Take My Breath Away…

Stop. The word had become a chant in his head, but Gabe’s body ignored the order. She was all wild flavors and silken textures, and she was driving him crazy. Wherever he touched or tasted, she responded with a huge unreserved pleasure that fascinated him. Captured him.

He’d thought about what it would be like ever since that first meeting of eyes. But any fantasies he’d entertained fell far short of reality. He hadn’t wanted her to stir up this kind of primitive need. But hadn’t he known she would? He slid his hands down to her hips, and when she arched up and tightened her legs around him, the only thing that kept him from taking what he was craving was that he was still wearing his jeans. His fingers were struggling with the snap when he recalled how he’d started this, kissing her when she was still asleep. He’d taken her this far without an invitation. Stealing a kiss without asking was one thing, but he wanted more…

He drew his head up then and brought her face into focus. She was awake now. He could see himself in those chocolate-colored eyes. She held him just as surely there as she did with her arms and legs. A warning bell sounded, but it was distant.

“You stopped,” she said.

Her voice might have been a throaty murmur, but there was a note of accusation in the tone.

“Paused,” he corrected. “And I won’t stop if I kiss you again,” he stated. “I wanted to make sure you were on board with that.”

For a moment she said nothing. But she didn’t move.

Neither did he.

In his mind, he might intend to play the gentleman, but his body hadn’t gotten the memo. He was very much aware that they were pressed closely together, center to center, heat to heat, with nothing more than denim and her panties separating them. His body throbbed at every point a pulse could beat.

He rocked into her, saw the heat flare in her eyes, felt the shudder move through her body. One thread of whatever control he had left snapped.

“It would be a mistake.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“We’re on the same page there.” It would be a huge mistake. Hadn’t he given himself that lecture countless times? But he’d also known that this moment was coming, that as hard as he might try, he wouldn’t be able to prevent it from happening.

He ran his mouth along her jaw, then nipped at her chin. “What do you say?”

Say? She wasn’t at all sure that she could form a word. But even as she desperately reached for one, she wrapped her arms and legs more tightly around him. The heat, the glorious blast of it was so intense, she felt as if she’d been caught in a sudden back draft of flames. There was pleasure pulsing through her in an endless stream until it was all she could feel. He was all she could feel.

And he felt so right. She was very aware of the hardness of the floor beneath her. His body was even harder and so hot that she wanted nothing more than to melt into him. She caught herself before she arched against him again. If she did, she might climax. She could feel it almost within reach.

“I should think…”

Had she said the words aloud? She must have because he drew back enough to meet her eyes, and there was a question in his. There was also a glint of something dark and reckless that ignited that familiar tingle deep within her. Her practical side might want to worry about mistakes and consequences, but something much closer to the bone ruled. Some mistakes were worth making.

“I want you so much,” she said.

He kissed her then, and she felt that wonderful heat began to build inside of her again. She knew what happened when you played with fire. But she wanted the flash point. And she wanted it now. She tightened her legs around him and arched again.

He immediately gripped her hips and stilled her movements. Then he lifted his head.

She tried to move and couldn’t. “You said the next time you kissed me you wouldn’t stop.”

“Protection.” His voice was hoarse. “I don’t—”

“We’re good.” She dragged his mouth back to hers and nipped his bottom lip.

“We’re about to get even better,” he promised. “But first, we have to get rid of the clothes.”

“Oh…right.” But she kept her mouth on his the whole time his hands slid between them to push down his jeans. Her clothes weren’t an issue. He pushed the thin lace of her panties aside and slid a finger into her. “Now, come for me.”

He gave her no choice. The climax that had been threatening erupted through her in wave after wave, each one sharper than the last. Helpless, she gave herself over to it and to the man who was giving it to her.

Her body was still quaking from the last ripple when he drew his finger out and pressed the head of his penis against the slick heat of her core. He wanted to go slowly, but her response, her surrender, were so much more than he’d imagined. How much further could she take him? Raising his head, he said, “Look at me.”

She opened her eyes, and he watched them go wide and blurry as he thrust into her in one stroke. She was hotter and tighter than he’d expected. The feel of her muscles trembling and tugging urged him to go deeper. Hooking his arms around her legs, he lifted them so that he could push even more fully into her.

Her eyes went dark, then blind with pleasure. And for a moment he was sure his own did the same. He couldn’t think of anything but the mating of their bodies. He couldn’t even move. All he could do was sink farther and farther into her. The thought of withdrawing even a little, even to push into her again—he couldn’t do it. This was where he wanted to stay. Where he belonged.

But as she continued to contract around him, the pulse of his own release tore through him. He tried to hold back, to hold her, to hold them both where they were right now. But as another climax radiated through her in little convulsions, his own pleasure overcame him, consuming him and finally overpowering him completely.

5

REALITY TRICKLED IN slowly. Nicola heard the sound of breathing, slightly ragged, but she couldn’t tell if it was him or her. She could smell the faint tang of incense, and him—soap and water and something that was very male. She was still wrapped around him.

And he was still inside of her.Without any hesitation, she grasped him, let go, then grasped him again.

“Ready?” He whispered the question in her ear even as she felt him grow harder inside of her.

“Mmm.”

He gripped her hips and eased her into a rhythm.

Pleasure shot through her, but she managed to raise her head, just enough to meet his eyes. “I’m not…not usually. I don’t understand…. It’s you.”

“Or you,” he countered as his fingers dug into her hips and he abruptly increased the speed of his thrusts.

Then it didn’t matter, not with his heart pounding against hers, beat to beat. Not with pleasure pummeling through her again and again with each thrust. She couldn’t think, didn’t want to. Not while she could take this wild ride to that place where there were only the two of them and only the intense pleasure that they could bring each other.

He cried out first as he drove into her one last time and the world around them shattered.

GABE WOKE TO FIND Nicola still sprawled on top of him. The steady sound of her breath going in and out signaled that she was asleep. And he could no longer hear the sound of the wind outside. In its place, he caught the closer clank of a radiator heating up, so the power and the furnace were back on.

Opening his eyes, he lay perfectly still, taking a moment to orient himself. The light overhead was also on. He lifted his arm to glance at his watch. After midnight. So roughly three hours had passed since he’d arrived at the church. When he turned his head, pain poked at his forehead, but it was manageable. The back of his head throbbed a bit, but his memory of what had happened was crystal clear. He hadn’t caught the thief.Instead, he’d caught Nicola Guthrie. Ready or not. He shifted his gaze to the top of her head. Her scent reminded him of spring flowers. And she felt right lying on top of him. The fact that he didn’t want to move might have worried him, but his more immediate concern was that he was still inside of her. So there was a definite part of him that did want to move.

Just thinking about what it would feel like had him growing harder. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to make love to her again. He did. But he wanted to do it under different circumstances. A bed might be nice. Something with a little more room, a little more give than a cold, hard marble floor.

And wasn’t this just the trouble he’d intended to avoid? Having her just this once wasn’t going to do it for him. He’d suspected that from the first time he’d looked at her through that glass wall.

Now there would be complications. Big ones. And he already had a lot on his plate.

Gripping her hips, he lifted her, then hoping not to wake her, he shifted slowly so that they were lying side by side. Her head was still tucked into his shoulder.

Progress. But not enough, especially when he wanted nothing more than to stay right where he was. This time it wasn’t desire pulling at him, but a warmth that was even more seductive. Though he couldn’t explain it, holding her close felt right. Against all logic and in spite of everything he’d done to try and prevent this from happening, it had.