Page 16

Craig’s breathing was as hard and fast as Izzy’s, with his blue eyes shiny and hungry.

Her breathing stuttered when his hand glided up her throat to grip her chin, forcing her to look at him, to focus on his handsome face, with his eyes searching hers, shifting between each of her irises, like he had the true power to read her mind and her moods.

‘Too much? Too soon?’ Craig murmured, while his lips trailed down her throat, sending a scurry of magical heat to bloom from her core. It was the kind of heat that scrambled her business brain, unleashing her desires and all her deep-seated fantasies.

Most of all, she had to accept that she had played a part in sending him away to live a life separate from hers. He would have been loyal to her, just as she was to him. Therefore, it might be time to neatly box away the memories of those other women, leaving them in the past, as she focused on the present—because who knew what her future held with Everlight after her?

But in this one brief moment of purity, looking at him now—with his sharp cheekbones, deep tan, and broad chest rising and falling like he was out of breath—she wanted nothing more than to please him. To make him happy, the way he always tried so hard to make her happy.

‘As my ever-cherished Bee Queen, tell me, what do you want?’ He pinned her with a dark gaze so fierce her heart slammed into her chest, forcing her to finally speak the truth.

‘You.’

In less than a heartbeat, he crashed his mouth over hers before she knew what was happening, licking at the seam of her lips, desperately trying to get inside. ‘Let me in, sweetheart,’ he murmured against her lips.

Parting her mouth for him, she allowed his tongue to find hers, while her hands lifted the edge of his shirt to find those gloriously warm and smooth, perfect abs. The heat of his skin, and the power of his kisses, made her body tremble with lust and desire, forcing her to nearly buckle to her knees.

‘I’ve got you, baby,’ he whispered against her lips as his strong, working hands gripped her arms, pressing her back against the cool fridge door.

She groaned as a shudder of heat washed over her. Assaulted by his aroma, his skin, his kiss, that tongue, as her hands explored his chest, she helped him take off his shirt. She could feel his grin against her mouth as he returned to kiss her, trapping her hands against his stomach.

She wanted to see him, to trace every bump of his muscular stomach, to trace each line, each cell. But he held her head, diving deeper into their kiss, while using her body to keep himself balanced. As their tongues tangled, she moaned into his mouth, losing herself in his passion that was both blinding yet beautiful.

His lips trailed down the side of her neck, and she tilted her head to the side, allowing him access. He pushed her trouser braces over her shoulders, then down her arms. He unclipped the button, the zip barely heard, before the whoosh as her tailored trousers fell to the floor.

The tinkle of his belt buckle was soon followed by the zip’s metal teeth parting, then came a thud as his belt buckle hit the floor as he quickly shucked out of his jeans.

‘What about your wounds?’

‘Don’t care. I want you on the dining room table. Now. ’ There was an urgency in Craig’s voice, as he held her arm and limped towards the table. Dragging a chair to one side, he positioned her to lean against the head of the table and face him.

‘Shirt off.’ He lifted it over her head, followed quickly by her bra.

‘Ponytail out, too.’ He tugged on her hair band, setting her locks free to brush them over her shoulders where her hair spilled down her chest. ‘I want your hair good and messy when I’m done with you.’

She giggled at how demanding Craig could be.

But he was potently hard for her, too. It was intoxicating how gloriously beautiful this man was and how much he wanted her. Why had she ever left him behind?

‘Stay with me, baby.’ He captured his mouth with hers and kissed her again. His hands massaging her breasts, pinching the nubs.

‘Ow.’ They were sensitive

‘Aww, here, let me kiss them better.’ Craig chuckled as he lowered his mouth to her chest. ‘Hello, ladies. How I’ve missed you.’ His hot mouth latched on so swiftly, she had no choice but to arch back over the dining room table and groan loudly as he lavishly worked from one breast to the other.

