ARIZONA AWOKE AS SHE OFTEN DID, with a near jolt, her heart thumping, adrenaline surging. She sat upright, and her gaze darted around, searching for any and all threats.
She found none.
Taking in the room with a sense of confusion, she tried to orient herself. Soft sheets covered her, so unlike the usual overstarched bedding in hotel rooms. Gray dawn flooded the room; gentle morning rain trickled over the window panes.
Cozy warmth surrounded her.
And now that she was awake, she felt unaccountably…safe.
Nice feelings. Unfamiliar, but…she moved her hand over the sheet. Something in the room smelled wonderful, and she filled her lungs on a deep breath—
“Morning.”
Shock took her pounding heart to a standstill. Sucking in air, she placed that deep, recognizable voice—and then oh-so-slowly turned her head to see Spencer stretched out beside her. Oooookay. The sheet just barely rested over his hip. One big hairy leg stuck out.
Her jaw loosened. “You’re naked.” The second she spoke, she felt the stiffness of her jaw. She touched it and knew she was bruised.
“In my boxers actually.” He lifted the sheet to show her.
Yeah…not much better. Spencer in boxers was enough to stop her heart. Especially when aroused. And he was.
Again.
Lord have mercy.
Marla hadn’t joked about his size. The man was big all over, a fact she’d noticed more than once.
Well. He sure got her heart going again, even faster than the damn nightmare had. By the moment, she became more alert.
“You’re okay?” he asked with concern.
“What?”
He nodded, his gaze on her face where she touched her jaw.
“Oh. Yeah.” She dropped her hand. “I’m fine.”
As he shifted, his brows pulled down in worry.
Seeing all that exposed flesh, so sleek over taut muscle, Arizona automatically breathed in deep again—and her stomach did a crazy little flip.
Mmm. Yup, that’s what she inhaled all right—the stimulating scent of warm skin and relaxed muscles on a supersized sexy male bod.
Deeee-licious.
He said nothing else. She didn’t, either. Who could talk? She’d rather soak up the sight of him.
Like the morning she’d first awakened him, he looked good with rumpled hair and beard shadow. Unlike that morning, a sort of banked heat smoldered in his dark eyes.
Hello! What had Spence been doing to look all turned-on and primed that way?
Propped on one elbow, he appeared clear-eyed and alert, as if maybe…he’d been watching her.
For a while now.
As she slept.
Wow.
Her thoughts went chaotic, but then, with Spencer, there was nothing new in that. He often left her brain jumbled and her heart confused. She rather liked it, especially since, before Spence, she’d sometimes doubted she had a heart.
Last night was only a vague memory, her last clear thought of being in the bar and seeing him with another woman.
So how’d they end up in bed together? If they’d done the deed and she couldn’t remember it, she would be seriously annoyed.
Suspicious, she looked down at her partially stripped body, then again, more leisurely, at his. Cocking a brow, she tried to brazen through the awkwardness. “Do I need to kick your butt?”
Unconcerned with the implied threat, his tone merely curious, Spencer asked, “For what?”
“Taking advantage of me while I was drunk?”
Smiling, he reached out and tugged on a hank of her long, disheveled hair. “No, baby, you don’t.”
Baby?
“But I might need to turn you over my knee for trying that very thing.”
“Yeah, that’ll never happen.” Not only wouldn’t she allow it, she knew Spencer would never do it. But he had said it, so… “What do you mean?”
“Last night, you tried to insist that I take advantage of you.”
“No kidding?” Now that he said it, she sort of remembered making some hot and heavy offers. Before going into the bar she’d decided she wanted him. Shoot, looking at him now, listening to that deep, even voice, being so close to him, she still wanted him.
Big-time.
And why not? She couldn’t stay celibate forever, and she did want to be as whole, as normal and functional, as any other adult.
Spencer claimed to want to help her with that—up to a point anyway.
She wasn’t going to give up her work, so who knew if she’d end up caught again? Before that happened, it’d be great to know how it should be.
How it could be with Spencer.
His dark eyes warmed even more, and his voice dropped. “You were awfully hard to resist.”
“But you resisted anyway, huh?” Jerk. Way to make her feel like chopped liver. He sure hadn’t resisted the bimbo at the bar, never mind that he’d been undercover.
“You’d had way too much to drink,” he pointed out.
And that was that; he wasn’t an opportunist, especially not with women.
Had she thrown herself at him? Looked like a fool? Suffered humiliating rejection? Gawd. Maybe it was better that she not know.
