by Karen Foley
LARA’S BODY still thrummed with the remnants of the powerful orgasm she’d had, but having Graeme’s body beneath her hands made her want more. She wanted to absorb him, to pull him into her body until she couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.
His skin was like hot silk beneath her lips as she worked her way down the length of his body. She felt like a supplicant, smoothing her hands along the underside of his arms and reveling in the bulge of his biceps, before skimming lower, along the fingered muscles of his ribs to his stomach. She heard his breath hiss in sharply when she reached his straining penis, and she grasped it lightly in her hands. It throbbed strongly against her palm.Lara knelt between Graeme’s legs and devoured the sight of him. His shaft was darkly flushed and thick, straining toward her. Lara held him in one hand and slowly circled the pad of her finger over the curved cap, teasing the tiny slit and coaxing a dewy drop of moisture from him.
Graeme groaned, and Lara glanced up at him. Twin patches of color rode high on his cheekbones as he watched her through half-closed lids. With his arms bent behind his head, he looked supremely male. Lara swallowed thickly at the thought of having him inside her, of stroking him intimately with her body. Despite their encounter in his room, she felt suddenly shy. Only the heat she saw in Graeme’s eyes made her feel bold enough to continue.
“Do you want me to do this?” she asked softly, and keeping her eyes on Graeme’s face, she tasted him delicately with her tongue.
His jaw clenched and his muscles went rigid, but his voice was low and sexy. “Do whatever makes you happy, love. You’ll hear no complaints from me.”
“This makes me happy,” Lara assured him, and dipping her head, she traced her tongue along the contours of his shaft. He tasted clean and sweet, his skin warm and pulsing beneath her tongue. Gripping the base of his cock with one hand, Lara cupped his balls and gently massaged them as she slowly drew him into her mouth, sliding her tongue along his length.
Graeme made a guttural noise deep in his throat and, as if he couldn’t help himself, his hips came up off the bed. His increased arousal made Lara squirm with her own building excitement. She increased her efforts, taking as much of his length into her mouth as she could and then letting him slide almost completely free before drawing him in again.
Reaching down, he buried one hand in her hair, his fingers massaging her scalp and urging her on. Glancing up at him, she saw his face was flushed, his expression one of tight concentration as he watched her.
“Suck me, love,” he whispered hoarsely.
Lara did, drawing hard on him and tasting his essence on her tongue. She knew he was close, and although she’d never experienced a man’s release in her mouth before, there was no way she was going to stop.
With a harsh groan, Graeme pulled himself free from her mouth, his breathing labored. “Not like this,” he panted, and catching Lara’s arms, he hauled upward until she lay sprawled on top of him.
He kissed her deeply, his tongue tangling with hers as his hands kneaded her bottom and he ground himself against her pelvis. Lara knew she was wet, so aroused by what she’d done that she could feel herself pulsing with need.
“Come inside me, Graeme,” she whispered. “I’m so…”
She couldn’t finish the sentence, but she didn’t need to. Graeme sat up, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her one last time. “Turn around,” he commanded softly.
“What?”
With Graeme’s hands guiding her, Lara found herself on her knees, facing away from him. He knelt behind her, his big hands smoothing over her bottom. Knowing he had a full view of her most private parts made Lara feel both self-conscious and incredibly sexy at the same time. She looked back at him over her shoulder. His gaze was fixed on her bottom, and the expression on his face was so purely male that Lara felt herself weep with moisture.
“Do you want me like this?” she asked, and lowered her elbows to the mattress and arched her back in invitation.
“Oh, aye,” he groaned. “If you could see what I see…”
But Lara’s eyes were fixed on Graeme. His erection jutted strongly from his body, and she didn’t want to wait any longer for him to fill her. To love her.
“Please, Graeme,” she begged.
“Ah, damn,” he said, and Laura saw him take himself in his hand, then felt him nudge the entrance to her body. He moved with aching slowness, rubbing himself along her cleft until Lara thought she might lose it right then and there.
“Hurry, hurry,” she panted, but his control was amazing.
“I want this to last,” he muttered, and held her hips still with one hand, preventing her from thrusting backward. Lara thought she might die from wanting him. But then he eased forward, filling her with excruciating slowness, stretching her in a way she’d never experienced before. The sensation was indescribable as her body accepted him, but still he held her immobile, not permitting her to take more of him than he was willing to give.
