Reno gave Eve what she asked for, his mouth both caressing and demanding, his hand sliding down her body, seeking the sultry, delicate flesh that lay concealed between her legs. When he found her and touched her once, very lightly, she cried out.
Instantly Reno withdrew, for the memory of making Eve bleed haunted him. He clenched his teeth against the pain of wanting her and not having her.
«I’m sorry,» Reno said, sitting up. «I never meant to hurt you.»
«You didn’t.»
«You cried out.»
Eve touched his chest with fingers that trembled.
«Did I?» she asked huskily.
«Yes. Did I hurt you?»
«Hurt?» She shivered. «No.»
The masculine textures of muscle and hair lured Eve. She stroked Reno, liking the feel of him beneath her palm.
«Lie next to me again,» she whispered. «You make me too dizzy to sit up. Especially when you touch me like you just did. If I cried out, it was because your touch took the world away.»
Reno’s eyes narrowed against the sudden clenching of desire deep in his loins, a knife turning, bringing pain.
«You aren’t tender?» Reno asked.
As he spoke, he touched the thicket of hair that shielded Eve’s hidden warmth. Her breath came in brokenly, soft echo of the tongues of fire licking up at his touch.
«Sugar girl? Talk to me. Are you sore?»
«No. I ache, but it’s not…» Eve’s voice faded. «That is, it isn’t…»
«Isn’t what?»
«I…» She took a ragged breath. «I can’t…I don’t know how…to say it.»
«Embarrassed?» Reno asked gently.
She nodded.
«Try to tell me,» he coaxed. «I want to know if I do anything that hurts you.»
«How could you?» she muttered. «You’re not doing anything at all.»
Reno’s soft laughter was a rush of warmth across Eve’s breasts as he bent down to her. When he kissed the hardened tips, they tightened even more.
Sensual lightning went from Eve’s nipples to the pit of her stomach and beyond. In the wake of lightning came a twisting need that was close to pain.
«I ache, but not from what you’ve done,» Eve said, biting back a moan. «I ache from what youhaven’tdone.»
«Are you sure?»
«Yes!»
Still Reno hesitated, remembering the bright blood and the terrible realization that he had taken a virgin too hard, too fast, tearing the very flesh that gave him such pleasure.
With great care he stroked Eve, smoothing over the tawny cloud that looked dark in the starlight. He heard the hesitation in her breath, the break, the ragged sigh as his fingertips sought and found the soft, warm petals.
«Do you like that?» Reno whispered.
A small, throaty cry was her answer.
He brushed his fingertips over her thighs, pressing lightly. Her legs shifted until they no longer protected her from a more intimate caress. When he traced the shadowed crease between her legs, he felt her pleasure as a hot kiss over his fingertips. The heady fragrance of her response sank into him like sweet talons, raking him into an arousal that was pain and pleasure savagely combined.
Before Reno realized what he was doing, he had unfastened his pants. When he realized how close he was to taking Eve, he rolled away and surged to his feet in a single movement.
Fists clenched at his side, he breathed hard and fast, as though he had run for miles to get where he was. He looked down at the girl lying at his feet, watching him with night-darkened eyes. The quick rise and fall of her breasts with each breath she took made him want to tear off his few clothes and bury himself in her.
The violence of Reno’s need was greater now than it had been when he first took Eve. The knowledge shocked him. He shouldn’t want her that much. He had sworn never to want a woman that much again.
«Reno?» Eve whispered.
«I’m afraid of hurting you,» he said roughly. «I want you too damn much.»
She held out her arms.
«Eve…damn it…you don’t know what you’re doing!»
Yet Reno’s hands stripped away his clothes even as his mind told him to leave Eve alone until he was less aroused, more certain of his own control.
Through half-lowered eyelids, Eve watched Reno undress. His body gleamed with heat. Power rippled darkly beneath his skin each time he moved. When he peeled away the last of his clothing, the evidence of his arousal stood out boldly.
«Finally afraid?» Reno asked, his voice rough.
She shook her head.
«You should be,» he said flatly. «I’ve never wanted a woman like this.»
Eve’s only answer was a sinuous movement of her body. Her hips lifted in silent plea.
Slowly Reno knelt between her legs.
«You don’t know…» he said, but he couldn’t finish.
«Then teach me,» she whispered.
With a word that was both profane and reverent, Reno reached for Eve. He forced himself to move slowly despite the hammering of his own blood. The back of his hands caressed her from ankle to inner thigh, sensitizing her skin and parting her legs even more. He tried to resist the scented temptation that opened to him, but he could not prevent himself from stroking her just once.
Eve was softer than silk, hotter, and she trembled at his touch. Reno eased his fingertip between the sleek petals. A fragrant, searing rain licked over him as he slid into her.
Slowly Reno withdrew, knowing that he was shaking and knowing there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He hadn’t expected her to be so ready to take him, so hungry for the coupling that had hurt her before.
«I’ll try to be gentle,» Reno said through clenched teeth.
«I know,» Eve whispered. «But don’t try too hard. Cats have more than one life.»
He smiled despite the sweat sliding down his spine from the fierce tension of his body.
«You’ll be the death of me, gata.»Then, his voice harsh, he added, «Help me.»
«How?»
«Bring your knees up.»
Long legs shifted.
«Higher. Yes, like that. God,» Reno said heavily, «I wish I could see you.»
Eve made a stifled sound as she felt his fingertips trace every part of the night-blooming flower that was fully revealed to him. It was as though he wanted to memorize with touch what he couldn’t clearly see.
Delicately Reno tested the satin nub he had found hidden within her petals.
Eve’s breath came in with a husky sound that could have been pleasure or pain.
«Talk to me,» Reno said. «Tell me if I hurt you.»
He circled the sensitive knot with his fingertips before he caught it and plucked gently.
Eve stiffened as though he had taken a whip to her.
«Eve?»
She couldn’t answer. Pleasure raced through her body from Reno’s touch, making it impossible to think or speak. A broken breath, a stifled moan, and a scented rain were the only answer she could give him.
It was enough. It told Reno that Eve wanted him as profoundly as he wanted her.
