Caroline Cross

“Oh, baby, I can’t wait….”“Don’t. I want you, Chase….” She slid her fingers up the strong channel of his spine to lock in the soft heavy gold of his hair and urged him down until his mouth, hot and wet, latched hungrily on one distended nipple. He hooked his fingers in the fragile lace barrier of her panties and tore them away, then yanked at the fastening of his jeans.This time there was no slow slide of discovery. There was one endless agonizing second of delay as he made use of one of the packets she’d purchased, and then he was gripping her hips and plunging inside her, the pair of them bowing together as the ache of anticipation became a white-hot pulse of pleasure.”

“And then those dusky lashes fluttered up, revealing a lambent gleam of jungle green.His hands circled her waist and she slowly flexed his hips, a wholly male sound of satisfaction escaping him when her eyes fluttered shut and she gasped.And then a small, secret, feminine smile appeared on her lips and Chase’s control snapped like a power line in a high wind.Wrapping her in his arms, he began to pump into her in a slow, relentless rhythm that was both too much and not enough.”

“Maggie lifted her head.Chase lowered his.Like the inevitable meeting of sea with shore, their mouths came together.”

“Yet as bad as she felt, it was nothing compared to the stark despair she saw in Rafferty’s eyes. It was so total, and went so deep, that it made her forget her own hurt to see it. It was the look of a man who’d given up deep inside where it mattered most, and for Maggie, who was a survivor to her very toes, it was profoundly disturbing.”