down to hop on one leg while yanking it off.
What was she doing? She should get naked too. She kicked off her own boots, then grasped the hem of her tunic just as his second boot hit the floor.
He grabbed her wrist, stopping her before she had raised the tunic past her midriff. ‘No.’
She let go, the boldness fading. ‘What’s the matter?’ Didn’t he want her naked?
He swore softly, grunted the single word, ‘Bedroom,’ then started hauling her down the corridor.
He shoved open the door into a large, luxuriously furnished room with an enormous king-sized bed in the centre. Releasing her, he crossed to the bedside table, rummaged around for a second and then flung a cellophane-wrapped box onto the gold bedspread.
‘Condoms,’ he said unnecessarily. ‘I figured I should locate them before I lost the ability to think.’
She smiled, ridiculously pleased to see he was as eager as she was. But when she went to take off her tunic again, he shot back across the room and took both her wrists in his, holding her hands manacled to her side.
‘No. Wait.’ He touched his forehead to hers, pressed his lips to her temple. ‘There’s no rush.’ He breathed in her scent, eased out a steady breath. ‘Let me do it.’
‘Okay,’ she said, surprised to feel an odd catch in her chest.
Taking the bottom of the tunic in his hands, he lifted it gently over her head, tossed it over his shoulder.
She sucked in a breath as the green of his eyes turned to a shining emerald. His dark gaze roamed over her, touching her skin like a physical caress, burning a trail of fire from her cheeks, to her breasts, blazing into her sex and sizzling right down to her toes.
He slid his thumbs and forefingers under the straps of her simple cotton bra, then tugged them off her shoulders. Her breasts became heavy, the nipples swelling into hard peaks as he peeled the cups down, exposing her to his gaze.
The dark arousal flared. ‘Damn,’ he murmured. ‘You’re perfect.’
The little catch in her chest clutched at her heart. No one had ever thought she was perfect before. Let alone said so.
Reaching around her waist, he drew her closer. His lips buzzed her shoulder where the strap had left a red mark as he released the catch on her bra. He dragged it free, flung that away too.
His eyes met hers as he cradled the weight in his palms, circled her nipples with his thumbs. Then he bent to fasten his lips on one aching peak.
Cassie threaded her fingers into the hair at the side of his head, and arched into his mouth, the hot, wet suction sending her senses into overdrive. He suckled strongly, drawing her into his mouth, then pulling back to flick his tongue over the tip, massaging and teasing her other breast with his fingers.
A sob escaped as she writhed. It wasn’t just his fingers that were talented, it seemed. She’d never realised she was so sensitive there. The raw nerves pulsated as moisture flooded between her thighs.
The pressure built and intensified at her core as sparks of fire originated in her nipples, fanned out across her breasts, then darted down to her centre. She shut her eyes, her legs like wet noodles as he transferred his mouth to her other breast.
He stopped the devastating caresses briefly to tear off her tights and panties, then as his mouth returned to her pounding breasts he flattened his palm against her stomach, pressed the heel of his hand onto her aching centre, then delved into the curls at the apex of her thighs.
He circled for several agonising seconds, then flicked his finger over the heart of her. She cried out, bucked against his palm, the sparks triggering an explosion of need that reared up and crashed through her as he continued to rub the swollen nub. She dug her nails into his shoulders, braced herself as her legs gave out and the final waves of pleasure drained her body, leaving her as limp as a rag doll.
He gave a strained laugh, and bent down to lift her onto his shoulder. ‘Come on, Cassidy,’ he said, his hand patting her bare buttocks. ‘Time for bed.’
Her stomach rode the ridge of his shoulder blade as he strode across the room and dropped her on the mattress. She watched in a daze as he kicked off his jeans and boxers and climbed onto the bed.
Shock reverberated through her, widening her eyes and slicing through the haze of afterglow, as she stared at the massive erection that prodded her thigh when he settled beside her.
As if in a dream, she reached out and touched her nail to the tip. It bobbed towards her, as if it had a life of its own.
‘You’re perfect too,’ she whispered. A strange combination of euphoria and excitement tightened like a vice around her heart. And for the first time ever she let instinct take over, the heady endorphins of her recent climax making her yearn to give him the same pleasure he had given her.
She trailed her finger down the line of hair on his belly, then wrapped her hand around the solid length of his erection. It felt hard and smooth against her palm. But it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. She pushed at his shoulders until he lay on his back. He thrust his fingers into her hair, as she ran a trail of kisses across his magnificent chest.
His fingers flexed, massaging her scalp, as she inched lower, sliding her tongue over his six pack, licking at the ridge of his belly button, then delving within. The muscles of his flat belly tensed as she encountered the powerful erection at last. Darting her tongue out, she licked up the length of him like an ice lolly, then took the swollen head between her lips.
He swore, shuddered, then, cradling her cheeks in his palms, yanked her off him as he jerked into a sitting position.
Colour flooded into her cheeks as she scrambled back onto her knees. She’d done it wrong. ‘Sorry, you don’t like that?’ she said, the euphoria fading as inadequacy flooded in.
Lance had always told her what to do, had hated it when she took the lead. Why was she so rubbish at sex?
He gave a strained laugh, then reached for her. ‘Are you kidding? I love it,’ he said, sliding his palm over her shoulder to pull her closer. ‘But we’ll have to save it for later or I’m not going to last long enough to get inside you.’
‘Oh, I see,’ she said, feeling gauche and yet ridiculously relieved. She hadn’t done it wrong after all.
Shifting over, he reached for the condoms. Tearing the cellophane, he dumped the contents out on the bedspread. He grabbed one of the packages and fumbled with it. ‘Someone ought to tell the manufacturers they use too much packaging,’ he grumbled, finally ripping it with his teeth.
As he flipped out the rubber she took his wrist. ‘Do you mind if I do it?’ she asked, the urge to touch him again overwhelming.
‘Do I mind?’ His eyebrow rose a fraction. ‘Of course not.’ He smiled and passed it to her. ‘Be my guest.’
Lying back on the bedspread, he crossed his arms behind his head, and watched her with heavy-lidded eyes, the desire in them so palpable her heart pounded against her ribcage.
Holding the slick contraceptive in her fingers as if she were handling nitroglycerine, she gave a faltering sigh, anticipation
