Against the Fire by Kat Martin Page A

something she needed more. She moistened her lips. “Would you…would you kiss me again?”
    “I plan to kiss you all night, honey, in places you’ve never been kissed.”
    A funny little sound seeped from her throat. She didn’t protest when he lifted her into his arms, carried her into his bedroom and began to strip off her clothes.
    Soon she was naked and lying in the middle of his king-size bed. She watched as he pulled off his cowboy boots and dragged his yellow polo shirt over his head. As he unzipped and slid down his jeans, it occurred to her how exciting it could be to watch a man undress.
    A man with a body like Gabe’s.
    He was solid muscle, his chest wide and lightly sprinkled with curly dark brown hair, his stomach flat and ridged with muscle. His legs were long and muscular and the erection nested between them was immense.
    The mattress dipped with his weight as he joined her on the bed, tipped her chin up and captured her lips. Deep, drugging kisses had her melting. Hot, wet kisses had her reaching for him, running her hands over all that hard male flesh.
    “Gabe…please…”
    “Take it easy, honey.” He nipped an earlobe, captured her mouth again. “There isn’t any hurry.”
    She reached up and cupped his cheek, felt the roughness of his late-night beard. “There is for me,” she said, worried again that the haze of passion she was drowning in would fade and she would be left unsatisfied as she had always been before.
    “Maybe this’ll help.”
    She felt his hand skimming over her breasts, her belly, leaving a trail of fire wherever he touched. Parting her legs, he began to stroke her, lightly at first then more deeply, and hot sensation poured through her.
    She groaned. She was so hot and wet. Gabe kissed her slowly, touched her exactly where she ached to be touched, and she arched into his hand. The tension built. She squirmed against him, begging for relief, and his fingers moved more deeply. For an instant, she hovered on the edge.
    “Gabe!” she cried out and he caught her cries of passion in his mouth. Waves of pleasure washed over her, sensation so hot and fierce for a moment she couldn’t breathe. She was crying when he eased her into his arms.
    Gabe smoothed a tear from her cheek. “It’s all right, honey, it’s probably just been too long.”
    She shook her head, feeling ridiculous, unable to keep the words from spilling out. “I usually can’t…I mean, making love…it isn’t easy for me to reach…you know.”
    “A climax?” He gave her a wicked grin. “Looked pretty easy to me. Why don’t we try it again and see?”
    He kissed her before she could answer. Cupping her breasts, he bent his head to taste each one, leisurely suckled and laved, and there she was, hot and trembling and needy all over again.
    “It’s okay,” he said softly as her fingers dug into the muscles across his shoulders. “We’ll get there. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
    He proceeded to demonstrate that, taking his time, touching and caressing, heightening her arousal almost to the point of pain. When she couldn’t stand a moment more, Gabe eased himself inside her until he was completely seated. Keeping his weight on his elbows, he kissed her deeply, kissed her until she was begging him to take her.
    Mattie bit back a moan of pure pleasure as Gabe began to move, the heavy thrust and drag of his shaft making her whole body tingle. It was like riding out a storm or being sucked into a whirlpool, like being consumed by flames.
    Her stomach muscles contracted and then she was flying, her body clenching as release gripped her again. Mattie moaned his name and clung to him, her body tight around his hard length, but Gabe didn’t stop.
    Not until she had reached another shattering climax did he allow his own release.
    By the time she came back to herself, he lay beside her, one of his powerful arms nestling her close to his side.
    “That’s what you’ve been needing all along,” he