"Oh, G.o.d, Cole, don't stop now. Please." Her blood felt like liquid fire and her skin felt too tight. "Make me come."

"I will, sweetheart, but not yet. Definitely not yet."

He slid down her body until he was lying between her legs. Grasping her thighs, he placed them over his shoulders. When she was wide open and vulnerable, he thrust his tongue inside her. She went wild, bucking against his mouth. He teased her with his tongue, with his teeth, with his hands, all the time holding her in such a way as to give him full access to her to her c.u.n.t.

Tara couldn't stop moving her body. Her l.a.b.i.a and her inner sheath felt hot and swollen, with so many nerve endings sparking, she didn't know why she wasn't burning alive. He was controlling her now, building her tension. Every time she reached the edge, he brought her down a little, keeping her in a constant state of arousal, drawing it out as much as he could.

She felt sensations gripping her body, quivering as he skillfully used his mouth, his tongue and his long, gentle fingers. This was beyond anything she had ever felt before, the tension so prolonged she didn't think she could stand it. She was wild with hunger for him now, wanting to feel the fullness of him inside her. He made love to every inch of her, and she responded with wantonness, a glorious sense of abandonment she'd never thought herself capable of.

"Please, please, please," she begged. It wasn't his fingers she wanted to feel or his mouth. It wasn't enough. She wanted-no, needed-to feel him inside her, filling her.

"Okay, darlin'. Now."

He moved her legs from his shoulders to his thighs. She was juicy wet from her mini-o.r.g.a.s.ms, her inner muscles soft and unresisting. Slowly, slowly, he eased into her, pulling her toward him so her hips slanted, giving him greater access, allowing him to plunge deeper. There.

Now. He was all the way in and the feeling was beyond anything he'd experienced.

He thrust rhythmically in and out, the friction of his c.o.c.k against her inner walls turning up the heat in her body until her spasms began again, and the muscles of her c.u.n.t clenched tightly around him. She knew with every movement he was claiming her, making her his and she rose eagerly to meet him. She was on fire, pulses throbbing, blood rushing hotly through her veins. The need in her rose up and up, spiraling through her like an unwinding coil until she could think of nothing but his thick shaft inside her and the crushing waves of pleasure consuming her.

She was there...almost there...almost...Now! Cole thrust madly once, twice, three times and, with a hoa.r.s.e cry, carried them both over the edge. Tara's body shook with the crushing intensity of the o.r.g.a.s.m. Colors swirled around her, and she felt awash in a velvet liquid. It went on and on until she was sure she couldn't stand it anymore. The spasms shook her until she felt as if her body was breaking into a million pieces. Her nails raked his back, and she could feel the shuddering of his powerful muscles. Someone was screaming. She thought it was her, but she couldn't be sure.

By the time the o.r.g.a.s.m subsided, leaving only tiny aftershocks, she lay limp and boneless in his arms, completely spent, utterly sated. This... this... was the cataclysmic joining she'd hoped for. The culmination of all those dreams and the tension they'd built. The explosion of l.u.s.t and desire that had built night after night, leaving her more and more unfulfilled. This was completion beyond anything she could have imagined. This was the wild ride down the mountain she'd dreamed about, only it was better than any of her dreams.

She closed her eyes, relaxing in the grip of total satisfaction.

At last. At last.

Chapter Twelve.

Every muscle in Cole's body felt as if it had been stretched to its extreme then released.

All the strength had been drained from him. It was almost too much for him to realize. In all the years of his s.e.xual experience, he had never experienced this. His body had just exploded with his release, shaking him with its intensity. The wet fist of Tara's delicious c.u.n.t had gripped him and hadn't release him until the last vibration died away. None of Cole's vast s.e.xual experience had prepared him for the way this reached his very soul. In that moment, he knew just how totally and completely he loved this woman.

When he could move, he tried to shift his weight to give her breathing room, but she kept her arms wrapped around him, holding him.

"I must be too heavy for you." His breathing was choppy and uneven, and his heart beat loudly against his ribs..

"No. Stay. Don't move." She wouldn't let him withdraw from her, holding him in place with her legs, pressing him into her. Even when he softened, she kept him inside her. When he could move, he rained soft kisses on her cheeks, her eyelids, her forehead, the tip of her nose. "I love you. Do you know that?"

"Yes. I believe I do." She smiled. "I love you, too."

"Was it all right for you?" he asked, his lips against her ear. "I'm a little out of practice."

"I don't think I could stand it any better." She bit her lip. "I worried that I wouldn't satisfy you, that I wouldn't be...experienced...enough for you. Wouldn't know enough."

