finding and following the lines of her collarbones with his thumbs, and trailing his knuckles lightly down the lengths of her arms.
She left her palms turned upward and exposed to him. It was probably an unnecessary statement, given the openness of the rest of her body, but she’d wanted them both to know: she was choosing to trust him.
He wasn’t a stranger anymore, and she didn’t intend for this to be a one-night stand. If he walked away now, if he turned a critical eye on her body, he would hurt her.
Still, she lay there, the vulnerable, sensitive cups of her hands pale beneath the stroke of those golden fingers. His body a cage around hers, on hands and knees, he leaned forward and nuzzled into her right palm. Pressed a soft kiss there.
Then he trailed that sharp-edged jaw, ever so slightly rough at this point in the day, back up her arm, and rubbed into her neck until she actually giggled.
She could feel him smile against her skin, and she was done lying still. His shoulders and triceps passed beneath her hands, his skin warm and smooth, every muscle obvious and delineated in a way hers were not and had never been. The light dusting of hair across his upper chest, dark golden and springy, she petted. His nipples she lightly thumbed to peaks, smiling herself as he arched over her and breathed out hard.
Then she was stroking down his belly, solid and flat and bisected by more crisp hair, and suddenly, he wasn’t quite so leisurely anymore.
He sat back on his heels, between her legs. Her exploring hands he nudged aside with a murmur of apology, something about how long it had been, and how little restraint he had left. His own hands swept upward, until he was cupping her breasts for the first time. They spilled out of his gentle hold, too big for containment, and he gave a little pleased-sounding hum.
“So soft.” It was a murmur, as if to himself.
With his thumbs, he was circling her areolae, watching the smooth skin furl in response. Then the pads of those thumbs were feathery on her nipples, brushing back and forth as her legs involuntarily parted further.
Hunkering down again, he rubbed the near-stubble on his jaw over the upper swells of her breasts. She gasped, and then his mouth was hot on her nipple, sucking, teasing, flicking, playing with the faintest hint of a tooth’s edge, as his fingers plucked the other. He switched, and she shifted again. Arched up against his mouth, greedy for more pressure.
Breast play had never much interested her, to be honest, but the sensation was electric now, her lower belly turning heavy and liquid. He didn’t linger, though, maybe because his breath was growing as short as hers.
After a minute, he was dragging that jaw down again, down more, and then his breath teased through her coarse hair. When he parted her with his fingers, she squirmed, the cool air and anticipation both unbearable. He made a low, amused noise, and she wanted to smack him, but she wanted his mouth on her more, so she waited tensely.
The bastard blew on her clit, a stream of cool air, and he was going to pay at some point in the future for that. She was trembling by then with the need to raise her hips to that teasing mouth, to fist her fingers in his hair and shove his face exactly where she wanted it.
Then he licked her, unhurried and thorough, and she moaned instead. Loudly.
His arms were heavy on her thighs and hips, holding her in place as he settled down and got to work. His tongue was as strong and sensitive and agile as the rest of him, and God, his unrelenting patience as he flicked and sucked and nosed through her slickness—
“Fuck,” she whispered, delving her fingers through his hair, clutching his shoulders. “Marcus—”
At the sound of his name, he sucked on her clit a little harder, and she couldn’t stay still. When her hips lifted, he held her down, held her in place, forced her to accept his pace with the unrelenting strength of his arms. None of it hurt, nothing, but she wasn’t going anywhere, not unless he wanted her to, even though she was so much bigger than him.
The force of that knowledge whited out her brain for a moment, and she whimpered.
He lifted his head for a moment, raising himself up on his arms enough to make