He waited for her to slap his face, or at least push him away, do any of the things he’d been waiting for her to do since the day he’d flown her back to the island. Part of him would even have welcomed it. He’d take real honest emotion any day over this bland coating of indifference she’d painted over her feelings. He wanted her anger as if fury might be a salve for his own guilt.
What he got was her desire, as raw and real as his own. Her mouth opened under his, and he felt the moist tip of her tongue touch his in erotic invitation.
The kiss rocketed out of control so fast it almost unbalanced him. It should have been all about technique, a less-than-subtle way of proving a point, but somehow Brittany had shifted the balance of power. Her arms came up and locked around his neck, her head angled to one side as she pressed against him.
Never in a million years would he have described himself as sensitive or gentle, but he usually made an attempt to keep things one step up from animal, if only because reading his partner’s physical needs was one of his skills.
Not this time.
This time his response was primal and overwhelming. He devoured her mouth, flattened her back against the wall and cupped her breast in his hand. He felt her nipple peak under the deliberate brush of his fingers, felt the race of her hea
rt against his palm and the movement of her chest as she pressed against him.
She moaned against his mouth and he clamped his hand behind her head and held her there, trapped, captive, locking her against him in an exchange of sparks, fire and raw lust.
He felt her good hand go to the front of his shirt and drag him closer still, until every part of them was touching and the only thing separating them was a thin layer of clothing.
Still it wasn’t enough.
He planted his hand against the wall to steady himself, using the other to haul her close so that her lean body was welded against the hardness of his. Her response was to hook her leg around his waist and drive the soft parts of herself against the thickened length of him. Only the fabric of his jeans and hers stopped him being inside her.
“Holy shit.” He felt the restless grind of her hips and anchored them with his hands. He was hard and throbbing, his breaths coming in ragged pants as he felt her fingers go to the snap of his jeans.
That blatant move cut through any doubts he might have had.
She fumbled, moaned in frustration and he slid his hand from her breast to her jeans, stripping them off with a speed that would have raised eyebrows in some circles. Removing clothes had never given him problems. He might not have a college degree, but he knew a thousand ways to get a woman naked.
He pushed her jeans down her thighs and lifted her. Without detaching her mouth from his, she kicked off the trousers and wrapped her legs around his waist, supple as a gymnast.
Supporting her with one arm, freeing himself was more of a problem but he managed it, dealt with the ribbon of cotton that masqueraded as her underwear and provided the final barrier between them, and felt the delicious heat of delicate flesh.
Her mouth was hot on his, her legs wrapped so tightly around him that for the first time in his life he almost forgot the condom he always carried. He was seconds away from breaking a lifetime rule when some deeply ingrained sense of self-preservation made him dig it out of his pocket.
He paused long enough to ensure there would be at least one consequence he wouldn’t have to face and then lowered his forehead to hers. Their gazes locked. Her breath came in rapid pants and her eyes, those rich, tiger-gold eyes that challenged him at every turn, were bright with need.
“Yes.” She murmured the word against his mouth. “God, yes.”
He felt her angle her body to his and then he thrust and there was nothing but the heat.
He felt her stretch, her body welcoming the invasion of his. She tensed slightly, slick and tight against the solid fullness of his erection, and he closed his hands around her thighs, holding himself still, giving her time to adjust. Held like this, she was helpless. His. He’d discovered sex earlier than most and for years it had been the only place where he had control. He had an armory of moves at his disposal, and he’d learned to use them.
As a result, bed was the one place in the world where he managed to please a woman.
Her gasp turned to a sob and he swallowed it, licking into her mouth as he drove deeper, surging into her until they were joined so deeply, he could feel every tiny ripple and movement of her body. Desire consumed him, hot waves of pleasure swamping thought and reason. Neither of them paused to question whether it was a good idea. Neither of them hesitated or tried to pull back. It was a raw, primitive and utterly basic slaking of sexual need.
He felt her hand slide into his hair while the other, the one restricted by the cast, lay useless against his shoulder. He felt the urgency of her mouth on his as he surged into her with slow, relentless rhythm designed to drive them both insane.
He clamped the smooth curve of her bottom, and felt her hand slide to the hard muscle of his shoulder. If she’d had long nails he would have been lacerated, and still they kissed, crazily, frantically, as if it were the only way of sustaining life. They kissed right the way through to the screaming peak of pleasure that slammed into them with the force of an express train. Feeling her tighten around him like a silken vice, Zach groaned deep in his throat and gave himself up to the wild pulsating force of his own release.
It took a moment for his head to clear and for him to emerge from the dizzying fog of arousal.
He lowered her but didn’t release her, and she didn’t release him, either. Her good hand stayed on his shoulder for support while the other lay limp by her side.
She struggled for breath, her head turned away from him.
Finally his brain cleared and he realized two things: that he was still fully clothed and that she was naked from the waist down. At some point he’d managed to rip her thong and it lay on the floor, a seductive wisp and an accusation. Destruction of property. Another crime to add to the many.
He wondered if he could plead insanity.