Chapter Six #2
He met her eyes with a slanting look that made her toes curl and her body soften.
‘Oh, yes, Greer. We’re going to do all that and more.
But in comfort.’ He spoke with a lethal deliberation that felt like he drew his calloused fingers up her inner thigh to circle her clitoris, making her ache and her muscles ease in anticipation.
‘But you deserve more than a quickie on a sofa. We’re going to take our time. ’
He bent and she realised he was opening the door, still holding her against his chest.
She swallowed, her mind rioting at the idea of him taking his time. If Conall were as thorough and focused in bed as he was in the office… She shivered and squeezed her thighs tight.
At least he’d put aside the scruples that had held him back! She knew exactly what she wanted and it was him.
He headed for a broad, curling staircase in the glass-ceilinged atrium. Shards of colour washed the space from the magnificent art deco stained glass above.
‘I can walk, you know,’ she murmured.
‘And I’ll enjoy following you up the stairs sometime, watching every tiny sway of your beautiful body in that tight skirt.
’ His chest rose mightily against her while her own breath stopped in her lungs.
When Conall released the brakes he really let go.
It was devastating and wholly wonderful.
‘But not today. Maybe tomorrow, when we come up for air.’
‘Tomorrow?’ Her voice trembled with shocked delight. It wasn’t even dusk.
‘You don’t have anywhere else you need to be, do you?’
This time she saw a glint of humour in his midnight gaze and that was almost as enticing as the raw carnality of the picture he’d painted. The man turned her inside out and they were still fully clothed.
He took her to a vast bedroom overlooking the harbour. In the distance she caught sight of a group of yachts, spinnakers billowing. But it was a fleeting glimpse because nothing was nearly as fascinating as Conall.
Even the wide bed with its pale cover was a blurred impression as she held onto his shoulders and he lowered her, impossibly slowly, down his body. As a show of core body strength it was impressive, but then wasn’t everything about this man?
For a fleeting moment earlier she’d wondered if she were doing the right thing, admitting her desire.
But it was inevitable. Where Conall was concerned there was no choice, there was only him.
From the moment they’d met it had been true and her feelings only grew more powerful with time. Now what she felt was a compulsion.
She spared a thought for the future, for how they’d work together after this, but she trusted him when he said it would be okay. They’d find a way. And while her career was incredibly important to her, she’d come to suspect that Conall, and the connection between them, meant more.
That should be scary. It probably would be later. But for now it just felt right in a way nothing else had since she’d woken in hospital, broken.
‘Greer.’ His low voice reverberated through her. ‘Are you changing your mind?’
‘No!’
His grin made him look suddenly boyish, delighted and… Was that relief?
‘Unless,’ she sent him a teasing look under lowered lashes, ‘you’ve changed your mind about what you can deliver. If you don’t think you can live up to your promises…’
Hands loose on her hips, he leaned forward, gaze drilling into hers. His voice was soft and his breath a warm caress that made her lips tingle and her nipples bud. ‘It’s going to be an absolute pleasure delivering on those promises. For both of us.’
It took all she had to stand and not melt into a puddle of pure longing at his feet.
‘I’ll give you this, Mr Abercrombie, you can talk the talk.’
‘But can I deliver?’ His lips brushed her forehead, her cheeks, her closed eyes as he slipped the jacket from her shoulders.
Already she was burning up, lit from within by the fire this man ignited so effortlessly.
Amnesia or not, she was sure no other man had ever held such power over her.
As the daughter of a single mother who’d crossed the country to avoid her dangerous partner, Greer had always been cautious, not wanting to be vulnerable to any man.
She didn’t feel vulnerable with Conall, she decided as he plucked her buttons undone with deft fingers. More like powerful. And powerfully aroused.
She dragged her hands down his torso and grabbed his polo shirt, yanking it up and free of his jeans.
Seconds later her palms spanned the silky hot skin of his waist in proper skin-to-skin contact.
Finally she managed to drag a full breath into sorely worked lungs.
Her fingers moulded and skimmed, circling then returning, exploring.
Those firm ridges of muscle, the taut planes and intriguing dips were the best kind of braille.
Except, despite his assurance, Conall grew impatient. Big, gentle hands brushed her shirt from her shoulders, moving her hands from his body.
