Page 46 of Hot Zone

Ten

Tessa’s gaze snapped up to his. She was startled as much by the tone in his voice as by the words he uttered. Gone was all humor. Left only was overwhelming and entirely masculine intensity as he matched her kneeling pose.

“Spread your knees apart. Wider. And lean back.” He was all alpha male now, giving orders and expecting her to obey.

A thrill of danger raced through her. Whatever she’d teased and flirted awake within him was fully in charge now. She got the distinct feeling that they’d already passed the point of no return.

It was a strange sensation for a woman like her, used to giving orders and being in charge at all times—and over men, no less, in her capacity as a military officer. But this man, he took orders from no one. He expected her to surrender to him. And it thrilled her to imagine doing so.

Still kneeling, she did as he ordered, arching her back and reaching backward to grab her ankles for support. The position was awkward, stretching her shoulders uncomfortably and putting pressure on her lower back. But it thrust her breasts up in blatant invitation, and opened the sensitive places between her legs for his exploration. Her breath hitched with the realization of how vulnerable she was to him in this position.

He reached out with both thumbs and flicked her nipples, which were already swollen hard and so sensitive that she cried out. She lurched and would have snapped upright, but his hands stopped her, capturing her shoulders and pushing just hard enough to force her back into her original position.

“I did not tell you to move. I am not done with you like this yet.”

She might have made some retort, but he leaned down and captured her right breast with his mouth, sucking on her flesh until she gladly arched her back, moaning in pleasure, wordlessly offering up her other breast for his voracious attention. Her arms ached with the effort of supporting her weight, but oh, my, was holding the position ever worth it!

When she was literally gasping in delight, he sat back on his heels, studying her intently, not touching her at all. Once again, he didn’t react as she expected. She’d thought to see rampaging lust in his gaze. But he still had the towel wrapped around his hips, and his expression was one of intense concentration. What was he up to?

Finally, when she was all but chewing her lower lip to keep from groaning in anticipation, he reached between her legs. A single finger touched her feminine flesh, a long, light stroke of her insanely engorged flesh, drawing the dampness already gathering there forward to moisten the pearl of her desire into a slippery nubbin of pleasure. A jolt of electricity, so intense she nearly screamed, zinged through her.

Another long, light stroke of his finger.

Then a quick flick of his fingernail against that throbbing flesh. She did scream then, as a towering orgasm roared through her. She started to push up off her ankles, to throw herself at him, to kiss him and reach for his male parts, when a rough hand on her shoulder shoved her back.

“Do I need to tie your wrists to your ankles, or will you stay there like I told you to?”

“But—”

“But nothing. You are not ready for me yet.”

Not ready? She’d just had her first-ever screaming-caliber orgasm. How much more ready could she get?

Then he proceeded to show her just how little she knew of the limits of pleasure her body could experience. Six, maybe seven orgasms later—she’d lost count—her arms trembled with fatigue. And yet she pressed her hips forward eagerly, offering her most private places to him with utter abandon. She danced beneath his magical fingers like a puppet, pleasured at first, embarrassed at some point by the excess of her lust, and then simply craving more. Without pride, without question, without restraint.

Every muscle in her body had long ago turned to quivering jelly. Every nerve sobbed for more, and yet more, of what he did to her. Her core muscles clenched and unclenched spasmodically within her belly, desperately seeking the fullness of him within her, seeking ultimate completion in this journey of unbelievably erotic sensation.

It didn’t even occur to her to swallow the words, to hold out against what he did to her. “Please,” she begged. “Please take me, Rustam. Finish this thing. Fly with me.”

A small smile broke through his aggressive concentration, but he had the good grace not to gloat. He pressed a fingertip just within her opening. Her muscles clenched frantically around it, then responded in blatant invitation, showering his finger with the moist, slick rush of her desire.

“Ahh. Now you are ready for me.”

His arms went around her then, and he raised her gently, laying her back upon his bedroll. He knelt over her, bracing his hands on either side of her head and slowly lowering himself until he could kiss her. She sucked at his lips, his tongue, mad to drive him wild with as much lust as he’d aroused in her. He groaned, and she vaguely registered that the towel fell away from his hips.

She made to reach for him, to pleasure him, but before she could, he leaned back on his heels, lifting her knees and positioning himself between them. Something hot and shockingly hard touched her where she most desired to be touched. She cried out, shuddering with yet another orgasm at the sensation. He waited patiently for the tremors to pass.

He seemed to be taking inordinate care to make sure his aim and angle were exactly correct, and she nearly laughed aloud. Did he think she was a virgin?

She murmured, “In my home, most girls become sexually active in their teens. You don’t need to worry about hurting me. I’ve done this before.”

He replied in a low growl, “You haven’t done this with me. Trust me. I know what I’m about.”

Who was she to argue, when that delicious shaft of molten fire was finally pressing exactly where she wanted it?

He muttered, “Relax, or this will hurt.”

She noted with satisfaction that his voice and his control sounded seriously strained. Maybe he wasn’t as immune to all of this as he’d acted so far. And then he began pushing ever so slowly into her, and all thought fled her stunned mind.

---