“Nate?” Krissa perched on the edge of a chocolate brown tub chair.
“Mmm?” He shrugged out of the jacket, laid it over the back of another chair.
“Have you really not talked to your family for two years?”
“I’ve talked to them.”
She gave him a look, chin down, eyes up.
“On the phone.” He unbuttoned the white shirt he wore loose and untucked under the jacket. “A few times.”
“Nate, that’s awful.”
“I know.” He removed the shirt.
“Why?”
“I just couldn’t face it all. After Lauren died.”
“But Nate…they’re your family. Family can help at a time like that. Why would you cut yourself off from a support group like that, when you were going though something so tough?”
Because…the words stuck in his throat. He stared at her, so beautiful in the glow of the floor lamp beside the chair. It cast a circle of illumination around her, gleaming off her dark hair, her glowing face, making her the focal point of the room. “I know it was wrong.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I had my reasons. Do we have to talk about this now?”
He moved closer to her. “There are other things I’d rather be doing.”
Her pupils expanded, darkening those green eyes watching him.
“Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?”
“You are totally deflecting me.”
“Yes, I totally am.” He reached for her hands and drew her out of the chair to stand in front of him. Their bodies brushed together. She gazed at him wide eyed. “You look gorgeous. I love this dress.” He fingered the silky bow between her breasts. “If I undo this, will the dress fall off?”
She laughed softly. “No. There’s a zipper on the side. The bow is just for show.”
“Ah. I kept wondering about that all night.” He slid a finger under the top edge of bodice, felt the swell of her breast, hear her soft intake of breath.
“It was fun to get dressed up for a change.”
“Doesn’t Derek ever take you out?” He murmured the words against the side of her warm, fragrant neck. She shivered against him.
“Yes. Sometimes. Usually business things.”
He pressed his mouth there in an open-mouthed kiss, drew her flesh into his mouth in a gentle suckle. She gasped.
She set her hands on his chest, letting her head fall to the side as he kissed her neck, shoulder, dragged his tongue across her collarbone. “You taste so good. And smell good. And feel good…”
She muffled a giggle. “Thank you.” She threaded her fingers into his hair and held his head as he kissed her throat. His lips paused over the pulse beating there, a quick excited flutter, her blood pulsing through her veins. He sucked the flesh gently into his mouth and she gasped. “Are you a vampire?” Her fingers tightened in his hair.
He laughed. “I vant to suck your blood.” He drew a little harder, but quickly released her, not wanting a big embarrassing hickey there in the morning for his family to see. They probably had enough ideas about what was going on between them.
He licked her throat, nipped at her jaw, drew his tongue across her soft bottom lip. A moan vibrated inside her throat. Her fingers scraped across his scalp, sending tingles showering down through his body like sparks. His hands cupped her breasts through the dress, the thin silk a fragile barrier between them.
“I was so proud of you tonight.” Her head fell back as his hands roamed over body. “You’re so talented, Nate.”
“So are you.”
“No I’m not. I have no talent for anything.”
