A Moment in Time (39 page)

      
This woman was even more powerful in the light of day than she had been last night.
 
He wanted and needed her more than he'd ever imagined possible.
 
The thought gave him pause, made him wonder about the significance of these feelings, and how she would fit into his plans for the future.

      
And, heaven help him, he wanted her to be a part of that future.
 
He considered stopping her so they could talk, but she slithered against him again and rational thought fled.
 
There was no stopping this now.

      
She draped herself across him and he only wanted to roll her over and bury himself inside her.
 
He knew she wanted him, too.
 
In fact, he'd never made love to a more responsive woman than Jackie Clarke.

      
If she were any more responsive, he'd be dead by now.

      
She kissed her way lower, sliding her silken legs between his as the velvet peaks of her breasts brushed against the tense muscles of his abdomen, teasing and enticing.
 
Realization slammed into him like a runaway train and Cole groaned–yearning blended with apprehension.
 
He wasn't sure if he was worried she would or worried she might change her mind and leave him wondering.
 
The only certainty in his life right now was that he was incapable of preventing her from doing anything she wanted.
 
Anything at all.

      
And he liked that feeling.
 
A lot.

      
She kissed the responsive skin of his inner thighs, teased every inch of him except that one part–the part of him that thrust upward from his body, throbbing and burning like a lit fuse.

      
She nuzzled the base of his engorgement.
 
He'd never seen such an incredible sight, and he stared, transfixed, reveling in her purposeful explorations.
 
Mesmerized, he couldn't have looked away for anything.

      
She tormented him with kisses along the entire length of his rigid member.
 
He couldn't take any more.
 
She was driving him crazier than she already had.
 
"Jackie..."
 
But rather than push her away, he laced his fingers through her fiery locks, telling himself he could coax her into ceasing this bedevilment for the sake of shared ecstasy.
 
There was also the matter of his questionable survival if she continued much longer.

      
But continue she did.

      
She'd said she would have her way with him, but she should've warned him that it might be dangerous.
 
Her tongue slid higher and higher until he believed he might expire right here.
 
Right now.

      
But just as he convinced himself he had the strength and fortitude to stop her, she claimed his aching tip and he was as defenseless as a pine in a forest fire.
 
He made a choking sound and gnashed his teeth, praying he could maintain enough control to delay the inevitable.

      
She glanced up at him, her gray eyes sparkling like silver in the dappled sunlight.
 
Cole's composure steadily crumbled, dragging him closer and closer to gratification.
 
He should make her stop.

      
I'm weak.
 
Barely breathing, he endured her special brand of persecution.
 
Soon, he would pass his breaking point.
 
But just a few more minutes...

      
He couldn't stop staring at her and what she was doing to his extremely eager body.
 
Her lashes were long and black, her cheeks pink.
 
Her naked breasts caressed his thighs, reminding him how desperately he wanted to touch and taste her.

      
Remembering the intensity of her response to him last night, he surged toward the point of no return.
 
Dangerously close.
 
His breathing sounded raspy and he closed his eyes.
 
Her technique grew more reckless, shaking him back to reality.
 
He couldn't wait another minute.
 

      
He gripped her shoulders and pulled her away from him, firmly but gently.
 
Drawing huge gulps of air, he grappled for command.
 
Grinning, she ran her tongue along her lower lip.
 

      
She really was trying to kill him.
 
"Now it's
my
turn," he muttered, rising from the hard boulder with one arm wrapped around her waist.
 
He grabbed the quilt and tossed it to the ground on a bed of pine needles, then kicked one corner until it was relatively flat.

      
He fell to the quilt, tugging her down with him.
 
She covered his mouth with hers, kissing him wildly.
 
Growling, he rolled until she was beneath him and he found her breast, brushing his thumb against her puckered nipple.
 
She shuddered and moaned and he dragged his mouth from hers, fastening his lips to her breast.

      
Ravenous, he consumed her.
 
She writhed and arched against him, driving him to drink more deeply.
 
More, always more.
 
Raw, savage need pierced him, burning deep within Cole.

      
Pushing himself up onto his elbows, he gazed into her passion-glazed eyes.
 
She looked like a beautiful, wild creature.
 
Her firm breasts rose and fell enticingly with her ragged breathing.

      
He reclaimed her mouth, parting her lips with his tongue.
 
Jackie's tongue probed his in return, converting his blood to molten ore.
 
Desperation coursed through him.
 
She'd unleashed a wild yearning from deep within him–something he'd never known before.

