“From a duckling to a swan?”
I thought instantly of Sinclair, assuring me that the airplane was something beautiful and full of power – a swan. “I guess,” I murmured.
“How is it working out for you so far? I must say, you have a glow in your cheeks and if it weren’t for the tension in your shoulders, I would say you look remarkably well.”
“We don’t talk about anything specific, those are the rules. But he took me to a business party and out fishing today. I feel like I’m getting to know him in a way, but when we returned to the resort he was cold and dismissed me so easily.”
I remembered so clearly the feeling of shame as he left me at the entrance, another person disappointed in me.
Stefan was staring at me with narrowed eyes, his lips quirked down in concern. “I could hit him if you’d like?” When I laughed, he glared reproachfully at me. “You wouldn’t laugh if you knew how much I value my hands.”
I wiped a tear escaping from my eye and swallowed the giggles still hovering in my throat. “I’m sorry, Stefan, that was a very gallant offer. But I think I’ll pass.”
“What is it that you want to do then? Are you happy to let him dismiss you?” He leaned forward, his bared teeth glinting in the low light. His face had contracted and I could sense the sudden hostility in him. “Maybe you bored him in bed, Giselle, or maybe you shattered his expectations. Are you happy never to know? This is the problem with women, you know? They think men know everything, that we are unmoved by their charms. The truth, my French-Italian beauty, is that you bombard us with desires. And a woman like yourself should never be dismissed, even if the man in question is ‘unbelievably handsome’.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, if you aren’t ready to end your holiday affair, do not let it end. Go to him, seduce him all over again.” His eyes skimmed my form in frank admiration.
The idea of seducing Sinclair was deeply appealing. I could picture him before me, his dazzling blue eyes burning with desire, his head tipped back as he groaned at the feel of my mouth on him.
“There you are.” Stefan smiled at me, tipping his wine glass and at last taking a long sip. “Your gumption is back.”
I took a sip of wine to hide my coy smile. “Any ideas of how I should surprise him?”
Stefan grinned broadly and rubbed his hands together in glee. “Now we are getting to the good stuff.”
Hours later when the moon was swollen in the dark sky and all the diners had long since retired to their beds or downtown prospects, I stood at the door of Sinclair’s room with my fist closed and poised over the wood.
Despite Stefan’s pep talk over more than a few glasses of wine, my confidence was dissipating with each breath. Sinclair had dismissed me for a reason, I reminded myself. Who did I think I was just showing up at his room in the middle of the night? What kind of woman did that?
Me – a small but remarkably powerful voice in my head cried out – I do that! The kind of woman I wanted to be, had always dreamed of being, wouldn’t hesitate in taking what she wanted.
Besides, I had spent over half an hour in my room freshening up for seduction. I didn’t own any beautiful lingerie so I had opted to go nude beneath the thin white summer dress fluttering against my upper thighs and my hair was artfully mused by Stefan’s hands into something indefinably sexy. I remembered his words of encouragement and sucked in a final deep breath.
No one stirred within the room. I knocked again, with more force, and considered the very real possibility that Sinclair was still at work, or worse, that he was with someone else. I was surprised that I even cared. Of course, he could be. What claim did I have on him as a stranger who had known him for three days and knew nothing of his origins or even his last name?
With the last ounce of my courage, I knocked once more before turning on one of my highest heels to leave. I had only taken a few steps away when the sound of the door opening behind me prompted me to look over my shoulder.
Sinclair stood in the frame clad in a dismantled suit, his white shirt untucked and slightly wrinkled and his feet bare. The sight of those naked brown feet had me swallowing past a swell of unexpected desire but the instant I caught his eye, I almost choked on his expression. His beautiful blue eyes were bloodshot and his features carefully guarded as if I had come to trick him out of something precious. He didn’t say anything as he stared at me, his posture rigid but not hostile. I doubted my purpose for a second as he waited for me to speak but when his thick brows rose daringly, I straightened my spine and dug deep for some confidence.
On slightly wobbly legs, I slowly walked back to him, only stopping when my high heels brushed his toes. I had to crane my neck to look up into his expressionless eyes.
“Have you eaten?”
He frowned, and I was thrilled that he was thrown off by my question. Jerkily, he nodded.
I bit my lip in genuine nervousness and noted the way his eyes lingered over the motion. “Do you have room for dessert?”
Slowly, both to heighten the anticipation and to calm my jittery heart, I slid the flimsy straps of my white sundress off my shoulders. No one was in the hall, it was too late for returning diners and anyone out clubbing wouldn’t return home for hours yet but still the vulnerability of my almost nakedness as my dress slipped easily off my shoulders to pool at my feet was intense. I kept my eyes on his the entire time, watching as first shock and then excitement flared in those azure depths. I tried not to fidget as he took in my bare breasts, heaving slightly under my anxious breath, and the white cotton underwear blocking me from total nudity.
A thin hiss streamed through his clenched teeth and he shifted uncomfortably on his feet but his eyes left blazing trails across my skin. “Jesus Christ.”
I raised an eyebrow and shakily joked, “I’m not sure he would approve.”
