Page 218 of Modern Romance Collection December 2024 Books 5-8

Tiger hadn’t moved but the tiny hut seemed smaller, she seemed closer. But maybe that was because every single one of her senses was homed in on him so that she could practically feel the pulse that was beating haphazardly in his throat. Could see the flecks of both green and amber in the gold of his irises and the unchecked desire. The same desire she knew was mirrored in her eyes.

For a moment, they just stared at one another and then she leaned in or maybe he did, afterwards she couldn’t remember, perhaps because it didn’t matter. Because they both wanted the same thing.

His mouth on hers. Her lips on his. Soft. Unimaginable. Irresistible.

Miraculous. Because for so long, she had felt neutered, fearful of intimacy and touch, and it felt like a miracle to want sex, to want a man.

No, not a man. This man. She wanted Tiger. And he wanted her.

A shiver of anticipation rippled across her skin as he reached behind her neck and loosened the band, tugging it free so that her hair tumbled down her back.

He slid a hand up to cup her cheek, his touch rough and tender, and she took a shallow breath like a gasp and he pulled back a fraction, but then she pulled him close and he was fitting his mouth to hers, opening her and answering the hunger spilling from her lips.

She had never been kissed like this.

Pleasure was fluttering in her stomach and her lips parted, and she breathed him in, then licked inside his mouth, tasting him on her tongue, her hands tugging at his waistband, fumbling clumsily for the button, then the zip. Yes, she thought, as she freed him.

Her head was spinning. He felt amazing. Hard and hot. She could feel the pulse of his blood beating against her fingers.

‘Sydney.’ He breathed her name against her mouth and the ache in his voice sent something through her, something she had never felt before, something fast and primitive, and she couldn’t swallow the whimper rising in her throat.

Jerking his mouth away from hers, he lifted her up onto the window ledge, then dropped to his knees, pushing up the skirt of her dress.

Her heart pounded against her ribcage as he slid her panties down over her legs, then brushed his lips against the triangle of flame-coloured curls. It was like a match meeting kindling. She felt a flare of heat and need and possibility and she moaned then and her hands splayed against his shoulders, pressing down, holding him steady as he flattened his tongue against the pulse beating between her thighs. She rocked against him, moving her hips back and forth.

Heat was swelling inside her; a feverish, dizzying heat that was changing her, transforming her like alchemy from flesh and bone into something eager and liquid. Her fingers bit into his arm and she was pulling him to his feet.

‘Inside me,’ she said hoarsely. ‘I want you inside me.’

‘Are you—?’

‘Yes.’ She cut him off, her pupils flaring, and he grunted as her fingers curled around him and he slid a hand under her bottom to raise her slightly, using his thumb to part her thighs and then he pushed upwards, entering her smoothly, filling her with heat.

Through the doorway outside, just a few feet away, Tiger could hear the soft rush of the waves as they tumbled onto the beach. The sand, the sea, the breeze...all were there waiting for him.

And it wasn’t too late. He could stop this now. He knew that. He had never wanted any woman so much that he couldn’t stop and pull back. He had the willpower and the strength of mind to resist.

But he didn’t want to resist Sydney.

A groan of pleasure climbed up his throat and out of his mouth and he pressed his knuckles into the rough stone edging the window, leaning into the slight pain, needing it to offset the flickering heat that was rolling through him in waves and stop himself from ending things too fast.

Because even though he badly wanted to let go, he wanted to savour this more.

But then she moaned again, arching against him, her hands seeking his face, panting as she pressed a desperate kiss to his mouth.

He couldn’t fight both of them and, clasping her hip, he began to move, thrusting rhythmically, using his free hand to protect her head as she reared up against him, her muscles tightening around him, spasming again and again, her breath hot and scratchy as she cried out. No longer conscious of the act itself, he clamped her against his shuddering body, surging inside her with molten force to claim her as his own.

He let his head fall forward, breathing raggedly. His skin felt as if it were on fire and he leaned into the damp curve of her throat, his heart raging.

For a few fragmented seconds, neither of them moved, they just clung to one another like survivors of a storm. Then he felt Sydney’s hands slide shakily over his torso, almost as if she was checking that he was real and that what had just happened was not some fever dream. And he understood that because he couldn’t quite believe that it had happened either.

Finally, he pulled back and out, steadying her as he did so, although he felt less than steady himself.

‘I’m fine.’

Her voice momentarily caught him off balance. He had forgotten that they were thinking, speaking creatures, that he was, in fact, a CEO in charge of a global business. Right now, he didn’t feel in charge of anything and, glancing down at Sydney, he felt an unfamiliar mix of relief and responsibility as he saw that she looked as shell-shocked as he felt.

Although in some ways, was it that surprising that it had happened?

---