Dec drew her into his arms and pulled her back down to lie beside him, gently stroking her back and kissing her face. “Better now?” he asked.

She nodded, nuzzling into his warm, naked chest. Rachel lay there for a long time, listening to the strong rhythm of his heart and letting his strength seep into her. She wanted this closeness. In truth, she needed to feel closer.

Pushing up on her elbow, she stared down into his face, the features just visible in the dim light. He watched her silently and without thinking, she crawled on top of him and began to move. Her hips rocked up and down against his crotch and Dec moaned, arching into her body as if inviting her to continue.

There was no conscious decision to seduce him, just an unspoken agreement that this was the time and place. She felt it, in her soul and deep inside her body, an undeniable need to ease the ache there. She had to have him-now, not later. Bending forward, Rachel slid down over his hips, moving lower and lower until she straddled his thighs.

He was already hard, the outline of his erection evident beneath the soft cotton of his boxer briefs. Rachel rubbed her hand back and forth over the ridge and Dec moaned, twisting beneath her touch. His eyes were closed and she knew he’d have a hard time fighting the pleasure she was giving him.

She pulled the waistband of his boxers down to reveal his hard cock. Wrapping her fingers around it, she slowly began to stroke him. But it wasn’t enough to just touch him, she needed to taste him as well. Taking the tip into her mouth, Rachel flicked her tongue over the head of his penis. She seemed to connect with all the right nerves because Dec jerked beneath her, then moaned again, softly whispering her name.

She took her time pleasing him with her mouth and he grew even harder, his erection straining against her hand. Rachel grabbed the boxer briefs and pulled them off, sliding down with them until she reached his feet.

Grabbing his foot, she pressed a kiss into the curve of his instep, then moved to his toes. But when she took his little toe into her mouth and began to suck, Dec pulled his foot away. “If you do that, I’ll come right now,” he warned her.

Rachel laughed softly, then crawled back on top of him. “Have I discovered a weakness?”

He reached up and brushed the hair away from her face, groaning as he tugged her head back. “You’re my weakness,” he said, his voice ragged.

Bending toward him, Rachel kissed him, lingering over his mouth the way she lingered over his penis. “I need you,” she murmured. “I need to feel you inside of me.”

Dec smoothed his hand over her cheek, turning her face until he could see it more clearly in the dim light. “Are you awake?” he asked.

Rachel nodded. “Yes. I know what I’m doing.”

“Are you doing this because you’re afraid and you want me to make you feel safe?”

“I’m doing this because I want you,” she replied. “Nothing more.”

Dec pulled her back down into another deep kiss, his mouth capturing hers, plundering hers with his tongue. “I want you, too,” he said, a desperate edge to his voice. “God, I want you so much it scares me.”

Rachel reached for the hem of her pajama top and tugged it over her head, then tossed it on the floor. She’d always let her partner take the lead in the past, believing that men gained more pleasure from controlling their partner in sex. But tonight, she felt as if this was her awakening, a time to take what she needed.

Dec reached up and cupped her breasts in his hands, teasing at the nipples until they were hard peaks. They’d waited so long for this that she’d expected this moment to be frantic and wild. But instead it was quiet and gentle, two people intent on savoring every sensation.

Rachel slid her legs along his, until she lay on top of him. His penis pressed against her belly and she rubbed against it, rising up every now and then before dropping down again. Though it was such a simple act, it made Dec even more aroused and he clutched at her backside, urging her to move at his direction.

“I’m so close,” he said. “From the minute you touched me, I felt like I was nearly there.”

Rachel smiled. “I’m glad I have that effect on you.”

“Oh, you do,” he murmured. He reached down and slid his hands beneath her boy shorts, bunching the lacy trim in his fists, then slowly worked them down her legs. A few moments, later, they joined his boxer briefs on the floor.

The feel of their naked bodies stretched out together set every nerve in Rachel’s body tingling. His hands skimmed over her backside, then up to her shoulders and back again as he kissed her. It was good that they’d waited, Rachel mused. Though it might have been a wonderful physical release a few days ago, Rachel felt as if they’d somehow grown closer since then.

