The old fear came back. God, I’ve blown it.
She was gulping her water, chewing ice. Yup, she was still nervous. Angry? He tilted his head and examined her. He wondered if it was smart, but he needed to stand up to her or he’d never forgive himself. If there was anything but three more dates and a funeral scene in their future, he’d have to take this opportunity to tell her the truth.
“Devon, some day you’re going to have to trust someone. I just hope you make the right choice, because your radar is all bass-ackwards.”
She started a reflexive glare and then stopped herself.
“I’d never do anything to belittle you, hurt you or want to cause you any kind of pain. But you’re going to have to give me the benefit of the doubt and quit judging me like I’m some ogre with malfeasance on his brain. You’re a lovely lady, but no honorable man appreciates having his intentions questioned, his words dissected or his mannerisms criticized.”
He wasn’t sure she’d gotten the message. Hell, he wasn’t sure if he’d delivered it clearly enough. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to get across, actually.
The silence between them was killing him. He wasn’t going to tone down his statements, though. She’d have to take the whole enchilada or—Or what? He could tell she was struggling with something internal. After a big sigh, she answered him.
“I apologize,” she said curtly. Almost too neat. Those red lips were calling him in the worst way. Maybe she was a little more fun when she was angry, but fuck, it wasn’t the way he was supposed to act around a lady. Wasn’t fair to her. It wasn’t what he wanted.
In her occasionally miraculous way, she broke the ice, and he was grateful for it.
“So you won’t misinterpret my intentions then?” He could see she was trying to be very proper. No smile on that flawless face. Did he see something devilish lurking there? Or was he seeing what he wanted to see? Her dark eyes and lush lashes glistened in the dimly lighted room.
He decided to play along. “What intentions?”
“I want you to start with the oysters.”
Chapter 12
Devon wished she’d requested a dark corner instead of the fireplace front and center, where everyone’s eyes landed when they entered the restaurant. They had no privacy as their legs locked under the table and they ate holding hands as much as possible. He watched everything she did during dinner with rapt attention. Every time she licked her lips or closed her eyes when she savored something delicious he stopped and watched her, and smiled.
The pressure deep inside her belly grew into a dull ache that demanded release. Her body was giving her all the signals that life for her was about to change. She would no longer be the same woman she was tonight. She would feel the touch of a man’s hands on her body, a lover’s touch. She wanted him to be the one. What happened in the future would have to take care of itself when the time came. She was going to give this night as a gift to herself. An indulgence she’d never allowed herself to dream might happen.
Outside the restaurant he walked her to a nearby park bench. Sitting down, he patted his knee. “Let’s talk, Devon.”
She did as instructed and sat, leaning her head into the firmness between his neck and shoulder. His arm was wrapped around her, holding her tight against him. Every time she inhaled, she absorbed the scent of him. She heard and felt the steady thumping of his heart, matching her own.
“Where would you like to go?”
She sat up. She’d not thought about that, but of course he had.
“I want it to be special,” he whispered into the side of her face as he kissed her hair.
Special? How could it not be special?
“We can go back to Sophie’s—“
“No.”
Just the way he said it made her panties wet.
“I didn’t bring anything. I mean I was expecting we’d go back there.”
“Were you, really?” His thumb and forefinger held her chin. His lips rubbed against hers. “I want to make love to you, Devon Brandeburg, and I want to do it right.”
His warm lips tasted of the delicious Merlot they’d had with dinner.
“I can’t think, Nick. You’re going to have to do that for the both of us.” She looked up at him and delivered a message she hoped he’d like. “I trust you.”
After another lingering kiss, he got up and took her hand. “I have an idea.”
They’d entered an intimate reception area with walls decorated with maps and drawings depicting early California history. Artifacts of early settlers in the Sonoma Valley were displayed in glass cases throughout the lobby area. A large fireplace large enough to stand up in was at the end of the room. Nick checked them in and told the evening manager there was no luggage. That elicited a quick glance toward Devon from the man with dark horn-rimmed spectacles.
Beyond the handmade metal doors the courtyard was filled with sounds of water. They followed a paver-tiled walkway up around the side of a building in back and walked past a water wheel slowly pouring buckets into a koi pond slowly. The pond overflowed into a series of moats and rivulets that circulated all around the courtyard area.
They mounted steps to a pair of hand-hewn doors with a stucco wall separating them. Nick inserted a skeleton key into the doorway at the left and opened it, escorting her into a large room with tall rustic-beamed ceilings. Centered on a wall covered in old paintings, maps and hanging tapestries was a huge four-poster bed. Directly across the room was a roaring fireplace.
Devon was suddenly shy and her hands felt cold. She went to the fireplace and extended her palms to warm them. Nick stepped behind her and embraced her waist, resting his chin on her right shoulder.
She closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling of his strong arms about her body. The breakneck speed with which she had fallen for this guy worried her a little. But then she remembered his words, “I will never do anything to hurt you.” She did trust him, and knew he told the truth.
“You want anything?” he whispered.
