If You Were Mine (19 page)

the morning.

Heather had never felt anything like this, such al-

encompassing pleasure. She’d always been the one to know her

body best, usualy having more success with battery-operated

devices than any of the men she’d been with.

But none of them had been Zach Sulivan.

But none of them had been Zach Sulivan.

The things he could do with his lips. With his tongue. She’d

never come that hard, that long, that good before. Even now that

she was starting to come down from the incredibly high peak,

Zach didn’t seem to be done, wasn’t climbing over her to finish

what he’d started and get what was coming to him.

Instead, he licked over her slowly, soothing the sensitive

area after the riotous explosion of pleasure he’d just put it

through, while seeming to savor her at the same time.

Finaly, he lifted his head and said, “I love the way you taste

when you come,” before lowering his mouth back between her

thighs and pressing a kiss to her. “You know how greedy I am,”

he murmured against her incredibly sensitive flesh. “I want more

of your sweetness, Heather. Right now.”

She shouldn’t have been so easily aroused again, not by a

couple of bossy sentences, but even before he treated her to

more focused attention from his briliant tongue, just knowing

how much he was enjoying being with her had Heather going

from zero to a hundred again in a matter of seconds.

Gently, he slid one of his hands from hers and ran it down

over her hips. She shivered at his touch, and then she was losing

control of her body again, needing that beautiful release that only

Zach could give her. Again and again she bucked into his hand,

his mouth, wanting, begging, needing, gasping.

And then, there it was, a kaleidoscope of colors, as she

burst apart again, this time crying out his name, needing to feel it

on her tongue as she rose to impossible heights, then fel down,

down, down into the darkness.

Heather had never known that she could be pure sensation.

Every inch of her skin felt hyper-aware. Every cel inside her was

ready, waiting, for
more.

She should have been exhausted, shouldn’t have been able

to crave anything more, but when Zach began the long, slow

climb up her body, his mouth pressing kisses to the insides of her

thighs, her hip bones, her rib cage, she couldn’t wait another

second.

He had never let go of his grip on her right hand and as he

slid the fingers of his left over hers, connecting them again, she

used al her might to pul him toward her, over her. She couldn’t

see his face in the dark, but that didn’t matter. She didn’t need to

see him anymore.

Just knowing he was there with her was enough.

“Zach.”

“You’re so beautiful,” he said as he took her lips with his,

her hands back up on either side of her head.

He might act as though life was just for fun, but here, in

bed, she sensed who he truly was. A man to whom everything

mattered deeply.

She didn’t want to feel anything for him beyond annoyance

and laughter and arousal. But she knew why she had started to

fal for him. Not just because of his ridiculously good looks...but

because she sensed what he tried to keep so deeply hidden from

them al.

A surprisingly big, beautiful heart.

A surprisingly big, beautiful heart.

Stil blurry after her orgasms, and from the emotions she

couldn’t seem to fight back in this one perfect moment, she

reached out to put her hands on his chest, on his breastbone,

beneath which his heart beat hard. Steady.

She leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the hairs that dusted

over his skin.

He stiled after her kiss landed on his chest. She wanted to

make a joke, wanted to say something to lighten the mood, to

make it clear to him that what they were doing was just sex.

Instead, she found herself whispering, “You are, too.”
So

incredibly beautiful.

Suddenly, he was slipping his hands from hers and she felt

the bed shift. For a split second, she worried that he’d seen the

truth beneath her kiss over his heart—a truth she couldn’t even

admit to herself—and was planning to get the heck out of the

bed before she could make the mistake of pairing any more

emotion with the great sex they were having.

But before she could find a way to string any words

together that would make sense, to make it clear to him that she

wasn’t going to make that mistake, she could hear the ripping of

paper.

Thank God, she thought, he was putting on a condom. And

then she was pressed down against the mattress again and he

was over her, her fingers threaded through his again, his thighs

pushing hers open, wider, then wider stil until she was wrapping

them around his waist to take him into her.

“Mine.”

“Mine.”

The one word penetrated the darkness and her heart was

nearly pounding out of her chest as she waited, poised on the

edge of dangerous anticipation.

“I’ve been waiting for you for so long, Heather. I’m finaly

going to make you mine.”

“Yes,” she said, the one word raw, and more desperate

than she’d ever heard from her own lips. And for al that she was

trying to stop herself from saying something she’d regret in the

morning, the words, “Make me yours, Zach,” couldn’t be

stopped.

When he surged inside her, so fiercely that her head would

have hit his headboard if he hadn’t been holding her so firmly in

place, her breath whooshed out of her.

She’d never been with a man this big, or this strong. And

she’d certainly never known one with such sweet knowledge of

a woman’s pleasure. Because as he continued to take her hard,

fast, deep, she knew that this was what she wanted, was exactly

what she’d been yearning for.

Not only to find someone who could help her lose herself.

But to find a man who would possess her body in the darkness,

then make her laugh in the light.

Zach’s power was extraordinary over her, inside of her,

sweat from his chest mixing with hers. She wanted to touch him,

wanted to run her hands over al those muscles, the unwavering

strength. But at the same time, how she loved holding his

hands...and being held right back.

