by Trish Wylie
The smile was immediate and so bright it lit her up. ‘I’m glad. I want to do to you what you do to me.’
‘Sweetheart, if you do then my reputation for being any good at this is going to go down in flames.’
‘I doubt that.’
Adam scooped her up and laid her down as if she were something infinitely fragile and precious. Then he followed her, his knee dipping the mattress as he lay down beside her and brushed her hair back from her cheek. ‘Just let me do all the work the first time.’
Roane’s voice came out on a squeak. ‘The first time? How many times were you planning on there being?’
He smiled a slow smile. ‘You thought there’d only be the one?’
‘I didn’t—I mean I hadn’t—I—’
‘This isn’t a one-time thing.’
She gulped, bringing a wider smile to Adam’s face—the combination of seductive siren one minute and nervous innocent the next unbelievably intoxicating.
‘Don’t hold back, little girl, you hear?’
Roane nodded.
So Adam dipped his head.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘DON’T HOLD BACK, little girl…’ Adam had asked Roane in a deep silken tone that wreaked havoc on her nerves.
He had no idea what he was asking of her. But she’d nodded. She wondered if he had any idea how much power he wielded over her. How could he not? He was vastly more experienced and sexually confident than she was…
When he’d kissed her in the laneway with so much pent up emotion let loose it had rocked her to the soles of her feet; literally. She’d panicked when he’d led her towards the guest house, a part of her still recoiling from the idea of sex for sex’s sake. But when he’d understood her hesitation there’d been a stronger sense of inevitability that had motivated her to do something she’d never done before. She’d allowed him to take her by the hand and calmly lead her to bed…
Adam slowly lifted his mouth from hers and began to blaze a trail down her neck, the fingers on her stomach splaying and pressing downwards as if staking a claim. Mine, that hand said. Don’t move, I’m in charge—I’m going to take you the way you’ve dreamed I would.
Roane couldn’t seem to find her voice and when she did all she could do was ask shakily, ‘You won’t hold back either, right?’
He lifted his head and smiled; a slow, sexy, lopsided smile that sent every nerve in her body humming and created a dull ache in her chest. His fingertips trailed over the curve of her stomach to the button on the waistband of her trousers,
‘I don’t plan on holding anything back,’ he said in a voice as heavenly as velvety smooth dark chocolate.
Roane knew instinctively that he hadn’t meant the same thing she had. But that wasn’t what they were doing, was it? Holding back physically was very different from holding back emotionally. Perversely, since it was the one thing she’d told herself she didn’t want from him—she suddenly felt the loss of the emotion; darned fickle heart.
Adam bent and nuzzled her ear, which did nothing for her control over her vocal cords.
‘Trust me,’ he murmured huskily, the button on her trousers popping free and the zipper lowering.
His tongue traced the shell of her ear. ‘Breathe, little girl…’
Roane exhaled, then inhaled sharply, unaware she’d been holding her breath. That explained the ache in her chest, then. Where had her bravado gone—the unwavering certainty that it was right to let him lead her to where they were? The same inner sense of possible recklessness that had loosened her tongue to tell him she’d done nothing but think about what they were now doing all day long.
Gone the second she’d been struck by the reality of what she was doing, that was where. When she’d feasted her eyes on the perfection of his naked chest again and had felt the same cell-deep need to reach out and touch. She’d faltered then, her physical need for him so strong it had floored her. That was before she’d brazenly cupped him through his jeans and been momentarily terrified by the logistics of what they were about to do. He was so big. She was so much smaller than him.
She stifled a moan when he ran the tip of his tongue down to the beating pulse at the base of her neck, his hand smoothing her trousers downwards.
‘Relax,’ he breathed. ‘Lift up for me.’
Again she did what she was told, trying her best to relax only to have him move further down the bed when she lifted her hips, making her tremble all over again. When he kissed his way down her shoulder and arm she could have gone limp with relief if his other hand hadn’t been sliding up her thigh at the same time.
