His warm gaze held hers. "Aah, Zoe, I think I'd be disappointed if you were restrained." He cupped her br**sts with his hands and her ni**les grew hard beneath his touch. "In fact, if I didn't hear loud moans, I'd worry that I wasn't pleasing you."
His seductive stare never wavered as he began to slowly massage both ni**les between his thumb and forefingers, teasing and arousing her with his deft touch. The desire he built traveled directly from her br**sts straight to the damp place between her thighs, making her want to clench her legs together until the sensations built higher and higher. She had to force her eyelids to remain open so she could see his face and absorb his eager expression as he worked his magic on her.
He leaned up on his elbows until his face was level with her chest and without warning, he tasted her breast. His tongue swept over her nipple in luxurious laps, ending with him suckling her until a low purring sound rose from the back of her throat.
"I take it I have nothing to worry about?" he asked in a raspy, but certain voice.
Though she didn't want him to think she was that easy or he was that good, they both had their answers. She didn't need to concern herself with covering her reactions or not being herself. He truly did accept her and the relief she felt knowing that was huge. And more emotionally frightening than she'd bargained for.
"Well?" he asked, still grinning.
She focused on the ceiling as she replied. "Arrogant as you may be, no, you have nothing to worry about."
"Then I think it's time we stop talking, don't you?" He leaned back against the pillows.
She followed so she could kiss him, taking unbelievable pleasure in the taste, texture and feel of his mouth. He kissed her back, tangling his hands in her hair and running his fingers through the long strands. The tugging sensation at her scalp had a rippling, erotic effect in her body. Her throat swelled and her back arched of its own volition, her body seeking deeper contact with his hard erection.
"I want you, Ryan Baldwin." Her hand snaked between them, slowly trailing down his chest and stomach, ending at his groin. Her fingertips gently teased the head of his erection.
He clenched his jaw and fought not to allow the physical need pummeling him to become overpowering. No woman had ever made him come so close to losing control.
She did. He wondered if it was because she openly challenged every notion of propriety and behavior that had been ingrained in him since childhood or because she wanted him despite it all.
Yet he was going to have to be that by-the-rules man she'd mentioned earlier. "As much as I hate bringing up reality, I don't have protection. I wasn't prepared for this." He should have stopped at a drugstore on the way back here.
She brushed his hair off his forehead. "Not a Boy Scout, huh?" she asked, laughing. "Would you settle for the fact that I'm on the pill and I've been tested annually? I'm safe."
She was hardly that, Ryan thought as he looked into her green eyes. "It works for me if you can accept my word that I'm safe, too." Never in his past had he had sex without a condom.
He wasn't lacking for women when he needed a date for an occasion and he knew who to turn to when he desired sexual release. But no woman had ever become a priority in his life, made him shift his focus from his work. No woman had made him stop and take notice.
Then there was this one, who'd caught his eye despite that she stood between him and the end of a long journey— his search for Sam, the young girl who was the answer to his long-held dreams of family.
Zoe threaded her fingers through his. "I accept."
Which was all he needed to hear. The time for foreplay and talk was over. He eased his hand between her legs, feeling the slick wetness and damp heat that moistened his fingertips. She moaned and clenched her thighs around his hand.
She trembled and sighed, her need aching and obvious. Somehow he managed to roll her onto the mattress and continue what he started, caressing her slick outer folds as she writhed beside him. He came over her and spread her thighs, his thick, hot erection poised at her dewy entrance. Then, placing his hands on her thighs, he locked his gaze with hers and thrust deep inside her waiting body.
She gasped and let out a load moan of satisfaction, tightening around him. He found her slick, warm and snug, everything he'd dreamed of even when he hadn't known her at all. Unable to wait, he began to move, sliding in and out, a motion she met by grinding her pelvis into him, hard. Her inner walls contracted, milking him with every thrust of his body into hers. They were in sync and each motion brought him closer and closer to release. Zoe's vocal moans told him she was right there with him.
Seconds before he reached his peak, she locked her legs around his back, bringing him so deeply into her body, he thought he saw heaven. Then he exploded, his orgasm more powerful than he'd expected and lasting longer than he thought possible.
Zoe came at the same time with a succession of cries that ended with her calling out his name and pulling every last bit of energy and emotion from him, as well.
He collapsed on top of her, completely spent and satisfied in a soul-deep way.
"Wow," she said, her voice muffled beneath him.
"Yeah." He couldn't manage more than one word in agreement.
They lay that way for what felt like a long while until the jarring ring of the motel telephone broke into the sound of their heavy breathing.
"Who could that be?" he muttered.
"There's only one way to find out."
With a groan of complete regret, he rolled off her to the cold side of the bed and answered the phone. He spoke to the motel operator, trying like hell to suppress a laugh at what the person said on the other end.
"I'm sorry and it won't happen again." He somehow spoke in a serious tone. Hanging up, he turned to Zoe.
She lay on her side, spent and still breathing deeply. Her dark hair tangled around her face in stark contrast to the standard white sheets. She was so damn beautiful. He reached down for the blanket they'd somehow kicked off the bed and pulled it over her in case she was cold.
"Everything okay?" she asked.
He looked into her eyes as he explained. "The front desk said the people in the next room would appreciate it if we'd keep the noise level down and be a bit…How did the man put it? A bit more restrained." This time Ryan burst out laughing.
"I'm mortified." Zoe's cheeks turned a deep shade of pink and she smothered her face in a pillow.
He propped himself up on his side with one arm. "Yeah? You could have fooled me." He pulled the pillow off and tossed it onto the floor.