His big hand stopped toying with her hair and instead dropped down to rest warmly on her knee. “I tried to reason with you, but then you passed out on me.”
“Here?”
“You don’t remember any of it?”
She screwed up her face, thinking hard… “I kicked Carl’s butt. I remember that.”
“You broke his fingers.” His expression darkened with the reminder. “I did the rest.”
An indistinct memory intruded. “Dare had something to do with us cutting the night short…” No wait… Her eyes widened. “It’s over, isn’t it? Dare shut them down?”
Spencer nodded. “He moved in early and took over.” He filled her in on the details he had. “You drank so much with Janes, it’s a wonder you recall anything.”
“Bits and pieces are coming back to me.” Curiosity crowded in around the relief of knowing innocents had been saved. “So if nothing happened between us, why am I in bed with you?”
“I thought it’d be prudent to keep you close.”
“And…how close were we?” Because really, she’d always figured sleeping with a guy—in the literal sense—would make her too edgy. Sleep meant exposure. Lack of defense. Sleep meant she had her guard down, and she plain didn’t do that. Not with anyone.
But then, Spencer wasn’t just anyone. Not anymore.
Almost from the moment she’d met him, he’d affected her differently. Sometimes she hated it, but most times, she kind of liked the way he made her feel.
“I enjoyed holding you, Arizona.” His thumb moved over her knee. “You’re very soft and warm.”
No way.
Mistaking her wide-eyed incredulity, he frowned again. “You had a nightmare?”
“One I lived through, yeah.”
“About?”
“The river. Almost drowning.” She waved it off as insignificant. She’d had that damned dream so often, she’d gotten used to it. “Jackson saving me and all that.”
“Damn. I’m sorry.”
“Same old, same old.” She looked around, saw his jeans on a chair, then lifted the sheet and found she wore only her underwear with her top. Her mouth went a little dry. “So…did you undress me?”
“You did that.” He gave the sheet a slight tug. “I was noble and covered you up.”
“And then crawled into bed with me?”
“It’s my bed.”
Right. So he did or didn’t want her? She couldn’t tell. He seemed different today, maybe more susceptible to intimacy, but she didn’t relish the idea of asking, only to be turned down again.
What if he’d only slept with her out of convenience? She tried to broach things subtly. “So…what now?”
“That depends on you.”
Interesting. Well, she knew what she wanted to do, but she said nothing and instead just waited.
“You have a hangover?”
“Nope.” Running her fingers through her tangled hair, she yawned, then flopped down to her back beside him. “My jaw is a little sore, that’s all.”
His expression flattened. “A bastard at the bar caught you.”
Never would have happened if she’d been sober. But she didn’t dwell on that, not now, not with Spencer close enough that the heat of his body touched all along her side.
Her heart started doing that crazy thumping thing again.
She looked over at him. “I’m maybe a little muzzy-brained, but no real aftereffects.”
“Good.” His dark gaze went to her chest, and his nostrils flared.
She still didn’t know where this little morning chat was headed. “You’re asking because…?”
“We have unfinished business from last night.”
Awwwwe-some. But to be certain, she asked, “Sex?”
Pausing, he clarified, “You want me?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Good.” He leaned toward her.
Yay! But now that Arizona had it confirmed, nervousness set in, and she held him off with one hand. “Hold up, Spence.”
That got his attention back on her face. He studied her, and whatever he saw—or thought he saw—banked the fires. “Things look different in the light of day, now that you’re clearheaded, don’t they?”
“Not really.” As yet unmentioned stipulations aside, she still wanted to devour him from head to toe. But he sounded so self-righteous, so…condescendingly male, as if he expected her to act the part of a swooning virgin or something, that she couldn’t keep from messing with him a little. “It’s just that I can’t… I don’t…”
“Shh, I know, baby.” He drew a deep breath and nodded. “I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Of course I do.” All too serious, he curled his fingers over hers. “It’s okay.”
Arizona snickered at his restraint, and when he eyed her with confusion, the laughter bubbled out. “C’mon, Spence. I’m just funning you.”
“Funning me?”
Turning on her side to face him, she mimicked his pose with her head braced on a hand. “Of course I’m still game. Shoot, I’m dying to do the nasty with you.”
He scrutinized her. “But?”
Boy, he was good at reading her. “But…” Trying to find the right words, she cleared her throat. “The thing is…I need…”
He didn’t rush her. He didn’t move. It almost looked as if he didn’t breathe.
