Tabitha went still. The only part of her moving was her heart, which beat double time. She cleared the lump from her throat. “Yes.”

Jake smiled. “Me, too. It’s been another long day.” He walked to her and held out his hand. “Shall we?”

She couldn’t smother a giggle as she placed her hand in his. “You sound as if you’re asking me to dance.”

She gasped when, as soon as she stood, he lifted her in his arms.

He grinned. “Is that better?”

She wrapped her hands around his neck and held on tight. If she’d ever been picked up by anyone, she couldn’t remember. It was a definite loss of control and, as such, unnerving. “I don’t think so.”

He stopped in the hallway. “Give me my macho moment, okay?”

She smiled. Trust him to make this fun. “Okay, Mr. Macho. Carry me away.”

“Oh, I plan to, kitten. Don’t you worry.”

He turned sideways to fit her through the bedroom door. Instead of laying her on the bed, however, he stood her next to it. He folded her in his arms and kissed her tenderly, then passionately, then sweetly, then deeply. He varied the kisses until, mindless with wanting him, she began to clumsily undo the buttons of his shirt.

“Not yet.” He took her hands away and pulled them around his waist. “We have all night.”

“All I care about is now.” She found the waist of his pants and worked her hands beneath. She smiled when she felt the silk of his boxers. “I want you now.”

He closed his eyes on a shiver and kissed her forehead. “Damn. If you don’t stop it, I’m going to take you right here and now.”

“Okay.”

“No.” He pulled her hands out from the back of his pants and put them behind her back. “I want our first time to be all for you. I want you screaming my name.”

“Screaming?”

He nodded.

She giggled. “Won’t that bring your men running in?”

“Witch.” He took her mouth again, hard and deep. Holding her hands behind her with one hand, he twisted enough so he could run his free hand up her side to cup her breast.

She gasped to finally feel his hands rubbing across the nubs that had been wanting his touch all evening.

“You drove me crazy during supper,” he said. “Your nipples stayed erect the entire time.”

“That’s because you had me on the edge the entire time.”

“The edge of your seat?”

“The edge of frustration.” She tilted her head back so she could see his face. “What have you done to me? I’ve never felt this way. I’ve never wanted a man so much I want to rip off his clothes.”

He growled for an answer, then released her hands so he could use both of his. He yanked her top off over her head, then stopped on a quick breath when her breasts were bare. “Oh, my God. Tabitha. I knew you’d be beautiful.”

He slowly, almost reverently, pushed his hands upward from her waist, watching his progress intently.

Tabitha’s breath caught when he finally cupped her breasts, dragging his thumbs across the sensitive tips. Grabbing his bottom, she ground her hips against his. The pressure felt good but wasn’t satisfying. So she reached for the button of her jeans. Her hands were immediately pulled away.

“That’s my job.”

“Then do it. Please! This isn’t enough.”

He smiled with pure male satisfaction, but instead of obeying her, he bent and dragged his tongue across her nipple.

Tabitha convulsed with pleasure, instinctively leaning back over his arm to give him better access.

He held her upright in his strong grip, laving her breast with his mouth. Then he sucked it in, drawing it out to the nipple. He bit lightly, just enough for her to feel the edge of his teeth.

“Jake, please.”

Jake’s tongue drew a wet path down her stomach as he slowly dropped to his knees. Placing his hands on the waistband of her jeans, he unbuttoned them, then slowly slid down the zipper. As her belly button was bared, he dipped his tongue inside.

Tabitha set her hands on his shoulders to maintain balance.

With the intensity of a man concentrating on a difficult but interesting job, he peeled her jeans down her hips.

He growled when he got to the waistband of her red silk thong. “More red panties just for me?”

She gasped when his teeth snapped the elastic. “I aim to please.”

He pulled her jeans down her thighs, but stopped when they were at her knees. He ran his hands up the inside of her thighs. When they were about six inches from the place she wanted them most, he touched the inside of her left thigh and looked up at her. “You have a mole on your thigh.”

She shook her head. “It’s a birthmark.”

Apparently the difference didn’t matter. He kissed it fervently, then yanked her jeans the rest of the way off.

Tabitha lifted each foot in turn to help, then sat on the edge of the mattress when he urged her back.

