dumb—like common sense—was going to get in the way of her Snoopy dance.
‘Hobble?’ His eyebrows lifted as he followed, the limp not nearly as prominent as the bulge in his denims. ‘That’s not very flattering,’ he said, sounding more playful than insulted.
‘If you want flattering,’ she murmured, fluttering her eyelashes for all she was worth and hoping like mad she wasn’t promising more than she could deliver, ‘you’ll have to get a move on.’
He laughed as he let her haul him out of the door.
Adrenalin and desperation surged through Rye’s body as he slammed the bedroom door shut. She stood before him, her breath panting out in ragged gasps and those bright green eyes feverish with desire. He grabbed a handful of the sweatshirt, yanked her into his arms.
‘I want you naked,’ he murmured into her curls as his hands clasped her hips, found the soft, seductive flesh beneath.
She felt smooth and warm and perfect, her lush little body vibrating as he dragged the sweatshirt over her head and threw it away. Her full breasts swayed, mesmerising him, the nipples large and red, like ripe strawberries.
Her lips lifted but she looked wary all of a sudden—and much less sure of herself.
He cupped one full orb in his palm and bent to suckle the rigid peak.
She gave a soft little sob, sank her fingers into his hair and arched into his mouth. The scent of her, the taste assailed him and then panic struck.
He had to get inside her. Now, before he lost the erection. He couldn’t wait, couldn’t play, couldn’t risk taking the time to pleasure her too much.
Dragging his mouth away from the feast of flesh, he tumbled her back onto the bed. Struggling with his fly, his fingers frantic, he released the mammoth erection, still gloriously hard. It took him several crucial moments more to kick off his jeans. Drag off his own T-shirt.
He looked up to see her watching him. Propped on her elbows, her mouth dropped open as she stared. The shell-shocked look on her face gave him a burst of pride. She wasn’t gaping at the scars; she didn’t look disgusted—she looked astonished.
She didn’t know the half of it. And, hopefully, she never would.
‘The condoms are in the bedside table,’ he said in a strained voice. ‘Can you get them?’ It would take him too long to shuffle over there.
She nodded and rolled over, pulling a foil packet out as he eased onto the bed, trying not to jostle his leg.
‘Do you want me to do it?’ she asked, her voice shaky.
‘In a minute.’ He curved a hand round her waist, then hooked his fingers in the hot pink knickers.
He could give her a minute. At least.
She lifted her hips and he drew the swatch of lace down slender, toned legs. God, if only he could risk taking his time. He wanted to feast on her for an eternity. She smelled so good, looked so delicious, the dim light from the storm outside gilding her pearly-white skin and making his groin throb all the harder. But fear and panic barked in his head like angry dogs, threatening the promise of pleasure, so tantalisingly close.
He pulled her slim body clumsily beneath him, slanted his lips across hers. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, her breath coming in shallow pants as his tongue delved. He cupped her sex, felt her buck as he sank seeking fingers into tight tender flesh.
Thank God. She was ready. Hot, wet, slick with need.
He ripped the foil open with his teeth, his breath sawing as he rolled the condom on one-handed.
Pain stabbed in his leg, panic clawing at his throat as he adjusted her hips, nestled between her thighs.
Do it now. Before you lose it all again.
She gasped something, grasped his neck, but he couldn’t hear her through the rush of blood in his ears, the need and desperation tightening like a fist around his heart.
He thrust deep. The surge of power, of pleasure, of triumph so intense he couldn’t breathe.
The velvet flesh closed so tight around him he had to withdraw, thrust again. At last he settled deep, the blast of raw heat incredible. His hips pistoned, the pain in his leg forgotten as the orgasm, cruel, elemental, unstoppable, roared through him.
He shouted out his release and charged over the edge, his lungs bursting, the wondrous euphoria raging through him like the storm outside.
CHAPTER SIX
MADDY stared at the plaster moulding on the ceiling, her disappointment almost as huge as the heavy male body smothering her.
Was that it?
Her wild, reckless, wanton fling? What a total waste of time and effort.
Ryan King may have had the sexiest body she’d ever laid eyes on—and the biggest ‘you-know what’—but he also had about as much finesse as a bulldozer.
Her eyes narrowed as the shock began to clear.
She’d asked him to slow down, tried to give him a little bit of direction. But had he listened? No, he’d just charged on regardless, using his thing like a battering ram.
Okay, he hadn’t hurt her. But that was only because she’d been so turned on. The way he’d ploughed into her, he could have done her an injury.
She wriggled, winced and wedged her hand under his shoulder to give him a shove. He grunted, but hardly budged. Then the still-huge erection pulsed inside her. She groaned, the too-full ache making her more uncomfortable and annoyed by the second.
This could have been so much better, so much more. If he’d taken his time, shown a little patience and consideration for her enjoyment, her feelings. Instead of which,
