Saddled and Spurred

Silence stretched. They didn’t move closer. They weren’t really even looking at each other.

Awkward.

Just as she was ready to chalk this up to a dumb idea, Bran towered over her and cupped her face in his hands.

He murmured, “Finally,” and snared her mouth in a kiss. A chaste kiss, as he kept their lips connected, sliding, gliding, a teasing test of how long they could maintain the soft, sweet, innocent smooches.

Harper slid her hands up, leaving her palms flat on his chest. His heart beat as fast as hers. She thrust her tongue between his lips, not wanting careful kisses and measured touches. Wanting heat and fire.

And did the kiss ever catch fire. Frantic, hungry, breath-stealing, a hot never-want-to-put-it-out kind of inferno.

When the kiss was no longer enough for either of them, Bran ripped his mouth free. “Tell me to stop or I’m takin’ you right now.”

She arched her neck, moaning as his damp lips trailed across her throat. “Don’t stop.”

The last barrier between them shattered.

Bran kept kissing her as he herded her down the hallway to his bedroom.

As soon as they were in the room, he yanked the comforter and sheets to the end of the bed. He worked the buttons on her blouse free, stringing kisses as each button revealed another inch of her feverish skin.

Once her shirt hung open, Bran peeled it off and let it flutter to the floor. A primal heat darkened his eyes as his fingertips traced the swells of her br**sts. “You’re beautiful.” He bent his head, using his tongue to follow the path his finger had taken.

Straight down. He dropped to his knees.

Her skin tightened, raising goose bumps. She shuddered at the delicious sensation of his hot mouth on her body. How long would he tease her before removing her remaining clothes? Hopefully he’d take his time, not rush into the naked, thrusting part of sex. As much as she liked that body-to-body intimacy and the sensation of that ultimate physical connection, in her limited sexual experience once the goal of getting inside her was achieved, it ended quickly. And she always got the short end of the stick.

“Harper? You still with me?”

“Uh-huh.”

His fingers popped the button on her jeans. He lowered the zipper and placed his warm mouth below the waistband of her bikini panties. He tugged the denim until it stopped at her knees. “Sit on the bed so I can get these off.”

She complied. Jeans gone, socks gone, Harper wore just her bra and panties while Bran was fully clothed.

He placed his hands on her knees and gently pushed. “Make room for me.” He scooted close enough that his belt buckle dug into her crotch. Those rough-skinned hands slid up the tops of her thighs, around her hips, and up her back to the clasp of her bra. One quick tug and the cups loosened. The straps started to fall down her arms and then Bran’s hands were right there, impatiently removing them.

The look of hunger on his face when he saw her naked br**sts for the first time soaked her panties and increased her hopes that all her fantasies about the kind of amazing lover Bran would be would come true.

Bran palmed her br**sts, placed his mouth around her right nipple, and sucked.

Yes. This was what she wanted. Harper arched and let her head fall back.

Then he switched to the left nipple, giving it an openmouthed kiss as his hands kneaded the mounds of flesh. Then his mouth was gone, and so was his body as he stood.

She opened her eyes.

He yanked his T-shirt over his head.

Harper’s mouth went dry. Oh, wow. He had a really great chest. Well-defined muscles. A smattering of dark hair. A line of hair she followed down to where it disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. She watched, her heart racing madly, as he unhooked the belt buckle. Unfastened the button. Unzipped. The jeans hit the carpet with a muffled thump. The tip of his penis poked out of the top of his navy blue boxer briefs. Then the entire length was staring her in the face, rising from between muscular thighs and more of that same dark hair.

Okay. So Bran wasn’t huge, but he was bigger than either of the men she’d been with. Way bigger. Heat burned in her cheeks and she swallowed hard, an equal mix of anticipation and anxiety.

Bran walked to the nightstand. He rustled in the drawer and she heard the sound of crinkling plastic. When he turned around he wore a condom.

That was fast.

He grinned. “Scoot up in the middle of the bed and spread out.”

Harper moved and Bran was right there, fusing his mouth to hers. Kissing her with more eagerness than finesse. She wrapped her arms around his neck, threading her fingers through his hair, sinking into the kiss.

But the kiss didn’t last long. His lips followed the line of her jaw up to her ear and he whispered, “I’m dyin’ to be inside you.”

At that moment, she froze. Surely there was more than . . . this?

Bran’s hips and chest met hers. His hand slipped between their bodies and he placed the blunt c**k head at her entrance. He buried his lips in her neck and pushed inside her channel. Slowly. So slowly she felt every inch filling her until he was all the way in.

“You okay?” he murmured.

She nodded.

He pulled out and pushed in.

By the sixth thrust, she’d wrapped her legs around his waist and rolled her pelvis to meet his thrusts. This was getting better. After each withdrawal she held her breath, wanting that deep plunge again. Wanting that delicious fullness. That wet friction.

Then Bran’s hips moved faster. Short, shallow strokes that really did nothing to increase her enjoyment but seemed to do a whole lot to increase his.