Mascara stains, running in uneven lines down her face as my hips begin to flex. She’s a messy kind of gorgeous now. Not so golden. A little more red. I bring my other hand to her hair. Not for control, but a way to be closer. To draw her to me. To get under her skin.
No greater honour exists than being offered control. And there’s no greater pleasure for me than taking it from her. With this final thought, white hot power shoots down my spine. Knees bent and my heart bursting, my climax begins to pulse into her throat.
Chapter Seventeen
LOUISE
Rain still falls softly against the window as I wake with the duvet covering me and tucked under my chin. I’m alone as I stretch the sleep from my body, pushing the duvet to my waist. I felt light. Like a load lifted as the cool morning air kisses my skin. I smile imagining Dan slipping from the bed earlier and quietly tucking me in. Feeling all sorts of warm and fuzzy, I nestle my head further into the pillows, stretching my legs out along the bed.
I startle as a hand grasps my foot which peeks from the sheets, relaxing again as the hand reaches my calf. I sigh, pointing my toes in a horizontalen pointe, not yet ready to speak.
‘You can tell a lot about a woman by the condition of her toes.’ His voice is husky and like a tongue flicking between my legs.
‘You just like them because they’re painted blue,’ I say, my voice sleep filled.
‘Your assumption being?’ He sounds amused as if he knows where this is heading.
‘Because they look like they’re bruised.’
He chuckles as he begins crawling the length of my legs, growling words against my skin. ‘Not exactly the kind of marks I like to leave.’
‘Not your preferred calling card, huh?’
His lips reach my neck, neck bone being connected to my clit, or so it seems.‘I don’t need bruises to tell where I’ve been.’ His words are barely a whisper as he draws my hands up and over my head. ‘Unless I decide toleaveone like this.’ His teeth graze my neck, lips sucking the flesh just a touch.
I sigh, turning my head in invitation.Fuck the marks, I decide.I’ll wear a turtleneck for work.
‘I aim to please,’ I drawl, turning my face into the pillow to camouflage my smile.
‘Oh, you do.’
His praise blooms in my chest, warming me through.
‘Did you go for coffee?’ A girl can hope for lots of things.
The answer to my question is no, it seems. He halts, his head hitting the pillow next to me. He drapes his arm over my waist, pulling me closer, bringing the scent of soap and cologne and the faint smell of coffee.
‘There’s coffee downstairs. Don’t pout.’
‘Where’ve you been, then?’
‘Answering emails, browsing Sunday supplements, eating copious amounts of cereal with my son.’
My body tenses, my eyes flicking to the door. ‘He’s here?’
‘No.’ Dan laughs, his arm tightening in its hold. ‘He just popped in to say good morning. And eat. And talk my ears off. He’s gone back next door, then off for a play date.’ His gaze lowers unashamedly from my face then. ‘He wasn’t invited to ours.’
Pulling on the quilt for modesty, I cover what I can. ‘You might’ve warned me, at least.’
‘You were asleep. I didn’t want to wake you.’ His stronger grip holds the bedding, restricting my plan. ‘You looked far too beautiful, my sleeping lioness.’
‘I might’ve walked in on you both, naked. Did you think about that?’
His eyes close slowly, sliding those slender, refined hands beneath his head. ‘I hadn’t.’ He sighs. ‘But I am now.’
‘Kid would need therapy,’ I say, laughing and pushing him hard with my knee.
‘Exhibitionism isn’t your thing,’Dan replies, opening one eye and matching it with a sly smile. It almost sounds as though he’s trying to goad me into the opposite.
