Thunder and Lightning

d him to hold onto his sanity. His restraint.

He could do this.

For her.

With her.

“Bev,” he continued, his voice tentative. His breathing was erratic, as was hers. Their chests rose and fell together. Her eyes blazed with desire and he knew his did too.

His hand covered her bare breast. His eyelids dipped as he zeroed in on her soft, slightly parted lips. If he had a beating heart, it’d be thundering in his chest like the storm outside. Like the hammering in her chest.

“Whatever is holding you back,” she said in a raw voice, “let it go.”

His jaw tightened further. For a moment. And then he did let go. He found his center—the man conquering the beast—and his mouth crushed hers as his body swallowed her up. His arm around her held her to him. His hand on her breast squeezed and caressed. He backed her up until she had nowhere else to go. She was trapped between him and the large round walnut table in the center of the foyer.

There was no fear in her kiss was the first thing that penetrated the passion-induced haze clouding his brain. There was nothing but reckless abandon. As though she’d quickly weighed all the pros and cons as he had, fought all the internal demons and…let them go. Cut them loose.

Allowed passion to reign supreme.

That revelation made him even harder.

As her hands skimmed over his shoulders, he eased away from her just enough so that her fingers could work the buttons on his shirt. She tugged the hem from his pants and then flattened her palms against his bared abdomen, the muscles clenching beneath her touch. His own hands had shifted to her biceps to allow her the freedom to explore his body to her heart’s content. She leaned into him and her lips grazed a nipple, causing his cock to jerk behind the confining zipper. Her tongue flicked over the pebble and teased it.

Cane forced himself not to press his fingers into the soft muscles of her upper arms. She seemed to take great pleasure in discovering what turned him on and he had no desire to stop her. Still, she was making him so damn hot…

“You’re perfect,” she muttered in a dusky voice.

She licked his other nipple and he groaned.

Careful, sweetheart.

It was a mental warning neither would heed and he knew it.

Her lips trailed over his chest, her tongue tasting, her mouth dropping kisses on his now-tingling skin. His hands moved up her neck, over her jaw to her hairline. His fingers plunged deep into the lush auburn strands, tangling and twisting, until he worked his way to her ponytail holder and unclasped it. The clip hit the hardwood floor as the silky curtain spilled over his hands and wrists. His head dipped and he inhaled the fresh, floral scent of her hair. Lilac.

She lifted her own head and his mouth pressed to hers as he pulled her into another long, demanding kiss. His desire exploded all over again and Cane’s hands moved down her body. His fingers slid behind the waistband of her pants and panties and he shoved the material off her hips.

Breaking the kiss so he could strip the rest of her clothing from her, he knelt on one knee and dragged the soft material to her ankles. One hand rested on his shoulder to steady her as he freed her from the pool of soft gray at her feet and then Cane’s hands and eyes eased slowly up her bare legs, over her knees to her thighs. He leaned in close, his lips and tongue brushing her skin, making her whimper softly as he moved upward.

When he reached the apex of her shapely legs, he dragged in a lungful of her rich, musky scent.

And let out a low growl.

Goddamn, she sent him into a frenzy of lustful, carnal needs.

He heard her swallow hard as his mouth hovered close to her neatly trimmed mound. So close he only had a move a few centimeters forward and his lips would graze hers. A tempting prospect, for he longed to taste her. To pleasure her. To slide his tongue along her swollen labia and then tease her clit with the tip of his tongue.

But he remained patient. Took his time. Kept himself in check.

“Spread your legs for me, sweetheart.”

She shivered as though his breath on her naked flesh excited her even more. Which in turn tested his restraint. She widened her stance and Cane’s hands skimmed over her velvety skin to her backside. He cupped her taut cheeks in his palms and pulled in one more heavenly drag of her scent.

It was more than he could stand. Restraint was suddenly an inconceivable notion. His mouth covered her fully.

Her gasp shattered the silence and rocketed through him, prompting Cane to pull out all the stops to take her to dizzying heights of pleasure. His tongue slid over her swollen lips, stroking slowly. Her breath quickened. The fingers she’d rested on his shoulders pressed into his muscles. She teetered slightly, swaying under his erotic touch, but he had a firm grip on her.

Wanting desperately to make her come, to hear her cry out his name, he targeted her clit. The long strokes turned into quick flicks, interspersed with occasional sucking that caused sensuous, groin-stirring moans to fall from her lips.