Page 73 of Lethal Pursuit

“Jackson.” She reached for him, unable to stay still a moment longer. He didn’t protest or try to restrain her, merely leaned forward to take a nipple into his mouth, sliding a hand beneath her spine. Her back bowed, her body trembling under the onslaught of sensation. She locked her hands in his hair, urging him to give more, take more, demanding that he did.

She tasted of soap and the sweet musk of her skin. Delicious. He pleasured her nipples with teasing flicks of his tongue and the tender pull of his mouth, switching back and forth while her gasps and cries filled the room. She moved restlessly beneath him, almost edgy, as though the building sensations were becoming unbearable. He wouldn’t let her panic or pull away.

He trailed one hand down her belly in reassurance, over the curve of her hip and thigh, back up the inside. The texture of her body fascinated him, smooth and firm with toned muscle. The feel of her—a contrast of strength and soft femininity—was the sexiest thing he’d ever experienced.

Nuzzling her baby-fine skin, he pushed her thighs up and out, making room for his hand between them. She tensed, waiting for that intimate touch, maybe even a little afraid of it, then closed her eyes and bit her lip. The muscles in her belly and thighs quivered, the trembling becoming more noticeable with each pull of his mouth. She was more than ready.

He let his fingers drift higher, skimming the sensitive place where her thigh met her hip. She went still, seemed to be holding her breath. Rather than prolong the moment and give her anxiety a chance to grow, he slid two fingers deep inside her. She was so wet, her inner muscles closing around him.

Her breath caught in her throat. She shuddered once and lay still, waiting to see what he would do next. The pulse in her throat throbbed more visibly now. With her head turned away from him, she raised her hips in a silent plea for friction. Her hands stayed locked in his hair while he kissed his way down her belly, and he knew she was fighting her body’s instinctive reaction to close her legs in a last-ditch effort to protect herself.

But she would never need to protect herself from him.

Without a word, he continued kissing his way south until he reached the soft curls covering her mound, letting her feel the heat of his breath against her sensitive folds. She swallowed. Nervous, fighting the need to struggle.

Splaying a hand low on her belly, he added pressure with his palm, rubbing in gentle circles, anchoring her. “Breathe, Maya.”

She forced out a shaky exhalation.

“Been dreamin’ about doing this,” he murmured against her.

Her head turned and she opened her eyes to stare down at him. Her expression was guarded. “About what?”

“You lying there so quiet, trusting me with your body. Letting me make you come with my mouth.”

The look in her eyes turned soft with longing. She relaxed a little.

With her eyes on his, he pressed slow, openmouthed kisses down the length of her sensitive flesh, then gave her a slow stroke with the flat of his tongue. She gasped and grabbed his hair, as though the pleasure had caught her off guard. God, he loved that flare of shock in her eyes and knowing he was making her feel good. He zeroed in on her clit, drawing languorous circles around it until she whimpered and shifted beneath him.

“Shhh,” he soothed, twisting the fingers buried inside her. He found the hidden source of pleasure there and rubbed it while he lapped at her sensitive bundle of nerves.

A low, shocked cry spilled from her lips. An articulate sound of pleasure and need. The muscles in her belly rippled beneath his palm. He licked deeper, increasing the pressure slightly, watching her every reaction. Her trembling thighs parted farther, encouraging him to move deeper between them. His cock pulsed in near agony, straining against his jeans. She was almost there, starting that final climb to ecstasy when he raised his head and removed his hand.

She shook her head and pulled his head back toward her. “No—”

“I want to feel you come around me.” He rolled to the side to strip off his jeans and tear open a condom.

His reasoning seemed to take her by surprise. Her eyes were glazed, heavy with pleasure and frustration. He could tell she wanted to flip them over and ride him hard and fast, but Jackson was having none of that. He shook his head and lowered his voice to a soft growl. “This time I want you on your back, staring up at me.”Thistime it was going to be face-to-face in the light, him on top so she wouldn’t be able to hide. This time he’d get to see every expression that crossed her face as he made love to her. Because that was what he was doing, whether she was ready to accept it or not. And he wasn’t giving her a chance to overthink this.

As soon as he rolled the condom on, he stretched out over herand settled deep between her thighs. When she reached for him, he caught her hands to pin them to the mattress on either side of her head. The muscles in her arms flexed once in protest, but she didn’t fight him. She stared up at him, breathless, her eyes wide and pleading for an end to the torment he knew was every bit as emotional for her as it was physical. The molten heat in her eyes made his heart leap, and that tiny flare of uncertainty beneath it brought all his protective instincts roaring to the surface.

The throb in his groin was almost unbearable. He wedged his hips in the cradle of her thighs, bringing the scalding length of his cock against her tender folds. “Wrap your legs around me,” he said in an urgent whisper.

Shivering, she did as he told her, her expression a mixture of hope and yearning. The need twisted harder inside him, clawing for release. But Jackson didn’t tease her. Holding her hands firmly in place, he shifted his weight and slid the head of his cock inside her. Maya made a soft sound at the back of her throat and tilted her hips, the muscles in her thighs straining to pull him closer, force him deeper.

Poised above her, he shook his head, fighting a smile. “You’re not the one in control this time,” he reminded her. He wanted her to remember this for the rest of their lives. Every single detail, from the heat and vulnerability to the knowledge that he would always take care of her. That she was safe with him, even when she was defenseless. He knew that was really what unsettled her. The lack of control.

Jackson reached deep for his self-control. He vowed that after today she’d never again be afraid to let go with him. Above all else, he wanted her to know exactly how much she meant to him. She might not be ready to hear the words, but he could damn well demonstrate them with his body.

Gazing down into her wide sea-green eyes, he held back the driving urge to plunge into her and find relief from the tortuous throb in his dick, waiting as the tension around her mouth eased and the tiny lines above the bridge of her nose disappeared.

His heart thudded, the muscles in his arms trembling as he gave her the words he’d wanted to tell her for so long, praying she’d givehim all of her in return. “Just let me love you.”

* * *

MAYA’S THROAT TIGHTENEDat the words and her heart turned over.

He did love her. She could feel it in his touch, hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes. No man had ever treated her with half the tenderness or consideration for her pleasure. And when he drove forward at last, burying himself deep inside her with one smooth, inexorable thrust, the knot of emotion she’d kept locked away deep in her heart suddenly tore loose.

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