The Hero (Thunder Point #3)(56)

And he heard her softly laugh right before she claimed his mouth again.

He felt like a randy teenage boy, wondering how far she would go, how far he should go. He unsnapped her jeans and with his hands on her hips, began to push them down. She lifted her h*ps a bit to help and in spite of himself, he growled deep in his throat. When she kicked off the jeans, his hand instantly went to her panty-covered crotch while he dove at her neck, licking, sucking, moaning. She was a little damp and he thought, Yes!

With no more thoughts of an inexperienced teenager, he pulled her shirt up and away, made the bra disappear and slid those panties off. Holding her br**sts in his hands, he licked one, then the other, his hand parked on her mound, one finger sliding a little deeper, massaging, circling, testing.

So ready...

He felt her tugging at his jeans and he said, “Got it,” and stripped off his clothes as quickly as he could. He gave his throbbing member a rub and she brushed his hands away and put her own on him. That growl came out of him again and he pulled her close. “Oh,” she said. Then she said, “Mmm,” and massaged him, gently at first, then with more strength.

He rose over her, took her mouth in a long, deep kiss and said, “I meant to go slowly for you.”

“We can go slowly later.”

He smiled. “You think so, huh?”

“I want to feel you inside.”

He rolled away briefly, just long enough to reach into the bedside table and get a condom. He had it applied in record time and he was over her again, pushing her down onto the bed, edging her legs apart with a knee, probing gently. And then he pushed inside in one long, slow, fluid motion. He held still inside her, listening to her breathing—deep and rapid. She dug her heels into the bed and pushed against him.

He brushed her hair back from her forehead. “Okay?”

“Very okay.” She wiggled a little bit beneath him.

Okay, he thought. And he began to move, slowly at first, holding her mouth, then her nipple, then the other nipple, sliding in and out. He grabbed her butt and shifted their angle so that he’d be connecting with her clitoris; he picked up speed and she began to moan and gasp loudly, fiercely, gripping his shoulders, digging her nails into him, riding him as he rode her. “Come for me, baby. Come for me.”

She threw her head back, her eyes rolled back, she pushed against him so powerfully she nearly lifted him, and it came. She closed around him, pulsing, drowning him in liquid heat. “Like that,” he whispered. “Just like that.” He kept at her until the pulsing slowly ebbed, until she began to relax beneath him, and then he went after her with all the passion he’d been storing, three, four, five hard strokes.... And he was overcome. His eyes watered; he ground his teeth; he throbbed himself empty. It was beyond what he had remembered.

He held himself over her, mindful not to crush her with his weight. It took a few moments for him to catch his breath, to open his eyes, to see her smiling up at him.

“Like that,” she whispered. She smoothed her hand from his cheek to his neck. “Just like that.”

He smiled at her. “We did that pretty well for a first time.”

“My toes curled,” she said. “I think maybe I had a blackout.”

He laughed. “You all right?”

“I’m very all right. You?”

“I’m going to probably be a pest now,” he warned her. “It’s going to be even harder to be away from you.”

“That’s okay, Spencer. I’m happiest when we’re together.”

* * *

Spencer pulled the cover over them and Devon lay in his arms, her head against his shoulder. She’d been so worried, so nervous, and she needn’t have been. Spencer loved her in a way that made her feel crazed with desire and yet cherished. She turned her head and looked up at him. “Spencer, what does it mean to you when you make love with someone?”

He seemed to consider this for a moment. “Do you want the real honest answer?”

“Of course! Please!”

“Well,” he said, gently stroking her back, running his fingers down her spine, “in younger days, before I found a woman I wanted to commit to, it meant pleasure. It meant getting deeper, excuse the pun.”

She couldn’t help it, she giggled a little.

“I hear there are a lot of dogs out there who will sleep with any woman. I was never cursed...or blessed...with that quality. Sex was always important to me. Meaningful. I always hoped I’d found someone I could love with a purpose. It didn’t always work out for me, and it wasn’t always my choice, either. I had some short flings where I wasn’t the right man for her. I had a few longer affairs that sputtered out and it was no one’s fault.”

“And with me?” she boldly asked.

“I think you know.” He leaned over and kissed her brow. “I’m falling in love with you.”

“Isn’t it a bit soon for that?”

“Soon? We’ve known each other two months. I painted your kitchen. I don’t go around painting kitchens for women I don’t care about. I’ve been alternately trying to stay away from you and trying to get closer to you since June.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “You were trying to stay away from me?”

“I wasn’t exactly successful at that....”