Page 44 of Combust
Cade’s eyes went gold at the sight of her on his stoop. He wore loose flannel sleep pants that hung low on his narrow hips, and a tight, short-sleeved t-shirt that revealed the dark tracery of tattoos running down each of his densely-muscled arms.
“You’re welcome here any time of the day or night,” he said huskily. “I’m all yours, if you’ll have me.”
She took an involuntary step back.This is what I wanted. Why is it suddenly so scary?
At her reaction, his expression darkened. “You don’t want me courtin’ you?”
“I do!” she protested. Her heart was pounding so loudly now that she could barely hear herself speak. “I’m just not used to this.” She gave him a shaky smile. “But I want to get to know you a whole better, Cade. That’s why I’m here.”
He still wasn’t smiling, but at least his glower had lightened. “So, you’re tellin’ me I’ve got a real chance to be your mate? I only need to convince you?” he drawled.
His gilded eyes burned into her.
“Y-yes.”
She let out a surprised yelp as she found herself swept off her feet in the next instant.
Cade carried her into his cabin, and kicked the door shut behind him.
He put her down against his living room wall, caging her in with his arms, then leaned in. He was solid and very warm against her.
“Last chance to chicken out.” His voice rumbled through her bones. “Because tonight, I’m plannin’ toconvinceyou with everything I got.”
“Chicken out?” she repeated indignantly.
She grabbed him by the ears and hauled his head down for a kiss.
Their lips met in a heated union. She did her level best to demonstrate that chickening out was the verylastthing on her mind right now.
Then, with a low growl, his hands rose to cup her face. He took control of the kiss, plunging his tongue into the depths of her mouth. Waves of desire rolled through her, leaving throbbing arousal in their wake.
A hot, hard length poked into her belly, demonstrating how badly he wanted her. She whimpered and lifted her hips, pressing them against him.
She broke their kiss long enough to tell him, “You’re wearing too many clothes.”
She reached for the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it up. At the same time, his hand left her face and plunged into the V-neck of the top she’d worn to dinner.
He chuckled. “I could say the same of you, darlin’.” His fingers slid under the embrace of her bra cup, where his rough thumb stroked her nipple to aching hardness.
Then his mouth descended on hers once more, hard and urgent, as he continued to caress her breast with his dexterous touch.
The next few minutes were a confused jumble of kisses and caresses, interrupted at frequent intervals as they frantically tugged at each other’s clothes.
Maggie ran her hands over each inch of his newly bared torso, reveling in his wealth of hard muscle. Warm, slightly rough skin, tanned and generously furred with dark hair across his chest, gave way to smooth, pale burn scars over his ribs and back.
Once again, she wondered what had happened to him.
When their garments lay heaped around their feet, they paused, both of them panting, to look their fill.
Maggie had gotten an eyeful of his magnificent, scarred body the first night they’d met, but his erect cock was a revelation to her. Her mouth went dry at the dimensions of this beast.
“Um…” she began.
Cade lifted his burning golden gaze from silent worship of her breasts to meet her eyes. “What?” he growled, bear and man speaking as one.
It was warm in his cabin, but she shivered under that fierce regard.
“I want you,” she hastened to reassure him. “But we can’t go all the way tonight. My bear—” she hesitated, a sudden wave of shyness breaking over her. But she needed to have this talk with him, before things went any further. “—is being pushy.”
