His tongue tangled with hers, peeling away the edgy layers of anticipation until she felt more exposed and unshielded than ever before. Strangely, that unveiling didn’t bring fear or hesitation. As he did each time he touched her, Brad managed to give her liberty, to free her from restraints she hadn’t even fully recognized until he stripped them away. He brought comfort, even as he rent holes in her composure.
As if he shared her burning need for air, he drew the kiss to a leisurely close yet didn’t draw completely away. He remained poised over her, his head bowed, eyes closed, fighting the pull of desire one ragged breath after another. Awed that she could have such an effect on a man who prided himself for his control, Cassie pressed her fingertips to his cheek. His lashes fluttered open. Vivid blue eyes held hers, and powerful affection swelled behind her ribs.
“Brad,” she whispered, unable to put the surge of feeling into words.
Once more his eyes closed, but not before she glimpsed a flash of something very close to pain. Before she could fully translate the odd light, he rested his forehead against hers with a touch of unexpected reverence that stole the air from her lungs. She trembled, sensing something significant had just passed between them. What, she couldn’t fathom. But it registered in the tick of the muscle alongside his jaw, the tightness that infused his shoulders.
He backed away, dropping his mouth to her breast and denying her the ability to focus on what had just transpired. One firm pull against her nipple shot bliss through her veins. Her fingers latched onto his hair as her back arched off the bed. He let out a grunt of appreciation and increased the pressure of his mouth.
Heaven and hell blended into one blessed paradise as the earlier throbbing in her body returned with a vengeance. Cassie squirmed beneath his heady assault, desperate for any small measure of relief.
Amusement crinkled the corner of Brad’s eyes as he glanced up her body. His chuckle vibrated into her. Laughing—she didn’t know whether to scream or thrash, or do both at once, and he was laughing, damn him.
Letting her nipple slide from his lips, he lifted his head. “What is it you want, Cassie?”
“You,” she managed on a groan.
“This?” He skated a warm palm over her ribs, across her abdomen, and rested his fingers against the soft flesh between her legs. He circled her clitoris in one lazy stroke.
Oh, God. “Yes.” She arched her hips against the motion of his hand. “Yes.”
His devilish smile broadening, he slowly inserted one finger inside her, perfectly stroking her central point of pleasure. “Or this?”
Cassie twisted her head, bucked off the bed. “Yes,” she murmured in between gasps.
“Or…” Dipping his head, he closed his lips around her nipple. He suckled, as he pushed in deep again.
Not this again. She’d die if she had to endure what he put her through last night.
Whimpering, Cassie undulated against the sweet pleasure he gave so freely. She didn’t know, couldn’t form rational thought. All she could comprehend was the burning need. The frightening way he pushed her into complete abandon.
And yet she couldn’t. Even if she threw all logic aside and disobeyed his earlier instruction to wait for him, Brad had once again denied her the ability by withdrawing his hand. A moan tore from her throat a heartbeat before she rasped, “Please, Brad…”
…
Brad could barely hang on to the scant bits of his remaining control. Release pounded at him. His cock was so swollen and ready it had become painful. He didn’t know how many times he’d brought Cassie to the edge, only to ease her off at the last moment, but it had never seemed like enough. Demons drove him. Phantoms he couldn’t name, and wouldn’t have even if he were able.
All he understood was the driving urge to scald her so deeply she didn’t just desire him, she needed him. In all his life he had never felt this possessive compulsion, never cared to have anyone develop such an intimate attachment. Until her. Until he went home with a stranger and discovered a woman who had the power to sink so far beneath his skin he was certain he’d never dig her out.
He lapped at Cassie, murmuring sounds of appreciation with each pulse of her slick flesh. Her body trembled beneath him. The moans that fell from her lips had become hoarse and plaintive. He knew he had pushed her too far, and yet, he couldn’t stop. Couldn’t satisfy his own yearnings and bring them both to the release their bodies required.