He sucked in his breath when she slid her lips from his mouth down his jaw, and then nipping at his earlobe before going lower and grazing her teeth over the side of his neck before following it with a sharp nip that had him growling deep in his throat.

Her fingers loosened, freeing his shirt, and her hands glided across his chest, then lower, yanking his shirt up and sliding her palms over his taut abdomen and then his chest before traveling in a downward path again, this time going much lower.

She dipped into the waistband of his pants, her fingers finding him hot and turgid, shoving with growing urgency against his fly. She fumbled with the button and then he heard the throaty rasp of his zipper and then he was free, his dick thrusting outward into her waiting grasp.

Jesus, but it was like coming home. Sweat broke out on his brow and his breaths grew more rapid as he strained to suck in more air. Never had anything felt as good as her fingers curled around his erection.

“Fuck me, Sterling,” she whispered, a plea. “Take me hard and fast. Make me forget. Just for a little while, make me forget.”

Wade gently circled both her wrists with his fingers, stilling the pull of her hand on his rigid length, and then he moved her hands outward, away, and then lifted them to press her palms against his chest.

“Eliza, stop,” he said quietly. “Breathe for me, baby. Deep breaths and stop for just a minute.”

Her eyes dulled, the shadows lengthening, as shame crept into her beautiful, soulful gaze. She turned her face away, presenting only one cheek to his view, her eyes closing as a thin rivulet of moisture slithered down her face.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, so faintly he almost couldn’t hear. “I don’t blame you for not wanting to be tainted.”

Wade cursed savagely and then he cursed even more that she would believe for one moment that she was tainted. That he didn’t want her. When he was nearly blinded by his need of her.

She opened her mouth to speak again but he reached for her chin and turned her so she fully faced him once more.

“Shut up,” he said fiercely.

And then he kissed her just as fiercely as his outburst had been to stop any further words from her. Words that had already cut him like the sharpest blade.

His fingers tightened around her chin and he softly rubbed his thumb over her swollen lips when he finally dragged his mouth from hers. Though she faced him, her gaze was downcast, refusing to meet his.

“Look at me, Eliza.”

She closed her eyes, her nostrils quivering.

“Look at me.”

Her eyelids fluttered, unshed tears collecting like gems on her lashes.

“I am not going to fuck you. I’m going to make love to you. I’m going to show you how very beautiful you are to me.”

“I’m not beautiful,” she said in an aching, pain-filled voice. “God, Wade. You have no idea how ugly I am. On the inside. My soul is so black . . . dead.”

Every word that came from her cut him razor sharp to the bone. He couldn’t bear to hear a single other one. He silenced her once more with a kiss.

He took over, giving her no chance to speak, to condemn herself even further in her own eyes. Not leaving the silken heat of her mouth for the few seconds it would take him to remove her clothing, he kept his mouth fused to hers and fumbled clumsily with her shirt, unfastened her jeans, yanked downward, leaving them gathered at her knees for now.

As he unhooked her bra and used his fingers to push the thin straps down over her shoulders, he whispered into her mouth, “I’m going to leave your sweet mouth only for as long as it takes me to get you fully undressed, but I don’t want to hear a single word out of it unless you’re saying my name.”

Her only response was the light hiccupping sound of her breath as she sucked it in.

Moving swiftly, he took her hands and placed one over each of his shoulders for her to hang on to while he divested her of her shoes, socks and then her jeans, leaving her to stand before him in only her silky panties.

“I’ve spent countless sleepless nights dreaming of this,” he murmured.

Faint color rose in her cheeks, sweeping upward from her neck. She stared at him in obvious disbelief but there was also a flicker of . . . guilt. As though she’d been caught out on something she’d rather die than have be known. He smiled.

“You too, huh.”

“Wade . . .”

“I like hearing my name on your lips. Before a few days ago, you never called me by my first name. Only my last.”

Not giving her a chance to respond, he pulled her back against his body, sliding his thumbs down her sides to catch at the lacy band of her underwear. He pushed just enough that when he let go, it slipped the rest of the way down her slender legs and finally she was fully nude.

His bold gaze took in every exquisite inch of her, from her tousled blonde hair to the silky golden tufts between her legs. Her breasts were utter perfection. Gently rounded with just enough bob and sway to make a man’s mouth water but they, like the rest of her body, were toned, sleek . . . beautiful. They fit with the rest of her figure. Not so muscled or flat that they were shapeless pads with only nipples to differentiate them from the rest of her body.

Her hips flared enticingly, just crying for a man’s hands to palm them, to curl possessively around them while he plunged so deep inside her that they both lost their minds. And her ass. Her ass was to die for. Toned, delicious swells that also begged a man’s hands in a variety of ways.

Knowing if he didn’t move, didn’t get them to the bed soon, he wasn’t going to last another minute, he swept her up into his arms, resting his chin atop her head as he stalked over to the bed. He placed her down, ensuring that his gaze was locked with hers and that his shone with approval and desire.

“You’re beautiful,” he said hoarsely, repeating his earlier assertion.

He kissed her just in case she would deny it again, and he slid his tongue inward, this time forgoing the playful teasing of earlier. He stroked in and out in long, leisurely strokes, giving her a hint of what was to come.

Reluctantly, he pulled away so he could strip out of his own clothing and he made record work of it. As he moved back to her, he saw her staring at him, female appreciation in her sapphire eyes.

He wasn’t unused to women liking his body or their many creative ways of expressing their approval. But coming from Eliza it was an altogether new experience. One that made him feel not so certain of himself. But then never had making love to a woman and getting it right been more important than in this moment. With this woman.