“No. Well, yes, but nothing you can fetch. It’s right here.” Her hand reached back behind his head as she arched into his upper torso. His long fingers migrated up from her waist to the bodice of her dress and breached the low neckline to find her. She loved the sensation of his hands exploring her body.
When she turned, his green eyes were alight with the fire’s reflection. The orange glow highlighted golden strands in his hair and his reddish stubble. She lay her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. His hands lazily sifted through her hair, rubbing her shoulders. She liked that he was patient, not urgent, though she knew he felt the same intense anticipation she did.
He brought her over to the bed and sat her down. Dropping to his knees, he removed both her high heels and smoothed his palms up her calves to her thighs. His thumbs crossed over her flesh until they met in front. He hooked his fingers on her panties and removed them under cover of her dress.
He stood up and lifted her to him, unzipping her dress while kissing her neck. Her hands felt the muscles in his back ripple as he lifted his arms and removed her dress.
Her shyness came back as she locked her fingers together covering the apex of her legs. Naturally, that was where his eyes focused.
He licked his lips and said, “I’ll take it very slow, Devon. You tell me if you want to stop, and I’ll stop.”
She nodded, putting her forehead just under his chin. His fingers played her spine and migrated down to squeeze her bottom and gently press her against his erection.
Devon began to unbutton his shirt, kissing down the center of his sternum. The light dusting of hair smelled musty and sweet. She continued unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it out of his jeans as their kiss became heated, as their tongues intertwined and she tasted his passion.
He quickly threw off his shirt and unbuttoned his pants, letting them fall to the ground. His penis rubbed against her lower belly and he guided her hands to him, moving them along his shaft. She was su
rprised at the texture and feel of him, the delicate skin and tracery of veins on the underside.
She wasn’t afraid.
Last article of clothing was her bra, which he removed, bending to kiss each of her breasts, one at a time. She kissed the top of his head and soothed his temples with her fingertips.
“Come,” he said as he pulled back the coverlet on the bed. Large satin pillows fell to the floor. The cream sheets were cool as she sat, then slid under the covers. Soon he joined her and their bodies lay stretched out flesh to flesh, touching the full length as much as possible.
He moved on top of her and they kissed. His pushed his knees between her legs and she found herself straddling on his thigh. She clutched him with her knees and felt him press against her sex. A dull ache in her stomach made her gently slide up and down his thigh, pressing herself against him in an attempt to relieve it...
One of his fingers found its way up between her nether lips, rubbing her clitoris in circular motion, which made her jump. He rimmed her opening, massaging and spreading her folds. He slowly inserted his forefinger inside her and watched her arch up and roll her head back into the pillow.
He kissed her body from her belly button down to the beginning of her mound.
Raising his head up, he said, “I want to taste you.”
“Yes,” she had no choice but to say, “Yes please.”
She raised her knees as his tongue found her nub, which he sucked. Then he slowly delved his tongue into her opening, alternately kissing and sucking her labia. Instantly she was wild with sensation and began to thrash from side to side as he stimulated her clit and feasted on her sex.
“Tell me if you want more, Devon,” he whispered as he came up for air.
She was rubbing the top of his head, massaging his temples.
“More,” she sighed.
He continued to lap her most sensitive region, patiently stopping to kiss and then alternating with a biting nip on the inside of her thighs.
Something was building deep inside her and suddenly she wanted him buried deep inside her. “Please. Please, Nick. Come here. Show me. Teach me.”
He stopped and wrestled with something in his pants, which turned out to be a foil packet. She sat up to watch him place the condom over his cock and smooth it down to its base. Her fingers moved over his tip and down one side of him. His rigid member was now engorged.
Nick crawled over her and pulled her body down the bed, and then pinning her hands at the wrists with one of his own. He angled his penis at her entrance, rubbing back and forth along her labia. On one pass, he pushed through inside her, slowly and insistently pressing into her core. She expected to feel some pain but there was none.
He was moving in and out of her slowly, skillfully alternating between rubbing up and down against her sensitized flesh, pushing slowly into her and pulling back out.
He put his arms under her back and pulled her down on him by the shoulders, and that’s when she felt the pain of him being deep inside her. Her little moan brought kisses to her neck and breasts. He pulled back and went deeper still and again she whimpered involuntarily. His rhythm was slow and deliberate. Each stroke filled her and then leaving her vacant, wanting more.
At one deep thrust, she felt another sharp pain.
“You okay?” he said as he stopped.
“Don’t stop.”
Nick chuckled. “Who knew the ice queen could be so insatiable. I love being inside you, Devon.”
“I don’t feel like an ice queen. I feel like your woman.”
He hesitated for a second. Devon wondered if she’d said the wrong thing.
“You are.”
He pulled her legs up over his shoulders and pumped in a gentle motion until she thought she’d explode, he was so deep. Every stroke made her see stars. Suddenly in a burst of spasms, she felt like she’d been turned inside out. Every part of her sex was tingling and inside her muscles clamped down on him. She was sure it was an orgasm.
Nick’s control left him and he began to spasm in consort with her.
“Baby, baby,” he whispered.
