Smolder (Firefighters of Montana Book 1) by Tracy Solheim Page B

cupped her ass and lifted her onto the island so they were face-to-face. Laurel was breathing deeply, but she met his stare without blinking, her green eyes challenging. She would likely be as impulsive at sex as she was with the rest of her life, and the thought suddenly made Sam hard as hell.
    She draped her arms around his neck, cocking her head so her ponytail swished from side to side. “Are we gonna do this or not, captain?”
    “Oh, we’re gonna do this.” He leaned in and nipped at the corner of her mouth. “Multiple times, in fact.” Sam swallowed her gasp when his lips crushed hers.
    He let himself get lost in the sweet taste of her mouth and the intoxicating feel of her body rubbing against his. Desperate for more of her, he slid his fingers beneath the thin fabric of her top. A soft, keening sound escaped the back of Laurel’s throat when he found her pebbled nipples. She wrapped her thighs around his waist and arched her body toward his in invitation. Breaking their kiss, Sam let his lips trail over her feverish skin as he nudged the spaghetti straps of her top down to her elbows.
    Laurel nearly jumped off the counter when Sam gently blew on her aroused nipple. “Sam, please.” She embarrassed herself by begging.
    She felt his chest rumble with a laugh. Laurel was about to end the drought of a lifetime and the damn man thought it was funny. She squeezed her legs around him more tightly. He got the message and flicked his tongue over her before taking the nipple in his mouth and sucking. Laurel nearly exploded right then and there. Tears stung her eyes she was so frenzied—both to find the release she hadn’t had from a real man in years and to make this last more than three minutes.
    “Please what, Laurel,” he teased.
    “I-I…It’s been, um, kind of a while,” she admitted. “I’m not sure how long my body can hold out before we get to the good stuff.”
    His chest rumbled again. “Are you saying this isn’t good?”
    Sam teased her other nipple with his tongue and she thought she might shatter right there. “This is good,” she said with a gasp. “Really good. That’s the problem.”
    He slowly lifted his head and his gaze landed on her chin, then her cheeks. It lingered on her mouth before finally meeting her eyes. What she saw reflected there stunned her. He knew.
    He understood. Her body sagged with relief, and if she hadn’t been wrapped around him like a sloth, she might have fallen to the floor in a puddle.
    He placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “You’ve got some catching up to do. Nothing to be ashamed of. But the ‘good stuff’ might be more enjoyable if we take this someplace else. Someplace where I can touch all of you.” Laurel shivered at his words. “And where you can return the favor.”
    She kissed him frantically as he carried her into her bedroom, mostly because she had to but also because she wanted to distract him so he wouldn’t notice her messy room. Of course, it didn’t work. He tossed her down on her unmade bed before quickly giving her bedroom the once over with that military way of his.
    “I wasn’t expecting company,” she explained, perhaps a tad too defensively.
    “Mmm,” was all he said when he sat down on the edge of the bed and began pulling off his boots. His shirt was next. Then Sam stood and undid the button on his jeans.
    Panic began to set in. Technically, it had been longer than “a while” since she’d actually done this, and Laurel wondered if she’d be able to keep up. She would die if she did something wrong or, worse, somehow disappointed Sam.
    “You’re taking off your clothes?” Oh damn, she’d said that out loud.
    To his credit, Sam didn’t flinch. Or laugh. Instead, he continued to methodically strip in front of her, pushing his jeans and his briefs— red Calvin’s, Laurel noticed with a sigh —down his muscled thighs.
    “I’ve found that the good stuff is a lot more fun if you’re naked,” he said as he bent to