      
And the spirit of his flesh–and hers–would rule.

      
He tore his mouth from hers, gasping for air.
 
She pressed her hand to the back of his neck, urging him toward her breasts again.
 
Without delay, he hungrily claimed one swollen nipple.

      
She moaned and writhed with need as his onslaught continued.
 
Her sweet breasts swelled and filled his mouth.
 
He needed her, wanted her, had to have her.
 
But he was hell- bent on giving her as much torture and pleasure as she'd shown him.

      
Jackie realized she'd unleashed a dangerous animal.
 
This was the same man she'd made love with last night, but he was far less reserved today.
 

      
And she
liked
it.

      
He stroked her belly with his hand and found the concentration of nerves between her thighs, caressing her until she quivered.
 
Releasing her nipple, he moved up her body again, covering her mouth with his.

      
Flames claimed her as he mercilessly brought her body to the brink of orgasm.
 
She whimpered again–he was the only man who'd ever reduced her to whimpering–and contorted beneath his skillful touch.

      
She clung to him as his mouth possessed hers and his talented fingers invaded her most private place.
 
Every cell in her body became his toy, his possession.
 
For an interminable twinkling, the world ceased to exist.
 
She wanted
him
.
 
Nothing more.
 
Nothing less.

      
Again, he broke their kiss, then licked his way back down her throat, lingering at her collarbone as his hand continued to inflict mounting pleasure.
 
He reclaimed her sensitive nipples, torturing her beyond any reasonable level of endurance.

      
"Please, Cole?"

      
"Not yet," he murmured against her.
 
Ruthlessly, he possessed her breasts, first one then the other, with his tongue and teeth.
 

      
Her only defense against his delicious ravishment was to give in turn.
 
She reached for his erection, finding him still hard and ready.
 
Her insides clenched as he filled her with his thick fingers and her hips came off the quilt.

      
Hungrily, she wrapped her hand around him.
 
"So hot," she whispered.
 
"Hot."

      
"Mmm."
 

      
Swollen, starving flesh pressed against flesh.
 
She coiled into a tense spring, on the verge of snapping.
 
Reality ceased.
 
Every curve, every hollow, every nerve of Jackie's body sprang to life in a new, raw version of its former self.
 
Cole staked his claim with his mouth and hands.
 
Kissing his way down her belly, he replaced his fingers with his hot, wet mouth.
 

      
"Have mercy," she whispered, and he chuckled against her, the vibration zeroing in on her hormones with amazing accuracy.

      
She was on fire.
 
This was a primal, basic, and undeniable hunger.
 
He forced her to yield to her most carnal and animalistic desires.
 
She left the ground as her senses coalesced and erupted.

      
Unintelligible moans of torment, bliss and desire bubbled up from her.
 
She groaned, growled, cried out, but he persisted.
 
Only he could end this madness, and she knew he wanted her as desperately as she wanted him.

      
She'd never known that something that felt so wonderful could actually become torture.
 
But this was indeed torture.
 
Someone had to give.
 
She sensed his mounting frustration, his inner battle to maintain control.

      
As her spasms subsided, he released her and crept up her body again, pinning her beneath him.
 
She couldn't think of anyplace she'd rather be.

      
"I want you inside me," she whispered, tilting her hips toward his.
 
"All of you."

      
With a low growl, he came into her hot and fast and fierce, filling her.
 
Claiming her.

      
"Have mercy," she muttered, shocked all over again by the size of this man.
 

      
Whoever said size doesn't matter had lied.

      
The depth and completeness of his possession stole her breath.
 
She took every delicious inch of him, wrapping her legs around his waist, angling her hips to allow even more thorough penetration.

      
Their bodies brutalized the other in their quest, striving to give and to take.
 
Their hunger possessed them like a glorious, unrelenting madness.
 

      
Love-lust aflame, the crashing of swells against the seashore.
 
This was everything–the only thing.
 
Swept away to another world–a place where time ceased to exist–they rocked against each other.
 
Seeking.
 
Giving.
 
Taking.

      
She'd never felt so full, so complete.
 
Jackie grew hotter, her muscles constricted, her body craved more yet could take no more.
 
Cole's movements became more urgent, almost punishing, and she was a glutton for his method of punishment.

      
A kaleidoscope of colors burst before her eyes with yet another wondrous explosion.
 
After Cole Morrison, she would be ruined for any other man.

      
But she would never want another man.

      
He tensed and exploded within her.
 
His blistering heat filled her, claimed her.

      
And, God help her, she knew she would never be the same.