Page 33 of Too Hot To Handle

Tory’s hands closed on Reever’s shirt as she tried to bring him closer. The metal snaps gave way in a ripple of sound. For the first time she felt his naked skin against her palms. She made a sound of satisfaction and discovery, excited by his heat and the sensual tension that brought each of his powerful muscles into hard relief. The wedge of blue-black hair enticed her, caressing the sensitive skin between her fingers as she rubbed against him.

„Tory – “

„No,“ she said huskily, flexing her fingers until her nails dug in lightly and he groaned. „Don’t make me stop. You feel so good, Reever. Or don’t you – don’t you want me to touch you?“

His laugh was a ragged sound that was torn from him. She knew the answer to her question even before he spoke because he was moving with her touch, twisting slowly, increasing the pressure of her fingers exploring his chest.

„I want your hands all over me,“ Reever said, his voice as deep and ragged as his laughter had been. His eyes sought and held Tory’s. „But if I let you undress me, touch me, your time as a virgin will be over. I don’t want it to end that quickly. It’s only going to happen for you once, green eyes. That’s worth waiting for.“ He shuddered as he felt her nails skim over his nipples. „Besides, if you see how much I want you, it may just scare the hell out of you.“

Reever tried to lighten his words with a smile, but he couldn’t. Just the thought of Tory turning away from him in fear made him want to take her right there, right now, before she could change her mind.

Tory heard the truth and buried fear in Reever’s words and wondered how she could tell him that she was no longer afraid. All the words she could think of began and ended in /love you,and those were the words she must not speak. Her hands slid down his chest to his hard waist. The involuntary, sudden movement of his abdomen surprised her until she remembered that she, too, had responded like that at the first touch of his fingers sliding down her body. And it had been pleasure, not surprise or distaste that had moved her.

„Did you like that?“ she asked softly, watching the smoky glitter of his eyes.

„Yes,“ Reever said, his voice almost harsh.

„And this?“

Tory’s hands slid lower, seeking and finding the hard length of him pressing stiffly against the confinement of his jeans. Reever’s hips moved involuntarily, and a groan was ripped from him at the first sweet touch of her hands on his aching male flesh.

„Oh, God,“ he gritted, closing his eyes and shuddering heavily. He put his hands over Tory’s as though to push her away, but he could not. His need was too great. He pressed her hands harder against him and moved slowly, shaking with hunger and pleasure.

Then Reever opened his eyes and saw Tory watching him, sharing his pleasure as he had shared hers. For a moment he thought he would lose control. Only his determination and deep need to be inside her allowed him to drag himself back from the brink. The realization surprised him. With other women it hadn’t particularly mattered to him how he found satisfaction. Yet it mattered with Tory. He didn’t know why; he only knew that it did. It was a truth that was even stronger than his blazing sexual need.

Gently Reever smoothed Tory’s hands up the length of his body until he could bite her palms and fingertips with barely controlled force, wringing cries of sensual surprise and response from her trembling mouth.

„I think you’ve made your point,“ Reever said, giving Tory a smile that made her heart turn over.

„You may be a virgin, but you won’t faint or run screaming if you see me naked.“

Reever kicked off his boots and stood up, making no attempt to conceal himself from Tory’s curious eyes. He watched her face as he took off his shirt and tossed it aside. The sound of her indrawn breath was like a caress.

„I’d think you’d be used to seeing half-naked men,“ Reever said, smiling at her, his hands resting on his belt buckle. „Or do they swim in T-shirts where you come from?“

Tory smiled without looking away from Reever’s powerful shoulders and the sleek black pelt curling down to his belt buckle. „Oh, I’m used to seeing men in a scrap of cloth that isn’t even worth mentioning,“ she agreed. „But they shave all their body hair to cut down on drag in the water. And even if they didn’t shave…“ Tory shivered as her glance moved over Reever like a caress. „They aren’t you, Reever. No man is. No man ever will be.“

The words sank into Reever like sweet tiny claws, bringing a violent surge of desire. He wondered again how anyone as honestly passionate as Tory had managed to stay out of a man’s bed for so many years – and then he remembered what she had told him:It was easy. I hadn ‘t met you.

Watching Tory, Reever unbuckled his belt, unfastened his jeans and pulled off all his clothes with a few swift motions. As her glance traveled down his body, he saw her curiosity, her approval and then her surprise at the extent of his desire for her. He realized that, even though she had spent most of her life around nearly naked men, she was totally unused to seeing a man who was fully aroused.

„It’s too late to change your mind and run screaming,“ said Reever, lying down next to Tory again, touching her with a hand that trembled.

„How about fainting?“ she asked, her voice shaking, breathless. „Is that still an option?“

„Don’t be afraid, little cat,“ Reever said, kissing Tory gently despite the violence of his own need. „I know it seems impossible to you right now, but you’ll fit me like a satin glove, all hot and smooth and close.“

Reever’s hand kneaded gently down Tory’s body until he found and caressed again the softness hidden between her legs. As his fingers teased her feminine bud, she shivered and melted again with a tiny gasp.

„All of a man’s changes are obvious,“ he murmured, nuzzling against her breast. „Yours are subtle, almost secret, until I touch what’s hidden and feel how very soft you’ve become for me. If you would touch yourself, you would feel how you’ve changed for me. You can hold me inside you now and have only pleasure, not pain.“

Reever saw Tory’s helpless blush at the thought of touching herself and he smiled. „Then you’ll just have to take my word for it, won’t you?“

Her only answer was a ragged intake of her breath as his hand slid caressingly between her thighs. His fingertips tormented her so delicately that after a few moments she forgot to be nervous or shy. Involuntarily her leg flexed as she shifted in response to his teasing, maddening, incredibly arousing touch. As he found once again her hidden heat and need, her eyelids fluttered shut and she lost herself in the sensations he drew from her.

Tory moved her hips gently, sinuously, beneath Reever’s caress as she opened to him completely. His eyes darkened and narrowed at her wordless, unconscious invitation. Seeing her so vulnerable, so trusting, so generous with her virginal body made him ache to bend down to her and tease her softness with his tongue, to know every shivering bit of her in an intimacy that he had never shared with another woman. With a groan he forced himself to look away from her secrets lying open to his touch.

But Reever could not wholly refuse the invitation that Tory had so innocently and hotly given to him. Gently he covered her body with his own, easing himself into the cradle of her thighs. Her eyes flew open even as her body tightened.