“It’s not always like that.” He played his fingers through her hair, nipped at the smooth skin on her shoulder, letting her feel him, right there, throbbing against her. “Not always that good.”
Touching her didn’t merely banish the terror of the afternoon—her arms around him actually made him feel whole. She was sweetly sexy, unconsciously seductive. And she was kind as well as caring.
“I know it’s not always good.” Her eyes were still closed as she laughed, a little sound she seemed to choke off. “It’s never been this way for me.”
She’d obviously been with inexperienced men who didn’t care, didn’t learn, only took and never gave. But Matt wanted to give her so much more. All night long. Because in the morning…
No. He wouldn’t think about the morning.
There was only now. A handful of stolen hours to show Ari how much he wanted her.
But he didn’t want to simply do things to her. He wanted her totally engaged, so he rolled to his back and brushed the damp hair from her face. “I want to feel your hands on me.”
He relished her low intake of breath at his sensual command, loved the way her pupils dilated with heavy arousal, not only at his request, but at the sight of him as her gaze flitted down his naked torso to the aching hardness beneath his boxers. She swallowed, then put out her hand, her fingertips brushing him.
He hissed a breath between his teeth at the sexy yet tentative touch. He wanted to press her hand to him, stroke himself with her palm. But she had to come to him on her own.
“Earlier, you said how much you wanted me,” he began in a low voice.
“Every second.” He reveled in the fire leaping to life in her eyes as she added, “Every day.”
“Then take what you want, Ari.”
Shifting sinuously closer, she wrapped her fingers around him, navy blue cotton and all.
The sensation was so glorious, he couldn’t stop from bucking in her hand. Despite her inexperience, she instinctively stroked him from base to tip. And this time he wasn’t the only one whose breath hitched with pleasure. She was such a gift. One he wasn’t sure he’d ever done anything good enough to deserve.
So when he thought he saw insecurity flash across her face, he tipped his fingers under her chin to raise her gaze to his. “There’s nothing you could do that I won’t love.”
She drew in her breath, held it, biting her lip. He wanted to bite it for her. “Feel what you to do me, Ari.”
God, the things she did to him.
She released her breath in a sweet sigh that washed over his mouth. He wanted to taste her again with a ferocity that burned in his gut. But Ari stole the thought right out of his brain as she slipped her hand inside his boxers, hot skin to hot skin.
Then she climbed on top of him, and he truly lost his mind.
Chapter Nine
Matt was like steel against her palm. Ari had never been an aggressor, yet with Matt she wanted to explore, test, savor. She wanted to do all the things she’d never even imagined until she’d met him.
Sitting astride him, her legs spread, her hand on his erection, she leaned across his chest and kissed him. As she used her body and hand to stroke him, he thrust his fingers into her hair and held her mouth to his, kissing her so deeply she felt as if she were falling right into him.
Before, sex had been physical, something she’d thought she wanted though it never turned out the way she dreamed. But Matt was a million times better than any dream. The hot, hard feel of his naked flesh in her hand, the taste of his mouth, his body rocking against her—it was all brand new. She’d never felt this needy before, as though her skin were on fire and her body molten. She’d never known desire like this. Only for Matt. He made her feel beautiful.
Even more, he made her fearless.
When they surfaced to breathe, she said, “I want to see all of you.”
His smile grew slowly, wickedly—like the devil who’d just won the temptation game. “Take what you want, Ari. Anything you want.”
She all but tore off his boxers, then stilled at the sight of so much hot, hard flesh. “You’re so big.” Her voice dripped with awe. “So beautiful.”
He laughed, the warm sound washing over her. “Are you sure that’s the right word?”
“It’s exactly the right word.” She curled her fingers around him, so thick he almost didn’t fit. Maybe she should have been frightened, but her arousal climbed higher, surpassing even the long, glorious minutes he’d used his tongue and fingers to play her body like a fine instrument. “Beautiful.”
She stroked his tip, rubbing a drop of moisture over him, before sliding down, down, down to his base. She loved the hiss of his breath, telling her the pleasure was as infinite as what he’d given her, and she couldn’t wait another second to feel him inside her. She needed him to take her, to own her, body and soul.