Everlasting - Iris Johansen [36]
She certainly was, she realized. She was dizzy and helpless from the sensations he was engendering with every touch. She could detect the faint scent of musk and soap and brandy that clung to his body. She had been a little chilly before, but she was burning up now. Her breath was coming in little gasps, as if she were being touched rhythmically by an electric charger. “Zack…”
His eyes opened and he glared down at her with an intensity that stopped the words in her throat. “Say it, dammit.”
She gazed up at him in bewilderment. “Say what?”
“Say yes. Say I can have you. Right now, with no more of this god-awful waiting. Say that I can stop hurting.”
He was hurting. She could see the agony that tautened his features and caused the skin to tighten over his cheekbones. And she could help him. The knowledge sent a flowing warmth through her to temper with pure joy the white-hot passion she was experiencing. She could stop his hurting, take away the hunger born of pain and bring him pleasure, then peace. “Oh, yes, Zack,” she said softly. “Please. Now.”
His breath was released in a little explosion. “Thank heaven! I know I'm being a bast—” He broke off. “I'll try to make up for it later.” He was drawing her closer with trembling arms. “Just come here and let me love you, Kira. Just let me love you.”
His hands were at the belt of her jeans; his attempt at unfastening them was oddly clumsy. The zipper made a soft, silky hiss as it slid down. His hands slipped beneath denim and silk to touch her, sending ripples of shock through her system. His palms were cold, but her own body heat quickly transferred warmth to them.
His nails raked lightly over the curve of her buttocks before moving around to caress the smoothness of her belly with hands shaking with eagerness. “Soft. Lord, you're so soft and sweet. I want to—” His hand moved down to the apex of her thighs and he touched her with a gentleness at odds with the roughness that had preceded it. “I haven't seen you here,” he said hoarsely. “When I was lying on that mattress last night, I could imagine every other part of you, because I'd seen how beautiful you were at the lodge.” His fingers found the place they were seeking.
She gave a low cry as he pressed and then began to rotate the spot slowly. Her eyes were staring blindly up at him and she had to clutch his shoulders or she would have fallen.
“Not here. I couldn't imagine how you looked or what response you'd give me when I did this.” There was savage joy glittering in his eyes. “But now I'm going to see you and touch you…” He pressed again and she jerked forward, arching helplessly toward him. “And pleasure you until you go out of your mind.”
She was already out of her mind. She felt as if every single nerve ending were on fire. She was tingling in the strangest places. The centers of her palms were throbbing and her toes wanted to curl. He stepped back from her, took off his jacket, and spread it on a pile of beech leaves on the ground. Then he was pulling her down on her knees on the coat to face him. The dry leaves rustled beneath his coat as he shifted to remove her jacket too. “Damn, I'll probably give you pneumonia. Are you cold?”
“If there's one thing I'm not, it's cold,” she murmured. Her hands were quivering as she pulled her sweater over her head and threw it aside. “I'm burning up!”
“I'll try to keep you burning up.” He stopped her as she started to unfasten the front opening of her bra. “Let me. I've been