The reality of how he’d hurt her made him determined to show her how much she mattered to him.
It also filled him with a savage need to keep her safe. She was his, period. He would never hurt her again—and he damn sure wouldn’t let anyone else hurt her, either.
All the reasons he’d given her for waiting—her illness, their early days—were still there. They just didn’t matter enough for him to resist her.
Leaving her mouth, he kissed her slim throat and her narrow shoulder on a path to her lush breasts. God love the girl, she had a great rack, full and firm with nipples already drawn tight.
When he played a thumb over one sensitive tip, she arched up, encouraging him. He put an arm behind her to keep her like that, offered up to him. “I should let you sleep,” he growled before closing his teeth around that small, taut tip.
Her gasping sound of pleasure vibrated in the air between them, sweet and anxious. Gently, Denver tugged.
Catching fistfuls of his hair, Cherry kept him close and bent one knee up alongside his hip. The adjustment left his boner nestled against her hot sex with only their underwear as barriers.
His heart thundered against his ribs. He grew even harder, hurting with this sudden, crushing need to consume her.
Carefully, he nipped at her other nipple, then tugged on it, too, until she cried out. “Denver.”
He sucked her deep, stroking with his tongue and rocking against her while using care to untangle her fingers, one by one, from his hair.
To keep her from rushing him, he pressed her hands up alongside her head. “Patience.”
Lips parted, gaze smoky, she nodded. “I’ll try.”
Grateful that she’d turned on the light, he rose up the length of his arms to see her, to soak up the sight of her in nothing more than itty-bitty panties, her breasts flushed and her hair tangled.
So much temptation. He wanted to be sliding deep right now. He wanted to kiss every inch of her.
And oddly enough, he wanted to just hold her.
She shifted her feet for leverage, then writhed against him. “I need you, Denver.”
Her enthusiasm scorched him. “So hot.” And all his. “Let me grab a rubber.” He was already so far gone that if he didn’t take care of it now, he might not get around to it. That would leave them open to one consequence neither of them needed.
Giving him a heated look, she whispered, “Hurry.”
Lust darkened her face, left her brown eyes smoky. Her nipples were tight points, her belly hollowed out, and she couldn’t keep still, shifting in ways that looked sexy as hell. “You really are in a bad way, aren’t you, girl.”
“I’m in bed with you, Denver.” Stark emotion sounded in every word. “You always make me this way.”
Sitting up, he snagged his jeans off the chair and fished in a pocket for his wallet to retrieve his lone condom. As he fumbled with that—literally fumbled, with shaking hands and heavy breathing—Cherry came up behind him, moving against him. He felt her nipples on his back, then she reached beyond him and dropped her panties to the floor.
Damn.
Her hot little tongue came out to lick his ear. “Soon,” she whispered, “we’re going to have time enough for me to explore every inch of your big body.”
He closed his eyes and fought for control, but he knew it’d be a very close thing. “Damn right.” He could barely keep himself in check. “But tonight isn’t it.”
Naked, the condom in place, he turned and kissed her. Together they dropped back to the mattress, his hands on her everywhere, her hands just as busy.
He needed her ready. Now.
With openmouthed kisses, he made his way down her throat to her breasts where he spent a few minutes suckling her again. He loved the ragged catch in her breathing, her lusty sighs and soft, high gasps.
Wanting to eat her up, he took a gentle love bite of her midriff, her flat belly, the tender inside of her thigh.
“Denver.”
“Shhh.” He opened her, looked at her, breathed her in—and tasted her. Her hips rose against the stroke of his tongue, letting him know how much she liked that. No problem, because he loved it. The taste of her, the feel of her sleek, swollen flesh, her scent and the provoking sounds she made deep in her throat.
He ate her gently, forcing himself to be patient until he knew she was close. He levered up to see her, pleased that she had her head back, her bottom lip caught in her teeth, her hands held tight in the sheets.
Needing her, now, he pressed two fingers deep, then groaned. “You’re wet, girl. But so tight.” Moving over her, he opened her legs and positioned his straining boner against her. He was met by silky wetness and heat and it nearly destroyed his determination. “I’m going to work in slow and easy. Just relax for me.”