The man was not idle. He stroked her gently, occasionally caressed roughly, somehow always knowing her preference. By the second her need escalated to a fever pitch.
He trailed small, damp kisses over her temple, opened his mouth over a special place on the side of her neck, took a gentle bite of her shoulder and made his way back to her nipples, using that hot tongue to turn her into a mass of quivering sensation.
“Let’s see if you’re ready.”
“I am,” she promised breathlessly.
But he only smiled against her breast, then pressed his broad hand between her thighs, his long fingers slipping over her, spreading her moisture. “Mmm,” he murmured. “Maybe. But let me...” Slowly, he worked two fingers deep, then groaned. “Nice.”
Cat arched up on a throaty cry of pleasure.
“Yeah,” he growled low in approval. “You’re wet and ready.”
Because she was very close to losing it.
“Come for me again,” he urged, and he brought his thumb up to her clit, idly stroking in a maddening way.
With the tension rapidly building, it would be so easy to give in. But she wanted to touch him too, she needed to touch him, had been thinking about it since meeting him, so she caught his wrist and held him still as she struggled against the tide of release.
“Catalina?” He kissed her ribs, though kiss didn’t quite cover the bone-melting way he used his mouth. “What is it, baby? What’s wrong?”
Speaking wasn’t easy. Heck, breathing was a struggle. “Next time I come,” she managed to whisper, “I want you in me.”
With sultry satisfaction in his voice, he promised, “We’ll get there.”
“But before that—” she turned to face him, then very deliberately pressed him to his back “—I want to play a little too. After all, this was my idea.”
His pale eyes smoldered. “I don’t mind playing, but know that it was a shared idea all along.” He eased her hair away from her face. “Before we went this far out of bounds, I wanted you to be sure.”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life.”
Appearing pleased by that admission, he searched her face until his focus settled on her mouth. “Then have at it. I’m all yours.”
Oh, if only that was true. If only she knew that when this dark fairy tale ended, Leese would still be with her...it’d make every day, every minute, so much easier.
But all she had was right here, right now, and she wanted to make the most of it.
She brushed her mouth over his. “Stay still,” she whispered.
Now it was her turn to taste him all over. With her breasts pressed to his chest, she leaned over him and drew his earlobe between her teeth.
Leese put those beautiful arms of his around her, stroking her back, playing with her bottom, doing his own share of kissing her wherever he could reach.
He felt so good, his skin hot and sleek against her palms, muscles taut over large bones.
Crisp chest hair, just the right amount, added to his machismo. He shuddered when she lightly bit his pec muscle, then licked over one flat nipple.
He tangled a hand in her hair, and didn’t object as she began kissing her way down his body, much as he’d done to her.
From his navel down, she teased her nose over the happy trail that bisected his body, then grew thicker around his testicles. With her so near, his erection flexed in spontaneous reaction. The heated scent of him filled her head and, losing herself to the moment, she wrapped her fingers snug around him.
“Damn,” he muttered, his thighs tensing.
She brushed her cheek against him and whispered, “You smell so good, Leese.” When he shifted restlessly, she stroked once, twice, then licked her tongue from the base of him up and over the head.
He breathed harder; his hand in her hair urged her closer. Knowing what he wanted, Cat put one soft kiss to the underside of him, then opened her mouth and drew him in, taking him as deep as she could.
“Catalina,” he whispered, his whole body strung tight, his breathing labored.
Wow, he was in worse shape than her, and that was saying something given how badly she wanted him.
Thrilled, even more turned on by his response, she stroked him with her tongue, then slowly retreated before taking him again. Over and over, she worked him, sucking as she withdrew, licking with her tongue while she took as much of him into her mouth as she could. She tasted his salty pre-cum, heard the broken, almost pained sounds he made and felt the tautness of his big, hard body.
Only a few minutes in, his hands shifted to her cheeks and he held her face. “Enough,” he growled. “You need to let up.”
Rising to an elbow to see him, Cat took in his expression. She’d expected him to be concentrating, eyes closed, teeth locked.
His teeth were locked all right, but he stared at her, watching, his gaze incendiary.
Still holding him in her fist, she asked, “You don’t like it?”
He groaned a laugh. “I like it too much.”
Good. She wasn’t exactly a pro at this sort of thing, so she’d been going mostly by instinct. Now, seeing how she’d affected him, she wouldn’t mind starting all over again. “I can feel you throbbing.” Lightly fondling him, she whispered, “I like doing this to you, Leese. A lot.”
He didn’t smile. “I need you now, Cat.”
“I need you too.” Wanting him to know, she said, “Understand, it’s not just your smokin’ body, and not just because you’re a barrier between me and crazy killers.”
“Cat,” he admonished, because he’d already told her many times he wouldn’t let her be harmed.
She moved her free hand over his abs, up his ribs to his chest. So warm, so strong. So perfect in every way.
Leese didn’t know it yet—how could he? Until this moment, she hadn’t even realized it. Finally getting this close to him, this intimate, she couldn’t mistake her feelings.
She loved him.
Crazy, over the top love.
If it came down to it, she’d sacrifice herself before letting him be hurt in the line of fire. “It’s everything about you.” Her throat felt thick with sudden tears, but that wouldn’t do, not at this precise moment, so she smiled. “You’re the most amazing man I’ve ever known.”
“Good,” he said, the single word so gravelly, it was almost inaudible. “Now come here.” He caught her under the arms and drew her up the length of his body, then in the same movement, turned her beneath him.
“Leese—”
He took her mouth in a hot, demanding, we’re-done-talking kiss that made her forget everything except the desire. His hands were on her again, causing the most delicious friction, teasing in all the right places. For only a moment he moved away, no doubt to roll on the condom, then he settled over her again.
Unsmiling, he kneed her legs apart, held her gaze with his as he reached between their bodies, adjusting, then filled her with one deep thrust.
She was so wet, he entered her without resistance, but it had been a long time for her and she gasped at the unfamiliar sensation.
The incredible sensation.