Her stomach was flat, taut, quivering. He caressed the silken slope, his palm sliding downward, tactually memorizing every inch of her. The auburn curls below were crisp, springy, guarding her deepest, softest, most vulnerable part. He intimately explored the hidden folds as he continued to pleasure her breasts with his lips and tongue. He was hanging on to his control by the weakest of threads, his entire body throbbing, clamoring for release. Still he lingered, trembling with need, drawing out the pleasure-pain for as long as humanly possible.
“Jeff. I need you now,” Autumn breathed raggedly, her hips arching into his touch. “I want you so much it hurts.”
“I know, darling. Believe me, I know.” His mouth took hers, tongue thrusting inside to join hers in a wild dance even as his fingers probed deeper. Autumn shuddered and writhed beneath him, her hands moving demandingly over him, no longer content to let him guide their pace. When she took him in her hand, her fingers sliding boldly over pulsing, swollen flesh, his tenuous control snapped.
“Oh, Jeff, yes!” she cried when he settled forcefully between her welcoming legs. And then she was arching upward, taking him deep inside, and all rational thought fled, leaving him lost in a maelstrom of sensation. Feelings too intense, too new to be described by words. Harsh breathing and hoarse murmurings. Not knowing whether the strangled sounds came from him or her or both of them.
And then she was shivering beneath him, her release triggering his, and Jeff thought he’d die from pure pleasure. Surely no man could experience such shattering joy and live.
I love you. I love you. Dear God, I love you. The words echoed over and over in his mind as he slipped into an oblivious gray aftermath, not caring whether he’d said them aloud or only in his thoughts. I love you.
8
IT WAS A VERY LONG TIME before Autumn summoned the strength to move. Jeff was lying beside her, his eyes closed, one arm draped across her breasts, but she knew that he was awake. Like her, he was making a very slow recovery from their lovemaking.
There were no words to describe what had happened between them. Nothing in her experience, not even in her fantasies, had prepared her. She would not have believed herself capable of losing control so completely, of being so thoroughly mesmerized by another person. It was as if their minds, as well as their bodies, had been joined, so that there was no separation between them. She would never have allowed anyone else that much power over her.
No, that sounded as if she’d had some choice in the matter. She hadn’t. Jeff had touched her, and she’d lost herself in him. That simply.
Swallowing hard, she glanced swiftly around the deeply shadowed bedroom, illuminated only by the light spilling in from the living room. Everything looked the same. Bemused, she realized that the world had literally fallen away while Jeff had loved her. She had truly lost all sense of time and place and identity. Nothing had existed for her but him. The realization was daunting.
Jeff stirred at her side, and her gaze returned to him. A swath of light fell over him from the open doorway, creating interesting highlights and shadows on his golden skin. He was truly a beautiful man. Shoulders wide, buttocks tight, legs taut and long. Though he was lying on his stomach, she could clearly picture his chest, broad and tanned, lightly furred, angling down to a flat stomach and hard thighs. The rest of him was impressively proportioned, as well. To her utter amazement, her pulse quickened as the memories assailed her. Moments before she’d been exhaustedly satiated. How could she want him again so soon?
Jeff’s dark eyelashes fluttered, then lifted. “Hi,” he murmured as their gazes met.
“Hi.”
“Are you okay?”
She smiled. “I’m fine.”
He shifted his weight, settling himself more comfortably beside her, then lifted an eyebrow and reached behind him. They’d been so impatient that they hadn’t even stopped to turn back the bedspread but had made love diagonally on the bed. Now he chuckled as he pulled the stuffed toy from beneath his shoulder. “Who’s this?”
“That’s Pooh. An old friend,” she answered lightly, brushing a lock of dark hair away from his forehead, enjoying the intimacy of the gesture.
“A teddy bear? I hadn’t expected such frivolity from you, Autumn.”
Lifting her head in mock indignation, she scowled at him. “I’ll have you to know that I’m as capable of frivolity as anyone. Besides, it’s not a teddy bear. It’s Winnie the Pooh.”
“You do realize that he’s missing an ear?”
“Mmm. I’m afraid I’m responsible for that.”
“How’d you do it?”
“Summer tried to take him away from me once when she was five and I was four. I had a good grip on his ear, but she had the rest of him.”
Jeff chuckled. “I can imagine you as a willful little girl, fighting with your sisters. You must have been adorable.”
“I was a holy terror. It’s a wonder I survived.”
He pulled her head onto his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her. “You turned out quite nicely.”
“Thank you. I’ll bet you were a well-behaved little boy. Nice manners, clean clothes, an apple for teacher.”
“Are you daring to call me perfect again?”
“Would I do that?”