She knew when a man was interested. This guy had it written all over him. “So you’re saying no?”
His gaze toured her face, landing on her mouth. “I’m not an idiot.”
He mumbled the denial right before his head lowered and his lips brushed against hers. For the second time, an engulfing heat swept through him. He’d had sex before. Hell, he’d had great sex before, but there was something about Katie that rubbed him raw and sent a blast of want shooting through him.
At thirty-seven he’d passed his need-sex-all-the-time phase long ago. Now he preferred a mix of hot and comfort, a woman who could set his nerves blazing and hold an intelligent conversation afterward. But Katie brought out something else in him. A memory of that time before responsibility and politics when he could just enjoy without worrying about how it would play out or who would care.
Gentle kissing turned hot before he could calm it down. One minute he was tasting her with small kisses on the corners of her mouth, getting to know her nice and slow. The next, his hands traced up and down her back as his tongue swept inside.
Like last time, reason abandoned him. His body overruled his mind. Before common sense stepped in and screwed up everything, he walked her backward until her butt smacked against the island. He tugged on material, hoping to push aside her shirt and find bare skin, but he pulled out a towel instead. The surprise made his head pop up and his lips leave her delicious neck.
“What the hell is this?”
She grabbed the cloth and threw it somewhere behind her. “Forget that.”
He obeyed. Hell, he’d do anything if it meant she’d keep raking those fingernails up and down his sides and across his stomach. Even through his cotton shirt, he felt the bite. To encourage her to continue, he shrugged out of his suit jacket and let it fall to the floor. That left little clothing between them and what was there was easy to remove.
As his mouth toured the line under her chin, his hands tugged her shirt out of her shorts and pulled it up and over her head. Warm skin greeted his fingertips. The more he caressed, the hotter she turned. Lips against lips and hands skimming, they touched everywhere it was possible to touch without his climbing all over her. But he planned on doing just that.
Their bodies separated long enough for her to find the buttons of his shirt and him to work on the snap to her shorts. No bed, no finesse, just a raging need that nearly ripped the cotton in his rush to get her out of her clothes.
As soon as the shorts hit the floor, he hooked his palm under her knee and lifted her left thigh until it rested against his hip. With her legs open, he could slip his fingers under her and rub against the crotch of her panties. Just like last time, a wetness greeted him after only a few teasing strokes.
Her head fell back to give him free access to her neck, but her hands kept moving. She wrapped her arms around his waist and let her palms fall down to cup his ass. The position slid his erection against her. They fit together so damn well. It only took a few seconds for her hips to rock back and forth in a rhythm that thumped in his brain.
She deserved something better than a quick hump on a butcher-block island, but he didn’t have the control to take her anywhere else. Hell, he wasn’t even sure he could slow down long enough to drop his pants to the floor.
Just then her fingers slipped around to his belt. A few tugs and she had it undone and his fly hanging open. “This feels familiar.”
He thought about answering her, but she seemed to be talking more to the room than to him. And with her hand in his underwear and air crashing through his lungs, a conversation wasn’t exactly the first thing on his mind.
She jumped up on the counter behind her and shimmied out of her bikini bottoms with a swiftness that won his immediate approval. “Condom?”
“Huh?” Damn, the woman had him panting and mumbling like a moron.
She opened her legs and pulled him closer. Before he could reach down and help, she had his erection in her palm and was pumping him into a state of complete stupidity. “You were prepared last time.”
“Yeah, right. I have one,” he said, not knowing how he got the words out over the moan aching to escape his throat.
“You just one of those guys who always has one ready?”
“Not even close.” When she shot him a give-me-a-break look, he tried to explain. Hard to do when all he wanted was to be inside her, but he gave it a shot. “A friend gave me one as a joke before the wedding.”
She reached around with her open hand and lifted his wallet out of his back pocket. “And this time?”
Eric grabbed the leather and fumbled with the folds until the small packet popped out. Not the smoothest he’d ever been, but he’d worry about his pathetic moves later. “Call it wishful thinking.”
“I prefer to think of you as prepared.”
“Whatever. Just roll that on and get moving.” When she frowned at him, he inhaled a few times to slow the blood racing through him and straight to his dick. “Sorry.”
She chuckled. “You’re forgiven this time.”
He couldn’t remember her being this chatty at the wedding…ahh, but he did remember that. “Your hand feels so good on me.”
She slid her palm up and down, using just the right amount of pressure, sliding her thumb over his tip until he jerked in response. “I like a man who plays as hard as he works.”
Her words tumbled over him but didn’t process. He was too busy taking advantage of her position. Spread out in front of him, she provided quite the temptation. One he did not fight.
His fingers rubbed against her, each circle making her internal muscles pulse and strain. When he finally slid his finger inside, she let out a long sigh.
“Like that?” he asked.
She rolled the condom over him. “You can’t tell?”
No, the breathy tone said all he needed to know. So did her slick wetness under his fingertips.
As gently as possible, with his hand shaking, he lifted her hand away from his cock and took over. He pressed the tip against her, brushed it back and forth until her thighs tensed against his hips.
Her head fell forward and her warm breath licked across his cheek. She smelled like fresh pastries and cinnamon. “Now, Eric.”
“Almost.”
When she grabbed his butt and pulled him even closer, he guessed she didn’t like his answer. Couldn’t blame her. His heart pumped fast enough to knock him over. Rather than risk a heart attack, he pushed forward until he fit fully inside her.
“God, yes.” She bit down on his ear.
There was no stopping now. No way to pull back or go slow. The lower half of his body was running this show.
Her hands traveled over him as her mouth settled on top of his. Lean legs wrapped around his waist. Fingers plowed through his hair. She branded him with every part of her body. She didn’t hold back as she coaxed him into a faster cadence.
He fought for breath as his hips flexed, bringing his body in and out of hers in time with the pounding in his chest. Kissing, plunging, it all circled around him until the spring inside him coiled into a tight ball.
And he wasn’t alone.
Katie’s fingernails dug into his shoulders, pinching his skin and pushing him to that line between pain and pleasure. Her butt lifted off the counter and her thighs squeezed his middle while every muscle inside her tightened. With her arms around his neck, her forehead pressed against his as her breaths puffed out.
He caressed her nipples through the silky material of her bra. Touching her, feeling her body pulse around him, took him right to