He caressed her shoulder. “It tore me up thinking of you in danger.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “I know this is quick, but I’m falling for you. Hard. Ever since I met you, I wanted you.”
She smiled, warmed and reassured despite all that happened earlier that day. “I want you, too.”
He grinned broadly. “Damn, those are the best words I’ve heard…ever.”
She laughed softly.
She ogled his chest again. God, he was fine. She’d fantasized what his physique would look like, and it was better than she’d imagined. Broad shoulders, carved biceps and forearms, muscled chest and yeah, a nice six pack. Dark hair sprinkled over his pecs, over his stomach and down into the waistband of his jeans. She reached up to touch his face and longed for more. Hunger burned in his eyes, and the desire she saw there spurred her on. Her lips parted, and his gaze dropped to her mouth. Oh, yeah. He wanted to kiss her.
And he did, finding her mouth with his own. Tender, seeking, asking. He treated her like the most delicate flower and tasted her with a steady sweetness that built inside her. Every stroke of his tongue against hers made the ache build. Liquid desire pooled low in her stomach as he deepened their kisses. Raw need burst inside her and demanded she take and give. He touched her everywhere, his palms passing over her nipples. She gasped into his mouth as a sting of pleasure darted from her nipples straight to her center. Her hands found his face, cupped and shaped the strength under her fingers. Every brush of his stubble against her skin, each caress of his hands over sensitive flesh, pushed them higher and higher. He kissed her relentlessly, dragging his mouth over her neck, torturing sensitized flesh. She could hear his breathing coming faster, mingling with her own.
She tore her mouth from his and said, “Get under the covers.”
Mark released her long enough to shuck his socks, jeans and briefs. He tossed the clothing away and stood at the side of the bed long enough for her to admire the magnificence of his body. His long, muscled legs were gorgeous, and his cock was fully erect. Gnawing need made her sit up and draw the t-shirt off her body. She shimmed out of her panties. She’d never shucked her clothes and bared herself to any man this quickly and eagerly. She couldn’t wait to lie naked with him and feel anything and everything.
As he crawled under the covers with her, he groaned with appreciation, touching her here and there with reverence and eagerness. “God. You’re beautiful.”
She basked in his approval. “Mmm. Thank you.” She skimmed her palms over his physique, loving how his muscles rippled. The hair on his chest teased her fingers. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
His grin said he liked the admiration he saw in her eyes. When he kissed her, he held nothing back, every touch of his hands on her body betraying how he craved bringing their bodies together. Juliet arched as he shifted and allowed her to feel the power in his muscular frame. His erection pressed against her stomach, every inch hard and thick. Her core ached, a flutter starting high up inside and teasing her with possibilities.
He didn’t stop caressing her, cupping first one breast and then the other. Callused fingers against her flesh sent sparklers of reaction dancing along her skin.
“So pretty,” he whispered reverently.
His tongue flicked over her nipples, and she gasped. Promise of sensual discovery heightened her senses, and she closed her eyes and savored pure delight.
“God these are sweet,” her murmured against her nipple, then suckled.
“Oh.” Her groan was a plea. “You’re torturing me.”
“I’ve waited for this. Wanted this.” He whispered the words as he worked her nipples and stroked them with his fingers.
The relentless caresses made her clutch at his shoulders and hold on for the ride. “Mark.”
His palm smoothed over her thigh, and he eased away and threw the covers back. He found her wet and ready, and dipped one finger inside…eased another within. She gasped.
“Okay?” he asked softly.
“Better than okay.” She almost choked on the words.
He teased her, stroking in and out, slowly bringing forth more of her arousal. Each glide of his fingers brought pleasure so exquisite, her eyes widened and she moaned.
“Mark,” she gasped his name, the plea unmistakable.
Orgasm promised, so close. So close. Wouldn’t be long now.
He drew his fingers out and teased her clit until a growing tingle grew into a hotter flame. She grabbed his biceps, her breathing now rapid, panting as she rode the rising tide. One last touch and she soared. She came apart, groaning and shaking as beautiful climax broke and spilled over. She floated, lost in sensation headier and more intoxicating than any she’d known. He ravished her with new kisses, deep and drugging tastes that consumed and replenished. She responded with all she possessed. She reached between them and touched his erection. He groaned and folded his fingers over hers, allowing her stroke, so slow and sure.
“Can’t take it,” he said on a gasp and gently pried her fingers away. “I’ve gotta be inside you.”
His eyes told the truth, blazing and hot with an animal intensity that demanded a finish. He moved away long enough to leave the bed and enter the bathroom for a condom. When he returned a moment later, he climbed into the bed.
Once more he kissed her, but she murmured against his lips. “Take me.”
