His smile dazzled me. Then his lips brushed mine, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensations he evoked. The sensual slide of lips and tongue warmed my body and sent desire pulsing to my core. I wound my arms around his neck, arching into him, needing the friction against my pebbled nipples.
He kissed and licked and suckled my lips until they felt swollen, and I felt drugged. With a faint moan, he pulled back, took my hand, and led me up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom.
It was large—as expected—with a sitting room that had more of those glorious windows, but my gaze settled on the king-sized sleigh bed done up in shades of pale and navy blue. Gunnar slipped his hand from mine and gripped my wrists. He kissed one palm, then the other.
“I hope you’ll want to get naked so I can learn your delectable body, but if you’d prefer to sleep, I’ll understand. There’s no pressure, Zaila. Just…us.”
I bit my over-sensitized lower lip as I stepped forward to undo his bow tie. I pulled it off slowly, then began to unbutton his dress shirt. “I’m fairly shy when it comes to nudity,” I admitted. “But it’s something I’ve wanted with you since…well, probably the beginning.”
“The pull.” Gunnar’s eyes burned nearly white-hot with passion. “You feel it as much as I do.”
I nodded. “You make me ache, Gunnar.”
He cupped my cheeks and brought my lips up to his. “I’ll make you sigh, moan, and scream, if you’ll let me.”
“Yes, please.”
His lips slid over mine before I’d finished the word. Over the next hour, he stripped me, touching me with his fingertips first, then with his palms, tongue, and teeth, and he proved he was more than capable of making me do all three.
By the time we were both nude, in the center of that mattress with the softest sheets that had ever touched my skin, I writhed, covered in a fine sheen of sweat and panting with need.
His fingers dipped between my legs, finding me more than ready for him. He slid two inside me, groaning against my mouth as his thumb found my clit. He rubbed circles with a slow build that sent me tumbling into a prolonged climax that stole thought and breath.
He kissed me as I returned to myself and looked at me intently, seeming to memorize my features. “You are beautiful.”
I blushed as I rolled toward him, hooking my leg over his hip.
His erection nudged at my center, and he narrowed his eyes as his nostrils flared. “I want you. Fuck, I need you.”
I rubbed against him. “As much as I want you?”
“At least that much,” he gritted out.
I rolled so that I was atop him, and his hands slid to my hips, molding my flesh in his palms and rocking my sensitive core against his groin. He released a string of words that were probably Swedish, his expression so full of passion that my breath stuttered.
“I want to be inside you now,” he said.
I nodded. “Please.”
He flipped me over with enough care that my head landed on the pillows. His biceps bulged and his glutes flexed as he reached into the nightstand and pulled out a condom.
“Watching you put that on is so sexy,” I murmured, my gaze riveted as he rolled the latex over his girth.
“The things you say…” He rubbed his tip against my entrance, and I widened my thighs to encourage him. He slid inside me with intent, flexing that magnificent butt until he’d rooted as deeply as possible.
“You feel so good,” I moaned as I arched up, desperate for friction. He braced his palms on either side of my head and gave me what I demanded…and more.
I reached my second peak before he did, and he continued to thrust into me with measured strokes until his jaw tightened and his pupils flared. A deep moan roared from his chest, and he dropped his head against my shoulder, panting. “Fuck. Fuck…”
I locked my legs behind his back and my arms around his shoulders as he recovered. Then we fell asleep entwined together, and I knew Gunnar Evaldson had found his way to my heart.
Chapter 22
Gunnar
I grinned as I woke many hours later to Zaila’s soft breaths on my chest, her hair wild across my arm and neck. Connection, intimacy… Those were words I’d heard and thought I understood before. I hadn’t, not until now.
Caring about and for another person, this woman, gave me a new purpose. For a long moment, I luxuriated in the pleasure of our physical connection. I tipped my head down to breathe in the faint hints of her shampoo before I disentangled myself from her embrace.
