Free One of the Boys by Merline Lovelace Page B

primitive satisfaction shot through her when her hand continued its journey down across the flat plane of his stomach. The hard muscles jumped under the sharp, teasing tips of her nails.
    When she slid one nail gently, erotically, along the length of his shaft, Jake’s control slipped. Considerably. With a savage grunt, he rolled on top of her. His weight pressed her down into the mattress, and one thigh wedged impatiently between her legs.
    His mouth over hers, his tongue plunged deep into her throat. Maura returned each thrust, incredibly aroused by the primal rhythm. His hips ground against hers, his hands roamed at will over her body.
    When he bent to take an aching breast into his mouth once more, she arched under him. Alternating tiny bites with wet, sucking kisses, Jake set her flesh on fire.
    She was hot and wet and all too ready when he fastened his mouth on hers again, and one hand slid between her legs. Maura moaned, far back in herthroat, as his fingers found and teased her damp flesh.
    She arched into his hand, using her own to return stroke for stroke, until the fire coiled low in her belly began to spread. As if sensing her gathering climax, Jake nudged her legs even farther apart.
    Maura joined eagerly in the wild rhythm he set. Every thrust, every withdrawal, fired her need. Pressure built in slow, thundering waves, until it exploded in a blinding rush of pure, white-hot sensation. She cried out in the darkness, and moments later heard Jake’s answering shout, muffled against her neck, as he followed her over the edge.
    Later, much later, her senses stopped whirling. Raising heavy, languorous lids, she couldn’t resist a teasing smile.
    â€œSo that’s making love.”
    Jake propped himself up on one hand. “That’s part of it.”
    â€œYou mean there’s more?”
    â€œOh, yes.”
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    Long after midnight, Jake left Maura sleepy and sated, released an indignant Bea from her prison and drove home. He’d called Lisa and given her a number to reach him if necessary, but he still felt uncomfortable leaving her alone in the house all night.
    Driving through the soft darkness, he smiled to himself at the vision of the woman he’d just left. Sprawled in exhausted abandon across her mismatched sheets, her hair spread in wild tangles, she looked well and thoroughly loved.
    His smug satisfaction at having pleasured her to the point of exhaustion lasted all of two miles. Bit by bit, satisfaction gave way to the half exasperated, half rueful confusion Maura always engendered in him.
    He shook his head in the darkness, remembering her blithe admission she was ready for sex. Well, he’d been ready, too. More than ready. He’d ached with wanting her. But when she looked up at him with her wide hazel eyes and demanded to know the difference between pure, unadulterated sex and making love, something in him had hesitated.
    In that instant his desire shifted focus, changed imperceptibly in its intensity. He still wanted her, but suddenly he wanted the whole woman, not just her body. Not that he’d understand the woman who was Maura even when he had her. She was such a bundle of contradictions. Coolly professional on the job, stubbornly individualistic in her personal life, she refused to fit into any neat category. Just when Jake thought he’d pegged her and her motivations, she surprised him once more.
    Driving home in the darkness, Jake accepted the truth that had been staring him in the face. He was ready to take the plunge again. Hell, he’d already dived in headfirst. And after the way Maura had blazed in his arms tonight, he was finding the water to be just fine.
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    For Maura, the next weeks passed in a kaleidoscope of passion, play and work. The team threw all their energies into the redesign effort, staying late every night, working weekends. They drew on the resources of the test center to analyze the data from the first shot and rework the