Juliet wanted him inside her. Now. To show her what his body could do with and to her. He eased between her legs, and propped on his forearms to look down on her. The feral look in his eyes said he desired her with an urgency that renewed her fire.
His cock eased slow, spreading her open. His thickness made her moan, but only in pure delight. Deeper. Deeper until his hips were flush against hers, connecting them so closely she wanted this moment to remain in her memory forever. She clenched around his cock, and his breath hissed inward. She drew her legs up, twined them around his hips. She clung to his shoulders, hot with a fever she never wanted to escape. She’d imagined before what it would feel like with him buried inside her, but nothing prepared Juliet for reality. Oh, my God. Heat seared her. Lifting her hips, she urged him to move.
His hips stirred, thrusting in and out with a rhythm that brought a heady intoxication. As their bodies took on the dance, Juliet fell into the trance. They found their pace, and it was languid, fluid. When she opened his eyes, he stared down at her. The hot look in his eyes fueled the fire building inside her like a firestorm. His cock teased sensitive flesh deep within, and as that fire increased, she couldn’t take it anymore. Desperate sounds left her throat, moans that begged. Oh, God. She would beg if he didn’t end her torment.
“What do you want?” he asked, his question guttural. “Tell me.”
Her need ripped from her. “Faster. Harder.”
Heat flamed in her face as a wicked smile flashed over his expression. “Oh, yeah.”
Their movements increased, charging forward with a relentless beat. All the darkness they’d experienced in such a short time, all of it fell away in the blinding ecstasy. She’d never been this free, never known erotic sensations as powerful. She closed her eyes and clung to him, throwing her head back as the fire throbbed high up inside her. The tingle grew, her flesh throbbing around his as the friction became too much. She cried out as she hit a peak, shaking and moaning as he continued his hard thrusts. A few seconds later a harsh groan came from his throat, and his body shook as he came. Climax shuddered through him, and she felt the throb inside her. Seconds later he fell into her arms.
“Juliet.” Her name on his lips, a gasp of exertion, sounded like heaven to her ears. “You’re amazing.”
“Me? That was…I have no words for how incredible that was.” Her throat felt raw with unshed tears, but she held them back.
He rolled to the side. When he left a moment later for the bathroom, she lay on the bed with her eyes closed, dazzled and amazed. When he returned to the bed, the hunger inside her hadn’t given way. He cuddled her close, draw
ing her across him so that her leg slung across his thighs and her head rested on his chest. She smoothed her hand down his stomach, over hard, ridged flesh until she bumped—
She encountered a new erection. Her eyes popped open and she looked up at his face.
A grin touched his mouth. “Yeah, I’m surprised, too. That’s never happened to me before.” His grin faded. “Can you…”
“Can I?” She didn’t have a doubt. “Oh, just watch me.”
“Have your way with me.”
She laughed softly.
She saw he’d thrown another condom on the bedside table. She reached for it, opened it, and held the disk in her fingertips. He hissed in a breath as she slipped it down his long length. With a groan of anticipation, she straddled him. Slid down, down his length until he filled every inch of her. With an eagerness born of pure passion, she closed her eyes and started the ride. At first she took him with a languid pace. He bent his knees and helped her. He growled low in his throat as she rode him faster, working hard, grinding. Her whimpers of pleasure brought moans from low in his throat. Primitive sounds that urged her to quicken. She flattened her hands on his chest as he powered his hips upward and added to the escalating crisis. Her head fell back. It was too much. So fast. The feelings swept upward, the heat throbbing and building. God, it was so—
Yes. Yes. “Oh!”
Her cry brought a growl from Mark as he shook in orgasm. She shivered and whimpered, delighting in the sharp pleasure that pulsed low in her belly and rolled out in spirals that threatened to never end. He drew her down into his arms. Time passed, she didn’t know how long. Their hearts slowed and the beauty of what had happened between them overwhelmed them. Tears flowed down her cheeks.
“Hey.” He rolled her onto her back and hovered, his expression worried. He cupped her face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She smiled through her tears and nuzzled into his hand. “I’m happy. So damned happy.”
He grinned. “Good. So am I. Happier than I’ve ever been.”
Sex was wonderful, but the lightness and completeness in her soul overshadowed it all.
“What happens in our lives from this point forward?” she asked.
“We take this crazy world one day at a time. One step at a time.”
“That’s all we can do, isn’t it?” she asked.
He nodded. “But I’d rather tackle it with you than anyone else in the world.”
She couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Me, too.”
“Stay with me here. Now,” he said softly as he sobered.
Because it was what she wanted more than anything, despite the chaos of what their lives might be now and in coming years, she had no trouble answering him. “Yes. Absolutely yes.”
