RELENTLESS by Helenkay Dimon Page B

better each time. This one grew heated in a second. His hands traveled all over her, and her hair tickled his arms. He didn’t care if he ripped out his stitches or Connor tried to break down the door and barge in with a shotgun, this was happening. She was strong and sexy and smart and she knew what she wanted. If that was him, he was not going to do something stupid to turn that off.
    Right when he thought about rolling her over, getting her under him as he’d been longing to do since the first time he saw her, she sat back on her heels. With her fingers at the edge of her shirt, she stripped the material up and off. No bra. Just perfect breasts, round and high. He cupped them, teased them. His thumbs ran over the nipples until her head dropped back.
    The sight humbled him. This was the trust he needed from her. Maybe not with her secrets, but with her body. She didn’t hide or try to rush him. She let him explore her as her fingers went to his zipper.
    A sharp ticking filled the room as she lowered it tooth by tooth. His erection spilled out and she wrapped her hand around him. His need for her swept over him like a wildfire.
    When she lifted his shirt off, he didn’t say anything. Just lay there and let her undress him.
    For a second her body froze as her finger traced the outline of the slice across his stomach. “Does this hurt?”
    “No.” It wasn’t a lie but he would have told one to get her to keep going.
    She pressed her body against him, chest against bare chest. Their bodies met everywhere but the thin scrap of skin of his injury. She kissed the evidence of the bullet graze on his shoulder. The touch stung, but he kept his mouth shut, focusing on how good the rest of her felt.
    “Wounds of a hero.” She whispered the phrase as she kissed her way over his chest and up to his mouth.
    He covered one of her hands with his and dragged her palm back to his erection. “This is what aches right now.”
    “Poor baby.” She squeezed him until his eyes drifted shut. “I’ll do most of the work.”
    He opened them again. “What?”
    “Condom?”
    “My bag.” He had to move. At some point his muscles had turned to pudding except for the part of him that thumped to the point of pain.
    She crawled off and rolled down those shorts. Nothing under those, either. When she turned back, condom in hand, she was naked and he shook so hard he waited for the bed to move across the floor.
    She sprawled out, half on top of him, half next to him. Her mouth skimmed his shoulder, all around the wound. “You’re injured.”
    “I’ll be fine in a few minutes.” He just needed to be inside her.
    He felt a tug and looked down. She pulled his jeans off, then crawled back up his legs again. She wrapped her hand around his shaft as her body slid over him. Her mouth met his as her fingers went to work on the condom. She slipped it on and then straddled him again.
    His body snapped to attention. Every muscle and cell on alert. He wanted to grab her and pull her down on him, but he let her keep the lead. A part of him sensed she needed to be in control this first time.
    Fine with him.
    “Ready for me?” She breathed the question against his lips.
    He kissed her then so blindingly deep and long that his breath stuttered inside him. She moaned and he licked his tongue inside her mouth. Giving her every chance to slow him down, he put his hands on her hips and guided her to his erection.
    Their bodies took over then. She slid down, her mouth opening and her eyes growing wide as she took him inch by slow, aching inch. When he was finally completely inside her, he threw his head back against the pillows and clamped down hard to keep from thrusting. His body pulled tight and his muscles strained.
    She brushed her mouth over his ear. “Ben?”
    “Huh.” That was all he could say.
    She smiled against his skin. “I need you to move.”
    * * *
    J OCELYN STARED UP at the ceiling. They’d made love twice and the time ticked somewhere