"You can believe this or not," he said, "but nothing I've ever done before was even close to the feeling I had when we came together." He brushed the damp tendrils of curls away from her face. "s.e.x doesn't have to be sophisticated to be wonderful, darlin'. I'll teach you anything you want, but believe me, I don't think we can improve on this."

"Yes, I want you to," she whispered. "I want to know everything you like, all the things that make you feel good. I want to be able to give you as much pleasure as you gave me." She lowered her gaze, a delicate blush creeping up her cheeks. "I have to confess something."

He frowned. "What? I thought we were through with confessions for the night."

She refused to look up at him. "I-I've been having dreams. About you."

"Dreams?" He tried to keep his voice even wondering if she, too...

"Yes. Erotic dreams." She turned her head away. "About you and me."

Cole took a deep breath, reaching for control. Was this possible? Had they both been having the same dreams, night after night? G.o.d, how many times had he f.u.c.ked her in his mind?

Tasted of her essence, taken her into his mouth?

"I shouldn't have told you," she said when he didn't speak.

"No. I mean, yes, you should." He rolled to the side, taking her with him. He brushed her hair back from her face. "You definitely should have told me, because the same thing has been happening to me. I've been having my own dreams."

Her eyes flew open, and she looked straight at him, an erotic thrill racing through him. "It has? You did? About us?"

"Yes." He smiled. "Almost every night since we made this stupid bargain."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" she asked.

He brushed his lips across hers, their mouths touching as he spoke. "Why didn't you?"

But he knew the answers to both questions, and the knowledge brought him a fresh wave of self-loathing. Deliberately, he banished those thoughts. Tonight was a new beginning, and he wasn't going to drag the past into it.

"Tell me what you dreamed about," he urged. "About us. Don't be embarra.s.sed," he said when a dark blush colored her skin again. "I want you to be able to say anything to me."

"I don't know if I can." She caught her bottom lip in her teeth.

"Did I do this?" One hand kneaded her breast gently, thumb rasping over the nipple.

"Yes," she whispered.

"And this?" He took the nipple into his mouth, raking his teeth over it and pressing it hard against the roof of his mouth. Her body tensed beneath him, and she arched up into his mouth.

"Yes," she murmured again, her voice thickening.

"And this?" He moved down her body to run his tongue through her curls then trace the length of her slit.

"Yes, yes, yes." She moaned and twisted beneath him.

"Then I must have done this."

He lifted her legs over his shoulders, spread the lips of her p.u.s.s.y wide and thrust his tongue inside. She bucked as his sucked and licked, f.u.c.king her with his tongue then moving to lap her c.l.i.t. Then thrusting inside her again. She locked her legs behind his neck to pull him closer and thrust herself up at him. He felt the tiny quivers begin in her p.u.s.s.y and increased the tempo of his tongue. When her o.r.g.a.s.m broke through her, he held her in place, his thumbs keeping her l.a.b.i.a apart as he lapped at the convulsing flesh.

When the last aftershock died away, he lowered her legs, ma.s.saging the thigh muscles, and shifted so he could kiss her, pressing her own taste into her mouth.

"How did you know that's what I dreamt?" she asked, her voice still shaky.

He nipped at her earlobe. "Because I dreamt the same things." He traced her lips with the tip of his tongue. "But I also dreamt about this."

Positioning himself, he entered her with one swift stroke, pausing only to give her time to adjust to him. This time there was no foreplay, no drawing things out. It was quick and fast and just as cataclysmic. At last, they collapsed, spent, hearts thudding, breath rasping, a fine sheen of perspiration coating their bodies. The heady aroma of musk mingle with Tara's perfume and his aftershave , filling the room with the carnal scent of s.e.x.

"We may not live to see Christmas at this rate," Cole joked, then he tightened his arms around her. "It's a wonder we haven't killed each other tonight with all that pent-up s.e.xual energy." With his mouth against hers, he whispered, "I love you."

"I love you, too," she echoed, so glad to be able to say it aloud. With great effort, he lifted his wrist to look at his watch.

Tara turned her head to check the time with him. "I think we missed our dinner reservation," she told him, and they both burst out laughing.

"No big deal. But I do think this calls for some champagne, although I'm not sure I have the strength to get up and get it."

"Not to worry. I think I can crawl to the bottle." She managed to wriggle out from beneath him to sit up and reach for her gown, but he stopped her.

"The blinds are closed. Don't put that on. I want to watch you naked."

She turned a deep pink, and Cole laughed again.

