His heart burned. Carefully, he released her wrist. Then his hands rose and slid under her delicate jaw. He tipped back her head and leaned forward to kiss her. His lips pressed to hers. Slow. Tender. And he kept a stranglehold on his control.
That control wouldn’t be breaking. Not with her. No matter what he had to do, he’d keep it in place with Carly.
He licked her lower lip, then sucked it lightly. When he eased back, just a bare inch, Ethan promised, “There will be no one in your mind but me. Tonight, I swear, it’s just us.” He would give her as much pleasure as she could stand. All damn night long. Until she told him to stop.
He’d give her anything. He wasn’t going to walk away from her. He’d dreamed of Carly wanting him, too many times. This wasn’t a dream. And he wasn’t a fool.
She caught his hand in hers and walked back with him into her bedroom. The bedroom smelled like her. Sweet, sensual. A light, floral scent hung in the air. Her bed covers had been pushed back, and the brass-bed waited for them. She started to lead him to the bed.
He stopped. “There are going to be a few rules first.” His voice came out too hard, but a sharp tide of lust would do that to a man. Make him sound more like a desperate beast.
She turned back toward him.
“First…if anything scares you, you tell me to fucking stop, got it? I don’t care how far gone I may seem, you say stop, and I freeze.” They had to be clear on that.
“S-should we use some kind of safe word?”
Okay, he just had to kiss her again because she said that with her voice trembling. A harder, deeper kiss. “We don’t need one, baby. Stop is all you have to say.” Stop—and he’d barely breathe. Because this mattered. She mattered.
Carly needed to know that. This wasn’t some bedroom game. This was him. Her. No fantasy but a sexy, consuming reality that might drive him to the edge—but he would not let it take him beyond.
“Rule two…” His voice was growing more ragged by the moment. “When we actually get ready to fuck, you’re on top.”
Her gaze flickered and he was sure that he saw the flash of relief in her gaze. He was trying to set up this scene so that nothing would remind her of the past—or of that bastard Quincy.
“You control the pleasure,” he said. “Because rule three is that you have to tell me exactly what you like…and what you don’t.”
She nodded. “But only if we follow rule four…”
He’d stepped toward her, intent on stripping that t-shirt off her, but at those words, Ethan hesitated. “Rule four?”
“You tell me exactly what you like…and what you don’t. Because I want to give you pleasure, Ethan.”
She pretty much gave him pleasure just by breathing, but he wasn’t going to say that. Not right then. She didn’t realize just what she was getting into with him. There would be plenty of time for that discovery, later.
His hands lifted toward her. He caught the hem of her t-shirt and lifted it over her head, being extra careful not to disturb the small, white bandage near her collarbone. Then he dropped her shirt to the floor as he stared at her breasts. Beautiful. Full. With dark, tight nipples. He wanted to touch those nipples, but not with his hands.
He wrapped his hands around her waist and he lifted her up, holding her easily even as her hands flew out and locked around his shoulders. Then he put his mouth on her nipple. Licked and sucked and she tasted even sweeter than he’d imagined. Sweet and perfect, like she’d been made just for him.
He sucked, harder, as the desire pulsed inside of him. She wasn’t trying to pull away. Carly arched against his mouth, offering more of herself to him. Hell, yes. He kissed his way to her other breast. He licked that nipple, kissed her sweet flesh. Then drew her nipple into his mouth.
“Ethan!” She’d never said his name quite that way before.
He liked that demand.
He didn’t let her go, not yet. He savored her taste. He made sure that he licked and sucked and kissed until she was shaking in his arms.
Then, slowly, he slid her back down until her toes touched the floor. His cock shoved hard against the front of his jeans, so there was no way Carly could miss his desire for her.
She didn’t pull away from him. Her hands stayed locked around his shoulders. Her gaze met his.
“Are you wet for me, yet?” Ethan asked.
A shiver slid over her.
“Let’s find out,” Ethan said. His hands caught her shorts and he pushed them down her body. When he saw that she wasn’t wearing any panties…
Fuck, fuck, fuck me!
He didn’t move for a moment as he made sure that his control would hold. Don’t pounce. Don’t rush. Give her time. Give her everything.
His fingers slid down her stomach, down, on down until he reached the apex of her thighs. Her legs were braced apart, and it was so easy for him to slip two fingers up into her sensitive core.
She was warm. She was wet. But not wet enough.
“Sit on the bed, baby.”
She did, her movements a bit jerky.
He didn’t follow her on the bed. He didn’t want to do anything that would put his body on top of hers, didn’t want to make any move that might make her feel trapped or overwhelmed.
He was used to dominant sex. He liked dominant sex. Hard and rough and dirty.
But this was different. This was Carly. And he would have sooner cut off his own damn arm than scare her.
So he sank to his knees beside the bed. He positioned his body between her legs, and he locked his hands around her waist as he pulled her forward, positioning her at the edge of the mattress. Then he eased her legs apart, opening her even more. Making sure that she was fully exposed to him.
Such a gorgeous, pink treat.
“Scream if you want,” he said. “But I’ve just got to see…”
“See what?” She was balanced on her elbows, craning up to see him.
“I’ve got to see what you taste like when you come.”
Then he put his mouth on her. She tensed immediately, and her thighs tried to close, but she hadn’t said that magic word yet, and he worked her gently. Licking. Caressing. Using his fingers and his tongue, and her taste had him feeling drunk—so good—but he wasn’t stopping. Not now. No way.
He found the center of her desire. He stroked and he licked, and he pushed his index finger deep into her. She fell back on the bed, and when he glanced up at her, he saw that she’d fisted the sheets in her hands.
Good. Not good enough. Had she forgotten the all-important rule number three? He pulled away from her.
“Ethan!” An immediate cry of protest.
“You have to tell me what you like.”
Her breath was heaving out. “What you were doing. I liked it—a lot!”
He smiled. “What part, baby? Tell me…do you want my fingers on you? In you?”
“Yes! Yes, I-I want your fingers in me.”
“And…” He needed her to say it. Needed those words so he’d know that she was with him for every single moment.
“And I want your mouth on me. Please, Ethan…I was so close. Closer than I’ve ever been.”
Her words pierced right to his heart. Closer than I’ve ever been. Shit, did that mean she hadn’t climaxed before? Oh, hell, no, but she deserved pleasure. He’d make her climax until she went wild.
Once wouldn’t be enough.
Not for her. Not for him.
He pushed his fingers back into her—not one, but two this time, and he loved the way she gasped and arched her hips up to him. Then he put his mouth on her. Licking and sucking and not stopping, not when he felt her tense up, not when her hips were riding his fingers. He thrust his hand against her, then he pulled his fingers out, and he put his tongue into—
She tasted like heaven when she came.
She was chanting his name. Music to his ears.
It was easy enough to keep her climax going. Her legs were shaking. Her cheeks were flushed. She was absolutely delec
table. He kept licking her.
He licked her straight into a second orgasm.
When the final shudders slid from her body, he eased back enough to stare at her. He licked his lips, savoring her taste, and knew that he’d always crave more.
But maybe she wanted him to stop now. They were back to rule number three. She had to tell him, exactly, what she wanted.
She pushed up to her elbows again. Her nipples were tight and tempting and he wanted to suck them again.
He actually wanted to kiss her—every single inch of her body.
“Will it feel like that…when you…when your cock is in me?”
He already had precum on his cock. “Ready to find out?”
She gave a nod.
He shook his head. “The words, baby. The words.”
Carly sucked in a sharp breath. “I want you, in me. You.”