Boone took the kiss deeper, wrenching a moan from deep within her. Iron-hard arms wrapped around her, and he took her diving with him into bliss.
Maddie reached between them and slid her hand inside his waistband, curling her fingers around silken, straining flesh. Boone jolted and cursed. Maddie smiled against his mouth.
“God, Maddie. I want you so badly.”
“Now, Boone,” she pleaded. “I need you now.”
In seconds, he had them both naked.
And there he was, poised above her, a golden man whose body wore the scars of a life lived by his wits. Maddie lifted her arms in welcome.
For just one moment, Boone stayed where he was, drinking in the sight of her. Long dark hair tumbled across the makeshift bed where he’d been tossing only minutes before.
So perfect for him. The slender shoulders that bore life’s burdens with such cheer, the lush, full breasts more than enough to fill his hands, the narrow waist flaring to form a woman’s hips, descending into legs long enough to make a grown man cry.
But what struck Boone like a fist in the chest was more than Maddie’s physical beauty, more than any curve of breast or hip or thigh. In the act of love as in all of Maddie’s life, it was her generous spirit that made Maddie shine.
Lying on a mound of hay, Maddie could have been the Queen of Sheba…Cleopatra…Delilah. Shining out from Maddie’s tempting body was the beauty of Maddie’s soul. A man would gladly die for this woman. The darkened hollows of Boone’s heart cried out in longing.
He wanted her as he’d wanted no other before her, though he did not kid himself that they would ever have another night.
But if this night was all they had, he would make it one Maddie would never forget.
Arms open in welcome, Maddie watched sorrow sweep over Boone’s face. More than she’d ever wanted anything before, she wanted to scare away sorrow, to replace it with joy, to give Boone all that he deserved.
Such a noble man, filled with valor and strength and determination. Life had not been easy on him, but Boone was far harder on himself. Maddie wanted to kiss away his sorrow, put a final seal on his pain. What woman could have misunderstood the treasure inside this man?
Helen had been a fool. Inside this man lay all the riches any woman would need. Maddie wished with her soul that she could make Boone understand. He blamed himself, and he was wrong to do so.
Suddenly Maddie understood that losing Boone would steal a piece of her soul. Fear of the pain to come sent a barb through her heart.
But Boone wouldn’t let her retreat. The formidable strength of his will, the raw power of the man, conquered all else. Soon his hands banished doubt, drove away fear. Maddie blossomed under his caress, every nerve springing to life.
He was everywhere, touching every inch of her, refusing to be denied. His tongue slicked her body, his hands cupped her breasts, then slid to her hips and brought her to his mouth.
There he paused and simply inhaled her scent, eyes closed, a low hum in his throat.
When his eyes opened, the heat in them sizzled down her spine. For a long moment, their gazes locked, and the fever inside Maddie became nearly unbearable.
When at last he sealed his mouth to her, Maddie gasped. Restlessly she shifted beneath him as he laid siege to her with soft, slow licks, with clever nips, with a suckling pressure that drew her further and further into the singing, spinning, aching sphere where thought vanished into pure sensation, where she was wild and free and lost in him.
Until he stopped.
For one stunning second, Maddie didn’t know where she was.
Then his hair brushed inside her thighs, and that one silken touch catapulted her to a new level of awareness of his broad shoulders parting her thighs, his heat, his power…
With one agonizingly slow glide of satiny tongue, he shot her higher, and just as all air vanished, he suckled at the sweet knot of screaming nerves—
Her back bowed, her world exploded.
She collapsed, her arms falling limp to her sides as she spun in starlight and magic.
Some time later, she opened her eyes. “Oh. My. God.”
Boone grinned, but she saw the tension in his face, felt his body taut with unfulfilled desire.
An answering need roared through her. “Now, Boone. I want you inside me.”
He rose over her, his hands swift and sure once more—
Then he stopped and swore, his jaw tight with strain. “Hold on.” He left her to tear at his jeans. When he finally extracted his wallet from the pocket, he, who was so adept with his hands, fumbled and dropped it once before he finally extracted the small packet. He glanced at her, grinning in triumph.
Then dropped it in the hay beside them.
Both of them groaned aloud. Then frantically searched the straw.
When Maddie’s fingers closed on it first, her triumphant smile matched his relieved one.