Slade knelt between her legs and ran one finger down her drenched slit. She cried out as her swollen flesh begged for more. With a low growl, he dipped his head and dropped gentle, teasing kisses over her drenched core. The whisper softness of his lips, the hot lash of wet tongue, all swirled together and cranked the tension in her belly so tight she thought she’d shatter with one more touch. Her clit hardened and demanded relief, but he ignored it, sliding his tongue over the sides and pulsing his fingers in tiny increments into her channel. She wriggled for freedom, but he kept her held tight, stabbing his tongue around her pulsing clit. Then slipped two fingers deep inside.

She cried out in delicious agony. Breath strangled in her lungs so she was only able to emit tiny pants as those talented fingers rubbed and plunged in a rocking rhythm that drove her right to the edge.

Kate arched, ready to explode, but he gave a sexy laugh and removed his fingers. “Not yet, baby. Not until I’m deep inside you.” He lifted her ankles, placed them on his shoulders, and looked up her body.

Kate shook at the seething, sexual energy crackling between them, soaking into her skin until every pore and cell wept for him to take her. His massive erection poised at her entrance. She fisted her hands in the sheets and wondered if she’d splinter into a thousand pieces once he slid inside.

His eyes blazed. “Give me everything. I won’t settle for anything else.”

She sucked in her breath, suddenly terrified at her vulnerability. What was she doing? Giving her virginity over to a man who believed in nothing but the moment? He’d destroy her, take everything she had, and leave her with nothing. Panic reared. With a cry, she opened her mouth to stop him, but it was too late. He surged inside with one long slide and claimed her.

A sharp pain seized her. She grabbed for breath, dug her nails into his back, and tried to process the swirling sensations ripping her body and mind. Slowly, the burn faded into a sense of overfullness. Her body adjusted, squeezing his cock, her wet channel snugly accepting his length even as her brain fought the final battle. “N-n-no, don’t, I can’t, oh, God, it’s too much.”

His powerful muscles drove her deep into the mattress, and Kate pushed at his shoulders, half aware she didn’t know if she should push him away or pull him closer. His skin was hot and slightly damp. An instinct to surrender to everything he wanted shimmered through her, but she fought the claim, afraid he’d take every piece of her body and mind and soul. “Look at me, baby. Open your eyes.”

Kate half sobbed and obeyed. His warm palms cupped her face, and he held completely still, his cock pulsing deep inside until she didn’t know where she ended and he began. A rocket of sensations exploded inside, which her brain desperately tried to make sense of—stretched, achy, wet, hot. As if he realized her barriers, a low growl emanated from his chest.

“No, you will not hide from this. Let go, Kate. No more hiding.”

He rocked his hips in a delicious friction that slid over her clit and eased himself deeper. His mouth took hers, his tongue diving in with firm strokes, penetrating her in every way until she surrendered to his command.

The heat intensified, and now there was no pain, just a gorgeous growing pleasure that bloomed in her gut and spread out to every inch of her body. He increased the pace little by little, taking her higher, until she begged for more. She dug her nails into the mattress, lifted her hips, and let him ride her hard, fast, demanding every inch be opened and vulnerable to him.

Kate bit her lower lip as the tension twisted so tight it became excruciating. “Please, oh, please. Slade, I need—”

“That’s it, baby, all of it, more.” He groaned, rolling his hips and hitting a spot deep inside that shimmered with vibrations. Kate hovered on the brink of release, and he kept her there, drinking in every facial expression, not allowing her to conceal anything else.

His finger reached between them and slid over her clit. The orgasm took hold and shattered. Kate screamed as her channel milked him, and he rode out every last shudder, lengthening pleasure until convulsions racked her and wrung her dry. He gritted his teeth and groaned with satisfaction, letting himself go. His body tightened and he shuddered above her, the shock of pleasure too intense for any words. He slumped, tucked her neatly into his body and rolled so her head lay on his chest. Limp, sated, wrecked, Kate melted into him, closed her eyes, and rested.


“WOW.”

Slade grinned and looked down. Her pin-straight hair was tangled and had that tumbled-after-sex quality. Sweat glistened on her skin, and the delicious scent of female arousal drifted to his nostrils. Her lips were parted and slightly swollen. Her muscles melted into him as if she was a natural extension of his body, her ankle hooked over his thigh, her hip a gleaming expanse of curve and pale white flesh that contrasted with his own olive skin.

“That’s all you got?”

