thing he was certain of now was that they were delicious. With her velvet breast cupped in his hand and her nipple in his mouth, he reveled in the heat of her writhing body. He would torture it, torment it, until she begged him to finish what he'd begun.
He'd finish, in time, but there was so much more he wanted to explore, touch, stroke. He moved away from her breasts, scattering kisses down her bare flesh to her navel, to what he now knew would be the same silvery-blond of her hair. He sank his face into it, breathing in her woman's scent, powerful and erotic, before his tongue at last found that tiny hidden nub and laved it, devoured it.
She was liquid beneath his touch, lava that flowed, slow and hot, and that same lava seemed to flow through his own veins. But he could feel the moment when she could think only of her own desire and he eased his fingers inside her where she was wet and slick with desire, massaging the swollen little knot outside with his thumb.
She screamed when she came, explosively, her head flung back, the quintessential woman in the throes of pleasure.
Mallory, screaming. It was a concept he couldn't get his mind around, but it didn't matter, because he'd stopped thinking with his mind a long time ago and the only concept he could handle was getting that hard, throbbing part of him inside her and staying there until he screamed, too.
Just not yet. Hugging her close to him, he groaned.
She snuggled a little deeper into his shoulder, touched her mouth to his throat, felt him stir beside her. He'd been nibbling her earlobe, and now his mouth slid to her cheek, strung kisses down to her chin. She tried capturing it on its way, but he had an agenda of his own and she'd just have to wait until he'd kissed her breasts, tickled the nipples with his tongue while the hair on his chest tickled even more sensitive parts of her. She moved against him, surprised to feel the aching heat rise inside her again. There was something else she wanted, something she'd daydreamed about. Surely he wouldn't mind.
Her sweat-slick body slid over his until she was straddling him, until she could feel that delicious hardness pressing into the most sensitive part of her. With a low sound of surprise he adjusted himself beneath her, cupped her buttocks in his hands and raked them gently, dipping lower with each stroke in a way that would surely drive her mad if she didn't move, hard and fast. She began to rock against him, the ache building higher and stronger. He bucked beneath her, matching her rhythm, urging her on, and when the spasms consumed her again she cried out, 'Inside me. I want you inside me now,' knowing it was the one more thing she had to have to feel complete.
'Shh,' he whispered back. 'In a minute, in a minute…'
'Oh, oh…' The shudders were traveling through her like earthquake tremors, shattering her with their power. 'Now, please, now,' she moaned, and somehow he was protected and there where she wanted him to be, above her, taking control, slipping inside her. She gasped at the heat and hardness of him and he took her gently at first. Then overcome by his own need he was driving, thrusting, pounding into her as she arched to meet him, feeling his desperate urgency and begging him to share her pleasure, until at last, with a shout, he drove into her one last time and they collapsed together into the deep, aching quivers of release.
Hot and wet, he clung to her, easing to her side but not letting go, not letting her feel alone, and she lay there in his arms, panting in the cool air of night.
'Are you sorry?' Her voice came in a faint, exhausted whisper.
'No.' He took her earlobe in his teeth and nibbled it gently. 'Are you?'
'Uh-uh. It was nice.'
'Nice. Nice?' She felt his smile against her cheek.
'Extremely nice.'
'I'm sure I can do better than that.' His hands began a slow, tantalizing exploration of her entire body. The night was only beginning.
If this was all she could have of him, she would still treasure this one night. She'd made it happen, taken it for herself in an act of boldness she hadn't dreamed she was capable of, and she would hold it forever in her heart, even if she couldn't have Carter forever in her arms.
'Wow, we pretty much destroyed everything.' Carter sat up in bed and viewed the chaos of her bedroom with apparent satisfaction.
Still half asleep and lying on her stomach, Mallory trailed her hand along the carpeting and came up with several pieces of foil which she tossed carelessly toward the wastepaper basket. Some of them actually landed inside. 'I do admire your presence of mind,' she said before she yawned, 'in remembering the condoms when we decided to change bedrooms.'
'You're not the only one who's prepared.'
'I'm not giving up the gold medal,' Mallory said, 'but I will raise your handicap a little.' She was still wearing her watch, and she glanced at it, surprised it had survived the night's acrobatics. 'Good thing it's Saturday.'
'Yep. We'd be in big trouble if it weren't.'
She might be in big trouble now. She felt his arms sliding under hers, felt herself being turned over. 'Moment of truth,' he said, his eyes skimming down her naked body.
For a second she was afraid he was going to say he knew how deliberate her raid on him the night before had been, until she saw where his gaze had settled. 'Ha,' she said, amazed at how unself-conscious she felt, 'you lose.'
He ran his fingers through her pubic hair, which was, in fact, pale blond, making her shift restlessly against the sheets. 'I wouldn't call it
'That's okay,' Mallory said, 'though it wasn't what I'd hoped for from you, but I… Carter, don't you dare. Stop it right now. I was only kidding. We need coffee. Showers. Breakfast. I want to brush my teeth… Carter…'
'Breakfast in bed is definitely called for,' Carter announced quite a while later.
'It's the only way we're going to get any,' Mallory agreed.
'I'll call room service. You think of something we can do while we wait.' He waggled his eyebrows at her.
'Make the call. I'll come up with a plan.'
He couldn't wait to see what the plan was. Five minutes later, after he'd ordered a breakfast appropriate for farmworkers during haying season, he shouted her name.
'In here,' she called back.
'In where?' But he knew where. Her bathroom door was open, and no one could miss the cloud of steam rising above the shower. His groin tightened as he played her hide-and-seek game, and when he drew close to the shower door, it opened swiftly and she reached out and grabbed him, tugging him inside with her.
'Just think of the water we're saving,' he murmured, tantalizing himself by holding her away from him for a moment. She was exquisite naked, with her hair slicked down and her eyelashes sparkling with water droplets. Her pale skin was pink from the heat and irresistible to the touch, and her nipples, softer now from the warmth, were also pink, just as he'd imagined. They needed touching, it was obvious.
He reached out for the soap, massaged it between his hands into a thick lather and covered her breasts with it. She shivered and closed her eyes. 'That's right. Let me make you clean all over.' The only thing between his palms and her skin were the slick bubbles, and under his caress he felt those beautiful, small pink nipples harden in spite of the heat.
His arousal increased as he slid the lather over her stomach, her back, her arms, her legs, her buttocks. She slipped and slid against him, moving against his skin in the most maddening, provocative way. He began to slide down, down, until he'd reached the wettest golden hair and put his mouth against the warm crevice in which he'd taken such pleasure in the night.
She moaned, tangling her fingers in his hair, leaning on him for support and pressing him tighter into that crevice all at the same time. He was in heaven, not even minding the increasing urgency in his own body, and was distraught to feel her suddenly grow still.
'What?' His voice was hoarse.
'It's the doorbell.'
