Chapter Three #2
In no time, desire overwhelmed her, and their playful moment transformed.
She turned to sit astride him. Placing her hands on both sides of his face, she leaned forward to kiss him, long and thoroughly, her hair falling over his shoulders.
He was ready to love her again, too—she felt it.
His hands caressed her breasts, then slid down over her torso to her inner thigh.
His fingers glided higher, stroking her intimately until she closed her eyes and clung to him, her hips moving as he loved her.
“Tony, you need protection,” she said, her eyes flying open.
“So I do,” he said, reaching behind him for his terry robe on the footstool.
He took a condom out of the pocket and, in seconds, he was sheathed and ready.
He pulled her close again, lifting her so he could enter her in one smooth stroke.
She locked her legs around him and lowered herself onto his hard shaft.
Her climax came fast, as if they hadn’t made love earlier, and she achieved another before Tony reached his. When he was sated, he watched her with hooded eyes and she wondered what he thought.
She picked up a towel to dry herself, her gaze running over broad shoulders that glistened with drops of water. “I’ll see you in bed,” she said, leaning close to kiss him. His arm snaked out to wrap around her neck.
“I want to keep you right here in my arms,” he said between kisses. Damp locks of his hair clung to his forehead and he felt warm and wet.
“I’ll see you in bed,” she repeated with amusement. “You’re insatiable. When do you run out of energy?”
“With you, I hope never.”
She laughed, snatching up another towel to wrap around herself as she got out of the tub and headed to bed.
She felt as if she was having an out-of-body experience. The night continued to shock her—Tony continued to shock her. She couldn’t believe he’d given her the best sex of her life, three bone-shattering orgasms—and the night wasn’t over yet.
She walked into a big closet and looked at his clothes so neatly hanging. Boots were lined in rows. She found what she wanted—a navy terry robe—and she pulled it on, belting it around her waist.
She climbed into bed, detecting a faint scent of Tony’s aftershave, wondering how long it would be before he joined her.
In minutes he walked through the door and her heart skipped a beat. With a navy towel knotted around his waist, he oozed sex appeal as he crossed the room.
“I couldn’t wait to be with you. You look more gorgeous than ever,” he said, discarding his towel and scooting beneath the sheet. “Want a drink? Something to eat? Music and dancing?”
She laughed out loud. “You’ve got to be kidding. Relax, Tony. Sit back and enjoy the moment.” She sobered and ran her fingers over his smooth jaw. “You shaved.”
“Just for you.” Turning on his side, he pulled her close against him. “This is better. I like your hair down best.”
“I rarely wear it that way, but I’ll keep that in mind.”
“No, you won’t. You’ll forget.” He ran his fingers through the damp locks. “You know you never gave me an answer to my invitation to go to dinner next Friday night.”
She was silent, mulling over his question. She had wanted to accept instantly when he had asked her the first time, but reluctance had filled her. It still did. “I think when we go back to our real lives, you’ll wish you hadn’t asked me.”
“Not so.”
“Call me next week and ask me again if you still want to go out. I don’t think you will.”
“Darlin’, if I didn’t want you to go, I wouldn’t ask you.”
“Just call me next week.”
He gave her a long look and she wondered what was running through his mind.
Had their mild clash reminded him of the big fights they’d had?
From the shuttered look that had come to his eyes, she suspected it had.
She didn’t want any such intrusion on this night.
She scooted close against him. “In the meantime, I intend to keep you happy with me,” she said, hoping for a sultry voice.
The shuttered look was replaced by blatant desire, and she guessed she had succeeded in making things right between them again. When he turned to kiss her, she was certain she had.
It was midafternoon the next day when she walked out of the shower. Wearing the navy robe again, she roamed through his sprawling condo into a big kitchen that had an adjoining sitting room with a fireplace.
Exploring the refrigerator and his freezer, she saw some drinks, a few covered dishes and an assortment of berries. She had leaned down to look at the lower shelves when Tony’s arms circled her waist to draw her back against him. He nuzzled her neck.
