A strong arm slid around her back, cradling her within his embrace, making her feel sheltered and protected. Her breasts were crushed against his chest, and her nipples tightened against the lacy webbing of her bra. His other hand roamed lower, beneath the hem of her sweater, to cup her bottom, nudging her intimately closer. The press of his erection between them sparked a thrill of arousal that pooled in her belly and between her thighs.

She moaned into his mouth. Need rose swiftly, overwhelming in its power, making the entire length of her body quiver. But the ache in her heart, the one she’d lived with for what felt like an eternity, was still too sharp, still too acute.

She wanted it to go away. Wanted to forget everything but the luxurious pleasure Josh’s touch evoked. If only for this one night, she didn’t want to think, she wanted to feel.

Josh dragged his mouth from Paige’s and nuzzled the fragrant curve of her neck, found the silky hollow beneath her ear with his mouth.

For too long he’d imagined what it would be like to kiss Paige with unrestrained passion and have her respond with such eagerness and fire…fantasized in the darkest hours of the night about making love to her, possessing her heart, body and soul.

Now that temptation beckoned him. She beckoned him.

Lifting his head and loosening his hold, he stared into green eyes glittering with desire, and so much need. So much anguish. Those vulnerable emotions threatened his restraint, because he wanted to ease her pain any way he could. And right now, she wanted the tenderness of human touch to wipe away the ugliness.

His touch.

He was close to giving in. His honorable intentions wavered within him, playing tug-of-war with the reckless urge to do things to her, with her, he’d only dreamed about.

How could that be right? “Oh, God, Paige…”

“Josh, please,” she begged in a sexy, throaty voice that wreaked havoc with his sanity. She dragged her tongue across her lush bottom lip, pink and swollen from his kiss.

The craziness of wanting her started all over again. When he opened his mouth to issue a protest, she cut him off.

“Don’t say anything.” Her beautiful gaze beseeched him in a way no words could. “I need you to make me forget. Just for tonight.” Grasping the hem of her sweater, she pulled it over her head and dropped it on the floor, leaving her clad in a pretty bra that he could see right through, and leggings that molded to her hips and long legs. Her hair tumbled in tousled, sensual disarray around her shoulders.

Denying her became a distant thought. Loving her and giving her a safe haven for the night became his sole purpose. Holding her gaze, he reached out and slid his fingers from the pulse fluttering in her throat, down the slope of a perfectly curved breast cupped in sheer floral lace, across a taut nipple-and heard her breath catch in her throat-and continued to the front clasp of her bra. He hesitated, knowing with this one action, he was agreeing to her terms.

Just for tonight.

He’d never been one for one-night stands, and his feelings for Paige made what was about to happen even more complicated. But he couldn’t walk away. Not when they needed each other so much.

With a flick of his thumb and index finger he unhooked her bra, watching as the sides separated to reveal pale mounds of flesh tipped with dark centers. His gut clenched, and he spontaneously buried both hands in her thick, luxurious hair and brought her mouth back to his.

He meant to go slow and savor every kiss, every sigh, every nuance of what made her so special, so sweet. He meant to wallow in her softness, her feminine scent, her response to his touch. He meant to show her just how much she meant to him, and take the time to worship her with his hands, his mouth, his sex.

Those good intentions fled the moment her lips parted beneath his and she sucked his tongue into her mouth. She was too needy to go at a leisurely pace, too out of control to tame. So he let her dictate how far she wanted to go, how wild and fast she wanted this ride to be.

The tempest of the rain and wind outside was nothing compared to the velocity gathering momentum between them. The frenzied way Paige’s hands explored his chest, skimmed down the flat plane of his belly, then tugged impatiently on the drawstring of his sweatpants left Josh no time to think about getting her to a nice, soft bed. Where he took Paige didn’t seem to matter to her. She was too caught up in her own private urgency to care. Her flattened palms smoothed into the waistband, loosening the drawstring, giving her more slack to glide her hands inside to seek warmer, harder flesh.

Knowing he was a goner if she so much as touched his straining erection, he abruptly pulled her with him to the plush carpeting. They ended up on their knees in front of the crackling fire, facing each other, their mouths still fused, tongues mating. He cupped her full breasts and caressed them with his hands, rolled her nipples between his fingers. She whimpered, and tugged at his sweatpants again.

