Conflicted (Everlasting Love)(53)

She started to apologize but there was nothing left to say. It really was too little, too late.

She lowered her head and turned to leave, regret and exhaustion dragging at her. Then he moved, one hand tugging her against him while his other hand thrust into her hair and pulled her head back for his kiss. He was starving, ravenous, completely out of control as his mouth ravished hers. He parted her lips without waiting for an invitation, his tongue sliding over and around hers. Tasting, testing, rediscovering all of her secrets.

And she let him, pressing herself against him, opening herself to him completely. This is what she’d craved for so long, what she’d needed all those lonely nights when she’d lain in bed waiting in vain for him to come to her. The passion, the connection, the sense of rightness that came only with being in his arms.

“I need you, Desiree,” he muttered, his lips skimming over her cheek, down to the hollow of her throat, then lower. He cupped her breasts in his hands, bent his head and took a nipple into his mouth.

Desiree moaned, her hands clasping his head and locking him to her as she arched her back and offered herself to him. “I need you, too.”

His tongue circled the hard bud again and again before he began to suckle her in a rhythm guaranteed to drive her completely out of her mind. “Please,” she cried, her lower body moving restlessly against his.

He lifted his head for a moment, his grin darkly wicked as he surveyed her wild eyes and quivering body. “Please what?” he demanded, leaning forward and licking the hollow of her throat, his tongue stroking in rhythm to her pounding heart.

Desiree’s knees buckled and she grabbed on to Jesse to keep from falling. “No more,” she gasped, her hands clutching his shoulders tightly. “I need you inside me. Now.”

He dropped to his knees in front of her, softly parting her silky folds. Before she could prepare herself, he’d leaned forward and thrust his tongue into her.

She screamed, her knees turning to jelly instantly. She would have fallen without the support of the wall behind her and Jesse’s lithe strength in front of her. He held her pinned to the wall as he devoured her, his tongue stroking her from the inside out. Sensations bombarded her one after another—the cold tile behind her, Jesse’s hot mouth on and inside her, the steaming water streaming over her. It was too much and she came, screaming Jesse’s name as tears poured down her cheeks.

“I can’t wait any longer,” he muttered as he stood, lifting and pressing her against the wall in one smooth move.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he ordered, and she complied, still desperate for him despite the mind-blowing release he had given her. His mouth captured hers and she tasted herself on his lips as need arrowed violently through her.

Jesse reached down, cupped her bottom in his huge, hot hands. “Now,” he gasped, burying himself inside her with one powerful thrust.

She closed her eyes, completely overwhelmed with the sense of joy and rightness that came with having him inside of her after so long an absence. She wanted to stay like this forever, wrapped around him with no intention of ever letting go.

Then he moved, thrusting powerfully into her, and everything scattered, fading away until her entire reality was centered on Jesse and the incredible pleasure he was giving her. She moaned, her head thrashing restlessly against the shower wall as she met him thrust for thrust.

“Jesse, please—” she gasped, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him as close as she possibly could. “I can’t take any more. I can’t—”

He took her lips in a kiss designed to send her straight over the edge. At the same time, he slipped a hand between them and stroked her, once, twice. She exploded on the third pass of his thumb, her body arching against his as a violent release swept through her.

Jesse rode her through it, his body moving faster and faster against hers until, with a groan, he flooded her. His release went on and on, long and powerful.

Desiree watched Jesse return to himself, could tell the exact moment that everything came roaring back. The gleam in his eyes disappeared, as did the grin curving his mouth. With a grimace, he settled her feet back on the shower floor before turning away.

“Don’t,” she whispered as he reached for the soap.

“Don’t what?” he asked remotely, as he lathered up a washcloth and began running it briskly over his body.

“Don’t turn away from me. Not now, not yet.”

His sigh was heavy as he stepped aside to let her take a turn under the cascading water. “We keep doing this.”

“Doing what?” She stared at him, confused.

“Using sex to gloss over our problems. We’ve been doing it for years, Desiree, and it’s held our marriage together despite our differences.”

“Is that so bad?” She reached a tentative hand out to him, shocked when he actually let her touch him.

“It is when nothing gets solved. We’re right back where we’ve been so many times before.”

“It doesn’t have to be like that.”

“Doesn’t it?” He sounded more tired than she had ever heard him. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

“I want to know how to fix this.” She shut off the water then turned to face him, terror coursing through her as she laid everything on the line. “I want you to stay with me.”