Bringing her to the bed, he let her slide out of his arms slowly, enjoying the moment as she sluiced down his body. His throat constricted around a breath when she knelt before him on the bed, a living fantasy. He caught the clip in her hair and unfastened it, watching in awe as her glossy dark waves tumbled down around her bare shoulders.
The night before them filled with promise, and, without a word, he reached down and caught the hem of her dress. The fabric was just as soft beneath his fingers as he’d imagined it on her curves. Almost reverently he shimmied it up her body.
She was naked underneath.
He finally exhaled that breath as he took in her golden beauty, the image of her stretched across the bed in his arms.
She seemed caught up in the promise of the moment, too, because she rested her hands lightly on his shoulders and arched backward, giving him a breathtaking view of her lush breasts and rosy nipples.
He couldn’t resist touching, but the sight of her was almost overwhelming. He didn’t know where to start. A dim part of his brain reasoned that they’d already gotten naked. They’d already made love. He shouldn’t be so awestruck by the idea of touching her again.
But some instinct warned that Bree was unique, the only woman who would ever have this effect on him. Somehow he knew that touching her every time would be as momentous.
He’d honestly never given much thought to Josie’s soul-mates theory before and had laughed when she’d sworn Max was hers, but with Bree kneeling before him, her bold beauty making desire pound inside him like the surf, Lucas found himself reconsidering.
What was it about her that made him tremble when he reached out to touch her? That made a simple touch send a current straight through his body?
She sighed as he cradled the soft fullness of her breasts in his palms, quivered when he thumbed her nipples, and he found himself determined to convince her that what they had could be special. Skimming his hands downward, he traced the V of her ribs, the trim waist, let his fingers caress the curve of her hips. He wanted to learn this woman by heart, wanted to understand why he felt as if he’d waited forever to touch her.
Wanted her to feel the same about him.
When she swayed forward to press a kiss on his shoulder, Lucas thought he might get his wish. There was a tenderness about the moment, a familiarity that needed no words.
Bree might be a very private woman, might shield her feelings behind bold challenges and charming smiles, but he could sense her intensity. She was caught up in the power of the moment, too. And when she said, “Come to bed, Lucas,” he forced himself to move, to turn off the light and slant the plantation shutters.
“I want to watch the moonlight play on your skin,” he said.
“You make me feel beautiful when you look at me like this.”
“You are beautiful.” Such simple words. Words he knew she’d have heard before, but they were the right words for what he felt.
He was carried away by a need to stretch out beside her, to explore her at his leisure, to prove that he meant what he said and to understand why she made him feel so awed and so urgent. Dragging down his shorts, he kicked them away and joined her.
They’d shared the surprise of their attraction, the stunning newness of becoming acquainted. But now their need was laid bare. He wanted to convince Bree to open up, to explore the possibilities of what they might have found with each other, but he didn’t want to come on too strong and scare her off.
What he felt was so intense.
There were no games in this moonlit darkness, only admission. He wanted. She wanted. It really was simple.
Bree pulled aside the bedding, and he slipped between the sheets, his body relaxing into the softness of cool silk. Without a word she settled into his arms, her long body stretching out against his in a fluid motion, lithe curves unfolding, slim legs twining between his.
Their lovemaking in the spa had been the climax of the mounting tension since the night she’d dropped into his life, a rush of red-hot passions, a breathless exploration.
Now the intimacy of holding her close in the darkness humbled him. Bree lay in his arms as if she’d climbed into bed beside him forever, as if they belonged snuggling close with nothing but the bayou night and the moonlight between them.
Urgency yielded to the privilege of holding her, the freedom to bury his face in her hair and inhale deeply. Her fragrance tinged his every breath, and he knew a contentment just embracing her that made him feel content in a way he’d never known before.
She nestled her face in the crook of his shoulder with a sigh, no sense of impatience about her either. Her mouth parted softly around his pulse, a warm, velvet kiss, not of exploration but of welcome, of satisfaction.
She traced her fingers idly down his back, over his butt, as far as she could reach down his thigh. He felt no rush to respond in kind. He pressed his open palm into the curve of her waist to anchor her close. He let her explore at will, savoring the simplicity of the moment.
Two bodies close in the darkness.
Two souls recognizing each other.
Lucas had no good words for what he felt, the sense of awareness, the intimacy, just an unquestionable sense of completeness. But he knew that this was…right. And nothing else mattered when he held Bree. Not that they’d met only days ago. Not living on two coasts. Details.
Nothing mattered but holding her.
His desire began to build, the feeling mounting inside of him and spreading to her. She began rocking her hips, a slow rhythm at first, as if she’d found a pleasure point and needed to feed the ache.
He matched her barely-there rhythm, their bodies swaying against each other like the ebb and flow of the tide.
There were no words, just need. No explanations, just the rightness of knowing they were meant to be together. Two bodies that recognized each other on some instinctive level. He wanted to kiss her, but every thought in his head, every cell in his body, was focused on the pleasure of their bodies, of the liquid heat building inside.
That need grew. His erection surged against her, nestled so enticingly against her smooth skin, stroked by each slow glide of her hips.
