He was shaking, this beautiful man with his hardened soul. She could feel the tension in his body, the tightly leashed power in his muscles as he raised himself up. She could see the raw emotion in his eyes. His face was hard, taut, like a man on the verge of agony.

His hand slid under her nightdress. Wordlessly, he pushed up the skirt, bunching the fabric at her waist, and encountered the barrier of lacy drawers she wore for warmth. Without pause he tugged down the layers of underwear, stripping them from her legs along with her slippers and stockings.

Stretching over her again, he covered her with his weight. His mouth took hers feverishly, in a kiss that plunged something sharp and searing into her soul. Her body responded at once, flaming with sudden heat.

Sloan heard her low moan, but he was blind to any need but his own as he sought solace in her body.

Just tonight, he promised himself. Just tonight he needed to ease himself in the soft magic of a woman’s flesh. With one hand he tore at the folds of his own drawers, setting his stiffened shaft free. Spreading her legs, he put himself between them.

Heather stirred uneasily as his powerful thighs pushed her own apart, her body tensing as she felt his probing shaft tease her entrance. When he pressed harder, pushing deep, she gasped at the shock of his naked flesh penetrating her.

“Am I hurting you?” he rasped.

“No,” she said, a lie. She bit her lip to hold back a moan as she tried to accustom herself to his sudden invasion, his unexpected size.

As if realizing his fierceness, Sloan halted. He held himself still inside her, until the line between pain and pleasure blurred, until desire suddenly rippled through her body, flaring and tightening every nerve ending.

His eyes burned into hers as he began slowly to move. Heather’s breath shallowed as her flesh responded with quickening need, throbbing with heated sensation, her skin aflame. Closing her eyes, she fought to hold back a ragged sob. Her body was straining to open for him, while wanton sounds of urgency came from her throat.

Sloan gritted his teeth as he tried to keep a grip on his fierce need. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he feared that if he lost control, he would never get it back.

When the impassioned woman beneath him twisted helplessly, the fever escalated, gathering and surging relentlessly, enveloping him in tumult. He felt himself going under, losing himself. Burying his hands in her hair, he ground his mouth against hers, catching her soft, wild sounds, ruthlessly driving her on and on, until she clawed at his back, frantic for release. Until with a cry, she arched and convulsed around him, finding her own trembling ecstasy.