Taking things slowly—savoring her surrender—was proving difficult. While their mouths melded in passionate harmony, in the back of his mind he braced for her doubts to resurface. They didn’t. Once committed, she was a siren calling him to lose all touch with reality and follow her anywhere.
Chest heaving, Blake eased back. As much as he hated to risk giving her time to come to her senses, standing in his doorway was an awkward place to romance her properly. Her eyes were heavy lidded and slightly unfocused as he led her toward the bed.
In a flash he’d stripped off his blazer and pulled his shirt over his head. She gazed at his chest in fascination. He flinched as her fingertips settled on his skin.
“You acted as if that hurt,” she said, absorbed in her study of his bare chest.
“Your touch has a strong effect on me.”
“It does?” She traced his pectoral muscles, fascinated by every curve she encountered. “Is that good or bad?”
“It’s very good.” Although he was dying to let his own fingers do some exploring, he kept his hands on her hips. He would have all night to discover her body. “I like being touched by you.”
Her smile came and went. “You are as beautiful as I imagined.” Did she realize what she’d let slip?
“My turn.” He guided her onto the mattress and followed her down, his lips drifting along her throat and across her chest to the edge of her bra. “You are perfect.”
She squirmed beneath him as he grazed her nipple through the fabric of her bra. “That feels amazing.” Reaching behind her, she unfastened the catch. With a quick jerk, she freed herself from the bra and tossed it aside. “This will be even better.”
Blake groaned as he closed his mouth around one tight bud. He laved her with his tongue and then sucked until she arched off the mattress. Whimpering, she clutched at his hair. Never had he been with a woman as sensitive as Bella. Suddenly he was hungry for more. He blazed a trail down her stomach. Unzipping her pants took only a second. With fingers that trembled, he hooked her waistband and slid the fabric down her thighs. She lifted her hips to aid him and in no time she lay in the middle of his bed clad in nothing but her panties.
It was a moment worth appreciating, and Blake was a man who knew the value of doing so. First with his gaze, then with his hands, he learned the arch of her feet, the slenderness of her ankles, the muscular thrust of her calves, the lean length of her thighs, the flare of her hips and flatness of her abdomen. He lingered over each ripple in her rib cage, drawing out the suspense until his fingers circled her breasts.
When she grabbed his hands and cupped them over her breasts, Blake knew she’d suffered all she could take. Leaning down, he captured her mouth, branding her with a sizzling kiss.
Bella had never felt anything like Blake’s hands on her body. He paid attention to every inch of her skin, as if he wanted to know all of her, not just the “good parts.” It made her feel adored, something she’d never known before.
The crushing weight of his body lifted off her as he abandoned her mouth to blaze a trail of delicious sensation down her body. Expecting he would turn his attention back to her breasts, she was disappointed when he paused only long enough to draw a wet circle around one nipple before following her ribs downward. He lingered on her abdomen, dipping his tongue into her navel and awakening a series of shudders. By the time his lips drifted over her hip bone, Bella was half-mad with wanting.
Her thighs had parted ages ago. Between them she throbbed with increasing hunger. She craved his hard length buried inside her. The need grew with each circle of his tongue and press of his lips against her feverish skin. But it wasn’t until his broad shoulders nudged her legs wide did she awaken to what he intended.
She gasped. “Blake.”
He looked up at her call. His chin bumped against her hot core, sending a spear of pleasure lancing through her. Her breath suspended as their gazes locked.
“Are you asking me to stop?” he challenged, letting his lips drift over her mound.
Stop? Was he mad?
The slight tug of fabric against her sensitized flesh rendered her incoherent. If it was like this before his lips found her bare skin, what would it be like when he’d stripped away the last of her clothes?
“It’s...”
She broke off as he trailed his tongue along the edge of her panties. Sliding his hands down her legs, he gripped her behind the thighs and bent her knees until her feet were flat on the mattress. Every movement caused an escalation in the commotion inside her. Her fingers gripped the sheet beneath her. She’d never had anyone kiss her there.
“I’ll go slowly,” he told her, capturing her gaze. “You tell me when to stop.”
Stop?
It was glorious to watch his pleasure in her body’s every reaction. How could she possibly stop him from indulging his power over her? Helplessly, she waited, her breath shallow and ragged as his warm breath washed over her. And then he pressed a kiss there and a strangled groan broke from her throat. She was lost as the bold stroke of his tongue licked over her. Her hips bucked. A wild laugh erupted from her tight chest.
“Stop?” He ceased all movement.
She wanted to weep with longing. “Don’t...”
“More?”
Amusement edged his tone. Part of her recognized she should be angry with him for taunting her, but she was on the edge of something glorious and devastating.
“Yes.”
“It would be easier if I took these off.” He hooked his fingers in her panties and tugged.
She lifted her hips. “Do it.”
The fabric skimmed off her body far too slowly. Bella’s head thrashed from side to side as she felt the air hit her overheated flesh. With her eyes closed, it felt safer. She could pretend it was anyone between her thighs, but the second Blake spoke, she became grounded in the moment once more.
“I’m going to kiss you now.” But he didn’t immediately follow through with his promise. Bella’s heart thumped hard against her ribs as she waited. “Care to watch?”
Enticed by the question, her lashes drifted upward. He was waiting for her. He wanted her to see what he intended to do. Bella shuddered at the intensity in his eyes, but couldn’t look away as his tongue stroked against her.
She cried out, an incoherent sound barely loud enough to escape the confines of the bed. Blake’s gaze electrified her. His kiss set her ablaze. He was thorough. Each wet circle of his tongue sent her spiraling higher. The ache in her belly coiled into a tight knot. Her world shrank to the feel of Blake’s mouth on her and the rapid approach of cresting pleasure.
Her hips rose off the mattress, frantically searching for the fulfillment that eluded her. She was whimpering, her breath coming in erratic and short bursts.
“Let go,” he urged. “Come for me.”
And then she felt the slide of his finger inside her. The penetration touched off her orgasm and her spine bowed as she exploded like a firework, splintering into a million hot shards before returning to earth in a gentle waterfall.
* * *
Bella’s cries were the sweetest music Blake had ever heard. Beneath him she continued to tremble in the aftermath of her powerful orgasm. At long last her lashes fluttered and her gaze focused on him. There was such wonder in the much-washed blue of her eyes. Blake’s heart clenched.
“That was amazing,” she murmured.
He