Chapter 35
Elenie
She wasn’t sure where she found the words that hung in the air between them. Couldn’t believe she’d let them escape. But her need for him was so huge and his care for her feelings so breathtaking, they’d fallen naturally from her mouth. Her doubts dissolved. Her common sense evaporated. She knew he wanted her. And her body was burning up from his heat.
She wanted this. Even if it was just once. Even if there was nowhere for it to go.
Roman drew in an audible breath and closed his eyes.
“Elenie, you don’t—”
She interrupted him, stepping closer, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her cheek against his chest.
“I do. I want to. I want you.”
Roman’s erection pulsed against her navel and her body tightened in reflex, straining toward him. She couldn’t get close enough. His arms went around her like a vise. For a moment, there was no sound other than their labored breathing.
“I want this so much.”
“You have no idea,”
his voice rumbled against her ear.
“how desperately I have wanted to hear you say that.”
Elenie lifted her chin and pressed a kiss at the base of his neck, where he’d undone the top button of his uniform. Roman swallowed; his pulse juddered beneath her lips. Remembering how she’d looked at his throat from across the table at the gala dinner, she marveled at this opportunity to fulfil what she’d thought of as a hopeless fantasy and dotted more soft kisses on every part of his neck she could reach. He stood frozen beneath her hands and her mouth.
“Elenie—”
Roman’s voice was hoarse.
“You smell so good,”
she murmured.
“It’s why I ended up on your bed earlier. You smell amazing and your sheets smell of you. I think I’m addicted.”
The sound he made was half-laugh, half-moan. His hands moved from her waist to her hair.
“No, it’s you who smells amazing. You only have to be near me and your scent makes me so fucking hot.”
He took a handful of her hair and pressed it to his nose. She felt his cock flex against her stomach. “See?”
Elenie’s whole body was as tight as a bow.
“Roman. Please.”
She didn’t know what she was asking for.
He lifted her chin and their lips touched. Elenie’s mouth opened beneath his. His tongue dipped inside to meet hers, tasting and stroking. Their breath mingled. She made a strangled noise which sounded ridiculous to her ears, but seemed to inflame Roman, who swore and pulled her closer.
Taking hold of each side of her t-shirt, he lifted it swiftly over her head. The cool air caressed her skin and she wished with all her heart that she owned sexier underwear.
“I only had two bras,”
Elenie whispered through numbed lips.
“and you cut one of them in half.”
Roman lifted a finger to trace each cotton strap and the swell of her breasts. Fire blazed in his eyes as he followed the path of his hands. Elenie couldn’t breathe.
“I’ll buy you more. I’ll buy you all the bras you want.”
Her eyelids fluttered closed as his hands slid around her back and undid the clasp. It wasn’t a smooth maneuver. The fact that his fingers fumbled slightly made her smile. Gave her the courage to open her eyes again as he swept the straps gently off her shoulders and dropped her bra to the floor.
“Christ, Elenie. Maybe I won’t buy you any bras at all.”
He brushed one large thumb over the nipple of her left breast; she arched into his touch.
“Roman.”
His name was a plea on her tongue as he stroked her again.
“So fucking lovely,”
he murmured.
His hands were heated as they moved over her skin. The fine hairs on her arms stood on end, his fingertips dragging ripples of sensation through her body. Her nipples tightened into small pebbles which he caught between his finger and thumb, triggering an immediate ache at the junction of her thighs, partway between bliss and torment.
“Too many clothes.”
She gave a dazed shake of her head.
“You’re still wearing too many clothes.”
Her fingers went to the buttons on his shirt and Roman sucked in a sharp breath. Elenie watched her own hands, transfixed, as she undid each one, his shirt gaping wider the further she went. When it hung loose on his shoulders, he shrugged it onto the floor. She grabbed a fistful of the soft t-shirt that lay underneath, pulling herself up on her tiptoes to catch his lower lip between her teeth. Roman groaned and dragged her closer, his hands on her ass and his rock-hard length pushing into the dip above her hip bone. His mouth was hungry, hot, and heavy on hers. He smelled like the woods and tasted of strength and temptation.
“I want to feel your tits on my chest,”
he grated.
“But I might just explode if I do.”
She gave a breathless laugh.
“I might just explode if you don’t.”
