Almost Like Love(50)

He kept his eyes on her as he ripped open the foil packet and rolled the condom over his shaft.

Then he did the last thing she expected.

He hesitated.

“You’re sure you want this?” he asked, his voice low.

Her answer was immediate. “I’ve never wanted anything more in my life.”

The words seemed to ignite something in him. His eyes darkened, and he pushed her back against the pillows. He used his knee to part her thighs, and then he was looming over her, his arms on either side of her shoulders, his biceps bunching.

His skin was hot, his muscles hard. For one instant he stayed like that, all coiled power and masculine intent. Then he found her center and pushed inside, just a few inches, and Kate arched her head back and cried out.

He froze. “You’re tight,” he said gruffly. “Am I hurting you?”

Was he insane? “Oh, God, Ian—I need more. Please, please . . .” She wrapped her legs around his waist and tried to urge him deeper.

He didn’t need any more urging. He thrust inside her, the delicious friction sending shock waves through a thousand nerve endings. Again, and then again, while she made frantic, wordless cries and dug her nails into his shoulders. One more and he was all the way home, his ridged abdomen pressed against her belly and every inch of him buried inside her.

She’d never been invaded so thoroughly. The burn of it ignited into a deeper flame, a pleasure more decadent than anything she’d ever felt. All of her awareness was centered between her legs, at the place Ian had taken for his own.

“Open your eyes.”

She hadn’t realized she’d closed them.

Ian was gazing down at her like a barbarian king surveying a captive, his eyes dark and hooded.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

She slid her arms around his neck. “Kiss me.”

He slanted his mouth onto hers, the slide of his tongue heart-poundingly erotic. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and rolled them over in one smooth motion.

Being on top had always made her feel self-conscious. But now she put her hands on Ian’s chest and rode him with utter abandon, arching her back and gasping when he palmed her breasts.

Why hadn’t she ever realized how incredible this position could be? With Ian’s hard body below her, she felt like a goddess riding a thunderbolt.

So good. So good. If she shifted just a little, she’d—

Oh, God.

She’d never felt so sexy and powerful. She cried out as she came, waves of sensation making her body one fiery bolt of electricity.

Her skin was still tingling when Ian flipped them over again, and now it was his turn to take what he wanted.

He grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head, and his thrusts inside her were deep and hard and almost savage.

The aftershocks of her own orgasm made her body clench around his, and she could feel how much that excited him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he sank inside with one last thrust, throbbing deep within her as he came.

His head dropped to her shoulder as he shuddered out his release.

When it was over he collapsed on top of her, his head still cradled against her shoulder. For a moment there was just their breathing, harsh and labored, and the wild pounding of their hearts. Then he rolled them onto their sides and gathered her close.

She could have stayed like that forever.




Ian had never felt such a combination of sensations—ecstasy, excitement, comfort, peace. Pleasure pulsed through every nerve, and he couldn’t stop his hands from moving over Kate’s body, even though he could tell by her breathing that she was starting to fall asleep.

How could she sleep after that? Of course, he was usually out like a light five minutes after he came, but this had been so goddamn intense . . .

A delicate snore escaped her, and a rush of affection made him tighten his hold. God, she was adorable.

Ian had enjoyed sex since he’d first experienced it at the age of sixteen. He always had a good time in bed, and he did his best to make sure his partner had a good time, too.

But he’d decided a long time ago that the idea of soul-melding, heart-wrenching, mind-altering sex was just a fantasy. Sex felt great physically, and with a woman you liked it felt good emotionally, too. At its best, sex was fun and exciting and satisfying.

But this had been more.

As much as he’d wanted her, he’d never imagined it would be like that between them. Sweet, naive, inhibited Kate Meredith had been like fire, like lightning, like every fantasy he’d never thought could be true.

And she was so damn beautiful. He’d thought about her hair so much in the last few weeks that it was a relief, now, to run his hands through it. When she’d gone down on him, the sight of that copper silk against his hips and thighs and abdomen had driven him crazy.