Epilogue
February
Valentine’s Day
Gentle music played in the dining room in the hotel on the coast of Maine. Isolated from civilization in general, the Victorian hotel offered refuge for those needing a break from the rigors of regular daily life. Several couples already danced slowly on the floor across the room near the fireplace. Juliet sat at the small table with them and wondered what was taking Mark so long. After dinner they’d lingered, because soon their weekend break would be over and they’d return to Buckleport and back to working a new contract for Sentry Security.
Many challenges had faced everyone with Sentry Security over the last year, but many wonderful things had also happened. Mally and Adam had married at Christmas time last year, while Penny and Ian had married on New Year’s Day. And, if she admitted it, she wanted the same thing for herself. She ached with love for Mark, and while they hadn’t talked marriage, they were, for all intents and purposes as close to married as they could get. She’d stayed at Sentry Security, eventually renting out the house to an older couple who’d fled Arizona during Long Valley’s eruption.
The world was changing day by day and step by step. Some for the good as nations tried working together to solve economic and environmental issues. The United States struggled with so much of the country disabled and the fact so many hundreds of thousands had died over the last several months. The world, and the U.S., had a long way to go before true peace and mending could take place. In the meantime, Juliet returned to volunteer firefighting.
Her father had recovered from the stroke that had rendered him partially disabled. He lived in a small apartment of his own and worked odd jobs here and there to make a living. While they hadn’t totally reconciled, her father seemed to have been rehabilitated while in jail. She hoped one day they might be closer, but for now what they had would work.
Mark reappeared in the dining room, walking toward her with a confident stride. Tonight he wore a form-fitting sweater that showed off his excellent torso and jeans that didn’t hide his muscular body, but weren’t too tight. Warmth stirred within at the sight of him. Every day he grew more and more handsome to her.
When he got to their table, he reached for her hand. “Come upstairs.”
A little thrill jumped around in her belly. “Oh?”
He pulled her gently to her feet as he smiled. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“Really?” She followed him out of the dining room and upstairs to their second floor room.
When he opened the door and urged her inside, he closed the door and locked it. Before she could ask him why they’d rushed here, he went to the dresser and snatched up a—what was that? A little red box? Her stomach did a little flip of excitement. So he’d gotten her a present for Valentine’s Day? How sweet.
She walked over to a wine bucket where a bottle of champagne was nestled and two glass flutes sat. “Wow. Champagne? This is romantic.”
He snatched her into his arms with a flourish and dipped her. She squealed, and he kissed her. A deep, delicious kiss that made every part of her tingle.
When he let her up for air, she laughed and smoothed her palms over his broad chest. “Okay, what was that for?”
“Have a seat my love,” he said, smiling as he gestured to the bed. “And it will all be clear. I’ve been planning this for months.”
“Months? Valentine’s Day?” She knew she sounded doubtful, but she did as he asked. “What have you got there?”
He got down on one knee in front of her, and her heart did a backflip. He smiled, his eyes filled with love, and every fiber of her being went taut with anticipation. “It isn’t just Valentine’s Day. I love you, Juliet.”
“I love you, too.” She ruffled his hair. “Okay, if it isn’t Valentine’s Day then what’s with the champagne and fuss?”
He flipped open the velvet box and nestled inside was the most beautiful cushion cut Morganite ring nestled in an antique-looking rose gold setting and sparkling with white diamonds.
She couldn’t hold back the gasp. “Mark!”
“Marry me, Juliet. Make me the happiest man alive. I’m gonna die if you won’t have me.”
She flung her arms around him. “Yes. Yes.”
They fell into a deep kiss.
They’d said I love you many times over the months, usually more than once a day. They certainly never left each other’s presence without reassuring each other of that love. Now they could seal it with a promise that would bring the greatest happiness they’d ever known.
When they drew back from the kiss, he was already working at the buttons on her shirt, and she went for his belt buckle.
“Horny?” he asked huskily. “If I’d known this would work on you, I’d ask you to marry me every day.”
As her shirt fell open and she rolled down the zipper on his jeans, she said softly. “Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“Every day?”
“Every day.”
The End
Publisher’s Note
Please help this author's career by posting an honest review wherever you purchased this book.
About Denise A. Agnew
Denise A. Agnew is the author of
over 60 novels. Denise has written paranormal, romantic comedy, contemporary, fantasy, historical, erotic romance, and romantic suspense. Archaeology and archery have crept into her work, and travels through England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have added to a lifetime of story ideas. Denise is also a paranormal investigator, Reiki Master and Certified Creativity Coach. Visit Denise’s websites at www.deniseagnew.com and www.creativepencoaching.com
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