Finally, he was able to give in to the shocking pleasure of kissing the sweetest mouth he’d ever tasted. Lips so soft, so warm, as they parted and aroused, taking and giving in equal measure. He could feel her strength, her lithe muscles as she wrapped herself tighter around him and used the strength in her thighs to ride him in the water.

He’d thought she was too fragile, too easily breakable for him, for his needs, for his past. But she met every thrust in equal measure, met every stroke of his hand across her gorgeous skin with her hands on him.

For so long he’d wanted her, and every time they came together he only wanted her more. He’d never get enough of her passion, the way she all but vibrated with desire in his arms as she opened herself up to him.

He’d told himself he didn’t need anyone, and especially not her. But he’d been wrong. A liar of epic proportions.

Because there was nobody he needed more. No one who would ever fill his heart—and soul—the way this beautiful woman in his arms always had.

She lowered her head to his shoulder, her lips and tongue and teeth moving against his skin. He could feel how fast, how frantic her heart was beating against his. He had to grip her hips tighter, had to hold her closer as he drove deeper inside her warmth, coming closer and closer to heaven with every stroke of hard flesh against soft.

She gasped out his name and as their combined sounds of ecstasy rebounded off the swimming pool’s walls, unbelievable pleasure blurred with pure love and became one and the same.

Chapter Nineteen

Sophie woke up sprawled across Jake in his bed. Her head was resting right over his breastbone, his heart a strong, steady beat in her ear. She vaguely remembered curling up against him after they came back from the pool and falling asleep, but at some point in the middle of the night, she must have wanted to get closer, and just climbed on top of him.

Not, she figured, that he minded being her new mattress much, if the enormous erection pressing into her stomach was any indication. That made two of them who didn’t mind it, she thought, as all that hard male muscle beneath her quickly brought her from sleepy to aroused in a matter of seconds.

For all the years she’d dreamed of being in bed with Jake, those visions had always been of Jake touching her, Jake kissing her, Jake making love to her. Yesterday at the pool had been the first time she’d ever taken the lead with sex.

She’d loved it. But even more than that, she’d loved the way he’d begun to share pieces of himself with her the previous night. Their physical connection was undeniable. Could their emotional connection become just as strong, too?

Was there a chance that Jake would keep letting her in, bit by bit, until he actually shared his whole heart—and soul—with her?

She ran her fingertips over the strong muscles of his shoulder, tracing the veins and sinews just below the surface of his skin. Sophie feathered her fingers from collarbone to bicep, wanting to memorize Jake from feel alone, already putting together a mental map of his masculine perfection. She was also glad for the chance, at long last, to really study the tattoos on his tanned skin. What, she wondered, did each one of them mean? Jake wasn’t a man who did anything without a reason, and she couldn’t imagine the tattoos had been painless. Regardless of how tough he acted, he was flesh and blood like anyone else.

Being able to touch Jake at her leisure like this was such a gift. But it wasn’t nearly enough to whet her suddenly ravenous appetite for more. She didn’t just want to know the contours of his body with her hands, she wanted to feel them all against her lips, wanted to know the taste of him on her tongue.

She shifted her head so that she could press her lips to his breastbone. His body was so solid, so strong. He smelled so good and he tasted even better, still faintly covered in the chlorine from the swimming pool. She shifted again, just enough to lift her head from his chest so that she could lick him, barely managing to hold back a moan of pleasure as she laved his slightly salty skin. No wonder men were so fixated on women’s breasts. Already, she was an addict, could spend hours with her mouth on him, her tongue, her teeth all vying for superiority.

Slowly shifting her weight, she moved her legs to either side of his hips and let her weight fall to her knees on the mattress so that she could kneel above him and feast her eyes. That was when she realized his dark eyes weren’t closed.

“You’re awake?”

His mouth curved into a sexy smile. “Do you actually think there’s a guy alive who could sleep through that?” His hands curved over her backside, gently squeezing the soft flesh there. “I’ve been awake since you made me your body pillow a couple of hours ago.” He chased his words with the slow drag of his hands from her hips to her waist.

“Poor baby. I should make those sleepless hours up to you, shouldn’t I?”

His eyes lit with surprise—and heat—at her soft words, just a beat before his fingertips skimmed the bottom of her rib cage and his hands curved over her breasts. She wanted to keep focusing on him, on the heady adventure of exploring his body, but when he touched her like that she couldn’t keep her spine from arching her deeper into his hands. His shaft was hugely erect between her thighs and her body moved into position over it as though they were connected by magnets, so that she could glide over him, back and forth, until her breath was coming fast.

“God, I love to watch you come. Do it now for me, princess. Ride me all the way there, just like this.”

Every time she was with Jake, she disappeared deeper and deeper into the sensual spell he wove around her. She’d never thought she could be this woman, one who brought herself to climax while her lover urged her forward, had never imagined she would break into the swim center to skinny-dip with him.

Then again, she’d never felt this safe before, had never had a man look at her as though she was the only person in the world who mattered.

