The Ties That Bind by Jaci Burton Read Free Book Online Page A

like this. The practiced moves of a man, not a boy.
    It was wholly different now. She was different.
They
were different.
    New ball game. But she couldn’t deny that she was hyperventilating like a teenager in the throes of first-time passion, couldn’t ignore her wet panties, her throbbing nipples, or pulsing clit.
    Wow. She hadn’t expected it to be this…intense. Not with someone she knew so well.
    She lifted her gaze to his. “Is it supposed to be like this?”
    He smiled, swept his hand down her arm to twine his fingers with hers, seeming in no hurry. “Yeah, babe. It is.”
    He hadn’t realized, but she’d seen it. As he reached for her, his hand shook. He was as affected as she was. He was holding taut to barely leashed control, and he was doing it for her.
    Dammit, she’d waited a long time for this. She didn’t want control.
    “Rick,” she said, squeezing his fingers. “I’m not made of porcelain. I won’t break.”
    “I’m trying to restrain myself, Lisa.”
    “Don’t try so hard.”
    Rick sucked in a harsh breath, then released his fingers from hers, grabbed her shoulders, and jerked her against him. She gaspedat the sensual violence as he smashed his mouth against hers, reveled in his possession of her mouth, especially when his tongue slid through her teeth and took control, claiming her tongue, licking against it with demanding strokes.
    Now there was nothing slow and easy about what he did, walking her toward the bed as he simultaneously freed her arms from the straps of her dress and drew the bodice to her waist. She felt air across her breasts and nipples, her mind trying to process too much. Her nakedness, what would Rick think, where the hell were they going. She felt the back of her legs brush the mattress. Rick pulled his lips from hers, drew back several steps, and stared at her.
    “No,” he said, blowing out a breath. “We have to slow down. It’s been a long time and I want to look at you.”
    He was right, of course. She expected this big explosion of a consummation, this throwing-her-down-on-the-bed-and-fucking-her-blind situation where she wouldn’t have to process, to think about anything. But their first time together after all this time was monumental, and they shouldn’t rush through it.
    Now he was looking at her. Really looking at her. And for the first time, she felt shy. He hadn’t seen her naked in a long time. She didn’t have the youthful, waif-thin body of a twenty-year-old any longer. She resisted the urge to cover her breasts. This was her body now.
    “I’ve always loved your body, Lisa,” he said as he shrugged out of his shirt, his gaze never leaving her chest.
    She couldn’t help but smile. “You liked my boobs.”
    He grinned and met her gaze again. “Well, yeah. I’m a man. We’re obsessed.”
    She laughed, grateful he wasn’t taking this so seriously. She needed a little levity so she could breathe.
    And he was damn beautiful, too. His shoulders had broadened, his chest had filled out, and he definitely spent a lot of his free time working out. He might be over thirty-five, but Rick was all chiseled muscle and very little body fat. She knew he ran every morning, went to the gym after work, and he ate well. It showed. She wanted to feelthat body next to hers. She reached behind her for the zipper on her dress.
    “No. Let me.” Rick stepped forward, their noses practically touching as he located her zipper through the tangled mess of her dress. He drew it down, all the while staring into her eyes. So intense, intimate.
    So utterly adult.
    So new.
    “We’re not kids anymore, Rick,” she said as he moved in, grasped her dress, and pushed it down over her hips. It draped in a puddle at her feet.
    “I’m well aware of that.” He held her hand while she stepped out of the dress. She kicked it away. His grin was so damn sexy. “What’s your point?”
    Her lips curled. “I have no idea.” She reached for his pants, flipping open the button