Deciding to just spit it out, she said, “It’s gotta be lights on. Me on top. You got a problem with that?”
No reaction.
“Spence?”
He visibly shored up his self-control. “I don’t want to pressure you. I don’t want you to do anything before you’re ready.”
“I’m ready. And trust me, I want to do this. I just have a few glitches, that’s all.”
“Glitches?”
“Like I said, lights on.”
“Tell me why.”
Seemed obvious to her. “So I can see you—that way, there’s no…confusion in my memories.”
She saw it in his eyes, the realization that without lights, she would remember other men, doing other things.
Far too grave, Spencer closed his eyes, but only for a moment. “No problem.”
He took that so well, she expounded on the rest. “And me on top because, really Spencer, hunky as you are, I still have some trust issues, you know? I gotta know I have control.”
His brows lifted in disbelief. “Being on top lets you think you’re controlling me?”
She let his arrogance slide to say, “Yeah. I mean, why should I make it too easy on you?”
He snorted. “Let me assure you, Arizona, you have never been easy, not in any way.”
“And,” she said, talking over him, “before you answer, know this—if you turn me down again, I’m going to feel really rejected.”
His big hand cupped the side of her face. “No man in his right mind could ever reject you.”
Relief turned her bones to noodles. “So is doing it my way a problem?”
“Lights on, with you on top?”
“That’s how it has to be.”
Understanding softened his stern expression. “Doesn’t sound like too much of a hardship.”
Was he mocking her? Arizona rolled over atop him. “Is this going to be fun, Spencer? Because seriously, you don’t look real excited.” She pressed a firm but fast kiss to his mouth. “I want it to be fun.”
“Got it. Well-lit, you in the dominant position—and plenty of laughs. Any other demands?”
Her temper sparked. “You don’t like the stipulations? Fine. Forget it.” She started to roll away.
“So bossy.” He caught her, holding her still against him while fighting a smile. “I like your stipulations just fine.”
“Baloney.”
“I want to see you, Arizona. Hell, I’m dying to see you. So lights on would be my preference anyway. And you over me just gives me a better view.”
She hadn’t thought of that.
He focused on her mouth. “Far as the laughs go, well, I’m hoping I don’t inspire hilarity, but I very much want you to enjoy yourself. What do you think?”
She scowled at him. “You’re sure?”
“I know trust doesn’t come easy for you.” Slowly, tenderly, he smoothed back her long hair. “You might want to remember that I only want the best for you. In all things.”
Oh, she could hardly wait. “All-righty, then.” Hesitant on how to proceed, she asked, “Should I get naked now?”
His hands moved down her spine to the small of her back—then just rested there. “Is that what you want to do?”
His patience wasn’t helping to put her at ease. Why couldn’t he be a little more…frenzied? Like she was? “I don’t know. It’s what I normally did when—”
His hand covered her mouth. Face tight, his expression a little pained, he drew another breath. “I want you to forget all that.”
Fat chance. Did it bother him more than it bothered her? Seemed possible. For a big macho protector like him, it’d be a tough reality to get past.
She took his wrist and pulled his hand away. “Are you trying to forget?”
He opened his mouth—then frowned. With regret, he said, “We’re rushing things.”
“So?” If he’d rush a little more, they could be halfway through it already.
“You need to get a shower.”
Was he already pulling back? Well, he could forget it. “Shower with me.”
He shook his head. “Why did I think you’d be more reasonable sober?”
“No idea.” She ran her hands over his chest. She loved the feel of his crisp chest hair. “You must not have been paying attention.” She also loved the feel of his strong bones and firm muscles, and just looking at him made her insides quiver.
She wanted to do this, she really did.
“Oh, I’ve paid attention all right. Count on it.”
Having no idea what he meant by that, she leaned down and teased her nose over him. His scent left her more intoxicated than the whiskey had. “I gotta tell you, Spence, you are one sexy dude.”
His smile came reluctantly. “Thank you.” Then he caught her and eased her back. “But I think maybe I should shower and shave, and—”
“You’re looking for excuses, aren’t you?” Disgruntled, she scowled at him. “You sure you want me?”
“Very sure.” He again looked at her mouth. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
That surprised her. So did he mean, like, more than he had wanted Marla? And what about his wife? And that bimbo he’d been cuddled up to in the bar last night? Or did he just mean recently? “So you’re saying—”
“I want you, Arizona Storm. Never doubt it. I’m dying to kiss you, to get you naked—even though you smell of stale whiskey.”
