Between Thursday night and today, she’d come apart again and again for him. But his utter lack of control meant that he needed to see more, needed to feel more, needed to take her up even higher, needed to be right there as she experienced greater and greater pleasure, until he was absolutely certain that she had nothing left to give to him. And maybe then, he told himself, he would finally be able to sate his desperate need for her.

He wouldn’t let her recover, not wanting to let her catch her breath or think or do anything but feel. She was still trembling as he moved to kneel on the rug beside the bed. Putting her legs over his shoulders, he found her core to be deliciously hot and wet against his lips and tongue. With his fingers still moving hard, fast, and deep into her, he nudged her own hand away from her sex.

This time, there was no slow buildup to her climax, no need to coax—or demand—that she come apart for him. And as one orgasm spiraled into another, though she’d already given him so much more than he deserved, when he moved again to his feet and gripped her hips in his hands to pull her to the edge of the mattress, he couldn’t catch his own breath.

All he could do was feel.

A heartbeat later he was completely inside her and he couldn’t look away from her beautiful eyes, so green and so full of love for him.

She’d done exactly what he told her to do from the moment he’d pulled the chair up to the foot of the bed, but now she surprised him by reaching up to wind her hands around his neck and kiss him so sweetly that before he knew what had happened, she’d rolled them over so that he was flat on his back and she was on top.

They’d moved straight from lesson one to lesson two, but this time he wasn’t the teacher.

She was.

And, Lord, the things she taught him as she kissed him hungrily while rubbing her br**sts over his chest and grinding her hips into his.

He’d never known desire could be this sharp, this sweet, this overwhelming.

He’d never known a woman could be this soft and this strong, this innocent and yet so beautifully sensual all at the same time.

And he’d never known, until they drove each other higher before reaching the pinnacle of the storm together, just how high it was possible for a man to reach...or how far it was possible for a man to fall.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Ian couldn’t remember the last time he’d awakened with a woman in his arms and wanted to keep her there. Even when he’d been married, he’d gotten out of bed as soon as his eyes were open to work. And with the women he’d had casual flings with, both before and after his marriage, he’d never been tempted to stay overnight or to have them at his place.

But with Tatiana breathing softly and steadily in his arms, her chest rising and falling against his, with her hair tickling his chin and her warm curves pressing against him as he lay with her spooned against him, he now knew exactly what he’d miss if he got up to go use Tim’s house phone to check in at the office.

So damned much.

Loving the feeling of waking up with Tatiana in his arms was just one more thing that set her apart from every other woman he’d been with. Lord knew making love with her was on a whole different plane, as well. It would, he thought, be easiest to chalk it all up to their break from real life, but even back in Seattle when they’d been going from meeting to meeting, he’d been attuned to her in a way he’d never been with anyone else.

Ian had never known a woman’s body so well. Before they’d landed on the island, before they’d been caught in this storm, he would have tried to tell himself that it was because they were discovering her pleasure together, kiss by kiss, caress by caress, climax by climax. But by now, there was no point trying to convince himself to believe such a blatant lie...not when he knew that what had grown between them was so much more than just pleasure.

Ian had never wanted to understand a woman’s reactions this much. He’d never been so compelled to give a woman pleasure. He’d never worked so hard for a gasp, for a moan, for a smile. And yet, what stood out most for him wasn’t their phenomenal lovemaking, but the way she reacted when she’d walked into their room above the barn: Like it was heaven.

The other women he’d been with, and especially his ex, had not only expected five-star luxury, they’d demanded it. Since he was rich enough to give it to them, he always had.

Tatiana, on the other hand, was totally undemanding when it came to anything materialistic. It would be so much easier if she were, if she would ask him for something, anything, other than the one thing it would be impossible for him to give her.

The night before, after making a simple spaghetti dinner, when Tatiana hadn’t been able to stop yawning, he’d tucked her into bed. By the time he was done pulling their damp clothes out of the shower and laying them over various pieces of furniture to dry out, she was asleep.

This morning, with the rain still battering the barn, and the sky outside the window still a dark gray, he didn’t need to check with his pilots to know that they weren’t going anywhere today.

Ian knew he should have been worrying about missing his meeting with Flynn. But when every stolen hour he spent with Tatiana was more precious than the last, all he could think was, What the hell am I going to do when the storm finally ends?

How was he ever going to let her go?

He was holding her so close that he felt her come awake from moment to moment, her heart rate just starting to pick up its pace, her breath coming a little faster, her limbs stretching out one at a time, her toes curling against the top of his foot.