Chapter Five
Five
Sierra stopped reasoning with herself as she gazed up at him.
Desire was blatant in his dark brown eyes, making her pulse jump.
Standing in his arms, she trembled with longing.
His arm tightened around her and he leaned closer, his lips brushed lightly, and then his mouth settled, his tongue going deep.
With the first brush of his mouth, her heart thudded.
Slipping her arm around his neck, she closed her eyes as she returned his kiss.
Passion blazed, making her lean closer. She relished his hard body and his solid muscles against her softness.
Why was she so responsive to him and him alone?
How could he make her melt with only a glance? Or a brush of his fingers on hers?
Wanting him, too aware they’d be parting soon, she tightened her arms around his neck, letting go of restraints and reason. She pressed against him, wanting to seize the moment. They had an electrifying chemistry that made every glance, every moment together breathtaking and exciting.
He was aroused, ready to make love. With one arm he held her close while his hand roamed down her back, over her bottom and along her thigh. She gasped with pleasure as she ran her hands along his back, tugging his shirt out of his jeans to slip her hands over his bare skin.
She shifted to give him access to the buttons on her shirt, and he twisted them free while he kissed her. She returned his kiss equally passionately.
Showering feathery kisses on her throat, he pushed open her blouse to unfasten her bra.
He cupped her breasts, which filled his large hands as he rubbed each nipple.
She moaned softly with pleasure. Need for more of him built with each touch.
Her hands played over him, unfastening his belt, freeing him.
She ran her fingers over his warm belly, touching his manhood. Her first caress, so faint, made him gasp and shake with loss of control.
As his fingers tugged at her jeans, she leaned back to look at him.
His dark gaze consumed her with a need so intense that she shivered.
His touch was light and tantalizing, making her want him desperately.
Swamped by desire, she wanted his kisses on her, his hands on her, his hard body against her, his heat inside her.
“Blake,” she whispered, running her fingers through his hair. “Kiss me,” she whispered again, touching her lips to his jaw, feeling the stubble of his beard. She continued, trailing kisses down his chest as her hands moved lower, grasping him to stroke and tease.
“Blake, I’m not protected.”
“I’ll take care of you,” he answered, kissing away her words while he stroked her, his hand caressing her breasts.
He picked her up and carried her to his bedroom, standing her on her feet by the bed and yanking away the covers.
As she caressed him, running her hands over his sculpted chest, he opened a drawer to withdraw a condom and put it on before picking her up and placing her on the bed, moving between her legs.
He was hard, breathtakingly handsome with a fit masculine body that was muscled and strong. She arched her hips, wrapping her long legs around him. He came down, his mouth covering hers.
She felt him shift beside her, and then he trailed more kisses down her throat, across each breast, taking his time, his tongue circling first one nipple and then the other before he moved lower. His hand caressed her thighs and moved between her legs.
Kissing her again, he stroked her, driving her to want him more than she had thought possible. Every touch was magic, fiery and building their desire to a feverish pitch. He shifted, his tongue following his fingers, and she cried out in need and pleasure.
“I want you,” she whispered, not caring whether he heard or not, just having to say it. “I want you more than anything,” she added, barely aware of what she said as his hands rubbed and stroked her, building her need.
She sat up, pushing him down. “You’re driving me wild.” She trailed kisses across his belly until she took him in her mouth.
His fingers wound in her hair while his other hand caressed her breast with the lightest of touches.
He groaned, sat up and rolled her over as he moved above her.
She watched him lower himself to finally enter her slowly, withdrawing as her hips arched beneath him and he thrust into her, filling her, hot and hard.
Sensations rocked her, need consuming her as she moved with him.
He withdrew again, moving slowly, filling her. Her legs locked around his narrow waist while she drowned in sensation.
They moved together wildly, pumping fast in heart-pounding need. She pressed against him, crying out as she reached the pinnacle of her release.
He thrust hard and fast, climaxing with another gasp of pleasure, finally slowing while holding her close.
