'Do you want me?'
He didn't give her time to answer. 'Damn it, be honest v with me now. No more lies, Jade. I have to know,' he grated out. 'Now.'
'Yes, Caine, I want you. Very much.'
She sounded as though she'd just confessed a dark sin. 'Jade, there should be joy in wanting each other, not despair.'
'There is both,' she answered. She shivered inside over the knowledge of what she was about to do.
She was eager… and terribly uncertain. I will not fall in love with him, she promised herself, and knew the lie was a mockery when her eyes filled with tears. Caine had already found his way into her heart.
When she moved back into his arms, he felt her tremble. He tightened his hold around her. 'I'll take care of you, Jade,' he whispered. 'Love, what are you thinking?'
'That I'll survive,' she answered.
He didn't understand what she meant, but the fear in her voice made his heart ache. 'We don't have to…'
'I want you,' she interrupted. 'But you have to promise me something first.'
'What?' he asked.
'You mustn't fall in love with me:'
The seriousness in her voice told him she wasn't jesting. Caine was immediately infuriated with her. She was such a confusion to him. He decided he'd demand an explanation for her ridiculous request, but then she started caressing his skin into a fever. She placed hot, wet kisses on his chest, and when her tongue brushed against one of his nipples, his body began to burn for her.
She teased a path up the side of his neck with her sweet mouth, urging him without words to respond. Caine's control disappeared. He'd never had a woman respond to him with such innocence, such honesty. For the first time in his life, he felt cherished… and loved.
A low growl escaped him even as he told himself to be gentle with her. He wanted to savor each touch, each caress, to make this night with her last forever. Yet he contradicted his own command when she began to make those erotic little whimpers in the back of her throat. She drove him wild. He roughly pulled on her hair until he'd made a fist of her silky curls, then jerked her head back so he could once again claim her mouth for another searing kiss.
His passion consumed her. His mouth ate at her lips, and his tongue… dear God, his tongue made her shake with raw desire. Jade's nails dug into the bulge of muscle in his upper arms. She gave herself over into his care. A deep ache began to spread like wildfire through her stomach, then lower, until it became an excruciating sweet torture.
Caine's hands moved to her buttocks. He pulled her up against his arousal. Jade instinctively cuddled his hardness between her thighs and began to rub against him.
The ache intensified.
When his mouth moved to the side of her neck, when his tongue began to flick her sensitive earlobe, she barely had enough strength left to stand up. He whispered dark, forbidden promises of all the erotic things he wanted to do to her. Some she understood, others she didn't, but she wanted to experience all of them.
'There's no turning back now, Jade,' he whispered. 'You're going to belong to me.'
'Yes,' she answered. 'I want to belong to you tonight, Caine.'
'No,' he grated out. He kissed her long, lingeringly. 'Not for just one night, love. Forever.'
'Yes, Caine,' she sighed, barely aware of what she was promising. 'Tell me what you want me to do.
I want to please you.'
He answered her by taking her hand and moving it to the waistband of his pants. 'Hold me, sweetheart,' he instructed in a husky voice. 'Touch me. Squeeze me. Hard.'
His size frightened her but his reaction to her touch overrode her initial shyness. His groans of pleasure made her bolder. He made her feel powerful and weak at the same time. Jade sagged against him, smiling when she heard his whispered instructions again, for his voice actually shook. As to that, so did her hand. Her fingers brushed against his flat stomach, then slipped inside the wastband of his pants. Caine inhaled sharply, telling her without words how pleased he was with her aggression. She grew bolder then and slowly began to unbutton the opening of his trousers. She was awkward, yet determined until all the buttons were undone. She hesitated then. Caine took over the task for her. He forced her hand inside the opening. Her fingers splayed downward, into the springy hair, and then lower still, until she was touching the very heat of him. He was so incredibly hot, hard, but Jade had barely caressed him when he pulled her hand away.
'It will be over for me before we've started,' he grated out when she tried to touch him again.
'Caine, I want…'
'I know,' he groaned. He was pulling her nightgown up when he made that gruff statement. Jade was suddenly embarrassed and tried to push her gown back down over her hips. 'Can't I have it on?'
'No.'
'Caine, don't,' she stammered. 'Don't…'
And then he was touching her there, in her most private place. The palm of his hand cupped her boldly and then his fingers began to weave their magic. He knew just where to stroke and fondle, just how
much pressure to exert.
Her nightgown was quickly discarded, his pants as well. His big hands cupped her full breasts. His thumbs rubbed her distended nipples until she was straining against him.
Another bolt of lightning lit the room. When Caine saw the passion in her eyes, he lifted her into his arms and
