placed one kiss on the high point of her cheekbone and another on the tender skin at the corner of her eye. Then he kissed the bow of her lips and the curve of her jawbone, and trailed a string of kisses down her neck that set off a chain reaction where every nerve sparked under her skin.
He was kissing her alive like the prince in a fairy tale—only princes were never this hot. Princes were boys, pale and slender and gentlemanly. This was a man—a highwayman storming the ramparts to steal the princess’s heart.
She tilted back her head, opening herself to more kisses and closing her eyes to shut out the room around them. She felt only the warmth of the embers, the heat of his touch, and darkness, deep delicious darkness, all around them. He kissed the curve of her breast just above the scooped neck of her tank top and she had to resist the urge to reach up and tug it down. She felt a strange urge to bare her throat like an animal in heat.
A low noise in his throat echoed the urge and she arched her back so her skin pressed against his lips. Gently, he tugged the neck of her top down and kissed his way down the curve, pulling the fabric away as he went and only stopping when his lips fastened over her nipple and his tongue flicked out to touch it.
She flexed her hips as he tightened his lips and sucked, pulling all the resistance out of her and leaving only need. She reached down and hooked her thumbs in his belt loops, snugging his hips against her and letting loose with a sinuous motion that left no doubt in either of their minds as to where this was headed.
Opening her eyes, she looked down to see his rough, stubbled jaw shadowing the smooth skin of her breast. Her squirming had hauled the yoga pants down on her hips until they barely covered her, leaving a long stretch of bare belly exposed.
Lane moved one big hand down to trace the stretched waistband, his fingers grazing the untouched skin just above the danger zone and sending ripples of pleasure from her belly to her core. She tugged at his belt loops, but that wasn’t getting her anywhere. She reached for his belt buckle, surprised to find a simple metal clasp.
“No prize buckle,” she said.
“The prize is inside,” he murmured against her breast.
She made quick work of the buckle and the fly and slid her fingers over the thin cotton beneath, feeling the outline of his cock hard under her hand. He made a strangled noise and shimmied her yoga pants further down, then slid his fingers under the stretched cotton and grazed her curls. She gasped. He was getting ahead of her. She hadn’t done enough for him yet. Grabbing his wrist, she pinned it to the sofa and worked her hand around the length of him, opening her eyes to watch his face.
His eyes were narrowed. “Are we still keeping score?”
Caught. He was right. She was still thinking that way.
“I’m not trying to win,” she said. “I’m just trying to keep things even.”
He smiled. “You’re always trying to win, sugar.”
He kissed her again, harder this time, and his hand slid into her panties. Her thighs turned to jelly, her stomach to sweet warm syrup as her body opened and warmed to him. She closed her eyes and let the world wash away again, leaving only his touch and his kiss and the soft flicker of firelight in the depths of her subconscious.
***
Lane felt the thrill of triumph rising in his chest and knew his brain was slipping into competition mode. He was calculating his moves, gauging his chances, sensing Sarah beneath him like a rider feels the bull.
That was no way to treat a woman. Sex wasn’t a contest to be won. Not with Sarah. It was something to share, a give-and-take, a blending of minds and hearts.
He looked down into her face. What worked for her? What would give her pleasure? What would make her arch and sigh and finally surrender? What would make her his?
No. Scratch that last thought. He didn’t want to tame her; he wanted to make her love him.
He stroked the slick sweet heart of her, watching her face, seeing the flickers of pleasure and ecstasy on her face, and then something almost like pain crossed her features. She bit her lip and opened her