A primal growl rattled his throat, and then he was thrusting.
What followed was both savage and soulful. She gave more of herself than she ever had before, offering it all up. Because somehow, she got what he meant when he said that he needed it this way. Required it. He was like a starved man who needed to drown in decadence in order to assure himself that he could. Incredibly, he seemed to sense her total surrender to the moment.
“That’s right, just take it. Take me, Harper,” he rasped before he drove into her to the hilt, and she gasped loudly.
There was nothing she could do. In the position he’d placed her in, all she could do was feel. Absorb him. After several moments of straining caution, he began to thrust even harder, the sound of their bodies smacking together and his grunts of pleasure raining down on her. His hold on her ass tightened to counterbalance the strength of his strokes into her. She trusted completely that he’d keep her steady. Safe. She imagined him behind her, losing himself to an orgy of pleasure. Was he watching himself fuck her in the mirror, his face rigid, his eyes burning with excitement? It aroused her intensely, as did—strangely—the knowledge that there wouldn’t be any release for her in those tense, erotic moments. The spreader bar prohibited her from getting much pressure on her sex, although the indirect friction was mind-blowing.
After several taut moments of rattling her world, she felt his cock swell in her and his thrusts grew faster, his pelvis popping against her ass in a harsh staccato beat. She gritted her teeth. He wasn’t hurting her, but the experience was intense. He thrust deep, his fingers digging into her buttocks. A low, primitive-sounding growl vibrated in his throat. She felt his cock jerk in her and bit her lip.
A growl tore out of his throat. Harper felt that groan in the core of her being. She’d never before experienced a lover’s orgasm so personally. She wasn’t coming at the same time as him, but somehow . . . she was coming with him.
thirty-three
Even before his harsh breathing had begun to ease, he withdrew and bent behind her, releasing her from the spreader bar.
“Slowly,” he instructed as he helped her to straighten, his hands on her shoulders. Harper understood what he meant. She felt disoriented and a little dizzy, not only from having blood flow toward her head for a period of time, but from extended arousal. “Stand still a moment,” he murmured when she looked over her shoulder at him, and immediately started to go into his arms.
She waited, watching his tense face and the rapid rise and fall of his powerful chest.
“Okay?” he asked after a moment of holding her upright.
She nodded.
“Then come here.” He swept down and planted a hard kiss on her mouth, grabbing her hand at the same time.
He led her to the bathroom and opened the glass door to the shower. Harper turned on the water while he disposed of the condom. Then they were standing under the hot water together. He held her tight against him, running his hands up and down the length of her wet body. He didn’t say anything, but the fullness of the moment left a tightness in her chest.
“You gave so much of yourself,” he said, his mouth moving against her ear and then her neck. “Thank you, Harper.”
“You always give so much to me,” she replied through a tight throat. She clutched at the dense muscle of his shoulders, emotion flooding her.
“Shhh,” he soothed softly, nudging her chin with his nose. How was it he always knew what was happening inside her? She lifted her face, and his mouth fastened on hers.
He washed her after that, his hands on her body a sensual worship. He brought her to climax while he held her, his mouth eating up her sharp cries. And as she recovered from his deep, intoxicating kiss, she finally acknowledged that something had changed. Nothing would ever be the same again.
Not between her and Jacob.
Not ever in her life.
• • •
Harper said she was fine after that, but there was a dazed quality to her that made him worry he’d taken too much from her and worn her out yet again. After they’d dressed and left the bedroom, twilight had fallen. He led her up to the galley, where they made a tray laden with Lisa’s fried chicken, salad, two small strawberry crème brûlées and a bottle of chardonnay. They took it to the top deck to eat. He demolished the meal, his hunger made sharp by the memory of their lovemaking . . . by the light in Harper’s eyes. He’d never felt her smiles so deeply as he did that night, under the light of the setting sun.
After they’d eaten, they took their wineglasses to the rail and gazed out across the rippling water as night slowly descended.
“Is that the fireworks barge there?” Harper asked, pointing toward shore and the dark shape on the water in the distance.
“That’s it,” he murmured, nuzzling her fragrant neck. She’d thrown on a gold sundress after they’d gotten out of the shower, leaving part of her sun-kissed back and her shoulders bare. He stroked her silky skin as they looked out at the darkening water. He seemed incapable of stopping touching her.
“Why did you start sponsoring the fireworks?” she asked, her relaxed, mellow voice making him think the meal had revived her. He urged her with his hand on her upper arms, and she curled against him, her back to his front, both of them facing the shimmering lake. He wore only a pair of shorts. Her exposed skin felt good against his own.
“I like fireworks.”
She twisted her chin and looked up at him, and he sensed her amused exasperation at his enigmatic answer. He smiled.
“I never saw a firework display until I was almost sixteen years old. Every kid should have an opportunity to see fireworks a couple times a year. It should be a summertime childhood guarantee. Fireworks. Ice cream. A barbecue. Maybe I can’t supply the ice cream and the barbecue to everyone, but I can provide the show.”
She spun in his loose hold and put her hand at the back of his neck, beckoning him. He noticed the blazing quality of her eyes, and then he was sinking into her sweet, generous kiss.