Valerie
“Okay, I hope you have a lot of fun, Nat.” Holding my cell phone to my ear with my shoulder, I popped open the oven to put the lasagna I’d made inside. Heat wafted my hair around my ears, and my sister laughed tipsy on the other end of the line. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Have fun on your date, too, Val. Talk to you later.” Hanging up to set my phone on the counter, I clapped my palms together to sigh, and a leisurely kind of happiness settled deep in my chest. Natasha left me her lasagna recipe, and I fixed my hair over my shoulders as heated excitement wormed between my lungs.
A soft knock on the front door drew my attention, and I gnawed on my lower lip as I went to answer. Carlyle gazed down at me warmly, a smile stretching his lips, and flames licked up my neck as he leaned on the door frame. This time, he didn’t wear a suit. I honestly didn’t think he owned a pair of jeans, but the light khakis clinging to his hips were as casual as I’d seen him.
“Hi . . . hey.” Tearing my eyes off his crotch, I blushed at the knowing glint in his eye, and Carlyle’s smile widened. “Come in.”
“I would be delighted.” Stepping to the side, I pressed against the door, and Carlyle breezed past to brush against me suggestively. Flames crawling up my abdomen, and I shut the door as expectancy tingled my fingertips. My toes dug into the carpet as I followed him to the sofa, and we sat down in a tense, sexually charged awkwardness.
“Are you going to treat me differently now that you know?” The question just burst out of me, and I clamped my hands over my mouth as my desire tinged thickly in embarrassment. Staring at my lap when Carlyle’s gaze bored holes into my cheek, I silently cursed myself, and my skin jumped when he cupped my chin. Forcing me to look at him, he frowned slightly under furrowed brows, and I held my breath as my heart thundered rapidly in its cage.
“Yes.” Rolling my lips between my teeth to hide my own frown, I tensed when Carlyle swooped in to kiss me so sweetly that it stole what little stale breath I had. Goosebumps swept down my body, and he pinched my chin gently as his passion and his anger and hisgratitudeclogged my throat. Reaching a tentative hand to his chest, I didn’t protest when he caressed up my jaw, and his palm clung to the back of my head gingerly.
His tongue slipped past my teeth, and I leaned forward when Carlyle tangled his fingers in my hair. Tangling with mine, his taste coated the roof of my mouth, and I shuffled to straddle him as he laid back on the armrest. All we did was kiss, but it was so wonderful— soliberating— and the passion behind his tongue warmed my whole body.
Carlyle’s kisses couldn’t hide anything, and a moan squeezed past the dense lump in my throat when he palmed down my back. The lacy lingerie I wore under my clothes suddenly became itchy, and he gasped into my mouth as his tongue danced with mine. His body heat seeped through my clothes, and I slowly managed to undo each button of his shirt.
“Valerie . . . ” Covering my hands with his when I reached the last button, Carlyle pulled my knuckles to his lips, and his eyes shone so brightly with all his passion that they threatened to blind me. “Let’s go to bed.”
“Yeah.” He was sostrong,this man who grabbed my thighs, sat up, and then stood in one smooth movement. His muscles played against my front, and my knees clung to his sides as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “You’re so strong, Carlyle.”
“I have to be.” The simple answer tugged up the corners of my lips, and Carlyle nudged open my bedroom door and didn’t bother to close it. We didn’t have to worry about anyone barging in on us. Natasha was on a plane above Georgia or somewhere, so it was just me and him here.
Setting me in the middle of my bed, Carlyle held himself above me on his hands and knees, and I threaded my fingers through his hair. The soft, silky strands tickled between my fingers, and he didn’t protest when I drew his lips to mine. My abdomen clenched as he settled between my legs, and every cell in me buzzed with desire and something deeper . . . more profound.
Steering from my mouth, Carlyle placed hot, open-mouthed kisses down my neck, and I gasped when he flicked my pulse point with his tongue. My nipples tightened and ached with need, and I arched slightly as a whimper breached my lonely lips. Pink seeped into the corners of my vision, and he very slowly rolled up my shirt as he laved the swell of my breasts.
“Oh . . . ” The thin lace holding back my breasts scratched my skin compared to his touch, and Carlyle’s little, breathless moan surged down my sternum. With care, he pulled my shirt over my head, and I inhaled a shallow, shuddering breath as he caressed down my arms with rough fingertips. “You’rebeautiful. . . words aren’t enough.”
“Numbers are, though.” Once again, my words just slipped out, and my ears burned at the tender smile Carlyle showed me. Covering my mouth with his, he snuck his tongue to tangle around mine, and I moaned at the sweetness of his taste.
“On a scale of one to ten, you’re a thirty-two.” Mouthing the number, my heart fluttered at the reverence in Carlyle’s tone, and he reached between us to unfasten my jeans. The coarse hairs on his arm tickled my skin, and I fisted the pillow above my head loosely as he sat back on his knees. “Make that a thirty-three.”
It seemed so trivial and superficial that I had a number, but pride surged through me knowing I was the highest. I’d always be the highest. There’d never be another woman who even got the honor of a number. Peeling my jeans down my legs, Carlyle’s eyes never left mine, and he kissed my heel and calf as he tossed my pants off the bed.
Trailing his nails up my thigh, Carlyle’s touch sent spasms through me, and need gripped my spine in a vice.
“I’m so sorry.” The apology thickened his voice, a slight, raw lilt scratching my ears, and his eyes shone brilliantly with all the things he wouldn’t say. “I promise I’ll do better for you, Valerie.”
“I promise, too, to always try to be on your side, even when you’re wrong.” My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and my words couldn’t accurately portray what I meant, but Carlyle understood. Draping himself over me, he captured my lips to seal our promises, and I cupped his face in warm hands as he dropped to his elbows. Deepening our kiss, his tongue danced around mine, but it was as much a seal on a secret as it was a promise.
“This is very pretty— it’s a good color on you.” Flirting with the cup of my bra, Carlyle’s fingertips thickened the goosebumps that swarmed my chest. Flames licked up my neck as he licked his way down, and I gasped when he sucked my nipple into his mouth through the thin fabric. “Green is a good color on you, Valerie.”
“The description online when I bought it said it was oak green.” My voice trembled, and tiny shocks of pleasure streamed down my chest when Carlyle hummed softly. His teeth grazed my nipple, and I arched into his mouth with a small moan while he tweaked my other peak greedily.
“You look like a fairy. It’s very sexy.” My lips parted in surprise at that, and he met my eyes and held them as he kissed down my belly. Desire ran rampant in my veins when he dipped his tongue into my navel, and I moaned as he gripped my thighs to part them. “It’s going to be a long, long night, Valerie.”
“Carlyle . . . ” He licked outside my panties with all of his tongue, and I shivered with a moan as rapture shot through me. My hands flew to his hair, and he hummed softly in satisfaction as he spread my legs wider. “Oh, my, God . . . Carlyle . . . ”
Nibbling my clit, his hot breath seeped through the fabric, and I squeezed my eyes shut to savor the sensations curling my toes. Small grumbles and sounds of satisfaction reverberated through me, and he flicked his tongue against my sensitive nub. Rumbles of euphoria began to radiate from my core, the heat beating sweat down my neck, and I flexed my fingers in his hair in wordless greed.
Crawling up to capture my mouth in a hot, passionate kiss, Carlyle sucked in a breath through his nose before pulling back to pant hoarsely. For a fraction of a second, I thought I saw something dark and wild in his eye, but he hid it well before claiming my lips and tongue.