She brought her knees back up around his hips, letting his cock nestle between her legs. And then, she drew forward and he was probing at her entrance. Rachel held her breath, enjoying the feel of him nearly inside of her.

“Oh, God,” he murmured. “Don’t do that to me.”

But Rachel didn’t listen. She slowly lifted herself up on her knees, then sank down on top of him. He slid inside her, inch by inch, but before she could bury him completely, Dec grabbed her hips and stopped. “We should use a condom,” he said.

“Umm,” Rachel murmured, her mind focused on the feel of him inside of her. “All right. That would be good.”

Dec gently lifted her up, then twisted beneath her to grab a condom from the bedside table. He struggled to tear open the plastic packet and when it finally did, he gave it to her to smooth over his stiff shaft.

“Now?” she murmured, crawling back on top of him.

Dec groaned, pressing at the damp spot between her legs. “Now.”

This time, she came down all the way, until he was buried deep inside of her. Rachel sighed and then smiled. She’d imagined how this might feel, but it was so much better. He was thick and hard and he filled her completely, his warmth, his strength, his courage.

She began to move above him, drawing him in and out of her body in a slow and easy rhythm. Dec watched her, his gaze fixed on her face, his expression intense. But what began quietly, soon turned into something much more desperate and passionate.

As Dec’s pleasure began to increase, he grabbed her waist and flipped her beneath him. Bracing his arms on either side of her, he continued to move but now he controlled the tempo and Rachel found herself losing touch with reality.

Through a hazy desire, she watched his face, tense in an attempt to maintain control, the clenched jaw, the closed eyes, the focused expression. But she didn’t care. She wanted him to lose control, to give it up to her in the same way she’d made herself vulnerable to him.

He drove into her hard again and again, then stopped, leaning over her and kissing her deeply. “You’re making me crazy,” he said. “I want you too much.” He slid down on her body until he could catch his arms beneath her legs, then began to kiss her belly.

A moment later, his mouth was on her, his tongue teasing at her clitoris. Rachel knew the feeling, knew how intense the orgasm would be and how quickly it would come. But this time, she wouldn’t give in to it. She’d wait and share it with Dec.

He brought her close again and again and she fought the pleasure. And when she could fight it no more, Rachel put her hands in his hair and tugged him back up along her body. “I want you inside me when I come,” she said.

He filled her again, still as hard as he was before, and began to move. But this time, Rachel let go, surrendering to the wild sensations that coursed through her body. She wasn’t sure it would happen, but as he increased his tempo, she felt herself spiraling upward. There was no stopping it and Rachel shifted beneath him, finding just the right spot to bring her the rest of the way.

Her orgasm hit her like a surge of electricity, gripping every nerve in her body for just one unbearable second. And then Rachel tumbled forward, falling into it, the rush of pleasure, the shocking spasms and the overwhelming satisfaction.

She hadn’t realized that Dec had found his release at the same time until her mind regained some sense of reality again. He was gasping for breath, driving into her, and Rachel sighed, running her hands over his chest.

There had been nothing bizarre or kinky about it. It was perfectly normal sex. But at the same time, it was the most extraordinary sex she’d ever experienced. Because it was with a man who touched her heart and her soul. She was falling in love with Declan Quinn and there was nothing she could do about it.

8

DEC STARED DOWN AT the pile of magazines that Rachel had handed him, his mouth hanging open. “What the hell are you doing with all this porn in your office?”

“We used it for a study,” Rachel said, her eyes fixed on the book she was reading. “I couldn’t throw it away since we bought it with grant money. Besides, those magazines don’t really go out of date that fast. They’re all pictures.”

“You realize what you’re asking me to do?” Dec said.

Rachel glanced up from her book, sending him an exasperated expression. “How am I supposed to get any work done if you insist on talking to me the whole time? I have things to do and since you’re determined to accompany me everywhere I go, then you need something to occupy yourself.”

“So you decided porn would do the trick? That titty magazines would occupy me?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t like porn,” she said.

“Well, I do occasionally indulge, but it’s not a huge part of my life.”

“I’m giving you permission to indulge, so just sit back and enjoy it. I’ve got at least another hour’s worth of work to do and then we can go.”