Paradise Valley (Virgin River #7)(66)

“I’m telling you—”

She put her small hand against his cheek and just gently shook her head. “No,” she whispered. “No, you won’t.”

He glazed over. His hand covered hers while he looked into her eyes, took in that small, soft, pink mouth, inhaled her scent, imagined… And then before he knew what was happening, he grabbed fistfuls of her thick, long hair and pulled her mouth onto his, eating her mouth, devouring her, moaning in the back of his throat while he invaded her with his tongue and allowed hers into his mouth. That taste—it was the taste he remembered, dreamt of. And he couldn’t stop. He snapped. His hands went from her hair to her back, to her br**sts, down to her butt, around to the front, grabbing her in that vee that joined her legs. “Jesus, this can’t happen,” he whispered against her mouth even as he was pulling apart her jacket and lifting her sweater. “Can’t,” he said, unhooking her bra and filling his hand and then his mouth with her breast.

Liz shifted her weight, making it easier for him to touch her, kiss her. While he roughly suckled, she kissed his temple, his ear, ran her fingers through his hair, buried her lips in his neck, inhaling him, tasting him, murmuring to him that she needed him, loved him, wanted him. This wasn’t the way it usually was between them—he was desperate and fast now, not sweet and slow. She didn’t care—he was touching her again and what that meant to her was that he didn’t really want them apart. Maybe he thought it would be smart or wise for them to break up, but it wasn’t right.

His hands grabbed the snap on her jeans, ripped it open, ran down the zipper and then slid down down down. A deep growl rumbled in his throat and he was back on her mouth. “Oh God, that’s good,” he muttered. “Good, so good….”

“Oh, Rick,” she said in a breath.

“Take them off,” he said against her lips. “Take them off!”

“Ricky, in the car? Like this?”

“Not the first time, Liz. Off,” he commanded. “You have to. Come on!”

And he was tugging at her jeans, his thumbs hooked into the waistband. She put her hands over his and stopped him. She looked into his wild eyes for a moment and then slowly helped him draw down her jeans. She kicked off her shoes, lifted her legs and slid them off. She still had her panties on, but as panties go, they weren’t much—just a tiny thong that barely covered her and wouldn’t keep him out. And they didn’t—his hand was instantly inside her panties, then inside her. She sucked in a breath, trying not to dissolve against his touch, but it caused him to moan.

And then his hands were fumbling with his own pants, undoing the belt, unsnapping, struggling with the zipper while he was in a sitting position.

“Here,” she said gently. “Let me.” She drew the zipper down easily and set him free.

He grabbed her h*ps and pulled her over him and then he stopped. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Oh God, Liz…”

“It’s okay,” she whispered back, kissing him softly. “Okay, I know…”

And then he pulled aside that small, silk thong and lowered her down on him.

“Your leg—” she said.

“Nah, it’s okay. Like this, it’s okay. Ahhh,” he said. And then he started to pump his h*ps with rising ferocity. He grabbed the back of her head, pulled her mouth down to his, kissed her deep and hard and exploded inside her with a muted growl. He thought he’d never stop, he was caught in such a long, desperate orgasm. And she just held him, let him ride it out, kissing him. And finally he began to relax beneath her, though he was panting as if he’d run a mile.

“God,” he whispered. “No condom. Great.”

She smoothed her hand along the hair at his temple. “I’ve been on the pill for a couple of years, Rick. Since the baby…. We’ll be all right.”

“I think I just lost my mind.” He looked up into her eyes, saw her soft smile. “I didn’t even make you come.”

“You seemed in kind of a hurry.”

“Was I rough on you?”

“It’s okay,” she said, which was the same as yes. “You don’t know which end is up right now.”

“But did I hurt you?”

She shook her head.

He squeezed her bare behind in his hands. “See, this just can’t happen….”

She laughed softly. “It’s happened plenty of times. Not exactly like that. If that had been our first time, I might not have loved it. But it wasn’t our first time.”

His hand caressed her hair. “Liz, I’m no good for you, baby. You have to listen to me.”

She shook her head. “We’ll get through this.”

He sighed. He’d certainly screwed that up. Came with her to tell her she had to give up this idea of them and then ripped her clothes off. “Come on, let’s get you dressed. And home. I should get home myself, before I do any more crazy, stupid, painful things to you.”

“Rick…”

“Please, Liz,” he said, fastening his pants, helping her into her jeans. Then he held her face in his hands. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore. You have to hear this—what I need right now is a time-out from us…. Can’t you see, Liz? I can’t be part of a couple.”