Chapter 10
He had lost control. Somehow, the tables had been turned, and he had to find a way to turn it back around.
He was about to suggest she get in bed, when she chose that very moment to drop the slinky material.
His mouth went as dry as dust as he stared at the voluptuous curves bared in front of him.
Her breasts were not large, but the nipples were wide and puckered.
Her stomach was flat, her body well proportioned.
Heat surged into his loins with the rapidity of a bullet let loose from the chamber.
He could not think.
"What do you think?" She chose that moment to ask that specific question when his mind had gone blank.
"I-" he swallowed the golf-sized lump in his throat.
"You're beautiful." He did not recognize the raspy sound of his voice. "Now come here."
"Remember, no commitment," she warned as she slid in next to him.
"Be quiet," he growled. He would deal with the strange conversation at a later time. Now she was spread out before him like a banquet and he was starving. Shucking the robe, he leaned on one elbow and simply drank in the sight of her, while she did the same.
He was even more beautiful than she had imagined.
His clothing hid a magnificent body with well-toned muscles.
His shoulders were broad, his chest wide with the furrowing of dense dark hairs leading to a washboard stomach.
She dared not venture further down. Her heart was already pounding and her breath shallow.
The pep talk she had given herself while getting ready in the bathroom was like a distant memory. He was beautiful and she was afraid that she had taken on more than she could chew.
His muscles flexed and rippled when he lifted a hand to the fat coil of hair over her left shoulder.
"You have a lot of hair," he whispered, loving the feel of the soft silky strands between his fingers.
"A result of an African-American dad and American-Indian mother." Her nipples were so tight, they were painful. She could smell him; the distinct and obviously expensive cologne combined with the sheer animal magnetism emanating from him. She wanted to touch him so badly, her fingers were itching.
"You're allowed." His voice was indulgent, amusement dancing in his green eyes.
"What?"
"Touch me," he invited.
"How did you-"
"You have a very expressive face." Without waiting for her to comply, he took her hand and placed it flat on his chest. At the first contact, his muscles quivered in response.
"See how much I want you?"
"I-" His flesh felt hot to the touch. Growing more bold, she started to explore the skin, marveling at how crisp and soft the hairs were.
Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to the nipple tentatively.
His reaction was explosive and instantaneous.
His hand clenched on her hair as he inhaled sharply and muttered something in Spanish.
A smile hovered at her lips as she gained more confidence.
His reaction was a soothing balm to her shattered ego.
When she had been with Brian, he had always been the one to do the initiating. She had tried several times to make the first move, but his comments disguised as teasing had turned her off. He had accused her of trying to be the man in the relationship.
"Honey, I know you're in charge at the office, but a man likes to believe he's in charge in the bedroom."
She had tried to please the bastard by being submissive and look where it got her. This time she was going to be bold. With that in mind, she used the tip of her tongue to caress the small nipple.
"Antoinette-" His breathing was harsh, his body vibrating. "You have to stop."
"You don't like it?" she asked seductively.
"You can see that I do." His voice was taut, his body going rigid.
"Then what's the problem?" she asked innocently, continuing her exploration.
With an unsteady laugh, he pushed her back on the pillows and used his leg to trap both of hers to keep her still.
"The problem is, if you continue doing what you were doing, I'm not going to last and I intend to last, that is." He slid his fingers through the silky strands of her hair and cupped the back of her neck. Holding her steady, his fevered eyes met hers as he lowered his head.
"I intend to last all night."
His breath fanned hers and mingled, sending white-hot heat through her body.
Her hands lifted to curve around his neck as she turned into him.
But he held back, deliberately. She had taken the control away from him and he was determined to take it back.
He knew a thing or two about pleasing a woman and he desperately wanted to brand this particular woman, make things so unforgettable that she would find it difficult to think of even going out with someone else.
That nonsense about them seeing other people was going to be put to bed. He wanted exclusivity.
For the first time in his thirty-five years, he cared whether or not the woman he was with was with someone else.
He wanted to be her only. His mouth brushed against hers.
Back and forth, slowly, evocatively, again and again until she felt as if she was falling into a pool of flames that was burning so hot, she was afraid of being incinerated.
She moaned, fingers digging into the firm skin of his shoulders and then wandering restlessly down his back and then his neck as she tried vainly to get him to deepen the kiss. He was torturing her. Tormenting her with light kisses that were designed to drive her insane.
His teeth nipped at her full bottom lip and had her body arching.
When he used his tongue to soothe the sting, she trembled, her lips parting eagerly.
His tongue plunged into her mouth and had her gripping his shoulders for balance.
The kiss was torrid, evocative and wild.
His fingers dug into her hair as he deepened the kiss, his body shuddering. She was not the only one affected.
For the first time in his life, he felt the control slipping away from him.
He was craving her and had to stop himself from taking huge gulps of her, which was exactly what he wanted to do.
What he was longing to do. She was pressed up against him so close that he could feel the imprints of her nipples branding his chest, searing him until he could hardly bear it.
Ending the kiss, he trailed his lips over her cheeks and then her chin before going to the hollow of her throat.
She smelled like something he could be eating for a day, a week, a month, years.
Cupping a breast, he weighed it in his palm, his eyes searing into hers as he passed his thumb over the rigid flesh.
Her reaction to his touch fired a response inside him that was almost unbelievable.
Her lips were parted as her breath soughed through them.
Her eyes were wide and clouded with desire.
"Tell me you want me," he demanded thickly. He had never asked that of a woman before. "Tell me."
"I want you."
"Say it again." He increased the pace, plucking at the nipple and causing her to jolt.
"I want you."
Smothering a groan, he bent his head and used his tongue to lave the flesh.
Her fingers gripped his hair, her body arching to give him more access.
He started suckling, slowly at first and then with a hunger that had them both splintering.
He could not get enough of her. He wanted to devour her and then start all over again.
Her flesh was like an aphrodisiac, the taste of her like a narcotic coursing through his veins.
By the time he switched to the other nipple, she was mindless with passion.
His plan to first explore her lush body with his mouth to bring her a shattering climax had to be shelved. He could not wait a minute longer. Climbing on top of her, he guided himself into her moist shelter. She sheathed him so completely that it took a moment for him to move.
Cupping her face between his palms, he smoothed the hairs from her cheeks, his touch unbelievably gentle.
"You fit me," he whispered against her mouth.
Her arms came around his neck and neither of them had time to think about protection.
That was a first for him. In his position, he had to be careful and in the past, he had always been.
Now, it never occurred to him to think about protecting them both and if he had, he would not have cared.
He wanted to feel every inch of her, and he wanted her to feel every inch of him.
She felt the funny twist inside her stomach and the jellied feeling in her limbs at the solid length of him deep inside her.
He started moving, slowly at first, his eyes boring into hers.
She followed suit, hips lifting to meet his thrust. And then he changed the pace, abruptly, increasing the thrusts, eyes still watching her face.
His breath became strangled in his throat when she arched, indicating that her climax was near.
He increased the pace even more, his chest expanding and then tightening with tension.
When she came, he bent his head and closed his mouth over hers, swallowing her cry.
Determined not to follow behind her just yet, he withdrew, just circling the opening.
But she would have none of that. Bending her knee, she lifted her hips and forced him to plunge in deep.
The second he did, the climax exploded, causing his body to shudder.
The intensity of it wrung a low groan from him that was swallowed by her.
He was still kissing her when they both drifted down to earth.
Ending the kiss, he lifted his head to stare down at her in wonder, his breath still shallow. When she started to turn her head away, he clamped his thumb and forefinger on her chin, forcing her to face him.
"Just sex, you said earlier?" he asked huskily.