Daniel’s thoughts bled together, blurring his plans to go slow and communicate his feelings, if not with words then through actions. He’d wanted to show her a different side of himself. Make love to her. Prove he wasn’t completely ruled by the demands of his body. But her mouth was driving him wild. Every intention to hold back receded each time she drew on him with her lips and tongue.

Reaching down, he fisted her hair in one hand. “Goddamn, you have an eager little mouth.”

In response to his words, she hummed in the back of her throat, sending vibrations over his hard flesh. Daniel had to grit his teeth at the sensation. He watched as she squeezed her thighs together from her position at his feet and knew how wet she would be when it came time to slide inside her. Knowing she got that way by sucking him off would make it twice as sweet.

Daniel felt the familiar tightening in his stomach. Muscles clenched, breath harshened. Coming in her mouth would be heaven, but it would be selfish and he wouldn’t allow himself the honor. Not as long as an ounce of need existed in her body. He released her hair and slipped from her mouth, mourning the loss so badly, he struggled with the urge to push himself back between her pink lips. But somehow, he found the willpower to help her to her feet and sweep her up into his arms. Then he turned and strode purposefully toward the bedroom.

“I wanted to keep going,” she murmured against his neck, kissing and nipping the sensitive skin with her teeth. “Why did you make me stop?”

Daniel bit back a groan and kicked open the door to his bedroom. “I’ll tell you why, gorgeous. Because I’m finally going to taste your pu**y and I want to f**king ache while I do it. When I’m inside you tonight, I need to know I earned it.”

When he reached the foot of his bed, he set her on her feet, then quickly undressed as she watched. She bit her bottom lip as he stripped, blue-green eyes heavy with want. Finally naked, he reached for the hem of her dress and pulled it off over her head until she stood before him in nothing but that white wisp of fabric she called panties.

“Take them off.” He hooked a finger in the elastic and let it snap against her hip, making her whimper. “I’m keeping them.”

Story slid the material down her legs before dutifully placing them in Daniel’s outstretched hand. She watched through glazed eyes as he walked to his dresser and placed them in the top drawer. Before he returned to her, he removed a condom from a box on the dresser and rolled it on.

Daniel’s heart pounded noisily in his ears. He flashed back to the night before, when he’d lain in bed picturing her just like this, naked at the foot of his bed, desperate for him to satisfy her. The reality far outshined any fantasy. With moonlight spilling across her beautiful body, she looked like she’d stepped straight from his dreams. Except this time she was real and waiting for him to please her. The need to possess roared through him. She would remember tonight for the rest of her life if it killed him.

He leaned forward and brushed his mouth against hers, trailing his fingers up her arms. She shivered and sank into the kiss, melting for him in the way he craved. He continued teasing her with featherlight caresses of her naked body until she moved closer, pressing into his hands and wordlessly asking for more.

Daniel placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her down onto the edge of the bed before dropping to the floor between her thighs. Anticipation rushed through him. Since that very first day at the hospital, he’d been yearning to taste her. He wanted to memorize every shiver, every cry of pleasure. With firm hands, he parted her knees wide.

She gasped.

With an effort, he dragged his gaze up from the juncture of her thighs, over her perfect, pink-tipped br**sts to meet her eyes. “What is it?”

Story’s hands clenched and unclenched on his comforter. “Nothing. I’ve just…I’ve never…”

“Never?” Daniel’s mind reeled a second before desire, even more potent than before, slammed through him. Knowing he could claim her with his mouth, mark her in a way that no one else ever had, humbled and empowered him at the same time. For the first time in the last week, he actually felt grateful for his ample experience.

Daniel dipped his head and kissed the inside of her knee. At the same time, his hands skimmed up her belly to her br**sts, where he teased her stiff ni**les with his thumbs. He continued his methodical motions until he felt the tension ebb from her body, her thighs relaxing open once more. Savoring the taste of her skin, he licked up the inside of one thigh before giving the other side the same treatment. When her hips began shifting on the bed, he knew she was ready for more.

He hooked his hands beneath her knees and draped them over his shoulders. “Baby, you’re going to want to lie back for this.”

…

Story watched, nervous and impatient all at once, as Daniel’s dark head dipped between her thighs. She’d always wondered what this level of physical intimacy would feel like. Now she would finally find out. With Daniel. Her head tipped back on a sigh when his rough beard scraped the delicate skin just beneath her belly button, causing her stomach to quiver involuntarily.

His mouth moved to her hip bone, scraping her skin with his teeth. “Knowing these tan lines are hiding underneath your clothes drives me f**king crazy.” His parted her with his fingers. “The sun has touched you everywhere else. But only I get to touch you here.”

At the very first touch of his tongue, Story collapsed backward on the bed with a throaty moan. She felt a laugh vibrate in his throat before he continued circling her clitoris with small, circular strokes of his tongue. Mindlessly, she arched her hips off the bed, trying desperately to relieve the building pressure. Her hands sank into his hair, pulling him closer, pushing him away. She couldn’t form a decent thought to decide.

When he pulled away, she shouted her denial. “Watch me. Open your eyes and watch me pleasure you, gorgeous.”

Doing as he commanded, she became suffused with heat at the sight of Daniel tonguing her sensitive flesh, as if all her nerve endings had caught fire. It couldn’t last. Feeling this way much longer would definitely kill her. The shaking started in her thighs and shot straight through her middle until she writhed and whimpered, begging for the torture to end. Her stomach muscles tightened against the onslaught of feeling as the spasms overtook her. She heard herself shamelessly screaming Daniel’s name but was too caught up in the bliss to care.

Story felt her legs being pushed up and back until her knees hovered just above her shoulders. Then Daniel thrust his entire length inside her, holding still and deep to prolong her orgasm. His mouth came down on hers, tongue licking into her mouth with a growl. Still shuddering from the powerful release he’d given her, she kissed him back eagerly.

Shifting his hips, Daniel pulled back with a snarl. “How am I supposed to take my time when you’re tighter than a goddamn fist around my cock?”

Desperate for him to move inside her, Story tightened the muscles cradling him inside her and delighted in seeing his eyes squeeze shut. His groan of agony thrilled her. “Who says you need to take your time? Move. Now, Daniel.” She hardly recognized her own voice.

“Just remember you asked for it.” Daniel pulled out until just the thick head of his erection remained inside her body before driving back into her with enough force to propel her up the bed, toward the headboard. She locked her ankles around his neck and wrapped her fingers around the rail for leverage. Biting her lip to keep from screaming again, she used what limited movement she had to meet his advances with her hips.