Page 15 of Escape Velocity

“Uh huh.”

She gave a small nod.

“Then mating would be taking advantage of you.”

Her hand on his wrist tightened. “But if that’s what I need?”

“Arousal is building inside you. It won’t stop until you reach sexual climax.”

Her only answer was a little moan.

“I can help you do that—without mating.”

The whole conversation felt unreal and full of restless urgency. At the same time, she was coherent enough to realize that with another man, she could be in a world of danger. But not with this man. Not with Max Cassidy.

“I trust you,” she whispered.

He looked like he wanted to contradict her. Instead he said, “Lie back.”

She did as he asked, and he dimmed the lights. She wished he would make it all the way dark, so she could fade into the blackness. She wanted to turn her head away, but she wasn’t going to be a coward. Not now.

“I’m going to unbutton your shirt.”

“Okay.”

She had taken off her slave rags in front of him, but somehow this was different—more intimate.

He lowered his gaze as he undid the buttons. Her skin tingled where he touched her, and she could feel her heart drumming like she’d been running hard.

He pushed the sides of the shirt back, not exposing her entire chest, but she could see the tip of her right nipple had contracted to a tight point.

“It looks like I’m cold,” she whispered. “But I’m hot.”

“Yeah. Me too,” he muttered.

Her gaze dropped to the front of his pants, and she could see the rigid outline of his man part. What was he going to do with it?

Her attention switched back to her own body as he stroked the sides of her breasts, the under curves.

“Oh!”

“Does that hurt?”

She looked at his tanned hands against her white skin, the image adding to her arousal.

“No. It feels good.”

Her nipples were even harder now, and he brushed his fingers across the tips, then drew circles around them, the circles growing smaller until they were teasing the upright edges.

She gulped in air, glanced at him and then away. “It feels like I need more. Not just there. Between my legs.”

“We’ll get there.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, riding with the heat that seemed to be burning her from the inside out. The hidden place between her legs felt wet and swollen. She should be embarrassed, but she was beyond embarrassment.

She could feel him pulling down the short pants she wore so they rode at her hips. Fighting against the constriction, she tugged them down farther and kicked them away, hearing him drag in a breath as she did.

“Open your legs for me, so I can . . . build your pleasure,” he whispered.

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