what she needed, and he seemed to know it.
He moved lower then, shattering her thoughts as he drew one tightened nipple into his mouth, sucking hard before lapping at her gently, then scraping her with his teeth, a little bit rough. She squirmed, unable to keep back the hoarse cry that broke through her lips. It was the combination. That sweet, almost deferential touch that paid homage to her inexperience combined with the more challenging elements—scrapes of his teeth against her skin, hot, roughly spoken words that made her shiver at the erotic promise in them.
He continued to blaze a trail down her stomach, to that tender skin just beneath her bellybutton, where he paused, tracing a lazy circle there before dipping his head lower, his breath hot over that bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs.
He groaned as he nuzzled her aching body, then pressed his lips to the most intimate part of her. She arched up against him, not sure if she was trying to get closer, or get away. Knowing about something intellectually was a lot different than actually experiencing something. Exposing yourself to something so intimate was different than anything. She didn’t have a single thing she could compare this to. This surrender of herself, of her inhibitions—of which she had plenty.
But with each pass of his tongue, a few more were stripped away as her arousal was wrenched up higher, impossibly so—she cared less and less about anything except what Gage could do to her with his mouth and his hands. He was holding tightly to her hips, holding her to his mouth so that he could control the pressure and the speed with which he ravished her.
Pretty soon, she wasn’t worried about anything except the promised pleasure that he hinted at with each wicked taste. She found herself moving in time with him as best she could, even though he was holding her so tight it was difficult to move at all. She liked that too. Enjoyed the evidence of his strength, of how large and male he was. How different he was from her.
He released his hold on her with one hand, sliding it between her thighs and pushing one finger deep inside of her, then another as he stretched her gently, thrusting into her in time with each pass of his tongue over her clit.
Something began to fracture in her chest, breaking her apart piece by piece. It was horrible, and wonderful, blinding and completely overwhelming. She felt herself splintering, shattering, starting near her heart and moving on down, deep and low, the resulting damage causing answering waves to begin to swell inside of her.
She tried to fight it, tried to hold herself back, digging her heels into the mattress as the pressure built and built until she could barely breathe. She was fighting a losing battle to hold the pieces of herself together, even though the damage had already been done. And when she dissolved, she wondered why she had ever tried to stay whole.
Because being broken and sobbing in Gage’s arms, reaching this peak of pleasure that rivaled anything she had ever fantasized about, made her controlled, rigid existence seem so dry, so very small. Like she’d been living in one room when all she had to do was open the door to find the freedom she’d always craved.
As the aftershocks continued to shudder through her, Gage moved away, right when she needed to cling to him. He moved to the edge of the bed, opened his nightstand drawer and pulled out a box of condoms.
“Hold tight,” he said, his voice strange.
“Okay,” she responded, because she wasn’t really sure what else to say. It wasn’t like she was going to get up and run out of the room now, even if part of her wanted to. She was too... Well, she was boneless for one. For another, she wasn’t going to go this far without taking it all the way.
While he took care of the protection, she closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the package tearing, fighting against the anxiety starting to chase around inside of her.
Then, he moved back to her, positioning himself between her thighs. He gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, turning her face and pressing a kiss to her lips. She kept her eyes closed.
He moved his hand back down between her legs, stroking her a couple of times, groaning when he found her wet.
“I’ll try to go slow,” he