Free Men of Courage II by Lori Foster

another moan broke past her parted lips.
    He wanted to strip them both naked right now. But if he did, if he saw her bare and open to him, accepting him, he’d be inside her in seconds. She wasn’t ready, no matter how far gone she looked. Their first time deserved special care.
    Liv deserved special care.
    Coming back down over her, he nibbled on her ear, kissed his way to where her neck met her shoulder. Sucking the delicate skin of her throat in against his teeth, he marked her with satisfaction, primal in his need to lay claim.
    Her spicy scent—not perfume, but Liv, all woman and now all his—filled his head.
    The storm outside abated, softening to a steady rain.Jack did indeed crawl beneath the bed and apparently, he slept, because he made no objection to Ham’s presence.
    Shifting his hold, Ham slid one arm beneath her, raising her back. With his other hand, he shoved up her sweatshirt. “I want to kiss you everywhere, Liv.”
    She held herself still, watching him, her breath suspended.
    In the dim room, her pale breasts gleamed opalescent, shimmering with her nervousness and excitement. Seeing her taut nipples made his erection ache and throb. “I’ll start here,” he rasped, and closed his mouth around one small nipple.
    The second his tongue touched her, Liv arched up, groaning raggedly. Ham sucked, not hard, but languid and easy, curling his tongue around her, suckling her with gentle deliberation.
    Frustrated, she tried to pull off her sweatshirt while panting and gasping. Ham jerked it up and over her head and tossed it to the foot of the bed.
    When he started to return to her, she fended him off with both hands flattened to his chest. “Now you.”
    Blood thundered through his veins. His testicles were tight, his cock full and heavy. She wanted him. Finally. He nearly ripped his T-shirt getting it off. And still she held him back, her hands now moving over him, exploring him.
    “I’ve dreamed of this,” she murmured, her eyes a little dazed, her voice thick with need. “You have the most perfect body, and there’ve been so many nights when I’ve imagined getting to touch you, to kiss you.”
    She came up on one elbow, and put her soft, damp mouth to his shoulder. Her tongue came out, tasting his flesh. Her open mouth administered a soft, wet love bite.
    “You taste—” her nose brushed up the side of his throat to his ear “—and smell even better than I’d ever imagined. All hot. All man.” She licked his ear, along his jaw to his mouth. “Delicious.”
    The sexual connotation of that one word stole his breath. Hamilton prided himself on his control, on his iron resolve to do everything the very best that he could. He would make this good for Liv. But in order to ensure that, he had to take charge before she obliterated his already fractured patience.
    The flannel pants she wore had a loose elastic waistband that made it easy for his hand to get underneath, onto her silken belly. “Let me enjoy you, honey.”
    Her eyes darkened. Stroking her skin, he teased his way lower and lower, and with a deep breath, she settled back onto the mattress.
    “Are you wet yet, Liv?”
    Her breathing stilled. Eyes wide with shock lockedon his. Ham knew she’d be blushing, but he couldn’t see it in the dim interior of the room.
    “I—”
    “Let me see.” Touching her, sliding one long finger over her pubic curls, and farther down between her swollen lips, Ham whispered, “Yeah. You are.”
    As his finger moved, stroking, sliding, her eyelids grew heavy and she bit her bottom lip. Breathing fast and hard, she watched him, their gazes a connection beyond the physical. Ham felt it deep into his soul, just as he’d always known he would. He was the man who’d have Liv. Period.
    “How’s this feel, honey?” He pressed in, not far, just deep enough that her innermost muscles clamped around him.
    “Ham…” she said raggedly, trying to lift her hips to take more of him, but he held