Dax hungrily accepted her kiss, hot and potent and tantalizing, while he gripped the earth with his hands. If he didn’t, he’d grab her and hold her and never let her go. And who knew what the powers that be would do if he blatantly ignored the rule? They could take her away forever, and Dax wasn’t about to take that chance.
She broke the kiss, licked her lips, then glanced at the folded blanket he’d grabbed from his car and dropped on the ground nearby. Knowing they would be making love at some point during this walk, he’d wanted to make it as comfortable as possible for her, but after learning that she hadn’t felt any pain on her bare feet, maybe she wouldn’t need the cushion after all.
“If you don’t need that-” he started.
She pressed a finger to his mouth. “I don’t, but it was sweet of you to bring it, and I want to use it.” Her touch, as always, sizzled against his dampened lips, and he sucked the tip into his mouth.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” she asked.
He kissed her finger. “What?”
“How hot it is, with us. It’s not normal, is it? The heat that I feel when I touch you, and when you touch me?”
He grinned. “Well, it certainly isn’t anything I’ve ever experienced before.”
“Me, neither,” she said, then added, “I wonder, if I were breathing, would it be this hot?”
“What do you think?” he asked, and moved his face closer to hers, so close that he whispered his next words against her lips. “Do you think there’s any way it wouldn’t be hot between us?”
She gave him a siren smile. “No way at all. But I can think of something that we haven’t done yet that might make it even hotter.”
He swallowed and wondered…
Celeste evidently guessed his thoughts. “I’ll be careful,” she said. “If I feel myself getting pulled away, I’ll tell you.”
“I’m not ready to let you leave me, and if it takes that much out of you that if things do get hotter, then we may not have any control over that pull.”
“You’re not saying no, though,” she said, not really asking a question. “I want you inside of me, Dax, no matter what. And if I feel like I’m slipping away, we’ll slow things down.”
He grinned. “So in the heat of the moment, if you say slow down, I’ll just-stop. Just like that.”
“You can, can’t you?” she asked.
“I can try,” he said. “But trust me, it won’t be easy.”
“Well, maybe you won’t have to stop at all. I have rested and I am definitely ready to expend a little energy.”
“A little?”
“Okay, a lot.” She stood and unfolded the blanket, held it up to catch the wind, then let it fall to the ground behind some shrubs that still had a few leaves. Then she kneeled on top of it and motioned for him to join her.
Dax slid his body against hers and brought his lips to her throat, nuzzling her hair out of the way as he brushed soft kisses along her neck and beneath her ear. She rubbed against him, her body growing hotter with every movement, and Dax leaned away from her, then looked at her eyes.
Smoky gray. The light shimmering around her was a little brighter too, more of a pale yellow than the creamy glow that had surrounded her for the majority of this visit.
She was getting weaker.
He licked his lips, swallowed, and wondered whether there was any way possible to do this, to do everything, without forfeiting all of her time.
“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t even think of stopping now, Dax. I need you. Please, I’ll tell you if we need to stop.”
“You’ll tell me,” he repeated.
She nodded, then grabbed the edge of his T-shirt and slid it up and over his head, her hands scalding his flesh with the movement. The heat of her, the heat of the two of them together, had Dax’s mind and body soaring. He needed to be inside of her, needed to be one with her, but he also needed to keep her here. “Celeste.”
She didn’t respond, but instead moved down his body, quickly removing his shoes and socks and then turning her attention to his jeans. Her hands were frantic and shaky as she unfastened them. “Don’t say it,” she said. “Let me have you, Dax. Let me be with you and know what it’s like, please.”
Hell, he didn’t want to deny her anything she wanted or needed, and obviously, right now, she needed him. But what if that need took her away?
“You want me too,” she said, removing his jeans. Then she placed her hand against his heart, and the heat, once again, penetrated his entire body as she slid her palm down his abdomen and stroked his erection. “Don’t you?”
“Yes, but…”
She shook her head, those long spirals gently swaying with the action, then she removed the gauzy blouse. “No buts, Dax. I can do this, and I’ll tell you when I start getting too weak. But I want to be with you, and I’ll never forgive myself if I leave again without knowing how it feels to have you inside.” Then she stood and shimmied out of her pants and panties.
With her hair flowing behind her, she stood above him, boldly and beautifully nude. “I want you, Dax.” Her words were true, Dax had no doubt of that, but they also held a hint of apprehension.
She was nervous, whether about making love, or about the possibility of her being pulled away during their lovemaking, he didn’t know. But both of those things were on his mind as well. He knew they’d fit beautifully together, and that their lovemaking would be off the charts; hell, her kisses alone made his entire body burn. But if he lost her…
She lowered to the blanket beside him and then pressed a soft kiss fully against his mouth, then she pushed into him, so that he slowly lowered his back to the ground and let her have control, obviously what she wanted.
Dax fisted his hands in the blanket and used his mouth, his thighs, his body to move against her as she climbed on top of him. Her eyes, dark gray, peered into his, and he bit back the impulse to tell her to slow down. She needed this, and she didn’t want him to make her stop. He’d simply have to watch her and try to protect her if she started getting too close to the other side, if those eyes started turning black.
Straddling him, she leaned over, that beautiful blond curtain of hair forming a glowing golden waterfall that tumbled past her breasts and teased his chest. Her soft, wet heat against his flesh caused his erection to harden to the point of pain.
He clenched his jaw and fought for control. She needed to take this at her pace, and if he rushed her, and then caused her to leave again, he’d never forgive himself. Slower was better, this time. “Celeste?”
“Yes?” She ran her fingernails down his sides, then back up again to cross his nipples, while Dax hissed in a breath.
“I’m not usually this-eager-but I want you so much, Celeste, and I’m not going to last long at all.” He winced, and decided to go for the whole truth, since she’d figure it out soon enough. “Hell, I’m probably going to come the minute you touch me. But that might not be a bad thing this time, since it might help you to stay.”
She leaned forward, braced her palms on his chest and giggled. “I wonder how many guys have used that excuse for explaining why they don’t last very long,” she teased, then cleared her throat, lowered her voice to imitate a male and joked, “Honey, I could last all day, but I’m going to do this quickly, so you won’t be pulled to the other side.”
Her blatant humor surprised him, and delighted him. Without meaning to, he’d taken some of her nervousness away, and her eyes-thank goodness-had lightened a little with her laughter.
“For the record,” he said. “I can last, but this first time…”