Page 37 of Coming Undone

“Are you withholding sexual favors until I comply?” Her smile returned, and this time it was the real deal.

Some of the ache in his chest eased as he hoped he’d chosen his strategy well.

“I might.” He turned in his chair and cinched her waist with his hands, smoothing over the hot pink satin. “I’m doing it for altruistic reasons though, so you can’t hold that against me.”

She leaned forward to plant a kiss on his cheek. Then, she dragged her lower lip up to his temple, her breath warm and chamomile scented.

“You have no reason to be jealous of the guy I dated,” she whispered against his skin. “If not for him, I might not have realized how much I needed you. Only you.”

Possessiveness stirred inside, the need to be with her so strong he didn’t stand a chance of fighting it. Tomorrow, he’d move into full-on protector mode. Tonight, safe in a place no enemy would find her, he could afford to touch her. Take her. Make her his.

“I need you, too.” He skimmed a touch up her side and found the zipper to her dress hidden under one arm. With the knowledge that the shades were drawn and the doors were locked, he tugged the tab down until the dress fell in a pool of satin at her feet.

Her blue eyes found his in the dim light from the pendant lamps over the counter. He wanted to kiss her until she was weak kneed and pliant against him, but her newly unveiled body called to him like a siren’s song. Pearl gray lace cupped her breasts and spanned her hips, tantalizing him with glimpses through the delicate fabric. She stepped out of her high heels and arched up on her toes as if she would make herself at home in his lap.

But he was past the point of measured touches designed to bring her pleasure. He needed more. Sliding off the bar chair, he stepped over her discarded dress. Next, he lifted her the same way he had when they’d been dancing. He plucked her off her feet and set her back down where he wanted her – against a bare wall in the hallway that led to the den.

“Tell me if anything makes you uncomfortable,” he reminded her even though he was already licking his way down her collarbone to the swell of her breast.

Her fingers threaded through his hair, guiding him where he wanted to go.

“I don’t want to be comfortable.” She arched her back, lifting her right breast so that his mouth hovered above lace over her nipple. “I want to be wildly aroused. And I want you to take me there.”

When he drew on the mound through the fabric, she clawed down the lace cup herself, exposing herself to his kiss. There was a new edge to her response, a sexual confidence that hadn’t been there before.

He increased the pressure, licking and sucking until she lifted her other breast in a demand for equal attention. Gladly, he accommodated her, peeling away the last fastening on her bra until it fell to the floor. He massaged the soft weight of the pale globes, circling the tips with his thumbs until she pulled his hips to hers and swayed against the erection she found there.

Then, things got out of control in a hurry. She tugged his tie loose and off. He worked the buttons of his shirt. Her fingers struggled with the belt buckle while he undid his fly. He remembered a condom from his pants pocket before they fell to the floor. Somehow, they got enough off to free him, until only her panties stood in the way.

He reached for them, more than ready to sink inside her. But she surprised him by pulling the foil packet from his hand and sinking to her knees in front of him. He couldn’t have looked away if he tried. The sight of her soft hands and pink fingernails tentatively sliding down the length of his shaft almost cost him the last shred of his control. Gripping the wall with both hands, he steeled himself for the feel of her lips around him. Her tongue darting out to circle the head and slalom a path down the length of him…

With his release poised and ready, he reached for her and hauled her to her feet, stealing the prophylactic back.

“I’ve got this,” he muttered. “Can’t wait. Can’t…” He rolled the condom on, his speech disconnected from his thoughts so he made no sense. He just needed to be inside her.

He captured her mouth in a hard kiss at the same moment he lifted her thigh over one arm and buried himself deep. She was so hot and wet, her body so slick and ready for him that it made his pulse throb in his temple, his erection throb with the need to give her everything.

Delaying the inevitable, he focused on the kiss and her hungry response. He thought about her soft skin under his fingers, the taut muscle beneath. He tried thinking about her breasts and the soft weight crushed between them as he found a rhythm between her legs.

But then, the sweet inundation of sensation was too much. His release surged through him so hard his thighs strained with it.

For an instant, he worried he might be restraining her, his weight too heavy against her as he pressed her into the wall. He pried his eyes open to watch her, make sure she was okay, just in time to see her expression still and her eyes flutter close. Seeing her orgasm only made his last longer.

She was so damn beautiful. So important to him.

He just hoped the intensity of what he felt for her didn’t scare her off. Because this time, he was gambling everything and telling her how he felt and what he wanted. Her- always. He just needed to figure out what kind of life he could offer her beside a few weeks out of the year when he wasn’t aboard a ship. But before that? He would make damn sure no one else could ever hurt her again.

* * *

In the light of morning, staring at the dent in the pillow where Danny had slept beside her up until an hour ago, Stephanie could see that she’d been lying to herself to think she’d ever wanted something light and temporary with him. The frantic need for him that had overtaken her last night like a wild beast should have proven that her feelings were far more complicated than she could articulate. Hell, it had been easier to tear his clothes off and let her body do the talking than admit she might feel…

Love.

It was the ultimate vulnerability. For a woman terrified of ever being defenseless again… the knot of complex feelings inside was scary. Obviously it was a different kind of scary, but it had taken her so long to get her head on straight after the abduction, she wasn’t sure if she was ready to risk another kind of hurt. Maybe that’s why it had taken forever to work up the courage to see him again. Perhaps she’d known all these years that their relationship had the potential to explode into something this powerful. She remembered she had shut down those feelings five years ago when she’d had to say goodbye to Danny the first time after their isolated days together.

“I wish we had another day,” he’d told her as they stood in the living room of that crappy Long Island apartment she’d rented to give herself some space from her New York-based parents.

Her bags were packed and her co-workers at the news magazine were having a little going away party for her and Christina before they left for their assignment. She had been excited for a new adventure and a chance to prove to her mother that she could handle the pressure of covering hard news overseas. But as the days had ticked down, she’d found herself wondering what life would have been like to stay in New York and see what happened with Danny.

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