She could only hold his shoulders. Strong. Well built. They matched the flat stomach. And the way his back muscles moved beneath her hands only made her thirsty for more.

Craig was already naked, fully erect and straining, with the glorious tip tearing up to be inside her. It only made her breathe heavier, feeling sexier than she’d ever felt before. He kissed her like she was the only thing keeping him alive, while he breathed new life into her. It had always been like this between them, but this was better than she remembered, where they had an undeniable spiritual connection that grew stronger the hotter their bodies got.

While keeping her mouth busy, he traced the edge of her panties. Moving along the inner crease of her thigh he pulled the strip of fabric to the side and his knuckles dragged across her slit. She groaned as her body bucked, already covering him with her readiness.

‘My wife… Mine… Says your husband.’

She was helpless to answer, but those words made her soul come alive.

Gone. Just like that, her panties disappeared. He pushed her onto the table, dropped into the nearest chair. Tossing one of her legs over his shoulder, he pressed his open mouth to her body. He mumbled something about honey, and bee queens, or was it her saying something, even as she lost the ability to think, swamped by feelings.

And boy was her body feeling his tongue and fingers, as they effortlessly flipped the lid open on her hidden treasure chest of emotions. She had nothing to hide. She could only feel and hold on to her cowboy for one helluva ride.

Her pulse pounded as a hive of bees hummed in her ear, the thrum of her body grew into wings, as breathy, choked cries emanated from her throat, no matter how hard she tried to swallow them back.

In a few moments, he’d made her world burst apart—making her forget all the rules, all expectations, and each and every fear and worry. He’d made her ignore everything but the uncorking of her heightened pleasure, to become so wild, so mindless, so free.

‘Hmm, there’s my ever-wicked Bee Queen…’ Like a predator stalking his prey, he climbed up her body, to drag her across the table to meet him. Moving between her spread thighs, his hungry eyes and greedy palms were suddenly everywhere, running over her shoulders before dancing along her neckline, down her arms, sliding across her skin leaving goosebumps rise in their wake.

It was enough to make her mouth water. Even though she was still coming down from the orgasm, he’d successfully reignited her lust once again.

There wasn’t a place on her body he’d left undiscovered, no part he hadn’t conquered before, and yet, it was like their first time together. That first kiss, that first taste, that first…

A deep groan rolled from his chest into hers as he pushed inside her to join them as one. With his hands gripping her legs, his strokes started out slow and measured. Judging by the look on his face, if he moved any faster, this wouldn’t last long for either of them, not when she could feel the sparkly warmth building inside her again.

Her head fell back, her moan drifting up to the light above their kitchen table. His hands palmed her breasts, cleverly kneading them with skilled fingers that paid homage to her nipples, ever so cleverly pulling deeper moans from her. Most of all, her mind was here, and it had been years for her mind, body, and soul to be this consumed by one thing. Craig.

He dropped his head to the juncture of her neck, his breathing shallow and hot, as her orgasm built deep in her core. That’s when he teased her, pulling out to slide back in, rotating his hips in a way that made them both moan as she lifted her hips to help him get deeper.

He captured her lips again, kissing her until she clung to his shoulders. Her nails dug into his skin, as she desperately rocked against him, crazily seeking that friction, as he thrust deeper home. ‘Please… More…’

Like a rodeo cowboy fresh out of the chute, he rocked into her faster. His grip tightened on her hips, while somehow loosening the hold she had on her self-control.

When he circled that bundle of nerves with one finger, her neck arched back, her spine curved off the table, and she shattered right along with him. Pulse after pulse, he quaked inside her, while her every bone trembled and every nerve ending buzzed with ecstasy.

Her legs were wrapped around his hips, her arms locked over his shoulders, his head buried in the crook of her neck, still connected, with their skin slick with sweat. Their heartbeats raged against each other’s chests until the vibrations slowly subsided.

‘Welcome home, my ever-true Bee Queen. My only Queen. Welcome home.’

But was it truly safe for her to be here?