“Yes.”
“Thank God,” she said.
Once she was naked, he lifted her onto the bed and laid her back against the pillows. The aqua comforter was the perfect backdrop for her red hair and her creamy freckled skin. She kept her knees bent, but he saw the red hair that covered her most intimate secrets. He shrugged out of his shirt and stood there looking down at her.
He took her ankles in his hands and drew her legs down and apart from each other. She bit her lower lip.
“You can’t be nervous now,” he said, slowly drawing both hands up her legs, caressing her soft, smooth skin. He lingered on her knees and watched as gooseflesh spread up her legs as he moved his touch slowly higher toward her center.
“I’m not,” she said. “I just expected you to be on me quicker.”
“I don’t like to rush things, even pleasure,” he said.
He took a moment to put on the condom, then crawled onto the bed between her spread legs. He put his hands on either side of her chest and leaned down over her. He kissed her softly on the side of her neck and then moved his mouth lower to trace the globes of her breasts, first with his kisses and then with his tongue.
Her hands came up and tunneled through his hair, holding his head to each breast as he tongued one nipple then the other. Supporting his weight on just his right elbow, he used his left hand to draw a line down between her breasts over her ribs to her belly button.
He traced a circle around and around it, watching the red flush to her skin deepen. Her own hands were busy caressing him and he enjoyed every pulse of desire that she drew from him seemingly effortlessly.
He was on the knife’s edge and he knew that no matter how much he wanted to prolong the moment until he entered her, he was fighting his own instincts. He wanted her with a red-hot desire that was hard to contain.
It was only the fact that he also wanted to taste every inch of her that allowed him a modicum of control. He lowered his head and traced the circle of her belly button with his tongue.
Her hands were back on his head as her hips rose on the bed.
“I need you,” she said, her words raspy and drawn out.
They sent a shiver down his spine. She writhed underneath him as he shifted his position so he lay between her legs, his elbows on either side of her body.
He slid one hand up to caress her shoulder and neck before pushing his fingers into that thick red hair of hers. He kissed her deeply, pushing his tongue into her mouth as he pulled his hips back and then slowly thrust his hips forward.
He slipped slowly into her. Inch by inch, he went as slowly as he could and it felt so good. Finally his willpower gave way to his body’s demands and he pushed himself all the way in. He was buried in her silky-hot body and it wasn’t enough. He needed more. He started thrusting harder and deeper, urged on by her cries for more.
Her legs came up and wrapped around his hips. Her nails dug into his shoulder blades and she cried out his name as he felt her tightening around him. His own guttural cry of release followed a second later.
He kept thrusting, spilling himself inside her until he was spent. He collapsed against her chest, careful to keep her from bearing his full weight. Sweat covered both their bodies and he felt the minute kisses she dropped on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and, keeping their bodies together, rolled to his side so he could hold her properly.
He kept his eyes closed, knowing he was hiding, but at this moment he didn’t want to see her face or talk to her. He needed the silence to pretend that nothing had changed between them when he knew that everything had.
Nichole slept restlessly. She wanted to blame it on not being used to having someone else in her bed. But what weighed on her mind was the fact that Conner had only agreed to be her lover because of their bargain. She had vivid dreams of her boss finding out how she got Conner’s story and firing her.
She finally got out of bed at six, just before her alarm went off. Conner appeared to be sleeping. She slowly went to the bathroom, trying to be extra quiet so as not to wake him. She didn’t want to face him this morning. She knew she shouldn’t leave without waking him, but she wanted to.
Part of her was very afraid of what he’d say to her. Of what she’d say … Last night had been more intense than she’d expected. But then nothing with Conner had gone exactly according to plan since the moment she’d met him.
She carefully closed the door to her tiny bathroom and reached over to turn the shower on to get the water hot. She glanced at herself in the mirror and shook her head. She didn’t look any different.
Maybe she was overthinking the entire arrangement with Conner. There was nothing tawdry about having slept with him. She’d had one-night stands before and she knew that as long as both she and her partner were on the same page, no one would get hurt. So why then was this bothering her so much?
Steam started to fill the tiny room and she pulled back the shower curtain and got inside. She started to wash when she heard the bathroom door open.
“Morning, Nichole,” Conner said, his voice sounding raspy with sleep. She stood there frozen with her loofah in one hand and the shower gel in the other.
She shook her head. He knew she was in there and probably had guessed that she was naked. Why was she being so silly?
“Morning,” she said. “Sorry if I woke you. I have an early meeting.”
“Not a problem. I would normally leave you in peace in here, but this is the only bathroom and I, too, have an early meeting so I need to wash up.”
“That’s fine,” she said. Oh, man, she’d come in here to hide from him and now he was here. But at least she didn’t have to face him. Not yet.
“What’s your day like?” he asked.
“Just the usual … Do you even know what a reporter does?” she asked.
“Meddle in other people’s lives and make trouble for them?” His tone was light. She pulled the shower curtain back to peek out at him. He was bent over the sink washing his face. He was naked and his body looked good, with tan lines on his legs and arms.
He straightened up and she closed the curtain so he didn’t catch her peeking at him. “Ha! No, that’s not what I do. Mostly I spend my time doing research and making calls trying to get recalcitrant people to talk to me.”
“And if that doesn’t work, then you crash their parties.”
She shook her head. His easy banter was making her relax. She’d been worrying about what was going on between them, but Conner wasn’t treating her any differently than he had before.
“That was only for you,” she said. She finished washing her body and though it was an odd-numbered day of the month and normally she didn’t wash her hair on those days, she went ahead and did it anyway.
“I’m honored,” he said. “Would it bother you if I joined you in the shower?”
She hesitated. She’d been hiding in here so that she wouldn’t have to face him, but now she didn’t want to anymore.
“Not at all,” she said. “In fact, I’m almost finished.”
“Good. I’ll be quick.”
He opened the shower curtain and stepped in. She couldn’t resist reaching out to touch him. He gave her a sexy smile.
“I can’t make love this morning,” she blurted out.
He shook his head. “Okay.”
She handed him her loofah and the shower gel