He wrapped his arms tightly around her and pulled her body against his. He wanted to feel every part of her, all the curves and valleys that had tempted him since the night he’d become so achingly aware of them. He wanted to live out every dream he’d had about Lou, wanted to make every fantasy he’d entertained reality. He wanted to make love with her into the next century and beyond. He wanted…he wanted it all.
“Lou,” he finally rasped out when he was able to tear himself away from her.
She gazed up at him, her eyes glazed with passion, her cheeks flushed with the heat, her lips red and swollen from their kisses. She’d never looked more beautiful than she did at that moment.
“Lou,” he tried again. But his voice still came out sounding breathless and uncontrolled. “We have to go inside now.”
She shook her head slowly. “Why?”
Mason cupped his hands over her shoulders, setting her away from him only far enough so that he could meet her gaze. He wanted to make sure she understood exactly what was about to happen, wanted to give her every opportunity to back out if she wasn’t ready. “Because I’m going to make love to you,” he said. “And I’d rather have you all alone to myself, away from prying eyes—inside the hotel—when I do. I’m kind of old-fashioned that way.”
Lou’s knees nearly buckled at the sound of Mason’s roughly uttered intentions. It was going to happen, she thought, a shiver winding through her body. Itwas finally going to happen. Even so, she scarcely knew what to do. Making love with Mason was something she’d been fantasizing about for six years, something she had rehearsed in her mind thousands of times. And now she couldn’t remember a single thing about how she had seen it happening.
Not trusting her voice, she only nodded her agreement. Slowly, Mason danced her back into the room until the distant music faded away completely. He turned her loose long enough to close the French doors behind him, then stood gazing at her as if she were something come to him from a dream. He didn’t say a word as he approached, only gazed at her the way a starving prisoner beheld a banquet. No man had ever made Lou feel sexier than she did in that moment. Instinctively, she placed her hand behind her back and reached for her zipper, but Mason paused in front of her and lifted a hand to stop the action.
“Don’t,” he said softly. “Let me.”
Obediently, she dropped her hand back to her side and stood still before him. His eyes grew warmer as he circled her waist with his arms again. But this time, when he pulled her close, it wasn’t for a dance. Instead, he lifted his hands to the top of her dress and with an agonizingly slow gesture, began to draw the zipper down toward her waist. She felt her dress gaping open as he went, felt his warm fingers skimming over her bare back all the way down to where the opening ended just below the small of her back. Gently, he gripped both sides of the fabric and pulled them apart, pushing the dress down her body until it pooled in a puddle of red around her ankles. Then she stood before him in nothing but a red lace bra and panties.
Mason couldn’t believe how perfect and luscious Lou was under the little red dress in her little red under things. She wore some awfully progressive lingerie for a shy kid from the mountains. Which, he supposed, was just another indication that she wasn’t a shy kid from the mountains anymore.
In spite of that, he asked, “Dammit, Lou, where do you get this stuff? Why do you get this stuff? Is there…” He took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst. “Have you been seeing someone I should know about?”
“I wear this stuff because I like it, Mason. I never had nice clothes—or nice underwear—when I was growing up. And as for your other question—” She lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “You already know everything there is to know about him.”
He nodded absently, fascinated by a tiny mole at the top of her left breast. He’d never known she had one there. Impulsively, he lifted his index finger to stroke over it, loving her quick intake of breath as she closed her eyes. Happy to know he turned her on as much as she did him, he cupped his hand fully over her breast and took a final step that brought his body into contact with hers. When he gently squeezed the warm flesh in his palm, her eyes flew open again. He smiled as he circled her wrist with his fingers and placed her hand over the knot in his tie.
“Now it’s my turn,” he said.
Lou understood his meaning, but it had been so long since she’d undressed a man, and her boyfriend in college had never worn ties. She tried to ignore the erotic sensation of his hand on her breast as she loosened the knot and then unthreaded the loops of silk completely before tossing it to the floor. Then she went to work on his buttons, slipping each through its hole, but he moved his other hand to her other breast, making her fingers falter. When she reached his waist, she looked up to see his eyes alight with a fiery passion. He yanked his shirttail free of his trousers and shrugged out of the garment completely, letting it drop to the floor beside her dress.
Lou had seen Mason without his shirt before, but only in harmless situations like as days spent at the beach or painting her apartment. Now she could touch his bare skin at will, exploring and arousing, caressing and inciting. When she spread her palm over his warm flesh, she felt his heart racing in much the same way as her own. The realization he was as excited by what was happening as she encouraged her. She flattened her other palm over the muscles rippling poetically across his hard abdomen, then bent her knuckles to rake the back of her hand over cords of sinew. The closer her hands drew to Mason’s belt, the hotter his skin became. When she finally covered his buckle and began to unfasten it, his hand clamped hard over hers. She looked up at him, confused.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“This is the point of no return, Lou,” he said in a low, dangerous voice. “When this belt comes off, the pants are coming with it. And then no one gets out of this room until we’re both completely satisfied.”
Lou swallowed hard. “That could take days,” she said.
Mason smiled. “Or weeks.”
