Embraced

by Tracy Wolff

  His voice trailed off as he realized how sacred a gift Sarah was giving him and it humbled him, even as it made him burn hotter. Despite having three children. she was all but untouched, and her willingness to break her self-imposed celibacy for him made him tremble.

  His need to satisfy her doubled, until all he could think about was making her burn as he was. Making her scream as he wanted to. Doing anything and everything he wanted to her beautiful, vulnerable body.

  Closing his eyes, Reece clenched his fists and prayed his control was as good as he thought it was.

  “Do you want to stop?” The sassiness was gone from her voice and in its place was a sadness that nearly broke his heart.

  “No.” He didn’t mean for his reply to come out quite so vehemently, but the little relieved grin she shot him told him he’d said exactly the right thing. “Really. I’m still wondering where to start.”

  “I thought we’d already started,” she teased. “But if you need some direction—” Before he had an inkling of what she was doing, she reached forward and tugged his shirt over his head.

  Leaning forward, he skimmed his mouth over her collarbone before moving onto her shoulder. “Your skin is gorgeous,” he murmured, lingering at the hollow of her throat. “Like the softest satin.”

  She sighed, her body melting into his as he worked his way, slowly, over every exposed inch. Lust rose in him at this most visible sign of surrender, sharp, painful, inescapable. He wanted to pull her inside of him and hold her close to his heart—so close she would never be able to get away.

  Because he couldn’t stop himself, he plunged his hands into her short, spiky hair and pulled her against him so tightly that he could feel her hard nipples press into his chest with every rapid rise and fall of her chest. His fingers fisted in her hair, knotting, tangling, as he fused his mouth to hers.

  She tasted like paradise—warm sand, soft music and sunshine after a hard, gloomy rain. She was everything he wanted, everything he hadn’t known he’d needed in these long months of sadness and pain. She was his sunshine and as his mouth crushed hers, his tongue plunging inside to taste and explore, he gave thanks for everything that had come before. Everything that had brought him here, to Sarah.

  She was going to explode—Sarah was certain of it. Heat, furious and electric, was shooting through her body—encompassing every part of her. Leaving nothing untouched. Her lungs, her brain, her blood, her heart all were engaged. All were desperate for him.

  “Reece,” she murmured against his hard mouth. “I need you.”

  “I know, baby. I know.” His hands dropped to her jeans, working the button and zipper so quickly that it felt like magic. He shoved her pants and underwear down her legs, then did the same with his own. Then backed her up until her knees met the bed and she had nowhere to go but down.

  But that was fine with her—there was nowhere on earth she’d rather be at this moment than right here, in Reece’s arms. Her hips lifted, hard against him as the need in her belly spiraled out of control. “I need—”

  “I know.” It was a curse, a prayer, a gasp for breath as his lips—his wicked, wonderful lips—raced over every part of her.

  “Reece!” It was an announcement of her pleasure. A demand for the completion he dangled just out of reach.

  “Sarah,” he breathed back at her, right before his mouth closed over her nipple.

  She would have screamed if she had enough air to do so. It was as if every vital function in her body had shut down and all she could concentrate on was the pleasure. The voluptuous pleasure that he brought to her so easily.

  She was on fire, her need swamping every inhibition, every caution, every fear she’d had. Making them insignificant in the face of his passion.

  With each swipe of his tongue over her nipple, each tug of his teeth, he sent her higher. Her body rocked against his, pleading for what only he could give her and still he refused. Instead he pulled her nipple into his mouth and bit her, softly but with enough of an edge that she was jackknifing up, her hands fisting in his hair.

  “Do it,” she gasped as she pulled him up and over her. “Do it now.”

  “Soon,” he whispered, his grin wicked and wild and oh, so dark. “You’re not ready yet.”

  “If I get any more ready, I’ll explode.”

  He winked at her. “Promises, promises.” He went about driving her right to the edge of sanity and beyond.

