She’d understood that leaving Max’s protection was foolish. And she wasn’t proud of her reasons for staying.
Now she knew how much more she wanted from him than what she’d envisioned at the beginning. She knew nothing of what really went on between men and women, beyond the superficial knowledge of how to please a man. But staring into his eyes made her ache for something real. If that was possible.
Could he want that too? Once she might have tried to force the issue. But she knew that wouldn’t get her what she really wanted.
She caught her breath as his fingertips caressed her curves, the look in his eyes going dreamy.
Was he thinking the same thing as she? She didn’t dare to hope for that much. But she knew she had made him desire her.
He set her on the floor and stood so that he could yank his shirt over his head, then opened the buttons at the front of her dress and pulled it off her shoulders as he gathered her to him. They both gave a little cry as the softness of her breasts contacted the hard planes of his chest. For a long moment, he held her still against him, and she savored the warmth of the contact. Then he began to shift her body from side to side, sliding her breasts against the springy hair of his chest, bringing glad little cries to her lips. She felt her knees buckle, yet she didn’t fall because he was supporting her weight.
Her breath came in little gasps as he backed her against the wall before his hands moved inward to play with her breasts, balance their weight in his palms, and reshape them to his grasp. Taking his time, he switched his attention to her nipples, drawing smaller and smaller circles around them.
“Please,” she gasped out.
“You want this?” He took the crests between his thumbs and fingers, squeezing and twisting, turning them into unbelievable points of sensitivity. The pleasure of it was almost more than she could bear.
One of his hands glided to her hips, urging her more firmly against the hard shaft behind the fly of his pants, rocking her against him. Quickly, her instincts took over and she began to move on her own, pressing, stroking against him, her need becoming more frantic as his hands did wildly erotic things to her breasts.
The heat built relentlessly, making her body tingle and her ears ring.
When he pulled abruptly away, confusion swept over her. It took a moment to realize she was really hearing something external, not in her own head.
“What?” she gasped out. “What is that?”
“An alarm.” He scooped his shirt off the floor and pivoted away from her, heading out the door.
She pulled the front of her dress together, buttoning it as she followed him down the short corridor to the bridge.
He was alternately staring at the view screen in front of him and powering up the engines.
In the center of the screen, a spaceship loomed, closing in fast on their location.