the cotton t-shirt slid up over her thighs to expose her naked sex beneath. The air was chilly on her damp curls. She shivered, the spasm sending tingles of pleasure through her entire body.
“I want to kiss you all over. I’m going to put my hands all over you.”
Her entire body tingled and sang. She could touch herself and send herself over the edge, but she thought listening to him talk about how he’d make love to her might just do the trick without any help from her.
“Do you want that?”
“Hmmm.”
“Do you want me to come over, Arden?”
“Yes,” she whispered so low she hoped he didn’t hear her.
“I want to hear you say it. Say yes, Shane, I want you to make love to me.”
Could she say it? Could she really? Could she not? “I want—”
“My name. I want to hear you say my name.”
“Shane, I want you to make love to me.”
The words came out of her like a dam breaking, taking with it the last of her reserves, the end of her shyness, the final vestiges of guilt. She did want it. She wanted him. The wanting was a fire, burning her from the inside out. She’d never wanted anything more, could never want anything as much as she wanted this again...
She heard shuffling. The sound of a door closing. Shane kept talking, his voice muffled for a few minutes before he was back. His low, urgent whispers became commands. Telling her to touch herself, how and where, for how long.
Arden lost herself in the sensual pleasures of it, easing her body toward climax, when his next words stopped her short.
“Arden, will you do something for me?”
A smile tilted her mouth, making her lazy, languorous, sex-filled voice sound like she was laughing. “Yes.”
“I like that. You didn’t even ask what I wanted first.”
She laughed, tilting her head back. “What do you want?”
“I want you to stand up.”
She did without hesitation, though her legs had gone more than a little weak and standing on them was a dance of balance that had her clutching the chair back for help.
“Standing.”
“I want you to go to your front door.”
Arden frowned. “What?”
“Do it. Please.”
This didn’t sound as sexy as she thought it was going to, but with a slow chuckle, she did anyway. “Okay. I’m standing at the door.”
“Put your hand on it.”
“My hand? Shane, what—”
“Do it.” The sexy growl was enough to make her shiver, in a good way, even as heat raced through her.
“I’m touching it.” The painted wood felt smooth and cool under her fingers.
“Now, say it again.”
She didn’t have to ask what. “Shane, I want you to make love to me. Please.”
“You’re sure?” Beneath the huskiness of arousal, she heard a hint of hesitation. “You’re absolutely sure this is what you want?”
Arden cradled the phone against her ear. There could be no turning back now. “I’m sure.”
“Is the door locked?”
“No.” She always made sure to lock it before she went to bed, but hadn’t yet done so. Her hand reached for the knob, the metal more than cool in her hand. Cold. Like ice on her heated skin.
It turned in her hand and she cried out in fear. The door opened. The phone dropped from her hand to thud on the wooden floorboards, and Arden stepped back, stumbling as the door swung open.
She might have fallen hard, hurt herself, had Shane not been there to catch her. In the next instant she was in his arms, her back against the slammed door. Her legs went around his waist. His hands cupped her ass as his mouth found hers.
He savaged her mouth, and she welcomed the sting of his kiss. He moved to her throat, nipping and biting in the way he knew would drive her wild. She cried out and his mouth covered hers again to muffle the scream she most definitely did not want the neighbors to hear.
“Say it again,” he ordered in her ear as he left her mouth.
She fumbled the words. He hitched her higher, pressed her center against his stomach and urged her to hook her ankles behind him. Up against the door, hard enough to make it rattle in the frame, he held her, while his eyes bored into hers.
It had been too long since she’d looked into his blue-green eyes, shadowed by black brows. Time had not dimmed her memory of how she looked reflected in his gaze.
She’d forgotten how much bigger he was. He engulfed her. Surrounded her. And even so,