True to his words, he lifted her right foot. Starting at her big toe, which he sucked, Jake kissed and licked and nibbled his way slowly up her thigh.

Tabitha had never felt anything so sensuous. Her heart beat faster, the closer he came to her moist, throbbing lips. Then without touching them, he passed over her panties to the left thigh.

“Jake!” She fell back to her elbows.

“Yes, my kitten?”

“What are you doing?”

“It’s called foreplay. Ever hear of it?”

“I’ve…heard of it.”

She must not have been as successful as she’d wanted to be at keeping the meaning from her reply, because he lifted his head and met her gaze. “Don’t tell me no one has ever kissed you like this?”

She gave a small shake of her head. “It’s driving me crazy.”

He smiled. “It’s supposed to. Lie back and enjoy.”

But she didn’t lie back. She wanted to watch. There was something naughty—and thrilling—about seeing a man’s head between her legs. A full-dressed man, at that, when all she wore was a skimpy pair of panties. But he wasn’t just any man. He was the man she loved. That turned what might have been naughty into the most natural thing in the world.

Wanting to touch him but unable to reach, she lifted her right leg and ran her toes across his shoulders, then down his back. He arched into it, letting her know he enjoyed her touch. That thrilled her as much as anything.

“I want to touch you,” she whispered when he was at her knee. “Please. You promised I could.”

“I’m not finished yet.”

“Hurry up!”

“No. You’ve never experienced foreplay.” He nibbled along the inside of her calf, tickling her just enough to make her muscle twitch. “And I want to experience you.”

“Torture me, you mean.”

“Exquisitely.”

Exquisite torture. Her elbows weakening, she finally slipped to her back onto the bed. What an apt description.

“There are other parts of me— Oh.” She drew in a breath as his tongue moved back and forth on the arch of her foot. “There are other parts that want to be tortured.”

“Are there?” He finally stood, his eyes traveling up her bare body.

Feeling wanton, and wanting to torture him, too, she stretched like a cat. “Mmm.”

“Such as?” He reached up to pull off his tie.

“No!” With more energy than she thought she had, Tabitha sprang to her knees and threw his hands aside. “That’s my job.”

He smiled slowly. “By all means.”

She slowly guided the tie from its knot, then slid the silk from his collar. Leaning to the side, she carefully laid it across the footboard.

He ran his palm over her hip as she did, sliding across her bottom.

She felt the muscles of her butt move against his hand as she straightened, drawing a moan from him. She smiled, then slowly unbuttoned his shirt, stopping now and then to play amid the hair on his chest.

She let his hand stroke her bottom until she needed to undo his cuff. Keeping his palm in contact with her skin, she pulled his arm around her body, settling it against her pelvic bone as she undid the button.

He set his other hand on the other side of her hip and slipped her panties over the curve of her bottom. His eyes burned green fire as he bared her pubic mound. One hand returned, the fingers digging into the hair, one finger slipping inside.

“You’re so wet.”

Her hips jerked in reflex toward him, not away. But since she wanted to give him as much exquisite torture as he’d given her, she pulled his shirt off his shoulders, dragging his hand away. “Not yet.”

His fiery gaze met hers. “Isn’t that one of the ‘other parts’ I’m supposed to torture?”

She smiled. “Not until I do a little torturing of my own.”

With that, she bent and took one of his flat nipples in her mouth. It wasn’t easy, but he reacted every bit as strongly as she had. The small nubs puckered under her tongue and he sucked in a tiny gasp.

He let her move to the other side before he drew one arm from his sleeve and grabbed her around the waist. He stripped her panties completely off, then placing a knee on the bed, he carried them both down, his hard body landing on top of hers.

She glared at him. “I wasn’t finished.”

He shrugged out of his shirt. “Too bad. I nearly was.”

When he’d tossed his shirt off the bed, he took her mouth with a ferocity she’d never felt. But she loved it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, responding to his wildness with her own, plowing her fingers through his thick hair, arching her hips into his.

He moaned, then with her cooperation, parted her legs and settled between them.

They groaned in unison.

Tabitha giggled, then gasped when he thrust his hardness against her. “Take off your pants, Jake.”

