by Sonja Gunter
She circled his neck with her arm and touched his hair. The thick, smooth strands tickled her fingers like tiny feathers. Rane inhaled and held her breath.
Mark leaned forward deliberately. He didn’t touch her lips but poised centimeters away and waited.
“Rane?”
When she gave an almost imperceptible nod, he claimed her lips and stroked her jaw line with his thumb. Deepening the kiss, Mark drew her closer. He felt her heartbeat, her breasts touching him, and realized she’d placed both arms around him. Her soft lips yielded to him and their tongues met. They both moved even closer, until their hands and lips all became one.
Slowly Mark removed his mouth from hers and kissed other areas of her face. He continued a scrupulous trail of feathery kisses up the side of her face to her forehead. He paused and eased back just enough to look into her eyes.
Green! Her eyes had changed colors again. He’d been right! Green must mean she was aroused.
In that split second, he thought of the Pernese Dragons stories and wondered if they could come back as humans when they died.
Had he found his very own dragon?
Her now green eyes reflected passion, want, and need. He felt so electrified to see her raw emotions, it was as if he’d been struck by lightning.
“Rane?” he asked, leaving the question open for her to say no. He held his breath.
“Yes.”
She pressed herself against his length and kissed him again. Almost a second after their lips met, the Pink Panther theme interrupted them.
Ending the kiss, he rested his forehead on hers and relaxed his hold, giving her room to answer the annoying phone call. He should have had her turn her damn phone off.
Chapter 28
Rane froze.
Damn the phone! Talk about embarrassing.
Shyly she raised her eyes to Mark’s. “Sorry. Val will keep calling if I don’t answer.”
“Then by all means do so. I don’t want her interrupting when we’re at a more critical moment,” Mark said with a glint in his eyes.
As in . . . ? Her heart stuttered as the implication penetrated her foggy thoughts. Mark loosened his hold to give her access to her purse and phone. She slid her finger on her iPhone.
“Val, this is not a good time. Yea, I’m with Mark. That’s none of your business. Don’t you have court in the morning? I don’t want to talk about it. Bye,” Rane said.
She pressed ‘end’ and set her purse down.
“Don’t forget to turn it off this time. I think that’s Rule Number Two Hundred and Sixty-Nine in the employee handbook. While making out with the Boss, turn cell phone off.”
She shook her head, laughed, and did just that. The screen went black. “Should we start the movie?” she asked in a quiet tone.
He took the phone from her hand and tossed it aside. She watched it land safely on the couch. He then took her hands and turned her toward him.
“No, I have something else planned.”
“You do? And what would that be?” Rane asked.
“As if you need to ask.”
“Oh, my agenda said only a movie and popcorn. Did you get a different one?” she whispered with a smile and freed one of her hands to embrace him.
“No, but I think we’re both on the same page now.”
She knew Mark understood her play on words as he held her once again in his arms. He kissed her and softly caressed her full breasts.
The thin fabric of her shirt wasn’t any protection against his searching fingers. She felt her nipples go taut. They ached and she needed, wanted him to kiss them. He moved away from her and she turned a little to give him more access to her breasts. Instead, when he ended the kiss, she heard him ask, “Will you come upstairs with me?”
She didn’t give him an answer and simply nodded. With one hand still holding hers, Mark led her into his private living area, pushed a button, and the doors closed.
No turning back now. She was about to sex with the boss.
She let him take her upstairs. This is what she both wanted and dreaded at the same time. She was about to pull her hand free and stop this insane train of events when to her surprise they stopped outside his open bedroom door.
The first thing that caught Rane’s attention was the oversized bed, the focal point of a masculine-decorated room in browns and blacks with a touch of gold. She pushed away the lingering doubt. She wanted this. Her body craved his. She tightened her hold on Mark’s hand as a signal she was ready to give in to whatever the night was going to bring.
“This is my bedroom,” he softly announced.
“So I see. It’s very . . . it’s very manly.”
“I guess you could say that. Are you sure you’re okay with this?” he asked. “I’d understand if you said no. This part isn’t in the employee handbook. We’re on our own from here out.”
“If this isn’t in the handbook then there’s no reason to hold back,” she said and her eyes widened.
Rane stood on her tiptoes and let her lips touch his. The handbook be damned. Her body and mind cried out yes, yes, yes.
In response, Mark took control and explored the recesses of her mouth tenderly. She wrapped her arms around his body, feeling the solid strength beneath the muscles.
This was what she’d been hoping for.
He deepened the kiss with urgency and didn’t let up. She devoured his mouth as if it was going to be their last kiss.
Rane felt lost. The kisses in the hallway had made her feel dizzy, but these were short-circuiting her senses. No one had ever made her feel like this. She was being kissed beyond reason and his lips felt as if they were touching her soul.
She knew if he hadn’t been supporting her she would’ve fallen to the floor. Her knees were ready to give way at any moment.
Don’t think. Let yourself drift away into his web.