She made a sound of disappointment, as if he’d stolen her favourite toy. Her bottom lip pouted at the interruption.
‘Soon, I promise.’ The words feathered against her throat as he tugged the material down her arms and away.
Suddenly she didn’t mind so much because he looked spellbound as he ravished her with his gaze. Her bare skin tightened, her breasts seeming to swell under that avaricious stare.
‘I need more.’ His arms went around her, hands reaching for her skirt’s zip.
‘So do I,’ she purred, pushing up his shirt.
It bunched under her hands as she revealed more and more of that sculpted torso. His skin was darker than hers and across his chest was a fuzz of hair that, when she brushed it with her fingers, yanked white-hot threads tight between her aching breasts and her womb.
Greer swayed closer, inhaling his clean male scent as she kissed a line up his torso then licked his nipple and felt him shudder. Abruptly his hands moved from her zip, shoving her skirt down her hips before reaching to reef off his shirt.
‘That’s better,’ she sighed, kissing her way across his broad chest and up to his collarbone. He tasted like every of erotic fantasy she’d ever known.
‘It is,’ he growled in a voice that seemed to vibrate from deep inside him. His chest rose and spread under her palms where they rested above his ribs, soaking up the delicious vibrations. ‘But not as good as this.’
With one quick movement he undid her bra, tugging it down her arms, lifting her hands from his body long enough to strip the lacy fabric off her. Then he pulled her to him, bare torso to bare torso, and something erupted inside her.
‘Conall!’
‘I know, I know.’
She felt the throb of his heart, the tickle of his chest hair teasing her breasts as she leaned up, reaching for his mouth. There. That was better. She felt…anchored with their mouths fused in hungry abandon.
This was so impossibly good, yet she needed more. And he gave it, slipping his hands between them to mould her breasts, his thumbs stroking her tightly beaded nipples.
Greer was all lush heat and splintering senses, and still this wasn’t enough. She reached between them, grappling with his belt, moving back just enough to get it undone and tackle the fastening of his jeans.
‘Yes,’ he groaned against her lips. The yearning in his hoarse voice, the vibration of it from his body to hers, was the most arousing thing she’d ever known.
Quickly she undid the fastening, tugging his jeans down to his thighs then stripping his underpants low enough to curl her fingers around him.
Shock was an unfurling ribbon inside her. He was tall and well-built. Her breath snagged, imagining all that potent length inside her. She found herself spreading her feet wider, internal muscles clenching in anticipation.
Her eyes flicked open as he lifted his head. That lazy confidence was gone, replaced by a look of pared back hunger that should frighten her but instead thrilled.
‘I promised to take my time.’ His voice ground so low it will rumbled. ‘So you’d better let me take it from here.’
He moved her hands away, making short work of the last of his clothes.
Then he turned to the bedside table and even that sight was perfection.
His broad thighs were so powerful, contrasting with his narrow waist and the twist of his upper body as he reached for a condom, turning him into a living work of art.
Greer hurried to divest herself of her clothes and shoes.
Seconds later she was naked and more than ever aware of his greater height and strength. She adored it. She wanted to lean in and snuggle against him. Except—her gaze fixed on his proud erection—there were things she wanted more.
She lay on the bed, spreadeagled and bare, her heart in her mouth as she ate up the sight of him. He devoured her with a scorching gaze that made her revel in her feminine power and all the differences between them.
Conall took his time moving onto the bed beside her, propping himself up on one elbow as he stroked her face then leaned in to claim her mouth as his hand traced slow, sinuous trails of pleasure around her throat, breasts and lower.
It wasn’t enough. She reached for him, only to have her wrist captured and lifted away, then her other one. She opened eyes that had fluttered closed to see him shake his head on a grimace. ‘Not yet. I’m too close.’
He shackled her hands above her head, leaving her open to his touch. Greer thought of protesting but she liked being vulnerable to him in this way. His hungry gaze and the inexorable slide of his hand down her abdomen only notched her arousal higher.
Then Conall kissed her, slow and deliberate. This time he used his teeth as well as his tongue, grazing sensitive skin then kissing it better as his fingers explored moist folds.
One expert caress and she almost lifted off the bed. He threw his thigh over hers and even that was arousing.
