a low masculine sound of approval slid across her skin like a caress.

the spearing of a tongue into her pussy woke her fully, arching her back and ripping a cry from her throat. her mind was just catching on, but her body was already there, her nipples beaded hard and tight, and her sex clenching with demand for more attention.

"morning, sunshine," jared rumbled, his breath gusting warmly over her damp skin.

"jared...?"

"who else?" he lifted one of her boneless legs over a thick shoulder and pushed the other up and to the side, opening her completely. "now just lie there and come for me."

she opened her mouth to reply, but a slow, deliberate swipe over her clitoris stole her breath. whimpering, she lifted her hips to him, seeking more.

"umm..." he purred, nuzzling against her with his lips. "you have the softest, most succulent cunt."

her head pressed hard into the pillow as he traced her folds with the stiffened tip of his tongue. her pussy was creaming for him, her desire seeping from her body in silky skeins of moisture. he lapped at her, teasing the clenching opening of her sex with taunting flutters. her womb tightened to the point of pain.

"please." her hips churned. "fuck me with your tongue."

"oh, yeah." he gave a shallow thrust, then circled her clit. "i'm going to do everything to you. fuck you everywhere, in every way."

he moved sinuously, shrugging out from under her and gaining his knees. pushing her legs up and back, he exposed her even more fully. her hips were lifted from the bed, her shoulders supporting her weight as he bent his head and licked the length of her upraised slit. the vulnerability of her position only heightened the fever raging through her. his hands cupped the backs of her thighs, his thumbs holding her open for the tantalizing forays of his devious tongue. the scrape of his morning whiskers was an added stimulation, the slight discomfort soothed by the soft brush of his hair against her sensitive inner thighs.

and she could watch it all-the way his mouth sealed over her pussy as he pushed his tongue into her in a raw, erotic french kiss; the way his eyes darkened as she panted and fisted the bottom sheet; the way his lids lowered on a groan as she grew hotter and wetter.

his thumb slid through the building slickness, coaxing it lower, using it to massage the tender pucker of her ass. lust shot through her like a strike of lightning while sweat bloomed over her skin in a mist of heat.

jared's head lifted. "you want me here."

"i want you everywhere." she felt as if she no longer fit in her skin, as if she were trying to crawl out of it. her hunger for him was raging through her, boiling through her veins and stealing every remaining shred of her sanity.

his thumb exerted the tiniest bit of pressure and she pushed out for him, flowering open and accepting his touch inside her. a violent tremor shook her, pushing her to the edge of climax. it had been a long time since she'd trusted a man to take her there. too long. and even then, the relationship hadn't been so raw and sexual. jared's unabashed carnality stripped her of her normal boundaries, violated her sensibilities, opened her to torment both physical and...otherwise.

every time he touched her, she wanted more. more of him. more of who she was with him.

squeezing her aching breasts, she tightened around his thumb. "eat me 'til i come. then fuck my ass until you come."

"jesus." his skin stretched tight over his cheekbones. "you don't know what you do to me. how crazed you make me. i want to defile your body. own it. possess it..."

"yes."

"beg me, darcy. beg me to do it all to you. everything i want."

"now. all of it."

he dove for the saturated flesh between her thighs, latching on with a greed that tore through her. his tongue fucked her spasming pussy hard and fast, his head angling to get deeper. his thumb thrust in and out of her rear, the dual shallow penetration making her mindless.

she begged as he'd demanded her to, pleaded with him to finish her, to make her come before she broke from the strain...

the moment his lips surrounded her clit, the climax hit her hard, bowing her back and blackening her vision. she cried out as he sucked her, drawing on her with rapid measured pulls. the orgasm barreled through her senses, building and building until she thought she might lose consciousness. then it ebbed, taking her breath and energy with it. she melted into the bed, barely aware of the gentleness with which he lowered her.