Then her trousers were gone and he was kissing his way across her collarbone. ‘And make noise.’ He lifted his head and smiled down at her. ‘I want to hear it. Every sigh, every gasp, every moan—let it all out.’
When he lowered his mouth to her other ear a whimper escaped before she could stop it. Between the things his mouth was doing to her ear and where she was afraid his hand was headed—oh, come on, afraid? Who was she kidding? Hopeful his hand was heading—it was hard to form coherent thought. But she gathered all her will power and tried anyway.
‘Do you have—you know? With you?’ She heard herself ask the question that could have done with being asked sooner. If she hadn’t been half pinned beneath the heavy weight of him she would have kicked herself for not thinking about it before. How stupid was she?
Sleeping with a man within three days of meeting him was insane enough for Roane. Having a baby with him? Beyond insane and into the realms of sheer stupidity…
It didn’t explain why her body reacted so strongly to the powerful thought of it, though, did it? For a second she convinced herself she could feel her womb clench.
Adam chuckled, gently nipped her shoulder and Roane jumped, clutching his shoulders as a rush of heat spiralled through her body. But she couldn’t stop the disappointment that rose inside her when he pulled back and his hand left her leg.
She’d just messed it up, hadn’t she?
When Adam’s eyes met hers, he didn’t look at her as if she’d ruined everything by bringing up the subject of contraception—or lack thereof. Instead he took her hand and brought it to his lips, turning it over and placing a kiss on her palm before setting it to his chest and sliding it down over his skin. Roane allowed a small moan to escape as she felt the hard muscles under the heated covering of silky smooth skin; it was as addictive the second time as it had been the first. He really was beautiful.
‘I have one in my wallet.’ He guided her hand over his chest, as if her hand had become an extension of his own. Then he pressed her palm over his heart, on the very spot where she’d kissed him.
‘I’ll be better prepared next time.’ He released her hand and cradled her cheek with what almost felt like tenderness. ‘All the more reason to take our time…’
Roane’s heart kicked hard against her breastbone when Adam lowered his head and coaxed her lips apart. She slid an arm around his neck, whimpering wantonly when his tongue caressed hers and drew her into a leisurely dance. Frankly she hadn’t known what she’d expected of him—heat, passion, fire, strength; all those things and more, yes. During the day she’d mentally toyed with all of the associated images of those things. But the last thing she’d expected from him was tenderness.
He tasted her as if he had all the time in the world and intended to make the most of every single second. Roane had no emotional defence from that, a part of her reaching out for it and trying to clasp it tighter to her fickle heart. Rough-tipped fingers traced her cheek, the arch of her brows, the curve of her lashes when she closed her eyes. Then they threaded into her hair, bending at the knuckle to brush it out into a curtain on the pillow beneath her head.
Roane’s hand was still where he’d left it, the beat of his heart reverberating through his skin and into her palm. She felt the rhythm, her heart matching beat for beat when she felt it quicken. Then she slid her hand upwards, over his shoulder, around to his back—suddenly feverish with the nee
d to touch him, to learn every last inch of him as if there would only be the one time for them despite his silken promise.
Adam’s muscles jumped as she impulsively trailed her fingernails over his skin. Roane felt a thrill shooting through her at the effect her touch had on him. Had she really done that to a man like him? He drew her closer, his breathing speeding up as the kiss spun endlessly on and on.
With a deft flick of his thumb and forefinger she felt the front clasp of her bra come undone and then a large hand un-erringly found her naked breast making her arch and moan out loud. It was the most intense sensation. His touch sent shivers radiating outwards from her breast to the rest of her body. Then he rolled her nipple in his palm and kissed her again in that slow, relentless tantalization he did so very well.
She began to writhe restlessly against the covers, the hand not clinging to Adam bunching the material into a fist. But Adam simply continued endlessly caressing her and kissing her until she thought she’d explode into a million pieces if he didn’t do more.
‘Adam.’ She moaned his name when he pulled back to kiss his way along the line of her jaw.
