Shiver

She could see the smooth texture of his skin, and the slight yellowing of his bruises, and the tiny lines around his eyes and each individual whisker in the new stubble that darkened his jaw.
    Bruises and all, he was so handsome that just looking at him made her pulse quicken. Their eyes held, and a sizzling tension seemed to shimmer in the air. Chemistry, she identified it instantly, but then she realized that the sexual attraction that blazed between them didn’t tell the whole tale. In the brief time she’d known him he had become incredibly important to her,someone whom she’d come to feel that she could confide in and seek advice from and depend on. A friend.
    More than a friend.
    You should have known better, she told herself savagely even as the ache in her heart at the idea that she was never going to see him again intensified times about a thousand. How many times do you have to get the rug pulled out from under you before you realize that the only person you can depend on is yourself?
    He was watching her. His eyes were dark and intent. His mouth—what was she doing looking at his mouth?—was way too close to her own.
    “Have a little faith in me,” he said as he had once before. His hand came up to slide along her jaw, a little abrasive, very warm, keeping her face turned to his. Then, even as she glared at him some more, he leaned forward and kissed her. Softly, tenderly, devastatingly. Her heart pounded. Her pulse raced. Her body started to tighten and throb. For a moment, a hard-won moment, she let him ply her lips with his but didn’t respond, knowing that the smart thing to do would be to pull her mouth free of his, to jump up and leave the room and banish him permanently from her mind. But she didn’t. She couldn’t. She was, she discovered, weak where he was concerned. Her blood heated and her bones liquefied and she gave in to temptation, gave in to the hunger he roused in her and that she could no longer resist. Slowly, slowly, she closed her eyes and slid a hand behind his head and kissed him back. The instant she surrendered he deepened the kiss. Electricity shot through her, making hershiver, making her burn. It was then that she knew that this was why she had come marching into his bedroom. This was why she had shaken her hair loose, why she had locked his door, why she was naked beneath her robe. This was what she’d been seeking, what she wanted, what she craved.
    I’ve fallen in love with him. The thought was terrifying. As soon as she had it, as soon as she knew, she would have pulled back if she could have. But it was too late, impossible to do, because she was already lost in the hot sweet elixir of his kisses, of his hands sliding beneath the edges of her robe, of her own passion.
    When his hand found her bare breast, covering it, caressing it, hard and warm and yet exquisitely gentle, the bolt of excitement that shot through her made her dizzy.
    Oh, no. Oh, no. Panic beat in her breast like the fluttery wings of a frightened bird. You need to stop this now, because you’re going to get badly hurt. She knew it with an icy clarity that managed to surface even through the flash fire of arousal that was hotter than anything she had ever imagined. But the sad truth was, she wanted his hands on her too much. She wanted him too much.
    She was going to go with it, and to hell with the consequences.
    “You okay?” He must have sensed her agitation, because he gave her a chance, she had to give him that. He broke off the kiss, stilled his caressing hand on her breast, asked the question in a husky voice that, funnily enough, just ratcheted up the level of her desire. Because he asked, she opened her eyesand looked at him. So there the opportunity was: she still could have stopped, still could have stood up and walked away. But his eyes as she met them were hot and dark with passion, and his face was hard with wanting her, and she could feel the uneven rhythm of his breathing feathering across her lips. Instead of saying forget this, or shoving his hand off her breast, or even turning her face from his, she went all light-headed and shivery with longing and nodded her head yes in reply. And that was when she understood: she was going to do this because if she didn’t she would regret not doing it every single moment for the rest of her life.
    Because this was the only chance that he and she were ever going to get.
    “Make love to me.” The words spilled out of their own accord.