He took hold of her pants and dragged them down her thighs, easing them off her feet. Tossing them away, he removed her knee-length stockings. He kissed his way back up her calves, over the hard ball of her knee, up the tender softness of her inner thigh. She moved restlessly beneath him, making breathy, gasping sounds above his head.
He skimmed his lips across the strange cotton drawers that clung to her body like a second skin. A dark shadow of hair made a mound in the taut fabric, taunting him with images of what lay beneath. He eased the skimpy drawers down her legs. They were as light as air and he flung them over his shoulder like a flag of surrender.
A small bluish design marked the pale skin beside her pelvic bone. He frowned, looking at it.
"It's a tattoo," she said in a breathy voice, trying to cover it with her hands.
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He pushed her hands away, fascinated. It was a small blue figure eight lying on its side. "What is it?"
She forced a thin laugh. "It's the symbol for infinity. I got it when I was about thirteen. Another mistake."
He leaned over and kissed it, trailed his tongue along the swirling ink marks. "Maybe not."
She shivered and clutched his shoulders, driving her short, sharp nails into his flesh. Her body stiffened, her legs slammed together. "Come up now."
He lifted his head to look at her.
She lay tense and still, breathing fast. Her eyes were wide with a remnant of some old, never forgotten fear; they looked deep and dark and fathomless next to the fragile porcelain of her skin. Her lips were puffy and swollen from his kisses.
He gave her a slow, steady smile and waited for one in return.
Nervously she wet her lower lip and tried to smile. It was a quick, wobbly curving of the mouth that vanished almost before it existed. She stared at him, her gaze focused and intense, her arms pressed against her sides. Her breasts dipped and rose with each quick, ragged breath she took.
He moved up and kissed her collarbone, trailing hot, moist kisses along the hollow of flesh beneath. Gently he slipped t
wo fingers underneath the remarkably resilient fabric of her bra, gliding his fingers along her skin. Goose bumps followed his caress, giving her skin a new, erotic texture. He eased the fabric over her head and dropped it beside her.
She swallowed hard and stared up at him.
He looked down at her, let his gaze slide down her throat and loiter at the round swell of her breasts, the pebbly pinkness of her nipples.
She was so beautiful, she took his breath away. Deep
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inside, a longing started, swelled into an ache. He knew with sudden certainty that they had been brought together for a reason, this reason, and that he would love this woman all the days of his life.
He swept her into his embrace and kissed her deeply, wrapping his arms around her naked body and dragging her close. He felt the softness of her skin against his, the tentative touch of her fingers at his back.
Desire surged through him like a lightning bolt, electrifying his body. He made a sound that was half frustrated groan, half sigh, and cupped her bottom with his hands, molding her body to his. Her feet slipped around his legs and locked. The moist heat of her mound pressed against his hardness.
Their kiss turned as hot and fevered as their bodies. He pulled back slightly, breathlessly, and trailed desperate kisses down her throat to her breasts. At the touch of his tongue, she shivered and arched toward him. He brought one hand up and kneaded her firm breasts, suckled one hard, pink tip, drawing it deeper and deeper into his mouth.
She made a quiet, gasping sound of pleasure and fell back from him, stretching out on the sleeping bag. He played with her breasts, taunting, teasing, bringing the nipples to straining hardness with his teeth and tongue. Then he moved his hand over the soft curve of her stomach to the silky triangle of hair between her legs.
She tried to squeeze her legs together.
"Relax, Lainie," he whispered hoarsely, "trust me."
She let out a shuddering breath and let her legs relax.
His fingers pushed through her hair, dropped lower, searching, seeking.
She moaned and moved restlessly against him. "Oh, God, Killian."
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