Fearless In Love

And she was all his for the taking.

“I need to have you, skin on skin. Now.” With that, he stripped away the final wisp of fabric covering her. “You steal my breath. My sanity.” His admissions were raw with heat—and emotion.

“You steal my sanity too,” she whispered. “And I want to strip you down the same way.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” he said in that low, commanding voice that always made her come apart at the seams. “It’s your turn now, Ari.”

Her hands on his belt, she didn’t fumble. The hot flare of passion burned in his eyes as she undid his zipper with an achingly slow glide. And her mouth watered for his taste.

Finding the hard jut of him with her hand, she knew taking him that way wasn’t something she could do badly, even as inexperienced as she was. He was so special, and she wanted it so much. She stroked him with the tiny pearl of moisture on his tip.

“Everything,” he said. “Take it all off.”

She stripped off his shirt, caught for one moment by a dusky nipple. She licked him, sucked the nub into her mouth. Then bit him lightly. His body surged in her hand.

“So you want to play dirty, huh?” he whispered. Then he gently steered her to her knees…and she swore every last part of her liquefied.

She tugged off the rest of his clothes until he was gloriously naked, and she was eye level with all that beautiful flesh—thick, full, hard, and long. Up close and personal, she was able to appreciate his magnificence in a way she hadn’t that one special night.

Then she took him, just the tip, circling with her tongue, and his body arched, his hands tangling in her hair. “I’ve imagined this. I’ve dreamed about you, Ari. Over and over.”

Knowing he’d dreamed of her the way she had of him, the moment overwhelmed her, and she took him deeper.

“Jesus,” he whispered through a sizzle of breath.

The sound made her feel beautiful and wanted and powerful. Power was something a girl like her had never found before. It wasn’t even something she’d known she wanted until the moment he gave it to her.

Then he hauled her to her feet, kissing her openmouthed, his taste still on her tongue. “You feel so damned good,” he murmured. “But it’s too soon. This night needs to go on forever. And I can’t control myself around you.”

She didn’t hold back her smile. Refused to hold back anything. “Then don’t.”

He lifted her high and gently tossed her on her stomach in the middle of the bed. He climbed after her, stalking her, pulling her up on her hands and knees and moving in behind her, his thighs taut against hers.

“Are you sure you mean that?” His words were harsh with need as he ran his hands down her back to her hips, resting them on her bottom. The things he said and the way he touched her made her feel raw and needy, her skin sensitized all over.

She’d never expected to find a man she could be so totally open with, so completely available to, giving him anything he wanted, and yet trusting that she’d be okay. Not just okay—amazing. She wouldn’t let herself be afraid to ask for everything. To ask for him.

“Yes.” She wriggled back against him, loving the way his muscles tightened against her. “Take me, Matt.”

“I will.” He pressed a hot kiss to her shoulder. “But I want you to close your eyes and feel first. Feel what you do to me, Ari.”

Nudging her legs farther apart, he slipped his rock-hard erection between them, stopping just short of entering her.

He was hard and pulsing against her sex, and with her eyes closed, her senses came totally alive. She was lightning ready to strike at any moment. When he slid a hand under her belly and found the center of her arousal, it was the ultimate—and the very best—shock to her system. She felt him everywhere, his fingers slip-sliding over her until she throbbed madly, his big muscular body blanketing her, his mouth on her neck, his kisses in her hair, his breath at her ear. There was delicious friction everywhere, beautiful sensation all over.

“Matt.” Everything he did made her body surge and crest. It was so good. Too good. Scary good. She wanted to be fearless, but she was in so deep now that it frightened her a little. “I don’t… I can’t…”

“You can. For me, Ari. Only for me.”

With his words, she shattered, his deep voice wrapping around her, his arms tight and possessive. She shuddered with a pleasure so intense that she lost all thought—there was only his heat surrounding her, taking her higher.

“I love how ready you are for anything,” he murmured. “For everything.”

She trembled with the sensuality of his touch. “Don’t stop.”

“I already told you,” he whispered as he hauled her back against his hard chest, her legs splayed open over his. “I can’t stop. Not when I’m with you.”

She couldn’t see his face, could only feel his heat between her legs, his breath in her hair. Instead of pushing into her, he simply held her against him as he ran his big, strong hands over her belly, her breasts, up to her throat. He nudged her head aside to give him access to her neck and caressed her with his tongue, licking in tantalizing paths.

“Put me inside you, Ari. Make us both feel good. So damned good.”

She loved that he knew so many different ways they could be together. Even slightly kinky ways. Especially those.

“You brought condoms,” she said as she reached back and realized he already wore protection.

“I didn’t plan this,” he whispered against her hair. “But I’m a man who’s learned to be ready for anything. And still, I wasn’t ready for you.” He buried his face against her neck. “You were standing in sunlight the first time I saw you…and you were perfect. I’ve been trying so hard to fight what’s between us.”

“The first time I looked at you—” She felt overfull with emotion, but it no longer frightened her. “I knew you were special. When we finally spoke, once I learned what a wonderful father you are, what an incredible man…” She covered his hands with hers and held them over her heart. “I started falling. And I can’t stop.”

“Ari—” She heard the groan of conflict in his voice. “I’m not a hero.”

“You are, and you don’t even know it.” She tipped her head back against his shoulder to look at him. “I’m not fighting what’s between us anymore. And I don’t want you to fight either.”