"darcy."

her breathing rasped in the semidarkness of the bedroom. she struggled to open her eyes, finding jared kneeling between them, pushing his boxer briefs down to free his raging cock. his balls were hard and full, drawn up close to the base of his heavily veined shaft. the wide crest was purpled by the need to expend the semen dribbling from the tip and he fisted it with a harsh curse.

as he had in the shower, he rolled his scrotum in one hand and jacked himself off with the other.

she watched with a dry mouth as he stroked his cock with a brutality that pounded through her blood. it was a primitive demonstration of how wild she made him, soothing her with the proof that he was as lust crazed as she was.

pinching and tugging on her nipples, she urged him on. "i'm imagining you in me-how deep you get, how thick you are just before you come. you fill me so full the pleasure is almost pain. i don't know how i'll bear it when you take my ass, but i know i'll love it. i'll-"

"fuck." semen exploded from him in a scorching stream across her torso. his fist flew, pumping the creamy fluid up the shaft to spurt over her nipples, coating her skin with the evidence of his virility. he came long and hard, cursing as his powerful body was wracked by wrenching shudders.

but when he finished, he was still hard, and the gleam in his eye was as rapacious as she'd come to expect.

the blaring of her alarm was jolting, kicking her racing heartbeat into overdrive. reaching down, jared caught her by the nape of her neck and lifted her to his mouth. he kissed her hard and swift, his free hand kneading his cum into her breasts.

"saved by the bell," he said roughly.

darcy spoke with her lips against his. "later. we'll finish this later."

"i'm counting the seconds."

darcy set coffee to brewing while jared showered, then turned her attention to the files on the arsons that lay on the dining room table. at some point during the night, he must have gone out to her car to retrieve them. she wondered what conclusions he'd drawn, if any, and if he had any theories or questions she might help him with.

the shower turned off, leaving a sudden void as the noisy pipes quieted. in the ensuing silence, she could almost hear her body humming. she felt strangely energized and exhausted, content and apprehensive. in less than a day, jared had found a loose thread in her life and he was slowly pulling it, unraveling her at the seams. she didn't see how she would be able to continue the searingly intimate sexual exploration they were engaging in without becoming attached to it.

already she craved him. picturing an addiction to him wasn't that big of a leap.

"i'd kill to have some of that coffee i smell," he said, entering the kitchen with damp hair and nothing but his jeans on.

she drank him in, resisting the urge to run her fingers through the light dusting of hair on his chest. truth be told, she couldn't stop her mind from imagining her tongue tracing the line of his happy trail from his navel to his cock below. her mouth watered with the desire to lick and suck him to orgasm, to fully own his pleasure when he came. and her proprietary feelings extended beyond that to encompass the whole of him.

"stop looking at me like that," he said sharply. "you're making my dick hard."

"stop teasing me with your rockin' body," she shot back, stung and frightened by the sting, which hinted that she might be in too deep with him already. "how would you like it if i walked around topless all the time?"

he scowled. "i'd love it and you know it, but we have shit to do besides fuck each other's brains out. i need you to give me a break."

"you're one to talk," she muttered under her breath, turning toward the coffeemaker. he was irascible, grumpy, and rude as a rule. but that was part of his charm. even if his gruffness did rub her raw at times. "how do you take your coffee?"

"black."

darcy pulled a mug out of the cupboard. she felt him come up behind her, then closed her eyes as he nuzzled his way past her ponytail to her nape. his arms came around her and she tensed, fighting to keep the tremors she felt on the inside from being discernible on the outside.

his embrace tightened and he spoke roughly. "i'm sorry."

reaching for the carafe, she took a deep slow breath. "nothing to be sorry about."

"bullshit. i can't take it out on you when it's my own damn self i can't seem to control. we're on fire for each other. keeping that in check is going to take work and some concessions. i hate putting clothes on when my skin's damp, but i'll get over it."

"okay."

his teeth bit lightly into the muscle between her shoulder and neck, a primal possessive gesture that sent an unwanted thrill of awareness through her. "i love the way you look at me, darcy. like you want to eat me alive. it's not a bad thing, it's just inconvenient."

she slid the full mug to the side. "i'll work on looking elsewhere. here you go."

jared didn't move for a minute, then he released her with a muttered curse. he left the kitchen, and she took the breather to give herself a mental kick in the ass. she straightened when he returned, moving away and toward the living room as he passed her on his way toward the coffee she'd poured him.

they needed some distance from each other. they hadn't had any since they'd met and that was a mistake.

"don't you dare walk out of this room," he said in a voice too even to be anything but dangerous.