The image made his heart pound so hard and loud his eyes almost crossed.
Connor had never been the kind of man who required instant gratification. Stretching out the anticipation made the fulfillment of his goal so much sweeter, so much more worth the wait. But now the scent of her filled his head, intoxicating him, making it difficult to remember why he’d thought it better to wait. He burned for her, wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything before. Now. He didn’t want to wait another second.
He shifted and changed the angle of their kiss and covered her lips completely. She had the most incredibly sensual mouth he’d ever seen on a woman, and he couldn’t get enough of it.
Ever since the night before when he’d been stupid enough to postpone their lovemaking, he’d been craving the touch of her lips again. Waiting and wondering when the right moment would come and he could take her in his arms and fulfill his most ardent fantasies.
A soft sigh fluttered in her throat, and Connor took it as a sign of her desire for more. He eased her lips apart with his tongue and plunged inside her warmth, where her tongue tangled with his in a pleasurable whirl of desire.
As they kissed, a distant part of Connor’s mind flashed to the past when he and Maggie had been joined at the lip. They’d shared hundreds, maybe thousands of kisses back then, so why did her kiss today feel so completely different and brand-new? As though they’d never kissed before this moment.
They weren’t the same people, he thought. They were older, definitely. Smarter, too, he hoped. Back then, Connor had worshiped the ground Maggie walked upon. He’d treated her like spun silk, a rare treasure, something to be cherished above all else. Maybe that was why she’d left him. Maybe he’d been too wrapped up in her to notice she wasn’t happy. He still didn’t know.
But the Maggie in his arms today was a flesh-and-blood woman. Complicated. Beautiful. Normal. He no longer had any expectations that she was anything other than that. And that made everything different.
Better, he thought again.
When she moaned, he ended the kiss and gazed at her. “In case you couldn’t guess, I want you, Maggie.”
She studied him for a long moment; then she sighed. “Does this mean I’m going to miss my dinner?”
He laughed and ran his hands up and down her arms. “Only if you say so. It might kill me, but I’m following your lead—for right now.”
Tonight, though, he would be the one in charge. And there was no doubt in his mind as to how they would be spending the evening.
“So, what do you want, Maggie?”
“I want… I…” She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against his chest.
“You want…” he prompted, using his finger to lift her chin so he could meet her gaze.
“Damn it, Connor, just kiss me again.”
His smile grew and he pulled her closer. “Be happy to oblige.”
His mouth took hers in a white-hot kiss and Maggie met him with the same level of passion, mixed with a new level of confidence and enthusiasm. It seemed to Connor that now that she’d made the choice, Maggie could relax and go with her instincts. Maybe it came from being the one to make the decision, or maybe she just needed to hear him say how much he wanted her. Not that she couldn’t have figured it out on her own by looking at a strategic part of his anatomy, but it probably also helped that he’d voiced how ridiculously desperate he was to taste her and touch her.