Country Roads(42)

“Some trouble is worth getting into,” he said, lowering her so she lay crosswise on the bed, her knees bent over the side and her feet dangling.

He bent and braced a hand on either side of her shoulders, staring down at her almost as though he was debating where to begin. She held her breath, willing him to touch her somewhere, anywhere soon. When he didn’t move, she reached up and unfastened the top button of his shirt.

She heard his breath catch, so she went after the next button and the next until his shirt was open to the waist but still tucked into his khakis. She yanked it out and finished her task, pulling it as far down his arms as she could. Then she spread her hands over his bare chest, fascinated by the way his muscles jumped under her palms. Her hands glowed almost white against his warm, olive skin as she traced the curves of his shoulders and biceps. She moved them lower to rest her palms on the cut lines of his flat abdomen, savoring the layered texture of skin over muscle.

The reality of him was so much more beautiful than her drawing.

“There’s plenty more to explore,” he rasped.

“I think it’s your turn.” She gave him her best come-hither smile, which probably wasn’t necessary considering how fast he pushed her arms upward and jerked her T-shirt over her head.

“You are so worth any trouble I get into,” he breathed, finally putting those long, clever fingers to good use as he released the front catch of her bra. All he did was cup his hands over her breasts so his palms just barely pressed against their centers, and a current of arousal flashed down between her legs, making her hips pulse against his thigh.

His mouth came down on hers as his fingers traced circles on her blazingly sensitized nipples. She couldn’t keep her body still when he touched her that way, so she held on to the hard curves of his shoulders to keep their mouths together.

He shifted position so he could trail his mouth downward over her throat, along one collarbone, and then over the swell of her breast until his tongue replaced his fingers. The heat and friction and dampness had her arching up so his teeth grazed her bare skin, adding a whole new sensation. “Oh yes, Paul! Please! Yes, there!”

She grabbed fistfuls of the quilted bedspread as he brushed his lips over to the other breast. His fingers teased over the wet skin where his mouth had just played, while the tension between her legs kept coiling tighter and hotter. “Paul, I want…I want to finish,” she panted. “Now.”

She could feel a vibration against her breast. Was he laughing or moaning? She tilted her head up to see him unsnap and unzip her jeans at lightning speed. He hooked his fingers in the waist-band to strip them and her panties off in one swift tug before he knelt between her legs. Oh dear God, he was going to give her an orgasm with his mouth.

“No, with you!” she said, somehow curling her trembling body up far enough to get her hands into his thick, waving hair and pull him upward.

“Are you sure you’re ready for that?” he asked, even as his eyes went dark with anticipation.

“So sure.”

He nearly sent her through the roof when he gently slid one finger down between her thighs and inside her.

“I guess you’re right,” he said, making her whimper with pleasure when he lowered his head to kiss her softly where his finger had been. He came to his feet and reached into his trouser pocket, dropping a foil envelope on the bed before he removed his clothes as swiftly as he had hers.

He rolled on the condom and spread her knees apart so he could stand between them. Then he began to slowly, exquisitely enter her as he angled forward onto the bed, coming down onto his forearms so his chest brushed her breasts without crushing them. He kept moving deeper and deeper into her until she felt stretched and filled and gorgeously unsatisfied.

He stopped, and the bed began to vibrate with the shaking of his muscles as he held himself in check.

“You don’t have to be so careful.” She rolled her hips, seating him even deeper and making them both gasp.

“You don’t have to be so impatient,” he said, dipping his head to nip at her earlobe. He withdrew as slowly as he had come in and she twisted underneath him, trying to get him to move things along before she blew up in sheer frustration.

“Paul!”

“Demigods like to savor wood sprites,” he said, but the cords of his neck stood out in a way that said he was having a hard time curbing his appetite.

“That’s what the rest of the night is for.” She wrapped her legs around his waist and impaled herself on him.

“Julia! You’re going to kill me!” He gave up the struggle and seized her hips, thrusting hard and fast.