Outside the tent, he heard the rising wind flapping and rattling against the heavy waxed canvas. But he was lost in her. Her lips were so soft, her body so womanly, her soul so pure. As he ran his hands down her back, over her loose cotton shirt, he felt the press of her breasts against his muscled chest. Her brown hair now tumbled down her back in waves, tangling in his fingers.
It could have been hours or even days that he kissed her, standing with her in his arms, holding her body tightly against his own. He flicked her mouth lightly with his tongue, guiding her lips, teaching her to kiss. His tongue brushed against hers, luring her to explore further. With a sigh of pleasure, she leaned towards him, her arms tightening around his shoulders.
Josie. So reckless. So beautiful. She had such strange power. She made him want things he shouldn’t want…. Made him feel things he didn’t know he could still feel….
Lifting her into his arms, never ending their kiss, he carried her to the four-poster bed he’d shared with her in painful chastity for two nights. As he laid her back against the mattress, he looked down at her beautiful face.
“Tell me you don’t want me,” he said hoarsely. “Tell me to leave you be.”
He held his breath, as if waiting for a verdict of his life or death. She shook her head slightly. His heart twisted.
Then her full, pink lips lifted into a tender smile. Her brown eyes shimmered, glowing with desire, and she reached up for him, pulling him down against her in clear answer.
He felt her body beneath him, and knew he’d never again suffer the agony of sleeping beside her without being able to touch her. Because nothing on earth would stop him from taking her now.
Cupping her face, he kissed her passionately, stretching her back against the bed. His hands moved up and down her body until he finally reached beneath her cotton shirt. He felt her trembling hands stroke his bare chest beneath his own ripped shirt, torn into bandages on the dune. Her satin-soft fingertips ran along his flat belly and bare chest, and he gasped at the amazing sensation. He kissed down her throat, and his fingers were suddenly clumsy as he tried to unbutton her shirt, finally popping off the buttons in his desperation to feel the warmth of her skin against his own.
Yanking her shirt off her body, he threw it to the carpet and was mesmerized by full breasts barely contained within a lacy black bra. He sucked in his breath. Distracted, he didn’t notice her tugging on his T-shirt until suddenly it was pulled off over his head. He felt the exploratory touch of her fingertips over his flat nipples and down the light dusting of black hair that pointed like an arrow down his muscled body.
Josie. Was this really going to happen? His heart was in his throat as he looked down at her. Here, now?
Outside, the hot wind howled against the tent as he kissed her deeply, pushing her down beneath him, against the soft pillows. He cupped his hands over her bra, feeling the weight of her breasts beneath his hands. He pushed her legs apart with his knee, grinding himself slowly against her, with only fabric separating them. She trembled as he liberated one large breast completely from the bra, watching the rosy nipple pucker and harden beneath the warmth of his breath before he suckled her.
In a single movement, he unclasped the bra and tossed it aside. Leaning back over her, he felt her shiver as he slowly kissed down her neck. Pressing her full breasts together, he kissed the crevice between them, licking her skin.
He felt her fingers tangle in his dark hair as she gasped, clutching him to her. He kissed down to the soft curve of her belly, feeling her tremble, feeling the damp heat of her skin. He slowly pulled off her linen pants, lingering against her thighs and the secret hollow beneath her knees. He removed his cargo shorts. Wearing only his silk boxers, which at the moment were uncomfortably tight, he slid his hips between her legs. Instinctively, she swayed as he rocked himself against her, back and forth over her lacy black panties. He heard her intake of breath as her hands clutched his shoulders, holding him against her.
His lips lowered to suckle a full, pink nipple. He lightly squeezed her breast, pushing her nipple more deeply into his mouth. He heard her soft muffled gasp as he ran his tongue in a swirling motion, nibbling and sucking, as his hand toyed with the other nipple. And all the while, he was slowly grinding himself against her, with only the thin separation of silk between them.
Her hands suddenly gripped his hair. “Stop.”
Kasimir sucked in his breath as he pulled back. His body ached as he held himself in check, looking down at her. It would kill him, but if she wanted him to stop….
Josie reached up, running her hands down his bare chest, to the edge of his silk boxers. She looked up, her cheeks red, her eyes bright. “I want to see you. To touch you.”
He exhaled.
“Yes.”
With tantalizing slowness, she ran her hands along the edge of the waistband, and then—and then—he held his breath as she reached beneath the silk. She stroked the hardness of his shaft, running her fingers along the ridges and tip.
He heard a low hoarse gasp, and realized it was his own. Her eyes were huge as they met his. And then…
She suddenly smiled.
It was a smug, feminine smile, full of infinite mystery and pride—as if she’d realized the depths of power she held over him, as she held him completely in her hands.
She pulled down the silk, revealing his body completely to her gaze. She ran her hand over him, exploring. His breathing became ragged. He closed his eyes. Her slightest touch made him wild. He felt as though he could explode at any moment.
No. His eyes flew open, narrowed. With a growl, he pushed her back against the bed. Pulling at her panties, he tugged them slowly down her legs and tossed them to the carpeted sand. He stroked her calves, her knees, then moved back upward, to her thighs. Gently, he pushed her legs apart.
He felt her tremble at being so exposed. She tried to close her knees.
“What are you doing?” she breathed.
“Surrender to me,” he whispered. And he lowered his head.
First, he kissed her inner thighs. Then he moved higher. Holding her against the mattress, he stretched her legs wide. For a moment, he just allowed her to feel the warmth and sensation of his breath. Then, very slowly, he moved his kisses to the core of her pleasure. She abruptly stopped struggling.