her breath away.

Perspiration glowed along her body as she twisted and turned, eager to welcome him in her, eager to have the fireworks explode.

Wanting this to go on forever.

She gasped as his mouth moved from hers, trailing along her body again, this time forging lower.

Spasms seized her, making the skin along her belly quaver as he flicked his tongue along it.

Gray "Shh."

The word, the single sound, whispered like a fiery brand along her flesh.

She felt something building, a crescendo that begged for a release, one final loud note to sound as it echoed iinto the night.

His mouth found her, the soft inner core that welcomed him.

Begged for him.

He dived his tongue in and she bit her lip, her nails scrambling along the comforter, bunching it, snagging it.

It built higher, higher, then exploded in her veins, pulling her into a

vortex.

She wanted more.

She wanted it to stop.

She didn't want to experience this alone.

"Gray," she cried, wanting him now.

It shouldn't be this way, he thought.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

And yet, it couldn't be any other way.

He hadn't the strength to hold back.

Not when it was her beneath him like this.

She did things to him that no other woman did.

She made him lose his control.

She was fresh, like the pure snow, a blank sheet of paper for him to write on.

He'd been her first.

It was humbling.

Graham wanted to give her the moon and the stars.

He wanted to give her everything she deserved, everything she warranted.

All he had was himself.

He moved up along her body.

Caitlin twisted beneath him, sending the flame within him up so high it rivaled the lights that blazed a short distance away along the strip.

"Gray?"

Her voice was all but begging him to enter.

To run to the crest with her.

It was there, just up ahead.

She didn't want to reach it alone.

Unable to deny her any longer, to deny himself any longer, Graham

entered her.

Caitlin arched her hips high, winding her legs around him, making him

drive in deep.

Her cry was muffled against his mouth as he covered hers.

He didn't know if it was a cry of protest or ecstasy.

Or even, really, if it was her cry or his.

It was all one and the same.

A glorious same, as they were joined as_ one.

Filling her, sheathed in her, Graham began to move more, urgently.

He framed her face with his hands, his mouth on hers.

Drinking in her sweetness.

Offering her what he could of himself.

The ride was wild, urgent.

They took it together, two orphans in a storm, skimming the river

rapids in a skiff made of dreams that once were.

'the heat swallowed them both up until it melded with the dim lamplight

and then slowly disappeared into the night.

The only sound that remained in the room was the sound of their breathing.

Her fingers curled along the coarse sheet, reaching for him.