Head Over Heels Read online

Page 36

  Author: Jill Shalvis

  “I—”

  He licked the moisture between her legs, and she gasped.

  “Keep breathing,” he murmured against her skin. “You’re holding your breath. In and out, Chloe. Slow. ”

  Was he kidding her? “I can’t. ”

  “Thought that word wasn’t in your vocabulary. ”

  She huffed out a faint laugh. But his hot mouth was still working her, making her tremble, and his name tumbled from her lips as she slid her hands from his and fisted them in his hair.

  He stayed the course, hummed her name against her, making her toes curl. She tightened her grip, but he couldn’t be rushed. Whenever she tried, he merely captured her wrists again, pinning her legs with his heavy body to hold her still. “Shhh,” he told her and then continued.

  Slow.

  Easy.

  Driving her right out of her mind. “Please. Sawyer, please. ”

  But her entreaty fell on deaf ears. He did his own thing at his own pace, gently massaging and teasing and coaxing her right into a blissful explosion that shocked and rocked her to the very core.

  While she trembled and shuddered back to Planet Earth, he gave her one last soft kiss and moved back up her body to study her face closely. “Okay?” he asked.

  “If I was any more okay, you’d have to peel me off the ceiling. ”

  He smiled, but his eyes were still hot, lines of tension bracketing his mouth.

  “I really am okay,” she said, stunned to realize it was true. She was breathing heavily but not feeling wheezy. “Sawyer?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Your turn. ” She pushed him down to the bed. Leaning over him, she took his wrists and forced his hands up to the headboard and curled his fingers around the spindles. She lowered the timber of her voice to imitate his. “Slow,” she commanded. “Real slow and easy. ”

  He smiled. “But I don’t have asthma—”

  “You’re not very good at following directions either. I suppose I’ll have to take over. ”

  He raised a challenging brow. He was sprawled beneath her wearing only his uniform trousers, his body warm and strong, his every muscle taut. God, so many muscles. Even his feet were sexy. Lord, she had it bad. “I could look at you all day,” she whispered.

  A flicker of surprise came into his eyes and then heat. “Look all you want,” he said. “But first let me—” He let go of the headboard to adjust himself with a grimace.

  “Yeah, those pants do look pretty uncomfortable. ” Batting his hand away, she popped open the button herself.

  “Careful,” he said when she reached for the zipper.

  “Easy, Sheriff. This won’t hurt a bit. ” She unzipped him with great care and then tugged the pants down his long legs, watching as he sprang free. Sitting back on her haunches, she smiled. “Happy to see me?” Leaning forward, she kissed him on the tip of his very impressive erection, making his low reply unintelligible.

  He rose onto his elbows to watch her, reaching to glide his fingers into her hair, but like he’d done to her, she shoved him back to the bed.

  He gripped the headboard again, tight enough to turn his knuckles white. “Christ, Chloe. You’re killing me. ”

  Ditto, she thought, transfixed as the sight of him spread out for her viewing pleasure now, so perfectly in proportion from head to toe and all the glorious spots in between. Wrapping her fingers around the base of his hot, silky length, she licked him delicately, then not so delicately, until he shuddered and slid his fingers back into her hair to pull her away. “God, Chloe. You’re going to make me—”

  “That’s the idea. ”

  “Not yet. ” He grabbed her, hauling her up his taut, heated body until she was straddling him. She gave a little wriggle to get him right where she…wanted…him—

  “Oh no, you don’t. ” Gripping her hips, he held her still. “I want you to stay with me this time. ”

  “I’m with you,” she promised. “All the way with you. My lungs are good, see?” She inhaled as deep as she could and let it out.

  “Good. Keep doing that, keep breathing,” he ordered softly. “I’ll do the rest. ” Biceps flexing, he lifted her up and then allowed her to sink onto him, and exquisite pleasure washed through her as he slid home.

  “Your pace,” he said. He sounded a little rough and strained, but his hands loosened their grip on her.

  Her pace. Normally she’d kick into gear, desperate to get to the finish before it was too late and she couldn’t. But he’d already proven that she didn’t have to rush. So for the first time, she set an achingly slow rhythm, letting herself get lost in his eyes as she moved on him, feeling each emotion as it shimmered through her.

  Love or lust?

  Hard to tell. For all she’d done in her life, she’d had little experience with either. But it’d be nice to know which had driven them to this, which was fueling the passion between them, suspending her in a timeless beat. Sawyer’s chest was rising and falling quickly, as if he’d just finished a run. Watching him fight to control himself was a huge turn-on.

  It was her, she realized, her making him pant. Her eyes drifted closed as a sweet climax washed over her. She heard herself cry out, and then Sawyer’s low, ragged answering groan as he joined her.

  When she opened her eyes, she was lying on top of him, clinging to him with a quiet desperation that surprised her.

  “You okay?” he asked, his incredibly sexy voice rumbling up from his chest where her face was plastered.

  Since words were still beyond her, she nodded.

  He lifted her head to look into her eyes. “Sure?”

  She licked her lips. “Yes,” she managed in a croak.

  “Okay, good. Maybe you could loosen the grip just a little?”

  She realized it wasn’t just her arms and legs gripping him, but that her fingers were digging into his back. “Oh! I’m sorry!” She started to sit up, but he tightened his grip on her. “Just the nails,” he murmured, his hands soothing her, holding her still. “The rest stays. ”

  She relaxed again. Actually, slumped bonelessly against him was more like it. She had no idea how much time passed, but when she surfaced again, he was cradling her against his side, lightly stroking her back from the nape of her neck down her spine, over her bottom and the backs of her thighs, then up again as their breathing slowed.

  Love or lust? she asked herself again. And if she asked him, would he have any more of an idea than she? No. She didn’t want to know. Because maybe it was a little bit of both. And besides, it wasn’t a question that needed answering now. She’d just take their odd mix of frustration, heat, affection, and desire and…enjoy it.

  For as long as it lasted.

  She lifted her head again to look at him. His eyes were closed, body relaxed, all the tension gone from his face. Feeling her gaze, he opened his eyes. “It’s good to be inhaler worthy,” he said.

  She grinned. “I didn’t even need it, not during, not once. ”

  Reaching up, he tugged on a strand of her hair, mouth quirking into a smile. “I noticed. ”

  The joy of it surged through her, and she sat up, unable to contain herself. “I got an orgasm, and it didn’t cost me a thing. ”

  “I’m a regular blue-light special,” he said, shaking his head in amusement. “And you even got a twofer. ”

  This was true. “And no asthma attack,” she murmured, still marveling at that. “No ER visit. ”

  Nothing to stop them…

  Clearly realizing this at the same time, he rolled her beneath him, pressing her into the mattress, his expression dialed to Wicked Intent.

  He was hard, and she shivered with anticipation. “Again, Sawyer?”

  “Oh yeah,” he said, dipping his head to kiss her breast. “And then again. ”

  Chapter 20

  “You have the right to remain silent. Otherwise, anythi