Her hips moved with his, rising to meet each powerful

Her hips moved with his, rising to meet each powerful

thrust, faling as he puled back before coming into her again,

seemingly deeper every time. She could feel her body tightening,

inner muscles not used to such exquisite pleasure, almost aching

with how sensitive her aroused flesh now was.

“Again,” he gritted out, she was sure from between

clenched teeth, as he worked to hold onto his own control.

“Come for me, Heather. I need to feel you around me.” He

plunged in harder, deeper. “Now.”

She was the one who gave the orders, the one always in

control. Even as far flown as she was into the sensual spel he’d

wound around her with kisses, and caresses, and mysterious

darkness, her brain tried to send out a warning. A warning to

hold something back. A warning to be the one dictating pleasure

for herself, rather than having it given to her as a gift.

But even as flashes of sense came at her through a thick fog

of desire, how could she do anything but obey Zach’s order?

Especialy when he was only teling her to do what her body so

desperately wanted?

Yes, she thought as she released her remaining hold over

herself and let the plunge and pul of Zach’s body take her

careening over the edge one more time, this was exactly what

she
wanted. To alow herself a pleasure she’d never been able to

find with anyone else.

She would heed the warnings, she would guard her heart,

but she wouldn’t deny herself any of the primal need, the

elemental desire for this man. For as long as it lasted, she would

elemental desire for this man. For as long as it lasted, she would

take al he had to give.

“Sweet Jesus,” he groaned as her inner muscles gripped

him and she ground her hips up against his to prolong the

pleasure, “why did I wait so long to take you?”

She should have been insulted by the way he spoke about

taking
her and maybe she would be later, but she knew the

truth.

Until this very moment, he’d been
giving
to her, everything

she needed, everything she wanted. Al he’d cared about was

her pleasure. Yes, her pleasure pleased him, but that wasn’t why

he’d touched her, kissed her, loved her the way he had.

He’d done it al for her, had been minutely attuned to every

breath, to every heartbeat, to her scars, and then to every gasp

of pleasure. Only now that he knew she was completely

satisfied, did he let himself take.

Heather knew the precise moment their lovemaking went

from being al about her to being for him. The tenor changed as

he let go of her hands and slid his palms over her breasts,

cupping her, squeezing her before moving his hands lower, to

cup the curve of her hips in his hands.

It was perfect, the shift from her pleasure to his. It was just

how it should be, just how she wanted it, that they were equal

partners in each other’s pleasure. She wanted to give Zach what

he’d given her.

Complete freedom to fal apart, with no repercussions

waiting afterward.

As he gripped her hips tighter and tighter, she could feel

As he gripped her hips tighter and tighter, she could feel

him growing even bigger, even harder with each powerful thrust.

His focus might not be entirely on her pleasure anymore, but

even so, she could feel herself on the verge of flying again.

Finaly able to touch him, she reached up, ran her hands

over his chest, then over to his upper arms. His muscles and

tendons flexed beneath her fingertips and she marveled at his

strength even as she used her own to hold onto him with her

hands on his sweat-slickened skin, her legs tightly wrapped

around his hips as she met him thrust for thrust.

She wanted to focus only on him now, needed to make

sure he felt as good as she did, but she couldn’t stop her body

from responding to how good it felt. Only, she didn’t want to go

there alone this time.

“Zach.” She tried to warn him, but it was too late, she was

already faling. “Please,” she heard herself beg through a fog,

knowing he wouldn’t understand what she wanted, that he would

just think she was pleading for him to prolong her next climax.

Stil, she said it again, the only two words she could form.

“Please, Zach.”

It didn’t take more than a split second for Heather to

realize she’d underestimated him yet again. Somewhere in the

back of her mind, it occurred to her that he understood her

desires, that he quite likely knew her body, her sensual needs,

better than she ever had herself.

In the next sweet, perfect moment, Zach’s name was faling

from her lips like a benediction as he stiled above her, then

pulsed long and hard with his own powerful release.

pulsed long and hard with his own powerful release.

And, oh, how she loved the way he threaded his hands into

her hair, then covered her mouth in a kiss that told her just how

much she pleased him. At least as much as he’d pleased her.

Finaly, he came down over her, breathing hard, his weight

heavy over hers as he pressed her even deeper into his mattress.

She didn’t mind his weight or the dampness that stuck between

them, not when she could wrap her arms around his back and

simply hold him.

Heather woke up a few hours later in the circle of Zach’s

strong arms. Instinctively, she snuggled into his naked body, but

the warnings that hadn’t been able to pierce through the arousal

clouding her brain before, now rushed in with unrelenting fury.

Here lay danger, feeling soft and warm and safe with Zach

Sulivan.

She was a woman, so she would alow herself a little

softness. Warmth couldn’t be helped, either. Not when Zach

was a walking, breathing heating unit.

But safe?

Only a complete fool would let herself believe she was safe

with him.

Besides, their agreement in the bal park’s aley had been

perfectly clear. Their relationship was al about sex.

Nothing else.

Nothing else.

Oh God, how could she already be in so far over her head