Deeper Than Need (37 page)

That was all she said.

But it was all they needed.

His eyes closed, and if she wasn’t mistaken his body went even harder, the heat of him practically blasting her. She went to curl her hands around his shoulders, desperate to feel that hot, heavy length against her, but he caught her wrists, guiding them down to her sides.

“Then let’s get you naked.” He murmured the words against her neck, sending yet another shiver through her.

Closing her hands into fists, she waited as he sought out the zipper along the side of her dress. Apparently, getting a woman out of her clothes was a skill he’d picked up on in that misbegotten youth of his and he just never lost the knack, because the dress was gone in seconds and she stood in front of him, wearing a strapless bra and the petticoat.

“Now, now,” he muttered, his voice smoky and hot. His gaze slid up to hers, lingered for a moment before returning to skim all over her as his hands tangled in the insane ruffles and flounces of the petticoat. A sly, hungry grin curled his lips as he cupped her butt through the thin material, tucking her tight against him. She felt him, the hard outline of his cock, throbbing against her belly, and she groaned, curling her hands into his waistband. He continued to toy with the petticoat. “Just what do we have here?”

“You want to discuss my wardrobe or get naked?” She tugged at the hem of his shirt. “You’re wearing more than I am.”

He let her drag the shirt away, but before she could do much more than spread her hands across the wide shelf of his chest he caught her back against him.

She wiggled back. “You’re moving too slow,” she muttered, practically gaping at him. That chest of his, the light dusting of hair and the hard, heavy muscles. She’d tried, really she had, not to drool over the way he looked working on her house, but it was almost impossible not to notice. Reaching up, she gripped his arms, her fingers biting into the swell of his biceps. “You’re entirely too beautiful, you know that?”

A dull flush settled across his cheeks and he caught her around the waist, boosting her up.

Startled, she cried out and wrapped her arms around him as her feet left the ground. Heart pounding in her chest, she watched as he leaned in and pressed his lips to the slope of one breast. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “Way too beautiful. You drive me insane … your hair, the way you smile, the way you move … everything.”

*   *   *

She shivered when he touched her.

She shivered. She whimpered. She arched against him. She sighed.

Every little thing he did made her react and it was driving him nuts.

Noah loved it.

It was almost enough to distract him from the fact that his hands were shaking as he dragged the petticoat down over her hips, leaving her clad in nothing but two strips of black—her bra and the panties.

Going to his knees in front of her, he eased the petticoat away and tossed it off to the side. Once it was out of the way, instead of standing up, he leaned in and pressed his lips to her belly.

Her hands gripped his shoulders, her nails biting into his flesh.

He cupped her butt in his hands and went to his knees before her, shuddering as the scent of her, the feel of her flooded his senses. This … this was something he could get drunk on, he decided. He could lose himself in her and never regret a moment of it.

He traced the line of her panties with his tongue and felt the muscles of her abdomen quiver under his touch.

“I’m going to collapse if you keep doing things like that,” she said, her voice hoarse.

“If you do, I’ll catch you.”

She laughed breathlessly, her hair falling down around her face as she stared down at him. He wanted to see her spread out on the bed, her hair around her, nothing between them.

Rising, he twined one hand in her hair and arched her head back, lowering his mouth to hers.

The feel of her, nearly naked against him, was almost his undoing.

“I don’t think I’m going to be very patient,” he muttered against her lips.

She chuckled and cupped his face in her hands. “I’ll believe that when I see it. Patient is your middle name, isn’t it?”

“No.” He sank his teeth into her lower lip. “No, it’s not.”

Just then, he thought Hunger might be. Hunger felt like it was his entire
being
.
Hunger
 …
desperation
 …
need
. Banding an arm around her waist, he spun around and fell back on the bed, catching her weight with his own. Her elbows landed on the bed on either side of his head, her hair falling around them. He pushed one hand into it, staring into her eyes as he arched his hips into the cradle of hers. With his free hand he gripped her hip, held her steady.

