his restraint that made her the rest-of-the-way sure.
“Take me to bed,” she said, licking the line of his jaw. “Punish me there if you have to.”
“If I get you to bed, the punishment is finished. Pleasure takes over.”
“Oh, God.”
He laughed, the devil satisfied with his wickedness. Then he had her up, off the couch. She didn’t remember the walk to the bedroom. Inside, it was as she expected, lit by more candles, the wavering light as unsteady as her pulse. The bed looked huge, the covers already turned back. Her eyes were trained on it as she heard him say, “Strip.”
Her gaze jumped to his. He grinned at her, the devil gone back to the deep blue sea, perhaps, leaving Gage behind. Her Gage. “Subtle,” she said, chiding him.
He lifted his hands. “I’m afraid these might do damage to that pretty little piece of temptation.”
But he had to get involved anyway, because Skye couldn’t manage the hidden back zipper herself. After a moment of watching her struggle, he strode over and bent his head to kiss her shoulder as his deft fingers ably managed to draw down the metal tab.
He chased her newly bared skin with his mouth, all the way to the dip at the small of her back. On his knees, he gently pulled the cloth until it fell at her feet. He nuzzled at the dimples above her panty-covered bottom.
Next he insinuated his tongue just beneath the top elastic band of the undergarment and worked its soft wetness from the side of one hip to the other.
“Oh, God,” Skye said again, fervent.
Then Gage was standing again, and it was she who was off her feet, her back against the cool sheets, his body coming down beside hers. Elbows bracketing her head, Gage devoted himself to kissing her. Skye sought for purchase in a world gone hot and sweet and topsy-turvy. One hand clutched at the sheets, another gripped the waistband of his linen trousers. Her right leg twined over him, trying to bring him closer.
He pulled back, his face gone serious, and quickly jerked off his pants and boxers. Then there was nothing between his body and her but the candlelight, licking over the hollows and curves. His sex was fully aroused, thick and aggressive, and she took a breath, prepared to push back the panic. But it didn’t arrive.
Because Gage was there, his concentrated gaze studying her face, gauging her reaction. “I’m between you and your nightmares,” he’d said that day while painting her living room, and she believed now that it was true.
“I’m okay,” she said, feeling a little shy about the admission. “I’m okay.”
It was Gage’s turn to be fervent. “Thank the Lord.” But still, he was careful as he lay down beside her.
She turned into his body, wanting to feel its heat and masculine intent. Though he didn’t rush to the next level. It was as if they’d started all over again, delicate kisses to her face, tender strokes of his tongue into her mouth, the lightest of brushes of his big hands over her breasts.
She arched into him, silently begging for more, and he gave it, sliding down to lick at her breasts and suck at her nipples and tickle her belly with soft caresses of his tongue. He drew the scrap of her panties down her legs and then he was between her thighs, his elbows widening them, his thumbs exploring the furrow of her sex.
“Oh,” Skye said, jerking onto her elbows in sudden alarm. “Well. Um.”
He glanced up. “Yum? My thought exactly.”
Her face burned. “Gage,” she protested.
“Skye.” He sighed a little, his breath brushing across the wetness that was seeping from her. “If you must, look at this as part of the punishment.”
“What?”
“Or the pleasure,” he said, and bent his head.
She fell back to the pillows at the first stroke of his tongue. Her body seemed to coil, one sharp, quick twist taking her all the way to the precipice. He laved the pleated layers of her, opening her flesh so that all the secrets there were uncovered as she panted to stave off the imminent explosion. His thumbs slid over liquid-glazed softness, working to reveal her most sensitive point. It throbbed, exposed to the air and to his eyes, and again Skye waited for fear or vulnerability to steal her pleasure.
But nothing could do that, not when it was Gage who was looking on her as if he’d found hidden treasure. His tongue flattened over her clitoris and she