Adrian caught her without thinking.

The instant her cheek touched his bare chest, electricity danced between them.

There had always been sparks when they touched, but this was different. A sort of magic seemed to shimmer across her skin where she touched him.

“Adrian…” She looked up at him with soft eyes.

He felt something tearing in his chest, as if his heart were trying to rip itself out of his body to join hers.

The million reasons why he shouldn’t be with her skittered uselessly across his mind, like raindrops flying off the windshield of a speeding car. His reservations were so easily brushed away by the tickle of her hair against his shoulder, the sound of her breath, the feeling of her, warm and safe in his arms at last.

She reached out a tentative hand to stroke his cheek.

They both gasped as a rainbow of sparks arced between them.

The sensation was painless, a tingle of warmth, nothing more.

It was his heart that was breaking.

Because Adrian Harkness would be unable to restrain himself tonight.

And if he’d thought that alienating a client was a bad beginning, he was going to end his evening by making love to a woman who was one hundred percent off-limits. A woman he cared about deeply.

“Adrian,” she breathed. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

That was mostly true. He thought about his three hundredth moon. Was that the cause? He wasn’t sure what was happening - it all felt like some sort of spell. For all he knew, it was a dream.

Her hazel eyes flashed almost green and he was instantly lost in their depths.

He leaned in closer, hypnotized by her beauty.

She tilted her chin upward, as if to beg for his kiss.

He surrendered with a groan, brushing his lips against hers, maddening himself with the gentle contact.

She sighed and he thumbed her jaw open further, kissing her in earnest now, his tongue stroking hers as he felt her go weak in his arms.

When she whimpered, he carried her over to the bed and placed her down gently.

Moonlight streamed through the windows, bathing her in a soft haze. Her lips were swollen from his kisses, and she gazed up at him with a hauntingly hungry expression.

Don’t sleep with her, Adrian. Don’t ruin everything.

But he couldn’t stop.

He crawled into bed next to her, lying on his side, stroking her cheek.

How many times had he longed to cup her sweet face in his hands?

A thousand tiny pinpoints of light danced between them.

She closed her eyes and turned to brush her lips across his hand.

His body responded instantly to her innocent touch, his cock suddenly straining against his jeans.

He slid his hand away from her mouth in a trail of rosy flames, following her ribcage, the curve of her generous hip, then sliding over to rest on her belly.

She held her breath and he wondered if she was anticipating his next move, or holding her stomach in. He hoped it was the former. It would pain him to think that there was some part of herself that she didn’t want him to touch.

He wanted to know all of her - every secret, every detail, each hair on her head.

When she reached up to kiss him, he couldn’t resist her. He kissed her back like his life depended on it.

The sweet sounds she made excited him terribly. It was almost impossible not to press himself against her hip to assuage the pounding ache a little.

But he was determined not to make love to her until after she had gotten her pleasure. Though some powerful magic was bringing them together, he wouldn’t take her until he knew she wanted him, not just relief from the waves of desire that buffeted them both.

Lucy arched her back, pressing her breasts against his chest. He could feel her nipples even through her clothing.

Again, he was nearly overwhelmed with the need to claim her.

He took a breath instead and kissed his way down to the base of her throat.

She sighed and moved her hair aside to give him better access.

He slid one hand down to slowly pop open the buttons on her shirt. When it was completely open, he nuzzled her cleavage then slipped a finger underneath the satiny cup of her bra to release a nipple.

Lucy whimpered softly.

He released the other and drew back slightly to look at her.

Her dark lashes kissed her pink cheeks as she looked down shyly.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, reaching down to unbutton her pants.

She lifted her hips so that he could slide them down to her ankles, then he peeled her clothing off until she lay before him in nothing but her bra and panties, nipples peeking out saucily at him.

“Lucy,” he said.

She looked up at him and her eyes almost seemed to glow.

But he was speechless in the face of her beauty, and he could say no more.

“Adrian.” She reached for him, her tone pleading.

“I’ll help you,” he promised her, crawling on top of her to kiss her cheeks, her eyelids.

Lucy wrapped her hands around his biceps, sinking her nails into his skin, and making him wild with need.

He kissed a trail down her neck and the sweet smooth skin of her chest until he reached her breasts.

She was holding her breath again.

He smiled, loving that she was eager for his touch. He would teach her to never long for anything else.

Gently, so gently, he brushed her nipple with his lips.

She gasped in response.

He took it in his mouth, licking and sucking, extending his hand to toy with the other one.

After a few minutes he felt her hips tilting up to him as if to beg for more.

She was ready.

He kissed his way down her belly, rubbed his face against the smooth satin of her panties.

“Adrian,” she whispered.

“Good girl,” he whispered back into the warmth he could feel through the thin fabric. “Oh, so good.”

She smelled like heaven, the panther inside him roared in satisfaction.

She moaned and he was afraid he would lose his resolve and take her right then.

But he managed to close his eyes and count to ten.

When he opened them he saw the damp spot on her panties where he had been nuzzling and felt a corresponding jolt in his own groin.

He traced his finger down the wet satin, glorying in the needy sounds she made.

When he slid his fingers under the waistband of her panties, she lifted her hips obediently for him to whisk them off.

He wanted to take his time, tease her and himself, to go so slowly they both went mad.

But the moment she was bare to him, he was plunging his tongue against her opening, drinking in her exquisite scent and the spicy sweet taste of her.

Lucy made sounds that told him she was beside herself with lust.

He slid a finger against her and pressed inside, delirious with her warmth and the way she tightened around his finger, crying out plaintively.

Adrian couldn’t resist sliding his other hand up to part her folds, find the throbbing little nub that needed his help, and worry it with his tongue.

Lucy stilled and then began to shiver with need.

God, was there ever anything so sexy as sweet Lucy Wren going to pieces on his tongue and fingers?

He redoubled his efforts, licking her clit hard and fast, sliding his finger further inside to massage the most responsive areas.

“Oh,” she cried out once. And then she was climaxing, her quivering thighs tightening around his jaws.

When it was over she let her head fall back down on the pillow and laughed.

The happy sound was more beautiful to his ears than any symphony.

He crawled up beside her again, ignoring the frantic demands of his own body to run a hand through her hair, see her smiling eyes, and know that what he had done was the right thing because it had made her happy.