“Shh.” He softly kissed her as his palm brushed her nipple. “Easy. We have all night.” He prodded her entrance.
She couldn’t bear it. Every nerve in her body was tight with anticipation. Stacey squeezed her eyes shut in order not to beg. Need twisted and throbbed within her.
“Stacey.” Her name was a barely audible whisper coming from deep within him. “Open your eyes. I want you to know it’s me here with you.”
“Like I could ever forget,” she moaned, but she opened her eyes.
His intense gaze held hers without blinking as he deliberately, inch by precious slow inch, sheathed himself inside her to the hilt. He’d done it so gradually she feared she might die before he found home. Cody paused as if savoring the moment, her.
No one had ever done that before. Others had been so quick that the act had been far more about them than her. Even her ex-fiancé hadn’t taken the time or made the effort to really make love to her. That should have been her first sign he hadn’t been right for her. There was more than sexual passion between her and Cody. They were making an emotional connection. That realization both excited and disturbed her.
He leisurely arched his hips, pulling away until he almost left her before returning in the same excruciating motion. Stacey wanted to scream, Go faster! but at the same time his actions were so sweet she never wanted them to end. All the while Cody watched her, his dark eyes almost bottomless. His skin was drawn tight across his cheeks as if it took enormous effort to control himself.
She ran her hands over his chest, shoulders and arms, testing and memorizing the texture of his skin and the muscle mass beneath it. Still he eased in and out of her, making her wiggle with frustration when she feared he might leave her. She bit her bottom lip as the knot of burning need grew. Lifting her hips, she silently pleaded for...what she wasn’t sure.
Cody’s lips found hers as the tangle of need and want contracted. He increased the pace. She joined him, encouraging him. They participated in a game that was theirs alone. The knot at her center grew, expanded and throbbed. Grasping him, her fingers raked his skin. She cried for him to stop then begged for him to continue. Finally, the twisted white-hot need gave way. Quaking, she soared into heavenly oblivion, keening Cody’s name.
He remained deep within her while she drifted back to reality. He kissed her on the forehead before he stirred again. He soon shifted into a driving rhythm. Confident she didn’t have it in her to catch up and match his pace, Stacey surprised herself. Wrapping her legs around Cody’s waist, she pulled him to her. In a frantic final shove, Cody groaned his pleasure long and low.
He fell away from her. One of his hands remained at her waist and a leg was still thrown over hers.
* * *
Cody wasn’t new to lovemaking. For heaven’s sake, he’d been married, but he had never experienced anything as soul shaking as what he’d just shared with Stacey. He’d poured everything in him into the act and been rewarded with Stacey’s ego-affirming response. Would he live through another joining? And there would be another.
When his breathing finally evened out, he rolled to his side, propped his head on an elbow and smiled down at her. He received a grin in return as she caressed his chest.
“It’s nice to know you keep your promises.” A fingertip followed the line of his hair going south.
“I told you not to doubt me.”
“That you did.” Her hand drifted lower.
Cody placed one of his over hers. “Don’t be teasing me. I’m not as young as I once was. You’ll have to give me a few minutes to recuperate.”
Stacey pushed his shoulders to the bed and straddled him. Her lips wore a devious smile. “What if I do all the work?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
STACEY WOKE TO the gray light of day. Rain lightly tapped against Cody’s large bedroom window and the sound of waves crashing were a faint reminder the ocean was near.
“Good morning.” Cody’s deep raspy sleep-laden voice sent a ripple of desire through her. Could she ever get enough of him?
She turned so she could see his face and smiled. “Good morning to you too.” It seemed as if it had come quickly. After their night together she was exhausted, while at the same time invigorated. Her nerves still quivered with awareness of the sexy man beside her.
Cody shifted so that her head rested in the hollow of his shoulder. They were quiet. She watched the rain. When she’d come to Maple Island she would never have thought a morning like this was possible. She’d never felt more complete than when she was with Cody, but that would be over soon. Too soon. Mentally shaking her head, Stacey pushed that thought away. She refused to let anything ruin this moment.