23. Rome
Nikki lookedlike a slumbering angel on the bed, her lids heavy, body relaxed. I took my time washing her, enjoying the sight of her mussed hair and crumpled nightgown. She’d made no move to cover herself, so I found myself admiring the curve of her breasts, the shape of her nipples, the way her stomach dipped at the navel.
And lower, the way the petals of her sex glistened in the moonlight.
I found myself liking her like this. Undone. Sated. Mine.
She shivered as I ran my fingers over the side of her breast, a small plaintive noise coming from her throat. I huffed a laugh, letting my hands run down her hips, where I noticed red marks that my fingers must have left. I’d been rough with her. Rougher than I’d intended to be.
Leaning over, I kissed the marred skin. She shifted, her fingers sliding through my hair in a tender caress. I wasn’t ready to let this moment end. Her skin was warm and soft, and she was more relaxed than I’d ever seen her. Hell, I was more relaxed than I’d been in a long time.
In this room, with the curtains open to reveal the expanse of ocean, the big bed with fluffy duvet and feather pillows, we were in a cocoon. Nothing else existed.
I ran my lips along the crook of her hip and kissed the edge of her core, my lips tracing her softness there. With my fingers, I spread her open.
“You’re insatiable,” she complained.
I glanced up to see her watching me, one arm curled behind her head while the other pushed the crumpled nightgown out of the way.
I grinned and curled my hands around her thighs to spread her open for me. And I tasted her. She let out a harsh breath, her hand clenching into the silky fabric of her pajamas. I smiled against her skin and took my time. The taste of her drove me crazy. The smell of her made me hard. I lost myself for a few minutes, feeling the way her hips rolled in response to my ministrations.
This wasn’t like me. Later, I would look back and wonder how I’d gotten so caught up in this woman. When did it start? Why did it happen?
But in that moment, there were no thoughts other than pure, unadulterated need. A need to claim her. To possess her. To explore every inch of her body and uncover all its secrets.
Like the way she gasped when I slid a finger inside her as my tongue worked her clit. Or how she made a special kind of noise when I slipped that finger lower, teasing the rim of her ass. Or how her chest became flushed when she came, and how she said my name like a prayer in the throes of it.
I was drunk with the sight of her, with a deeper kind of lust than what I’d experienced before. She wasn’t just a pretty accessory I wore on my arm; she was clever and funny and sensual. She made me feel like there was a whole new side of life that I hadn’t even known existed. I wanted to see the world through her eyes. I wanted her to tease me with her half-grin and poke me in the ribs with her elbow.
Everything was better with her. Everything. Sex was no exception.
I rose up above her and wiped my lips, meeting her gaze in the dimness of the room. She gave me a little smile and shook her head. “This is so bad.”
“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘fantastic.’”
Her laugh was a balm. I lay down next to her and put my hand on her stomach because I couldn’t bear the thought of not touching her for a minute. We’d had little more than a taste of each other, and I was already addicted.
I lifted my hand to run my thumb over her flushed cheek. She smiled and turned her head to place a kiss on my palm, and a stirring occurred in my chest. Content, satisfied, and maybe even happy, I curled my arm around Nikki and pulled her toward me. She stripped her crumpled garment and draped her naked body over me and was asleep in an instant.
It took me longer. I watched the reflections of the moonlight on the ceiling and let my fingers trail over her skin. I pressed kisses on her hairline and tucked the dark strands behind her ear. I thought very little in those moments, consumed by the feel of this woman at my side. She let out a little mewl and bent her leg to cover mine, her hand stretching out onto my chest. I wished I was as naked as she so I could feel the silken, warm length of her against all of me.
After a while, I curled my arms around her, inhaled her scent, and slept.
By the time we woke, we’d moved. I found myself spooning her, my left arm angled up near the headboard beneath my head and my right arm curled around her. Sometime during the night, my hand had found a comfortable perch on Nikki’s breast.
I moved my thumb over that soft flesh, and Nikki stirred. Her movements were sensuous, languid. There was a sort of haze over us, something that made our movements slow and heavy. Her ass wiggled against me, and it was the only invitation I needed. My hand ran down her stomach to dip between her legs.