And Bree understood how potent his need, knew she could take control by just gliding her hand between them, slipping her warm fingers around his hot flesh.
She gave a slow, sexy pull, and his entire body gathered in reply, his erection surged in her grasp. Her throaty laughter filtered through him with a power that would have driven him to his knees had he been standing. He couldn’t stop from rocking his hips and riding her warm grip, closing his eyes as sensation rolled through him.
Bree knew she had the power within her grasp and ran with it. Her fingers dragged another slow stroke, and as he was sucking air into his lungs to recover from the last jolt, she slipped her other hand between them to fondle his balls.
Lucas bucked unceremoniously, but there was no place to go. Their legs were entwined and their bodies clung together.
“Like that?” she whispered.
He dug his fingers into her firm backside, pulled their bodies close and trapped her hands between them. “Better make sure you can take what you dish out.”
“Sounds like a threat.”
She could still manipulate her fingers and gave his balls a squeeze.
He groaned.
She dragged her open mouth along his throat, kissing and nipping her way along his skin. Part of him wanted to flip her onto her back and feel her soft and yielding underneath him. The other part wanted to let go and let her have her sexy way.
Bree didn’t give him a choice.
Nibbling her way along his collarbone, she bit him hard enough to make him tense. Almost instantly he realized that her maneuver had had the desired effect because he’d shifted enough for her to free her hands and start up a rhythm that answered the question about who was taking control.
She laughed throatily and dragged her tongue over his shoulder. She followed the rhythm of her hand
with her hips to create a hunger that had him riding each sexy stroke as pleasure mounted inside.
Through the haze that forced out rational thought, he knew he wouldn’t last long against this assault, so he braced himself against her, used his leg as leverage….
With one show of strength, he flipped her over. She unfolded underneath him, all supple curves and laughter.
“No fair,” she protested. Her eyes glinted and her teeth flashed white in the darkness.
“Yes fair,” he replied.
He lowered his face to catch a kiss, and their mouths came together. He tangled his tongue around hers, explored the soft recesses of her mouth before pulling away. “You took me for a ride before. Now it’s my turn. I want to feel you underneath me. I want to hear you sigh my name.”
“Oh, Lucas.”
He laughed, sinking between her thighs to lever his erection for a sultry stroke against her moist heat.
The move proved to be a double-edged one. She wrapped her legs around his waist to pull him closer, and he had to close his eyes to manage the onslaught. He could feel her everywhere, the need to take aim and sink inside her was overwhelming.
But Lucas wasn’t ready for this night to be over by a long shot, so he levered himself up on an elbow and thumbed her pleasure point with lazy circles.
This time Bree wasn’t laughing.
He started up his own rhythm, and suddenly her hands stilled and fell away. She raised her arms above her head and arched languorously, giving him a breathtaking view of her body.
“Like that?” he asked.
“Mm-hmm.”
He stroked her until her thighs quivered in reply. “You do realize that two can play your game.”
“What game? The one where you take unfair advantage by flipping me onto my back?”
“What’s unfair? I was on my back in the spa.”
“I liked you there.”
“I like you here, too.” He dropped a kiss onto one rosy nipple, smiled when she shivered. “Perfectly matched, wouldn’t you say?”
But Bree wouldn’t say anything—or couldn’t, he suspected—as she nestled against the pillows and closed her eyes.
The shutters fractured the moonlight and spilled slices of light across her beautiful body, and Lucas found himself as caught up in the vision she made as he was in the feel of her. She was languid and quiet, and he couldn’t resist touching her everywhere.
Slithering down on the bed, he wedged his shoulders between her thighs.
“Lucas.” She breathed his name on a sigh and arched in trembling reaction when his mouth zeroed in on his target.
He’d never known this sort of power—not power over Bree, but the power of pleasing her. He felt in tune with her every tremor, every hot clench of her sex as he speared his tongue inside her heat, and she responded to his touches with a wild boldness that charmed him.
His own need mounted when she began to ride his face in an enticing swaying, and he lost himself in the unfamiliar sights and sounds of her body as she rode him to pleasure. She cried out his name as her climax broke, and he tasted her orgasm in every shiver and spasm of her beautiful body.
Suddenly her hands were everywhere, his hair, his neck, his shoulders, as she tried to pull him into her embrace.
“Come here.” Her voice held a breathless quality that made him smile, and he worked up her body with his mouth and his kisses, savoring the way she gasped along the way.
When he finally settled his hips between her thighs, he gazed down into her face. Her eyes were misty, her smile dreamy as she slipped her arms around his neck and offered her mouth for a kiss.
“Do you want to know what my new favorite thing is?” she asked.
“Yes.” His reply was a soft gust against her lips as he resisted the urge to make her mouth his own, to take advantage of the closeness that left her exposed to him.
“Making love to you.”
Her admission struck some chord deep inside, a physical reply that made him begin to vibrate from the inside out. He had no other answer than the need that ravaged the last of his restraint. With a low growl he claimed her mouth.
