Free Temptation in Shadows by Gena Showalter Page A

“You’re killing me. Next time, okay? This time, I want inside you and I don’t want to have to wait to recover to get what I want.”
    Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
Had someone busted into the bathroom, gun in hand and aimed at her head, she would not have been able to stop. It was like she wasn’t Gabby without Sean. Like she was missing a half of herself—like she’d always been missing a part of herself but hadn’t known it until now. Until Sean had touched and tasted her. Until she had tasted him. But now that she knew what her life was missing, she couldn’t survive without it.
    Had she known it would be this way with Sean, she might not have agreed. When they parted, and they would, because she would not allow herself to create permanent ties, she would cry harder than she’d ever cried before. But again, she was powerless to stop this from happening, from losing more of herself. Hell, from
wanting
more.
    Sean grabbed the condom packet he’d tossed onto the counter and ripped it open with his teeth. Once he’d rolled the latex over his length, he snaked his arms around her and lifted her into the tub. Soon the water was beating down on them both. The heat soothed the aching need in her muscles, her bones.
    She expected him to pounce. He didn’t. He handed her the soap. Her hands trembled as she removed thewrapper. As she cleaned up, he leaned against the wall and watched. Then they switched. By then, her muscles and bones were no longer soothed. They were on edge, waiting, hoping.
    “We’re not . . . done, are we?” After all, he’d put the condom on. And he’d kept it on, thank you very much.
    “Hell, no,” he said. And then he was on her, mouth pressing against hers, tongue delving deep.
    Passion and shadows once more swept her under, and she returned his kiss with a fervency that scared her. Taking, giving, craving, silently begging, needing, clutching, clawing at him. Their tongues were practically having sex on their own, rolling over each other, battling, thrusting deep.
    “You’re ruining me for everyone else,” he growled.
    She was glad, hated herself for feeling that way, but couldn’t stop the joy. She wanted him to herself, for herself. Wanted everyone else to stay away from him.
But only for a little while,
she forced herself to add.
    “Tell me you want me.”
    “I do. I want you. So bad I ache.”
    He stood before her and growled his approval, then cupped her ass, lifting. She wound her legs around him, locking her ankles at his back, just as he shoved inside her. There was no slowly sinking inside, allowing her body to grow used to him. He was in her to the hilt in seconds. Their groans of pleasure mingled, his low, hers high, and it was like music, urging them on.
    “Damn. Shit.” Over and over he pumped, slipping and sliding, filling her up, stretching her wide, hitting all the way to her soul. “Sorry, sorry,” he said.“Should go slow. Should savor, not fuck through your spinal cord.”
    That would have made her laugh if her body weren’t currently on fire, her nerve endings screaming at her. “No, no. You feel so good. I can take it. Can take it hard and fast.”
    He took her at her word. He spun and slammed her against the tiles. The cold made her gasp, but he used the leverage to penetrate balls deep. Her nipples abraded his chest as he pressed her forward and gripped her hips, spreading her thighs as wide as they could go. Only his shaft held her up, gravity causing her to fall on him with every arch of his hips. He was a part of her, that missing part, finally making her whole. Her head thrashed from side to side, and she scratched at his back, holding on for the roughest, naughtiest, and sweetest ride of her life.
    His movements became more frantic, the pumps short but deep. He was close, she knew he was, and that thrilled her. Gave her power. She had done this, pushed him to the edge.
    “Hate me all you want afterward, but right now you’re mine,” he gritted