"I don't think I've ever seen anyone blush all over before." He caught her hand. "You're beautiful naked, Tara. Don't cover yourself, okay? I want to look at you and be able to touch you whenever I want to."

She nibbled on her bottom lip again then nodded. "All right. Then we'll drink champagne in the nude." Her eyes dropped to his p.e.n.i.s, still large and heavy even at rest.

As if he could read her mind, he said, "Yes, you took it all. Every bit."

She blushed again.

"I'll get the champagne," he told her. "Stay right where you are. I feel renewed energy."

He brought back the bottle, filled the champagne flutes, handed one to her then raised his gla.s.s and touched hers.

"To us?" he asked.

"Oh, yes. To us. No matter what. Right?"

"No matter what."

They clinked their gla.s.ses and drank.

"Since we missed dinner, we can always raid the freezer," she told him. "Are you hungry?"

"Not right now." Unbelievably, he was hardening again. "Not for food, anyway."

He reached for her and lowered her back to the pillows. Stretching her out beside him, he let his eyes roam lazily over her body. He was sure he would never tire of looking at her, touching her, discovering her secrets. With Tara, s.e.x was a journey of discovery and a blending of their souls.

"I love you so much," she said.

"No more than I love you."

"Don't you think it's strange that we've both had such...erotic dreams about each other?"

she asked.

"I think someone was trying to send us a message. And I think that's why everything tonight has been so explosive. It's been building all this time."

He clasped both of her hands in one of his and stretched them above her head. She looked up at him, totally helpless, and her eyes told him just how much she was turned on by it. He caressed her slowly, tracing the lines of her body.

"Oh, G.o.d, Cole," she protested. "I don't think I can."

"Sure you can. Just relax, and let me do all the work." Then he put his mouth close to her ear and whispered, "I love you. You're mine, Tara. You always will be." And that was all it took for the heat to begin rising in his body again.

Exhaustion finally claimed them. Tara pulled the afghan off the couch to cover them with. Cole got up twice during the night to stoke the fire then spooned next to her, pulling her tight against him. His semisoft c.o.c.k nudged against the crevice of her b.u.t.tocks. For the first time in a long time, she felt content.

She was dozing when he stirred beside her, kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear and flipped her onto her stomach. She tensed at the position.

"I won't hurt you," he promised in his low, husky voice, stroking her back, then running the tip of his tongue along her spine.

He pulled her hips back to him, sliding one of the pillows beneath her, then slipping his hand between her legs to find her hot, open sheath and swollen c.l.i.t. Murmuring erotic words and phrases to her, he rubbed her c.l.i.t and ma.s.saged the lips of her p.u.s.s.y until she thought she would lose her mind. Jolts of heat speared through her, and throbbing need engulfed her body. At the exact moment she thought she'd screamed if he didn't take her, he lifted her hips higher and entered her with a hard thrust, penetrating more deeply than he ever had before.

This time she climaxed in seconds, violently, pressing back against him as she tried to absorb his entire shaft. Only when she felt the hot gush of liquid from him did she take one last breath and finally collapse on the pillows.

They never actually slept. They would doze then waken and begin to make love again. He introduced her to things she'd never known before, things that a.s.saulted her body with such sensations she couldn't stand it.

He taught her how to pleasure him, to bring him to the peak of arousal. She took him in her mouth and teased him until he wanted to explode, the softness of her tongue stroking his hard, velvety p.e.n.i.s. His groan of pleasure vibrated through his body. She tasted the soft-as-satin tip, sucking at the moisture already there, swallowing it with evident pleasure. His sac felt heavy in her hand, and she discovered that by lightly running the tips of her nails over it she could torment him even more. His erection would jerk in her mouth, sending shafts of excitement through her.

Touching him in so many ways made Tara's heart expand. She couldn't get enough of him.

Even when they lay panting, spent, still she was drawn by the need to touch him everywhere. She wanted to learn all the secret, sensitive places of his body, as he had done to her. They were intoxicated with each other. Each time they thought they were beyond arousal, a touch, a tease and they would be in heat again.

For Tara, it was an awakening, and she reveled in it. For Cole, it was an unbelievable experience. Nothing he had ever done before prepared him for the wonder of loving her.

By the time morning arrived, they could hardly move. They were sore from lovemaking and stiff from sleeping on the floor, but it was a good kind of pain. Neither would have exchanged it.

"Now is when I can use the bath salts Lindsey sent me," Tara said, stretching like a cat.

"Bath salts?"

"Yes." Tara laughed. "She sent me what I can only describe as a full-blown seduction kit."

She described it for him.