Risky Business

shoulders, following the trail with warm lips. “Your skin’s like gold,” he murmured, then traced a finger over her breasts where the tone changed. “And so pale. I want to see all of you.”
    “Jonas—”
    “All of you,” he repeated, looking into her eyes until the heat kindled again. “I want to make love with all of you.”
    She didn’t resist. Never in her life had anyone ever touched her with such reverence, looked at her with such need. When he urged her back, Liz lay on the bed, naked and waiting.
    “Lovely,” Jonas murmured. Her body was milk and honeyin the moonlight. And her eyes were dark—dark and open and uncertain. “I want you to trust me.” He began a slow journey of exploration at her ankles. “I want to know when I look at you that you’re not afraid of me.”
    “I’m not afraid of you.”
    “You have been. Maybe I’ve even wanted you to be. No more.”
    His tongue slid over her skin and teased the back of her knees. The jolt of power had her rising up and gasping. “Jonas.”
    “Relax.” He ran a hand lightly up her hip. “I want to feel your bones melt. Lie back, Liz. Let me show you how much you can have.”
    She obeyed, only because she hadn’t the strength to resist. He murmured to her, stroking, nibbling, until she was too steeped in what he gave to give in return. But he wanted her that way, wanted to take her as though she hadn’t been touched before. Not by him, not by anyone. Slowly, thoroughly and with great, great patience he seduced and pleasured. He thought as his mouth skimmed up her thigh that he could hear her skin hum.
    She’d never known anything could be like this—so deep, so dark. There was a freedom here, she discovered, that she’d once only associated with diving down through silent fathoms. Her body could float, her limbs could be weightless, but she could feel every touch, every movement. Dreamlike, sensations drifted over her, so soft, so misty, each blended into the next. How long could it go on? Perhaps, after all, there were forevers.
    She was lean, with muscles firm in her legs. Like a dancer’s he thought, disciplined and trained. The scent from the bowl on her dresser spiced the air, but it was her fragrance, cool as a waterfall, that swam in his head. His mind emptied of everything but the need to delight her. Love, when unselfish, has incredible power.
    His tongue plunged into the heat and his hands gripped hers as she arched, stunned at being flung from a floating world to a churning one. He drew from her, both patient and relentless, until she shuddered to climax and over. When her hands went limp in his, he brought them back to his body and pleasured himself.
    She hadn’t known passion could stretch so far or a body endure such a barrage of sensations. His hands, rough at the palm, showed her secrets she’d never had the chance to imagine. His lips, warmed from her own skin, opened mysteries and whispered the answers. He gentled her, he enticed her, he stroked with tenderness and he devoured. Gasping for air, she had no choice but to allow him whatever he wanted, and to strain for him to show her more.
    When he was inside of her she thought it was all, and more, than she could ever want. If this was love, she’d never tasted it. If this was passion, she’d only skimmed its surface. Now it was time to risk the depths. Willing, eager, she held on to him.
    It was trust he felt from her, and trust that moved him unbearably. He thought he’d needed before, desired before, but never so completely. Though he knew what it was to be part of another person, he’d never expected to feel the merger again. Strong, complex, unavoidable, the emotion swamped him. He belonged to her as fully as he’d wanted her to belong to him.
    He took her slowly, so that the thrill that coursed through her seemed endless. His skin was moist when she pressed her lips to his throat. The pulse there was as quick as her own. A giddy sense of triumph moved through her, only to be whipped away with passion before it could spread.
    Then he drew her up to him, and her body, liquid and limber with emotion, rose like a wave to press against his. Wrapped close, mouths fused, they moved together. Her hair fell like rain down her back. She could feel his heartbeat fast against her breast.
    Still joined, they lowered again. The rhythm quickened. Desperation rose. She heard him breathe her name before the gates burst open and she was lost in the flood.

9
    S he woke