‘I know,’ he whispered roughly in reply.
Then he bent and caught her nipple between his lips, drawing it into his mouth and gently grazing it between his teeth. The soft bite effectively short-circuited Roane’s brain, the one leg not pinned under the weight of his moving frantically as she grasped the covers tighter and twisted them.
‘God—Adam.’ Her throat was raw from gasping in air, her heart beating so fast that her chest ached. Down below, dear heaven, she had no idea what that was. It—well, it almost hurt. She was hot and tight and tingly and—
Adam continued to bestow his expertise on her breasts until Roane honestly thought she would die of longing if he didn’t touch her lower down. It was too much and not enough at the same time. She had no idea what it was that was happening inside her abdomen or how she was supposed to control it. It was as if every muscle in her body was straining to grasp onto something that was just out of reach. Something her very life depended on.
The hand on his back slid up into his short hair, fumbling blindly for a hold.
He rested his chin on her ribcage, his voice sending a cooling whisper of air over a heated nipple as he made the soft demand: ‘Tell me what you want, little girl.’
Lying in bed with him, Roane discovered the nickname took on deeper sexual undertones. She twisted her hips and found the words were easier to say when she craved his touch so very badly. ‘Lower. Touch me lower.’
‘Here?’ His hand slid down over her ribs to her hip.
‘Lower.’
The hand moved to her thigh. ‘Here?’
Roane frowned at him, her voice strangled. ‘You know where. You know what you’re doing to me. Please.’ She felt emotion clogging her throat. ‘Please don’t make me beg you.’
Adam moved back up, resting his head on the pillows beside her and turning her face towards him with one long forefinger. ‘Anything you give me you give me freely.’
Roane felt tears welling up in her eyes, her answer an exhaled whisper. ‘Thank you.’
He smiled at her in the silvery moonlight, moving his hand down her throat, over her breast, her stomach, her abdomen and then—finally—beneath the band of lace to push it down and away. Roane knew to bend her knees and lift her hips, she knew to wriggle just a little and to hook her toes to slide the lace off her ankles and away. Then Adam’s fingertips were moving back up her leg, over the sensitive skin behind her knee, the softest part of her inner thigh—to where she desperately needed his touch the most.
When his fingers dipped into the pool of wet heat she turned her head and arched back into the pillows, her hips rising off the bed as she bit down on her lip.
‘You really have been thinking about this all day, haven’t you?’ he asked with what sounded like a sense of deep satisfaction in his voice.
‘Um…’ She managed to gasp.
Talented fingers dipped and swirled. ‘You’ve been like this all day. For me.’
Roane gritted her teeth, hissing back, ‘Yes.’
‘I wish you could se how beautiful you are right now.’ He took a breath. ‘Look at me. I want to see you.’
She was focused so intensely on the movement of his fingers it took him to make the softly spoken demand to her a second time before she turned her head. But having him look into her eyes while he did what he was doing made her feel more vulnerable than she ever had before.
He was studying her intensely as he slid an exploratory finger deep inside her, the question forming in his eyes before he spoke. ‘You’re tight.’
‘Tell me what to do.’ She moaned and bared her soul to confess: ‘I don’t know what to do.’
Adam’s thick lashes flickered as he searched her eyes, the question still hovering on his raised brows before he told her in an impossibly tender voice, ‘Take a deep breath, relax your body—let the air out of your lungs slow. And. Let. Go.’
She kept looking at him as she followed each step, her body shaking from the inside out as she took a deep shuddering breath, tried with all her might to relax her body and then—
He moved his thumb to her most sensitive spot as she exhaled. He circled, flicked over the swollen nerve ending—and her world fell apart.
Her spine bowed up from the covers, her head pushed deep into the pillows and with her eyes closed tight she could see a myriad of colours flash briefly across her eyelids while she let out a long keening moan. One that seemed to come from the very place he was touching.
