River Road(51)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

He opened the door and waited for her to move past him into the darkness. She took one step inside the room and stopped. Crap. Maybe this was a really huge mistake.

“One foot out the door already?” Mason asked quietly. “Because if that’s the case, I’d rather you left now. I can get another room for you tonight.”

“No.” She spun around. “No, I don’t want to leave.”

He closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, she saw the darkly glittering hunger in him.

“Good,” he said. His voice was rough and raw. “That’s good to know. Because for a moment there you scared the hell out of me. I thought you were going to make a run for it.”

“No,” she whispered. “I’m not running anywhere.”

He moved into the room, reached for her with one hand and used his other hand to close the door. She heard the click of the lock sliding home.

The room was steeped in shadows. The only illumination was the small nightlight that burned in the bathroom and a slender wedge of moonlight that slipped in at the edges of the curtains.

Reflexively, she tried to find the light switch on the wall, but she could not move because both of Mason’s arms were around her, trapping her.

His mouth came down on hers with all the urgency, all the pent-up anticipation that she had sensed in him that afternoon.

Be in the moment.

She could do this. In any event, she did not have time to dwell on the future, because Mason was already undressing her. She struggled with the buttons of his shirt, inhaling his scent as she worked. He smelled good, indescribably sexy and thrillingly male. A strange, light-headed euphoria infused her senses.

He tugged her sweater off over her head and unfastened the clasps of her bra.

His palms closed gently over her br**sts. He drew the pads of his thumbs across her ni**les. She was so sensitive now that the caress surprised a small, startled squeak out of her. She shuddered.

He stilled as if he had been shot.

“I hurt you,” he said.

“No, no, really, you didn’t.”

She went back to work on his shirt.

He touched her br**sts again, slowly, carefully. She sighed and leaned into him. He kissed the curve of her throat.

“You smell so good,” he said.

His hands moved from her br**sts down to her waist. He started to unfasten her jeans.

That was all it took to dampen her panties. She couldn’t believe it. They hadn’t even made it as far as the bed, but she was already soaking wet. It would have been embarrassing if she hadn’t been too hot to worry about it. Later, maybe.

She fought through the last of the buttons on his shirt. He shrugged out of it and then yanked off the black T-shirt. With a soft sigh of delight, she flattened her palms on his bare chest. He sucked in his breath. She felt the hard, contoured muscles beneath his warm skin grow even more taut.

He got the front of her jeans open and shoved them down over her hips. She stepped out of her shoes and then out of her pants, nearly losing her balance in the process. Mason wrapped one arm around her waist to steady her and moved his free hand between her legs. He cupped her, feeling her through the silky fabric of her panties.

“You’re ready for me.”

Masculine satisfaction and an edgy, reckless desire smoldered in the words. He slipped his hand inside her panties. She was flooding now.

She had never responded like this. She wanted to get closer, wanted to sink into him. Maybe the intense desire was the result of having gone for months without a serious relationship. But that didn’t explain things, either. She had never been this worked up with any other man.

“What are you doing to me?” she whispered, a little dazed now.

“I want to know what works for you.” He found the swollen little nub at the top of her sex. “Because whatever works for you works for me.”

She thought about telling him that the only thing that really worked for her was a vibrator and she had not brought one with her. The last thing she had expected when she set out for Summer River was a torrid one-night stand.

Determined to give as good as she got—which was looking to be very good indeed—she moved a hand down to the front of his jeans. He was steel-hard and big. Very big. She rested her forehead on his broad shoulder and touched him through the fabric of the jeans, feeling the size and shape and heaviness of his arousal. He gave a low, harsh groan.

“Oh, my,” she said against his skin.

She squeezed gently.

“Probably not a good idea,” he said. His voice was hoarse and rough.

“Okay, I’ve got a better one,” she whispered.

She unfastened his belt with shaking fingers and lowered the zipper of his jeans. Reaching inside his briefs, she wrapped her fingers around him slowly, measuring and wondering, more than a little awed.

“Keep that up and I’ll come in your hand,” he said into her ear. “And while that would be nice, I’d much rather be inside you, deep inside you.”

She released him and moved her palms up the front of his chest. “That sounds like an interesting scenario.”

He gave a husky laugh, wrapped both hands around her waist and lifted her off her feet. He carried her the short distance to the bed and set her back down on her feet.

He hauled aside the quilt and top sheet, picked her up again and settled her lightly in the center of the bed. She realized she was still wearing not only her very damp panties but also her socks. Concluding that the socks did not add much to the sensual atmosphere, she hurriedly stripped them off and tossed them on the floor.

By the time she finished with that small project, Mason was out of his own clothes. He crossed the room to the chest of drawers. She heard him unzip his overnight kit. When he returned to the bed, she caught a glimpse of a small foil packet.

He sheathed himself and came down onto the bed beside her. He gathered her close and kissed her until she forgot about the lack of a vibrator. His erection pressed firmly against her thigh. She knew that he was ready. She reached down, took him in her hand and tried to guide him to the hot, wet place between her legs.

“Not yet,” he said.

He caught her wrists in one hand and anchored them above her head. Then he leaned over her, gently forcing her onto her back. He took one of her ni**les into his mouth. He tugged just enough to make her catch her breath.

At the same time he moved his hand back down to the scorching hot place between her legs and stroked slowly. Her hips began to move in response. He eased two fingers inside her and used his thumb on her clitoris.