Only 05 - Autumn Lover

within.
    Elyssa’s eyes closed as a wave of wild pleasure swept through her, lifting her against Hunter’s hand. Another wave lifted her, then another and another until she was crying huskily with each breath, each caress.
    Slowly Hunter’s fingertips skimmed, circled, then gently probed the deep well of her response. The slick heat of her made his whole body clench with need. With great care he pressed inside her, first one finger, then two.
    And every bit of the way he wished that he was truly, deeply joined with her rather than merely teasing her and tormenting himself.
    The increasing pressure inside Elyssa’s body returned sanity to her in a rush. Memories of the first time returned. First the exquisite pleasure. Then pressure.
    Then pain.
    “Hunter, I—”
    Elyssa’s words ended in a hoarse sound of pleasure as Hunter’s thumb rubbed over the slick, shimmering knot of passion he had teased into life.
    “It’s all right,” Hunter said gently. “You’re tight, but I was expecting it this time. I won’t hurt you. Remember my promise? All of the pleasure and none of the pain.”
    Elyssa made a ragged sound as pleasure coiled and burst inside her.
    Through lowered eyelids, Hunter memorized the picture Elyssa made as she lay undressed but for the fine drawers that served to emphasize rather than to conceal the swollen petals of her desire. The trust implicit in her abandon humbled him.
    The hunger in his own body raged at him.
    Deliberately Hunter moved his hand, measuring and pleasuring Elyssa in the same smooth motions. Pressing, sliding, caressing, stretching the snug, incredible softness of her body. With each movement he gently se-duced the very flesh he had once taken in a storm of ignorance and desire.
    When Hunter could press no deeper he bent down to the passionate nub that now lay exposed. The tip of his tongue circled the knot of flesh, stroked it…and then he sucked hungrily.
    Surprise and violent pleasure shot through Elyssa.
    “ Hunter .”
    His hands and mouth moved in slow, caressing response.
    Husky cries rippled from Elyssa’s throat as she lay helpless, open, a willing captive of the man whose unexpected loving burned her to her core.
    Hunter heard, felt, tasted her response; and forced himself to remember all the reasons why he shouldn’t open his pants and plunge into the very fire that was burning both of them alive.
    Without warning ecstasy transfixed Elyssa, held her arched and quivering, wholly abandoned to Hunter. Like the hot, hidden convulsions of her body, the wild song of her pleasure was a bittersweet torment to him.
    Finally, reluctantly, Hunter withdrew from Elyssa’s body. Only after he pulled the thin cotton blanket over her did he trust himself to gather her into his arms. He held her in his lap and rocked gently, trying to calm both of them.
    Slowly ecstasy eased its fierce grip on Elyssa’s mind and body. With a deep, shattered breath, she opened her eyes and looked at Hunter.
    He smiled almost sadly at the wonder in her blue-green eyes.
    “Good,” he said. “That’s what it should have been the first time.”
    “I…”
    A delicious echo of ecstasy shivered through her, stealing her ability to talk.
    “I have no words,” Elyssa said after a moment.
    She lifted herself to brush a kiss across Hunter’s lips.
    The gentle caress twisted his guts into an even tighter knot. Hunter closed his eyes and battled with the savage clamor of his body.
    When he could trust himself to look at Elyssa again, she was watching him with troubled eyes.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    “You.”
    “What about me?”
    “The first time I had the pain and you had the pleasure,” Elyssa said. “The second time I had the pleasure and you had the pain. Is it always that way, one hurting and the other helpless with pleasure?”
    “I’m not hurting the way you did.”
    “You don’t look it,” Elyssa said unhappily. “You look…drawn.”
    “I’ll get over it.”
    Elyssa shifted her position to get a better look at Hunter. The motion made her hip move against his abdomen. His breath hissed in between his clenched teeth.
    “You are hurting,” she said quickly. “Is there anything I can do?”
    “Don’t tempt me,” Hunter said under his breath.
    But Elyssa heard him.
    “Tempt you?” she asked quickly. “How?”
    Hunter closed his eyes and tried not to think of all the ways a girl with Elyssa’s passion could tempt him.
    And then satisfy him all the way to the