Her lashes fluttered down.

“No,” he whispered. “Look at me. I need to see you.”

She opened her eyes and stared at him. “You’re still wearing too many clothes,” she said, rocking against him.

“Self-preservation,” he said. His entire existence had narrowed down to one simple thing … this. She was nearly naked, and through the scrap of her panties and his own clothes he could feel the heat of her.

“Self-preservation?” She looked at him, a grin flirting with her lips, hovering just a breath away.

“Hmmm.” He shifted, working his hand between them, slipping his fingers past the fragile shield of her panties, then … inside
her.…

Her mouth opened on a gasp.

She was slick, slick and swollen, and as long as he could manage to bring her pleasure, all would be right with his world. The tight little knot of her clitoris pulsed as he stroked it and then, as he pushed one finger inside her, she arched and sat up, her spine bowing as she started to rock against him, riding his hand—the exact way he wanted to see her riding him.

Behind the confiding, restricting denim of his jeans, his cock throbbed, aching and insistent, but he ignored it.

This first … he had to do this first, because he had a feeling he might last all of sixty seconds. If he was lucky.

She reached up and shoved her hair back, staring down at where he stroked her, her teeth catching her lower lip as she rocked back and forth. Her skin shone like ivory silk against the black of her bra, but he wanted to see her naked, her breasts bare for him. Stroking his other hand up, he teased the soft skin just above the cups and waited for her gaze to return to his.

“Take it off…?”

She shuddered and then she reached back. Seconds later, the bra fell away and he stared at the sweet curves of her breasts, as perfect as he’d imagined, full and soft, her nipples almost the same shade as her lips, puckered and tight. He ached to taste her there, but for now he fisted his hand in the bedclothes so he didn’t tug her back down to him.

He didn’t want miss a moment of this—not a sight, not a sound, not a sigh.

She rocked against him, faster, the movements of her hips all but frantic, and then abruptly she stopped, shaking her head. “No,” she said, surging forward, planting her elbows on the bed and staring down into his eyes. “With you. I want to go over with you.”

“I’m going to have all the finesse of a teenager,” he said, shuddering as her sheath convulsed around him.

“That sounds about how I feel, so I’m good with that.”

Before he had any idea what she was up to, she rolled away from him and moved to the side of the bed.

A smile curved her lips upward as she hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her panties and stripped them down.

“You’re still wearing too many clothes, Noah.”

There was no way the man could be that perfect.

Trinity didn’t see how it was possible, but he absolutely was.

He sat up, watching her with hooded, hungry eyes for a long moment, and then he glanced down.

Her heart skipped a good five beats when he slipped his fingers into his mouth and licked them. His lids drooped over his eyes, a hungry growl escaping him as his fingers slid free. And he watched her the entire time. He was a threat to the female population. A threat to her sanity, with the way he looked at her now.

He came to his feet slowly, uncurling to his full height to stand before her. He cupped her face in his hands, bowed his head. Pressing his brow to hers, he said gruffly, “This is probably a very bad time to think of this … but I never really have to think about it. I don’t have anything with me.”

She smiled and rested her hands against his chest. “Well, I never have much reason to think about it, either, but I’ve got an IUD. I’ve used one since I had Micah. Is there anything besides pregnancy we should discuss? I know I’m okay.”

He pressed his lips to her temple, trailed them down along her cheek, her jawbone, angling her head back as he continued to rain kisses down her neck. She shivered as he cupped her hips, drawing her snug against him. “No,” he said quietly. “But we both know, this isn’t just sex. This isn’t just a one time thing. I want you … and I want you always.”

Always.

Her heart ached as she tipped her head back to stare at him. “Here I was thinking you were a patient man.”

“I told you what I felt when I saw you—that very first time. I don’t think waiting most of my life for you means I’m not patient.”

She reached between them, seeking out the button of his jeans. “Well, seeing as how I feel the same way, yeah,
always
sounds good to me, too.”

