She felt his hands on her shoulders, cupping them. His breath at her nape. She shivered.

“Katie,” he murmured.

“I don’t want to talk. We both know this is goodbye. Don’t make it any harder than it is.”

“Then tell me what you want.”

“Make love to me and pretend I’m the only woman in the world who means anything to you.”

Luther sighed. “Oh God, Katie.” He molded his chest to her back. “I wish I’d met you twenty-five years ago.”

“Let’s not look back. I only want to live in this moment.” She turned in his arms, facing him.

“Will it be enough?”

She forced a smile. “It’ll have to be.”

Luther’s hand came up to stroke her cheek. “You’re everything a man could wish for. Brave, beautiful, and loving.”

“But it’s not enough, is it?” she asked.

“On the contrary. It’s too much. I don’t deserve all that.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

“Because I know how this will end. With me hurting you, hurting both of us.”

“History doesn’t have to repeat itself.”

“What if it does?”

She put a finger over his lips. “I don’t want to think about what might happen. I just want to feel.”

He acknowledged her demand by blinking his eyes.

Katie let her hands slide to his chest, finding the buttons of his shirt. “I want to remember everything about you.” She popped the first button open, then the next. “I want to kiss every inch of your body.”

Beneath her palms she felt Luther’s heart beat frantically. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and a strangled moan came over his lips. Katie opened his shirt and stripped him of it. She ran her fingertips over his scars.

“You’re beautiful,” she murmured and meant it. His pectorals flexed under her touch, responding to her caresses.

“I’m scarred, baby. There’s nothing beautiful about it.”

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” She brought her lips to his chest and pressed open-mouthed kisses onto his marred skin. “I wish I could take the pain away that you had to endure when you got these scars.”

“When you touch me, I don’t remember any pain.” He sighed and dropped his head back. “I only feel pleasure.”

Katie licked over the angry ridges on his skin. Luther smelled of power and pure maleness. He excreted a scent that drew her to him like a moth to the flame. And she didn’t care if this flame would burn her, because the pleasure she obtained by being with him made it all worth it.

She ran her hands down his torso, until she reached his pants. Luther’s next inhale was audible, and she felt him tense under her hands. Eager to explore him, she opened the button of his pants and slid the zipper down. Slowly, she pushed his pants down to his ankles.

Her eyes fell on his groin. Underneath the boxer briefs a large bulge was visible. It stretched the black fabric to capacity. Licking her lips, she placed her palm over it. Heat suffused her hand, and his cock jerked against it as if it wanted to leap into her hand.

Luther groaned.

She squeezed his hard flesh briefly, then hooked her thumbs into the waistband and pulled his boxer briefs down, letting them drop to his feet. His cock sprang free, curving up against his belly. His balls pulled up tightly. For the first time she could truly admire him. The times before he’d never given her a chance to look at him for long, taking her so quickly that she didn’t have time to look her fill. She made up for it now.

Thick purple veins wound around his shaft, adding to its thickness. The root sat in a thick nest of dark hair. Moisture leaked from the soft tip of his cock, making the mushroomed head glisten.

Katie reached for him, wrapping her hand around his steely length.

Luther hissed out a breath. “Fuck, baby.”

“I’m gonna lick you now and take you into my mouth,” she told him.

With one hand he cupped her cheek, pulling her face closer and dropping his forehead to hers. “You do know that if you do that, I’m going to lose control, don’t you?”

“I figured as much.”

“Are you prepared for what I’ll do when that happens?”

“Are you?” she challenged. Because she was ready for his bite, ready for the ecstasy he promised.

“What if I can’t stop?”

“You stopped before.”

He shook his head. “Because I knew I would have you again. But tonight—”