Somehow he’d let himself get caught in a vicious circle of wanting, and then denying. Wanting, then denying.
And yet, even as he was telling himself there was right and wrong, black and white; as the echo of her taunt rang out in the log cabin; as the rain poured down outside the windows and the fire leapt to life in the stone fireplace, everything that had ever made sense to Grayson could go straight to hell for all he cared.
He was within reaching distance a moment later, had his hands on her and her nearly naked body pulled tightly against his in the span of another.
And in the end, all that was left was his primal need to have Lori...the need to make her his.
His mouth came down on hers just as hers lifted to his and that first taste of her was sweet, so much sweeter than anything he’d ever known, that he had to plunge deeper, had to take more from her than a first kiss should have allowed.
Grayson was in the prime of his life, strong from the intensely physical work he did every day on his land. But being this close to Lori, having her wet hair in his hands, her lips, her tongue against his, was making his heart pound so hard that he wondered if he was anywhere near strong enough to live through it.
He couldn’t get enough of her mouth, couldn’t seem to learn the contours, the flavors, of her fast enough. With his tongue, his lips, he traced hers again and again, loving the way she gasped with pleasure when he teased the corners where her lips met, when he sucked her tongue into his mouth, and especially when he scored her full lower lip with the edges of his teeth. And then, she was doing the same to him, kissing him in a way no woman had ever kissed him before, with such passion and desire and focus that he didn’t have a prayer of continuing to lead their wild dance.
No, all he could do was partner her in movements that should have been familiar, but felt fresh and new and oh-so-sweet.
She’d tasted his neck on the horse with the tip of her tongue, but now he was the one bending her back so that she arched into his arms and he could run kisses from her gorgeous mouth down to her chin and over the edge to the underside of her jaw. She shivered in his arms and her ni**les pressed hard through the white silk of her bra against his chest as he ran his tongue all the way down the line of her neck, until it dipped into the hollow of her collarbone.
His name fell from her lips as he let his mouth roam over the swell of her br**sts above the silk and lace.
This was so much more than he’d ever thought to have of her, and it should have been enough. But, damn it, it wasn’t. Not even close. Not even when he sucked one taut peak between his lips and laved her nipple through the silk. And when he reached back to undo her bra and finally bared her br**sts to his hands and mouth and gaze, that wasn’t enough, either.
Still holding her arched back against him with one hand, with the other he cupped her and brought her to his mouth again and again, first one breast and then the other. Sweet Lord, he couldn’t remember ever touching such softness or witnessing such beauty. Lori was so responsive, a woman made for loving.
The shaky grasp he had on his sanity stretched thin, then broke entirely as he reached down for her panties and pulled the last of the silk from her body.
* * *
Being in his arms, being touched by Grayson was nothing like any lovemaking she’d ever experienced before. Yes, Lori knew how to make sure she came while in bed with a man, whether he was focused on her pleasure or not, but with Grayson she knew she wouldn’t need to do one damn thing to make sure she was satisfied.
He was still wearing his wet flannel shirt and thick jeans, and the contrast of the rough fabric against her bare skin as she writhed against him only inflamed her more. But then he was putting his hands on her waist and holding her back from his body. She didn’t know why, couldn’t get her brain to process a single reason he might not want to keep touching her, until she felt the heat of his gaze all across the surface of her skin and suddenly understood.
No one had ever looked at her like this, as though she was a gift he’d never expected to find waiting for him...and he couldn’t think of one thing he’d done to deserve it.
Needing to touch him, she tried to move back into his arms, but he held her where she was.
“I’m not done looking yet,” he growled.
Even in lovemaking he was bossy, and that realization should have made her pull away, should have reminded her that they were no good together. Instead, it made her want him with a fierceness that stunned her.
For Lori, life had always been a journey of jumping from one high peak to another, with the occasional dip into a shallow valley. At least, until everything had come to a head after Victor had chipped away at her piece by piece over the past year and a half. She’d gotten lost in a hole so dark and deep she hadn’t been able to see a way out.
And yet, despite her experience with such extremes, she’d never felt such a powerful craving for anyone, or anything, in her life. Doubts, concerns, worries—none of them had a chance against this craving, against the hunger that was eating her up from moment to moment.
Oh yes, she loved the way Grayson looked at her, but she needed to have his hands, his mouth, on her, too. And thank God, a few moments later, he was moving his hands up from her waist to cup her br**sts with such reverence that the gentle heat of his touch stole what was left of her breath away.
“I can’t believe you’re here. That you’re real. That you’re really this beautiful.”
His murmured words had her heart beating even faster against his thumbs. Lori knew she was pretty, and wasn’t at all ashamed to have used her looks to her advantage for most of her life—not when it was natural that a dancer should emphasize her best features, along with her most fluid lines, for the audience. But with Grayson touching her, she wasn’t capable of doing anything at all but looking down at his deeply tanned skin against hers.
He was right—the way the two of them fit together was so beautiful, one large, the other smaller, both full of a desire that was stronger even than the thunder and lightning raging outside the log cabin.
He ran his hands down past her ribs, over her flat belly, his fingers playing over her hipbones, until he was cupping her hips in his hands and dragging her back against him to take her mouth again. She sank into his kiss, into the hands cupping her so firmly, so warmly, so sweetly as they massaged her gently from her bottom to the muscles of her back and shoulders, sore from both the ride on the horse and the hard work she’d put in fixing the fence.