“But you said...”
“I meant no.”
“Ah.” The word sighed out of him. “I’m going to take you to bed now.”
“Lovely.”
She was off her feet an instant later.
Eight
Christian lowered Noelle onto the bed and stepped back to regard her. He’d seen her naked before. Made love to her too many times to count. But for some reason, every time held a special fascination for him. Bracing his hand on the mattress beside her, he trailed his fingers along her skin at the edge of the nightgown. When he reached one of the thin straps that held the gown up, he nudged it off her shoulder.
There was curiosity, not wariness, in Noelle’s eyes as she watched him. Uneasiness tangled with desire in his gut. Did she have any idea how the glimpse of one pink nipple peeking above the neckline of her nightgown made him crazy? Her power over him was complete. He would do whatever she asked, give himself over to her pleasure and wait to take his own until she was thoroughly spent.
His erection pulsed as she slid the straps down her arms, taking the bodice with it. As if understanding his weakness, she shimmied the blue silk over her hips and kicked it off. Naked, she lay before him, her gaze confident and direct as she waited for his next move.
“Gorgeous.” He ran shaking hands through his hair, savoring the moment. He’d waited five long years to make love to her again, and he’d be damned if he’d rush. “I’ve missed you.”
She sat up and hooked her fingers in the waistband of his pajamas. “Then what’s taking you so long to get started?”
The cool air against his naked flesh did little to reduce the heat pulsing through him. He stepped out of his pajama bottoms and caught Noelle’s wrists before her fingers could close around him. Putting her hands around his neck where they’d be safely out of the way, he leaned down to take her lips in an explosive kiss.
Together they fell to the mattress. He lay on his back with her draped over him. His hands were free to roam her body at will. Skin like the smoothest satin slipped against his fingertips. Her body was perfect, not because she didn’t have flaws but because he never viewed her with a critical eye. Long lean lines of sleek muscle balanced with graceful curves and small, round breasts. Too short to walk a runway, she was his ideal height. In heels, her forehead reached no higher than his lips.
He was kissing her when the need to have her beneath him struck. She gripped his hair as they rolled, laughing until he nipped at her exposed throat. Her back arched as he moved lower and pulled one hard nipple into his mouth.
“Christian.” She panted his name as his fingers began their slow descent to the heat between her thighs.
“Yes, Noelle?”
Blood rushed to his groin as he found her wet and ready. Trembling at the effort of keeping his pace easy and unhurried, he slipped a finger around the knot of nerves and felt her shudder.
“Torture,” she murmured, but the smile playing at the corners of her mouth told him she didn’t mind.
He kissed his way toward her second breast, determined to give it equal and fair treatment. “You sound agitated. Do you wish me to stop?”
“No.” She shook her head and lifted her hips as he trailed his fingers down the inside of her thigh to her knee. “I want more.”
“More of this?” He swirled his tongue around her nipple and felt her fingers tighten in his hair. “Or...?”
Her head thrashed from side to side as he traced the seam between her thighs. Delighted to see he had her full attention, he slipped one, then two fingers inside her, touching the sensitive spot the way he knew she loved and watching her muscles tense with pleasure. Within seconds she came apart beneath his hands. He savored her every cry and quake, and was a little shocked at the speed and intensity of her orgasm.
As she lay with her eyes closed, her chest heaving with each uneven breath, he reached into his nightstand and pulled out a condom. When he turned back to her, he found her up on one elbow, watching him with glowing eyes. Her pale skin wore the rosy flush of climax, and she looked ready and eager for round two.
Happy to oblige her, Christian slid on the condom and leaned down to snag her gaze with his. “This time we’ll come together,” he promised and at her nod, positioned himself between her thighs.
* * *
Still not fully recovered from one orgasm, but eager to have Christian inside her, Noelle opened for him and felt him nudge against her. Anticipation tightened her nerves to bowstrings, and she told herself to let go. Instead, her body tensed still more. Panic grew as a myriad of half-hysterical what ifs bombarded her mind.
“Easy.” Christian’s soothing tone lessened her anxiety. “There’s no rush.”
That’s where he was wrong. She needed the rush of passion to keep her brain disengaged. Thinking about what she was doing led to her questioning the wisdom of coming here tonight.
“I’m sorry. It’s just...”
While Christian hadn’t been her first lover, he’d been her last. For five years she’d concentrated on her son and her career, putting her personal life on ice.
Christian backed off and peered down at her. “Relax. It’s fine.” He caressed her disheveled hair back from her cheeks with gentle strokes of his fingers. “Talk to me.”
“It’s been awhile.” The flush in her cheeks stopped being about passion and became embarrassment.
Wonder softened the aristocratic planes of his face. He cupped her face with his hands and forced her to meet his gaze. “Then we’ll take it very slow.”
His lips trailed over her cheek and found a corner of her mouth. She tipped her head to kiss him, but he’d already moved to nuzzle against the sensitive skin beneath her jawline. She closed her eyes and shifted position to offer him better access, shivering as the faintest brush of his lips tickled her skin.
“Touch me,” he murmured. “You know what I like.”
His words made her smile. She did indeed. She’d clutched his biceps when he’d moved between her thighs, but now, with his encouragement, she let her hands roam. Down his sides, across his tight abs. Her fingertips rode the ridges and valleys of his superb muscles. So much leashed power all hers.
He kissed her then, his lips moving over hers with mastery and controlled passion. He was letting her set the pace. Granting her the time to adjust to being loved by his hands and mouth. Almost immediately her body quickened. Uncertainty fell away. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tilted her hips to find his erection waiting for her.
“You know what I need,” she whispered, rocking against him, feeling him slide through her slick folds and probe her entrance.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Never better.”