Her hips jerked as the waves pulsed outwards. And then after what felt like an eternity she flumped lifelessly against the covers, an almost manic burst of husky laughter escaping from low in her throat. “What the hell was that?”
Adam moved his hand and was brushing his knuckles back and forth over her highly sensitized abdomen, the muscles beneath still jerking with miniature aftershocks when he asked, ‘You don’t know?’
‘I’ve never. Well, it’s just never—’ She swallowed to ease her aching throat, then swiped her tongue over dry lips. ‘I mean I’ve tried…I just didn’t know…’
Adam’s face rose above hers, incredulity in his deep voice. ‘What kind of guys have you been with?’
‘Ones who didn’t know what they were doing.’ She laughed again—the sound softer this time. ‘Obviously.’
Adam repeated the word: ‘Obviously.’
Before she could get herself out of a potentially embarrassing conversation he added, ‘So that’s the first time you’ve ever—’
‘Yes,’ she interrupted before he said it, colour rapidly rising on her cheeks. How did she even begin to explain her disastrous love life to a man like Adam? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried, but she’d never felt what he’d just made her feel. ‘I think I’d have noticed if that happened before.’
Grimacing at how ridiculously shy she suddenly felt, she looked up at him from the corner of her eye. ‘That’s supposed to happen every time?’
‘It is if you’re doing it right.’ He brushed her hair back from her cheek. ‘And that’s just the pre-show…’
Roane’s breath hitched. ‘Pre-show?’
When he kissed her again she was stunned at how fast her body responded even though the heat built slower than before. Somewhere in the midst of roaming touches and gentle sighs and murmurs of encouragement Adam was as naked as she was and Roane was looking up at him as he returned to her having sheathed himself. He kissed her throat, her collarbone, found sensitive places she didn’t even know she had, worshipped her breasts until she was writhing against the covers again. She would never have believed a man could master her body the way he was.
Then he smiled at her and kissed her hungrily, his hand sliding down to her waist and over her hip before rising to cup her breast. Any semblance of protection Roane had left shielding her heart melted as he rested his forehead against hers; eyes closed, his skilled fingers
tracing the soft mounds of her flesh and his deep voice rumbling into the heavy air with words that surprised her,
‘I don’t want to seduce you, little girl.’
Roane blinked up at him with wide eyes. He didn’t? Had she done something wrong? She wanted him to feel the same way she had, or even a quarter of it. It was only fair. But more than that—she needed him to feel it, to want her beyond reason the way she did him. What would it take to make a man like him feel that way? she silently asked—so desperate for an answer her voice shook.
‘You don’t?’
Adam opened his eyes and the corner of his sinfully tempting mouth rose in a hint of his devastating lopsided smile. ‘Oh, I want you, sweetheart—don’t doubt that.’
As if to make sure she got the point, his thumbnail traced a slow circle around her nipple, her entire body tightening in response as he continued speaking in the rough-edged tone that did the most damage to any shred of microscopic resistance she might have had left. ‘I want to show you everything you’ve been missing. I want to be deep inside you. I want to feel you wrapped around me and to hear your moans in my ears. I want to spend days doing this now I know what it feels like.’
The fire in her blood boiled like molten lava at the mental images his words created.
‘But?’ She choked the word out. ’Cause there was a ‘but’ in there somewhere, wasn’t there?
Adam’s hand left her breast and cupped her cheek, his gaze intense. ‘I don’t want to seduce you.’
Reading the confusion on her face, he traced her cheek with infinite tenderness. ‘So tell me you want this. No looking back and regretting it. Last chance…’
Roane stared at him, dumbstruck. He was calling a halt to make sure she wasn’t swept away by the heat of the moment? He really wanted her to make a rational decision about something as completely irrational as how much she ached for him? How much she’d ached for him since the second she’d laid eyes on him.
‘I can’t think straight when you kiss me the way you do. Don’t you know that?’ she whispered, taking the weighty complication of actually choosing to make love with him—a phrase so much more dangerous than ‘have sex’—out of her hands.