“I do?” But of course she did. Unwilling to breathe on him more, she pursed her mouth. Good grief. She hadn’t even thought about that.
He smiled. “I want you even though you have makeup all around your eyes.” Regret replaced the smile. “And a few colorful bruises.”
She scowled, then pushed up to sit on the bedding. “The bruises bother you?”
“Of course they do, because it means you got hurt again.” He came up beside her and stroked her hair over her shoulder. “I’m going to kiss each and every one of them. It won’t really help, but it’ll make me feel better.”
He sounded all husky and affected, and that affected her. “It’ll make me feel better, too.”
He pressed small kisses along her jaw, to her ear and then over her shoulder. “You sure about that, honey?”
She shivered. “What do you mean?”
He continued kissing her, soft, damp kisses in surprising places that left behind a tiny tingle. “Forget about your past for a minute, okay?”
Not really possible, but she shrugged. “Yeah, okay.”
“Do you understand what I want to do to you? How different it’s going to be?”
She thought she’d known, but now… “Um…maybe?”
“You’re trying to rush through things, but I want to take it slow.” He lifted her hair away, and she felt his tongue on her nape, then the edge of his teeth. “I’m glad you want the room well-lit, because I want to look my fill.”
“Me, too.” She couldn’t wait to explore his big, strong body.
His hand touched the inside of her knee, drifted up her inner thigh.
Sensation chased ahead of his fingertips; anticipation left her breathless.
But he stopped short.
With his mouth touching her temple, he whispered, “I want to touch you, and kiss you. All over.”
Her stomach seemed to tumble. “All over?”
“Yeah.” His smile came slow and easy. “Everywhere.”
The way he said that curled her toes.
“I want to know your taste, and I want to breathe in your scent. Here.” He nuzzled the side of her neck. “And here.” He trailed a finger down between her breasts. “And especially here.” His hand opened low over her belly.
She bit back a groan.
Then he put some space between them. “And as hard as it’ll be to hold back, I don’t want to be rushed. You won’t want me to be rushed.”
None of that sounded like what she’d expected based on her experiences. “I don’t see…”
“It’s early yet. We have hours before we need to leave for Dare’s.”
Oh, crap. Her birthday gathering. She’d forgotten all about that.
He brought her chin around to look into her eyes. “It’s not as long as I’d like. I’d rather have the whole day to focus on you, to show you how things should really be. But we’ll spend what time we have in bed. So if there’s anything you want to do beforehand, I suggest you do it now.”
She gave it quick thought—and decided she needed a few minutes to get a grip. “Okay, so how about I go shower and you put on coffee, and then we’ll take it from there?” She rolled out of the bed and headed for the bathroom. “Make the coffee strong. I think I need it.”
“Arizona?”
She paused at the bathroom door, looked back and saw him staring at her backside. “Yeah?”
“I can maybe wait while you drink one cup, tops.” His gaze lifted to hers. “After that, I make no promises.”
* * *
A SHOWER REVIVED HER physically, but she’d used every single second to go over what Spencer had said and how he’d said it.
Now…now her hands shook, and a slow burn smoldered inside her. She couldn’t stop thinking about what they’d do, couldn’t keep the visuals from her mind.
She had a feeling Spencer had done that on purpose just to work her up. Diabolical. And oh-so-hot.
Rather than wash her hair and take the time to dry it, she put it in a high ponytail. Wearing a T-shirt and shorts, she sat at the kitchen table and tried to enjoy her coffee.
But Spencer was in the shower now. Naked. And every second that passed torqued her tension a little tighter.
A sweet ache curled inside her.
Her lungs constricted so that she had to breathe harder, faster.
So this was lust? Who knew?
It was better than she’d ever figured. Sure, she knew stuff happened differently between two willing people. She wasn’t a dummy. What she’d done as a captive, forced by traffickers, was not at all the norm.
There’d be pleasure. She’d seen plenty of movies, talked to lots of people.
And she knew how Jackson and Alani behaved with each other. Dare and Molly. Trace and Priss. They sure liked getting up close and personal.
Very soon that’d be her. With Spencer.
She closed her eyes as sensation swelled inside her, sweeter, hotter.
But he wanted her to wait?
Screw that.
She plopped the now-empty coffee mug down on the table and started down the hall. Along the way, huffing fast with need, she peeled off her shirt and then paused long enough to push off her shorts. Reaching up, she pulled the cloth-covered rubber band from her hair and it tumbled down her back.
