He realized she had deep-rooted fears. He just didn’t know the cause of them, and he was determined to discover those reasons over the course of the next few days.
She set the box of strawberries on the coffee table, but didn’t sit down. “Before we go any further, I think it would be smart of us to lay out some ground rules.”
He nearly laughed at the fact that she felt it necessary to issue stipulations, but caught himself just in time. “I don’t have any rules.”
Her stubborn chin lifted a fraction. “Well, you’re used to this kind of thing, and I’m not.”
A grin quirked the corner of his mouth. He didn’t bother to correct her belief that he indulged in affairs on a whim, because hewasn’t certain she’d trust him at this point. But her assumption was far from the truth. Sure, he’d dated a lot of women over the years, but that didn’t mean he slept with every single one of them.
She obviously needed these boundaries between them, and he supposed if he knew what they were right up front, he’d at least have the advantage of knowing what he was dealing with. Besides, if the restrictions made her feel better and more comfortable with him, then he wasn’t going to argue.
He settled himself in the middle of the sofa and rested his arms across the top cushions. “Okay, let’s hear what you have to say.”
She paced the carpeted floor in front of the coffee table, as if moving helped to ease her anxiety. “I’m sure this first request isn’t going to be a difficult one for you, but I need to say it anyway. This affair goes no further than this weekend here at The Delaford. Whatever happens here, stays here. Once Celeste and Greg’s wedding is over, then so are we.”
Hell, no, he wanted to say, but instead clenched his jaw tight and continued to listen to her idiotic guidelines. He was too afraid that if he refuted her first rule she’d back out of the deal completely, and that wasn’t an option for him. He didn’t want a relationship with Rebecca to end before it even had a chance to begin.
“Secondly, I want to be sure that after this weekend is over and we go our separate ways, that we’ll still be friends,” she went on, meeting his gaze. “My sister is going to be married to your best friend, and I’m sure we’ll run into one another socially quite a bit.”
God, she was killing the mood, and they hadn’t even had a chance to enjoy an evening together. “Being friends isn’t a problem for me.” Because if he had his way, they’d be friends and much more than that before the weekend was finished.
“Good,” she said, nodding succinctly. “And finally, I need to be assured that no one is going to find out about us. I don’t want Celeste to know about our affair, and I want you to promise me that you won’t say anything to Greg, who would then tell my sister. Oh, and when we’re in public together, there will be no open displays of affection, or anything else that will draw attention to the fact that we’re…lovers.”
She was making his head spin with all her too rational rules. If he did anything this weekend, he was going to make sure he ruffled that sensible, pragmatic personality of hers, but good. Show her how to loosen up and have fun.
He also wanted to show that “opposites do attract,” as the message in his chocolate heart half had said. He’d opened it when he’d returned to his room and been pleased at how perfectly suited the words were to the situation.
Starting right now.
“Rebecca?” he said in a soft, low tone that was meant to calm and soothe.
She stopped her brisk pacing, her expression still reflecting a bit of uncertainty he was determined to chase away. “Yes?”
“Come here and sit down.” He sat up and patted the spot right next to him. “You’re way over-thinking this.”
She hesitated a moment, then rounded the table and perched herself on the farthest edge of the sofa cushion. She folded her hands in her lap, her spine way too stiff and proper. “I just don’t want either one of us to have any false expectations of what this is about.”
Connor assumed she was talking more about herself than him, considering she’d already pegged him as the playboy type.
God, he so wanted to tumble her back on the couch and mess up her too perfect hair with his fingers, and kiss her glossy lips until every inch of her softened and she moaned just for him. Instead, he settled for reaching over to brush the back of his knuckles along her cheek.
“Sweetheart, I know what this is about,” he said, watching the way her breathing slowed and deepened as he continued to caress the side of her neck with his fingers. “It’s about you, and me, and acting on an attraction that’s been simmering a long time. And now, here’s my rule.”
