Читать книгу Secret Seduction - Lori Wilde - Страница 8

“I’M IN THE MOOD FOR STEAK,” Vanessa told her dinner companion as they sat in the hotel dining room. At this late hour there was only a handful of other diners in the place. “I don’t normally eat red meat, but tonight I’m feeling—”

“Like you need to bolster your courage?” he finished.

That wasn’t what she was going to say at all, but it was the truth. Taken aback, Vanessa stared at him.

The man’s unsettling blue eyes held her own over the flickering candles in the middle of the white linen tablecloth. She had an urge to put up her dukes in a boxing stance.

“Why did you say that?” she asked.

“Going to a nightclub you don’t often frequent, dancing with a stranger, then joining him for dinner. Now ordering steak. Do you want to talk about it?”

Irritation sideswiped her like transfer paint in a fender bender. Vanessa swallowed, arranged her face into a smile. Was she that transparent or was he that perceptive? “I changed my mind. I do want to know your name. But only your first name.”

“Why’s that?”

“Last names complicate things.”

“Tanner,” he said. “How ’bout you?”

She extended her hand across the table. “Vanessa.”

He shook her hand. His palm was warm in hers, calloused. These were not the pampered hands of a surgeon, the type of men she usually dated. These hands knew manual labor.

The waitress appeared at their table with two glasses of water.

“Two tenderloin steaks.” Tanner looked at Vanessa, “Medium?”

“Medium rare,” she supplied to be perverse. She did prefer her steaks cooked medium, but she didn’t like him guessing that about her.

“Two coffees, steaks medium rare and the sautéed vegetables,” he told the waitress and handed her their menus.

She frowned, not knowing why she was feeling so argumentative and yet so interested.

“Why are you trying so hard to look so tough?” he asked.

“Who says I’m not tough?” She hardened her jaw, sat up straighter in the seat and gave him her best barrio-girl expression.

“That cross-me-and-you-die look in your eyes.”

“You don’t think I’m serious?”

He shook his head. “Oh, you’re tough on the outside, but inside—” he thumped his right fist over his heart “—you feel deep.”

A sense of vulnerability wrapped her in a sweaty hug. She made a derisive noise even though she would like very much to feel him inside her. “Is this your best pickup line?”

The notion was unexpected but intriguing. One night in bed with this tall drink of water might just be the antidote she needed to quell thoughts of Carlo Vega. She found Tanner far more appealing than she should. Everything about him was sexy, even the proprietary way he’d ordered for her.

“You picked me up, remember?”

She had indeed. “And now you think you know everything about me.”

“Not everything.” He took a sip of water. “But I’d like to know more.”

Yeah, she’d like to know more about him, too. But why? She wasn’t in the market for a serious relationship, or any relationship for that matter. She still had a year to go on her residency and it required all her dedication and concentration. But one glorious night with the studly Viking here? Oh, yeah.

The waitress, clad in a simple uniform of black slacks and a white silk blouse, brought their order, rescuing Vanessa from having to answer the question in his piercing blue eyes. She couldn’t help wondering what he would think if he knew the truth about her. Where she was from. The things she’d done to survive and make her way in the world. And that nothing mattered more to her than her career.

“Did you used to be a Boy Scout?” she asked to derail him.

He stopped buttering his roll and looked at her. “What makes you say that?”

She shrugged. “You just look like a Boy Scout. Blond. Clean-cut. Perfect posture.”

“Yes,” he said. “I was a Boy Scout. Even earned a good conduct medal.” His grin was self-deprecating. “Were you ever a Girl Scout?”

In the barrio?

“So what do you do for fun?” he asked, cutting into his steak. “When you’re not dancing at Emilio’s?”

“I don’t have much free time. The closest I come to a hobby is my daily jog.” Vanessa cut into her own steak. “And once in a rare while I get to indulge my passion for old movies.”

“Ah,” he said. “A workaholic.”

She eyed his biceps straining against the sleeves of his shirt. She wished she had X-ray vision so she could see the delineation of each strata of those muscles. “I can see you’re not a slacker in the exercise department. What do you do to keep your guns in shape?”

He smiled and flexed his upper arms. The man had every reason in the world to be proud of his spectacular physique. “Power lifting. But for fun, I kayak the Colorado. You ever been?”

“No,” she admitted. Not much opportunity for kayaking where she came from. “But it sounds like fun.”

“Maybe I’ll take you sometime.”

