Brazen

Sweat beaded on his forehead. 'Sorry, sweetheart, but waiting won't work.'

'I don't recall asking you to wait.' She smiled and let him retake her hand and lock it back with the other one above her head. 'But you do have to trust me if you want to reach for that box over there.'

He grinned. 'You won't touch?'

'Not unless it's necessary.'

He released her hands to grab for protection. She immediately plucked the foil packet from his fingers, feeling little embarrassment. With each successive moment of intimacy, Sam felt less inhibited. She could be herself with him, something that had never occurred before… and never would again.

'You promised not to touch.' His lips twitched in amusement.

She shook her head. 'I said I'd touch only if necessary. And it is.' Because if she didn't touch him, she might die and then she'd never experience having him inside her. So he had no choice but to forgive her for taking liberties with her promises. Just as she had no choice but to forgive herself for feeling when that hadn't been part of the plan.

She covered his erection with one languid stroke, making sure her hands grazed and lingered longer than strictly necessary, purposefully playful and light. But as he raised himself over her, Sam realized she wasn't playing anymore.

She lifted her pelvis at the same time he grabbed her hips in his hands and joined their bodies with a smooth, easy thrust. Then he let out a groan, a deep, masculine grunt of satisfaction that coiled her stomach into an even tighter knot. He stilled, letting her body stretch to accommodate him. The gesture was thoughtful, but unfortunately for Sam, unnecessary. Her body accepted him like a lost part of itself had come home at last. Every muscle inside her felt him pulsing and alive, filling her. Completing her.

Oh, sweet heaven, she was in more trouble than she thought. Her eyes grew damp. Was that a tear trickling down her cheek? Oh, no. No, no, no, no.

'Sam?'

She forced her eyelids open and plastered a phony smile on her face. 'Yes?'

His thumb caught an errant tear and he raised his finger to his mouth for a taste. 'Salty,' he said. 'I hurt you.'

'Oh, no.' That much she could say honestly. She lifted her hips, drawing him in deeper, groaning at the penetration and perfection she'd found. 'How could that hurt me?' How could anything this man did ever hurt her?

'Oh, baby, it can't.' Then he surged into her completely, losing himself in her.

Fully impaled on his strong erection, she decided since she'd come this far, she might as well enjoy the rest of the trip. But as she began to move, to grind her hips against him and recapture the waves of delight she'd felt earlier, she realized this was much more than a vacation gone right. This was beyond fun and games, beyond sex.

She'd lost the ability to hold a part of herself back and found herself giving it to Mac instead. As he pumped himself into her, each time harder than the last, her body rose to meet his. The sighs, the moans, the gentle coaxing, they came from her lips but also from her heart… because her emotions swamped her, forcing her to let go, to give without reservation.

Her body felt full to bursting, when without warning he slowed the pace. 'Don't stop,' she whispered. If he kept moving and she kept feeling, she wouldn't be able to think. And Sam wanted to remain lost in Mac with no intrusions.

'In a second. First I need this.' His hands roved over her breasts, cupping and caressing her already-hardened nipples, drawing them into tight distended peaks.

'Oh, Mac. Please…'

'I will. Just as soon as I do one more thing.' He pulled her upward, so she felt every hard ridge of his arousal, stopping so she was poised at the tip of his erection.

'What?'

Bending his head, he opened his mouth over her breast and sucked on her tender nipple. He nibbled, tasted and soothed, all the while rocking her swollen body against his rigid muscle. Waves didn't wash over her, they pummeled at her and demanded release. 'Oh, my…' She choked on her words just as he lunged into her again.

As he surged inside her, seeming to grow larger and pulse stronger with each thrust, Sam didn't need long. He'd pushed her close to the edge already and she didn't have far to go. So when he stiffened and groaned her name, his final plunge pushed her into the ultimate oblivion she so desperately sought.

Her breathing came in labored gasps and her body trembled as she opened her eyes to find the world still waiting for her. The world she wanted but couldn't have… with the man who still remained inside her. The man she didn't just have sex with, but had made love to instead.

'You are so incredibly… beautiful.'

In her soul, she knew he meant more than surface beauty and she tucked the knowledge away in a private space in her heart. But he had to stop before things became too serious between them. Before she did something stupid. Like fall in love with him.

She forced a laugh. 'I bet you say that to all your women afterward.'

He raised an eyebrow in blatant disbelief. 'Right,' he muttered. 'And every woman I've ever been with is thinking about the others while I'm still inside them.'

She cringed as a wounded expression flashed briefly across his face. She'd meant to protect herself, instead she'd hurt him. He started to withdraw from her when she realized she couldn't let him go. Not like this.

'Mac, wait.' She curled her fingers into his back, stopping him. 'I'm sorry. Please… Forget what I just said. Put it behind us, let's just pick up where we…' She glanced down. Their bodies were still joined and she felt him within her. Heat and desire swamped her again, along with a whole host of emotions she refused to name. 'Oh, I don't know what I'm saying, except don't leave me.'

'You're rambling,' he said, and grinned. His cocky smile put her at ease. At least he wasn't angry. If she could put aside her emotions, they could, in fact, pick up where they'd left off. She felt the beginnings of a smile of her own.

'Rambling's a good sign,' he said, his fingertips tracing her lips. Her tongue darted out to taste his salty skin. She watched as his eyes clouded even more.

'Why's that?' she asked.

'Because according to you, you're only nervous when you're with me… like this. So I'll excuse that reference to other women.'

Part of her was relieved he was so willing to drop the subject, while another part wished he'd reassure her that there were no other women… none that counted, anyway. But she had no right to want what she couldn't offer herself.

'Relax, sweetheart. I won't hold it against you.' As if to prove it, he paused for a long, hard, meaningful kiss. His tongue licked her lips, then probed at her mouth until she let him inside.

When he came up for air, Sam was gasping herself. 'I'll be right back, and then we can pick up where we left off.'

With Mac gone, Sam curled into a tight ball, wrapping the blanket around her. Then, despite the warnings her heart was giving her, she rolled against him when he came back to bed and cuddled into his warmth.

'Thank you,' she murmured.

'For?'

'For not being angry, for being there… for being you.'

He brushed a kiss over her lips. 'I could say the same. You are something special, you know.'

'No, I'm…'

'Yes, you are,' he said firmly. 'I've never known anyone like you.'

'Mac, don't. You don't realize what you're…'

'You're right, I don't. You jump each time I get close, and I'm not talking about sex.' He let out a frustrated groan. 'But this time…' She placed her finger over his lips.

Her heart warred with her mind. She wanted to let him finish, to hear what he had to say and enjoy the closeness they were beginning to find. But that would be selfish because why let him in emotionally when she still