Chapter Twelve #2
As far as kisses went, it was as amazing as Heather remembered.
The warm pressure of his lips against hers set every nerve ending in her body to dancing.
Heat flared all over, although the most interesting was the damp heat between her legs.
Even before his tongue tenderly swept inside her mouth, she could feel the rush of dampness as her body readied itself for his masculine assault.
Her arms came up around his neck. As she stepped closer, he pulled her to him, grabbing her waist, then dropping lower to her rear.
She was flush against him, her breasts flattening against his chest, his erection straining against her belly.
Their heads tilted and he plunged deeper into her mouth.
She stroked his tongue with her own. Over and under and around in ever-changing sensations of rough and smooth, while she savored the familiar, sweet taste of him.
She inhaled the scent of his body, a scent she would know always.
There would be no problem finding this man in the dark.
She touched his cool silky hair, then moved her hands down his broad back.
Muscles tightened in response to her touch.
He responded in kind, moving his hands up and down until his palms brushed past the hem of her short robe and touched the bare skin on the backs of her thighs.
Instantly, his hardness flexed and they both groaned.
He broke the kiss and stared at her, his blue eyes dark and stormy with a male hunger that made her bones melt.
As she watched him watching her, he slipped under her robe and delicately traced the curves of her rear.
He moved up the side of her hips, then back and down, cupping and squeezing.
His fingertips both tickled and aroused, and she didn’t know whether to laugh and duck away or beg for more.
An ache began between her thighs. It pulsed in time with her rapid heartbeat.
She wanted to drop to the floor, spread her legs and beg him to take her right there.
Then he gripped her rear firmly and raised her.
She gave a little hop to help him. He lifted her in the air, pulling her against him as he did.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her toward her bed.
She squeezed her thighs, pressing herself harder against him, wanting him to touch her more intimately. The thick denim, double layered over the fly, kept her from really feeling him, and she had to bite back a cry of disappointment.
“I want you, Jim,” she murmured against his ear. She kissed his forehead, his cheek, his jaw. She licked the faint rasp of stubble and bit the edge of his jaw.
He swore, a sharp word that made her giggle.
“Yes, that is what we’re going to do,” she teased.
He paused in front of her bed. “That’s not what I meant and you know it,” he growled.
“I want you, too. More than you’ll ever know.
But hearing you talk about it and feeling you against me, not to mention the kissing, is making me about ready to explode.
” His eyes blazed with fire. “I refuse to embarrass myself like that.”
It had never occurred to her that she could bring this strong, incredible man to his knees. Power filled her. Feminine strength and purpose that had her lifting her hips so that she could rub more firmly against him.
He sucked in a breath. Then he was kneeling on the bed.
She released her grip and slid down to the mattress.
As she did so, her robe fell open. Jim’s gaze dropped to her pale breasts, swollen from breast-feeding, then to her narrow rib cage and her stomach, once again flat but now marred by stretch marks.
Heather had to fight not to close her eyes. She knew he would see the jutting hip bones, the skinny legs, the bony shoulders, her small breasts….
He bent over and kissed her, his tongue sweeping inside and brushing against her own.
When he withdrew, he trailed kisses down her jaw to her ear.
“You’re beautiful,” he murmured, then nibbled on her earlobe.
Tendrils of fire curled through her, all the way down to her toes.
“Everything about you is exactly as it should be. I love your delicate slenderness and your smooth, pale skin. Even the marks from your pregnancy are precious. You are perfect in every way, and I want you.”
Tears burned at the backs of her eyes. Tears of happiness.
For the first time, a man had made her believe he found her naked body acceptable.
More than that—desirable. She suspected that Jim was the kind of guy who preferred curves, especially on top, yet he could see past her body to the woman inside.
That inner being was the one he was really attracted to, but his passion was such that it spilled over and he thought all of her was beautiful. Why had she ever doubted this man?
“Thank you,” she whispered, and pulled him close.
“Not yet.” He straightened. “One of us is way overdressed.”
