His heart kicked a swift beat in his chest. Christ, he’d waited years for her to say those very words, but this wasn’t the right time. After the night she’d had, she needed the rest.
He tightened his grip around her middle. “Go to sleep, Kate.”
“But—”
“Sleep.” He kissed the back of her head.
Stephen smiled when she expelled a tiny humph. He closed his eyes, willed his dick to behave, and prayed sleep would be swift. Either way, he anticipated a long night.
Chapter Five
“Stephen.”
The low moan tugged Stephen from his restless sleep, and his eyes snapped open. With Kate lying in his arms, he drowsily reasoned he was dreaming until her leg rubbed against his calf and his name drifted from her lips.
Holy shit.
He swallowed hard and attempted to rouse her. “Kate.”
She moaned again and pressed her barely-covered ass against the length of his erection. He hissed in surprise. The towel he’d worn to bed was long gone.
For fuck’s sake, he wasn’t a damn saint.
He jostled her awake. “Kate.”
She stirred and clutched the arm wrapped around her stomach.
“Stephen?” Confusion colored her sleepy voice.
“Uh…yeah, still here.”
She shifted, the movement torturous to his male parts, and he pinned her with his leg.
“Don’t move,” he snapped.
Kate lifted her arm behind her and froze when her fingertips brushed over his naked hip. “Are you…? Were we…?”
“No.” He gritted his teeth. “Just don’t move, by all that is holy in this world.”
“Oh.” Her hand continued its exploration, slipping over his ass. “Um, Stephen?”
“Kate.” Christ, he wasn’t sure how much more of this he could bear. Every gulp of air he took was filled with the sweet scent of honeysuckle and her arousal. He tried to lift away from her, but her fingernails dug into his ass.
“Stay with me.”
“I don’t think—”
“Please, Stephen. Just one night.”
Well, fuck. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? As if he would ever deny her anything. He would concede to her request, not that it was a hardship, but it wouldn’t be for just one night.
He let his hand drift down her stomach, beneath the boxers she wore, and dip to her sex. He closed his eyes, lost in the feel of her soft, heated skin.
“I like that you’re bare here, Sunshine. It’s sexy as hell.” Stephen threw off the covers and helped her upright. Once he pulled his T-shirt over her head and the boxers off her slim legs, he eased her onto her back and soaked up his first sight of her nude. The glow from the bathroom light gleamed on her smooth, milky skin. She lay completely still as he traced his fingertips over each soft dip and curve of naked frame, learning the contours and committing them to memory. His imagination had been nowhere close to the reality.
Christ, she was breathtaking.
He cupped one of her plump breasts in his palm, rubbing his thumb over the hardened nipple. Desperate for a taste, he leaned over and latched onto the taut peak, suckling the sensitive flesh. She buried her fingers in his hair, tugging him closer.
His exploration continued as he ran his mouth down her body, lingering to feather kisses along the gentle swell of her stomach. Anxious to taste the pussy he’d dreamt of for years, he repositioned himself between her thighs, his head hovering above his own little slice of heaven. At once, he felt her tense and tighten her legs around his shoulders.
“Relax. Just enjoy. Let me enjoy.”
Stephen laid an arm over her abdomen and ran his hand over her belly while he arranged his other arm beneath her hips, bringing her heated center closer to his mouth. He lowered his head and parted the lips of her sex with his tongue. As he traced over her pussy, he almost came with his first taste.
He’d been right all along. Sunshine. She tasted of sunshine after the rain on a late summer’s afternoon. Man and Wolf growled in appreciation. He circled her clit with long, languid strokes, making her shudder in his arms.
She moved against his mouth and sank her hand in his hair. “Stephen, I need you. Please.”
He was more than happy to oblige.
Taking his time, he worked his way up her body until his hardened length rested between her thighs. His cock slid along her damp pussy with spine-tingling friction, which left them both gasping.
Trembling, Stephen tried to steady his racing heart. Five years he’d waited to be exactly where he was, and damn if he wasn’t about to come before he made it inside of her. He couldn’t wait any longer.
His hand dipped between her thighs, and he positioned the head of his cock at her entrance. He captured her mouth with a searing kiss. His tongue slipped inside the same moment he nudged her opening with a gentle push.