Chapter Nineteen
Redford felt himself slipping into the deep throes of ecstasy. He was about to make love to Carmen, and he refused to accept that this was only a dream, one he staunchly refused to wake from. He eased into position above her, ready to slide in, anticipating...
Suddenly, he was awakened by movement in the room above his. Carmen was awake and pacing. Why? Was she restless again tonight? Was something medically wrong? The thought had him bolting out of bed, rushing from the guest room and up the stairs. Forcing his overstretched nerves under control, he knocked on her bedroom door.
“Come in.”
He opened the door then stopped short. She stood in the middle of the room and, unlike last night, she wasn’t wearing a robe. She wore a nightgown that looked even shorter than the one from last night.
He swallowed the deep lump in his throat before asking, “What’s wrong, Carmen?”
She lifted a brow. “What makes you think something is wrong?”
He frowned. “I heard you moving around. Why aren’t you in bed asleep? Are you restless again tonight?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m not restless.”
He nodded and came farther into the room. The way the light from the hallway shone into her bedroom highlighted not only how short her gown was, but also the lack of undergarments beneath it. Why were there so many tempting curves on her body? Her hair flowed loosely around her shoulders. He recalled that when he’d left her tonight she had bound it back in a ponytail. The wild mass gave her an even sexier look. He’d offered to help her wash it and re-braid it tomorrow.
“If you’re not restless tonight, then what’s wrong?” he asked, coming to a stop in front of her. Was he imagining things or was she emitting heat? Why? Was she running a fever? Instinctively, he checked her forehead.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Checking your temperature. You feel a little hot.”
“I’m not running a fever, Redford. At least not exactly.”
He dropped his hands from her face to his side. Her words confused him. “Then what exactly?”
She began nibbling on her bottom lip, and he detected she was nervous. “What’s wrong, Carmen? What’s bothering you at this hour? You can tell me anything. Remember, we’re in this together.”
He watched her draw in a deep breath, and then as if she’d made up her mind about something, she said, “I’ve never been into game-playing and want to be completely honest with you about something.”
This sounded serious. “Okay. What?”
She paused. “I knew if you heard me moving around up here that you would come check on me. I apologize for that.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
She looked at him with a very serious expression in those beautiful, almond-shaped, light brown eyes. “But I do.”
He tilted his head to look at her. “Why do you feel that way?”
Instead of answering, she nibbled on her bottom lip again. He doubted she knew how much of a turn-on that was. Reaching out, he took her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss her palm. He tried convincing himself he’d done it to calm her nervousness more than to placate his raging testosterone.
“Tell me, Carmen, why you feel that way,” he said, releasing her hand.
He watched her draw in another deep breath before saying in a low voice, “I wanted you to come up here so I could seduce you.”
He blinked, thinking he’d heard her wrong. “Seduce me?”
Now she was nervously wringing her hands together. “Yes.”
Desire surged through him at the thought that she’d wanted to seduce him. “Why?”
She looked up at him. “Why what?”
“Why do you want to seduce me?”
She released what sounded to him like a disgusted sigh. “The doctor planted the seed in my head by thinking we’re intimate.”
He nodded. “A logical conclusion since you’re having my baby.”
She shrugged. “That’s what Leslie said when I gave her a recap of my doctor’s visit.”
“I gather you changed your mind about this plan of seduction, then?” he asked, and thought his voice sounded husky, even to him.
“Pretty much. I can’t be that manipulating, especially since I know how you feel.”
He took her hand in his. She seemed to be a mass of nervous energy, flustered and apprehensive. “And how do I feel?” he asked.
“You said that we would never be intimate again. That you needed the willpower to make sure such a thing didn’t happen. Knowing that, it wouldn’t be right for me to try to seduce you.”
He was convinced Carmen was way too honest for her own good. She had more integrity in her little pedicured toe than some people had in their entire body. In a way, he had known from the beginning that she was different, but initially, he had refused to let that mean anything. Like all the others, he had put up his “do-them-before-they-do-you” defense.
“So, you can go back to bed, Redford. I’m sorry to have disturbed you,” she said, breaking into his thoughts.
Was she actually dismissing him now? Did she think he could walk away after everything she’d told him? He released her hand and tenderly caressed her cheek, loving the feel of her soft skin. And the degree of desire he saw in her eyes was something she couldn’t hide, and he was so glad that she couldn’t.
“What if I told you that I have no problem with you seducing me, Carmen?”
“Why? Because you know that I can’t?”
“No, because I know that you can. And as far as my willpower, I’ve discovered over the past week, it’s a lost cause where you are concerned.”
Her eyes widened like saucers. “Why?”
“Because of the magnitude of what we shared that night. A night I still have strong memories of. Now I understand why our lovemaking made such a lasting impression on me.”
“You do?” At his nod, she asked, “Why?”
“Because something that wonderful and magnificent was never meant to be a one and done.”
Without giving her a chance to say anything, he leaned in and brushed a kiss across her lips and whispered, “So go ahead, Carmen. I give you permission to seduce the hell out of me.”