While she shrugged out of her robe and tossed it on the floor, he pulled off his boots and socks, then unbuttoned his shirt. Heather rose to her knees.
“I’ll help with that.”
She moved to the edge of the bed and reached for him.
The front of the shirt had parted, exposing a well-muscled chest covered with a light dusting of hair.
She placed her hands against his breastbone, then moved them up toward his shoulders.
He was strong and his chest hair tickled her palms. She slipped down, sliding over his nipples, pausing to tease the tight points and make him shudder.
When she reached his waist, she pulled his shirt free of his jeans.
As he let it fall to the floor, she started unfastening his belt. He stopped her.
“I’d better do that,” he said.
“Why?”
“If you touch me, it will all be over.”
“How very flattering.”
So she sat back on her heels and watched him unzip his jeans, then push them and his briefs down. His arousal sprang free—a long, hard shaft that looked smooth and velvety.
They were really doing this, she thought with some surprise. They were going to make love. She paused, wondering if she would have second thoughts. But her brain was quiet and her only sensation was one of rightness. For reasons she didn’t understand, she belonged in Jim’s arms.
She scooted over on the bed and he lay down next to her.
They angled toward each other. He pulled her close so they were touching, just like they had before.
Only this time they were both naked, and when her breasts flattened against his chest, she could feel the warmth of his skin and the hair there teasing her nipples.
Her slender legs tangled with his. As he kissed her, he drew her left leg over his hip and slipped his right leg between hers.
The tension that had momentarily faded returned again full force.
She shifted so that her center pressed against his knee and she rubbed back and forth.
The pressure was more frustrating than pleasurable.
Her swollen insides wanted stroking and filling and release.
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, sending her tongue into his mouth and coaxing him to follow her back. When he did, she bit down gently.
Jim raised his head and stared at her a moment. He looked as startled as she felt.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I’ve never done anything like that before.” She hadn’t, either. “I don’t know what came over me. I just…”
He smiled at her then, a satisfied male smile that made her squirm in anticipation. She’d awakened the dominant animal that lived in every aroused man. It was a side of him she’d never seen before. For that matter, she’d never seen it in any man.
“Heather?” he asked as if he wanted to make sure this was what she wanted.
“Yes,” she said even though she didn’t know what she was agreeing to. She wanted him and she trusted him. Nothing else mattered.
His mouth came down on hers, but this time it was different. Before, there had been passion, but now there was a raw, unchecked power to his kiss. Before, he had explored, but now he plunged. She met him more than halfway and gave back a few thrusts of her own.
He rolled her onto her back and ran one hand up and down her body.
His touch was as soft as it had always been, but there was an impulsive quality to the movements, as if he felt rather than thought first. He circled her breasts, then slid his hand down her stomach before slipping his fingers into the protective curls between her thighs.
Everywhere he touched, her skin tightened and her nerve endings burned. She had to cling to him to keep from writhing under the exquisite perfection of what he was doing. When he moved into the sensitive folds of skin, her legs opened and she raised her hips.
“You’re so wet,” he murmured against her mouth. “I want that. I want you to have trouble breathing or thinking.”
He was getting his wish, but it would require air to tell him that so she could only strain and twist as he explored her.
He moved to her opening and gently pushed one finger inside. She was so tight. He groaned against her mouth, then tried two fingers. They both gasped. Heather felt her body slowly stretching back to life. She was too hot, too aroused, too everything, and she never wanted this moment to end.
He continued to pleasure her. At the same time, he kissed her cheek, then her nose, then her jaw. In and out, slowly, deliberately, driving her crazy.
“That’s where I want to be,” he murmured. “Inside you, filling you. I’m going to make you scream.”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. “I believe you.”
“Good.”
He moved his hand higher, searching for, then finding, that tiny spot of pleasure. She jumped.
“So it’s there,” he said, stroking it gently. “How do you like it?” His fingers continued their intimate dance. “Like this?” He rubbed over it. “Or like this?” He licked the inside of her ear. “Show me. Take my hand and show me.”