Chapter 19 #2
He massaged the shampoo into her hair and scalp, making her sigh with pleasure. Had anything ever felt so good?
She kept her eyes closed as he soaped every inch of her skin, except for the area that burned for him. He saved that for last, running soapy fingers over her smooth folds, arousing her with only a few strokes.
“Blaine…”
“Sorry. I forgot you’re sick.”
When he would’ve withdrawn his hand, she grabbed his wrist and kept him there. So much for her resolve to put a halt to things with him. It had taken him five minutes of tender care to show her how lacking in willpower she was where he was concerned.
“Is my girl not as sick as she pretends to be?” he asked with amusement in his voice.
Her heart beat faster when he called her his girl. “I’m never too sick for this.”
He pressed his fingers deeper into her, surprising her when he used his free hand to tweak her nipple.
She shuddered and came the second his fingers made contact with the heart of her desire.
“So, so beautiful,” he whispered as he continued to stroke her sensitive flesh.
“Blaine…”
“What, honey?”
“I want you to…” Tiffany stopped herself, unaccustomed to asking for what she wanted from a man. His sweetness had left her feeling raw and exposed to feelings she’d only recently tried to deny. How foolish that seemed only a few minutes later, after he’d proven her powerless to resist him.
“What, baby? Anything you want.”
“Will you hold me?”
“God, yes. There’s nothing I’d rather do. Let’s get you out of there.”
He helped her to stand and ran a towel over her reverently, leaving no part of her untouched, and even towel-dried and brushed her hair.
Watching him tend to her made her heart melt and her sex ache with the need for more.
Even though she still felt lousy, she wanted to be close to him.
She needed to be close to him. When had he become her anchor? When had he become so necessary?
“Steady,” he said when her legs wavered under her.
His hands on her shoulders kept her on her feet until he scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom, depositing her gently on the bed.
When she began to shiver, he pulled the covers up and over her, surrounding her with his appealing scent.
She watched him drop his shorts and held out her arms to welcome him into bed.
“Oh, you’re so warm!” she said as he wrapped himself around her.
“Snuggle closer to get the full impact.”
The “full impact,” she discovered, was indeed quite full and pressed insistently against her belly. She couldn’t resist reaching down to stroke his heated skin and reveled in the groan that seemed to come from deep inside his chest.
“That feels so good.”
“I want you.” Why be coy? Why pretend otherwise? Why pretend that hadn’t been the case from the first time she ever laid eyes on him?
“You’ve been so sick, honey.”
“I’m okay. I need you.”
He cupped her bottom, holding her even tighter against him as he pushed rhythmically into her hand. “You have me,” he said gruffly. “I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“There’s nothing you could say that would mean more to me than that.”
He captured her lips in a breathtakingly intense kiss that had her straining against him, begging for more. “How could he ever let you go?”
“I wasn’t like this with him.” She squeezed him to make her point. “I was always afraid to take what I wanted.”
“Don’t ever be afraid with me. I’d give you anything. All you have to do is ask.”
Encouraged by his sweet words and the even sweeter sincerity behind them, she wiggled down to kiss his chest, giving special attention to his nipple, which made him gasp and expand in her hand.
She moved farther down, running her tongue over muscles in his belly that quivered in response.
When she took his straining erection into her mouth, she kept up the steady strokes of her hand at the base.
Her free hand traveled around to his rear, squeezing and running her nails over his cheeks.
That seemed to make him a little crazy, so she let her middle finger delve into the crease, which was all it took to make him come—hard.
She licked up every drop of his intense release before she let him slide from between her lips.
“Wow,” he said. His eyes were closed, and his chest heaved.
Tiffany loved that she’d done that to him.
Maybe it would never work between them in the long run.
Maybe it would blow up in her face the way her relationship with Jim had.
Maybe, maybe… She couldn’t remember being so content or happy.
Even the threat of eviction hanging over the store couldn’t dampen the sweet feelings Blaine inspired.
“Come here,” he whispered.
“Where?”
“Up here.”
She worked her way closer to his face. “I’m here.”
“As beautiful as this face is,” he said, cupping her cheek for effect, “it’s not the part of you I want.”
Tiffany’s eyes widened with surprise—and a tiny bit of alarm. “What part do you want?”
His hand coasted over her back to cup her bottom. “This part. If you feel up to playing some more, that is.”
At some point in the last half hour, she’d forgotten all about being sick—and that she’d planned to leave him. “Ah… What do you want with that part of me?”
“Come find out.” His tone was heavy with desire and challenge.
Never one to back down, Tiffany was at once curious and anxious. He seemed to possess endless ways to arouse and stir her. Filled with trepidation—and excitement—she knelt and turned her back to him. “Like this?”