She clung to him, hot, damp with perspiration and happiness as they slowed. Gasping for breath, their hearts pounding together, she held him tightly. For a few moments she was in a special world, locked in his embrace.
She wanted to hold him tightly and keep the world shut away for the night.
When they were still, she ran her fingers slowly through the crisp, short hair on the back of his neck while he brushed kisses on her throat.
“I don’t think I will ever forget this night,” she whispered, being blunt and truthful. When he continued with his light kisses, she decided he hadn’t heard her.
She knew that she would never forget their lovemaking, and yet she also knew she had made another mistake with him. She should not have opened herself to this man whose view of the world was so different from hers.
One night of love should not cost her heart. No matter what bond they’d forged with intimacy, she had to forget this night and she should forget him. She hoped she could do that quickly—as soon as this job ended.
She shoved aside her worries and relished holding him while he caressed her in return.
She held fast to the moment. This night was special, and their differences in priorities and philosophies didn’t matter right now.
In the light of day, reason would set in and they would go on with their jobs and their lives, and she would eventually get past this night.
When he shifted, she gazed into his dark eyes, which were filled with curiosity.
“Are you sure you have to go home tomorrow?”
“Yes. This picnic is a big deal—it used to be mostly family, but it’s grown. Now we invite a lot of people I’ve worked with, plus people—and children—from one of the shelters.”
“Children? As in abandoned?”
“As in orphaned, mostly. Some were runaways and have no home to go back to, and some are from broken homes whose families can’t keep them at this time, but they hope to get them back in the future. We sponsor a children’s shelter.”
She combed a few locks of his hair away from his face. “Come home with me. See how we live—maybe you’ll understand what I do if you’ll come meet people.”
“I’ll be in the way,” he said.
“Nonsense. There’s no such thing as a stranger.”
“Little Miss Do-Good.”
“Scared to accept, Blake?”
He gave her a crooked smile. “Why the hell would I be scared to go to a picnic?”
“You might be afraid it will change your lifestyle,” she said, teasing him, but also wondering why he wouldn’t accept her invitation.
“You have time to go. Come home with me. Sunday you can fly back here. C’mon.
It won’t hurt you to meet my family, the people I work with and the kids. It will broaden your outlook a bit.”
She waited while he toyed with long locks of her hair.
“Okay,” he said, and satisfaction flowed through her.
She smiled at him. “You can fly back to Dallas with me and leave from Dallas Monday morning to go to New York. You can fly in my private jet. I have to be in Chicago, so I’ll go that far with you.
You do that, and I’ll go home with you this weekend,” he said, studying her.
“I want one more night with you in my arms,” he whispered, his breath warm on her throat.
As with all his invitations, she was torn between what she should do and what she wanted to do. What was the appeal that Blake held? She had never been attracted to another man the way she was to him—it was purely physical, sexual, lustful—and she couldn’t understand it.
“You’re arguing with yourself. C’mon, Sierra.
This is a brief moment in your earnest, do-good life.
Live a little, darlin’, and stay. You’ll get me for the weekend, and you can show me some of what you do.
I’ll see how you live, and you’ll be back here to see a little more about how I live.
One more day together won’t be earth shattering. ”
She had to smile at him. “You’re wicked, Blake. The proverbial bad boy all grown up into a wicked man.”
“Then save me. You stay, and I’ll go home with you for the weekend, and maybe the visit will transform me into an everlasting do-gooder,” he said.
“It would serve you right if that is exactly what happens,” she said, staring intently at him. “All right. I’ll fly back to Dallas Sunday night, and Monday morning, I leave Dallas for New York. That means canceling my commercial flight.”
“You’ll get a refund,” he said.
“There won’t be any privacy at my house,” she warned him. “Not only that, everyone will be busy getting ready for the picnic.”
“We might find a moment alone. Tell me you don’t want more kisses,” he said, shifting to look at her mouth and causing her heart to lurch. The joking and lightness of the moment vanished.
His arm tightened around her, pulling her against him while his mouth came down on hers. He kissed her, his tongue stroking hers while his free hand played along her hip and then between her thighs.