Her eyes widened at the prospect. “It’s a good thing room service here is so efficient.”
“Last chance, Lou,” he said, ignoring her attempt to ease the sexual tension that was bearing down on them like a freight train. “When the zipper goes, I go. And I won’t stop until we’re both too crazy to know what’s real and what’s fantasy.”
She looked at him for several moments. Then, with maddening slowness, she skimmed her fingernails up the expanse of muscled torso and chest and back again…to the buckle of his belt. Her gaze never left his as she tugged the leather free and undid the button of his waistband. Then she grabbed the tongue of his zipper with sure fingers and pulled it down as far as it would go.
Chapter Nine
Lou circled her arms around Mason’s neck and kissed him with all her heart. She wove her fingers passionately through his hair, crowded her body as close to his as she could and gave him everything she had to give. At first, he seemed too stunned to respond. He stood stock-still as she pulled at his mouth with hers and made no move to help. Then, as if someone had put a lit match to his heart, he wrapped his arms around her waist and crushed her to himself. She felt his fingers wander up her back to the fastening of her bra, deftly unhooking and removing it, until the scrap of red fell to the floor. The sensation of her bare skin against his was almost too much for her to endure. And when he pressed her closer, she was helpless to prevent the wild little cry that escaped her.
The sound only seemed to intensify his actions, because he leaned forward to deepen the kiss, bending her body backward over his arm as he did. With his free hand, he cupped her breast and gave it a gentle squeeze, and at the sound of her quickly indrawn breath, pulled away long enough to gaze down at her.
“You are so incredibly beautiful,” he said.
When Lou only sighed in response, he lowered his head to place a maddeningly gentle kiss below the curve of her breast. Electricity shot through her, and she rolled her head back in a silent plea for
more. Mason rubbed his opened mouth across the satiny skin of her breast, at times teasing her with his tongue or closing his lips over the warm flesh to taste her. When he finally arrived at her nipple, he nudged it to life with butterfly soft kisses before drawing her fully into his mouth. shudders of pleasure rippled through her, making her go hot and weak all over. As he sucked her breast, his open palm skimmed over the smooth skin of her belly, pausing only when he encountered the barrier of red lace panties. Then he dipped his fingers beneath the soft fabric to touch her, sending her senses spiraling completely out of control.
If there had ever been any doubt in her mind she wouldn’t be able to go through with this night with Mason, the way he was holding her now, touching her, drove all her fears away. Nothing had ever felt better, more right, more perfect than being here with him like this. Nothing. And she knew as the night wore on, it would only exceed her most wondrous dreams.
She gasped when he lifted her off the floor and carried her to the bed, where he lay her on her back before bending over her to placed his hands on the mattress on either side of her head. Then he was standing over her, gazing down at her as if she were the most wondrous thing that ever happened to him.
“I have never wanted a woman as much as I want you right now,” he said. “Never.”
Lou marveled at the undisguised emotion in his eyes, loving him more than ever. “Then take me, Mason,” she whispered. “Take me now.”
He remained standing only long enough to strip off the rest of his clothes, then, with a muffled growl, he dropped onto the bed beside her. He kissed her quickly, deeply, on the mouth, then followed it with a line of kisses along her jaw, down her throat and over her heart. He nipped playfully at the tender skin of her breast before trailing his tongue down the warm expanse of skin on her torso, dipped momentarily into her navel and paused at the scrap of red lace that was the only thing left hindering him. But he made short work of those, too, burying his hands under her fanny and lifting her hips so he could drag the garment down her legs. Then he covered her mouth with his again.
After that, Lou descended into a smoky haze of passion. Mason was everywhere—on top of her, beneath her, in front of her, behind her. His mouth tasted every part of her, his fingers touched her in places she’d scarcely touched herself. She explored his body with equal fervor and curiosity, the muscles of his back and torso bunching and flexing beneath her fingers. When he circled her wrist with his deliberate fingers and drew her hand downward to his thigh, Lou didn’t resist. She wrapped her fingers around him and stroked him up and down, palming him, caressing him, squeezing him.
Until Mason rolled her onto her back and spread her legs, settling himself between them. With one mighty thrust, he entered her, and Lou cried out at the exquisiteness of the way he filled her. Quickly he withdrew, then lunged forward again, driving himself even deeper. Again and again, he bucked against her, and again and again, Lou lifted her hips to greet him. Steadily, their rhythm built until it was a force that propelled them both to madness. They both cried out at the peak of their culmination, then tumbled wildly over the precipice. For long moments afterward, they only lay beside each other, gasping for breath, scrambling for thought, startled by the heights that they had hit.
Lou looked at Mason, brushing back a lock of damp hair from his forehead before laying her palm softly against his cheek. Immediately, he covered her hand with his and brought her fingers to his lips to kiss them.
“Mason,” she whispered, not sure what she wanted to tell him, but somehow needing to hear him speak.
“Ssh,” was all he said, placing his other hand gently over her mouth. “No talking. Not yet.”
“But—”
Before she could say anything more, he was kissing her again, with all the hunger and need she would have sworn they just put to rest. But as his lips plied at hers, she was surprised to realize she, too, still had wants and needs left unmet, empty places that needed filling.
