Deep River Promise (Alaska Homecoming #2) - Jackie Ashenden Page 0,52

against her mouth, releasing her hair and pushing her hands away. “No touching.”

“But I want to—”

“No.” He cupped her face between his palms, staring down into her glittering eyes. “Astrid, honey, if you touch me like that, it’ll be over in minutes. And you deserve better than minutes.” He stroked the soft skin over her cheekbones with his thumbs. “You want to just be a woman? Then let me make you feel like one.”

She took a little breath, leaning into his hands, then sighed. “Okay.”

He brushed a kiss over her mouth, then released her. “Lift your arms.”

She obeyed without hesitation and he reached for the hem of her silky blue T-shirt, pulling it up and off her, leaving her sitting on the desktop in only a white lacy bra and jeans.

She shivered, an expression he couldn’t quite read rippling over her lovely features.

Was that uncertainty? Discomfort? If so, he needed to know because he didn’t want her feeling either of those things.

“You okay?” He put his hands on her hips, letting his touch ground her, his thumbs gently stroking the soft exposed skin just above the waistband of her jeans. “You need to tell me if anything’s a problem.”

“I will.” She lifted her hands and put them on his chest again. “Nothing’s a problem and I’m okay.”

He studied her face, but there was only heat in her gaze now, whatever uncertainty there had been before dissipating. For the slightest of seconds he debated asking her about it, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment, and besides, it was clear she was with him.

So he took an instant to look at her, because she was as beautiful as he’d thought she’d be, her skin pale as fresh cream, and then he smiled, letting her see how much he was enjoying the sight of her. “Beautiful,” he murmured. “You’re beautiful, Astrid.”

She flushed and he couldn’t resist another kiss. Her mouth opened beneath his like a flower to the sun, and again the taste of her filled him. God, delicious.

He stroked her, letting his hands trail up and down her sides, loving how she shivered in response. And then, when she was breathing faster, harder, he reached behind her, undoing the catch of her bra, pulling the material away from her.

She sighed and leaned against him, and he ran his hands up her back, tracing the curve of her spine, her body so warm and silky it made his already aching groin ache even more.

There was nothing hesitant in her now, and as he kissed his way down her jaw, she shivered, gasping a little as he found a sensitive vein at the side of her neck and followed it with his mouth, licking and nipping.

Her skin tasted delicious, as delicious as that kiss, and felt even better, and when he filled his hands with the soft weight of her breasts, she gasped again. Her nipples were hard and tight, pressing against his palms, and he circled them with his thumbs, making her groan.

She was so responsive, arching into his hands, her arms tight around his neck. Her golden lashes were half-lowered, her mouth red and swollen from his kisses. A beautiful sight. He caught it in his memory and held it fast. Because he wouldn’t have it again, he knew that much.

This moment was for her, but he could take something for himself. He hadn’t realized how good it felt to have someone need him the way she did.

He kissed her throat, tasting the pulse that beat wild and frantic under her skin, then he bent her back over one arm, trailing kisses over her chest, down to the curve of one breast, teasing her hard nipple with his tongue. She gasped his name, arching her back, and when he took that nipple into his mouth, sucking gently, she moaned.

Her fingers threaded into his hair, holding on tight, as if she didn’t want to let him go, and he could feel his own heartbeat racing, his breath catching, the pull of desire inside him becoming more intense, more demanding.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d wanted a woman as intensely as he wanted her. She was like a flame in his hands, scorching him, filling him with wonder and awe.

Astrid James was a bonfire, and no one knew that but him.

He turned his attention to her other breast, covering the tip of it with his mouth and sucking, nipping gently as he slipped one hand down to the fastenings of her