She blinked and stretched with a lazy grace that stiffened him to full staff. He was crazy to think one night with her would wring her out of his system. He’d never thought about the full danger of snagging a taste, then getting hooked. Slade pushed down the niggling worry that told him laying the trap to catch her had backfired. She’d trapped him just as well.

“Thought you’d be happy. I’m beyond words.”

He chuckled and smoothed back her tangled hair. “True. That’s probably a miracle.”

She lifted a hand to try and punch him, but it fell helplessly to her side. “I’ll make you pay later.”

“I’m sure you will.” He cupped her bare breast, playing with her nipple. The nub hardened instantly under his teasing thumb. “But not until I wreak my own revenge.”

She arched into his touch. Power rushed through him at her raw response. The inner caveman he always beat back roared to life and shattered his civilized veneer. God, how long had he fought this only to be overwhelmed the moment they touched? Still, he needed to keep it strictly to the bedroom. Already, Kate pushed buttons he never knew he had, making him long for the unthinkable.

More.

“If it contains any of the moves you did before, bring it.”

“Baby, I almost spilled my seed before I got inside of you. You’ve got a hell of a lot more coming.”

He squeezed her breasts, tightening on her nipple, and she gasped. He watched her carefully and caught the tiny thrust of her hips, the tripping of her pulse in her neck. Oh, yeah. His Kate liked to play a bit on the wild side. He couldn’t wait to explore every one of her limits and beyond.

Curiosity burned to know more. She hid so many layers behind her composed businesswoman persona. Each time she revealed more, his fascination intensified. Slade kept up the caress, lulling her into a state of relaxed arousal. “When I first met Robert, you said something that stayed with me. Just because someone was broken doesn’t mean they should be thrown away.”

“Yes.”

“You were talking about more than Robert, weren’t you?”

She took a few moments before answering. He stroked and tweaked her nipple to urge her on. “I stutter.”

The simple admission tore through the room like a misfired champagne cork. “What do you mean, baby? You had a stuttering problem?”

“I still do. When I get nervous or stressed, I lapse back. I’ve gotten it under control in my adulthood, but I had a hard time.”

He continued his gentle massage of her breasts. Remembered the few times she seemed to trip over her tongue. He’d assumed it was because she was overwhelmed by his pushiness to get her to confront their attraction. “Don’t schools do therapy for that?”

She didn’t speak for a while, as if wondering how much to tell him, but he kept his touch soothing. The connection of skin on skin guided her into a deeper state of intimacy, where sharing secrets in the dark blocked out the reality of the day-to-day world. “I started when I was eight. Usually children who stutter get help and outgrow it. At first, everyone thought I was just shy or nervous. I began to shut down more and more in order to stop it. I had all these thoughts and things I wanted to say, but when I opened my mouth, everything got tangled up. It was like a crazy cycle I couldn’t break. I had decided to ask for help when my dad got transferred to upstate New York for his job. I had to move, and meet new people, and it started all over.”

Slade frowned. “What about your parents? Didn’t they try to help?”

“They seemed to think I’d outgrow it, but the school finally convinced them to send me to a regular therapist. My mother believed I was fine the way I was, that I was nervous and trying too hard to express myself. She enrolled me in yoga classes and music, believing I needed to let go and accept who I was. Dad backed her and they’d just confirm they loved me exactly the way I was. That in their eyes, I was already perfect. You see, my mom lost two children before she was able to carry me to term. They called me their miracle baby.”

Slade analyzed her words. On the surface that type of love was hard to fight, the natural acceptance of parents who loved their child. The burn of perfection a mother’s gaze saw in the baby she’d always wanted. But what was the price for Kate? How would it feel to be so frustrated with speaking? To want her parents to say it was a problem and get her the help she needed, but too afraid to confess she failed them? “Was school hard?”

She stiffened beneath him. Raw pain slammed into his gut at the idea of her being hurt by others. Like his sister. How many times had he found Jane crying, broken, trying to make it in a world where cruelty was flaunted and sensitivity was demolished? She never fit in with the right crowd, so she was consistently punished. “Yeah. I got bullied, of course. Some teachers tried to help; others ignored it. I kept to myself, and since I transferred late in the game, I barely made friends. For years, I felt so isolated and stupid. Why couldn’t I speak normally like everyone else? Kids used to finish my sentences for me or imitate me. It got so bad I decided never to open my mouth, even to answer my teacher. My grades plummeted. But it taught me some hard lessons. Even things that are terrible finally end. If you lock down and fight through it, eventually the bad stuff is over.”