The sun was barely up above the horizon, its buttery rays bathing the room in gold. Nikki’s skin shone with the light of it as she arched against me, grinding her perfect curves against my body. My cock nestled itself between the globes of her ass as she arched into me, and I wrapped both arms around her to pull her closer.
She came on my fingers with a soft, throaty cry and the sexiest panting I’d ever heard, and a moment later I was making a mess of my sleep pants just from the feel of her in my arms. Her hand landed on my arm, and she gave me a few soft pats, like she was congratulating me on a job well done.
I huffed and placed a kiss on her shoulder. I loved the smell of her. Loved the feel of her in my arms, loved the way she glanced over her shoulder with sleep still in her eyes.
“Morning.”
“Morning,” I responded.
“I see we haven’t learned our lesson in the light of day.”
I grinned. “No? I happen to think we’ve learned something momentous.”
“And what’s that?”
“How good we are together. How hot you are for me.”
She rolled her eyes and smacked me with the back of her hand. I caught her palm and brought it to my lips, pressing a kiss against it as I chuckled.
“Arrogant men aren’t my type,” she proclaimed, but her argument was somewhat diminished by the fact that she was naked and postcoital beside me.
I swept my hand up her stomach and cupped her breast. “You sure about that?”
“This is an anomaly,” she insisted, but she was smiling. Then she wriggled out of my hold and put her feet on the ground. “I need a shower.”
I watched the jiggle of her ass as she crossed the room, then followed a moment later. Nikki’s eyes were slightly amused as she watched me in the mirror, and her cheeks got red when I stripped off my clothes. She’d turned on the shower and now she stepped under the spray, glancing at me over her shoulder.
It felt like there was a rope tied around my middle tugging me toward her. After last night, I couldn’t even bear being in the other room. I needed to feel her body in my hands, pressed against mine, her arms wrapped around me. I followed her into the shower cubicle and gave in to my urges, my hands sliding around her hips to pull her back to my front.
It didn’t surprise me that I was half-hard, even after all we’d done. All those weeks of pretending I didn’t want her had built up inside me, and now I couldn’t resist the slightest touch. I wet a washcloth and lathered up some soap, and I took my time running it over her body. Water drenched us both. Her skin was slippery with suds as I ran my hands over it, memorizing the shape of her.
“My body feels out of control,” she said, arching her back as I spent some time worshipping her breasts with my hands. “I’ve never felt this horny for this long before.”
“That makes two of us,” I admitted.
She turned in my arms, and my hands slid down to shape her ass. Her arms circled around my neck as the water beat down on her back. “Do you think we’re making a mistake?”
I squeezed her curves. Her body was perfectly proportioned. “A mistake about what?”
“This.” Her hand stroked my neck, her thumb tracing my jaw. “Sleeping with each other. Not sticking to the rules. It could blow up in our faces.”
I hummed, and one corner of my mind began functioning for the first time in twelve hours. I said, “I’m not looking for anything serious,” which was true, but tasted like ash on my tongue.
She nodded. “I know.”
“Are you?”
She stared at my jaw for a moment, then shrugged. “I don’t even know anymore. I don’t know if it’s possible for me to have a real relationship.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Well, do you? Truly? Do you think you can have what Wilbur and Roseanne have?”
I nipped at her bottom lip. “No. But that’s beside the point.” My hands shifted closer to her cleft, pulling her tight to me. “This is the point.”
She huffed a laugh. “That’s what I’m saying. Maybe it’s better to enjoy this—whatever this is—because it’s as good as it gets.”
I pulled away to meet her gaze. I wasn’t sure exactly what she meant, and I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of it. Nikki was beautiful and funny and smart and perceptive. Of course she’d find someone to make her happy. She wasn’t like me. She didn’t thrive on her own the way I did. She hadn’t been put through a crucible as a young kid, abandoned, and tossed away because it was supposed to be what was best for her. That’s what happened to me, and that’s why I would always be alone.
But she’d find her Wilbur. How could she not, being all that she was?
Still…the thought of another man having her made me want to shatter the glass wall beside me. So I held her close and decided she was right. We could have each other right now, and that would be enough. It would have to be.
Then Nikki got a wicked light in her eyes, and she lowered herself to her knees in front of me—and for the next little while, the only thing I thought about was her mouth.