Page 17 of The Smokejumper's Lady
“Mm?”
“Are you trying to drive me crazy?”
He chuckles against my throat. “Maybe.”
The cube slips lower, beneath the fabric of my shirt. I gasp again, this time with more breath and less sound, as he lets it melt between the valley of my breasts. The cold makes me arch toward him instinctively.
He reaches for the hem of my T-shirt and pulls it up, off over my head. And then he takes a moment to admire me, slouched against the back of the couch, breasts fully exposed to him, before he reaches for another ice cube.
As he begins to move the ice torturously around each nipple, I gasp and arch into him. He grins, leaning forward to capture a gasp with his mouth. I sink into the kiss eagerly, ready to surrender myself to this cacophony of sensations.
“I want to know everything about you,” he murmurs against my lips. “What makes you melt. What makes you moan. What makes you beg.”
I’m trembling now, not from cold, but from the storm brewing under my skin.
“I think you already know,” I whisper.
His eyes find mine, dark and full of heat. “Not even close.”
He trails the cube further down, between my breasts and then lower, his mouth following to drag his warm tongue through the cold water left behind. Down over my belly and to the waistband of my pants. Ryan slides to the floor now, pulling away my pants and kneeling between my legs.
This is the first time I’ve ever been completely naked with a man. I’ve never felt so exposed, so overwhelmed, but so safe at the same time.
The ice cube is small now, and he slides the last cold piece over my upper thigh. It melts to a sliver, and he tosses the last bit aside. I’m breathing hard, skin damp and tingling, blood pounding in every intimate place. And then—slowly, deliberately—he leans in and lowers his warm mouth between my thighs, sliding his tongue from my entrance up to my clit, like he’s savoring the way I taste.
I’m shivering, shaking against him, cold everywhere except where his hot tongue is making me feel things I’ve never felt before. His hands wrap around my thighs and grip firmly, pinning me in place as he continues to devour me.
I moan, gripping his hair at the back of head. The gesture only seems to spur him on, and after a few more intense strokes of his tongue against my sensitive bud, I’m falling apart, pleasure crashing over me like a tidal wave. He holds me through my orgasm, his mouth continuing to work me until I’m fully spent.
Grinning, Ryan rises to his feet. I have just enough time to notice the huge bulge in his sweatpants before he’s sweeping me into his arms and carrying me the few feet to the bed.
Setting me down gently, he leans over my body and presses a firm kiss to my lips, his tongue sliding into my mouth and tangling with mine. It’s not wild or desperate this time, but slow and aching, like he’s claiming me. Permanently. Like this moment is meant to last.
And maybe it is.
Because I don’t want to run. Not tonight.
Not from him.
Chapter Six
Ryan
She’s going to ruin me.
I’ve been with women before. I know what I like, what I want, and I know how to get it. But this? Her? It’s like all the air’s been sucked from the room and the only oxygen I need is her breath on my skin, her voice in my ear, her hands clawing at me like I’m the only thing tethering her to the earth.
Her naked body is pressed against me now in the bed, her damp hair brushing my chest, the scent of her pleasure still clinging to my skin. I’m not done with her yet, but she deserves to rest for a moment after the orgasm I just wrung out of her.
I think back to what she told me about the pressure her family puts on her. That they want her in some cold, corporate box, wearing pearls and speaking in PR-approved soundbites while she slowly dies inside.
Fuck that. She’s meant for mountains and wind in her hair and wildfires that can’t be tamed. She was born to burn, and now I can’t stop imagining myself being consumed by her flame.
Her fingers toy with the band of my sweatpants, like she’s deciding whether she’s ready for more.
“Ryan…”
“Just relax, baby,” I whisper against her ear, tucking a strand of hair behind it. “I want to make this good for you.”
