That’s what she’d wanted. He’d known.
His breath released on a shaky note. “You’re driving me crazy, you know.”
She was driving him crazy? He didn’t know the half of it. She was so far over the edge she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to make it back in one piece.
Turning her head, she captured his mouth, letting him know the feeling was mutual. He deepened the kiss, his tongue finding hers and coaxing it to follow his, until she found herself where she’d never thought she’d be. He tasted of wine and all things male, and she slid her tongue in a little bit further. He rewarded her by stroking the pad of his thumb across her imprisoned nipple.
The pleasure intensified, along with her desire to take things to the next level. She’d never craved the male and female joining the way she did now. It reminded her of the expectations she’d had when she’d been young and naïve. Before they’d been shattered by reality.
But Brad was making her hope all over again.
Even through her bra the pleasure had been intense, but the second he pushed the fabric aside and the contact was flesh against flesh, she grabbed hold of his arms, hanging on for dear life.
Brad froze, and she wasn’t sure what was wrong for a second then remembered their signal. He really would stop.
The second she asked.
Instead of pushing him away, she pulled him closer, her arms going around his back, one hand brave enough to slide over the curve of his butt and press her thigh against the bulge of flesh.
“Slow, Chloe.”
His words said one thing but his body said something else. She hadn’t had to touch him to get him hard. In fact, it seemed to be the other way around. The more he stroked and kissed her, the more aroused he seemed to get.
And suddenly she didn’t want slow.
To illustrate that point, she allowed her hand to trail around to the front of his body, her fingers tracing his length, only to have him stop her.
Heat crawled up her face as remembered humiliation curled around her throat, strangling her. She never seemed to get it right.
“What’s wrong?” His whispered words just made it worse.
“I don’t know what you want.”
“Don’t you? I want you.”
The words were simple enough, but if he did, why didn’t he want her to...?
“If you touch me, Chloe. I’m done for.” He paused. “Just let me love you.”
The pained smile told her exactly what he meant, and it had nothing to do with her being inept but the opposite. He wanted her so badly that one wrong move on her part could make him come unglued.
For the next fifteen minutes he proceeded to show her with his lips, with his tongue what she’d never realized she’d been missing out on over the years. By the time his fingers finally tunneled beneath the elastic waistband of her scrubs, and then beneath that of her panties, she was shaking with anticipation. Would he rip them off her and take her in a rush?
She wanted him to. Badly.
But he didn’t. Instead, his fingers found her. She wasn’t even horrified to realize she was slick. All she felt was wonder when he lazily explored every inch of her, moistening his fingers and sliding them over the most sensitive spot on her body.
The world stopped turning as the focus narrowed, zooming in over and over again until everything centered over that one point in the universe. His thumb continued to stroke over her while his middle finger slid inside her without the slightest hint of resistance.
Amazing.
That word was a blip on a radar screen that appeared for less than a second before it was joined by other, crazier words, all heading for the center. Want. Need. Take.
Between the rhythmic stroking, both inside and outside her body, the fire that had been growing steadily higher suddenly flared out of control.
Things melded into a single point of focus: Brad’s ragged breathing at her ear, the rise and fall of her hips as she asked for—then demanded—more from him, the way he increased the tempo and pressure in response.
She strained upwards as everything came together at once. And the inferno suddenly reached for her and consumed her alive.
Some distant part of her consciousness heard his murmured “It’s okay. I’ve got you. I’ve got you” as she came undone all around him.
* * *
Several seconds went by before those blue eyes focused on him again, and she drew a deep shuddery breath and let it out again. “Whew. I, uh...I’m not sure I’ve... Is it always like this?”
As hard as it was for him to concentrate on her words right now, he leaned down to nuzzle the bottom of her chin and tried. “Always like what?”
“I’ve never done that with a man.”
His head came back up. That? Since she was married he was pretty sure she’d had sex before, unless Travis was crazier than he’d thought. So that meant... “You’ve never had an orgasm with a man?”
Her cheeks flamed, and she shook her head.
He swore under his breath. She’d said Travis had cheated, that he’d called her frigid, but surely he’d tried to warm her up before he’d entered her. If not... Sudden anger flared in his chest. That was his signal to stop right here.
“I think you’ve had enough for one night.” He forced a smile to take the sting out of the words, thankful they both still had their clothes on.
“No! I mean, what about you?” Her thigh brushed against his still aching flesh, causing him to grit his teeth. “You haven’t...”
“No.” And it looked like tonight was going to be a very long night.
“Please, Brad. I want to. I need to.” Her throat moved. “Just to know once and for all.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant, but he was going to have to move away from her. Soon. “Know what?”
“If there really is something wrong with me.”
He said I was frigid.
His fingers tightened their hold on her. Travis Maroni deserved to have a couple of important items lopped off.
He smoothed the hair back from her face and kissed her mouth. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. I think we just proved that.”
“But you don’t want to finish it.”
If she only knew. “I do want to.” He nudged his flesh against her to prove his point. “I’m just not geared towards...” He had been about to say “being gentle” and then hesitated. The women he’d been with were as sexually aggressive as he was, for the most part. He’d never felt the need for anything else.
But having this conversation was doing crazy things to his body—he found himself wanting what he’d never wanted before. And it was contrary to what his body was clamoring for him to do: bury himself inside her as hard and as fast as he could, and to hell with the consequences.
She leaned up and kissed his chin, her fingers touching his face. “Then take me to bed. Please.”
He was damned if he did...and damned if he didn’t. Because if he refused, she’d see that as proof that Travis was right. But if he carried her off, there was no guarantee he was going to be able to hold off long enough to prove her biggest fear was baseless.
“Please.”
That