Page 76 of Through the Fire
Reaching up, she cupped his face, her gaze meeting his directly. Her touch lit a fire under his skin, but it was also comforting, both burning heat and soothing warmth at the same time. “You aren’t rushing me at all. I want this. I want it so badly that I might spontaneously combust if we stop now.”
He met her gaze and held it, caught up in a whirl of anticipation and excitement and affection and exhilaration. This was actually happening. He’d been wishing for it since she’d first appeared at his truck window, all understanding charm and understated power, and that wish was actually coming true.
“I know it’s been fast,” she continued when he was too caught up in his swirling emotions to say anything. “But I feel like I already know you.” He nodded, his stubble rasping against her palms. “And I want to know more. Show me.”
He would show her, and he knew that she’d keep everything he offered her safe. He could trust her.
She watched him, as if waiting for a response, but he didn’t have any words to express how he felt. Instead, he pressed his lips to hers again, pouring all of his emotions, everything that he felt the two of them could be, into the kiss. Wrapping her arms and legs around him, she reciprocated just as eagerly, clinging tightly as he stood, holding her against him.
He moved over to the bed, tumbling both of them onto the mattress. Kit gave a laughing shriek as they fell, never letting her grip on him loosen. Wes caught his weight on his hands before he could crush her, hovering over her as he kissed and nipped a line down her throat. She arched her neck, making small sounds that showed exactly how much she was enjoying the feel of his mouth on her skin. The evidence of her pleasure heightened his, tightening his muscles with hungry need.
When he reached her collarbone, licking and nibbling at the exposed skin above the neck of her top, she gently pushed him back until she could sit up and yank her shirt over her head. Without hesitating, she unhooked her bra and slid the straps down her arms, revealing her breasts.
He stared, entranced, feeling like a teenager who was seeing a woman naked for the first time. It wasn’t until she visibly shivered that he ripped his gaze away. She was smiling a little, but she seemed uncertain.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, reaching out to touch her, still amazed that he could, that this wasn’t a dream, that he wasn’t going to wake up alone and aching in his cabin loft. Her skin was so, so soft. “I can’t believe I get to touch you like this.”
Tugging at the bottom of his T-shirt, she smiled, her hesitancy gone. He must’ve said the right thing. “Take this off. It’s only fair that I get to touch you, too.”
Before she even finished asking, he grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled it off, tossing it away. As soon as his upper half was bare, her hands were exploring his chest. Overwhelmed by the sensation of her fingers on his skin, he had to close his eyes for a moment, but that just intensified the pleasure. He was startled by how amazingly good it felt.
His skin grew hot and tight, shivering under each brush of her hand, each light scratch and pinch. With a groan of intense pleasure, he reached for her, pressing her back onto the bed so he could kiss her deeply as their bare chests touched.
It was almost too intense. His desire flamed higher, and he wanted more. Catching her long underwear and her panties, he pulled them down her legs and off. Her toes, small and dainty, distracted him. He kissed the arches of her feet as he smiled.
“What?” she asked, returning the smile even though she didn’t know the cause of his.
“Your feet are so cute.” He brushed his lips over her ankles and then slowly worked his way up her calves. “They’re always hidden in your steel-toed police boots, though, so no one else knows how adorable you are.” It was as if they had a secret, as silly as it was. He liked that feeling.
She snorted a laugh that turned into a gasp as he nuzzled her thigh, working higher and higher until he found her center. He kissed her there, touching and sucking and licking as he watched for every tensed muscle, listened for every gasp or pleased sigh, learning what made her climb higher and higher until she came, gripping his hair tightly.
Her climax nearly set him off, and he hurried to strip off the rest of his clothes as she lay back on the rumpled covers, so beautiful with her face relaxed and eyes half-lidded in the aftermath of orgasm. He moved toward her before he remembered condoms, and he swore.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbows, her hair mussed in the sexiest, most alluring way. It distracted him for a moment, until she shifted again, starting to look alarmed. Turning away reluctantly, he started hunting in drawers and cupboards. “What are you doing?” She sounded a little amused this time.
“I know I put them somewhere…” He pulled out the top drawer of his workstation and then the next. In the third, he hit pay dirt. “Found them!” Grabbing the box, he rushed back to the bed, and Kit started giggling. He straddled her on his knees, looking down at her laughing face, loving that something he’d done—although he wasn’t sure what—had made her this happy. “What’s so funny?”
Taking a deep, shivering breath, she managed to stop laughing, although her huge smile was still in place. “You’re just normally so serious. It was fun to see you act so…goofy.”
“That was an important mission I just went on,” he said, perfectly fine with being called goofy if it made her laugh. He showed her the box of condoms. “I need to program the robot to bring these on voice command.”
She was laughing again. “Robo-Cat is going to fetch your condoms? In the middle of…everything?”
It made sense to him, since it would save him from scrambling around when he was naked and desperate to be inside Kit, but her laughter made it impossible not to grin with her. As she continued to giggle, he leaned over and kissed the side of her neck, making his way down to her breasts. By the time he reached her nipple, her laughter had changed to sounds of pleasure.
She tasted so good. As he drew a line with his mouth down to her stomach, her muscles flexed and twitched under his lips. She felt so alive, so warm and strong, and he wanted to connect with her, to be part of that—part of her. Reluctantly, he pulled away, smiling a little smugly at her sound of protest as his mouth left her skin. Quickly rolling on a condom, he kissed her mouth and eased inside her.
A groan escaped each of them as he sank into her heat. He went still for a moment, trying to catch his breath and control his swirling emotions. When he couldn’t do either, he let himself slip into the moment, allowing everything to disappear except the feel of her as he moved. He couldn’t stop exploring her, his lips and hands moving over her, sliding over sweat-slick skin and finding all the spots that made her shiver and gasp against his mouth.
It was amazing to him how much she wanted him. He found her mouth as his pleasure grew, and he tried to pour all his affection and gratitude and need for her into a kiss. With a groan, she broke the kiss, closing her eyes and arching her neck as she came a second time. Her body tightened around him, driving him over the edge, and he felt pleasure rush over him, unexpectedly intense and completely wonderful.
It took a long time to come down from that height. When he finally did, it was to discover another completely different—yet almost as addictive—feeling. He sank into the mindless, floating warmth, loving the press of her lax body against his, but his thoughts started to intrude too soon. With a reluctant huff, he pulled away. Kit resisted for a moment, her arms tightening to pull him back against her, and it was nearly impossible to not be lured back into the nest they’d made.
“Give me twenty seconds,” he said, giving her a quick kiss. After tossing the condom and cleaning up in the bathroom, he hurried back to her, hoping she’d be just where he’d left her, warm and lax and happy.
“Eighteen…nineteen…” Her teasing counting broke off with a squeal as he jumped back on the bed and kissed her again.
“Twenty,” he finished, the word muffled by the press of her lips. She laughed, and he felt it, both against his mouth and in his chest. In his heart.