  Her breath came in short gasps, and she tried to wrap her legs around him, to hold him to her, but he would have none of it. Instead he skimmed his mouth down her body, pausing to nuzzle and taste and tease from her elbow to her hip bone—and everything in between.

  “Reece,” she cried again, as she felt his breath against the most intimate part of her. “I need—”

  “Shh, baby,” he murmured as he slipped one finger inside of her. “I know. I know.”

  She felt his touch inside her, felt him in her deepest core and for a moment she wanted to weep. It was so perfect, so beautiful, so unbelievably right to be here like this—with him.

  As he kissed her for the first time, his tongue stroking, sliding, slipping inside of her, she began to sob. It felt so good and it had been so long….

  One more press of his finger deep inside of her, one more soft glide of his tongue and she was shattering—her body breaking apart and spinning wildly beyond her control. She held on to him, her fingers digging into his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his torso.

  “Reece,” she sobbed. “Reece, please.”

  “I’ve got you.” His voice was low, tortured, his skin drawn tightly over his cheekbones as he fought for control.

  “Now,” she demanded, pulling him over her. Unwilling, unable, to take no for an answer. “Do it now.”

  Relief rocketed through her as she felt him pressing against her, hot, hard, insistent. Rising above her, he slid slowly forward, inch by inch.

  “Hurry!” she demanded, wrapping her legs around him and squeezing him from the inside out.

  He stopped, swore, as sweat dripped off his forehead and onto her chest. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he gasped. “You’re so tight.”

  “I don’t care.” Her head was thrashing back and forth on the pillow, her desperation for him overwhelming everything but having him completely inside of her.

  “I care.” He continued to slide in and pull out, going a little deeper each time he entered her.

  “Reece.” She was begging, pleading. Her world was focused on this one moment, this one man. She needed him. Needed him. Reaching around, she grabbed his hips and pulled him down with all her might, even as she arched her hips up and against him.

  “Sarah,” he said hoarsely as her feminine muscles gripped him like a fist.

  “Finish it,” she panted. “Now.”

  He couldn’t breathe as he paused, waited for her body to accept him when what he really wanted to do was slam into her so hard and fast that she would never forget him. He wanted to be so deep she would never get him out. Could never get him out.

  Finally, her muscles relaxed a little—enough to let him breathe again.

  She shivered with pleasure, her nails digging into his shoulders while her long, luxurious legs wrapped around his waist. And he began to move, plunging into her over and over again. Thrusting hard, going deep, driving through her as if his very life depended on it.

  He felt her tighten around him, felt her orgasm take her and still he didn’t stop. Kept surging into her, tilting her hips to get a better angle, riding her through one climax and well on the way to another.

  Her nails scraped down his back, her breath came hot and hard against his ear and he knew he couldn’t hold on much longer. Every muscle in his body tightened until it was painful. Every nerve ending was alive and shrieking for relief. Sensation built and built, her wordless moans and gasps pushing him even higher. Higher than he’d ever gone before. Higher than he’d ever dreamed possible.

  It had never been like thi
s, like a volcano on the brink of eruption. Like a freight train on the brink of derailment. He’d never felt such a hunger to possess another person.

  “Reece.” It was a high-pitched, keening cry and it smashed his control.

  With one final thrust, he let himself go, his release both shattering and transcendent. He took her with him, her convulsing muscles sending him even higher as the most intense orgasm of his life roared through him. He couldn’t think, couldn’t move—could only submit to the fiery pleasure washing through him, over her. Between them.

  When it was over, when the storm had passed and it was just her and him intertwined, arms and legs wrapped around each other, he turned his head and brushed a kiss over her elbow. It was the only part of her his mouth could reach.

  “I may never be able to move again.” It wasn’t a complaint, only the simple truth.

  Sarah gave a little whimper of agreement. He was still inside her, unable to work up the strength to roll over, and she clenched her muscles around him. Sent an involuntary shiver of pleasure over his sensitized nerve endings that had him gasping and pressing a little deeper.

