First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

“I’ll take good care of you,” he promised.

It’s now or never, Lexi, she told herself. She had dreamed about this – fantasized about it her whole life. Well, at least since she started thinking about sex, anyway. Ian Callaghan had been her first love, though he never knew it. He had unwittingly ruined everything for her. There was no man smart enough, sexy enough, or gorgeous enough to make her forget the way she felt about him. Neither time nor distance had done anything to lessen the desire, either. On the contrary, it had only made her burn hotter. And if she didn’t do something soon, the flames might just consume her from the inside out.

“Yes.” The single word affirmation was more breath than voice. As she had rehearsed in her mind for years, she turned into him, placing her palm against his hard chest. Hesitating only a moment, she let it trail slowly southward, raking her nails lightly against him through the cotton fabric, until she turned her fingers downward and cupped the proof of his interest through his jeans.

*

Ah, fuck! His mind screamed as she placed her hand on him, catching him off guard. No subtle seduction there. He fought hard to regain some form of reasonable thought, which was nearly impossible with her small hand making light, rhythmic strokes up and down the length of him through his clothing.

He had planned on seducing her slowly. Now she was throwing all of his plans right out the window. But hey, he’d been a SEAL, trained to make the most of any situation. He was nothing if not flexible.

He groaned, placing his hands on her shoulders and lowering his head for a kiss. He found her lips wet and waiting, softer than he could have possibly imagined beneath his harder, more demanding ones. She instantly obeyed his unspoken request, opening for him.

Ian groaned again as he drank in the taste of her. So sweet, like oranges and vanilla. He deepened the kiss, sweeping her mouth with his tongue, fearing with sudden desperation that he would never be able to get enough.

As delicious as she was, his conscience poked at him. Things were moving swiftly, but this woman was no player. As much as he wanted her – and holy hell, did he want her – he still had some honor in him.

“Sweetheart,” he said breathlessly, breaking the kiss to lean his forehead against hers and cup her flushed face. “Last chance to say no here.”

Her hands snaked up around his neck. “I’m saying yes, Ian.”

Yes! Ian did a mental fist-pump. Satisfied that he had given her ample opportunity to say no, thrilled that she hadn’t, his hands pulled her closer to him. His earlier assessment had been spot-on; her body molded to his perfectly, every soft dip and curve aligning themselves along his much harder planes.

His hands caressed her shoulders, her arms, her back. He couldn’t touch her enough, and the layers of clothes between them were really starting to become irksome. Within seconds he was lifting the tank over her head, baring her upper body.

Ian sucked in a breath – she was even lovelier than he’d imagined – and sank back onto the bed. He pulled Lexi between his legs to bury his face in her lush, full breasts. Her hand wound into his hair, holding him to her as she arched into him. Desperate for a taste, he nipped her delicate skin, then eased the sting with skilled licks that had her sagging against him.

Before long, he came to the realization that there was so much more he could be doing with his hands. And the way she was responding to him, he was going to put every one of them into action. With a swift tug he twisted and pulled her onto the bed. One hand slipped down her abdomen and beneath her low-riding pants. He hissed in unexpected pleasure as his fingers met bare, waxed flesh, soft and silky and moist.

“Ah, baby,” he moaned against her breast. “You’re so wet for me.”

*

Only you, she amended in her mind. No man had ever elicited these kinds of feelings, the all-consuming desire that Ian did. Lexi moaned in response to the feel of his skilled fingers sliding along her slick folds, biting her lip as she lifted her hips to feel more of him.

“Easy,” he cautioned, cupping her sex, but there was nothing easy about it. It was as complex as anything she had ever encountered. Every stroke, every kiss, every heated breath against her bare skin heightened her senses. Starbursts of sensation erupted from each point of contact, crushing any last vestiges of doubt or resistance. Lexi couldn’t remember a time when she had desired anything quite so badly, and she wanted to savor every moment of it.