“Ah, ah, ah,” she purred in response. “We’ve played by your rules long enough. It’s my turn.” She indicated that he lay on the bed. “Trust me.”

She held her breath as she watched her words clear some of the lust from his eyes. She knew she ran the risk of him ending things now with her words, but she needed to know if he would let her take the lead. He studied her for a moment before nodding once and lying rigidly upon the mattress.

Letting out a relieved sigh, she moved to straddle his hips and that impressive appendage that was straining to be released. Leaning down she let her lace-coved breasts rub his chest eliciting a hiss from them both.

“Good boy,” she whispered into his ear as she grabbed his hands and placed them on either side of his head on the pillow. “Keep them there or I’ll have to get creative with this tie of yours.”

She ran the silk tie down his chest to make her point and delighted as the rows of muscles there contracted at the contact. Following the cool fabric’s path with her lips, Sarah breathed him in. His warm, smooth skin under her fingers and mouth felt so right she nearly wept. As she moved lower, his stomach dipped in response to the abrasion of teeth and tongue. She couldn’t get enough of his taste.

His breath hitched anew when she snapped the button of his wool slacks and her intentions were made clear. His hips instinctively rose in acknowledgment allowing her to move the fabric and his boxer briefs below his hips. When his erection sprang free, she could only sit back on her heels and admire before taking him in her palm. Fascinated by the texture of velvet over steel, she teased him with her fingers before placing kisses to the hollow of his hips, moving closer to her destination.

She felt the bed shift and lifted her eyes to see his eyes screw shut tight in pleasure, holding the headboard like his life depended on it. Watching a bead of moisture form on the head of his erection, she supposed that it did. A secret smile danced across her lips before she lowered them and placed the first kiss to the straining flesh in her hand. Running her tongue along a bulging vein, she felt her own arousal heighten at his strangled groan. Taking him into her mouth was more sensual than she thought possible. She had never done this before but from the grinding of his hips and the grunts of pleasure she was certain she was doing something right.

“Enough.” Suddenly his hands were around her waist and hauling her up his body. “If your intention was to drive me crazy you’ve succeeded.”

Sarah was stunned by the unbanked heat she saw blazing in his eyes before he stole her breath in a kiss she was sure to recall well into old age. Falon made quick work of her minuscule lingerie and soon she felt his hands on all her needy places. Rebuilding the desire she had pushed back to bring him to the brink.

Moaning into his mouth, she thrust her hips into his hand as he increased the pressure of his talented fingers. His other hand tangling in her hair anchoring her head so he could devour her. This is what she had been missing from their previous lovemaking, this sense of his urgency that if he didn’t have her he would cease to exist.

She let herself get lost in the feelings he was creating, enjoying the ride up the mountain of sensations. She felt the pressure build and knew if she didn’t stop him she would fall over that edge and into the stars and she wanted to take him along.

Breaking the kiss she pulled his hands back to the pillow. “Tut, tut. Do I need to make good on my threat,” she breathed against his heated skin.

He sucked in a breath and looking about to issue his own challenge when his hands clenched into fists and he relaxed his arms. Sarah was momentarily stunned by his submission, but the pulsing of his need against her sensitive folds distracted her.

Right … first things, first.

She reached over his body and retrieved a foil packet from the nightstand. Using her teeth to tear it open, she quickly sheathed him before aligning their bodies. She hovered above him, his pulsing heat poised at her entrance waiting for him to open his eyes. When his gaze tangled with hers, she slowly lowered onto him, taking him to the hilt.

She sat, unable to move, unable to take her eyes away from his while her body grew accustomed to his invasion. Something passed between them in that moment of quiet stillness. It was like something inside Falon cracked and seeped into her as she gave a piece of herself to him. The burning need and emotions in his eyes propelled her into motion as she slowly slid up his length then lowered again, pulling a gratifying growl she felt rumble deep in his chest.

The next moments were a jumbled mix of unrestrained need and passion. Sarah flew to new heights while Falon placed himself in her hands, giving her the control of the moment and trusting she would be there with him every step of the climb and the inevitable fall into the stars. When they reached the peak, they came crashing down together in a symphony of breathless moans and satisfied hums.

Falling onto his chest, she tried to catch her breath as she came to grips with the new world he had forced her to see. She was barely aware of him rolling her onto her side and kissing her brow. When he slid from the bed to dispose of the condom, she felt a shiver rack her body.

“Don’t go anywhere,” Falon said, looking down at her with tenderness she never thought him capable of. Noticing her chill, he placed the comforter below her chin. “I need to go take care of the fire hazard you set up in the other room.”

Too stunned, she could only absently nod. Somewhere during their mad rush to completion a piece slid into place. Her world had tipped on its axis and now she was faced with the reality she wasn’t sure she was ready for.

Chapter Eleven

Sarah lay on the pillow of Falon’s shoulder as he idly traced patterns on the bare skin of her back. She should feel sated, satisfied, but the only thing she was feeling in the wake of his loss of control was guilt. Sure her body was pleasantly humming with the aftermath of his skill, but her mind was circling around the fact that she just played the only man she ever loved.

When he returned from blowing out the candles, he had taken her into his arms again. Playing her body in the sweetest torment as he brought her to the point where waves of sensation pulled them both under. The undertow pulled them both out into a sea of fireworks.

Coming back to awareness to find herself snuggled up to his side, his hands tracing the lines of her body had nearly brought tears to her eyes. How could she have thought this wounded man cold? Reserved and protective of his heart, yes, but the man she could feel watching her with tendered resolve was not cold.

“What are you thinking?” he whispered.

Here goes nothing.

“About you.”

“Is that so?” He chuckled.

She nodded into his warm chest, running a hand down his rather impressive stomach and smile. “About how I’ll never think of you as the Iceman again.”

He froze and she thought she ruined the moment before she felt his knuckle under her chin bringing her eyes up to meet his.

“You thought that?” he asked, searching her gaze.

“At first, yes.” Sarah looked for a sign in his face that it was okay to continue. When she noticed his remained open to her, his eyes clear of the chill of indifference, she felt confident in continuing. “You seemed so different.”

That caught his attention. His eyes sharpened and some of that calculation returned to cool his warm eyes.

“Different from?”

How much to tell him? She didn’t want to hide anything from him, not anymore, but she was afraid how it would look if she went forward with “from the last time you brought me to screaming orgasm.”