A slow, sweet smile curved the corner of her mouth as she cast him a side-long glance. “I thought you said you didn’t have any rules.”
“This one is absolutely necessary.” Because without it, she’d remain too aloof and uptight. “I want you to relax and enjoy yourself this weekend with me. Do whatever feels good without rationalizing every little thing. Do you think you can do that?”
She eyed the Sinfully Sweet box she’d brought with her, and her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she returned her sheepish gaze back to his. “Feed me one of those chocolate-covered strawberries, and I think I can do just about anything.”
If that wasn’t an invitation, he didn’t know what was. And there was no way he was going to refuse such a prime opportunity to turn this all too serious conversation into something far more fun and seductive. “Now that would be my absolute pleasure.”
He unwrapped one of the treats, but instead of giving it to her as she was anticipating, he took a bite off the tip for himself.
“Hey,” she said with a throaty laugh that lit up her eyes. “That’s the best part.”
“Ummm. Not quite, but it’s definitely very good.” He lifted the strawberry to her lips and fed her a piece.
She sighed and moaned her enjoyment as she nibbled and ate the fruit slowly and thoroughly, seemingly more and more aroused with each bite she took. Her eyes glazed over and her expression took on a dreamy, rapturous look that made him hard. Juice from the strawberry trickled down his hand, and to his shock and pleasure, she closed her eyes and licked away the sticky sweetness with long, silky laps of her tongue, then closed her mouth over the tip of his finger and sucked.
He nearly came undone right then and there. Somewhere along the way she’d gone from demure and cautious to an outright temptress. Not that he was complaining about the thrilling transformation. Hell, this was how he’d always dreamed she’d be with him.
There was nothing left to the strawberry but the stem, and he pulled away just long enough to set it aside and turn down the lamp next to the couch, which left the light in the far bedroom as their only source of illumination. Then he framed Rebecca’s beautifully flushed face in his hands, reveling in the fact that she didn’t appear the least bit resistant to what he was obviously about to do.
“Now this is the best part,” he said huskily, and brought his mouth to hers.
He kissed her softly, tentatively, at first, despite the instinctive male urge to take and possess and claim. He nibbled on her bottom lip, then stroked the fullness with his tongue, gently feasting on her as though she were a rare delicacy and he couldn’t get enough of her—which he suddenly couldn’t. After years of wanting Rebecca Moore, he was ravenous for her, and keeping a tight rein on his control took every ounce of willpower in him.
She sighed, returning his heated kisses with a slow building urgency that finally gave way to hunger and need. Amazingly, she was the one who took things to the next level. Her lips parted, opening against his, and her tongue dipped into his mouth, dragging him deeper into the kiss.
Desire and lust coiled low in his belly, making his blood run hot in his veins. Sliding his hand around to cup the nape of her neck, he sifted his fingers into her silky hair, slanted her head to the side, and gave her exactly what she wanted: a hot, tongue-tangling kiss she returned with equal fervor.
She ta
sted like strawberries and chocolate and feminine temptation, and he lost himself in the sweetness of her mouth, her uninhibited response, and the eagerness now apparent beneath that formal, practical facade of hers.
With a soft mewling sound rumbling up from the back of her throat, she fisted her hands in his T-shirt and pulled him down onto the couch with her. He followed her lead, willing to go anywhere she took him. The couch was nice and wide, and he settled himself to the side of her, so that half his body covered hers and one of his legs was nestled between her parted thighs.
Their greedy, insatiable kisses continued. Rebecca’s hands impatiently tugged the T-shirt from his jeans, and he groaned when she flattened her palms against his stomach and began pushing the hem upward in a hasty attempt to remove the article of clothing. The material caught beneath his arms, and when she made a sound of frustration he moved away slightly, giving himself enough room to tug the shirt over his head, then toss it aside.
She gazed at his bare chest in awe and feminine delight. “Oh, wow,” she breathed as she reverently skimmed her hands up over his pecs and across his shoulders. “You’re absolutely gorgeous.”