To her surprise, just as in the storybooks, Mark lifted her up into his arms and carried her to the comfort of his bed. He gently laid her down, never losing contact with her lips while he positioned himself next to her.
Without pause, he continued to kiss her. His hands framed her face. She felt his hand move slowly down her throat, softly caressing every inch of her skin in its path, leaving a burning path in its wake.
She murmured his name as his hands passionately explored her body. They caressed her shoulders then moved on to claim her breasts and she moaned.
Don’t stop, Mark. Make them yours.
His touch sent shivers of delight all the way down to her bright pink painted toes. Even through her shirt and bra, his fingers felt like fire against her skin. The fabrics and his fingers were like two separate beings working together. She felt him push at her bra, freeing one of her nipples. Once it was free, his fingers attacked it without constraints. He rolled her hardening nipple between his fingers, pulling and tugging until the bud stood at attention.
Then his mouth broke free from her lips and began kissing the burning trail his hands had left down the side of her neck to her unattended breast. The combination of his hand on one of her breasts, his mouth on the other, along with the sensation of the soft fabric, proved too much.
Oh my god, she’d died and gone to heaven!
She was losing control.
“Rane, you’re so beautiful,” he said aloud. “I’m going to ask before we go any further, are you sure? Not just for tonight, but for what else the future might bring?”
“Yes! Now kiss me again.”
Mark smiled and did what she demanded, reclaimed her lips. He reached out to the now partly free breasts and caressed both of her swollen mounds. Letting up on the kiss to allow them some air, he opened his eyes to gaze at her in astonishment. “Rane, are you absolutely positive? We are about to cross the point of
no return.”
Mark waited anxiously for her reply, unable to explain these intense feelings and his body’s reactions. The hard truth, through all his life, none of the other women had ever made him feel like this. This deep craving need.
Where have you been all my life, Rane?
She wasn’t like any woman he’d ever known. She was different. All he had to do was touch her, and he knew what she wanted and what she was feeling. This had to be more than just something sexual.
Only once, long ago, had he felt such a strong connection for someone. He’d been young and she’d been even younger.
The damn fuckin’ picture again.
Squishing the memory, he focused on Rane’s face. Fear, uncertainty, and then calmness settled over her delicate features. Unbelievably, her eyes had gone from blue to green and now sparkled like emeralds.
Realizing she hadn’t responded yet, Mark moved away at a loss. Her eyes said yes but she hadn’t spoken the word aloud. Adding to his confusion, he felt her hands pushing at him.
Damn, he’d gone too fast.
He instantly sat up. “Rane—”
“Mark, you talk too much,” Rane said thickly, and began to unbutton the buttons. Before she could finish, he moved her hands aside and finished the task.
Without another word, he unhooked her white lacy bra. It gave way and he took one of her perfectly sized mounds into his mouth. As her head fell back, Mark gently removed the straps from her arms. Taking advantage of her fully freed breasts, he caressed one while his lips tugged and gently nipped the other.
Lost again, all Rane could do was muster up enough strength to lazily move her hands to Mark’s shoulders. She braced herself for the assault she knew was coming as his hot lips moved to toy with her other breast. His hands and mouth were moving from one neglected breast to the other.
To her surprise, his mouth took in both of her rosy peaks at one time. The feel of his tongue and lips on her oh-so-sensitive breasts sent tremors throughout her body. She moaned as they laid down together, glad for the reprieve from his assault on her breasts. She pushed up his shirt and what she found beneath was what she’d always fantasized a man should feel like. She skimmed her hands intimately over his shoulders and chest not missing an inch of his warm skin. His muscles moved in ways that enticed her to keep exploring. Sliding her hands lustfully up and over his broad chest, she found the spray of hairs soft yet springy. Finding the hair sexually pleasing, she played with them until she found his nipples. Continuing her journey upward, she ran her fingers over and over his nipples, deliberately making them firm, giving him a taste of his own actions.
“Rane, behave yourself,” Mark muttered and moved just beyond her reach to begin a slow trail of kisses from her breasts to her stomach.
It had been a while since he’d been with a woman and right now, he was ready to explode. Not wanting to lose control or have his own need take over, he unbuttoned her skirt, yanked down the zipper, and slowly slid the fabric down over her hips and legs.
He heard her inhale sharply as his hands caressed the skin of her thighs and he rolled down one of her thigh-hi nylons.
“No garter belt? I like this better,” he said, and placed hot and moist kisses on her thigh each time the nylon revealed more skin.
Rane felt like she was dying. Rolling the nylon down her leg followed by kissing, then more rolling and kissing. The torture finally ended when he removed one nylon completely. She breathed in deeply, readying herself for the second nylon.
Gone was the protective shell she’d built so carefully for years to be replaced by an intoxicating desire. Unashamed of her desire, she lay panting and quivering, tormented by his arousing touch. Just when she thought he’d finished, as the second nylon slipped off her toes, he began kissing each of her toes. One by one, and then two by two.