A lump formed in Carmen’s throat when she repeated Redford’s words in her mind. Staring deeply into his eyes, she saw a longing in their dark depths and couldn’t ignore the sense of satisfaction that fueled her own desire. When a smile spread across his lips, she felt emboldened to seduce him, although she’d never done any such thing before in her life.
“I wouldn’t know where to start,” she admitted.
“Start anywhere you like and do anything you want,” was his response. The deep sound of his voice did things to her. Made her feel things that only he could make her feel. Suddenly, she felt very warm. The sliver of the moon through an opening in the curtain highlighted his features. His very handsome features.
His words floated back through her mind once again. They motivated her, made her want to do just what he’d suggested, to start anywhere and do anything. Just the thought sent a sensuous tremor through her.
So what was she waiting for?
Leaning up on tiptoes, she pressed her mouth to his. He returned the kiss but in no way did he try to dominate it, even though he was holding her solidly against him. Yet this kiss stirred something deep within her. Although he let her control every aspect of it, at the same time, in his own way, he assured her that he was all in.
In no time at all, the kiss ignited a craving within her, one she’d tried to contain since his arrival a week ago. There was a greediness unleashed within her that made every part of her ache with an urgency that was overtaking her senses.
If someone had told her after her last encounter with Redford that she would be allowing such a thing to occur again, she would have laughed. But here she was, back in his arms again and anticipating what she knew would happen next.
Nothing she and Redford shared had anything to do with love. At least not on his part. The chemistry between them was strong, unrelenting and nearly burning out of control.
She broke off the kiss to take a deep breath, filling her nostrils with his masculine scent and her eyes with all that was him. The last time they’d been together, he had undressed her. Tonight, she wanted to experience how it would be to undress him. He was already shirtless and his jeans hung low on his hips with the fastener unsnapped. Evidently, he had slipped into them quickly when he’d heard her move around up here.
“Need my help with anything?”
She met his gaze and saw the heat of desire in his eyes. Knowing he wanted this as much as she did had her melting inside. “No, I got this.”
To prove her point, she took a step closer and immediately felt the hard throb of his erection against her middle. She tried not to react to it but couldn’t help doing so. There was no way he didn’t see genuine female appreciation in her eyes.
Reaching down, she began easing down his zipper. Then kneeling down in front of him, she tugged on his jeans. After a few tries, she finally eased them down his legs. Since he wasn’t wearing any briefs, she could only assume he slept in the nude. The thought of such a thing was a total turn-on for her.
When he kicked the jeans aside, she stood back up to let her gaze roam over his naked body. She thought the same thing now that she had their one night together. He was a perfect specimen of a man. She couldn’t help leaning in to brush a kiss across his lips and whispering, “We’re halfway there.”
As she took a step back, his dark eyes stared at her as she eased the nightgown from her shoulders to drop at her feet. Now it was his gaze roaming over her nakedness.
There was something hot about his look that made her move toward him. She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and recaptured his mouth with hers. Kissing him in ways she’d spent several nights dreaming about.
Evidently, she was doing something right, she thought, when she felt his hands stroke her back. In no time at all she became lost in the sensuality that was the epitome of Redford St. James. Although he let her dominate the kiss, there was something about the way he was doing so that had her senses reeling. Not only was she trying to light his fire, he was also lighting hers.
She pulled away from the kiss and unwrapped her hands from around his neck. Then she began doing something she’d wanted to do the last time but hadn’t been bold enough to try. Mainly to touch him. All over.
Her hands trailed over his chest and shoulders before moving lower to his hips and thighs. Feeling bolder still, she cupped that ultra-male, large part of him in her hand, amazed at the hardness of it. Just thinking how this particular part had been instrumental in making a baby with her elicited a sensual moan from deep within her throat.
His voice was husky, his breathing choppy and erratic, when he murmured, “I love the feel of you touching me, Carmen.”
Carmen had news for him. She found this part of him fascinating and loved touching him, too. The more she did so, the more she wanted him. From the sounds he was making, he wanted her, too.
“Not sure how much more I can handle of you doing that,” he said in a throaty voice while framing her face in his palms. She had no choice but to look at him instead of looking down at what her hands were doing.
He released her face when her fingertips began making circular motions around the tip of his manhood. She looked into his eyes when he inhaled sharply, as if his breath had been snatched from him. “What’s wrong?” she asked, concerned, but not enough to stop what she was doing to him with her hands. The eyes staring back at her were so filled with heat, they nearly snatched her own breath away.
“You have no idea what you’re doing to me, Carmen,” he said through gritted teeth.
He was right, she didn’t know, but she had a good idea. Feeling naughty, she leaned in and licked the side of his face and whispered, “What I want to know is whether I’ve seduced the hell out of you yet, Redford.”
Reaching down, he gently cradled her face in his hand. “Yes, sweetheart. You have done that and more. Now it’s my turn to seduce you, Carmen.”
He swept her off her feet and into his arms.