A startled smirk twitched his lips but he shook his head. “Elle, I shouldn’t do this.”
I watched the Adam’s apple bob convulsively in his brown throat and it distracted me from the itchy scratch of guilt that prickled up my spine. “You promised me seven days.” I cleared my throat but my voice remained husky with nerves and desire. “You don’t seem like a man to go back on your word.”
“I made a promise to the woman waiting for me back home,” he countered but his voice was quiet as if even he didn’t want to hear the truth of his statement.
I nodded slowly and opened my palms, aware of every ripple of air across my bare flesh. “I know and I respect that.”
It seemed so surreal to be having this conversation in the open, wearing nothing but my modest panties.
His gaze flashed across my exposed skin once more before settling on my eyes. He stared at me for a long moment, his expression hardened with uncertainty. I kept my features open and honest, radiating the simple desire I had for him and allowing some of the other feelings – the ones I was too scared to analyze – to slip in around the edges. Finally, he seemed to find something in my face that he had been desperately searching for and he let out a ragged sigh.
Feeling brave, I placed my hand against his slightly stubbled cheek. “I want you.”
His groan reverberated throughout the still night air and before I could move, his lips were on mine, his tongue swiping across the closed seam of my lips persuasively until I opened for him. He bent and grasped the backs of my thighs so that I was hoisted into his arms. My frantic hands dove into his thick, chin length hair and tugged, pulling him even closer to me while the hands that cupped my bottom squeezed deliciously. Vaguely, I was aware that we were in his room now, the door kicked shut behind us and that he was moving us quickly towards the bed. When he softly deposited me on the mattress, I mumbled a protest against his lips as he moved away.
I stared up at him with frankly pleading eyes, my body physically shaking with desire for him. His eyes burned as he looked down on me and I was pleased to see the swell of desire tightening the groin of his slacks.
>
He licked his bottom lip unconsciously, making me gasp. “You are glorious.”
His words infused me with sensual confidence and with my heart beating erratically, I allowed my closed knees to flop open, revealing my underwear-covered center. His breath hitched but he gently pushed my hands away when I reached for him. I watched with questioning eyes as he sank to his knees on the plush carpet and ran his hands up the outsides of my legs to my bottom so that he could tug me closer to the edge of the bed. I leaned up on my elbows to watch him as his fingers ran up one of my legs, lifting it into the air.
Maybe it was the fact that my seduction had worked or that I had never seen such carnality in a man’s gaze before, but I felt more confident and infinitely sexier than I ever had before.
I sighed as he kissed the arch of my foot.
“I think we’ll keep these on,” he husked as he ran his tongue lightly over the seam between my exposed foot and the outrageously tall high heels.
His eyes caught on mine and I sucked in a deep breath at the wicked intent there. Moving up my legs, his gaze locked on mine and he sunk his teeth lightly into the soft skin of my inner thigh. My head collapsed back on my shoulders as I shuddered out a groan.
I squeezed my eyes closed as he lifted my rump to pull off my underwear and splay my legs further apart. I may have exposed myself to him at the door but the thought of him staring at the most intimate part of me still made me intensely self-conscious.
A finger dipped through my wet folds and his smoky voice ordered me, “Look at me.”
I did as he asked; my eyes wide with apprehension as they landed on his face just an inch away from my aching core.
He blew cool air onto me and whispered, “You are beautiful.”
My entire being flushed hot and prickly with embarrassment but his strong fingers clenched my thighs until I stopped wriggling. His tongue flicked out over the most sensitive part of me and desire spiked through my system. Wanting to touch him, I whimpered and grasped at his strong shoulders to pull him towards me but he resisted and the gentle scrape of his teeth against my drenched flesh was a warning to let him continue. But the memory of him against my tongue, the unique taste of him and the wonderful power I felt taking him inside my mouth spurred me on.
“I want to taste you.”
He froze at my words and then groaned against me. I squealed as he lifted me into his arms and flipped around to lie down on his back on the bed. He lifted me over him easily and spun me around so that I was perched over his face. Panic seized me and I started to mumble my reluctance but his firm hands yanked my hips lower until I could feel his tongue swirl over my clit. I trembled and braced my hands on his lower stomach.
I could feel the bunch and pull of the steely muscles under his skin as he moved under me and I followed the tapered V of his abdomen to my prize. His arousal pressed into his stomach and when I slid a thumb over his tip, it was wet with desire. I moaned as I leaned down to lap it off him and his thighs under my palms flexed in reaction. I was beginning to think there was nothing I craved more than the intimacy and the power that came with having him in my mouth.
I had never gone down on Mark. He had respected my reticence in doing so and the only time I had before was with Christopher. My mind contracted around his name and I forcibly shoved it out of my head but not before I tensed over Sinclair.
Sensing my distraction, he gently pulled me to the side and turned to lie beside me on the opposite end of the bed from the pillows. He licked his lips as he settled against me, slipping an arm under my head to support me and my eyes followed the path of his firm mouth. I leaned in to kiss him but he pulled slightly at my shoulders so that I couldn’t.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice was still pure sex but a flicker of concern wavered in those expressive eyes.
I shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Anger clamped down on his features, turning his face into that distant, cold mask. “I’m not going to sleep with a woman who keeps secrets from me.”
I couldn’t help but snort at that. “We don’t have anything but secrets between us, Sinclair.”
His frown was fierce, knotting the skin between his chestnut brows in a way that I was beginning to find strangely adorable. “Not here. In my bed, I want you to be honest with me.” Something like pain crossed his expression before he could hide it and I wondered, not for the first time, about his partner back home. “I need you to be honest with me.”
He hitched my leg over his hip and settled closer to me still so that his hard length pressed against my heat. My breath caught and released on a thready sigh. This was what I needed, I realized as I looked into his beautiful face, this intimacy. I had been without male comfort for most of my life and to have someone like Sinclair desire me like this was beyond my wildest fantasies, my most hidden dreams.
He pressed against me slightly so that just the tip of him rested inside me. I clamped down on him and the fire that flamed in his eyes unlocked my reticence to speak.
“I told you I wasn’t a virgin,” I whispered, closing my eyes so that I didn’t have to see his reaction. “And I was telling you the truth.”
He stilled against me and stroked my hair in silent support.
“We had a family friend, almost like an uncle, who helped us financially. We were pretty poor, especially for a while there and he was almost like a guardian angel. When he started to date my sister, I think the family was relieved even though he was old enough to be her father. He was handsome and nice and everything.” I clenched my eyes tighter until spots interrupted the memories playing across my lids. “I didn’t really think anything of it when he started to seduce me.”
Sinclair was so still and silent beside me that I wasn’t sure what to make of it so I slowly peeked out from under one lid. He was staring at me with the telltale muscle in his jaw jumping and his eyes so blazing a blue that I closed mine again.
“He was careful not to hurt me and he was really kind but we did some…” Horrible, disgusting, immoral, degrading? “… Unpleasant things together. No one ever found out and when my mother and sister moved to America, they left him behind. I haven’t seen him since but,” I gestured between our bodies, “it feels strange to actually want to do some of those things with you.”
“You don’t have to do anything—” he started to say but I opened my eyes and pressed my palm against his mouth to silence him.
My throat ached with sorrow but I was grateful for my dry eyes when I whispered, “You don’t understand. I want to do those things with you, so badly I tremble.”
I showed him my slightly quivering fingers and pressed them to his firm chest, trailing them down his skin until I reached his still semi-hard erection.
I wrapped my hands around his base and squeezed firmly. “I need this.”
When I looked back into his eyes, they glowed with understanding and, thankfully, desire. He wasn’t repulsed by my anxiety or my sketchy past and I blew out a deep sigh of relief.
At a loss for what to do now, I was grateful when he said, “Taste me, Elle.” When my eyes widened, he nodded and his tone grew stern. “Take me in your hands, between your lips and do what you want with me. Make me come.”
The dominance in his voice left no room for argument but I could tell by the gentle stroke of his hand over my hair that even though I would be pleasuring him, this was for me too. He was commanding me to step past my fears and do what I wanted desperately and secretly to do. He nodded at me, seeing the understanding in my expression.
With trembling fingers, I pushed him onto his back and straddled his thighs in order to run my fingers over the bumps and muscular curves of his torso. Sinclair was powerfully built but lean like a runner and I traced the map of his muscles with reverent fingers. Soon, that become inadequate and I dipped my head to sketch the texture of his abs under my tongue. His groin vibrated under my lips and I smiled against his skin as I took his rigid length tightly in one hand.
I could feel my own desire drip down my inner thighs and by the time he pulled me off of him, I was perilously close to orgasming and he hadn’t even touched me. So, when he finally settled between my legs and plowed into me, I screamed in pleasure. I hadn’t realized how I would ache for him even after less than twelve hours without him inside me. It didn’t bode well for me if I was this desperate for him after only four days with our inevitable end rushing up to meet us.
He shifted the angle of my hips and captured both my hands in one of his, pressing them above my head. The feeling of helplessness, the texture of his crisp chest hair against my aching nipples and the fire he stoked so skillfully between my legs banished all rational thought. I threw back my head and groaned.
Sinclair watched me with eyes on fire. His taut jaw and the beads of sweat crowning his forehead were the only other signs that he was not completely in control. He dipped his head and took one of my peaks between his lips, sucking hard. My legs tightened, crossing against his flexing buttocks until the sharp point of my heels dug into his tender flesh. He hissed against my skin and took my nipple gently between his teeth. Unbearable heat swirled through my body and I clenched my teeth, desperate for release from the tension.
Sensing my need, Sinclair’s free hand slipped down my damp belly to the soft curls of my sex, unerringly finding the button of pleasure at my center. I gasped as he flicked me.
I was so close that stars burst across my vision.
“Sinclair, please,” I begged, my head thrashing from side to side at the myriad of sensations he evoked in my body. I was so close but I wanted – no, needed – him to give me permission to tumble over the edge.
The Affair (The Evolution Of Sin #1) Page 11