When they were cooled down, he led her back to the beach and spread out a delicious feast. Jane relaxed back and watched him talk … not even hearing his words. She couldn’t remember a time when she had felt so full of delighted expectation. She was aware of every part of him—his hands, his mouth, legs … that chest. She was burning up just thinking about touching him, having him touch her. Her skin itched to be next to his. She wanted to reach over, stop his mouth with hers, run her hands over his muscles. But she didn’t.
It was as if there was a silent communication going on between them on a subliminal level:
Come on, touch me if you dare … you’re the one who wanted to go slowly …
I know! I just don’t know what to do … how to make the move.
The atmosphere that surrounded them was thick with it.
That evening her skin felt hot after the sun … or else her imagination was just keeping it overheated. In bare feet and a plain shift dress, she padded down to the kitchen where she could hear Xavier making dinner. She paused at the door, drinking him in as he worked. He wore a white T-shirt and faded jeans, feet bare like hers. His hair was still wet from the shower, like hers, and a crisp fresh scent intoxicated her nostrils as he moved. He looked up then, and caught her staring. She didn’t even blush … she was beyond that … just smiled.
His eyes boldly appraised her as she came towards him. She was completely unconscious of the provocatively innocent sway to her hips. He poured her a glass of wine and lifted his to hers. They clinked glasses.
‘À nous.’
She nodded jerkily in response.
All through dinner they talked, but it had a hushed, frantic quality. A breathless anticipation was building in Jane’s belly.
When he stood to take her hand under the stars at the end of the evening she was trembling, unable to speak. They stopped once again outside her door. She turned her face up to his. Wordlessly she tried to communicate with him. Couldn’t he tell? Surely he had to know how ready she was? She watched as he brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the delicate underside of her wrist. She closed her eyes and felt a weakening in her body, her blood slowing to a deep throbbing pulse.
‘Goodnight, Jane. Sleep tight.’
Chapter Five
GOODNIGHT, Jane … Sleep tight?
Her eyes flew open. No! her mind screamed … he had let her hand go. A dark, bottomless pit threatened to suck her down. She had to do something. But even as she thought this, she could feel herself turning away, sudden doubts assailing her. Maybe he didn’t find her attractive any more? Maybe he was regretting having asked her to stay? Surely he would have tried to make love to her again?
Then she stopped. She realised that she hadn’t heard him move behind her. She turned around slowly and saw his face. It told her everything she needed to know. Raw masculine arousal was stamped into every line. She felt every cell in her body jump in response.
‘Xavier—’ Her words were stopped as he hauled her into his arms. The relief made her dizzy as she locked her arms around his neck.
‘I swear if you had gone into that room I was going to come after you, ready or not …’
‘Thank God … because I nearly did …’
‘I couldn’t have spent another night in that bed, knowing you were only feet away.’
‘I nearly went to you last night, but couldn’t work up the nerve …’
‘What? Do you know how hard it’s been for me to keep from touching you all day?’
He groaned and bent his head to hers, finding and taking her lips, tasting them as if they were succulent fruits. His control was fast slipping as his hands smoothed down her back, down to her buttocks, moulding their peachy firmness, cupping them and drawing her up into the cradle of his lap, where he felt her gasp against his mouth when she felt his arousal.
In one graceful move he lifted her against his chest and kicked open his bedroom door, bringing her inside. He brought her over to the mirror, where he stood her in front of him. She looked at him in the reflection, a question on her face.
‘This is what I thought of last night, the image that kept me awake.’
She felt his hands at the top of her dress, fingers grazing her skin as he slowly started to pull the zip down. Immediately she knew what he meant, and the thought of him imagining the same scenario made her knees weak.
She felt the slight night breeze on her skin, and shivered in reaction as he gently but firmly pulled the dress from her shoulders and down, past her breasts, past her waist, over the swell of her hips, until it hit the floor with a muted swish. Her bra quickly followed, and she was standing there naked but for a pair of very brief briefs. She brought her hands up to cover her breasts, feeling shy, but he came close behind her and brought them back down.
‘Look at how beautiful you are.’
His head lowered and he pressed a hot kiss to where her neck and shoulder met, causing a shudder to run through her body … and then began to shed his own clothes behind her. She could hear the whisper of his T-shirt dropping to the floor, a button being snapped, jeans falling. An unbearable tightness began to build in her abdomen as she continued to watch through their reflection, until he stood behind her completely naked, his dark form a contrast to her much paler one.
Her head felt light. She watched in the mirror as his hands came around her to cup her breasts. They looked full and heavy in his palms. Her eyes widened as she saw her nipples growing harder, puckering, felt the ache that escaped as a guttural moan when his hands closed over them, her nipples caught between his fingers. She could feel his arousal against her bottom and instinctively moved back and leant against him, delighting in his own low moan.
He turned her to face him, bringing her into intimate contact with his whole length, taking her mouth with his. His hands were under her panties, slowly tugging them down until they fell at her feet.
She started to shake uncontrollably with reaction as he lifted her into his arms and walked over to the bed.
He gently laid her down, following her, leaning over her with strong arms. He bent to take her lips, the kiss starting out gentle, rapidly becoming more heated and passionate. Jane’s hands stretched out blindly, searching for and finding his chest, his shoulders, smoothing, touching every part she could reach.
He groaned softly as her hands reached lower, coming dangerously close to his rock-hard erection. He couldn’t remember ever being so aroused. He shifted to lie down beside her, lifting his head for a moment, watching her reaction as his fingertips closed over one nipple, how her back arched, her eyes closed and her breathing became fractured. Noticing how her skin had flushed to a dull red. He bent and took the jewel-hard peak into this mouth, his own control fast slipping as he suckled and nipped gently, first at one, then the other.
‘Xavier … I can’t … God!’
Her hands clutched at his shoulders, and her body writhed as he moved a hand down over her belly to feel how ready she was. The wetness he felt at the apex of her thighs almost pushed him over the edge, and he’d hardly touched her! Or she him …
As his hand explored, stroked, Jane felt herself bucking.
She’d had no idea it could be like this. Had had no expectation … certainly hadn’t expected this hunger in her blood that was consuming her to the point where she was no longer herself. She had become … someone else? Or perhaps the person she was meant to be … All these incoherent fevered thoughts raced through her head at the same time.
Xavier’s fingers were pushing her to a point of no return, his mouth was on hers, then on her breast. It was too much … her