As their breathing slowed, she cradled his head on her chest, loving the feeling of him covering her body, legs tangled, sheets mussed. His kisses continued between her breasts and up under her chin, and then slowly they ceased.
Minutes went by while she played the scene over and over again in her mind, knowing it would be something she would never want to forget. And then when she heard him breathing heavily she realized he’d fallen asleep.
She didn’t want to move. He was still barely inside her so she was careful as she lifted the comforter back over them both, hoping he’d stay there.
Where he belonged.
Chapter 13
Nick was dreaming about walking through the Suk in Tunisia, brushing through silks and other soft fabrics with little beads and coins sewed on them. He’d been following someone down into the bowels of the old city. He dared not look at the women shopkeepers shrouded in fabric, their eyes darkened with kohl. He was focusing on the man he needed to take back for questioning. It was an unofficial mission.
As he parted the fabric and entered a doorway he found a red satin pillow with the body of a naked woman on it. At first he couldn’t see her fully, except to notice the beautiful white thighs and ample breasts with the rosy nipples as she ran her fingertips over them and then gave them a squeeze. Then he recognized it was Devon, her body calling to him. Her arms came up to beg him to join her on the bed.
He covered her body. He felt her legs around him, as she arched and pressed herself against him. Her fingers held his cock as she fingered his tip.
She smelled of lemon and cloves and something else spicy. He kissed her lips and felt her tongue inside his mouth. He wanted her.
Then he realized it wasn’t a dream. Devon was wrapped around his legs, moving in a slow rhythm, waking him up and reviving his soul in the room at the Waterwheel Inn. His callused hands smoothed over her forehead as he bent down and kissed her hungry lips.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey yourself,” she answered. “I’ve heard sometimes men have to wait a bit to have sex again.” She was fingering the hair at his temple and he could see her eyes sparkle in the light of the moon through the window. Sounds of the waterfall outside made him feel like he was floating on a mattress in a cool lake. Her supple body melted into him as he felt the softness of her belly, the smooth creamy surfaces of her inner thighs.
He could tell she wanted him to touch her there again, so he brought two fingers to her sex and massaged her swollen lips.
“How do you feel?” he asked as he bent down and kissed her neck, then grazed her lips, licking and sucking her bottom one.
“You didn’t answer my question, Nick. How long?”
“I don’t think it’s going to take very long, the way you smell, the way you feel under me.” He pushed two fingers inside her gently and saw that beautiful arch in her back again, forcing her breasts closer to his mouth. He kissed her there as his fingers moved in and out in slow rhythm.
“Do you like this?” he asked.
“I want you to teach me to be a great lover for you, Nick. I want you to show me how I can make you feel as good as I feel now. Teach me, please.”
He groaned and lost himself in the hollows and arcs of her neck, nipping her ear and tasting the soft flesh under her chin, and then her lips.
“I couldn’t feel any better, Devon,” he whispered.
“I want—“
“Shhh,” he interrupted. “We will. In time we’ll do it all. There’s no race here.”
He removed the spent condom and had reached down into his pants for another.
“I think that’s sexy as hell that you planned ahead. And you brought more than one.”
He smiled as he tore open the packet with his teeth.
“Let me put it on.”
She rubbed his shaft and squeezed him at the base. His penis began to grow and hard
en again as she rolled the condom down, covering him. He enjoyed the feeling of her fingers on him, her tentative explorations. She’d said she wanted to do it all, so he decided another position might suit her.
“Let’s try something, baby,” he said after she’d fully sheathed him fully.
Coming up to a sitting position, he lifted her body up over his legs, which dangled over the side of the bed. He gently set her down on his lap, positioning her on her knees with her legs on either side of his thighs. He held her by the waist and raised her up over his groin, seated his cock at her opening and pulled her down on him.
Devon’s delicious moan made him practically come on the spot. She ground her pelvis into him as he raised her again and then felt himself slide into her deeply.
She tucked her knees under her and quickly discovered she could increase her pleasure, and his, by clenching over him and moving her body up and down, her breasts bouncing with the slapping of their thighs as the speed increased.
“I want it all,” she whispered.
He was emboldened again, his cock getting thick and ready to explode.
“Fuck me,” she moaned.
He picked her body up and threw her on the bed on her side and entered her from behind with one of her knees bent up, hugging her chest. He seated deep, pushing through her tight opening again and again.
She was coming unraveled and it spurred him on further. She gripped a pillow to her chest as he bit her neck from behind, as he plunged in, gripping her hips and slamming her into his groin. He felt her internal muscles contract as she began to whimper out of control. Her back glistened with sweat. He squeezed her bottom and separated her cheeks and dug himself into her deeper to spend as she pulsed under him.
She lay like a limp rag doll under him as he covered her back with his chest. He extended his arms the length of hers, weaving into her fingers as their hands squeezed.
“Oh, God. Nick.”
“You okay?” he whispered into the side of her face.
“More than okay,” she said into the mattress. “I never knew this is how it would feel. I’ve been misled. It’s way better than it was described.”
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