Sweet Jesus.
“So, um, do you usually just leave the light on all the time then?” she asked.
He was busy taking in the exposed curves of her breasts. “Usually.”
&nbs
p; “And no one’s minded?”
Reyes stopped on the second to last button and looked up. “Do you mind?” She shook her head, but he noticed the corner of her lip caught between her teeth. “Raine, you can be honest.”
“I don’t,” she insisted. Then she rolled her eyes with a slightly sheepish smile. “I guess I’m just curious if other women you’ve been with have been okay with sleeping with the light on. What do you tell them?”
He tried to avoid answering by teasing, “Really? Right now, you’re curious about other women?”
She frowned, and ducked her head. “I’m sorry. That was stupid to ask.”
“No.” He tucked a knuckle under her chin and raised her gaze to his. His heart thumped hard as he admitted, “I don’t know if other women would be okay with it because I haven’t been with anyone since before it happened.”
Her eyes widened. “In three years?”
He lifted his shoulders, then let them droop as nerves rushed in. Until this moment, he hadn’t really thought about how long it had been. Well, he had, but now he was suddenly worried about how long he’d last.
Raine palmed his face with a soft smile, then leaned in to gently press her lips to his. He started to lift up to deepen the kiss, but she eased back a couple inches.
“Do you trust me, Reyes?”
The suddenly serious question prompted his solemn nod—until she leaned over and switched off the lamp. His pulse revved like crazy, and three years of conditioning had him tensing beneath her.
She leaned in again, her lips brushing his before raining soft kisses over his face. After a moment, his breathing eased, and he began to anticipate where the next one would fall.
“You good?” she whispered.
“Mm-hm.”
“Good.” Left eye. “Don’t think of the dark.” Scar. “Just feel.” Forehead.
By now, she had his full attention, and with her body against his, “Just feel,” was an easy order to follow.
He parted the sides of her unbuttoned shirt and skimmed his hands up her rib cage to her breasts. He loved the weight of the firm globes filling his palms, and when he circled her hard nipples with his thumbs, her mouth settled over his again. A throaty hum vibrated her lips against his before he opened to the bold probe of her tongue.
A moment later, she shifted so her breasts were right in his face, the movement an unapologetic demand for him to take her in his mouth. He loved that she wasn’t shy, and as she arched over him, her hips riding his as he sucked on one breast, then the other, he asked, “Tell me what you want, Raine. What do you like?”
“I want you,” she breathed. Her fingers clenched in his hair, and she widened her legs, bearing down over his erection. “All of you.”
His body pulsated in eager response, but if he buried himself in her right now, he’d likely be finished in a few desperate strokes.
So he stripped off the shirt and her panties, then flipped their positions. As he bent his head to swirl his tongue around one nipple, she skimmed his T-shirt up his back, her light touch a torturous tickle. A quick reach dragged it over his head, and he tossed it aside.
Her hands moved to his chest and he enjoyed the sensation of her exploring fingers before it became impossible to resist the temptation of her body laid out beneath him. Her muscles were firm and toned from years of riding, yet her skin seductively silky soft.
He took his time worshiping her breasts, then kissed his way farther down, past her navel, to the sweet spot that had her moaning his name minutes later. He wished he could see her face as she came apart beneath him, but wouldn’t trade a moment of this with her for anything.
She drew in a deep breath when he moved up to lie beside her. “I’m not complaining,” she said, “but I think you got that backwards.”
Despite the smile in her voice, Reyes paused mid-reach for a condom in his night stand. “Things haven’t changed that much in three years, have they?”
She laughed. “I was supposed to give you a good memory of the dark. Something to help after I…”