Her hands were cool against his fevered skin, and the need to touch her was driving him crazy. He glanced down, saw the press of her tightened nipples against the silky fabric of her top, and wanted to see her naked, too.
“Your turn,” he murmured, and she didn’t say a word to stop him as he slid one of the thin straps of her camisole down her arm, then the other, until both of her lovely breasts were bared to his gaze. She was perfectly shaped and filled his hand as if she’d been created specifically for him.
He grazed his thumb across the velvety tip, and she sucked in a quick breath, her back arching in a silent plea for more. Her hands slid upward and into his hair, and her fingers twisted around the strands as she guided his lips to her breast. He took her in his mouth, grazed her taut nipple with his teeth, and soothed the sting with the soft swirl of his tongue before giving her other breast its fair share of attention.
She shifted restlessly beneath him, and he placed a hand on her knee, gently spreading her legs wider apart. They fell open effortlessly, and he slipped his hand beneath the hem of her skirt and trailed his fingertips up the inside of her smooth thigh. She shivered and moaned, offering no resistance as he continued his slow, lazy quest until he reached the damp fabric of her panties. He pressed his fingers against her, and her entire body jolted.
Abandoning her breast, he crushed his mouth to hers in a kiss that was hard and deep and explicitly carnal at the same time that he slid his fingers beneath the satin material covering her mound. She was so soft and warm and deliciously wet, and as he began to caress and tease her in the same rhythm that matched the stroke of his tongue along hers, she went wild.
Her hands dragged down the slope of his back, until she reached the waistband of his jeans. Her fingers gripped the belt loops and she tugged at his hips, trying desperately to shift their bodies into a more intimate position. Without words, he knew she wanted him inside her. Hell, he wanted to be inside her, but he didn’t have a condom with him. Never would have anticipated that things would go so far so quickly tonight.
So, he improvised. Without breaking their kiss, he moved over her and settled the hard, pulsing length of his erection, still confined beneath the zipper of his jeans, right up against the barrier of her panties. He pulled her leg up high over his waist and rolled his hips against hers, deepening the contact. The hard ridge of his cock pressed and rubbed against her sensitive flesh with each successive thrust, taking over where his fingers had left off.
She shuddered and whimpered against his lips, the needy sound and the arching of her body into his telling him that she was so, so close. And then she was there, at the peak and tumbling over the edge, and it was a beautiful sight to see. She tossed her head back, clenched her thighs tight against his, and unraveled.
He’d meant for the pleasure to be all hers, but between her cresting orgasm and her unabashed desire for him, he was too far gone to hold back. So, he didn’t even try. He surged against her, hard and deep, one final time, and a ragged growl tore from his chest as the friction launched him into a climax right along with her.
In time, beneath him, Rebecca’s muscles relaxed and her breathing slowed. He moved back to the side so the bulk of his weight wasn’t on her, then smoothed her skirt back down and adjusted the straps of her camisole.
Her lashes gradually drifted back open, and she stared up at him with a shocked and dazed look on her face.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded jerkily, slid her quivering legs back down to the couch, and covered her face with her hands with a groan. “I can’t believe that you, that I, that we…”
He chuckled in amusement, because she was so damn cute when she was flustered. “Believe it, sweetheart. It’s called making out.” Gently, he pulled her hands away and traced her chin with his thumb, not wanting her to hide anything from him. “And the last thing you should be is embarrassed.”
“I can’t say that I’ve had a whole lot of experience with your kind of making out,” she admitted, a slight frown etching her brows, even as her gaze roved over his naked chest. “And I’ve never had an orgasm with my clothes still on.”
“If it makes you feel any better, neither have I,” he said wryly. She just had the ability to make him lose control. He could only imagine what it was going to be like when he was inside her for real. Mind-blowing, no doubt.
