Jill Shalvis: A Prince Of A Guy

After a long, reluctant moment, she released him and stepped back.

“That was real nice, Carly.”

“I don’t know… Sean, I don’t want this evening to be over. I don’t want things to change.”

There was a sadness in her eyes he didn’t understand. “Why would they?”

“It’s complicated.”

No doubt. Everything good was. “One more dance,” he whispered when the band started again, and when she hesitated he pulled her into his arms.

IT WAS RIGHT where Carlyne wanted to be, in Sean’s arms. Oh, how she wanted that. It was a homecoming, a delicious cool drink after a day too long in the sun. His breath was warm against hers. His fingers slow and sure at the base of her spine, stroking softly, his strong legs pressed against hers.

And when he closed his eyes, pressing a sweet kiss to her temple, she nearly cried.

She’d never known such tenderness.

The wind teased their bodies. The night noises added to the beautiful, haunting music, to the scent of the sea, to the most amazing man in her arms. Her fingers played in his hair. Her other hand, entangled with his, lay against his thigh, which was taut.

Swaying softly.

Kissing lightly.

Touching gently.

Carlyne had danced with many, many men in her life. She’d been stepped on, hit on and had had to lead. But not with this man. Sean O’Mara was an extraordinarily sensual dancer, and for the first time ever, she became one, too.

It didn’t take but a moment for the embrace to change, to deepen. Intensify. Until now, dancing had been only an obligation, something that was expected.

Now she wanted time to stand still.

Ragged breathing wasn’t her only problem when they separated. She was on fire, burning and yearning. She, Princess Carlyne Fortier, wanted a man more than she wanted her next breath.

But she wasn’t a princess, not in this moment. And in a way, she wasn’t Carly, either. Didn’t matter, she still had to tell him everything. And risk all. “Need fresh air,” she whispered, and whirling, she walked off.

The grass was deep and thick, and not easy to maneuver through, so she bent and removed her shoes before speeding up her pace.

She had no idea where she was going.

When the grass turned to sand, she kept walking. When she topped the bluffs, she made her way down. And found herself on the beach.

The moon was hidden behind low, dark clouds, casting a beautiful blue glow on the waves pounding the shore.

And on the tall, beautiful man who’d followed her.

A small sound escaped her, one of loneliness, of wanting. She’d known he’d follow her. Maybe a small part of her had wanted him to.

Against her ribs, her heart beat a rapid tattoo. “I always wanted to live by the beach,” she said.

“Ah. Something new about you.” His lips formed a small smile as he moved closer. “Maybe one of these days you’ll give me more than a hint here and there.” He reached her, and very carefully, as if he expected her to run, took her hand firmly in his.

Tonight, she silently promised him as she went willingly against him. Tonight I’ll tell you everything.

Including how much I love you.

She waited for him to speak, but he was silent. If she had to give him up, then at least she could have tonight. She would have tonight.

It would have to be enough.

As if Fate was on her side, the moon moved behind a long, low cloud, taking away the remaining glow, hiding them both in complete darkness.

In the black anonymity of night she could be Carly one last time.

When he reached out and took off her glasses, she let him. When he cupped her cheek, so lightly she might not have felt it at all if her senses hadn’t been on red alert, she turned her head and kissed his palm.

At the change in his breathing, the knot in her belly increased. Then he tipped her face to his. She couldn’t see his expression, but she could feel his heat, his need, and she met him more than halfway.

She would take this, take him, and treasure the memories for the rest of her life.

His mouth was as firm and sensual as his body, and he knew how to use both. His tongue slid along hers, his hands learning her body, and when he finally raised his head, she was panting for more.

“If I kiss you again, I won’t want to stop,” he warned.

There were a million reasons this was a bad idea, and yet she couldn’t think of a single one. “Then kiss me again.”

No second invitation required. The words were hardly out of her mouth before his mouth took hers in the hottest, wettest, most carnal kiss she’d ever engaged in. Then, before she could catch her breath, he’d scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the beach and around the edge of a bluff to their own private world.

Sean dropped his jacket to the sand, then sank down, pulling her with him. “You sure?”

Oh, yeah. She was sure. To prove it, she reached for the buttons on his shirt, spreading the material wide, dancing her fingers across his skin. There was something about not being able to see that heightened her sense of touch, her sense of smell. And he both felt and smelled like heaven.

With similar bluntness, he reached for the front zipper on her sweater. Slowly it parted, and he slipped his hands inside, guiding it off her shoulders and down her arms. Then her bra. “I wish I could see you,” he whispered, laying her on her back on his jacket.

Before she could answer, before she could even think, If you could see me, we wouldn’t be doing this, his mouth nuzzled at the sensitive spot between her neck and collarbone, then lower. Cupping her breasts, plumping them up, he bent his head and opened his mouth on one, sucking, teasing with his tongue and teeth. Lifting his head, he ran a thumb over the wet peak, back and forth.

She cried out. She couldn’t help it. She was burning up from the inside out and needed him to put out the fire. Thrusting her hips helplessly against his, she continued making dark whimpering sounds she couldn’t contain. “I’ve never felt like this,” she said, horrified at the admission. “Never.”

“I know.”

Did that mean he’d never felt like this, either? In the months ahead without him, she would have liked to treasure the memory of knowing that. But he didn’t say, just kissed her hard, fueling her desperation with his own.

Then he left her for a moment, surging up to take off his shirt, and for the first time she felt like cursing the dark because she wanted to see his naked body against hers. Impossible, of course, but she could feel, and she did just that, spreading her fingers wide to touch every part of him she could reach. His broad shoulders. His strong arms. His wide chest. And that stomach… It rippled and quivered when she surged up to place her mouth right next to his belly button.

His breath caught, and she found she loved that sound. When she reached for his pants with fumbling fingers, he helped her push them down. And then he was shoving up her skirt, reaching for her tights, then her panties, until finally, oh, finally, they were slick, heated skin to slick, heated skin.

There was no way to mistake his erection, no way she wanted to. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she breathed, “Now. Please, Sean, now.”

She heard the sound of a foil packet opening and wanted to tell him to hurry, forget the condom, that for once, she wanted to be heart and soul with someone without any barriers between them, but she said nothing until he came back to her, pulled her close and entered her.

She cried out his name; he cried out hers. No longer could she think about her disguise or the dreaded condom or anything but how he made her feel, buried deep inside her.

He started to move within her, his rough, “Oh, yeah,” echoing in her mind because it had never felt like this, never. Arching, lifting her knees to take him in deeper, deeper, deeper, she had the time to gasp his name before she burst out of herself.