Still in panties, she knocked at the bathroom door.
Spencer said, “Yeah?” as he opened the door for her.
Shock kept him still for a heartbeat, then his gaze dropped fast, moving all over her. He inhaled, and his face tightened.
A white towel circled his hips, another hung around his neck. Steam wafted upward, caressing his damp skin. He’d just finished shaving.
They stared at each other.
Or more precisely, he stared at her boobs, and she stared at that happy trail of dark, fine hair that disappeared into the towel.
Without looking away from her, he put aside his razor and, taking the towel from around his neck, wiped the remaining shaving cream off his face. He discarded the towel on the floor.
Licking her lips, Arizona reached out, hooked her fingertips into the other towel, and pulled it away from his body. It hung loose in her hand.
Holy smokes, he hadn’t been kidding. He really did want her.
The man was impressive—in all ways. “You’re big.”
“Yes.”
He sounded awfully cavalier about it. “So…” She couldn’t get her gaze off his jutting erection. “Looks like you’re ready, too.”
“I’ve been ready since the day I met you.”
What a relief, since she’d felt the same. Oh, she’d done her best to ignore it. But not anymore.
She let the towel slip from her fingers. “That’s…nice.”
His hands fisted. “You’re not afraid?”
“Nope.” Anxious, needy, desperate even, but not afraid. She met his gaze. “Not with you.”
Some sharp emotion brightened his eyes. “At all uncertain?” He brought her face up. “Because, baby, I know you were uncertain earlier.”
Ah, so that’s why he’d suggested the shower and the coffee and the excruciating delay? For her.
What a guy. “Yeah, I guess I was. A little.”
“I don’t want you to be.” Still he didn’t touch her. “Not at all.”
“I’m not anymore.” A little shakily, she added, “Honest to God, Spencer, I appreciate the concern. I really do. But I don’t think I can wait a single second more.”
He nodded—and continued to resist. “Has any man ever spent his time just kissing you?”
“No.” Her heart beat so hard it hurt. “Thank God.”
He took a step closer. “Has any man ever touched you, just for you? Just to make you feel good?”
“Of course not. Men don’t—”
“Shh.” Calm personified, he pressed a warm kiss to her mouth. Slow, lingering.
As he drew away, Arizona lifted her heavy lashes, took a breath and whispered, “Damn.”
Wearing a half smile, Spencer closed in for another kiss, a little hungrier, a little less cautious.
Now, that was more like it. Her breath shuddered in, came out in a sigh. “Oh, hell.”
He caught on to her game. “Are you asking for another kiss, honey?”
“That’s the deal, right?” She leaned into him, her mouth almost touching his. “For every curse—”
“Yes, that’s the deal.”
“Well, I know a lot of curses.” She played her hand down his chest, over to his side. God, she loved the feel of him. “So what’s it to be, Spence? Should I singe your ears, or do you just want to—”
His mouth settled over hers without reserve. And she accepted with a hardy groan, clinging hands and the press of her body to his.
“Spencer…”
He drew her in closer. “Tell me what you want.”
“This is all so curious.”
“This?”
“Sex.” She turned her head to meet his gaze. “I gotta admit, until you, I hadn’t been a fan of the idea.”
“I know.” Pain filled his gaze. “I’m sorry.”
“Wasn’t your doing, now, was it?” She leaned into him, enjoying his strength, his heat. His appeal. “But with you? I dunno. You make me feel funny.”
His big, hot hand opened over her belly. “Here?”
“Yeah.” She pressed her hand over his, absorbing the warmth of his palm while breathing in his delicious male scent.
“Funny, how? Tell me.”
“All warm and…slippery.”
He bit off a groan. “Perfect. That’s exactly how I want you to feel.”
“And how should you feel?” Teasing, anxious to touch him, she reached for his erection.
He caught her wrists and held her hands away.
“Spencer?” He looked pained. He looked…stoic.
A heartbeat of silence passed. “Let me show you, okay?”
Something in the way he said that made uncertainty take hold. “Whoa.” She stepped back from him. “Show me what?”
With shaking hands he smoothed back her hair. “How good it can be for you.”
“But not for you?”
“No matter what, I’m going to enjoy this, too. Never doubt it.”
Shaking on the inside, she tucked in her chin. “This?”
Firm, he said, “Giving you pleasure. Taking you to orgasm.”
