He looked deep into her eyes as if he was trying to find her secrets before he lifted her and kissed her with new urgency. Under her shirt, his hands were cool against the heat of her skin, and Clare shuddered when he lowered her to the bed. Determined not to let fear ruin this perfect moment, she pulled him down with her. He landed on top of her without surrendering her mouth. His muscular body molded to hers, sending a storm of sensation through her. She didn’t remember desire quite like this—the need to rip at clothes, to kiss, to bite, to possess. Madness… Now, she thought, pushing at his shirt and tugging on the button to his jeans.

He broke the kiss long enough to tear the shirt over his head and then turned his attention to her neck, kissing his way down to the top button on her shirt. He fumbled with the buttons, letting out a frustrated growl as he pulled the shirt over her head. When she succeeded in unzipping his pants, he uttered an oath under his breath.

Steeped in the woodsy, outdoorsy scent she associated with him, she ran her hand along the length of him, and he swore viciously when she applied pressure in just the right place.

“Sweetheart, stop”—he gasped—“or this’ll be over before it starts.”

She pushed at his jeans but lost her train of thought when he ran his tongue along the tops of her breasts. Through her satin bra, he rolled her nipple between his lips, making her moan.

“So beautiful,” he whispered as he chased the straps down her arms with his lips. “So perfect.” He kissed her everywhere but where she wanted him most.

“Aidan.” She combed her fingers into his hair to pull him to her chest.

Chuckling, he pushed her bra aside and laved at first one nipple and then the other. He kissed, suckled, and bit until she was crazy with wanting him. Then his eyes made slow love to every inch of her as he worked her jeans down her legs and discarded his own pants.

Floating on a cloud of sensation, she lost the capacity to think or breathe when he bent to drop hot, wet kisses from her calf to her thigh, stopping finally to press his lips against her silky panties. The heat of his mouth was almost enough to tip her over the edge.

Clare tugged at his hair to bring him back up to her, and his soft chest hair made her skin tingle as she pushed at his boxers. “Aidan, I need you, please.”

He moved fast to divest them of the last of their clothing and was inside her in one swift movement.

There were no ghosts, no fears, no thoughts of anything but him when his eyes claimed hers, all but daring her to look away.