Free Arouse Suspicion by Maureen McKade

veins at the intimacy.
    "I hate it when I lose control," she said, her fists pressed into her thighs.
    "There are some things you can't control, Danni," he said quietly. "Dreams are one of them. Death is another." He glanced out the window as his chest tightened with the memory of those same words being spoken to him. He doubted Danni would heed them any more than he had.
    A satiny palm against his cheek guided his gaze back to her face. "And there are some things we do have control over." She leaned forward, then stopped an inch from his lips, relinquishing control to him.
    Nick's heart hammered in his chest, and he traveled the rest of the distance to her lips, pressing his gently against her sweet, pliant ones. She opened her mouth, granting him access, and he tasted her. Nick moaned deep in his throat. Desire stampeded through his blood. He plunged his hands into her thick hair, the wild tendrils twining around his fingers.
    Danni wrapped her arms around Nick's waist and urged him downward. For a moment, he was afraid he'd combust where her hard nipples dug into his chest... then he hoped he would. He wanted her with almost frightening intensity.
    Her hands crept under his T-shirt, hot and skilled in her exploration of his bare skin. She pinched his nipples, making him gasp with pleasure. He longed to see her eyes, to see the hunger he knew would match his own, but she kept her gaze aimed at his chest.
    "I want you, Sirocco."
    Nick hardly recognized her husky voice, but he did recognize the desperate passion in it. She'd just lost her father, and the nightmare had left her even more emotionally vulnerable.
    He took hold of her wrists to halt her inflaming touches. "No," he said, his voice rough with suppressed desire. "I won't take advantage of you."
    She lifted her head and met his gaze, her face flushed with passion. He'd never seen anything so damned hot.
    "You won't be. I just want to forget. Please help me forget," she whispered.
    Nick's pulse roared in his ears, his too long ignored libido more than willing to accept her invitation. But he had no right to use her vulnerability to appease his physical needs.
    Yet, he understood too well the frantic desire to forget. After he'd been rescued, he'd found too much time to remember. To stop the agonizing memories, he'd spent every spare moment losing himself in alcohol and faceless women. If anybody could understand Danni's need to lose herself in sex, it was him.
    He frowned, remembering his empty wallet. "I don't have any protection."
    "I do. My backpack. Side pocket."
    Nick spotted her bag beside the bed and, cursing his weakness, he leaned over and snagged it. After laying the small foil pack on the extra pillow, he eagerly tugged her baggy shirt off, his hands sliding over the contours of her breasts. Returning to the soft flesh, he captured their fullness in his palms.
    He kissed her lips, then moved to her satiny cheek and down to her smooth jaw. He traced her ear with his tongue and dipped inside to tease and tickle.
    Danni clawed at his shoulders, and he felt the twinge of his pulled muscles, but it was insignificant compared to the other things going on in and around him. Danni caressed his short hair and nibbled his exposed throat.
    It had been a long time since he'd been with a woman, and fiery lust nearly incinerated all other thoughts. His boxers rubbed his too-sensitive erection, sending both painful and pleasurable messages to his brain.
    Danni pushed the covers away, revealing smooth, golden skin and baby-blue bikini underwear. Nick took a moment to merely drink in her feminine curves, the gentle indent of her waist, the tempting flare of her hips, and her long, slender legs. His lungs reminded him to breathe, and he drew in gulps of air. Then he skimmed off his T-shirt and underwear and tossed them away.
    Danni's hot gaze settled on Nick's groin, then moved back to his face. She reached for him, her expression filled with a need as great as his. He