The stretch of her body, the weight of his hand and leg, seemed to intensify every sensation as he kissed and caressed her.
Abruptly, too abruptly, her crisis hit. She felt the shock wave engulf her, her body undulating as it crested each peak of pleasure.
Warm arms gathered her close as he moved above her and Greer held on tight.
This was where she needed to be. In a world full of uncertainties it was the one thing she knew absolutely.
‘Conall, that was—’
‘Just the beginning,’ he said with a tight smile. Then he was kissing her again, lulling her rioting senses as she came down from that impossible high.
She was still floating when he shifted his weight back. Instinctively she opened her legs wider. But instead of stopping were she expected, he moved further, halting only when his shoulders wedged between her spread thighs.
Greer shook her head, despite her surge of delighted anticipation. ‘I need you, Conall.’ The hollow ache inside was still there, despite her orgasm.
‘And you’ll have me, soon.’
He’d already dipped his head, his lips moving against that most sensitive spot on her body, making it impossible to answer. Her voice disappeared as exquisite sensation overwhelmed her. Not just because of his mouth, but his hand, circling and probing.
Her one cogent thought was that Conall knew exactly how to drive her out of her mind.
Silk teased her palms and she realised she was grabbing his head, fingers buried in his hair. Again her body took on a life of its own, twisting and rising as he coaxed more delight, more impossible pleasure.
Then his gaze met hers and something passed between them. Heat, excitement and… Connection? A second later she found her voice, keening his name with her head thrown back into the pillow and her body arching into his hold.
There was fire and throbbing fulfilment. Soothing hands and murmured words she couldn’t catch. She was lost in a world of delight so intense it felt like an out-of-body experience. Except for the way she clung to him as he moved higher, finally settling between her legs.
How long they lay together, unmoving apart from his hand gently stroking her hair, she didn’t know. At some point she opened her eyes to find him looking down at her. She smiled, heart full.
And despite the astronomical highs she’d reached, Greer discovered they were nothing compared with the impact of Conall’s answering smile. Slow and a little crooked, so tender and understanding she felt it deep within. He’d cracked open another of the barriers she’d erected to protect herself.
She should be worried about that but couldn’t be. She lifted her hands, moulding his face like a blind woman learning his features. So familiar, so dear, they made her heart contract. Surely this wasn’t new.
Thrusting her fingers into his hair, she drew his head closer. ‘My body feels like a limp rag but still I need you, Conall. Please take me. Now.’
He’d given her physical ecstasy but instinct told her there was something far better to come.
‘You have no idea how much I need you, Greer.’
Propping himself on one elbow, he reached between them and she felt his heavy erection prod her. Then with one slow, smooth glide he joined them.
Her breath escaped in a deep sigh. It was overwhelming, a physical impossibility that she should feel him so deep, as if he nudged her very heart. Yet despite the stretched muscles and the shock of it, nothing in her life had ever been so perfect.
‘Greer?’
She opened eyes she hadn’t realised she’d closed and found him peering down at her, forehead wrinkled in concern and mouth tight. She ran her hands down his back, feeling the ripple of taut muscles in response. A shudder racked his big frame as she clenched him close.
‘Yes.’ She bent her knees, planting her feet on the bed beside his thighs and rocking her hips up. ‘More.’
The movement, or perhaps her words, cut through his restraint. The next moment he retreated then surged deep again. And again. Each time she met him, thrust for thrust, needing the affirmation of them claiming each other.
His biceps bulged as he held himself above her, but there was enough friction to tease her nipples into tight buds. And the friction lower down was having an amazing effect despite her earlier climaxes.
Greer’s senses began to spin. With a final effort she managed to raise trembling legs over his waist, linking her ankles, holding him close as if she feared he might retreat.
All the while Conall’s gaze was fixed on hers. As pleasure rose it was shared. She saw the febrile heat in eyes so dark, iris and pupil were indistinguishable. She lost herself in those depths as his movements grew short and hard and she heard his grunt of shock and fulfilment.
Then he was pulsing inside her, the sensation so intimate, so wonderful, her once weary body spasmed and followed him right into the conflagration.
The world disappeared. There was only her and Conall, his eyes on hers.
Greer had never known such a high. Or such connection.
If it weren’t so perfect it would have frightened her.