  “I thought you couldn’t move,” she murmured sleepily.

  “Yeah, well, being inside you seems to bring out the caveman in me.”

  “Thank God.” She bit his shoulder, then soothed the small hurt away with her tongue.

  He wanted to stay here forever, buried inside her. She was everything he’d ever wanted and nothing he thought he would ever deserve. He’d never felt luckier—or more unworthy.

  Stroking his fingers down her arm, he cracked his eyes open a little bit—enough to study her. She looked a picture—her lips swollen from his kisses, her white skin flushed a rosy, inviting pink. Her arms were sprawled to the side, her breasts thrust upward, her nipples still hard from his attentions.

  How had he gone this long without her? How had he spent his life without ever knowing this kind of passion existed?

  For a moment, thoughts of Vanessa pushed at him, but he blocked them out. This wasn’t the time or the place. Now was for Sarah, for him. For the two of them. There would be time enough later to worry about all the complications that made up their lives. For now, he wanted to lie here and revel in the simple perfection that was making love to Sarah.

  She seemed to feel the same way and for long minutes they drifted, their bodies limp with completion, loose with satiation. But was he really satisfied, he wondered, as he stroked a finger down her breast and watched her nipple peak prettily. He couldn’t stop touching her, didn’t want to stop. He wanted to explore every inch of Sarah, to taste every part of her from her forehead to her toes. And then he wanted to start all over again, until there was no part of her he hadn’t claimed.

  Rolling to his back with great effort, he gathered her against him. Then reached down and brought her hand to his mouth. He used his lips to tickle her fingers, pulled one into his mouth and curled his tongue around it, reveling in the hitch in her breathing, the sudden increase in the pulse that beat so steadily beneath his hand.

  Relinquishing the first finger, he pulled the second into his mouth and did the same thing. Over and over until he’d tasted every finger and was more than half-crazed with the need to have her again.

  “Can you take me again?” he asked, his body jerking violently against hers as it searched for satisfaction.

  “Yes,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around him and tugging until he was once again on top of her. “I’ll always take you.”

  Her words touched him like nothing ever had, sending him careening over an invisible ledge he hadn’t known he was close to. As he thrust inside of her again—taking her more slowly and gently this time—he realized that there would be no more walking away. No more hiding. He loved Sarah, with a passion and intensity he hadn’t thought possible.

  He didn’t know when it had happened, nor did he understand why it had occurred with everything—good and bad—that was between them. All he knew was that he loved her and he wasn’t letting her go. Not when he had the chance to keep her forever.

  The thought had him coming, his body releasing in great spasms and dragging Sarah along with it. No, there was no escape for her. She just didn’t know it yet.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “MOMMY, WAKE UP! It’s Saturday. No school. No school! It’s time to go to the park. Wake up.”

  Sarah came to consciousness slowly, from a sleep so deep and restful that her body felt refreshed for the first time in recent history. But then, good sex could do that to a girl. She almost snorted—good didn’t even come close to describing what she and Reece had shared during the night.

  Over and over again he’d reached for her, until she had been unable to tell where she left off and he began. For a woman who hadn’t had sex in over six years, it had been an amazing feeling. For a woman who didn’t know how to trust, it had been at times both frightening and exhilarating as hell.

  “Mommy!” Johnny’s voice wailed in her ear, right before little fingers began trying to pry her eyes open.

  “Ouch!” Slapping a finger to her smarting eye, Sarah rolled over on top of Johnny and gave him a big, slobbery kiss. “Was that really necessary?”

  “Yes,” he giggled. “You weren’t getting up.”

  “Well, I’m up now,” she said in her scariest voice. “And hungry enough to eat two little boys.” Burrowing her face into Johnny’s tummy, she made noisy, slurp sounds that had both boys laughing hysterically.

  “My turn, Mommy! My turn.” Justin called from his spot next to the bed.