The intense appreciation in his dark eyes sent her hurtling over the edge. As she ground her pelvis into his, as his fingers played over the taut peaks of her incredibly sensitive breasts, Sophie wasn’t nice anymore. She wasn’t naughty either.

She was simply a woman who finally understood how deep pleasure could run when she was with the right man...especially when love was bringing them together as much as hormones and attraction.

Their mouths met in a tangle of desire, tongues slipping and sliding, teeth catching on lips as waves of ecstasy crashed into her, through her, over her. Her orgasm seemed to go on and on forever, spiraling higher and higher before leaving her muscles loose and limp. Even then, despite the way his shaft was throbbing between her legs, he simply stroked her hair, her back, as she worked to catch her breath.

“Mmmm.” She couldn’t get her brain around anything clearer than that little hum of pleasure. Still, any minute now, she was sure he’d roll them over on the bed, push her legs open, and take her in a deliciously dominant way. And, oh, how she’d enjoy every second of it.

But even after she could breathe normally again, even when she realized his muscles had tensed up so much that he was nearly a living, breathing rock beneath her, he didn’t move.

She lifted her head from the crook of his neck and brushed the damp strands of hair from her face so that she could see him properly. “Aren’t you—?” She paused, blushing despite the fact that they were already naked and she’d just climaxed in cowgirl position over him. “Don’t you—?”

His mouth captured hers. “Yes.” He kissed her again, the thrust of his tongue the perfect window to his desire. “God, yes.”

Suddenly, Sophie was struck with an idea that she never would have dared to see through before. But being with Jake made her feel brave. Moving off him, she slid off the bed and went to her bag to pull out a couple of hair clips. Within seconds, she had her long hair pulled off her face into a tight bun. She rooted around for the nonprescription glasses she kept with her to wear to important meetings—when she needed to make sure her brains were the only thing people noticed.

Ah, there they were. The big, thick rims were perfect.

She turned around to face Jake and had to laugh aloud at the look on his face. Lust mixed with horror.

“Sweet Lord, you’re every twisted librarian fantasy I’ve ever had come to life.” His voice sounded strangled as he looked down at her naked body, then back up to the bun and glasses. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. I’m pretty much on the edge already, here, Sophie.”

“Not Sophie.” She squeezed his huge erection before letting herself stroke up, then down, the skin that had been stretched smooth. “Ms. Sullivan.”

“Is that your librarian voice?” When she nodded, he groaned. “This is officially my new favorite game.” She glared at him and he added, “Ms. Sullivan. Ma’am.”

“Game?” She crawled back onto the bed, straddling him again and leaning down to lick up the side of his neck. “Do you think this is a game?” She sank her teeth into his earlobe before moving to the other side and giving it the same treatment. “Or this?” She pressed her hands flat over his chest, covering his pectoral muscles. “What about this?” She lowered her head to his chest to lick and nip at him and he reached for her.

But instead of letting him pull her up over his body, a surge of feminine power came over Sophie. She’d reduced big, bad, lady-killing Jake McCann to a puddle of desire. That was how much he wanted her...and, oh, wasn’t it just lovely to finally be wanted?

Before he could stop her, she moved down his incredible body to experience something she never had before, but suddenly couldn’t live without for another second. Seconds later, warm, thick male flesh greeted her tongue. She hummed her pleasure at how good he tasted as she circled the broad head of his erection before opening up her mouth and taking it inside.

Jake’s fingers threaded into her bun so tightly that Sophie was held captive over him, but she didn’t care that she was no longer in charge, didn’t even care about playing the “sexy librarian” role anymore. She threw off the glasses and gave in to the shocking thrill of giving Jake pleasure as he thrust up into her mouth. He’d wanted her to come above him earlier and now all she wanted was for him to do the same for her, just like this.

“I need you here.” His words barely pierced the thick fog of her lust. “Right here with me.”

A heartbeat later he was pulling her down over him, causing her to lose her breath completely as he filled her all the way up. If it had been just her body he was filling, then maybe she would have been able to handle it, but the way he was looking at her, like she was his every dream, every single fantasy come to life, had tears springing to her eyes even as her body began to explode around his.

“Now,” he urged as he grew impossibly big inside her and her inner muscles instinctively clenched around him. “Come with me.”

Sophie threw her head back and held onto him like she was going for rodeo queen and he was the prized bull that was going to clinch her the title. Jake’s roar of pleasure set every nerve in her body to tingling as she called out his name.

When she could finally rouse her brain to working again, she realized that somewhere in there he must have rolled them over to cradle her in his arms.

For several minutes, they remained connected, two sweaty, panting people wrapped around each other. Sophie felt she could stay like this forever. No need for food or clothes or words. Just Jake’s arms around her, his heart beating against hers.

* * *

Jake had spent his entire life on guard against pain, failure, disappointment. Being with Sophie made him want to stop bracing himself for the inevitable fall, made him want to give in to a hope he’d sworn as a kid never to let himself feel again.

“Can I ask you something?” She was slowly tracing the inked armband around his bicep with the tip of one finger.