Beyond Temptation (Forged of Steele #3)

“I want you, Lena,” he whispered in a husky voice, still holding her gaze. “I want you on the table.”

She stared down at him. He was leaning back on his haunches staring back at her. There was a high degree of heat in his eyes, and then suddenly she felt hot all over again. He stood, laced his fingers with hers, positioned her body close to his and turned her slightly and begin inching her backward toward the table. It was then that she noticed his towel had dropped and he was as stark naked as she was.

“I’ve been fantasizing about you spread out on my desk, but I’m going to make this table work,” he whispered huskily into her ear.

They came to a stop when the table was at her back. Morgan remembered how his brothers had joked about him having such a huge table in his kitchen. Now he knew why it was there. It was perfect. His need, his desire and his want for her had built up over a long period. She had become an obsession that nearly bordered on madness.

He wanted to marry her. He wanted her to have his baby. He wanted her to be a part of his life forever.

He loved her.

That stark realization ratcheted through him, nearly knocking him off balance. That was the reason why he had come up with those crazy plans, and why, even when Donovan had teased him mercilessly about Lena not giving him the time of day, he hadn’t let her rejection deter him one bit from making her his priority.

He knew at that very moment that he had probably fallen in love with her the moment he set eyes on her that night, and he had dreamed about her every night since then. She had fascinated him in a way no other woman had ever done before. He saw a beauty on the outside that he knew radiated from the inside. Her dedication to her mother and those she considered friends was monumental. He admired such a high degree of loyalty and devotion. Her involvement in the various community projects around town that were geared to benefit others was a testimony that she was a person who cared. This was the type of woman he needed in his life, to walk by his side, to be there with him when the going got tough. She didn’t know it yet but he had high plans for their future, and they would have a rewarding future together—she might as well bank on it.

He reached down and lifted her bottom and sat her on the edge of the table, then gently scooted her back on it. He stepped back. She was lying flat on her back with her gorgeous legs dangling off the sides, naked and opened for him. Just like he’d imagined in his fantasy.

Morgan inwardly groaned. All that naked flesh only heightened his desire. “You’re beautiful, Lena,” he whispered and felt the truth of his words all the way to his toes.

He watched as she slid a glance at him, smiled and said, “You have a way of making me feel sexy, Morgan Steele.”

“Because you are sexy. And your sexiness has a way of driving me wild. Pushing me over the edge and making me want to do things I normally don’t do,” he said truthfully.

He came back to the table, leaned over her and kissed her. Thoroughly. Deeply. And then he was between her spread knees, easing them apart even farther.

The scent of her drove him crazy, made him lose control, made his body even more aroused. He stepped closer, rubbed his hardened shaft against her wet core, teasing it, tantalizing it, provoking it in an enticing way.

“I think this is where I ask if I need to put on a condom,” he whispered huskily, as he continued to rub himself against her. “As much as I want to give you my baby, now isn’t the time to do it. There are too many number crunchers around here to suit me.”

She smiled and slowly shook her head. “I take the pill to regulate my periods, so I’m safe, but if you prefer to—”

“No, I don’t prefer. I want to be skin to skin, flesh to flesh with you. I want to know the exact moment I let go and fill you with me, Lena.”

He leaned in closer to her ear, letting his warm breath touch her skin underneath when he whispered, “In other words, I want to soak your insides to the point that even next week you’ll still know that I came for a visit.”

And then he kissed her in a long, drugging kiss that automatically had her eyes closing while the desire within her crested, seeking fulfillment.

“Look at me, Lena,” he said in a soft command after pulling back.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. It was then that she saw that he was on the table with his body straddled over hers. The light shining through his kitchen blinds made him appear as the man he had been—her nighttime fantasy—and into the man he now was, her daytime reality. At that moment she was aware of everything. The way he was staring down at her, the way their breathing was being released in the quiet stillness of the room, the way his shaft was resting between her open legs and the sexual, hot sense they radiated.