“Ramie, baby.”

Her lips whispered over his neck, up to his ear, where she nipped the lobe, sending a cascade of chills spilling over his skin.

“Tell me you want this,” he rasped. “Be sure. I’ve already done enough to make you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” she whispered back. “I understand. You don’t have to keep explaining, Caleb. I’m so cold. Keep me warm.”

His knee nudged her legs apart, rubbing over the thin material of her underwear. She shivered when his fingers dipped below the band and into her plush folds. She was damp, but not wet enough to take him yet.

He pulled her shirt up over her head then wrestled with his own as her hands tangled, trying to take it off him. There was a sense of urgency even as he tried to slow the pace down. He didn’t want to overwhelm her. He didn’t want her to do something she’d regret. But at the same time he wanted her with a desperation he’d never felt for a woman before.

It was hard to temper his urges. He wasn’t used to denying himself anything. He’d never had to.

But Ramie was special. So fragile. He touched her like she was precious and breakable, his mouth glancing over her satiny skin. Her taste was sweet on his tongue. His tongue swirled around her ni**les, his mouth sucking them to hard points. She gasped frantically, bucking upward, pushing herself farther into his mouth.

“Please, Caleb,” she pleaded.

The hell she’d ever have to beg him for anything he could provide.

“Be sure, Ramie. Before I get inside you. Be very sure this is what you want. I’ll stop now. All you have to do is tell me no.”

She put her fingers to his lips, suddenly going still beneath him.

“I need you.”

The simple elegance of her statement unraveled him. There was stark vulnerability in her words. He was achingly hard and yet he’d deny himself for her, to protect her. In order not to hurt her. He’d hurt her already. Enough for two lifetimes. He could never forget that even if she could.

He kissed a line down the center of her chest, his hands skating down her sides to pull at her panties. She arched, bowing up off the bed to allow him to slide her underwear down her legs. Her thighs fell open. He inhaled her scent, his body throbbing with heavy need.

Dying to taste her, he licked from her opening to her clit, his body tightening when she gasped in pleasure. Her fingers dove into his hair, flexing into his scalp. She held him in place as he sucked and licked, tasting her from inside out.

He had to have her. He was perilously close to coming and he wasn’t even inside her yet. His c**k was slick already, the head coated with pr**um. He wedged inside her opening, stretching her to accommodate his width.

He should give her more time. Prepare her more fully, and yet he still found himself pushing inward, sucking her surprised gasp into his mouth.

The sound of discovery she made, the sudden burst of moisture that coated his dick nearly made him come on the spot. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself back, holding himself rigidly just inside her opening.

“Now,” she choked out. “Now, Caleb. Please.”

He surged forward, planting himself hard and deep. She cried out and he fused his mouth to hers, remaining still inside her as she spasmed softly around him. Slick and hot she gripped him like a velvet fist. She clutched greedily at him, pulling him deeper.

He surrendered to her pull, the roaring in his ears growing louder. He closed his eyes as color burst around him, sharp, explosive, his entire body drawn tight. He began thrusting hard and fast, the friction almost unbearable. So intensely pleasurable that he made a sound of agony through clenched teeth.

She went soft around him, her body molding sweetly to his. She let out a small hiccup into his mouth and then gasped, her breath hitching. Her fingers dug into his shoulders and she bucked upward, her cry sharp in the silence.

He pulled at her hair, tipped her head back while he devoured her mouth, consuming her like an addict in need of a fix. There was a violent need that consumed him, ricocheting up his spine and through his veins like a potent drug.

He surged forward, planting himself deep, holding there, his h*ps pressed hard into hers, their pelvises locked and undulating wildly. He dimly registered that he wasn’t wearing a condom. That he hadn’t even considered wearing a condom, and it was too late. His orgasm was unleashed like a wildfire, a furious storm that held him powerless in its grip.

She buried her face in his neck and held on tightly, her body shuddering wildly as her release broke over them in waves.

He’d never felt anything so beautiful in his life. Never held something so precious in his hands before. He whispered her name over and over, overcome by the power of their coming together.

His body slowed, riding hers like ocean waves. He couldn’t get enough of her. He was still hard and aching even after his release and reveling in the aftershocks. He gathered her tightly in his arms, rolling and bringing her on top of him.

She lay sprawled over him, her hair spilling like a curtain over his chest. He cupped her face in his palms, held her still for his kiss. Their tongues mated just as their bodies had. Twisting, turning, hot and wet.

Slowly her head lowered, her forehead touching his chest, the top of her head brushing his chin. He was still buried deeply within her. She pulsed around him, tugging rhythmically, pulling the last drops of his se**n inside her body.

He’d never felt so complete in his life, and he had no idea how she felt.

He bunched up her hair in his fist and then relaxed his grip, stroking the soft curls against her head. Her chest heaved up and down, her entire body draped across his like a limp towel. She was warm and soft, so very feminine and delicate. He couldn’t resist touching her, gliding his fingers over her pale skin.