After Midnight by Katherine Garbera

asked under her breath as she pulled her head back. “Why you?”
    “There was always something between us, Linds. We both knew that.”
    He unhooked her bra with one hand and pulled the fabric from her torso. Tossed it on the floor and then leaned down to kiss one nipple. He’d barely had time last night to taste them. They were pinkish red and hardened under his lips. He skimmed his hands over her ribs and down to her narrow waist.
    Carter spanned it with both of his hands, pulling her from the wall and more firmly toward him. Then he turned so he could lean against the wall. Her hands roamed up and down, bringing every nerve in his body to red alert.
    He wanted her now.
    But he was trying to...
    Why? Why was he taking this slow when he knew that Lindsey was a sixty-miles-per-hour girl? She liked the exhilaration of speeding through life. But he wanted it to take longer. Needed to tease it out for his as much as her pleasure.
    This morning had showed him just how fragile his hold on her was, and he knew that every time he took her in his arms it might be his last.
    He lifted his head from her tempting body and looked up at her. Her eyes were half-closed and her skin had a pretty rose-colored blush to it. She was lightly skimming her hands over his skin as she chewed her lower lip.
    A moment later she pushed her hands into the waistband of his pants and shoved them toward his feet. He stepped out of them. Then she pushed his boxer briefs down, as well. Standing naked in her hallway, Carter realized he was where he wanted to be. She took his erection in her hand and stroked him up and down while he frantically shoved her clothes out of the way. Then, groaning low in his throat, he lifted her into his arms and turned so that her back was braced against the wall as he thrust into her.
    He pushed himself all the way inside her and then rested his head on her shoulder. He took several deep breaths, but her fingers moving up and down his spine and then lower to cup his buttocks urged him on.
    “Take me,” she said, whispering the words directly into his ear.
    He was already there, moving his hips as she lifted her legs and wrapped them around him, forcing him farther inside her. She tipped her head back, her silky blond hair sliding over his shoulders as he plunged in and out of her.
    His world narrowed to just her, and he couldn’t think beyond the urge to go deeper, to take her so completely that there wouldn’t be a Lindsey and Carter when he stopped, but just one being.
    He felt his orgasm at the base of his spine and cursed as he tried to slow it or stop it. But it was too late. He was too close to the edge, and she dug her heels into his thighs, arching up against him as he came inside her. Realizing she wasn’t there yet, he reached between their bodies, finding her clit and stroking it while he kept moving in and out of her body.
    She felt so good. He felt her tighten around him, and she called his name as she came. He sank to the cold, tiled floor, cradling her in his arms as they fought to catch their breaths. He rubbed his hands up and down her back, and she scooted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder as his blood pounded in his ears.
    “Wow,” she said.
    Wow. Was that good? He had a feeling as quick as he was, he might not have given his best showing, but he was tired and he’d had that feeling all day that he might never have all he wanted from her.
    “That good?” he asked gruffly.
    “Yeah. I had no idea... My sexual experience isn’t as diverse as yours. I mean, mission-style, lights off is my usual thing.” He would’ve laughed if he’d thought that was what she wanted from him. “We’ve had the lights on every time.”
    “Yes we have. You make me feel so comfortable in my skin,” she murmured. “Other guys seemed to just...”
    Jealousy shot through him. The last thing he wanted to talk about were other guys she’d been with. But he was glad she felt comfortable around him.