An Uncommon Sense by Serenity Woods

stand with, it didn’t bear thinking about.
    The tear ran down her cheek and onto his before she could stop it. He looked up at her, puzzled. “What’s the matter?”
    She wiped her face. “Sorry.”
    “That’s not quite the reaction I was hoping for when I kissed you.” His wry tone belied his obvious concern.
    “I’m fine. It’s just…” She looked down as he clasped her hands in his big paws. “You’re too nice. It catches me out every time. I’m…not used to it. It makes me melt.”
    He studied her for a moment and she wondered if she’d put him off. Shit. Me and my big mouth.  
    He didn’t look put off, however, and the bulge in his pants certainly didn’t portray any lessening of desire. But his eyes took on a steely glint that made her grow suddenly wary. “‘Too nice ?’” he quoted.
    “Um…well…you know what I mean… I like it, Ash. I like that you’re nice…”  
    The steely glint didn’t disappear. If anything, it hardened. Like titanium. Symbol Ti, atomic number twenty-two. The hardest natural metal. Forty-five per cent lighter than steel.  
    Uh-oh, her brain was going into Chemistry Mode—that meant she was in trouble.
    He didn’t say anything, though. He merely pulled her head down and kissed her again. But after a few seconds, she realised it was a different sort of kiss. He’d flipped a switch or something, because this kiss was red hot—no longer gentle and tentative, but hard and passionate, and desire shot through her like a ring-the-bell-with-the-hammer game in a fairground.
    As he kissed her, he slid his other hand up to her breast and pushed aside the lace, cupping the weight of her breast in his palm, squeezing her nipple between thumb and forefinger. Grace gasped, but he didn’t release her, taking advantage of her open mouth to plunge his tongue in deeper. Her heart hammered, but he was relentless, and when he finally released her mouth it was only to trail his lips down to her breast before fastening his mouth over her nipple.
    He pulled her hips forward, and he was hard against the soft, swollen part of her. The underneath of the body was soaked from her moisture, which he soon found out as he slipped a hand between them and slid his fingers down to explore her. Grace tipped back her head as he stroked her firmly, his mouth still hot on her nipple, and she shivered with sensation as he sucked hard while sliding his fingers deep inside her. His touch was insistent, demanding, and she knew it wasn’t going to be long before she came.
    Just as everything began to tighten, however, he lifted his head and moved his arms around her. She sighed with disappointment and then squealed as he lifted her smoothly and moved forward onto his knees, lowering her onto the rug in front of the wood fire.
    She looked to one side at the white fur. “A sheepskin rug? Really? That’s so nineteen-seventies.”
    “I can put some Barry White on too, if you want.” He put on a deeper, gravelly voice as he kissed up her neck. “We got it together, baby.”
    She laughed, but her amusement faded quickly as he leaned over her, bracing himself on either side with his big, strong arms. She ran her fingers up the hard, toned muscles, tracing his collarbone, then down to his nipples, circling them. He met her gaze, his eyes still hot, full of desire for her, and she sighed as he reached down and popped the buttons under her lacy body. He unzipped the combat pants and pushed his boxers down, and before she could comment on the fact that he wasn’t going to bother to undress, he was sliding inside her, right up to the hilt.  
    “Oh!”
    He looked down at her smugly, as if he’d known this was what she wanted, even though she didn’t know it herself.
    “Don’t look so pleased with yourself,” she scolded breathlessly.
    He laughed and moved inside her, and she wrapped her legs around him and stretched out beneath him, revelling in his warmth and strength and his obvious craving for