Hope coiled tight inside her. Sometime. Ha! There’d be no other time with him. Now was all she could afford and even this was risky. She ducked her head, busied herself with spearing a bit of juicy tenderloin. “So you’re a Texan?”

“Born and raised,” he said.

“Where’s your hometown?”

“Right here in Austin. You?”

“El Paso.”

“What brought you to Austin? Boyfriend? Husband?”

“Is this your way of asking if I’m attached?”

His eyes darkened. “Hey, no guy likes ugly surprises when he’s out with a pretty woman.”

The comment made her smile. “I’m single,” she said. “Never married.”

“I’m single, as well.” Tanner nodded, but he had a strange look on his face, almost as if he were lying. “So you’re in Austin because…”

Here he was asking the question she dreaded most. Vanessa gave him the pat answer that was only partly the truth. “Med school.”

The minute the words were out of her mouth, she could have bitten off her tongue. She hadn’t wanted him to know she was a doctor. A lot of guys got weird when they found out what she did for a living. Many of them felt challenged by a smart, successful woman.

“You’re a doctor?” He sounded impressed.

“Resident.”

“I see why you don’t have much time for fun.”

“Work does take up most of my time.”

“So what is your favorite classic movie, when you have time to indulge your passion?” he asked.

“Dark Victory,” she said without hesitation.

“You go for the tearjerkers.”

“Tearjerkers are more like real life.”

“Which is exactly why some people like to escape into comedies.”

“Let me guess, you’re a Three Stooges fan,” she said. “Or maybe the Marx Brothers?”

“Actually, “ he admitted, “when it comes to classic movies, it’s John Wayne all the way.”

“I should have guessed.” She smiled. “What’s your fav? Rio Bravo?”

“McLintock!”

“Seriously?”

“I’m a sucker for romance. Plus Maureen O’Hara was pretty easy on the eyes. I have a thing for feisty women.” He winked.

Suddenly she had a hard time catching her breath.

The conversation lagged and Vanessa didn’t try to stir it. Strangely enough, the silence between them didn’t feel awkward at all. It felt nice. Natural.

They finished their meal and lingered over a cup of coffee.

“What’s your specialty?” Tanner asked.

“Specialty?” She was so busy staring at his impressively broad shoulders, his question caught her off guard and for a minute there she thought he was asking her a very personal question.

“Pediatrics, internal medicine, heart surgeon?”

“Cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.”

“Really?” His tone sounded almost accusatory.

She bristled. “Something wrong with plastic surgery?”

“Settle down,” he said. “The question wasn’t a shot against your chosen career. You just seem like you’d be a pediatrician.”

“Why? Because I’m a woman? You just assume I’d be good with kids?” She knew she sounded defensive. She didn’t even know why she was reacting this way.

Tanner held up his palms. “I surrender. I can see I’m snugged up behind the eight ball on this one.”

He looked so contrite, Vanessa laughed. “Well, thanks for having dinner with me, Tanner,” she said, opening her wallet to pull out enough cash to cover the cost of her meal.

His hand closed over hers. “Dinner is on me.”

“No,” she said and lifted her chin proudly. “I always pay my own way.”

He didn’t argue, just let go of her hand. Vanessa suddenly realized she was breathless. “All right,” he said. “If you insist. But then at least let me give you a ride home.”

“I’ll catch a cab.”

“Beholden to no one,” he said lightly.

“That’s right.”

He studied her for a long moment. “Doesn’t it ever get exhausting?”

“What?”

“Never letting anyone help you. Always going it alone.”

“I’ve been beholden to people before,” she said. “There are always strings attached. I prefer life without any ties that bind.”

“So you don’t have any family.”

“No.”

“Don’t you ever get lonely?

Yes.

The man was too perceptive. It unnerved her that he could assess her so easily, how much he seemed to understand.

Vanessa swung her purse strap up on her shoulder and pushed back her chair. “Nice dance, nice meal, have a nice life, Tanner.”

She got to her feet, her movements tense and jerky. She felt so many conflicting things at once—nervousness, disappointment, sexual frustration—and he was the cause of it all.

Not really. Carlo Vega has a lot to do with you ending up here.

“What’s your hurry, Vanessa?”

She wished she’d given him a fake name. The sound of her name on his tongue, spoken in that deep, arresting voice, did funny things to her insides. “It’s late,” she said. “I gotta go.”

Without a backward glance, she hurried from the hotel restaurant, pushing through the revolving glass door and ending up on the vacant street.

