Sweet Carolina(21)

“Lord knows dying on the track would be easier than keeping my hands off you every day.” He trailed one callused finger across her cheekbone, and down along her jaw to her chin to tilt her head back, telegraphing his next move with his firm touch. His gaze traveled from her lips to her eyes, giving her ample opportunity to say no, or to back away, but she couldn't.

His breath was hot against her face. His lips a mere inch from hers. “I'm going to die right here, Caro, if I don't kiss you.”

Her heart leapt against her ribcage and her last grain of sanity gasped for her to run, but died from lack of oxygen as he pressed his lips to hers. His lips were warm and firm, and his kiss was sweet, almost tentative at first. In all her wild imaginings, she never believed Dell Wayne could be so gentle.

She moaned.

That did it. Dell's hold on decency slipped from his hands and he filled them with Caro instead. His hand beneath her chin moved to cup the back of her head while the other one found her sweet ass in her fire suit and pressed her softness against his hardness. She moaned again and he devoured her mouth. She tasted better than any champagne, and beneath the smell of burnt rubber and car exhaust clinging to her hair, was some flowery scent: beneath that, pure Carolina Hawkins.

Her lips were everything he dreamed they would be, and though he'd never been fire suit-to-fire suit with anyone before, he didn't want to let her go. She was the spark to his ignition and he went full throttle at her first moan. The little girl he'd played with as a child was all grown up and she had his lug nuts in a vise. He wanted her. And if the way she was kissing him back was any indication, she wanted him equally as much.

As he fumbled with the closure at the collar of her fire suit, he mentally checked off the steps to slipping her out of it altogether. Layers. Too many layers. The fire suit. Followed by the fireproof layer underneath, then…images of lacy undergarments flashed through his mind. Did she wear lace under all the protective gear? God, he hoped so.

He flicked her collar open and fumbled for the tab on her zipper, all without breaking the kiss. The zipper parted and his hand slid inside her suit. Undaunted by the Nomex undergarments, his fingers found skin. Hot, silky skin. He wrenched his lips from hers. Caro looked up, her eyes glazed with passion, her rosy lips wet and swollen. His gut clenched. He brushed his thumb across her stomach, watching her eyes for a cue to continue or stop. Everything in him screamed to take another lap, full throttle ahead, but this was Carolina Hawkins, and he wouldn't hurt her for anything, even for a victory lap.

“Touch me,” she said.

“You're sure?” he asked.

She shrugged one shoulder, then the other, and the top of her fire suit hung from the waistband. “I'm sure,” she said as she reached for the hem of the Nomex top and peeled it up to reveal his hands wrapped around her waist.

Dell swallowed hard at the sight of all that perfect alabaster skin. It was almost sacrilege to touch it with his callused hands, but he couldn't let go.

“A little help here, Dell,” she said, breaking into his reverie.

“Yeah, let's get this off.” He helped her lift it over her head and off without taking his eyes off the twin scraps of lace revealed in the process.

Before the Nomex hit the floor, his hands covered her breasts. The lace scratched his palms in contrast to the softness beneath. He squeezed both globes, and when she cried out, he groaned. “Beautiful, Caro. You are so fucking beautiful.”

“My turn,” she breathed. She fumbled with his collar. Dell helped her, and before he could decide if it were a good idea or not, his fire suit hung around his waist, and his Nomex undershirt joined hers on the floor. He was on fire, and there wasn't a suit in the world that could protect him from the flames licking his insides. He burned for this woman. Rational or not. Sane or not. It didn't matter.

Caro flattened her palms against his chest and Dell ignited. He framed her face between his hands and brought her lips up to his. Her hands explored. His lips conquered. Desperate to taste her, he used his thumbs to tilt her head back and trailed hot kisses down her neck, across her collarbone, and to the swell of her breasts above her bra.

Her skin smelled like roses and tasted like cream. He wanted more. He hooked a finger in the top of one lacy cup and jerked down. One sweet, ruby nipple popped free and he took it in his mouth. Caro moaned and one small hand cradled the back of his head, holding him to her while the other slipped around his waist. The bite of fingernails in his back sent a bolt of lightning to his groin.

He managed to free the other breast and shifted his attention to it, testing the weight of the first in his hand. Nothing had ever tasted, or felt, like this. Like his Carolina. Sweet. Hot. Magnificent. Perfection.