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He dragged her to him and banded his arms around her, capturing her, so even though she tried, she couldn’t move.

He stared down at her, expression fierce but strangely tender.

“I don’t expect payment in any form because you’re grateful for my help today.

I will help you without any strings attached.

I will do everything I can to get you to safety and nothing is required besides honesty and enough determination to get us there. ”

Understanding rushed through her as she wriggled to get free. “How many times do I need to say it. I don’t want to have sex with you out of gratitude, you idiot.”

He huffed a laugh, and the anger flooded back.

“I wanted to have sex with you because you’re hot and handsome, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”

He didn’t let her go the way she’d expected. Instead, his grip tightened, and her pulse leaped in excitement. Her squirming made the lace drag across sensitive flesh and aroused her in ways she’d never experienced before.

His unshaven chin scraped her neck and sent a shiver up and down her spine.

“ Have you changed your mind?” The words were deep and darkly seductive.

She lifted her chin to give him better access to her throat and shuddered when he bit down on her earlobe. Her breath fluttered out of her parted lips as her blood hummed.

“I’m not sure yet. Keep on trying to persuade me.”

He released her and ran his large hands over the sheer material of the negligee and cupped her ass, pulling her against the hard ridge of his erection.

There went any concerns he wasn’t capable of more than one erection per day.

He moved her against him, and the sensation was so good, so heightened she gasped.

One of his hands found her breast, and the feel of his fingers over the rough lace, followed by his lips, made her want to climb him like a tree.

She reached for him, but he grabbed both her wrists and put them behind her back. Held them there.

Well now .

Thwarted, she waited to see what he did next. He gently tugged on the ties of the lace coverup and eased it off to one side.

Excitement raced through her .

Slowly he slid one bra strap off her shoulder and delicately licked the top of her breast. Her breath hitched as the material caught on her nipple.

He kissed her softly, close but never quite reaching the place where she most wanted him to touch her.

He slid the other strap off with his nose and repeated the exploration with his mouth, breath skimming warmly over her skin, making her edgy because he was only teasing her with what he obviously knew she wanted.

Something he wasn’t giving her yet.

She pressed her thighs together to try to contain the feelings, but she was filled with it and didn’t know how she was going to stand it.

“Okay, I’m persuaded.” She went for humor, but her voice broke.

The smile that curved his mouth was satisfied and totally masculine.

He touched the tip of his tongue to the bead of her nipple, and her sex clenched forcefully as she arched her back.

He held her up when she might have melted in his arms. He sucked in one nipple and then the other and eased his thighs between hers so her clit came into close contact with his jean-covered erection.

She groaned. “Please, Kurt.”

“Joe,” he corrected.

“Please, whoever the hell you are. Get inside me now.”

He slipped one hand over the barely-there knickers and slid a finger deep inside. She gasped with arousal.

“These have to be the most useless and most awesome panties ever invented. I want to taste you in them.”

He let her go and stood to remove his jeans and boxers. She bit her lip as she watched him, changed her mind about where this should go next. Stopped him when he was about to kneel on the bed.

“I want to taste you first.” She scooted off the bed, disentangling herself from the bra and lacy negligee. Leaving the panties in place. Pushed him backwards on to the bed .

She pushed between his knees.

“Row,” he warned.

She looked up in surprise. “What?”

“I won’t last long with your lips around my cock.”

“Oh.” The crude words made her eyes widen as excitement built inside.

He rubbed his hand against his forehead and blew out a taut breath. “I don’t want to disappoint you.”

“How would you do that?”

“By coming in your mouth rather than inside you.”

The words were shocking and absolutely thrilling to her tender ears.

She took him in her hands and stroked him up and down as he groaned.

“Do your best to control yourself, Joe.”

She slid her lips over the tip of his penis and tasted the tanginess of him on her tongue. She traced the length of him, the rigid flesh, the velvety skin. Then she took him into her mouth, figuring out how to breathe as he filled her. Exploring. Teasing. Tasting.

She felt him tense, and he gently drew away. “Okay, we’re done.” Dragged her up onto the bed with him, moving them both up the mattress.

She grinned. The experience had been more erotic than she’d imagined. The giving of pleasure a turn on in its own way.

He settled her over him, straddling him, his hands bracketing her hips.

This was new. It was all new. She gazed down at where his penis stood proud above his thighs. The look of him made her toes curl with anticipation.

She lowered slowly onto his length. He closed his eyes, and she was grateful he missed her wince. She was a little sore but not too sore.

She knew what she was supposed to do because she might be a virgin but hadn’t lived in a cave for the past twenty-seven years.

She placed one hand on his chest and rose up again, the glide getting easier with their combined arousal.

She slid down and repeated the movement, finding a pace that worked for her.

She liked that he could be dominant sometimes but also be passive as she found her way around his body.

He didn’t know this was her first time doing any of this but seemed content to give and take in the bedroom. That was another big plus for her.

She let her head fall back, looking up at the ceiling, enjoying the feeling of fullness inside her, the friction against her clit.

Then he reared up and took her nipple in his mouth, biting firmly enough to make her buck against him.

“Oh.” She grabbed the back of his head and held him to her as he suckled on her breast still buried deep inside her.

He wrapped his thumbs into the side straps of the silly knickers she still wore and began to move them across her swollen flesh.

Oh, God .

The feeling was unlike anything she’d experienced before, and being bombarded from three different directions at once completely overwhelmed her.

Sensation pounded into her, until she came in a cascade of stars falling from the sky.

As the stars landed, she found herself quickly rolled so that she was underneath him now, and he began to drive into her faster and harder.

She wrapped her legs around him and felt his mouth on hers as he went rigid, straining against her, straining, straining, straining.

The force of his release triggered another wave of pleasure inside her, and she dug her fingers into his back as she cried out.

For a full ten seconds, they both lay trying to catch their breath. Her blood was on fire and her muscles like melted wax. “I don’t think I can move.”

“Me neither.” But he took more of his weight on his elbows.

He went to withdraw but she wrapped her legs tighter against him. “Not yet.”

He rolled them carefully over so she was lying on top of him as he pulled the covers around her shoulders .

She closed her eyes, feeling his heart beat rapidly against her cheek.

“You know the best thing?” he asked.

“The best thing out of that epic sex-capade?” She rested her hand on his chest and snuggled against him, savoring this moment because it would be over soon, and she didn’t want to be that desperate, clingy girl trying to hang on for a relationship with a man who was so obviously happier alone.

“Yeah, the best thing.” He nuzzled her hair, and she felt the kiss spread all through her body. “I didn’t even need to pretend to lose at cribbage.”

She pinched the skin at the side of his ribs, and he jumped. “There’s always tomorrow.”

He chuckled as he squeezed her tight, but she was already drifting off, floating on that pleasure high, and memories that she feared were going to have to last a lifetime.