Holding her in place with the long line of his muscled body pressing her into the bed, he returned to her mouth, kissing her with an intensity that ratcheted up her tension at a breathless speed. His body was warm against hers, heated even, and his erection rubbed enticingly against her needy sex.

She lifted her knees on either side of his hips. “Stop holding back. I’m ready.” God, she needed him to lose control. To join her in being taken over by this. “Now, Raider. Give me all of you.”

He went utterly still and lifted his head, his eyes the darkest of midnights with no stars. Dark and deep and powerful. His hands flexed against hers, and then he shifted his hips, poised at her entrance. Slowly, intently, he penetrated her, all of him taking her over.

Even though she’d been ready, and wanted him, she gasped at the invasion. He took her, big and full, inching inside and giving no quarter. He went steady, and tingles exploded one after the other inside her, even as she rode the perfect edge between pleasure and pain.

Her body relaxed to take him, and the feeling was so overwhelming that she shut her eyes.

He paused, halfway inside her, and gently kissed each of her eyelids. Soft and gentle. Understanding. Tears pricked the back of her eyes, and she blinked rapidly to keep something of herself separate. But he saw everything—he felt everything. There was no hiding from Raider.

He continued pressing inside her until he’d taken her completely, going deeper than she’d realized anybody could.

She opened her eyes again to meet his gaze. The intimacy of the moment, of him all the way inside her, of his sweetness in the unexpected kiss, overtook her.

“Now,” he whispered, his smile all masculine intent. He pulled out and shoved back inside her, not holding back. Then he started to pound.

Her body responded way before her mind, lifting her hips to meet his thrusts, wanting everything he could give her. The tension inside her spiraled up until she gave up breathing. She curled her fingers over his, unable to move her hands and touch him. The inability to move, the total control he kept over her body, drove her up higher than ever before.

He angled his body more over her, and slammed into her, rubbing across her clit.

She gasped, biting her lip to keep from screaming. Lights flashed behind her eyes and she climbed higher, trying to get to that peak that was so close. So damn close.

The orgasm, one that would devastate her, was preceded by sparks unleashing inside her. She breathed out, and then in once, seizing the air in her lungs, her entire body tightening almost painfully. She fought falling over, tried to keep control, and then the entire room sheeted white and finally red hot.