“I know what I want,” he said.
She turned to wrap her arms around his neck. He wore another thick navy robe that fell open over his broad chest.
Aware their idyll was about to end, she kissed him passionately. She dreaded stepping back into reality, where she would have to wrangle with him again.
He released her. “Hold that thought and let me put something in the oven so I can feed us.”
“At last...food,” she said, clutching her heart and batting her eyelashes dramatically at him. When she licked her lips slowly as she watched him remove the covered casserole dish from the fridge and nudge the door closed, he placed the dish on the counter and turned to draw her into his arms.
“You were going to get fed until you did that,” he said in a husky voice, pulling her close.
“Did what?”
“You know what,” he said, leaning closer to kiss her, a hungry kiss that ignited fires more swiftly than ever.
In minutes she wriggled out of his grasp. “I think we should eat. Whatever I did, I won’t do again. How can I help?”
He was breathing hard, looking down, and she realized the top of her robe was pulled apart enough to reveal her breasts. She closed the robe more tightly. “As I was saying, what can I do to help?”
He seemed to not even hear her, but in seconds he looked up. “If you want to eat, I suggest you go sit over there on the sofa and talk to me while I get something heated up. If you stay within arm’s reach, I’m reaching.”
She smiled and left him alone, watching him put the dish into the oven and get plates, pour juice, wash berries.
Her gaze raked over him. He was a gorgeous man.
Sexy, strong, successful. Why hadn’t some woman snatched him up already?
As far as she knew from local gossip, there had never been a long-term girlfriend.
Just a trail of girlfriends who’d come and gone.
Apparently, he didn’t go in for serious affairs.
“Tony, you really should let me help you. I feel silly sitting here doing nothing except watching you work.”
“This isn’t hard work. You stay where you are so I’m not too distracted to get breakfast on the table.”
“I do that to you? Distract you?”
“Lindsay,” he said in a threatening tone, “do you want breakfast or do you want to go back to bed?”
She laughed. “Breakfast. I’m famished. And I’ll help any way I can.”
“You know what you can do, so do it,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” she answered demurely, teasing him.
When his gaze raked over her, she became aware of the top of her robe gaping open enough to give a another glimpse of her breasts and the lower half of her robe falling open over her crossed legs.
She closed her robe and belted it tightly, glancing up to find him still watching her.
“Show’s over,” she said.
He nodded and turned to finish preparing the meal.
After a breakfast of egg-and-bacon casserole and fruit, he turned on music as they cleared the table, and took her wrist. “Stop working and come dance with me,” he said, moving to a familiar lively rock number.
Unable to resist him, she danced with him, aware as she did that her robe gaped below her waist, revealing her legs all the way to her thighs.
Next a ballad came on and he drew her into his arms to slow dance. He was aroused, ready to make love again. His arms tightened around her and he shifted closer to kiss her. Dimly she was aware they had stopped dancing.
His hand trailed down between them to untie her robe while he continued kissing her. When she reached out to do the same, his belt was tightly knotted and she needed his help, but soon both robes were open. He shoved them aside, pulling her naked body against his.
Her soft moan was a mixture of pleasure and desire as he kissed her and picked her up to carry her back to bed.
It was almost two hours later when he held her close beside him in bed and rolled over to look at her. He wound his fingers in the long strands of her hair, toying with her locks.
“I know you have to go home soon,” he said. “I think it’s time we get to the reason behind this weekend and your incredible bid for me at the auction. You paid a mind-boggling sum to get my attention, so now you have it. What’s behind this? What did you want me to agree to do?”
Tony looked into her big eyes that were the color of blue crystal.
His gaze went to her mouth and he wanted to kiss her again.
He stifled the urge, difficult as it was.
Their time together had been fabulous, a dream, but it would end shortly and they would go back to their regular lives.
How much would it change because of the auction?
For a moment a memory flashed in his mind of the second and most direct encounter they had, when a big tree on her property fell during a storm in the night.
It had fallen on his fence, taking it down and also smashing one of his trucks, which had stalled in the rainstorm.