of her pulse.
Why shouldn’t she take what she wanted? This was what she’d been working for—well, not this exactly , but this feeling. The recognition of how far she’d come from her past. A celebration of who she was now .
She silenced the voices, sliding her hands under the hem of Beau’s shirt. His skin was softer than she expected, draped over planes of hard muscle that leaped under her fingers as she traced the ridges and valleys.
With a groan, Beau deepened the kiss, and Grace was well and truly lost. When his hand snaked over her ribs to tease the sensitive skin under her breast, her breath caught in her throat. His thumb scraped slowly over her nipple, sending bolts of pleasure through her, but there was a question being asked as well.
The answer was easy to find, harder to articulate. Dragging her hands away from Beau’s skin and her mouth from his, she grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head in one desperate movement. Beau’s eyes widened, and then a slow, appreciative smile spread over his face. He echoed the movement, then captured her lips again. This time, skin met skin, and the sizzle became scorching heat. The kiss turned carnal, needy.
How they got to her bed, she didn’t know, but Beau was under her, his hands tickling over the skin of her inner thighs, sliding under the hem of her shorts to caress her ass, his fingers moving torturously close to her needy core in a tease that left her wanting so much more. Grabbing her hips, Beau moved her a few crucial inches and caught her breast in his mouth.
She nearly came right then, her groin pressed against his zipper and her fingers tangled in his hair to hold him in place.
Beau hadn’t come prepared for this, and he kept telling himself he’d stop after just one more kiss, one more touch, even if it killed him. Then Grace reached for the nightstand, knocking her alarm clock to the floor, and the crinkle of a foil wrapper was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. With a groan of relief, he threaded his fingers through her hair and lost himself in the heat of her lips.
He hadn’t expected to find fire behind Grace’s professional persona, and that sweet face hid her inner vixen nicely. The woman was lust incarnate, burning him alive with want. He wanted to taste her thoroughly, explore every inch of that soft, fragrant skin, but need was taking over, and the sexy sounds coming from that lush mouth were driving him straight to the edge.
Later , he promised himself, as Grace wiggled out of her shorts, each movement throwing gas on the fire raging in him. She was hot and wet, and her inner muscles gripped his finger as her nails scored lines down his chest and she whimpered her pleasure.
Grace’s hands shook as she struggled with his zipper, freeing him from the constraints of his jeans, and tossing them away to land with the rest of their clothes. But her hand was warm, her grip sure, as she stroked him, covered him, and he gritted his teeth as he fought to hold on.
Then she was straddling him, guiding him in. Her head fell back as she encased him, and Beau’s breath caught painfully in his lungs. Grace met his eyes as she began to move, and he was so very glad Honey’s wedding had brought sweet, sexy Grace back to Bellefleur. He grabbed her hips to steady her, but let her set the pace, enjoying the sweet torture of each slow stroke.
Just when he doubted he could hold on any longer, he felt the tremors begin to build inside her, and the rhythm turned frenetic and demanding. Tightening his grip, he drove hard and deep as she came apart around him and joined her there as she collapsed across his chest, heaving for breath as aftershocks continued to shake her body.
It took him a moment to realize that his breath wasn’t any steadier than hers, and he wrapped his arms around Grace’s boneless body as he waited for his heartbeat to calm and his breathing to even out. It was several minutes before he felt Grace inhale deeply, and the