Tugging on his t-shirt, Elenie drew it up his sides, uncovering tanned skin beneath. Impatiently, Roman whipped it out of her grasp and dragged it the rest of the way over his head. Hair ruffled, eyes glazed, he stood in front of her and she couldn’t breathe.
“Oh, my God. You are—”
She lifted her face to him and he smiled his enticing, uneven smile.
“Gorgeous,”
she finished on a whisper.
“Roman, you are gorgeous.”
“No. You are.”
When he reached for her and pulled her into his chest, they both moaned. The smattering of hair that covered his firm muscles teased her nipples, sending shivers of sensation over her skin. She shuddered and Roman’s body tightened in response. His breath was coming in gasps. His fingers went to the button of her jeans, moving more urgently. The moment they were undone, he pushed them off her waist, over the curve of her rear and down onto her thighs. Elenie stepped away to wriggle out of them, dragging her socks off at the same time.
Without taking his eyes from her face, Roman undid his pants and slid them past the bulge in his shorts to the floor. His own socks soon joined the scattered pile of clothes. When she reached for the sides of her panties, he shook his head and held out a hand.
“Come with me.”
Catching her fingers, he tugged her gently toward the bed. Elenie stumbled and followed him.
Roman sat on the edge of the mattress. When he opened his legs, she stepped between his knees. He gripped her hips to pull her closer, pressing his lips against her stomach. Her skin rippled in response; she curled her fingers into his hair. Licking and kissing in random patterns that made no sense to anyone but him, Roman muttered broken sentences, telling her how beautiful she was, how much she turned him on. His fingers slid over cotton. Elenie’s inhale was tortured. He didn’t press any further, just stroked the soft skin of her thighs until her legs shook.
“You feel like heaven,”
he told her.
“And you taste like heaven. And your smell drives me completely insane. My cock is so hard right now and it’s all because of you.”
She flexed under his touch.
“You make me feel so sexy,”
she breathed.
“Christ, Elenie. If you were any sexier, I’d lose the ability to speak at all. I’d only be able to grunt like a caveman.”
Roman turned his face to rub his jaw against her stomach. The rough scrape of his stubble on her sensitive skin made her eyes roll.
“Lie down with me.”
His words were so soft, she barely heard him. But Elenie answered his tug on her hips immediately, climbing onto the bed and stretching out with a sigh.
Roman kneeled over her, midnight eyes raking her body from head to toe. He placed a hand at the base of her throat and trailed it gently between her breasts, over her stomach, and farther down to rest on her panties. His chest rose and fell as if he’d just finished a workout.
“Please—”
Her hands closed on the quilt. She rolled her hips and his gaze shot to her face. He looked wild and rumpled, on the edge of losing control. The thrill of having such power over him lit her up inside like a sparkler.
The mattress dipped as he leaned over her to pull open the drawer of his nightstand. Roman rummaged inside and dropped a foil packet onto the bed. With hands that shook, he gently peeled away her underwear, then impatiently pushed down his own. His length sprang free and Elenie reached for him, eyes cloudy with need. She was desperate to feel him.
“Not yet.”
He closed his fingers on her wrist, voice like sandpaper.
“I want to explore you first.”
Roman lay slowly down on top of her, a sensual weighted blanket covering every inch of her body. Muscles bunched in his upper arms. She wanted to close her teeth on his taut skin. Dipping his head to take her mouth again, he slid one leg between hers, nudging her knees apart and moving against her. He closed his fingers gently on her neck, slid them to her collarbone, the curve of her shoulder, the smooth expanse of her chest.
He brushed his palm over one nipple and traced it with his fingers. The sensation was exquisite. Elenie’s head twisted from side to side. She was losing her mind to the feel of Roman’s touch on her skin, the pressure of his hardness against her thighs.
He stroked her stomach, the back of his hand teasing the underside of her breasts with every sweep. And all the while, his mouth painted hers with kisses so tender and warm that a knot of emotion lodged at the base of her throat.
Roman’s hand slid lower. His eyes burned into hers as he paused above her center.
“Yes,”
she murmured.
“Touch me. Please.”
They both drew matching jagged breaths when he obeyed.
“Elenie.”
His voice sounded pained.
“Fuck, I didn’t think I could get any harder.”
His fingers dipped into the silky wetness between her legs, gliding back and forth in a gentle sweep that sent her hips rolling against him.
