“Don’t move,” he said, his voice strained, rough with desire.
“Please don’t stop,” she whispered.
He raised his head and searched her face. Color lanced into her cheeks.
He knows.
She grasped his back, scared he was going to withdraw, going to leave her there, on the brink of something amazing. But then he began to move, sliding even further, stretching her even more.
She arched into the pain, as he notched a place deep inside. The shock of ecstasy ripped through her. Exquisite pain merged with merciless pleasure as he rocked against that place.
Her eyes closed, her breath coming in ragged pants, her body moving with his as he pulled out and drove deep, establishing a brutal rhythm. The waves of pleasure undulated, eddying upward, coiling tight, thrusting her into a maelstrom.
She heard his grunts, her sobs, his smooth, fluid movements becoming disjointed, savage. Sweat slicked their bodies, her fingers slipping against his skin as she tried to gain traction, gain momentum, clinging on for dear life, scared of falling, scared of letting go. Then the pleasure smashed into her, stealing her breath, forcing her over that bright, burning edge into shattering, soul-destroying oblivion.
* * *
What the hell have you done?
The accusations came from another dimension, whispering through Jared’s dazed brain as his body came down from the mind-blowing orgasm.
He managed to lock his elbows, shaking through the final throes of the stunning climax, determined not to collapse on top of her. He pulled out of the exquisite clasp of her body, feeling as if he were leaving what little was left of his soul behind him.
She’d been innocent.
The memory of her artless, eager response to every caress blasted through him and he flinched.
He felt hollowed out, weighed down, as he rolled away from her to stare dumbly at the ceiling.
All the clues had been there. If he’d been paying attention to anything other than his own lust he would have realized the saucy come-on she’d given him by the pool had all been an act long before he’d plunged into her with all the force and fury of a battering ram.
The way she had wrapped her arms over her nakedness. The panicked look when she’d first laid eyes on his erection. The tentative request to touch him that he’d assumed was some kind of tease. The agonizingly careful way she’d caressed him. Every single one of those gestures made him think now of the kid she’d been five years ago.
Vulnerable and alone.
He’d taken advantage for a split second back then. He’d taken much more now.
Why had she waited so long? And why the heck had she chosen him?
He left the bed without looking back and headed for the bathroom. He needed a moment. The desire to apologize, to hold her and comfort her was almost as disturbing as the need already tightening in his groin, because he wanted to take her again, to stake his claim.
He got rid of the condom, horrified anew at the evidence of her innocence, then forced himself to return to the bedroom. Had he hurt her? He must have. She’d been incredibly tight.
But when he walked in she was crouched over, gathering up the dress, panties and bra where he had discarded them.
She bolted upright, gathering the clothing to her chest. Desire pulsed in his groin and he felt himself getting hard again.
“What are you doing?” he asked, more harshly than he had intended.
“Going back to my own room,” she said, her voice a little shaky, but that stubborn chin jutting out the way it always did when she was trying to pretend she was tougher than she actually was. “I know you don’t want me here.”
If only that were true, he thought ruefully, it would make this so much simpler.
Her eyes darted down to his crotch, and he could see she’d gotten the message when her cheeks brightened with color.
Yeah, precisely.
He crossed to the dresser, tugged out a pair of clean sweatpants and put them on. And willed his libido to behave itself.