The wind had kicked up while they’d been inside, tossing litter and leaves along the sidewalk. Lightning lit the sky in the distance. Thunder rumbled. An unseasonable rainstorm on the way.

Goose bumps raised on her arms. Who would have thought she’d need long sleeves in August in Austin?

She walked to the front of the hotel entrance, but there were no cabs at the cab stand. She stood underneath the streetlamp, glancing up and down the block. No taxi in sight, but surely one would be along in a minute. No sign of the valet, either. She paced to the end of the block, feeling like a target in her red dress and high heels. Maybe she should wait in the hotel lobby.

And risk running into Tanner again? No thank you. She had the feeling if she saw him again she’d throw all caution to the wind and ask him to take her home with him.

Where was a taxi?

“Come on, come on,” she muttered and glanced at her watch. She remembered other late nights, other lonely streets and her gut squeezed.

Footsteps sounded behind her and her heart froze. She fumbled for the mace in her purse and found it.

With the mace in her palm, finger on the nozzle, she whirled around, growling, “Back off!”

Tanner raised both arms. “Don’t shoot.”

“Oh,” she said and let out a breath. “It’s you.”

“Storm got you spooked?”

“A little,” she said, dropping the mace back inside her handbag. She hated to admit it, but she was relieved to see him. “What are you doing here?”

“What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you stand out here alone? Are you sure I can’t give you a lift home?”

In the time it took her to draw in a deep breath, she considered his offer, but she was intensely private and didn’t like strangers knowing where she lived.

No, but you’ll dance with a stranger and have dinner with him.

That wasn’t normally true, which was what was so unsettling about this man. He made her want to do lots of things she normally wouldn’t do.

Lightning flashed again, moving closer, rapidly followed by more grumbling thunder. Fat raindrops spattered the cement around them.

“Let’s go back in out of the rain,” he said, and inclined his head toward the hotel.

The combination of his hard body, his delicious masculine smell and the quickening raindrops were too compelling to deny. She nodded. They pushed through the double doors together and ended up inside.

Vanessa couldn’t deny she was attracted to the man. She loved that he was taller than she. At five eleven, it was often a challenge to find a man whose height surpassed her own. Even with the two-inch stilettos she wore, he was still taller. He made her feel petite, which was an alien feeling. She wanted him and that was damned dangerous considering how emotionally vulnerable she was right now.

He said nothing. Just stood waiting beside her. A powerful, comforting presence. He felt like a bodyguard. Strong, silent, but muscles coiled, ready for action. They stared out the window, watching the rain coming down. She was so aware of him, her skin prickled.

“Really,” she said. “You don’t have to wait with me.”

“I don’t mind.”

The earnestness in his eyes unnerved her. Why did he have to be so nice? She wasn’t accustomed to the men she met in bars being so chivalrous. Neither was she accustomed to the rampant fantasies circling in her head. She kept imagining him hot and hard and naked.

Oh, God, it had been far too long since she’d gotten laid. She was a hormonal disaster. All it would take was one kiss from those rugged lips of his and she’d melt like candle wax. And judging from the look he was giving her, he knew it.

“You want to go back to Emilio’s?” she found herself asking. “I could use another drink.”

“A drink isn’t what you need,” he said.

She dared to look him in the face. There was no mistaking the glimmer in his eyes. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.

The air around them snapped with sexual energy. His gaze hung on her mouth and he angled his head lower.

Was he going to kiss her? Right here in the lobby with the desk clerks watching them from the registration counter?

She could see the invitation in his eyes, but he wasn’t crossing any boundaries. She flicked a tongue out to lick her lips, egging him toward that kiss.

“There’s a taxi.” He nodded toward the street.

“Is there?”

“Which is a damned good thing, but I was just about to ask you to stay.”

“Were you?”

Vanessa knew a crossroad when she saw one. Take the well-traveled fork and you knew you could stay safe. Take the fork that disappeared into the undergrowth, and while there might be adventure, you were also taking a big gamble.

It was stupid. She knew it as she was doing it, but all she could think of at the moment was how his eyes promised the pleasure of great sex. Sex that would help her forget all about the lousy day she’d had.

She wrapped a hand around his forearm. “So ask.”

He blew out his breath and pulled from her grasp, but he took hold of her chin and tipped her face up to his.

Outside the thunder boomed.

Vanessa’s heart galloped.