No freaking way. “What, with you all uninvolved and stuff, and me being some sort of a sacrifice?” He had to be joking. She shoved against his chest. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
He caught her to him. “It wouldn’t be like that.”
“I want you inside me, damn you. I want you with me all the way.”
Breathing harder, he locked his jaw. “I can hold off, Arizona. I can do what’s right—for both of us. But not if you…”
“Well, I am!” Humiliation washed over her. She gave him another hard shove and finally freed herself. “I’m not a damn project for you to work on!”
“I didn’t—”
“I’m not playing this stupid game of yours. Either you want me, or you don’t.” Thumb to her naked chest, she shouted, “I’m an all-or-nothing woman.”
More than a little aware of her nudity, she turned to depart on a dramatic exit.
Before she’d even taken a full step, he pulled her back around and scooped her up against him. His own measure of frustration deepened his voice, sharpened his tone. “Your stipulations mean you aren’t all-or-nothing.”
“So instead of calling them stipulations, just call them a fetish.” She went on tiptoe, leaning into his anger. “Lots of people like to take control in bed.”
“It’s not the same thing and you know it.”
Deflated, hurt, she muttered, “I wanted to feel you inside me. I wanted to be a part of you.” Tears burned her eyes, scalding her with humiliation. “Thanks for nothing.”
He breathed hard, his nostrils flared, his eyes bright. “I tried, Arizona. God knows I did.”
She started to tell him to go to hell, but his mouth landed on hers, not tentative, not gentle, but hungry and demanding.
Suddenly on fire, she groaned her approval and clenched her hands on his shoulders.
He stroked down her back to her rear, lifted her up and pulled her in snug against his erection. Against her lips, he said, “I need you, Arizona. Right now.”
Ah, now this was what she’d wanted. She could handle the overwhelming physical stuff better than all that knee-weakening emotion or, God forbid, his nobility. “You have a funny way of showing it.”
“I’m sorry.” He lifted her completely off her feet, and she just naturally wrapped her legs around his waist. “Arizona…”
“I’ve got you now.” She knotted her fingers in his damp hair and said with carnal demand, “Kiss me again.”
“I will.” He licked her neck, drew her skin in against his teeth. “But, remember, you have to trust me.”
“I do.” She moaned, squeezed him tighter. When had her neck gotten so damned sensitive? “If you even think about—”
“I won’t.” And then, resigned to his fate: “I can’t.” He kissed her mouth again, devouring her, his tongue bold.
He tasted so incredibly good that Arizona didn’t realize he’d headed for the bedroom until he stretched out on the mattress, her atop him. Since her legs had been around him, she ended up straddling him, her knees pulled up along his sides.
Keeping one hand on her head, he moved the other down her spine—and into her underwear.
Startled, she made to straighten her legs, but he said, “No, leave them open. Let me touch you.” And then with a growl, “I need to touch you.”
Everything inside her clenched. “Yeah, okay.” But because the idea of him touching her there excited her so much, she took his mouth again.
Nothing could be as nice as kissing Spencer.
And true, she did have a few twinges of trepidation. But they were nothing compared to the searing urge to get closer to him, to taste more of him, to learn his body and feel him, all over.
He kept stroking her bottom, leisurely touching her as if he enjoyed her skin—right up until he delved down, his fingertips playing between her legs, over her sex.
Gasping, she freed her mouth and arched her back.
He murmured, “You’re wet.”
“Yeah,” she said with wonder. When she looked down, she found him staring at her intently. Gazes locked, he pressed in one finger.
Oh…wow.
Who knew? She all but panted, amazed at how that felt. “That’s…” But she didn’t have words.
Spencer slid his free hand over her thigh, pulling her leg up higher along his hip. “Scoot up so I can get to your nipples.”
Um…she didn’t think she could do that. If it weren’t for her stiffened arms keeping her over him, she’d collapse in a boneless heap of sensation.
“Arizona. Come on, baby. Scoot up here.”
“I can’t.”
“I’ll help.” He took his fingers from her, making her moan, and clasped her waist. “I sort of cut corners on this anyway.”
“This?”
“Enjoying you. Doing things right.” He gave her a crooked and very sexual smile. “A man should always start at the top and work his way down. But you threw me off, standing there in the doorway all but naked.”
“You are naked.”
“Because you stole my towel.” He cupped one breast, ran his thumb over her stiffened nipple. She felt the jolt of it all through her body. “Since you want to be on top, this is how we’ll do it,” he told her while watching the play of his hand at her breast. “Come here.”
