Raife: An Aquadomina Novel by Stormy McKnight

moved to take off his undershirt and Sophie couldn’t breathe. She
had been waiting for skin to show. It was amazing how many garments the man
wore. He had taken off an outer leather doublet, his wristbands, and some type
of holster with who knows what weapons, his boots, and his socks. She was
running out of cheats to get him naked! She had of course “lost” a few rounds
herself. She was down to her bra and panties. When he tossed his shirt to the
side, Sophie drank in the sight of all that tan skin. Those bunching muscles as
he shifted to take the cards. His chest had a sprinkling of dark hair that
trailed down his taunt abs and…lower. She may have drooled a little she wasn’t
ashamed to say.
    “Is it my turn to deal?”
    “What?” She moved her eyes back to his, “Yes. I believe it is.” She waved
for him to go ahead, and then watched the play of muscles in his forearms and
biceps. What was it going to take for him to get sweaty with her already?
    After another few minutes, Sophie called this hand and he showed her his
two Aces. She spread her hand and smiled softly. “My King kills your two Aces.
Sorry.” She almost clapped her hands in happiness. He only had his pants on
now. When he stood up to move around the table her eyes flew to his hands. They
were resting on his waistband and she watched as he slowly unclasped the
fastening. As he pushed them to his hips, it was obvious that he wasn’t wearing
underwear.
    “Chosen.” His husky voice called to her, “If you had wanted to see me
naked, you should have just asked.”
    Sophie’s eyes flew to his and it was like the gun going off at a track
meet. She jumped into his arms. He pulled her higher against him, so she was
forced onto her tiptoes. Their mouths met in a clash of lips. His naked chests
was pressed into her and Sophie couldn’t stop herself from rubbing back and
forth.
    “Mmm.” She groaned against his mouth. He felt so good. He was steely
strength wrapped in warm velvet. She wanted to touch and taste every inch of
his skin. Her mouth watered at the very thought of running her tongue down his
body. Digging her fingers into his hair, she sighed against his mouth at how
silky the strands were. She loved the light red highlights that played through
the dark tresses.
    Neither had broken the contact of their lips yet, and both seemed
reluctant to do so. Sophie had taken the initiative and played with the seam of
Raife’s mouth with her tongue. When he just froze and didn’t open his mouth,
Sophie worried she had done something wrong.
    “Do you not kiss that way?” She whispered against his lips. Looking up at
Raife, she drew a shaky breath at the light show his eyes were putting on. He
was radiating raw passion and she had never felt this kind of chemical heat
before. She had been about to step back when he finally spoke.
    “Yes, I just...” His voice was deep and vibrated against her lips. “I’m
trying to hold onto my control.” Raife pressed his mouth against hers and his tongue
licked the seam of her lips. He suddenly became even more aggressive and Sophie
gave herself up to the kiss. Their mouths opened wider against each other and
tongues sparred more hungrily.
    With his hands holding her steadily against him, Raife back-pedaled into
the private chamber. Turning at the bed, he picked her up by the waist and held
the back of her thighs. Figuring he wanted her to lift her legs, she leaned up
into him and with his help wrapped her legs around his waist. The material of
his pants had fallen lower as he walked and Sophie wasn’t surprised when he did
a little wiggle motion then knelt on the bed.
    Sophie was desperate for more intimacy and moved her hips against him to
show she was more than ready. She felt him lean to grab a pillow from the head
of the bed, and place it at his knees. The material felt especially cool
against her heated skin. Then he was breaking the kiss, his teeth holding onto
her lower lip as he pulled away. He