Mason was right. There would be time for talking later. Now they had something more important to address. This time, he pulled her atop him as he buried himself inside her. And all Lou could do was lean forward to kiss him again, and swear to herself she would never let him go.
****
Later in the night when it was still full dark, Lou awoke to find herself warm and safe in Mason’s strong arms. His heart was beating quietly against hers, and his shallow breathing stirred the wisps of hair on her forehead. At first she was sure she must still be asleep, was certain that the happiness swelling her heart could only be found in her dreams. Then she dared to lift a hand to his face, stroking her thumb over his cheekbone. When he inhaled more deeply and mumbled something in his sleep, she knew she was indeed awake.
“I love you, Mason,” she whispered against his throat before closing her eyes to sleep once again. “I love you.”
****
Mason awoke before Lou did to find the room pale and gray in the first light of the morning. Through the silence, he could hear a gentle rain pattering against the windows. At first he wasn’t sure where he was and couldn’t quite remember what had led up to this hazy moment just before dawn. Then he turned to the woman sleeping curled up against him and remembered too well.
He had made love to Lou last night. And it had been the most intense, most erotic, most incredible encounter with another human being he’d ever experienced. He’d enjoyed things with her he’d never even wanted to try with women before. How had that happened? How had things escalated so quickly?
Gazing past her, he saw the little red dress in a heap on the floor where it had fallen when he’d pushed it from her body. A few feet away from it lay the red bra that had driven him to near madness. He couldn’t see her panties from his position in the bed, but he recalled with alarming clarity that he had nearly torn the delicate fabric when he removed them.
Lou stirred beside him, inhaling a contented breath before snuggling closer. The once crisp, white sheets were now a tangle of fabric at the foot of the bed, and both their naked bodies were fully exposed. Lou was pressed against him with her head tucked into the hollow between his chin and shoulder, and her slender calf was draped loosely across his leg. One of her hands was curled into a loose fist against his chest while the other lay cupping his upper thigh. He pillowed her head with one arm, curling his hand over her opposite shoulder, and spread his other hand open across her bare bottom. There was something kind of disconcerting about seeing himself and Lou entwined in such a blatantly sexual way. But there was something reassuring about it, too.
No, there wasn’t, he corrected himself. How could he have allowed himself to make love to her last night? How could he have taken advantage of her that way? He knew she had a crush on him. Hell, she’d had a crush on him since the day he met her. But he’d always figured that when she went to college and got out in the world, her crush would fade and she’d find a nice guy to settle down with. But that hadn’t happened. Instead, she’d come to rely on him—too much, really.
And he hadn’t exactly discouraged her, he thought guiltily. It had been kind of nice knowing she cared for him. Knowing she needed him. Something that just made him feel good inside. But he’d promised himself he would take care of her and look out for her. He’d promised himself she would never be hurt again. How were they supposed to go back to the way things were before after the way they’d been last night?
Then he remembered something else. He remembered waking up one time during the night, while it was still dark and Lou was curled up beside him. He was pretty sure she’d told him she loved him. Looking down at her now, at her satisfied smile, at the possessive way she wound her body around his, his pretty sure became certain. Lou thought she was in love with him. Now he was really in trouble.
Dammit, how could he have allowed this to happen? Why hadn’t he been able to control himself? How was he going to get out of this one?
There was no way this thing with Lou could go any further than it already ha
d. She thought she was in love with him, for God’s sake. Couldn’t she see what an impossible situation that would be? He wasn’t the kind of man to settle down. Lou deserved everything the world had to offer her—a successful career, a great home, and a guy who would spend his life being devoted to her. She’d even told him once that she wanted children someday. He was sure there was a man out there somewhere who would be the perfect father, but that man wasn’t him. He liked the way he was living now. He had the freedom to come and go whenever he wanted, could pursue stories anywhere in the world. He could take risks. Why would he want to be saddled with a wife and kids?
He glanced down again at their nude bodies so closely interwoven. Had she insisted he stop treating her like a child and accept the fact she was a grown woman? Well, he’d certainly done that, hadn’t he? If he searched his brain to the end of time, he’d be hard-pressed to think of another female who was more of a woman than Lou Lofton. Dammit, he was supposed to look after her, he berated himself again. He was supposed to make sure she stayed out of trouble. Which meant this could never, ever, happen again.
As carefully as he could, he disengaged himself from her and climbed out of bed. He needed to be alone for a while to think all this through. This was their final day on Sonora. They’d be catching a flight back to Washington early tomorrow morning. As he searched for his clothes, he resolved this situation would be settled between them one way or another before they boarded that plane.
Once he had all his belongings, Mason took one final moment to watch Lou sleep. She was lying on her stomach, her arm stretched across the empty place on the mattress where he had lain only minutes before. In sleep, she looked almost like the nineteen-year-old Halouise that had stumbled into his office all those years ago. The memory only made him feel that much worse about having taken advantage of her. Before he made his way through the connecting door into his own room, he paused to pull the sheet up over her.
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