the trap closing around it, she jerked out of his grasp, scrambling away in a spasm of panic.
Seth lunged for her, seizing her by the waist and tossing her down onto her back again. The bed bounced as he pinned her beneath him, and he trapped her flailing arms above her head, his eyes blazing. “Where the hell do you think you're going?”
She opened her mouth to scream, but he blocked it with his hand, his breathing ragged. His mouth clenched, as if in pain, and he closed his eyes and muttered something incoherent under his breath.
He took his hand away, but before she could speak, he was kissing her with totally unexpected tenderness. His lips moved across hers, gentle and soothing, as if he were sipping sweetness from her lips. Startled tears sprang into her eyes, and her body shook with confusion.
He lifted his head and stroked her cheek. “Shhh,” he murmured. “I'm sorry, baby. I pushed too hard.”
Raine tried to speak, but her lungs were heaving beneath his weight, and her lips were trembling. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes, and he leaned over and kissed them away.
“It's OK,” he crooned, kissing her forehead, her cheeks. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.” He let go of her wrists, stroked her damp, tangled hair off her forehead and eased off his weight.
She closed her eyes. “Seth, I think that maybe we should stop—”
“Shhh. Don't think.” He kissed her throat with seductive tenderness, nibbling her ear. “Just relax and let me do my thing.”
“But I—but you—”
“No power games,” he said soothingly. “Just pleasure. Just me driving you crazy, making you melt, making you come. Nothing scary, sweetheart, I promise.”
Her shuddering tension was subsiding under the influence of his unexpected gentleness, his soft, pleading kisses. She could sense his sincerity; it blazed out at her like the heat of a roaring fire. But she also sensed a hidden trap behind his sensual promises.
She didn't know what it was. She didn't want to know. She let her doubts sink into the depths of her unconscious mind, spiraling down until they were lost to sight and forgotten. He was dangerous and unpredictable, but his lips were so tender and sweet against her face. Her body ached for his touch. He swamped her mind with need, blotting out reason. She had been starving for years, and he was a glutton's banquet. She couldn't resist. She had to risk it
She turned her tear-streaked face to his and dropped a tiny kiss on his jaw, accepting his wordless apology. He said nothing, but his arms tightened reflexively around her, and she could feel the relief that flooded him, the way his breathing relaxed and slowed.
Her legs were still clamped together, and he caressed her, coaxing them apart. “Let me in, sweetheart,” he urged. “I can give you so much more pleasure if you'll just relax and let me in.”
He caressed the swell of her backside, pushing his knee between hers, and let out a soft growl of satisfaction as she yielded and opened to him. He slid down her body and cupped her breasts, pressing them together and rubbing his face against them with hungry appreciation. “God, these are so sexy,” he said, his voice a rasp of pleasure. “I've wanted to nuzzle you and kiss you and suck your breasts since the first moment I saw you.”
The shaky giggle that shook her felt alarmingly similar to a sob. “Um, thanks “ she murmured.
His teeth flashed in a brief, reassuring grin, and he lowered his head and began loving her breasts. Slow, dragging kisses pulled her into a whirlpool of chaotic, melting sweetness. He licked her as if she were an exotic fruit dripping with syrup, soft and succulent. His tongue swirled in sensual circles against her plump curves, as if he could never get enough. She fell back against the pillows with a gasp, arching herself, offering him everything.
He took her nipple tenderly in his mourn and dragged at it gently with his teeth, and she cried out at the searing, bright silver wire of sensation, perilously close to pain and yet a million miles away from it She clutched his head against her chest, shaking with pleasure as he pressed her breasts together and licked the deep valley between them. The bright overhead light came through her closed eyelids, coloring her universe a glowing, endless red. Red was the color of the wet, pulling heat of his mouth, the swollen, pulsing ache between her thighs.
She was so sensitized that the faintest touch of his hand between her thighs almost made her climax then and there. Her eyes flew open as he slid his long finger inside her. He murmured softly in approval, and slid in another one alongside it, stretching her tenderly.
His clever hand caressed her sensitive folds and furrows with tender skill, petting and coaxing her tirelessly until she crested and came, long and liquid, a wave of shimmering pleasure.
When Raine opened her eyes again, Seth was studying her, his face thoughtful. He pushed a lock of her hair gently out of her mouth and smoothed it behind her ears, and she smelled her own scent against his damp hand. “You came apart right in my hands. I felt your orgasm like it was my own,” he said softly. “I love how you let yourself go.”
She waited until she had control of her voice to reply. “I never have before,” she whispered. “Not like this. It's you who does it to me.” His grin was openly triumphant. “It's not nice to gloat,” she muttered.
“Who ever said I was nice?” He slid down between her legs again, pressing them even wider.
She struggled up onto her elbows, alarmed. “Again? Already? Seth, give me a minute to rest!”
His laughter cut her off. “Forget about rest. I've barely even begun. I want more “
She clutched at his head, with the vague intention of pushing him away, but just then his tongue lashed tenderly across her most sensitive flesh, and she sagged back against the pillows with a sob of helpless pleasure.
Time ceased to have meaning. She lost count of the number of orgasms he brought her to. At a certain point, it all blended together in one endless, shuddering wave, with peaks and valleys and immense vistas. He was insatiable, ravenous; lapping at her tender flesh as if it were her pleasure that nourished him. He pushed her further than she had ever dreamed of going, until she was writhing and pleading, her hands tangled in his hair.
He gently unwound his hair, kissing each of her fingers, his eyes blazing down at her with unmistakable purpose as he rose up over her. “Now,” he said raggedly, grabbing one of the condoms scattered across the crumpled sheet. “You're ready for me now, Raine.”
It was true. He had leveled every barrier with his ruthless sensual expertise and the force of his fiery will. Her defenses
were in ruins, even the silent, secret ones she had not known that she possessed before he had breached them. And she was glad.
She held out her arms to him. “Please.”
His face was a grimace of concentration as he smoothed the condom swiftly over himself and mounted her. He pushed himself against her drenched, ravished sex with teasing thrusts that made her pant with frustration. She slid her hands down over his hips. He was slick with sweat, muscles rigid and trembling. She grasped his buttocks and pulled, inviting him into her body.
He drove himself inside her hard and deep, and she was more than ready; she was primed, silky soft and yielding and eager. All the little muscles that had resisted him before now clung to him eagerly, welcoming the intense friction of his thick shaft.
He withdrew, and thrust again with a groan of pleasure. He cupped her face in his hands. “Does it hurt now?” he demanded.
He wasn't satisfied at the mute shake of her head. 'Tell me how it feels!” he insisted.
Her hips bucked beneath him as he drove himself deeper, harder, but she could find no words to say. She clutched his shoulders, squeezing her eyes shut.
“Do you like it?” he demanded.
“I love it,” she gasped out, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and holding on for dear life. “I love it”
The breath escaped from his lungs in a long, sensual sigh of relief, and his mouth covered hers, kissing her with passionate tenderness. They rocked together, sighing and gasping with the consuming pleasure of each deep, gliding thrust. He slid his arms under her shoulders, dragging her still closer. “You want me to give it all to you?”
Her heart swelled at the vulnerability in his voice. It was low and shaky, ragged with desperate longing. She clasped her legs tightly around his hips. “Give me everything you've got,” she urged, kissing his jaw. “I'm not fragile, remember? No butterfly. I want it all.”
He stared into her eyes as he rose up onto his knees, folding her legs back against her chest. He loomed over
