Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(46)

He lowered his hands down her body until his fingers tangled with hers. Then he took a step back, tugging her along with him. He dropped one hand but kept firm hold on the other as he turned and headed toward the bedroom.

She hesitated a moment and he nearly cursed. Damn it, he’d lost her. She’d changed her mind, and it was nothing more than an impulsive declaration made in the heat of the moment.

“What about the others?”

Relief was instant. She wasn’t backing out.

“They know better than to disturb me. They’ll do their own thing until such time as I tell them differently.”

He touched her face, softly stroking the line of her cheekbone. “Trust me, Grace.”

Her eyes warmed and the blue became darker.

“I do trust you.”

He squeezed her hand and then continued the rest of the way to the bedroom.

The awkwardness once they were behind the closed door was unfamiliar. Most of his liaisons, if you could call them that, were fast. Night out, ending in a hotel room. He usually bugged out the next day on assignment.

He liked to blow off steam as well as the next guy but he’d never let sex or a woman interfere with his job. What the hell was he supposed to do when the woman was the job?

And she wasn’t just any woman. She wasn’t someone he wanted to f**k to quick orgasm and then roll out of bed and into his combat boots.

He wanted to take his time, lavish her with the attention she deserved. He wanted to touch and taste every single inch of her beautiful body. But more than that, he wanted to slide into her mind and fill it with beautiful things to replace all the evil she’d been exposed to.

She tugged her hand from his and looked away, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. She looked hesitant and adorably shy, and it made him want to pull her into his arms and promise her the world.

“Grace.”

She glanced up, her chin wobbling just a bit.

“I’m going to undress you, but you need to tell me if that’s okay. If you want me out of my clothes first so you don’t feel at a disadvantage, I can do that. You tell me what you need and I’ll make sure it’s done.”

Her brow furrowed and she looked genuinely perplexed. It was then he realized that the thing he could do most for her was to simply take control so she felt secure at all times.

Without waiting for an answer, he moved in and slid his hands underneath the hem of her shirt. His palms skimmed over her lean belly and upward, dragging the shirt with him.

“Lift your arms.”

Slowly she raisle isdo ed her arms and he pulled the shirt over her head. His gaze was riveted to the soft swells of her br**sts. So plump and delectable. Perfectly feminine. She was thin from weight loss, which made her br**sts seem even plumper on her small frame. They were a perfect size, just enough to fill his hand.

And her ni**les were a delicious pink. Soft around the nipple and then hard and erect, puckered and just begging for his mouth.

She started to cover herself self-consciously, but he put out a hand to stop her.

“Don’t. You’re beautiful, Grace. So very beautiful. You have nothing to hide. Certainly not from me.”

Her smile was wavering but her eyes lit up. She stared at him like he was the only man in the world. Like he was somebody damn special.

He fumbled with her pants and pushed downward until they bunched at her ankles.

“Sit down on the edge of the bed,” he directed.

He held on to her hand so she didn’t trip as she took the few steps back. Once she was perched on the edge, he pulled the pants off.

She was only in a simple pair of white cotton panties, but she rocked them like they were Victoria’s Secret’s sexiest lingerie.

“Lie back,” he said in a husky voice.

Slowly she reclined until she was on her back, her hair splayed out around her. Her legs still dangled from the bed, her toes just grazing the floor.

He slid his hands up her legs, starting at her knees and working up to her hips. Then when his thumbs slipped under the band of her underwear, he leaned down and kissed the shallow indention of her navel.

She shivered and chill bumps dusted a fine layer over her skin.

Slowly, he eased the panties over her hips, uncovering the dark curls at the apex of her thighs. He continued sliding them down until they were free and he dropped them onto the floor.

He found her gaze again, read the stark vulnerability shining back at him.

“I’m going to love you, Grace. I’m going to taste you and touch you and I’m going to make you feel so very good. But you have to tell me if I ever do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Promise me that.”

“I promise,” she whispered.

He kissed one knee and then the other. Then he slid his hand between them and nudged them apart. He enjoyed the silky expanse of skin on the insides of her thighs. So satiny. His palms glided toward the juncture, spreading her wider as he went until her soft woman’s flesh lay open and glistening before him.

Reverently, he lowered his mouth, dying to have his lips on her. Just wanting her taste on his tongue.

Gently, he opened her farther, using the pads of his thumbs. She shivered uncontrollably, her legs tightening. He stroked her a moment, content to explore the soft folds.

He touched her clitoris, just a simple touch, and then followed it with a firmer caress. This time, her hips lifted and her hands balled into fists at her sides.