--how swollen the tender tissue was.

She opened her mouth to ask him to touch her there, to put his lips and tongue over her, but before she could get the words out he made a request of his own.

"Get on your hands and knees."

Everything inside her stilled with shock. And that was when she realized just how naive she really was. Had she really thought that she was brave enough to do whatever he asked her to do? Had she really been innocent enough to think that simply plying her with a dildo while she lay spreadeagled on his bed would be as far as he would push her?

He didn't ask against again, he simply kept her trapped in the dark heat of his gaze.

And he waited...waited for her to realize that she was less shocked by his command than she was by the impossible excitement that swamped her at the thought of moving into the oh-so-vulnerable position.

Her limbs were too shaky for her to even try to move in a sensual manner, but when she finally got into position, resting her weight on her palms and her knees and shins, and looked over her shoulder at Cole, he was looking at her as though she were--

"A miracle. You're a goddamned miracle."

The look in his eyes, the reverence in his words didn't just make her wet, didn't just make her ache for his touch.

It made her heart pound harder, swell bigger.

It made her fall deeper than she should.

And it made her get way too close to the one thing that would rip her apart and tear her previously fine life to shreds when their temporary marriage ended.

Thankfully, there was no way for her thoughts to spin any further toward the danger zone, not when he was stealing them away with the firm press of the toy's head against her folds.

Sliding easily into her wetness, it felt so good that she had to arch into it, had to tilt her head back to try to take in enough air to fuel the desperate need taking her over.

"I wish you could see how beautiful your ass looks, so round and soft and sweet."

His lips moved over her bottom and even as his kisses there shocked her, especially when she felt his teeth lightly score her skin, she whimpered her pleasure.

"I knew watching you take this would be good, Anna," he murmured as his mouth moved down over the curve where her bottom met her thigh.

She gasped as he licked at the seam of incredibly sensitive skin, bucking herself even harder into his hand, the heel of his palm landing hard and heavy against her aching clit with every thrust of the toy.

"But I had no idea it would be this good."

She could feel the heat of his eyes on her pu**y, on the wet clench of her muscles against the toy.

"Nothing has ever been this good, baby."

He moved before she could react, sliding his head beneath her open thighs, his tongue reaching out to lave her clit, his free hand pulling her down onto his mouth.

She came that quickly, her climax a lightning bolt that ran from her clit to the tip of her toes, the top of her head, the tips of her fingers. Even her earlobes tingled. And all the while, Cole's tongue on her clit was driving her crazy. All the while, he never lost his rhythm with the decadent, sinful toy in his hand. All the while, she was gasping her pleasure into the pillow, grinding herself down onto his face, onto the wonderful pressure of the toy inside her.

And then the toy was gone, making a loud thud as he threw it across the room. Cole slid out from under her and came around her back, covering her hips with his, her back against his chest. Thank God he held her up as he drove into her, taking her in a position she'd never let another man take, with her up on her hands and knees, her br**sts in his hands, his mouth kissing, sucking, inhaling the skin along her neck and shoulders and back, his hard flesh driving, stretching her open as far as she could go.

She'd never heard sounds like the ones coming out of her mouth as he drove into her. But it wasn't a one-way street, wasn't a world where he put her where he wanted her and she gave him pleasure despite herself.

No, it was the exact opposite.

Anna was taking at least as much pleasure from Cole as she was giving to him. She pushed back into his hard shaft, into the rock-hard muscles of his thighs and tight hips, with everything she had, used up every last ounce of energy to find her way back over an even higher peak than the one she'd just crested barely moments before.

"Come again for me, baby."

The raw command came with the sudden press of rough, calloused fingers over her clit and this second unexpected hit of extreme pleasure had her crying out with what was left of her voice. Her entire body exploded around his, black spots appearing in her vision as Cole roared out her name, his out-of-control thrusts pushing her flat into his mattress, his fingers never once losing ground on her pulsating clit, wet with her arousal and his come. But even after she came down from the heady pulses of her climax, she loved the way Cole continued to drive into her, his c**k still hard as steel against her swollen, sensitive inner walls, as he continued to stimulate her clit.

It should have been impossible--her body couldn't possibly sustain this level of pleasure, could it? --but before she knew it, she was right back in the place she thought she'd just left behind, on top looking over the edge.

"Again, sweetheart. One more time. For me."

His thrusts were more measured now, his touch more concentrated on the stiffening bud between her legs. But it was the warmth, the adoration, the sheer need in his tone that had her crying out one more time.

Holding her steady until she rode out the astonishing waves of pleasure, Cole shifted his weight slightly off the side, just enough to cover her still without crushing her.

Anna's mind worked to right itself, but Cole's nearness had always made clear thinking difficult. More so now than ever before. No matter how she tried, she couldn't think past--no, couldn't ignore the question that had been there since his first kiss in the club: Who was she letting herself become?

And was there any way she would ever be able to go back to the woman she'd been before Cole?

"Sweet Anna."

He moved onto his back and effortlessly lifted her so that she lay across him rather than the mattress. She relaxed into him, utterly sated now, and realized with a small smile against his chest that they were no longer strangers. Two days of almost constant togetherness meant that she could recognize the sounds of desire and arousal, anger and frustration, in his voice. And now, the way he almost dropped the last syllable of her name as exhaustion took him toward sleep.