Tanner brushed his lips over hers. Not so much a kiss as the inherent promise of one.

All the air left her body.

Then he dipped his head lower and lightly pressed his mouth to the pulse beating in her throat. Heat shot through her body, pooling low in her abdomen. The first pinch of pure passion fisted inside her.

“Tanner.” Her voice came out in a choked whisper.

His lips were back on hers in a feather-soft kiss, and Vanessa simply had to have more. Against all common sense, she curved her body against his and opened her mouth. He inhaled sharply and slipped his tongue between her teeth. She came undone.

Languid heat curled through her body. Was it so wrong to sate the yearning sexual needs she’d been holding at bay for such a long time? Would it be so terrible to have a one-night stand with this man? They were both mature, consenting adults. They were both unattached and attracted to each other. What could possibly be the harm in letting nature take its course?

He deepened the kiss, breaking the last tenuous thread of restraint she’d managed to hang on to until this moment. Why not? As long as she kept her heart out of the fray, as long as she accepted this for what it was—a one-night fling—everything would be all right.

No expectations, no regrets, just mutual pleasure giving and receiving. She was a physician. Vanessa was aware of how important a healthy sex life was to mind, body and spirit.

He pulled back and looked into her eyes. The question was there. He was waiting for her to answer it.

“Tanner.” She breathed. “Get us a room.”

He studied her face, his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret. Are you certain this is what you want?”

She didn’t know where the word came from, but it was completely heartfelt. “Absolutely.”

FUMBLING, TANNER TRIED to slip the electronic key through the card reader while still kissing Vanessa. After three attempts and a couple of well-timed curse words, he got the door open and they tumbled inside.

Vanessa giggled. Funny, she didn’t seem like a giggler. It was probably the tequila.

The door slammed closed behind them.

Her mouth was on his and her arms were around his neck and they were sort of dancing around the room. They fell onto the bed. Tanner was on his back. Vanessa straddled him.

She tugged his shirt from his pants and plowed her hands underneath the hem to plane her palms over his belly. Then she lowered her head and planted hot kisses around his navel.

His body burst into flames. His blood burned and his cock throbbed. He hadn’t been with a woman in four years. Not since Maria. He told himself that’s why he was so hard, so blindsided by lust. He couldn’t even think straight. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this. He was her secret bodyguard and he was about to screw the woman he’d been hired to protect.

He was breaking the number one rule of the bodyguard’s code: Don’t get sexually involved with your protectee.

But the sweet, intoxicating smell of her warm body and the taste of her hot lips and the feel of her soft flesh made him forget his job. At the moment he was all male, awash in testosterone and desperate to have this woman.

She traced her thumbs over his nipples and Tanner groaned aloud. He grabbed her hips and pressed her flush against his pelvis, letting her see exactly what she was doing to him.

The bedsprings creaked beneath their weight. He didn’t care how noisy it got. He had to have her or go mad.

He flipped her over, pinning her to the pillow-top mattress, and speared his fingers through her mass of lush black hair, holding her in place while he ravaged her mouth with kisses.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, simultaneously opening her mouth and letting in his tongue. She tasted incredible. Rich and robust and sexy.

“I want you, Tanner. I want to feel you, all of you,” she murmured against his mouth.

“We’ve got all night. Let’s take our time,” he said, as much to convince himself as well as her. What he wanted was to hike up the hem of her skirt, strip off her panties and plunge right into her.

Not since Maria had a woman made him so hard. Who was he kidding? Until Vanessa, he hadn’t even thought of another woman. This felt strange but good. Healthy to be able to feel something again.

It’s neither good nor healthy. You’ve been hired to protect her. You’ve got to stop this.

It was a rational thought, but the ability for any rational action was lost when she angled her head up to take his earlobe between her teeth and nibbled.

Outside the storm raged. Rain pelted hard against the thirdstory window. The scarlet-neon hotel sign threw a red glow into the room. Vanessa’s smile was wickedly naughty as she dropped her head back to the mattress and looked up at him, her lips glistening.

She splayed a palm against the flat of his chest and pushed him away.

“What is it?” he rasped huskily. “Have you changed your mind?”

“Sit,” Vanessa commanded, getting to her feet and patting the mattress with her hand.

Tanner obeyed.

She stepped away from him and in that soft red glowing light slanting through the window, she slowly begin to disrobe, sliding down the zipper of her dress, easing the capped sleeves over her shoulders, exposing inch after tantalizing inch of light caramel skin.