On a groan, she slowly leaned forward, closer, her body tensed and her heart thundering. Knowing what he would do and so eager to feel it, she leaned in—ahhhh.
Without teasing, with no prelude, his hot mouth closed over her, drawing her in, sucking on her gently. Her lashes sank down and her lips parted. “Oh, God, Spencer. That is so…”
“What?” He licked, circling his tongue around her, kissed her nipple one last time and switched to the other breast to start sucking again.
“Awesome.” No wonder people chose to do this. Okay, so she’d expected it to be nice, but she hadn’t expected this.
When his hand went back into her panties, his fingers back between her legs, it was almost too much.
The intensifying ache built, growing and ebbing like a tide, making her gasp and rock against him. Tighter and tighter, until she thought she might break—and wanted to.
Eyes squeezed shut, teeth clenched, she groaned in mounting frustration and acute need.
Suddenly Spencer moved her back.
It startled her, his abrupt withdrawal, and she inhaled a broken breath. Confused, she stared at him. “What’s the matter?”
“I need a condom, honey. Now.” He lifted her off him and sat up to rummage in the bedside drawer.
A little lost, turbulent sensation still churning through her, Arizona rested there on her knees. Spencer had his broad, muscled back to her as he took care of business, and then he turned toward her again. “Let’s get rid of these panties.”
She swallowed hard. “Okay. Sounds like a plan.” She started to push them down, but he moved her hands away.
“Let me.” He eased her to her back on the mattress, saying, “I know you don’t want me over you, so don’t worry. But I’m going to enjoy removing them a lot more than you will.”
She didn’t understand him. How could he be so calm when she was so urgent? “Will you get on with it?”
“No.” Lazily studying her everywhere from below her chin to above her knees, he opened his hand over her belly. “You are incredibly stacked, Arizona, without a single flaw anywhere. I’ve never seen a woman so damned…perfect.”
She snorted at that. She knew she was about as far from perfect as a human being could get.
He ignored her sound of disagreement, saying, “But even if you weren’t so gorgeous, I’d still want you.”
“Really?” Then why wouldn’t he end the frustration?
Palming each breast, he toyed with her nipples, making her crazed. “Absolutely.” He went back to her belly, then lower, cupping his hand between her legs. He closed his eyes a moment. “You’re appealing in ways you don’t even realize.”
She’d have asked for details, but with his fingers touching her, she couldn’t think straight, much less talk.
He opened his eyes again. “But seeing you like this now, how drop-dead sexy you are, is a nice bonus.”
“I think you’re pretty damned sexy, too.” She twisted under his teasing hand and gasped out, “I guess big alpha studs really do it for me.”
His gaze flickered up to hers for just a moment. “All alphas, huh?”
No way. Was he actually comparing himself to Jackson? “I can’t see me being drawn to a wimp. But the fact that I bullied you into this says that you’re different, right?”
“I guess it does.” Staring down at her, his gaze intent, he moved her thighs farther apart. “Will it bother you if I bend down to here—” he traced a fingertip around and over the crotch of her panties “—to kiss you?”
Her toes curled again, her throat tightened in expectation. Shaking her head, she gasped, “Knock yourself out.”
Another crooked smile, and then, “Thank you. I think I will.” Bending, he nuzzled his nose against her, breathing in deeply of her scent before opening his mouth over her.
Through the thin barrier of her panties, she felt his hot breath and then the press of his hotter tongue. It made her a little crazed. Her thighs fell open more. “That’s… Yeah.” Biting off a ripe moan, she tipped back her head and stared at the ceiling, happy to absorb this new experience.
“I’ve been dying to taste you,” he said in a guttural voice thick with need.
“I didn’t expect…” What? Any of this? Or more to the point, the impact of it on her senses.
He drew his teeth carefully over her, and her back arched on a sharp ache. He soothed with his tongue, and the moan broke free.
Turning his face, Spencer took a soft love bite of her inner thigh. “I think we better put this on hold.”
“Damn you, Spencer.” Only half jesting, she said, “I own both a knife and a gun, you know!”
He disregarded her implied threat. “Sorry, but with you, now, I’m high on need and short on control. I can’t do this.” With a growl, he kissed her thigh, her hip bone. “Not without ending up over you, and possibly dredging up a bad memory.” A second later, he whisked her panties down and off her legs. “And not while I need you so much.”
