a pair of the panties he had bought for her, simple and white. He knotted both fists in the material and yanked it down.
“Say no if you need to,” he said. “Say it now.”
“God, no!” she exclaimed. Then, when he reared back his head, her face flooded with sensual laughter. “I meant I’m saying no to no… Damn it, yes.”
That was all he needed. The waistband of her skirt was elastic. He yanked that down too. Her body was beautifully made everywhere, the bone structure graceful and flowing. He rubbed his face in the tuft of tawny hair at the juncture between her thighs, inhaling her unique, feminine scent before exploring her with gentle, greedy fingers.
The breath left her hard, and the silken wetness of arousal coated his fingers. Wordlessly, he urged her to drape a leg across one of his shoulders. When she complied, it opened her up to him, and it was everything he had wanted over the past ten days, everything he had thought about.
She cried out when he put his mouth on her and licked along the tender, soft petals of her intimate flesh with careful urgency. Locating her clitoris, he suckled, teased, and stroked while inserting a finger into her tight sheath. He was ravenous for every inch of her, for every response.
“Josiah!”
he said in her head.
“Then do it,” she growled, yanking at his hair. “Get up here!”
he purred.
She swore, and he laughed and licked her harder until she hung over him and the slender muscles of her inner thighs trembled.
“It’s too intense,” she moaned. “I can’t take it.”
he told her.
As he talked, he inserted another finger, stretching her gently and then fucking her with his hand to the same rhythm of his words.
“I can’t do it,” she whispered unsteadily. “I-I’ve got to lie down.”
As she spoke, she listed to one side, then caught herself with a jerk.
Bed. What an excellent idea. He stood and swept her into his arms. “Where?”
She pointed to an open doorway. As he strode into a shadowed, simple bedroom with a double bed and two nightstands, a waft of fresh air blew in from the open french windows in the living room.
A lifetime of habit proved impossible to shake. Kneeling on the mattress, he eased her down onto it. “I’ll be right back.”
She nodded. The dark sparkle of her gaze followed him as he walked out. In the living room, he turned on a wall air conditioner and moved to secure the windows and pull the blinds into place. Then, unable to leave it at that, he cast quick spells over the windows and the door, enough to sound an alert if they were disturbed.
When he strode back into the bedroom, he found her sitting up in bed, arms wrapped around her knees. After a slight pause, he yanked off his tie, stripped off his suit jacket, and sat beside her.
“I’ve missed your protection spells.”
He absorbed that. “Not the basement though, eh?”
“No, not the basement.” She rested her cheek on one knee, her face angled toward him.
In the space of time it had taken him to secure the cottage, something critical had changed. He thought to ask what was wrong, but it seemed too heavy-handed in the delicate atmosphere. Instead, he stroked her back, waiting.
“I needed to see you,” he said in a quiet voice. “I didn’t welcome it, but I needed it.”
“Same here,” she whispered.
She hadn’t said no, or that she had changed her mind, so he stripped off his shirt, removed his socks and shoes, and stretched out on the bed. It felt as if he was putting down something he had been carrying for a very long time, and he let out a long sigh.
Playing the tips of his fingers down her spine, he said, “Or, if you want me to, I can go.”
She shook her head, and a lock of her hair fell over her eyes. “No, I want you to stay. I have something I need to tell you, but I don’t want to talk about