He gulped. What a show.

Finally, the silky dress floated down her body to pool at her feet. She stepped out of the garment, but Tanner didn’t notice. He was too busy staring at the hot vision of her in a black lace bra molded to her high, sumptuous breasts.

His hands tingled with the need to touch her, to fill his palms with the weight of her bosom. He wanted to run his tongue over her skin, taste her rich womanly flavor. He wanted her in the most elemental way. At least for tonight, for this moment. She was the antidote to his malaise.

Tanner’s attention fully captured, his gaze tracked from her chest to the smooth curve of her belly to her black satin thong panties, clinging so provocatively to her sweet, luscious ass.

Then slowly she raised one leg and cocked her stilettoed foot on his thigh, the thin heel digging lightly into him. “Undo me.”

His fingers felt big as sausages as he fumbled with the delicate buckle at her slender ankle.

Her breathing was shallow and quick.

The buckle was stubborn.

Not looking so smooth, slick.

In irritation, Tanner slipped the strap under her heel and just peeled the shoe off her foot, leaving the buckle still fastened. He tossed the shoe over his shoulder. It landed with a plop on the other side of the room.

“Give me,” he said, indicating her other foot.

She complied, putting her bare foot on the floor and extending her other leg across his outstretched palm. Touching the sensuous curve of her calf proved more than Tanner could handle—he had to have her now. He dispensed with the second shoe, then wrapped his hand around that delicious calf and lay back against the headboard, pulling her with him.

Vanessa made a soft noise of half surprise, half pleasure. She was atop him again and his arms went around her waist. Her breasts were pressed against his chest and her head was cocked back.

She was ogling him as if he was something interesting she’d found in a novelty store. Her look was both unsettling and provocative.

His fingers went for the clasp of her bra.

She reached back and closed a hand over his fingers. “Not so fast, Tex. It’s your turn to remove an article of clothing.”

He didn’t need any more encouragement than that.

Tanner pulled his shirt over his head without bothering to unbutton it, and toed off his shoes. Her fingers were plucking at the waistband of his pants, working the snap and zipper almost simultaneously.

She shucked the pants down his legs, Tanner lifting his hips to help. His slacks quickly joined her dress on the floor. He and Vanessa were left in their underwear staring into each other’s eyes.

Sharp appreciation increased Vanessa’s awareness as she drank in Tanner’s muscular body. The man was a work of art.

A flash of lightning flooded the room in split-second illumination, emphasizing the intensity of what was happening between them. A myriad of sensations pelted her. The sound of his ragged breathing. The heat of his flesh. The scrape of his beard stubble as he claimed her mouth in another kiss.

Passion surged high within her, increasing the sexual drive that had been building since their dance at Emilio’s.

He tasted robust and piquant, like the roasted coffee they had shared at dinner. She was thirsty for more.

Their tongues played, gliding in and around and over each other. The tender slide of his palms underneath her breasts as he made her bra disappear became a hungry hunt to increase her pleasure.

The burning urge to stroke him, to travel the tempting terrain of his body compelled her.

She ran her fingertips over his belly, exalting in the way his taut stomach muscles quivered at her touch. His low groan lit her up inside. She tracked her hand lower, finding her way through the coarse curls to glide her palm up the long, hard length of him.

Excitement stirred her blood. A murmured whisper of delight slipped past her lips at the sexy feel of him pulsating in her hand.

Her body clenched, anxious to have him inside her, filling her up, making her whole, but she didn’t want to rush things. She wanted to savor this moment, savor him. It took every ounce of will she possessed, but Vanessa forced herself to hold back. She knew he was worth the wait.

He eased her hand from his shaft and pulled his mouth from hers. “You keep doing that and I won’t last two minutes.”

Tanner kissed his way down her neck to her swollen and achy breasts. His mouth settled over one straining nipple, sending a coil of heat firing like an inferno into her blood.

Her body grew heavier, more languorous until it seemed to liquefy into his. He forsook her nipples and returned to making idle circles around her breasts, until once more he was back, pulling and plucking the straining peaks.

She writhed against him.

He circled back.

This time she moaned through clenched teeth when he reached her nipples at last and rolled them between his rough fingers.

Her breath came out in low gasps and her entire body felt aroused. Nibbling her ear, he lifted her up onto his thigh.

His lips tugged on her earlobe. She delighted in the sensation as he began to suckle on her flesh and the ruby stud nestled there. She shuddered at the wetness of his tongue, the heat of his mouth.