Bummer. She should have kept her big mouth shut about that little issue of hers. Maybe it wouldn’t even have mattered. Maybe with Spencer—
In a rush, he sat up against the headboard and caught her wrist. “Ready?”
She turned her head toward him. “For what, exactly?”
“You laid out the rules, honey, so I need you to ride me.”
Oh. Right. Boy, that sounded super-sexy.
She licked her lips in anticipation and moved up over him again. She’d been so close, all that pulsing pleasure escalating toward something monumental. But she didn’t begrudge him this.
Of course he wanted to get off. When it came right down to it, he was still just a man.
He helped her to settle over him.
Heart rapping madly, she braced herself with her knees outside his hips, her hands on his hard shoulders.
Opening her with his fingers, he guided himself to her.
Thinking of his size, she swallowed, preparing, knowing he’d thrust up into her, bracing for it…
But Spencer stopped. When she opened her eyes to look at him again, he gave her a tender smile. “Arizona?”
Her throat tightened more, but she managed to say, “Hmm?”
“Will you kiss me?”
Yeah, kissing would help. Sometimes, when she kissed Spencer, she forgot everything else.
“Okay, sure.” She leaned down to him. Any second now he’d be deep inside her. Would it hurt?
She didn’t think it’d be too bad, because seconds after that he’d be done.
A little pain? No big deal. She couldn’t wait to have him fill her up. But she didn’t want it to end, not yet, not so soon.
Taking her mouth in a deep but gentle kiss, he began slowly rocking into her. She would have gasped, but he had his tongue in her mouth, one hand on the back of her head keeping her close, the other on her hip, guiding her.
He took his own sweet time about it, too, easing into her, teasing her with the slowness of it, making her want him deep, forcing her to groan again in frustration.
Yup, as a really big guy, he was…proportionate in all ways.
But it was actually pretty wonderful, more so than she’d ever imagined. No pain, just sweet, sharp pleasure.
As he filled her up and then some, she squeezed without meaning to and drank his groan of pleasure. Deeper, deeper, until he’d buried himself inside her.
Indescribable.
Unfamiliar. Exciting.
New and hot.
She freed her mouth and whispered, “Ohmigod, that’s…” She breathed hard.
Spencer kept his dark, glittering gaze locked on hers. “I want your mouth, Arizona. Don’t stop kissing me.”
“Okay. But don’t you want to—”
“Not yet.”
His mouth was wonderful; he kissed her in ways she’d never known, in ways that…involved her. Pleased her.
It felt more about her than she’d known was possible. He kept kissing her more and more, as if he couldn’t get enough, couldn’t give enough.
He was inside her, yet he didn’t thrust. No loss of control. No rush to the finish line.
Except to cuddle her breasts and stroke her skin and make her insane with those drugging kisses, he didn’t move at all.
When she moaned, he finally freed her mouth, but only to kiss her throat, her shoulder.
How the heck could that be so wonderful?
He lifted her breast and closed his mouth over her nipple again, tugging hotly, teasing with his tongue and then with his teeth.
All those remarkable, wonderful aches deepened, building up, expanding, until she had to move.
And when she did, Spencer helped her, clasping her hips and guiding her so that she rode him just right, pulling away and then sinking down again, getting all of him on each long stroke.
Heat rose from their bodies. They both breathed harder and faster, moved harder and faster.
And through it all, Spencer touched her, watched her, encouraged her.
Focused on her.
That was so new—and so exciting.
Her eyes closed and her fingertips sank into his shoulders. “Don’t you dare stop again.”
“I won’t.” With both hands on her breasts, he teased her nipples, his gentle touch making her wilder, hotter. “I could look at you like this all day.”
All day? No way. “I can’t…” Her thighs strained and her body clenched around him. The pleasure peaked—and ebbed. Oh, God, oh, God. “I need…” Something. Her thundering heartbeat rocked her body. “Spencer…”
“Shh. It’s okay. I’m going to help you.” He slipped a hand between their bodies, his fingers sliding over her wet sex until he touched her clitoris.
“Right here, Arizona?” He watched her face and smiled. “Yes. Right here.”
Crying out, she rode him hard as she sought release. He found a rhythm that sent her heartbeat skyrocketing. She tried to be quiet and couldn’t. She tried to center on him and couldn’t. Everything narrowed, spiked.
His voice rough, Spencer whispered, “I want you to come for me, Arizona.”
And amazingly enough, she did.