"I don't have any experience. Have you known a lot of women?"
"None like you." . It was a smooth, polished reply that really was no answer. Jess was certain he'd been with countless other women, but just now it didn't seem to matter
. Not when Devlin was pulling her down to lie beside him. Not when the sensation of having his body, strong and muscled and unclothed, against hers was driving every conscious thought from her head.
The hot flesh of his broad chest pressing against her sensitive nipples, the probing heat of his maleness against her stomach, thrilled and aroused her. And his lips. . . . He kissed her throat, her collarbone, the rising swell of her breasts, his whiskered jaw warm and abrasive, making her skin prickle and tingle as he trailed a fiery path downward.
His hands came up to caress her naked back as his feathery kisses descended. She could feel his breath, hot and heavy on her breasts, on her nipples, now tight and hurting. Then his mouth closed over a taut bud. Desire pierced her, its depth and intensity shocking her. Heat centered itself, throbbing and moist, between her thighs, making her whimper with need.
Devlin heard the soft moaning sound with satisfaction and another feeling akin to relief. He had pleasured a lot of women in his life, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd wanted a woman like this, couldn't remember that he ever had. Just now he felt like a boy experiencing his first time—nervous, excited, incredibly aroused, afraid of doing the wrong thing. None of the women in his past had required such care. He wanted it to be good for Jessica. He wanted it to be much more than good.
Calling on every lover's skill he possessed, he suckled her nipples until Jess was arching her back wildly. And still he didn't stop. He caressed her breasts until they were tender and swollen and tingling from his kisses, taking intense pleasure from the pleasure he was giving her. Returning to her mouth then, he kissed her with more urgency this time, his tongue entering her warm depths with the same thrust he longed to use elsewhere.
The velvet rapier of his tongue met and tangled with hers as his arousing hand moved down to her stomach. The lean fingers spread there and stroked her taut flat belly, brushed downward along the smooth skin of her thighs, glided slowly upward again through the downy curls at the portal of her womanhood.
Jess caught her breath, expecting the same incredible ministrations that he'd performed earlier. But this time was totally different. Instead, he slid a finger inside her, deep inside her. Her breath spiraled away from her, out of pace with her body.
His fingers were dark magic.
"Dev-linnnnn. . . ." The word was a keening gasp.
"Hush, darlin'," he murmured seductively, caressingly. He nuzzled her neck, all the while continuing the slow deft movements of his fingers deep inside her, readying her for his invasion.
She bucked and writhed.
"Easy, baby."
His hand withdrew, to her immense dismay. But before she could protest, he fitted his knee between her legs, pressing against her fiercely aching feminine flesh.
His lips were velvety and hot as he lightly kissed her face, delicately feathering his lips across her chin, her flushed cheeks, her fevered brow. His erotic tenderness drove her wild.
"Devlin . . . I can't bear it."
"Yes, you can, love."
No, she couldn't. She felt as if she were suffocating with longing. She wanted him to ease the tight ache inside her, wanted things from him she couldn't even begin to imagine.
And he only seemed bent on making her longing worse. Purposefully, he worked his lips, his tongue, in a sensual accompaniment to the slow, rhythmic motion his hips initiated. The hot, hard knot of desire inside her tightened with each tantalizing, tormenting movement of his body.
Finally, when she thought she would go mad with the craving need, he shifted his weight, pulling away briefly.
"Devlin?" she said shakily.
"Don't you think it's about time you started calling me Garrett? I'd say we're a bit beyond the formality of last names."
"Garrett . . . I'll kill you if you stop now."
A melting tenderness infused his laughter. "I'm not about to stop." Bracing himself on his forearms, he covered her, spreading her thighs wide.
Jess ceased breathing.
He entered her with exquisite slowness, parting the fiery, aching folds between her legs. She felt her flesh stretching, then a brief moment of pain as the feminine barrier split.
She stiffened . . . but then Devlin was kissing her deeply, taking away the pain, taking away even her breath, making it a part of his own. Otherwise, he was completely still, holding himself inside her, content to wait until she grew accustomed to his spearing invasion.
"You okay, angel?" he whispered finally against her lips.
Jess exhaled in a soft, contented sigh. "Yes." It was so natural to be with him like this, to have him fill her. Yet it wasn't enough. The burning need had returned with devastating force. "Please, Devlin . . ." she murmured, not even knowing what she was pleading for.