He spread his legs and, in the process, pried hers apart with his knee. His hand slid down her breast and across her inner thigh. His other hand gently massaged her buttocks.

Her breathing quickened and her heart thumped.

Flashes of pleasure bombarding her, Vanessa let out a muted purr of confirmation, telling him he was on the right path as he blazed a trail down her torso with his wicked tongue. She felt his hand at the waistband of her panties, his fingertips taunting her by slipping underneath the silky elastic.

“I’m going to love you with my mouth,” he promised, not asking her permission, simply telling her what he was going to do.

His comment shot her arousal to a fevered pitch. His heated breath against her bare belly was driving her insane. His fingertips shifted through her moist curls, headed for the area she most wanted him to touch.

In response, she arched her back.

Come on, come on.

If she didn’t feel the warmth of his hot, wet tongue against her soon, she was going to lose her mind.

Tanner slipped her panties over her hips, slid them down her thighs, past her knees. She kicked them off.

“You smell so sweet.” He inhaled and then placed a smattering of kisses down the area below her navel.

She felt every quiver of her body, every ragged breath.

With excruciating slowness, Tanner moved his hand to cover the triangle of hair between her legs.

Vanessa moaned her pleasure as his hand cupped her gently.

She allowed her legs to drop open, giving him full access to her body. He lay on his belly between her knees and lightly brushed his lips over her feminine folds.

He hissed in air. “You are so wet.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of wonder in his voice. Desire for him seared her nerve endings as she surrendered to him completely.

It wasn’t easy for her. Vanessa wasn’t used to exposing herself like this, neither out of bed nor in it. Ever since she’d escaped Carlo Vega, she’d been in control of her own life. But now passion was forcing her to relinquish the reins to Tanner’s tender tongue. She wasn’t sure she liked it.

The air was thick, weighted with tension. The sheets smelled slightly scorched, as if they’d spent too many minutes in a commercial drier. Her breath crawled sluggishly through her lungs, filling her with lazy heat. Her limbs were made of marble, heavy and smooth.

Then everything vanished from her mind except the erotic moisture of his lips against her throbbing sex. And when his mouth formed a gentle suction over her clit, she came completely unraveled.

Gently he inserted one thick finger inside her tender folds. She lost all sense of herself, all sense of time. The world tumbled, creating an easy glide into ecstasy.

The pressure mounting inside her womb was sublime torment. At that point, nothing else mattered to her except Tanner making love to her with his mouth and his fingers.

He teased her clit, nipping lightly with his teeth.

All the air left her body and she felt reborn. Her pulse pounded like drums in her ears, rushing blood through her veins, pushing her toward an inevitable conclusion.

Tanner was desperately fighting off completion, but it was almost impossible. She knew the soft sounds of her sexy cries, and the way she threaded her fingers through his hair were getting to him.

She wanted him to be inside her. He had to get inside her now. “Please,” she whispered. “Please take me.”

“Not yet.”

Cruel, sweet torment. He kept at her. Licking and teasing until she was shaking from head to toe and oh, so wet.

He paused long enough to retrieve a condom from his wallet and slip it on and with the intermission she felt oddly bereft. He spent a few moments working her up again and then finally, finally he slowly entered her.

Vanessa whimpered gratefully.

Her body enveloped him. She provided him with her heavenly, moist cocoon. She met each of his thrusts with corresponding movement of her hips, arching her back up to meet him. Urging him to quicken his pace.

Instinct took over. She could no longer think, could only feel. Her focus was attuned to one thing and one thing only—the merging of their bodies. His energy swirled up through her until her whole universe spun dizzily. His stark reaction was such a powerful thing to behold. Vanessa felt both awed and blown away by his responsiveness.

His hands trembled as he held her. He thrust into her again and again. Her entire being seemed to pull him deeper and deeper into her until she simply could not differentiate where his body stopped and hers began.

He cried out one last time and shoved himself as deep as he would go into her warmth. The walls of her sucked at him, gripping, kneading, pulling him into the very core of her.

Then Tanner’s body shuddered as he poured into her.

They clung to each other, helpless, as wave after wave of the orgasm rippled through them. Binding them together in one blazing, crazy light before expelling them into the infinite beyond.

Gasping, Tanner rolled over, sinking onto his back and taking her with him.

He held her close as her chest heaved. He held her and they listened to the rain and Vanessa thought, What in the hell have I done?