“Yeah,” he whispered, more to himself than to her, “dazed, all right.”
Outside, the night was cool and quiet. In this room, the only sound was their ragged breathing and the thundering beat of their hearts. All that existed was this moment. This near-electric current of passion was flooding back and forth between them and Rafe knew he couldn’t wait one more second to claim her.
For more than a week, he’d watched her, laughed with her. He’d spent more time with Katie Charles in the last week than he had with his ex-wife in the last year of their marriage. And he’d enjoyed it more, as well. She was smart and funny and talented and so damn sexy; one look from her green eyes was almost enough to floor him.
She parted her thighs wider in acceptance and sighed as he touched her. Rafe felt the slam of that soft sound ricochet inside him and ignored it. He didn’t want his heart to be involved in this, so it wouldn’t be. He wouldn’t allow any more connection than the physical between them. And that would be enough, he assured himself.
He just had to have her, and then everything would go back to normal.
Lifting her h*ps to give himself better access, he slowly pushed himself into her heat. Into the very heart of her. And as her body wrapped itself around his, he hissed in a breath and fought for control.
Instinctively, she moved with him, lifting her legs high enough to wrap them around his waist and pull him in deeper, tighter, harder. He looked down at her and she opened her arms to him. Leaning over, he kissed her as he rocked his body against hers. Retreating and then advancing, he felt the magical slide of her warmth and knew it had never been better for him.
For the first time in his adult life, he wished to hell he wasn’t wearing a damn condom. He wanted to feel all of her, without that layer separating them. But that would have been nuts, so he pushed that thought aside and moved on her again.
She lifted up from the bed and kissed him, framing his face in her hands, running her tongue along his bottom lip until she pushed him so near the edge there was no restraining himself any longer. He’d wanted to draw this out. Wanted to make it last, because he’d been dreaming of this moment for days now. But there was no more waiting. No slow and seductive.
There was only need and the desperate ache for completion.
Pushing her back onto the bed, he levered himself over her and took her hard and fast.
“Yes,” she whispered, moving with him, matching his rhythm eagerly. His body pistoned into hers. Her hunger fueled his and together they reached for what they both needed.
He felt her cl**ax hit her and as she rode out the convulsing waves of pleasure, he erupted, called her name and joined her in time to slide into oblivion, locked together.
“My hero,” Katie said when she was sure her voice would work.
“Happy to oblige,” he murmured, his face tucked into the curve of her neck.
She smiled to herself and stared up at the pale blue ceiling overhead. The soft sigh of his breath against her skin, the heavy weight of his body pressing onto hers and the throbbing center of her where they were still joined all came together to create perfection.
Running her hands up and down his back, she listened to the sound of his ragged breathing and felt the pounding beat of his heart. It had been so long since she’d been with someone, that maybe she was making too much of this.
But there was a tiny voice inside her, whispering to Katie that this had been special. That she had just shared something with Rafe that went far beyond sex.
Her heartbeat jittered unsteadily as that thought settled into her mind. Hadn’t she thought what she had with Cordell was special, too? But this was different, her thoughts argued. This was so much more than she had ever felt for Cordell. Rafe touched more than her heart. He’d somehow wormed his way into her soul.
But she was rushing things and she knew it. She wasn’t going to be foolishly romantic about a purely physical pleasure. Not again. She wasn’t in love, for heaven’s sake. Katie was a rational, logical woman and she knew that falling in love just didn’t happen in a week’s time.
But she could at least admit that Rafe Cole was in her heart. She cared for him or she never would have slept with him. And watching him tonight with Nicole and Connor had only heightened her feelings for him. How could she not be touched by a man who was so gentle with a two-year-old? So nice to a single mom who had needed help?
Rafe was the kind of man she used to dream of finding. He was hardworking and honest and kind and so very, very sexy.
“You’re thinking,” he murmured.
“Yep,” she said.
He lifted his head and quirked a smile at her. “Why is it that good sex energizes a woman and makes a man unconscious?”
“I’d tell you,” she said solemnly, “but then I’d have to kill you.”
He laughed and she felt the jolt of that movement ripple throughout her body. They were still locked together. Every move Rafe made awakened already sensitized flesh and set it sizzling.
“Hmm,” he whispered, as if knowing exactly what she was thinking, feeling. He moved in her again, slowly at first, eliciting another sigh from Katie. “Seems we’re not finished yet.”
“Not nearly,” she agreed, moving with him, sliding into the pace he set as if they had been together hundreds of times and knew each other’s moves instinctively. It was, Katie thought, as if they had been meant to be together. As if their bodies had been forged specifically to link into place, two halves, one whole. She couldn’t help feeling that this was all as it was supposed to be. That this night had been fated in some way. That she’d been given this chance with Rafe in order to make up for the wounded heart she’d lived through months before. And it was working.
In seconds, the fire between them was burning again. Flames licked at her center and spread throughout her body. He touched her and there was magic. He became a part of her body and a corner of her heart never wanted it to end.
She looked up into those deep blue eyes of his and thought how glad she was that she’d taken this chance with him. That she had opened herself up to possibilities. To the magic that could happen between the right people.
And then her thoughts splintered as he pushed her beyond desire into passion that demanded her focus. She felt the quickening within, the first tingle of anticipation that something amazing was about to happen. Katie reached for it eagerly, hungrily, wanting to feel it all again.
He kissed her and she opened her mouth to him, welcoming his invasion. The taste of him filled her and she felt his breath on her face. His body rocked into hers over and over again and she lifted her legs higher around his waist, holding him to her, offering herself up to his pleasure. To their pleasure.