He rose to his knees, his hot gaze looking down at the moistness bared to him.

Tabitha didn’t care. She watched him as intently as he did her, willing his hands to work faster.

Finally, he lowered his pants, baring his thick, hard maleness.

She gasped and, rising to one elbow, she reached out to stroke the velvet length. “Oh, Jake, you’re beautiful,” she breathed, running her thumb over the tip.

“More torture, witch?”

She smiled. “Can I?”

He groaned and dropped to the bed, lying half on top of her. As he covered her mouth with his, he cupped her breast, making her arch into his touch, then ran his hand down her stomach.

She parted her legs for him, but he still didn’t touch her where she was now giving him tacit permission. He dragged his fingers down one thigh, then up the other.

Tabitha didn’t know which sensation to concentrate on. She dug one hand into his hair and with the other scraped her nails along the inside of his forearm.

Finally his hand settled on the mound throbbing for his touch. One finger slipped into her wetness, flicking between the heated lips until it touched the nub pulsing with every heartbeat.

Tabitha’s whole body jerked in reaction.

“There?” he asked against her lips.

“Yes. Oh, yes.”

He flicked harder, faster, making her buck against his hand. He held her tight enough to stay in place, but loose enough to allow her movement.

Tabitha felt the train coming, rumbling along the tracks of her body until it hit with sudden, violent impact. Grabbing hold of his shoulders, she spasmed against him, over and over, toward the exquisite torture and then away. But it followed, relentless, forcing her higher and higher into paroxysms of pleasure that finally burst into a tunnel of light, lit by a thousand burning stars.

Jake held her tight, rocking her in his arms.

“Oh, Jake. I’ve never felt anything like that before. It was an orgasm, wasn’t it?”

He laughed in pure delight. “An amazing one, if I’m not mistaken.” He kissed her thoroughly. “You’re a sensuous little kitten.” He pushed back a strand of hair from her face. “You’re my sensuous little kitten.”

Tabitha couldn’t believe what she’d just experienced. She didn’t know pleasure like that existed.

“Shall we see how sensuous?”

She peered into his intense green gaze. “What do you mean?”

His hand drifted down her stomach to touch her there again and immediately set her off once more. She convulsed against him, writhing under his inexorable torture like a wild wanton. Her release was every bit as intense, every bit as astounding.

As she relaxed in his arms moments later, Jake began again. His hands and his mouth took her on a frenzied journey until, sweating like she’d run six miles, she finally screamed his name.

Only then did he drive inside of her, bringing her to climax again. But this time it was different. It came from within and without—all over her body.

Then he rolled them over, positioning her on top of him. She immediately began to move, riding him like a bucking bronco. She couldn’t help it. He was hitting some marvelously sensitive spot deep inside her. Her entire body convulsed, and each convulsion took her down again, onto his hardness, over and over and over, until she stopped suddenly with a cry and leaned hard on his chest, panting as if she’d just added another five miles to her run.

“Jake, are you trying to kill me?”

He rolled over again, drawing her knees over his shoulders. “Complaining?”

He began to thrust.

“Complain? Me? Never. Oh, you’re doing it again.”

His thrusts grew harder, faster until he drove into her with a cry, then pulled out and drove in again.

Finally he was still. He stayed inside her, keeping their positions intact while the world settled back around them. Tabitha felt him throbbing inside of her. Or was she throbbing against him?

It didn’t matter. She was exhausted, weak and deliriously happy.

Finally Jake disengaged and stretched out beside her. He slipped his arm beneath her head and turned her toward him.

“Damn,” he breathed as he kissed her. “How many orgasms can you have?”

“I don’t know,” she said in a weak voice. “Probably just beginner’s luck.”

Instead of chuckling at her joke, he kissed her soundly, then said, “All I can say is that you’ve been involved with some very stupid men.”

“Yes,” she murmured. “He sure didn’t know what he was doing. Not like you. I’ve never felt anything so intense in my life.”

He grinned. “Is that a thank-you?”

She smiled back. “Thank you.” She hugged him close. “Thank you!”

He chuckled as he rocked her back and forth, holding on tight. “I enjoyed it every bit as much as you did.”

“You did?” She pulled back so she could see his face. “I was beginning to feel very selfish. Maybe next time you can have as many as I did.”