Taking aim, he sank deep. The world fell away. It was only him and this woman, a woman who taunted him with her bold daring, a woman who touched him in places that had never been brought to life.
Bree.
His consciousness narrowed to the feel of her wrapped around him, the way she lifted against him to meet each thrust. Together they rode this magic they made together, his body gathering with an urgency that fueled his strokes, met her demand with a demand of his own.
Excitement mounted, and her low moans broke against his lips as she neared the breaking point again, only this time when she went, she took him with her.
That was all Lucas knew. He had no idea how long he lay there holding her, feeling their heartbeats racing together, their ragged breathing filling the darkness, he only knew that he didn’t want to let her go.
“I’m afraid you won’t get to see me in that costume.” His voice ground out a gravelly sound.
“Why’s that?”
Rolling to his side, he took her with him. “Because you won’t be leaving this cottage, so we don’t have any reason to get dressed. What do you think about steak for breakfast?”
10
LANA CAUGHT BREE ON the floor just as Bree was heading out the door after her shift.
“Leaving alone tonight?” she asked.
Bree shrugged. “Appears that way.”
“Well, you can’t expect to have every gorgeous man panting after you, can you?” Lana tossed her bleached-blond locks over her shoulder and continued into the VIP lounge.
Bree watched her go, wondering what that was all about.
Lucas had wanted to pick her up after her shift ended, but as she didn’t get off until 6:00 a.m., she’d insisted he get some sleep. After two days away, they’d be pulling double duty on the float today, and if he covered the early detail, she could actually catch some sleep, too. With a few hours apiece, they just might stand a chance at recovering.
To make love before her shift tonight.
She hadn’t needed the ride anyway. Her brother had returned her car according to plans, so she’d driven herself to work tonight. Hopping into her Jeep, she waved to the bouncer who watched her leave the building. Backing out of the lot, she thought about all those long, luscious hours in bed with Lucas with his warm, hard body wrapped around her.
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him all night, her thoughts bouncing between memories of stellar sex and plans for the remaining nights of his stay. It wasn’t until the dancers had gone on stage in the show bar that Bree realized she had a problem.
No costume for the coronation ball.
Had she not finagled her way out of the ball, Josie would have made the arrangements for her costume. Toni Maxwell held Krewe du Chaud’s business, compliments of Bree. In fact, she’d completed Tally’s and Josie’s costumes back before Christmas.
So in between coordinating Toujacques’ security with her celebrity rich guy’s private protection team so Mr. Rock Star could hit the Quarter, she’d debated her choices.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have many.
There wasn’t a costume shop within a hundred-mile radius of New Orleans that would have a decent costume available for rent. Bree considered calling Susanna. There was a surplus of period costumes at Southern Charm Mysteries that would suffice.
But Krewe du Chaud’s coronation ball was all about the glitz and glam of the golden pirates’ age. She’d look like the wilted butterfly in the dresses Félicie Allée’s guests wore to their corporate training. The ball would be the climax of her time with Lucas, and she didn’t want to suffice.
She wanted to shine.
Bree couldn’t explain when it had happened, but sometime during the past two days things had changed.
Lucas would be leaving—that much was a given. But she didn’t want him to just leave.
She wanted to give him a fabulously incredible denouement that he’d never forget.
The way she wouldn’t forget him.
She wanted to dress so that whenever Lucas closed his eyes, he’d be tortured by visions of her in her finery. It would be a fitting comeback to spending their days at Félicie Allée naked. And Bree so wanted to haunt the man’s dreams.
The problem: the ball was only days away.
Even without her obligations to work and the krewe, the time frame would be a push. Not to mention that she had no intention of sacrificing one second of playtime with Lucas to create and sew a costume.
But the vision inside her head…This time there would be no forgetting what she was wearing.
Bree could already see the spectacular design, a fantasy of flowing lines and shimmering lace. A light color to highlight her darkness, of course. Maybe a pale yellow that would sparkle in the sun as they rode on the float and glow beneath the twinkling lights of the banquet hall at the coronation ball.
It would be particularly fitting since Lucas had first noticed her in a banquet hall.
The idea gained speed in her head as she drove out of the fading dawn, but it wasn’t until she drove past Toni’s boutique that she figured out a way to make her costume happen.
She was working on a costume for Toni…she’d already pieced and sewn the entire underskirt. With a few simple alterations, it could easily work for the dress she had in mind.
Which meant she would only be sewing half a dress.
Half might be doable. Especially if she could pilfer the accoutrements and trim from the supply closet in the krewe’s den to save some more time. They stored all sorts of paraphernalia from Mardi Gras celebrations past. And from what Toni had said, this customer wouldn’t be wearing the gown until some summer Garden District masque anyway, which would give Bree plenty of time to remake the undergarment and lining.
Maybe she wouldn’t sleep this morning, after all.
Casting a quick glance at Café Eros, Bree drove past an empty spot near Court du Chaud’s alley and continued to Canal Street. If she hurried, she could drop by the den and see what she could come up with. She wouldn’t get a chance later, not with Lucas there, and she wanted her dress to be a surprise.
Going All Out Page 13