“You feel like velvet,” he whispered into her mouth.
She clenched when his thumb brushed her clit, a million nerve endings tingling all over her body. Her muscles tightened and cried out for release from the delicate touch, the too-sensitive vibrations. When he pushed a finger deep inside, she moaned against his neck. Another joined the first and the delicious stretch sent tremors through her shaking thighs. He stroked her with his thumb, circling, teasing, exploring. A starburst of colors flickered beneath her eyelids. She bit her lip, poised on the edge of a cliff dive of sensations. Wanting more. Needing more. So ready to fall.
“Let me taste you.”
He grunted the words into her hair, raising himself onto braced arms and prowling down her body.
“I want you to come on my tongue.”
Elenie tensed.
“I don’t . . . I’ve never—Roman, let me—”
When she pressed her legs together and reached for him instead, he lifted his head. His eyes were intense, his pupils huge and drug-dazed.
“I want to make this good for you, sweetheart. Your pleasure comes first. You come first. Let me do this for you.”
And, oh God—that feeling! Of being seen. Of being wanted. Of being worshipped. It spread through her like sunlight between November clouds and he almost tipped her over the peak with his words alone.
A small sob escaped Elenie’s lips as she submitted completely. Her thighs parted. Knees spreading, she opened herself up for him. Roman groaned, pressing his mouth to the hollow of her hip. She could feel his breath against her center. And then his tongue swept over her, staggeringly intimate, achingly tender.
Her breath came in gasps, her hands fisting in the bedsheets. She was a writhing mass of need and want. With iron control, he tasted her and teased her. Every upstroke was silken. Every downstroke, ragged. The light stubble on his jaw left trails of fire on Elenie’s inner thighs. His hands bit into her hips, taut with focus and possession. Each time she nearly fell, he paused and drew back.
“I’m not finished.”
His voice was rough and unsteady. He traced her folds with his tongue, over and over, until finally she begged him. Then Roman’s fingers pressed back inside her, his mouth hot and insistent. The stretch was too intense.
“Come for me, sweetheart,”
he said finally.
“Come for me now.”
With a cry, Elenie shattered and broke under his touch, her climax fueled by the vibrations of satisfaction that hummed on his tongue. He lapped at her until her body stopped shaking and her vision cleared. She tugged on his hair to lift his head.
Roman’s body was rigid as he shifted to kneel above her, a light sheen of sweat covering his skin.
“I need to be inside you,”
he told her hoarsely.
She nodded, hips lifting in invitation. “Yes.”
He reached for the condom, tore open the foil, and rolled it swiftly onto himself with purposeful hands. A whimper broke from Elenie’s throat at the sight; she’d never seen anything so erotic. Roman centered his weight over her until they were chest to chest, his cock hot and heavy between her thighs. When he pressed into her, inch by unhurried inch, she gasped. He sank deeper, his lips bumping her temple. Unintelligible words fell from his mouth. Stretched around him, gloriously full, Elenie’s breath panted from her lips.
“So good. You feel so good,”
he murmured into her hair.
Roman began to move and she could swear her eyes rolled. His biceps under her fingers felt like rock. The friction, both friend and foe, spiraled them higher and higher, almost painful, wonderfully tender, the center of everything. Slow strokes, juddering breaths. He was the heat of the sun, burning her up from the inside out. Consuming her, one thrust at a time.
One hand slid to her ass, fingers gripping her cheek, as he buried himself further with each roll of his hips. She lifted her legs to wrap them around his thighs and pulled him even closer. Her ankles crossed, encasing him in a prison of eager limbs, and the change in position was the undoing of them both.
“Fuck! Jesus Christ, Elenie.”
Roman ground the words out, nostrils flaring.
“I can’t hold on.”
“Don’t.”
It sounded like a sob.
“Don’t hold on!”
He came with a hoarse cry and a series of shuddering pulses which shook his body and sent her free-falling into her own blissful climax. She tightened around him as they clung together, riding crashing waves which stole their breath and all their words.
Roman rested his forehead on hers, his chest heaving, body still trembling with aftershocks. He pressed hot, slow kisses to her mouth.
“That was incredible. You turn me inside out.”
When he tried to lift some of his weight, Elenie gripped her wobbly legs around him and pulled him back down.
“No, no, no,”
she sighed.
“You need to stay here forever.”