“I wish. Men aren’t built the way women are, kitten. We have to rest too much in between.”

“That’s too bad,” she murmured, snuggling against the strong arm serving as her pillow.

He stroked a hand down her body. “Go to sleep now. You deserve it after that.”

“You said all night,” she complained weakly.

“And I meant it. Believe me.” He kissed her temple. “But sleep for now. We both need it.”

Tabitha didn’t want to. She wanted to be awake every minute she spent in his arms. But so many orgasms had loosened a knot inside her, relaxing her beyond what any meditation or Oriental exercise ever had.

Just as she began to enjoy the throb of his heartbeat against her neck, it lulled her to sleep.

 

Tabitha woke suddenly to a dark room. At some point Jake must have turned off the lamp. Jake. She shivered. She couldn’t believe the experience he’d given her.

She would have put it down to a dream, but she could feel his heat cuddled against her. One arm still served as her pillow and the other lay on her waist. His chest rose and fell against her back with even breathing.

“Good morning.” He kissed her shoulder.

She twisted toward him. “You’re awake?”

“Yeah.”

“What time is it?”

He lifted his head, then dropped it. “Two-fifteen.”

“Late,” she murmured.

“Or early,” he said. “Depends on how you look at it.”

“I guess so.”

He trailed a hand along her arm, making her shiver. “Cold?”

“No.” She could feel his smile against her shoulder. “How long have you been awake?”

“I don’t know. Half an hour, I guess.”

“You didn’t get up?”

“What for?”

“I don’t know. To go out and check on your men. To call the ones at the hospital. To move.”

“I don’t want to move. I don’t need to move,” He lifted himself to his elbow and turned her so she was flat on her back. “How about that. I guess what they say is true—sex is the best destressor known to man.”

She smiled ruefully, stretching her neck toward him as he began playing with her hair. “It’s pretty good for women, too. Especially when man wears them out.”

He chuckled. “Complaining again?”

She sighed. “No.”

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

“I am?”

“Hell, yes.” He tightened his arms around her, snuggling close. “I’ve never been with a woman who had that many orgasms.”

She twisted so she could see him. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, of course not.” He chuckled as he hugged her close again. “I can’t believe you asked that. It didn’t feel wrong, did it?”

“No. It felt wonderful. Although that word doesn’t really describe the experience. I don’t think you can. It was…indescribable.” She giggled. “Indescribably delicious.”

“Glad to have been of service, madam.” He nuzzled her neck and whispered, “And thank you.”

“Thank me? For what?”

“For trusting me. For letting go of your control enough to experience multiple orgasms. You’ve given me a very rare and precious gift.”

“Oh, come on. It can’t be that rare. I’m sure lots of women have them. I mean, I did, and I didn’t even know what I was doing.”

He pressed a kiss onto her shoulder. “Maybe I’ve just never been with the right woman.”

Tabitha frowned. His words felt so good. Too good. “I wouldn’t get used to this method of destressing, if I were you.”

He stilled. “Why not?”

“You’re leaving, so it won’t be an option much longer. When is your contract up, by the way?”

“A little over a year.” He ran a finger down her jaw. “Although,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers, “at the moment, leaving Mission Creek is the last thing on my mind.”

He wasn’t leaving?

Tabitha froze for half a second, then returned his kiss fervently to cover her sudden confusion. She didn’t understand why his words were such an unwelcome surprise. She wanted him to stay, didn’t she? She loved him and wanted him to love her enough to live here in Mission Creek with her the rest of their lives.

Didn’t she?

She didn’t know. She hadn’t considered the possibility before. Intimacy for a little while could be tolerated, and if what she experienced earlier continued, it could even be enjoyed. But intimacy for a lifetime? Could she handle that?

Her fears faded with Jake’s caresses and kisses, and were gone entirely by the time he sent her to the stars. As she lay spooned in his arms, sweating, exhausted, she knew she wanted him to stay. In fact, she desired it with every exhausted cell in her body.

“Go to sleep, little kitten,” he murmured against her temple. “We’ve only got a few more hours to sleep.”

She lay there several moments, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. His breathing was shallow and even by the time she worked up the courage to whisper, “I love you.”