Shadower by Catherine Spangler

arched upward.
    "That's it," he urged. "Let go, Moriah."
    Something shattered inside her. A wall of restraint that had held her in check crumbled beneath the assault of his sensual words, of his knowing touch. She did let go, pitching into a vortex of light and sensation. Pleasure exploded through her like a nova, and colors sparked behind her clenched eyelids. She was faintly aware of her hips lifting from the mat, of crying out, as wave after wave of shimmering tremors slammed through her body.
    Finally, the swells subsided, and she sagged against the mat, nearly witless. Awareness returned gradually. She heard Sabin's low voice crooning to her as he swung himself above her. Reality lurched back into focus. How could she have let him touch her like that? How could she have enjoyed it?
    The patch! Was it still there? She felt her right index finger. Thank Spirit! It was still on the tip of her finger. Sabin rested over her, obviously ready to take his own pleasure. "Wait!" she cried.
    He drew back. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"
    Moriah stared at him, amazed. He was concerned about her? The idea was beyond comprehension. Not that it mattered. She needed his attention diverted, and she had to plant the patch once and for all. "I'm—it's okay," she told him.
    He leaned down and kissed her, sliding a hand up to caress her breast. "You're trembling," he murmured.
    That was just on the outside. Inside, she was smoldering ruins. This man had just hurled her into a maelstrom of such sensual magnitude, there was no telling how long it might take her to recover. And yet, he acted as if what had just happened was the most natural thing in the universe. But she didn't have time to analyze what had occurred.
    She urged him closer. "Please, just kiss me a little longer," she whispered.
    "I think I can handle that." He lowered his mouth to hers. She looped her arms around him and peeled off the patch's cover. With a quick, firm push, and a twist of her finger, she transferred the sedative to his shoulder.
    All that was left to do was wait. She tried to relax, to stay focused, which was difficult. The sensual strokes of Sabin’s tongue against hers were highly distracting. He touched her, too, caressing her hips and thighs, sliding his hands between them. When his fingers again moved between her legs, she gasped and jolted against him.
    He lifted his head and looked down at her. "Are you sure you're okay?"
    Just a few seconds more. "Give me a minute to, um, recover from…you know…"
    He stared at her, his eyes glazing slightly. He shook his head as if to clear it. "That's funny," he said, his voice slurring. "But you look…so…"
    His head fell forward, painfully hitting her chin. At the same time, his body went completely limp, crushing her beneath its dead weight. She could barely breathe. To make matters worse, his erection had not gone limp and was now pressed into her abdomen.
    With great effort, she extricated herself, heaving until he fell to one side. She managed to sit halfway up and roll him the rest of the way off. He slid over the edge of the bunk and landed on the floor with a loud thud. She stared at him lying there, a prime male specimen, even if his mouth was open and his eyelids only partially closed.
    Guilt gnawed at her, feelings of regret that she had to do this. Sabin had treated her decently. He'd bandaged her wounded shoulder, prepared food for her. He had shown leniency when he could have killed her. He’d also shown her a glimpse of her own sensual nature. At least she was beginning to understand why some people actually claimed to enjoy mating.
    But as she remembered how it felt to have him lying on top of her, pinning her down, she shuddered. It reminded her far too closely of her experience with Pax, even though Sabin had not tried to force her. And even though some of it had been…enjoyable. Perhaps one day—no. Mating would never be for her.
    She got off the bunk and dragged him into a more comfortable