“Just talking. I promise.” If only that promise reassured him.
He tried to imagine himself as a fortress, impervious as stone, but his heart threatened to beat out of his chest as he pushed the door open. He looked up slowly, dreading what he might see as her lemon and bergamot scent stole over him.
His gaze found her toes first, shapely and tantalizingly bare. Her slender ankles and shapely calves emerged from a clinging shift. Her bedside lamp backlit her form, revealing every mesmerizing curve of her body in silhouette through the thin cotton. David’s mouth went dry, and his breath caught as he reached the gentle peaks of her breasts. As he continued up to her clavicle and her luscious neck, he swallowed hard. And there were those sweet lips of hers again, slightly parted, begging to be kissed.Good God.He was done for.
“David? I’m very sorry to bother you, but…” Her voice trailed off as his gaze met hers, and the tentative hope he saw there undid the last of his resolve. Her cheeks were aflame at his bold perusal. Did she not realize what she did to him?
Well, by God, he would show her.
In a few short steps, he closed the distance between them, swallowing her murmur of surprise as he closed his lips over hers and clutched her body to his own.
For an instant, she froze, and he feared he had alarmed her. But a moment later, she turned pliant in his arms, her soft curves pressed against his hard angles. As she ran his fingers through his hair, she pulled him even closer, matching his kiss with equal passion.
How had he lasted so long without this? No one had touched him like this since Laura. He hadn’t wanted them to, but Clarissa’s caresses set him aflame like a match set to tinder.
Something within him had been waiting, longing, starved for the slightest sign of affection. His heart beat like a cannonade, unleashing the pent-up fury that had accumulated over the years since he foreswore the company of women. Who had he ever fooled besides himself with his pretense of having a stone heart?
All it took was a look, a touch, and his defenses crumbled like so much sand. She had besieged his heart with such ease, and he had fallen captive to her sunshine and sweetness. Her gentle persistence lit up the darkest corners of his soul, despite his attempts to hide them.
The way she moved against him, her naïve enthusiasm in response to his touch made him lose his last vestiges of control.
She yelped as he scooped her legs from under her, cradling her against his chest as he carried her across the room, and then laid her down gently on his bed. Her bright red hair, loosed from its pins and falling over her shoulders, splayed on his pillow, just as it had in his dreams.
He stood still for a long moment, transfixed by the vision before him.
By God. What was he about to do? He stood on the precipice, knowing he would fall, but held back by a clawing fear that somehow this was all going to go terribly wrong.
He must have paused too long because her face fell, and she turned on her side to face him squarely. “Did I do something wrong? Are you terribly upset? I promise I don’t expect anything of you. I truly did only come in here to talk, though I will not pretend I wouldn’t welcome more. But I can tell by the expression on your face that I’ve gone and spoilt things somehow. I’m so sorry. I’ll just—”
She started to rise, and his moment of indecision and reluctance snapped like a twig.
“Please don’t go.” Before he knew what he was doing, he’d climbed onto the bed, caging her with his arms and legs, nuzzling her neck and breathing her in. “Please stay,” he murmured, his lips brushing her smooth, warm skin.
“Yes,” she whispered into his hair as she arched to press herself against him.
The battle was lost, and he’d never been happier. The relief of surrender made him giddy. He found her lips again and drank deep and slow. By God, if he was going to fall, he was going to savor every moment. And she tasted so sweet, like a fresh, ripe strawberry on a summer’s day.
Settling against her, he ran a hand down her side, brushing his thumb over her nipple. The little noise she made in response sent a hum of pleasure through him, and his cock strained with years of pent-up desire. But he would keep that in check until he had brought her as much bliss as she could tolerate. His pleasure would wait. The sweet torture of holding back, of putting her needs before his own would only heighten his gratification in the end.
Nonetheless, he couldn’t resist pressing his length against her belly as he settled between her legs.
“Yes, please, I need you,” she begged in a sultry voice that might have made a lesser man give in and take her immediately.
But after years of waiting, he wanted to do this right. He had all the time in the world to draw this out. “Not yet, sweet. I want you to love every inch of you, draw out every drop of delight, and leave you speechless and quivering before I have my way with you. And I’m going to start here.”
He sucked her earlobe between his lips and grazed it softly with his teeth, relishing her soft gasp. Her nails dug into his back, and he knew he’d started in the right place. Biting down ever so gently, he tugged on her tender flesh and was rewarded with a moan that nearly made him lose himself.
Good God. How was he going to keep his head through a leisurely seduction if she responded like that to a mere tease? But he ignored the urgency of his cockstand and placed gentle kisses on her forehead, cheeks, and nose before tracing the shell of her other ear with his tongue.
“Oh, David!” Her breathy voice sent ripples of euphoria all through him. To think he’d tried to deny himself the pleasure of his given name on her lips! What a fool he’d been.
With all the precision he could manage in his state of delirium, he kissed his way down the curve of her throat, savoring each catch of the breath he elicited from her. Continuing downward, he traced her clavicle with his tongue and tugged at the fabric of her chemise with his teeth until her shoulder was bare. He licked the newly bared skin like a vanilla ice from Gunter’s. This was a treat unlike any other, and if he was going to damn himself by indulging, he might as well lap up every dollop of delight he could.
“You taste like heaven, sweet. I can’t get enough of you.” He licked and nuzzled his way down her chest to the pebbled peak of her breast, giving it a flick with his tongue then grazing it with his teeth through the fabric.
“More,” she begged, arching to press her breast into his mouth as she clutched him close, running her fingers through his hair.
He couldn’t help but chuckle in satisfaction. “As you wish.”