“Ohhh,” escaped from her as she writhed in erotic pleasure. No man had ever kissed her feet and definitely not her toes. She was being swallowed up by a cocoon of euphoria he was skillfully creating.
Finishing his torment, he murmured against her lips, “You have sexy feet.” He stroked her cheek and neck, allowing her time to recover emotionally and mentally, then whispered, “I’ll be right back.”
Before Rane could protest, Mark eased off the bed and she immediately felt the loss of his body heat. Sitting up a little, she rested her head on her hand and placed her other arm in front of her. She watched as he discarded his shirt and went to the bedroom doors and closed them. He walked over to the wall to the left of the doors and flicked a switch. The room was instantly engulfed in soft light and, seemingly from nowhere, low music played.
Smiling, she observed Mark without his shirt.
Man, oh man alive, what a body he has.
He was going to ruin her for life. No man would ever compare to his show of manly wares.
His impressive back and shoulder muscles featured a gorgeous winged dragon tattoo.
“Is that tattoo company approved?” she asked with a grin.
“Yes, it is. If you have a problem, send an email to the president.”
He laughed and she joined him. As he stepped closer, she could tell Mark definitely worked out more than once a week. She followed the hair that she’d enjoyed touching earlier as it tapered off over his tight flat stomach before stopping at his pants. Admiring the manner in which his dress slacks were tailored, she concluded he must have a female tailor. Only a woman would know when a butt and a front package were worth showing off.
And those were all hers tonight.
Mmm, mmm.
Feeling her stare, Mark turned and swallowed hard at the picture Rane unknowingly presented to him. She lay half-naked, her head resting on one of her hands, while the other hand tried to hide her tantalizing full breasts. She wore a look that said come get me, like one of those eighteenth century pictures.
Knowing he had her full attention, he slowly unbuckled his belt. As the buckle came undone, something in her intense gaze caused him to stop halfway. He couldn’t help but smile as he saw Rane’s mouth drop open.
He couldn’t be nervous! Could he?
With his pants partly zippered he strutted toward her. By the time he reached the side of the bed, Rane was sitting up on her knees with her arms outstretched to him. He stopped in front of her and took her breasts in his hands, then leaned down and kissed her waiting lips.
Rane pushed his pants along with his boxers off his hips, down to his knees, and released his full arousal. Where he found the strength, he didn’t know, but he slowly caressed both of her breasts and nipples and stepped out of the confining clothes around his ankles. He ended the kiss quickly then held his breath in anticipation when he felt the warmth of her hands on his bare hips.
Her soft touch was so intoxicating that for a moment he forgot where he was. He could only think of her hands, the way the tips of her fingernails dragged over his skin, slowly exploring his hips before sliding around to his butt. Then, in one graceful motion, her slim hand took hold of him and moved slowly up his erection to the tip.
He stood proud but felt ready to crumble. He had to remove his hands from her breasts and place them on her shoulders to steady himself. He closed his eyes, let his head fall back, and murmured, “Oh, Rane be careful.”
Just when he’d thought he’d had enough, Rane replaced her hands with her mouth.
Oh God! Give me strength.
As she continued to pay homage to him, he tangled his hands in her long silky strands. It was hell, but endearing as they touched his skin, almost burning it as they caressed him.
Enough! Enough!
She was sending him too close to the edge.
“Rane!”
If she didn’t stop, he’d come and didn’t want it to end this way. He placed his hands on her chin and tilted
her face upward. He felt the cool air and his heated passion slowly declined. Meeting her gaze, he noticed her green eyes gazing at him with a satisfied look.
Little she-devil! Two can play this game.
Back in control, Mark eased her over so he could join her on the bed. As they settled next to each other, he captured her sweet mouth. Her own distinct taste mingling with his was proving too much for him to handle. He deepened the kiss, hoping to ease the urge to drive into her while her hands continued to stroke him slowly.
Mark let up on the kiss, moved his hands to her hips, and began a payback trail of kiss down to meet his hands. He found the barrier of her panties and, using her underwear as a tool, he placed his fingers on her mound and slowly stroked. Moving his fingers to the straps of her thong panties, he slowly slid them away, revealing their treasure.
And what a sight!
Pushing two of his fingers deep into her core, he began sliding them in and out leisurely, watching her face. Then he withdrew to replace his fingers with his tongue. He proceeded to kiss the hardened nub, flicking his tongue over the slick surface.
Rane’s moans came faster and faster and her hips moved in a way that told him he’d succeeded. Smiling, he enjoyed the triumph knowing she was about to explode. He removed her panties completely.
“Had enough of my teasing?” he asked then plunged two fingers inside her core again.
He felt her release and watched as the last spasms engulfed her body, causing her body to go limp.
Chapter 29
An amazing sense of completeness filled Rane, and for the first time she felt sexually satisfied. She lay there wanting to kiss Mark but didn’t have the strength. She couldn’t believe what she’d just experienced. The feelings had been so intense.