“Something feels rock hard right now.”

“Yes. All of you,” she teased huskily and gently bit his chin. He tasted salty, but he must have shaved before she arrived because his skin was smooth and oh so tempting.

She nibbled along his jawline. Stopping when she reached his ear and tugging on the lobe with her teeth. Then she flicked her tongue out and tasted.

“Beth…”

“What?” she whispered against his ear.

“Kiss me.”

“Yes.”

She slid her open mouth along his cheek until her lips met his and fireworks exploded inside of her. It was perfect. Different than any kiss she’d ever known. He tasted utterly masculine and sinfully delicious. And his lips exerted just the right amount of pressure, molding hers with possessive intent.

It did not feel like he was responding to her kiss so much as marking her with his own. A kiss could not mark you, could it? But she felt marked. Claimed. And she moved her lips against his with voracious abandon, frantic to make him feel the same way. Even if it was just physical…it felt so profound that it affected her soul and that had to be mutual.

It didn’t matter if he was doing this for the case, or for the raging erection brushing her back…it had to be mutual.

A tiny voice amidst her shattered sense of self tried to tell her that soul stirring might not be a good thing, but she closed her mind to it.

This felt too elemental to be anything but predestined.

And if it caused her pain later, that was part of tomorrow, not now and now was where she was existing.

She licked along the seam of his lips and his mouth opened under hers with a groan. She dove inside with her tongue, craving more of his taste, more of him. He arched under her, pressing his hard stomach against the apex of her thighs and sending stabs of sensation through her. She pushed down with her pelvis, increasing the friction, but it wasn’t enough.

She wanted to rip her panties off and mount him, but that would defeat the whole purpose of tying him up. How could she be so close to losing control…again?

She broke her mouth from his, panting. “That’s enough kissing for right now.”

Chapter 11

Ethan licked his lips as if he was savoring her taste. “I don’t agree.”

“That’s too bad because I’m the one in control.”

“Are you? You might be in charge, baby, but unless this old boy’s eyes deceive him, you are out of control.”

She sat up, pretending not to notice the way he flexed his muscles under her highly sensitized flesh. “Maybe you need to get your eyes checked.”

“My vision is twenty-ten, baby. Maybe you need to get a condom out of the drawer and get me ready.”

“We’re a long way from that.”

He pushed up against her and she couldn’t stifle a moan. His smile was pure predatory male. “Sweetheart, you need it as much as I do.”

“Do I?” she asked breathlessly.

“Yeah.” He rolled his eyes. “But this must be the place where you deny it.”

“I’m not denying anything.”

“Aren’t you?”

“Maybe myself.” But she wasn’t denying she wanted him. Only that she would give in…for now.

“And me. That’s two pretty big things.”

She reached behind herself and gripped his hardness, or tried to. She couldn’t quite get her fingers around him and that knowledge sent shivers arcing through her.

“Yes, very big,” she said in a throaty voice she’d never used before.

He laughed, but the sound choked off on a deep groan as she squeezed the pulsing flesh in her hand.

“Much more of that and I’ll go off like a rocket.”

“Would that bother you?”

“To come before you?”

“Yes.”

“I’d rather be inside you, but, Beth…you’ve been teasing me with that sweet body for so long, there’s no way one time is going to be enough. Or even two…I figure tomorrow morning we’re both going to be a little sore.”

“But sated,” she said on an approving sigh.

“For a while at least.”

She grinned, liking the sound of that, and let go. She wasn’t ready for him to come yet. She pressed both hands against his chest again. “There are so many ways I’ve fantasized about touching you. I want to do them all.”

“Go for it, baby. I’m all yours.”

She cast a significant look to his bound hands. “I know.” Rocking herself against him, she brushed her fingertips through the light dusting of hair on his chest. “Some extreme sportsmen shave here.”

“Some shave their whole bodies.” He made a face that showed his distaste at the idea. “I don’t.”

“I could tell,” she mocked.

“Smart aleck.”

She circled his nipples with her fingertips. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why don’t you shave? I thought it was supposed to make you faster…more competitive.” She liked the hair on his chest. It excited her…it was so very male, but she knew he took his extreme sports seriously, too.

“Besides the fact there are very few sports that body hair can make any real competitive difference to, baby, I’m from Texas.”

“What does where you are from have to do with it?”

“You ever seen a cowboy with a shaved chest?”

“I’ve never seen a real-life cowboy, period.” She looked around his room, then back at him and smiled. “Except you.”

“Trust me, then. Cowboys don’t shave their bodies.”

“Or wax?”

He shuddered. “Or wax.”

“Not manly enough?” she teased.

“Real men do not wax,” he growled.

She kept tracing over his skin and he moved restlessly under her. “Do real men like having their nipples touched?”

“You can touch me anywhere you like and it will pleasure me.”

“Good.” But she didn’t touch the hard little points. Not yet. She’d fantasized so many times about this that she wasn’t going to let it go too fast. She brushed a jagged scar that looked like a starburst on his right shoulder. “Where did you get this?”

“On assignment.”

“You can tell me details. I have clearance.”

He shook his head, his stomach muscles bunching under her. “I don’t talk about work when I’m in bed with a beautiful woman.” His muscles moved again, caressing her.

He was so sneaky. He really did think he could keep control even bound. And she loved that.

“Is that a hard-and-fast rule?” she asked, running her hand over the scar, noticing how sensitive he was there.

“Yes,” he ground out.

“Hmmm…” She went back to his nipples, lightly scraping them with her nails. “Maybe I can make you break it.”

He groaned as she went back and forth, back and forth over the rigid little nubs. “Why would you want to?”

“Because I want to know.”

“You curious about me, Beth?”

“You told me I was supposed to be. Remember?”

“Yeah.” He thought for a second. “I’ll tell you. For another kiss.”

“Okay…first you tell and then I kiss.”

“Deal.”

So, he told her. He’d been shot when taking down the enemy. It had happened before she started working for TGP. She’d read numerous accounts with similar scenarios, but hearing it from his lips affected her emotions in a way they never had been reading over and filing reports for the other agents. When he was done, she leaned down and kissed the scar, running her lips and tongue along each jagged line until she’d bathed the old wound completely with her sensuality.

“I thought you were going to kiss my lips,” he said on a ragged breath.

She smiled and met his hot green eyes. “Did I say I was going to kiss your lips?”

“No.”

“Then I kept my side of the bargain.”

“That you did. You’re wily, Miss Whitney. You know that?”

“I’m horny, Mr. Crane. And that is entirely your fault.”

“Do I look like I’m complaining?”

“You look edible.” She sighed as her fingers kneaded his chest like a cat and then she traced another, smaller scar near his ribs. “What about this one?”

“Same deal?”