He broke their kiss and grabbed at her groping hands. “Not yet, sweetheart,” he murmured, and pressed her down, until she was lying before him. Hooking his fingers into the waistband of her leggings, he swept them and her panties down her long legs, tossing the clothing aside.

And then he sat back and looked his fill, awed by her loveliness, and the trusting way she parted her thighs for him to slide in between. Firelight warmed her skin to a shimmery peach hue and spun gold in her hair and the thatch of curls covering her femininity. She was all supple curves, endlessly long limbs, and sexy as hell.

He’d wanted her for so long, and now she was his.

His gaze gradually climbed back up to her face, stopping to admire each attribute on the way. “You’re absolutely beautiful,” he told her, and guessed by the flush staining her cheeks that Anthony hadn’t told her that often enough.

And because he didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, and the days following, he set about showing her just how alluring he found her, how desirable, how delicious. He lavished every inch of her in kisses, starting at her instep, moving to the arousing spot behind her knee, and dragging his mouth along thighs that quaked in anticipation. His tongue dipped into her navel, laved her breasts, then he suckled her nipple deep into his mouth. With a strangled cry, she plowed her fingers through his hair and held him to her, her body moving insistently beneath his.

He didn’t give in to her silent demands. He wasn’t done with his exploration. Her sensitive neck was a delight he thoroughly enjoyed, her mouth a treasure trove of erotic pleasures he indulged in. He hadn’t known French kisses could taste so damn good. With her, they held the flavor of heaven, the essence of forever.

The sweet, delicate taste reminded him of the only other place he hadn’t sampled; he’d deliberately saved the best for last. He sat up between her knees and shimmied the rest of the way out of his sweatpants. But instead of sliding over and into her, he took a more brazen approach he wasn’t sure she’d approve of. She didn’t stop him when he used his palms and caressed from her bent knee to her thighs and slowly guided her legs further apart. Didn’t object when he lowered his mouth and nuzzled her, and drew deeply of her scent. Didn’t protest when he slicked his thumb over petal-soft folds damp with her arousal. Didn’t demur when his tongue joined in the foray and stroked her intimately.

She closed her eyes on a sigh and entwined her fingers in his hair, shamelessly letting him have his way with her. There were no barriers between them, no restrictions. The moan of complete surrender that purred in her throat, her openness and the unconditional faith she gave him humbled him like nothing in his life ever had. Those elements also drove him on, made him ruthless in taking what he wanted.

It didn’t take her long to find a shattering release, one that made her cry out and tremble and push frantically against his shoulders at the intensity of such an allconsuming orgasm. He rode out the climax with her, taking her all the way.

Only when she’d touched back down to earth did he ease his body over hers, bracing his forearms on either side of her head.

He caught a glimpse of fever-bright eyes before her lashes drifted downward, concealing her emotions. His jaw hardened in resolve.

Gently grasping her face between his palms, he held her so she couldn’t turn away, so she had no choice but to meet his gaze. “Look at me, Paige,” he said, his tone slightly gruff. It wasn’t a matter of her knowing who was about to make love to her-instinctively he knew he’d given her more in the last half hour than Anthony had in three years of marriage-but no way was he going to let her retreat into herself after what they’d just shared…and certainly not before what they were going to share.

Her eyes opened, and a myriad of emotions danced in the reflection of dying firelight. Most prominent was the deep, painful heartache he’d contributed to this evening, and an ocean of longing he believed he was a direct part of. There wasn’t much he could do about the first emotion, but he could cater to the second.

Her hands slipped down the slope of his back, over his buttocks, rocking him closer, until the tip of his shaft penetrated ever-so-slightly.

She shuddered and arched. “Josh, come inside me,” she said in a wispy voice.

The image her words incited were powerful enough to make him do just that. Literally. Before he had the luxury of sheathing himself within her. But he didn’t want their time together to end so quickly, didn’t want the night, this moment, to slip away anytime soon. So, he bent his head and kissed her. Slow and wet and rapacious, making her wild again, making him burn, building them both toward the completion of everything that had come before.