discussion.
Her voice was low and husky with raw desire as she said, “I stopped drinking four hours ago.”
His eyes scrutinized her. “Then you’re sure?” he pressed, giving her every chance to shut him down.
“Let me think.” Kari pretended to give his question serious consideration. That lasted exactly one second. “Yeah, I’m sure,” she told him with feeling.
“Good,” he pronounced.
That was all he wanted to hear—to be sure that he wasn’t just taking advantage of her or the moment, that he wasn’t pressuring her into something she wasn’t fully prepared for. Had she opted to walk away, he wasn’t certain what he would have done to cope with her rejection. He knew only that he would have had to deal with it somehow.
But he was very grateful he wasn’t going to have to find out how.
Even so, Kari had managed to awaken a hunger in him that hadn’t reared its head in so long that he couldn’t remember it—the last time he’d actually been with a woman. But Esteban forced himself to rein in his eagerness. He made himself go slowly so that they could both savor the moment, rather than making love as if they were swirling about on the outer funnel of a twister, forced to blast through it before they were both unceremoniously thrown to the ground. That way wouldn’t have been memorable, only fast.
He wanted it to be memorable.
And perforce Esteban had no intentions of taking her right here, by the front door, even though his body was more than ready to do just that.
Instead, his mouth still sealed to hers, his desire for her so red-hot it was almost sizzling, he began to move backward, forcing her to match him step for step, going in small, measured steps that would eventually lead them into his bedroom.
And while the unorthodox two-step was going on, he was undressing her, coaxing the silvery straps off her slender shoulders, tugging the shimmery material down her upper torso.
When the top portion of her dress had dipped to her waist, she felt Esteban’s mouth curving against hers. He was smiling, she realized incredulously.
“What?” she breathed, wanting to know what could have made him respond this way. Was he smiling? Or was he actually laughing at her?
She didn’t want to believe the latter.
“Just as I thought,” she heard him murmur as his palms cupped her breasts. “You’re not wearing a bra.”
Her eyes met his and he saw a positive wickedness come into the blue orbits. Her laugh was low and sultry and instantly wove itself underneath his skin, tantalizing him.
“That’s not all I’m not wearing,” she whispered just before her lips returned to his.
She’d fallen behind in the war on clothes and worked now to make up for it, pulling his jacket off his wide shoulders, then going on to attack his jeans, unbuckling, unbuttoning and pushing the denim down his taut hips and off his thighs.
She heard him catch his breath, felt his anticipation as it throbbed through his loins.
Her pulse accelerated as she felt her own anticipation heightening.
They’d made their way into the middle of the living room, a trail of his clothing marking the path. He had yet to explore the meaning behind her statement about more missing articles of clothing.
Steeling himself, holding tightly on to his last shred of control, Esteban pulled her dress farther down her torso, easing the fabric along her hips to discover that the thong he expected to see on her was nowhere to be found.
“Commando,” he murmured, referring to her lack of underwear.
“Seemed somehow appropriate,” she said, her breath hot along his skin, pushing him to the brink and then over.
Sweeping her up into his arms, his mouth sealed to hers again, he carried Kari to his bedroom.
Gently depositing her on his rumpled gray comforter, he slid his body down next to hers, never fully breaking their contact or the rhythm they had achieved.
His very blood heating within him, Esteban kissed her over and over again, growing more and more excited with each and every pass.
He caressed her body, his touch gentle, his fingers spread out as if he were committing all parts of her to memory as quickly as he could. He could almost feel the flames of desire licking his body as he pressed it closer to hers.
Wanting to absorb her very essence, to almost devour her, he kissed her face, her eyes, her throat, her shoulders. Sampling, teasing, arousing, he worked his way down along her breasts, her waist, her navel.
His