“Graeme!” she pleaded. “I need to move.”
Graeme came over her then, covering her with his body and sweeping her hair to one side so that he could kiss her neck and nip lightly at her earlobe, his breathing harsh. Lara pushed back against him, loving the feel of him as he thrust strongly inside her. Bracing himself on one hand, he used his free hand to fondle her breasts, lightly rolling and pinching her nipples until Lara heard herself moaning in pleasure.
“That’s it, love.” His voice was ragged. “Come for me.”
His hand slid across her stomach and delved between her legs, until he found the slick nub of her clitoris and swirled his finger over it in delicious torment.
Lara was so close, every cell in her body straining for release, the liquid heat of her body pulsing with demand. She twisted her face and Graeme kissed her, even as he angled his hips and thrust once, then twice, and his body jerked with his powerful release as a groan was ripped from his throat.
The combination was too much for Lara, and she convulsed around him as her orgasm shimmered through her, joining him in utter and complete bliss.
10
GRAEME LAY BACK against the pillows with Lara curled warmly against him. Her hair spread over his shoulder like a skein of red-gold silk, and she lazily traced one finger across his chest. He tipped her face up and studied her flushed features. “I guess some things never change.”
It was no more than the truth. Whenever he was around Lara, his ability to think rationally or make educated decisions went out the window. He still couldn’t believe they’d just had sex without the benefit of protection. He’d been so overcome with the need to have her that he hadn’t even thought of a condom. Not that it would have mattered; he hadn’t brought any protection with him. He’d been so furious with the way she’d bolted from his room earlier that his only thought had been to confront her and demand to know what she wanted from him.He gave a huff of wry laughter. She’d pretty much answered that question for him—a quick divorce and some really hot sex, and not necessarily in that order. Did she even realize what they’d just done? He wasn’t worried about disease; he was clean and he’d stake his life on the fact that Lara was, too. But he had no clue if she was on the pill, or if she used any other kind of protection. Christ, he could have gotten her pregnant.
Oddly, the thought of Lara having his child didn’t terrify him quite as much as it should have. With any other woman, he might have felt differently, but then he’d never forgotten to use protection with any other women. He had no memories of his own father, who had left when he was just a toddler. He’d sworn he’d never get a woman pregnant unless he was willing to make a lifetime commitment to her and the child. As a result, he’d always been scrupulously careful. It was the one aspect of sex that he’d been unwilling to make compromises about.
But where Lara was concerned, he’d never been able to say no. When he’d let her talk him into eloping to Scotland, all his arguments that she should return to the States and finish her degree before settli
ng down had been brushed aside. He simply couldn’t say no to her. Not then. Not now.
“You say some things never change like it’s a bad thing,” Lara murmured, bringing him out of his reverie. She slid a leg across his, rubbing herself sensuously against him like a small, contented cat.
Graeme gritted his teeth against the sensation of her silken limbs against his skin. What they’d shared had been incredible, and it scared the hell out of him because it made him realize that he hadn’t come close to getting over her.
While everything in him wanted to gather her into his arms and reassure her that they had a future together, he’d been down that road before. He’d told her the truth when he’d said that he had no control where she was concerned. All it took was one kiss, one heated look from her sapphire eyes, and he was complete putty in her hands.
Five years ago, he’d given her everything he had—his heart and his name—and she’d left him with nothing but the bitter taste of betrayal in his mouth. But from the instant he’d laid eyes on her in the ballroom, he’d known he was in trouble. It would take so little for him to fall back under her spell, and the kicker was that she didn’t even realize the power she had over him. If she so much as crooked her little finger in his direction, he’d be her willing slave.
He had no idea what it meant, but he rejected any notion that he was still in love with her. She’d annihilated any tender feelings he might have had the day she climbed into her daddy’s limousine and drove out of his life. The best explanation he could come up with was that he enjoyed having sex with her. Okay, he more than enjoyed it. He absolutely couldn’t get enough of her, but was damned if he could figure out why.
