Well, maybe tonight she would. Just not on a fifteen-second elevator ride.
But to her surprise, Case managed to make those fifteen seconds count. As soon as the doors slid closed behind them, he brushed his thumb over her chin. She automatically tilted her face up towards him, feeling like a sunflower turning to the sun. He looked in awe of her, his lovely gray-green eyes both soft andhungryin a way that made Lydia’s blood pound. She felt weak at the knees and ready to swoon into him.
Gravity seemed to pull them together. It didn’t matter that it was a short kiss, it was agoodone, abone-meltingone.
The chime of the elevator doors opening almost came as a shock. Lydia had wanted to lose herself, but she’d had no idea how quickly that could happen when she was in Case’s arms.
It was funny: she hadn’t wanted to stop kissing him back in the truck, before they’d even made it to the courthouse, but she’d been able to keep a clear head. Was it a few more hours in his company that had made all the difference there, or was it the fact that they’d pledged themselves to each other now? She almostfelt like it was the latter, like—at least for them—there was some kind of magic in the wedding itself, just like there would be in the consummation.
That would give them a soul-to-soul bond. This had already given them ... more. More of what? Lydia wasn’t sure, but she felt in her bones that the answer was “more ofeverything.”
More love. More life. More courage.
With him at her side, the world feltrightin a way it never had before.
That sensation only amped up more as they reached the door of their room. She was so turned on that even Case sliding the keycard into the notch was weirdly erotic.
It was like some lust-addled part of her brain instantly went to:Slide your key into my notch, Case!
Their room was as lovely and as luxuriously comfortable as the rest of the lodge. The enormous windows offered a view of the lake, which glimmered in the moonlight, and of the richly forested mountains. Even at night, it was gorgeous, but Lydia couldn’t spare it anything more than an admiring glance. Right now, all her attention was reserved for Case. The stunning landscape below them was nothing but a reminder to pull the curtains closed so they didn’t accidentally put on an X-rated show.
She had to yank them shut before that kind of presence of mind deserted her completely.
Lydia strode over to the window and gave the curtains a tug. Even the rattle and whoosh they made, like the keycard in the door, had a kind of sexy frisson to it. It made her think about the sound of zippers going down and clothes being shed.
Every inch of her skin felt flushed and alive, sensitive to the slightest change in the air around her. She was so starved for touch that she ached from it.
She and Case looked at each other across the room. Lydia had a split second to see that his eyes were dark with arousal, and then the two of them were pressed against each other, kissing like their lives depended on it. She wasn’t even sure which one of them had moved first.
It was funny how the sound of the curtains swishing shut had reminded her of clothes hitting the floor, because she definitely couldn’t hear their clothes coming off now. Not with the way her ears were almostringingwith desire. All she could hear was her own heartbeat and their ragged breathing as they fumbled at each other, hands urgent and clumsy.
Case was naked by the time they hit the bed, and Lydia was down to her underwear. He peeled them off her slowly, and the transition from haste to this deliberate, sensual drag of fabric over her skin somehow signaled to her that they werereallyabout to begin. Case was switching it from need to want, and he was going to take his time with what he wanted. The idea sent a fizzy thrill through her.
“I should’ve worn silk,” she said, as Case tossed the little scrap of cotton aside. “It would’ve been sexier.”
“You were already wearing velvet,” he pointed out. “And trust me, this was plenty sexy. Besides, I’m less interested in your underwear than I am ....”
He trailed off, stroking his fingers up the inside of her thigh.
Lydia wasn’t usually all that modest, at least not once she’d actually made up her mind to go to bed with someone. But she wasn’t brazen, either. Sex was satisfying, but it was quick and silent, and the lights were usually off.
Since she was still half-amazed she’d remembered to close the curtains, it wasn’t at all surprising that neither of them had thought to turn out the lights. Whatwassurprising was realizing now that she wouldn’t have wanted to. She wanted to see him—but of course she did. At this exact moment, she couldn’t evenremember what it was like to want to see anything else. But she also wanted him to seeher.
Part of it was that she was still riding high from the red dress. She’d felt exquisite in it, and Case’s extremely gratifying reaction had made it clear that it wasn’t just in her head.
That, she guessed, was really responsible for how bold she was feeling right now. Even if she kept going back and forth about whether or not he loved her like she loved him, she had zero doubts that hewantedher like she wanted him. They had the same power to take each other’s breath away.
And his appreciation was so open and unguarded that she felt safe giving him everything. She wasn’t going to hold back any part of herself under some fig leaf of shame or self-consciousness.
So when he touched her thigh like that, Lydia let go of any sense of restraint.
He’d said that he wasn’t interested in her underwear but in what they’d been hiding, so, as far as she was concerned, he could have it. He could have all of it.
All of me.
Lydia didn’t just spread her legs. She reached down and parted her lower lips, too, like she was putting herself on display for him.
Her heart pounded, and her face burned. But she was safe with him, and she wanted him to see anything he wanted. She wanted him to see how flushed and wet she was for him already.
