Page 42 of Boxed In

In a panic, she tried to push away from the man who held her in his arms, but his hands tightened on her shoulders.

“What have you done?” she demanded. “Where are we?”

“Another place.”

“But how?”

“I am not sure. I wanted to be here with you, and it happened.”

She tried to take that in. The explanation made no sense, but when had anything passed the sanity test since the mist had shot out of the box and Luke had fallen to the floor?”

Raising her head, she stared at the man who lay beside her on the animal pelts. “Who are you?”

“The same man who was kissing you a few minutes ago.”

“Luke?”

“Yes,” he answered, but she wasn’t sure she believed him. Or—if he was Luke, he was Zabastian, too.

“Are we going to get stuck here?” she asked.

“It would be a good place to hide.”

“But are we stuck?” she pressed.

“No,” he answered, but she had the feeling that he wasn’t focused on their location. He was a man who wanted a woman. And he was determined to make it happen.

While the complexities of their situation spun in her mind, he cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth back to his.

A little while ago, their kiss had been frantic. This kiss was different. It was persuasive, almost sweet, as though he was trying to woo her and gentle her at the same time.

His lips moved over hers, his teeth gently nipping and teasing. Then his lips sipped from her, making her focus on the man, not the surroundings.

She didn’t forget about the cave. But now it felt right for her to be here—making love with him.

His hands stroked down her ribs, then reached to tease the sides of her breasts, bringing her quickly back to the level of arousal where she had been a few minutes earlier.

When she moaned, he drank in the sound as his hands found the hard points of her nipples, teasing and inciting her.

“Luke,” she whispered.

He made a grating sound deep in his throat, and she wondered if he was pleased with the name she had spoken.

She had known Luke Garner for a month. She had known Zabastian for seven hours. And in that short time, she had found out he was bold, ruthless and reckless.

And a skillful lover.

She’d known men who took what they wanted from a woman and thought very little about their partner’s needs.

This man had focused his total attention on her pleasure, and that couldn’t help surprising her—after some of the things he’d said about women.

As he bent to suck one pebble-hard nipple into his mouth, his hands slid over her body, finding places she had never considered as erogenous zones. He rolled her to her back and circled her navel with the pad of his thumb in a way that made her blood simmer, then slid his fingers to the point of her hip bone, finding sensitive nerve endings.

He knew the secrets of the human body, knew how to incite and soothe at the same time, keeping her balanced on a knife edge of arousal.

She wanted to beg him to slide his hand lower and dip into the aching place between her legs. But she knew it wouldn’t do her any good to ask. He was going to take his own sweet time exploring the secrets of her body.

She was almost out of her mind with desire when he finally glided one hand into the wet heat of her sex, stroking her there, bringing her to a peak of need.

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