“Lift your arms.”
Jess didn’t think. She lifted her arms. As Madrid slid the sweatshirt from her body, her hair cascaded over her shoulders. Before she could gather her wits, he swept her into his arms and carried her to the settee.
It didn’t seem big enough for two people. But Jess didn’t care. The only thing her mind could focus on at the moment was the magic exploding between them. He laid her on the cushion, then stepped back. She shivered when his dark eyes swept over her, feeling every inch of his perusal like the feather touch of a lover’s fingers.
Kneeling, he leaned closer and kissed her. “This is going to change everything.”
“I know.” Jess jolted when his hands went to the snap of her jeans. Physically, she’d never wanted anything so badly in her life. But on an intellectual level, she knew it was dangerous territory for a woman fresh out of a bad marriage and running for her life. Could she risk her heart on a man who couldn’t give her his?
Madrid didn’t give her a chance to ponder the question too long. He worked her jeans over her hips and down her legs, his eyes skimming over her until her body quivered.
“I shouldn’t want you,” he whispered. “But you take my breath away.”
The words touched her. The emotion in his voice devastated her. In his eyes the flash of uncertainty, of vulnerability tore down the last of her defenses. She wanted him on so many levels her mind couldn’t begin to sort through them. She wanted to tell him that, but there were no words that could describe the feelings burgeoning in her chest, the passion rising like a flood in her body.
Never taking his eyes from hers, he unfastened his own jeans and tossed them to the floor. Jess had seen men without clothes before; she’d been married for five years. But the sight of Mike Madrid standing before her fully aroused and wearing nothing more than his boxer shorts made her as excited and nervous as a virgin.
“You take my breath away, too,” she said.
Surprising her, he laughed. It was a deep, melodic sound that broke some of the tension. His expression softened when he leaned close. “In that case maybe I ought to kiss you before both of us asphyxiate.”
Jess laughed, her nerves smoothing out. He joined her and for a precious moment, their laughter rang out like music. When she turned to him, another kind of tension stole through her body. A tension that made her muscles quiver, her body ache with need.
He kissed her hard on the mouth, and her pulse spiked. Every nerve ending in her body quivered when he ran his hands down her sides. Jess had wanted to talk to him before things got this far. She’d wanted to look inside his heart, see if she could find the source of his pain. Help him heal.
But one touch from Madrid and she was too caught up in the moment to think about anything except the heat of his flesh against hers.
Tearing his mouth from hers, he dipped his head and took her nipple into his mouth. He suckled her hard, first one breast and then the other. A groan escaping her, she writhed beneath his ministrations. Vaguely she was aware of him sliding her panties over her hips and down her legs. Suddenly it seemed as if things were moving too quickly. There was too much passion. Too much danger. Not only physical danger, but the kind of danger that could shatter a heart…
Words that would slow things down fluttered through her mind but died in her throat when he cupped her mound. She opened to him, all thoughts of caution fleeing when he slid two fingers into her and went deep.
Pleasure zinged through her body. Her thought processes shut down. For the span of several seconds all she could focus on was the pleasure. She could feel her body melting around him, her blood heating in her veins. She felt wanton and out of control. The power of those feelings frightened her, but the response was primal and honest and came from somewhere deep inside.
“Let go.”
His voice came to her as if from a fog. She opened her eyes to look at him. His expression was taut and his eyes burned into her with intensity. All the while he stroked her toward a kind of madness she hadn’t known existed.
The climax rushed over her like an avalanche. Jess felt herself tumbling end over end. Heat burned her from the inside out, her body seeming to explode with it. Madrid spoke softly, but she could no longer understand the words. She didn’t try to; she simply let herself feel.
Her body was still in the throes of climax when he moved over her. She opened to him, need coiling and flexing inside her. Dipping his head, he kissed her hard on the mouth, she kissed him back in kind. His tongue entered her at the same time he pushed into her body.