Her head turned to the side, and she eyed the open box with the strawberries inside. “I swear, there’s something about the chocolate…”
He wasn’t about to let her blame her enthusiasm and passion for him on the chocolate, no matter how good it had been. “Becca, that chocolate had nothing to do with what just happened between us.”
She sighed. “You’re probably right.”
Connor thought about the next three days he had with Rebecca, and between the wedding activities and ceremony that were planned, he wanted to make sure he got as much quality time with her as possible. And not just for the sex that she assumed this affair was all about. He wanted the chance to get to really know her, and vice-versa.
He smiled as he came up with the perfect idea and hoped she didn’t balk when she discovered what he was planning, because it was certain to test just how adventurous she was willing to be with him. “Tomorrow night, after the wedding rehearsal and dinner, how about you and I sneak away from this place and do something fun?”
That perked up her interest and made her forget all about the chocolate. “What did you have in mind?
He wanted her to be surprised, but he was beginning to realize that she was a woman who liked to be prepared. So, he only gave her as much information as she needed to be ready for their adventure. “All you need to know is to wear pants and bring a jacket. I’ll take care of the rest.”
3
“SO, HOW WAS your girls’ day at the spa?” Greg asked Celeste and the bridesmaids sitting at the dinner table around him.
The Friday evening wedding rehearsal for the outdoor ceremony tomorrow had gone smoothly, and now the wedding party and Greg’s family were enjoying dinner at The Delaford’s five-star restaurant, The Winery. Rebecca had deliberately taken the seat next to her sister and across from Connor to give herself distance. But now she realized her mistake. It put him in her direct line of vision and she found her gaze straying to him much too often. Not a good thing when he met her surreptitious stares with a slow, sexy, bad-boy smile that made her toes curl and reminded her of the wicked things he’d done to her the night before.
Rebecca started in on the salad a waiter put down in front of her and listened as her sister told her fiancé about their day getting manicures, pedicures, facials and massages, while the guys had been out enjoying a game of golf. Celeste was animated and bubbly and filled with excitement, and who could blame her? In less than twenty-four hours she was going to marry the man s
he loved and become Mrs. Greg Markham the Third.
Rebecca was feeling a tad excited herself, but her anticipation was centered around the man who’d rocked her world the night before—and they hadn’t even had sex. He’d been on her mind all day, and she couldn’t wait to find out what he had up his sleeve for the two of them tonight. She felt as giddy as a young girl anxiously awaiting her first date, and it had been forever since she’d had that kind of reaction to a man. It was a heady, thrilling sensation she embraced whole-heartedly.
“Those spa treatments must have done wonders,” Connor said as he set his fork on his empty salad plate, then shifted his gaze across the table. “Rebecca is positively glowing and she looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen her.”
Rebecca nearly choked on the drink of water she was swallowing. Oh, his comment sounded innocent enough, but she knew darn well that his “glowing,” and “relaxed” remarks had nothing to do with the spa and everything to do with the orgasm he’d given her last night. Heck, he was practically gloating.
Celeste smiled from Rebecca to Connor. “Yeah, she is glowing, isn’t she?”
She set her glass back on the table, refusing to let Connor shake her composure out in public. “There’s something to be said for a nice, long, pleasurable massage. It has a way of releasing all kinds of tension.”
“Ummm, I might have to try one of those massages,” Connor said with an incorrigible grin.
Rebecca bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Only she knew what kind of massage he was really referring to. And, undoubtedly, he’d want it to come from her.
Dinner passed at a leisurely pace, amidst amusing conversation between bridesmaids and groomsmen, a lot of boisterous laughter, and too many flirtatious looks and comments between herself and Connor. If anyone at the table noticed those playfully seductive gestures, specifically her sister, no one called them on it. Or maybe they were all used to the attraction and didn’t give it a second thought.
Sinfully Sweet: Wickedly DeliciousConstant CravingSimply Scrumptious Page 4