His eyes held hers as she dragged the zipper down. The sound of him stripping out of his clothing was the only sound in the room and then, as her blood roared in her ears, he straightened and pulled her against him, his cock a brand against her belly.

A heavy, thick brand.

Her mouth went dry as he nudged her back onto the bed and came down between her thighs. One hand fisted in her hair, holding her still as his mouth crushed against hers—it was a breath-stealing, consuming kiss that left her heart racing, and by the time it ended she was clutching at his shoulders, her knees gripping his hips as she rocked against him, all but desperate to have him inside her.

She was so wet that he slid slick against her, and that was a torturous caress that would drive her out of her
mind
. She knew it would. Shaking, she shoved her hands into his hair and focused on his face.

She was so empty she ached.

Then he was there, the head of his cock poised at the entrance of her gate. Trinity felt her heart knock against her lungs and she sucked in one desperate breath after another.

She let go of him with one hand, reaching down to twist her fingers in the sheets, her eyes closing as she braced herself.

His hand cupped her chin. “No,” he said, squeezing gently. “Watch me. Let me watch you.”

She whimpered but forced her lashes to lift, staring up at him as he started to sink inside. Thick and heavy, hard and hot, stretching her … oh, so slowly …

*   *   *

She was sweet and silken and wet as rain, and Noah knew one thing and one thing alone. Nothing this side of heaven felt as good as making love to Trinity. Pleasure shot down his spine, already drawing his sac tight against him, and if he made it a minute he was going to be surprised.

There was nothing in his life that had felt like this. Nothing.

Seeking out her hand, he twined their fingers and pressed his palm to hers, desperate for another connection.

The silken fist of her sex tightened around his shaft, resisting him, and he withdrew with a groan. A dismayed cry escaped her and he surged back in, shuddering as the soft tissues relaxed just a fraction. The sweet, wet heat all but grabbed at him, milking his cock, and he gritted his teeth as the sensation sent fiery little licks of pleasure racing through him. Her legs came up, wrapping around him, and the sound of his name on her lips was like glory.

“Please,” she whispered when he pulled out.

His entire body shuddered, trembled. Against his chest, the hard, tight points of her nipples scraped against him. He let go of her hand, stroked his palm along the inside of her arm, higher, until he could cup her breast in his hand. He plumped it soft and full, in his palm and lifted it until he could catch the bud between his teeth.

She tensed under him, the muscles of her sex gripping him, tighter, tighter—a low, broken moan escaped him. She twisted her hips and surged, moving against him, harder, her hands diving into his hair and tugging him down. Desperate words, hardly making any sense, fell from her lips and he didn’t care what she was saying; he only felt her need and it fed his own. Sweat slicked their bodies as he fused their mouths together, driving into her slick, waiting channel.

The muscles in her sex gripped him tighter, rippling around him.

He was going to break if she did that one more—

She arched up and came with a broken cry, her body working against his, her hips slamming up, hard and fast, and Noah stopped trying to cling to the threads of whatever control he had.

Banding his arms around her, he drove into her … and lost himself.

*   *   *

Silence wrapped around them.

She smiled against his chest as he toyed with her hair.

She smelled of him.

She felt bruised and sore and every single second had been worth it.

Although she hated it, Trinity knew she had to get up soon.

He stroked a hand down her back.

“If I tell you that I’m in love with you, are you going to think I’ve lost my mind?” he asked, his voice drowsy.

She turned her face into his chest, muffling her giggle.

He swatted her on the butt. “A guy tells you he loves you, you aren’t supposed to laugh.”

She tugged on his chest hair and lifted her head, grinning up at him in the dim light. She wished they could turn on the lights, but knowing her luck, somebody would see it and call the cops; nobody was supposed to be here yet. She’d already figured out that much about small-town life. Everybody knew everybody’s business and nobody minded their own.

Propping her elbow on his shoulder, she eyed him in the dark and smiled. “I was kind of thinking something along those lines, but I was also wondering if you’d think I’d gotten all female on you.”