  She turned to him, an expression of astonishment on her face. “Are you actually volunteering to get eaten?”

  “Uh-huh!” He nodded, his little face eager and her heart literally melted with love for him.

  “All right, then. You asked for it.” Pulling him on top of her, she pretended to eat his bare little toes.

  “Mmm-mmm. These are good. How many of them do you have, anyway?”

  “Ten,” he giggled.

  “Ten?” She widened her eyes. “That’s a lot of toes—I’d better get busy.” She made more slurpy noises as she went back to devouring his toes.

  “I have ten toes, too, Mommy.” Johnny jumped up and down on the bed next to her, trying to shove his foot in front of his brother’s. “Eat my toes! Eat my toes!”

  “I think you should go for it. And if you’re still hungry after all of those, I think we’ve got a few toes over here we can volunteer, too. Don’t we, Rosie?”

  Sarah stopped in midnibble, her heart racing at Reece’s appearance. She felt her cheeks heat as she wondered how she should respond to him. It’s not like she had much experience with mornings after.

  Glancing up through her lashes, she saw Reece leaning negligently against her door frame, Rose in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

  “I thought you might need this,” he murmured, walking slowly into the room, coffee cup extended. “You didn’t get much sleep last night.”

  Taking the cup, she sipped at the hot liquid like it was ambrosia, relishing the instant caffeine kick to her system. “Mmm,” she said. “Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  “So are you awake now, Mommy?” Justin asked, his face furrowed in a look of painful concentration.

  “I do believe I am,” she answered as she took another sip, careful to focus on her sons. Reece might have given her the best night of her life, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to face him quite yet in the cold light of day.

  “Awesome!” yelled Johnny, punching the air for emphasis. “Uncle Reece said we could go to the park and feed the ducks. He said they’re always hungry on Saturday mornings.”

  “He did, huh?”

  “Yep. But we have to go before it gets too hot. We don’t want Rosie to get over—over—”

  “Overheated.” Justin finished his brother’s sentence with a grin.

  “So get up,” Johnny said in a singsongy voice. “Get up, get up, get up!”r />
  Sarah had started to throw the covers back and do just that when she realized she hadn’t put on her nightgown after Reece’s last bout of lovemaking. Freezing in place, she stared at the boys and wondered frantically how to get them out of the room. She really wasn’t up to answering the why are you naked, Mommy question—especially not with Reece standing right there.

  He must have sensed her dilemma, though, because after dumping Rose in front of the baby gym Sarah kept in the corner for her, he began herding the boys toward the bedroom door. “I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you guys get dressed then head downstairs. I’ve got breakfast on the table. That way your mom has a couple of minutes to enjoy her coffee and get herself dressed.”

  “And then we’ll feed the ducks?” Johnny questioned, pausing on the threshold, his face very serious.

  “And then we’ll feed the ducks,” Reece answered firmly. “I promise.”

  “I bet I can beat you!” Johnny said to his brother with a grin before taking off down the hall to his room.

  “No way!” Justin chased after him, laughing. A few seconds later their bedroom door slammed closed, followed by a series of high-pitched giggles.

  “Thanks for that,” Sarah murmured shyly, unable to avoid looking at Reece for one second longer.

  “No problem.” He flopped on the bed next to her, and fingered a few strands of her hair. “But I have to admit, I had ulterior motives.”

  “And what are those?” she asked, her breath catching in her throat at his nearness.

  This morning wasn’t going at all how she’d expected it to. It was so much easier, the guilt at sleeping with Vanessa’s husband not nearly as bad as she had thought it would be.

  Then again, sometime in the middle of the night she’d given up thinking of Reece as Vanessa’s husband and had begun thinking of him as her lover. The things he could make her feel weren’t friendlike in the least.

  She didn’t know if the carefree feeling would last—was pretty sure that it wouldn’t—but for now she was going to take this chance at happiness.