He’d desired other women, but never with the same fierce need and intensity that accompanied his desire for Lara. He’d never had a problem walking away from women before. In fact, once he’d had sex with a woman, he typically lost interest in her. With Lara, however, he no sooner had one mind-blowing orgasm with her than his devious mind began crafting ways in which he might have another.
“Lara, listen to me,” he said softly, raising himself on one elbow so that he could look at her face. She gazed up at him with so much trust and warmth in her eyes that he felt his insides tighten. Reaching out, he caught a tendril of hair that was stuck to the corner of her mouth and freed it, smoothing it back from her face.
“What is it?”
He lifted her hand from his chest and turned it over in his, stroking his thumb across her palm. He kept his eyes focused on their hands, sharply aware of her nudity. Lust coiled in his groin, and, even after the amazing orgasm he’d just had, he could feel his body respond to her nearness. It would be easy to lose himself in her, to spend the next several hours, or even days, exploring each other. But he needed to stay focused.
“We need to talk about what just happened.”
She smiled in contentment. “Mmm. It was perfect.”
Graeme frowned, frustrated. “Is that what you’re going to tell your boyfriend? That you came to Las Vegas and had perfect sex with your soon-to-be ex-husband?” He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice. “That ought to go over well.”
Lara’s eyes widened, and in that instant Graeme realized she’d completely forgotten about her boyfriend. Had forgotten she even had a boyfriend. He was pretty sure that for the past hour, she’d even forgotten that she wanted a divorce.
Horror slowly replaced the expression of sensual satisfaction in her blue eyes, and she pulled her hand free from his and sat up, crossing her arms over her breasts as if only now aware of her nudity.
“Oh my God,” she breathed, staring at him in distress. “What have I done?” She leaped from the bed, searching for her underwear and T-shirt amongst the clothing scattered on the floor.
Graeme watched her. “I’d say you just had sex with your husband,” he drawled.
She jerked upright, holding his T-shirt against her breasts. “Husband? Technically, maybe, but we haven’t even seen each other in five years. Up until tonight, you were a husband in name only.” She shook her head as she bent over and picked up his jeans, searching beneath them. “I can’t believe this. I’m with you for less than five minutes and I fall all over you like a sex-crazed lunatic.” She snatched her underwear off the floor and turned to pinion him with an accusing glare. “This is all your fault, you know.”
Graeme didn’t bother to deny her words. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, his eyes traveling over her in slow appreciation. “Why is it all my fault? I don’t recall you protesting.”
Her brows knitted in a frown as she looked at him. “Because you’re so—you’re so damned you, that’s why!” With a groan of sheer frustration, she flung her panties at him, striking him directly in the center of his chest. “There. Now you even have me throwing my underwear at you. Happy? I’m so pathetic.”
Graeme flung the scrap of lace onto the bed and stood up. She looked so miserable that he felt his heart twist. He tipped her chin up, forcing her to look at him. To his dismay, tears shimmered in her eyes.
“Lara, you’re crying.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Does this other bloke mean so much, then?” He asked the question, but he didn’t know if he was ready to hear her answer.
“Yes.” She sniffed. “No. Oh, I don’t know. Christopher is a really nice guy, and he treats me well.”
Even though Graeme had just slept with the “really nice guy’s” girlfriend, he resented the hell out of the other man. Resented him because Lara liked him and spent time with him.
“He’s a nice guy and he treats you well?” he repeated sarcastically. “Sounds like a basis for a solid, lasting relationship.”
“Yes, well, I thought so, too.” Lara jerked her face away from his fingers. “At least until I found out that you and I—That we were—”
“Still married,” Graeme supplied.
“Yes.”
Graeme bent and retrieved his jeans, jerking them on with rough movements. “So you came to ask me for a divorce so you could marry this nice guy who treats you well.” He snorted. “Because I’m such an asshole and I treated you so poorly.”
Lara glared at him before pulling his T-shirt on over her head. The hem came down to her thighs, and Graeme wondered if she knew how completely sexy and alluring she looked, with her hair tousled and her skin still flushed from his lovemaking. Had Christopher seen her like this? The mere thought made him want to pummel the other man into oblivion.
Lara pushed her hair back from her face. “If it makes you feel any better, I never blamed you for treating me poorly. I’m sure it came as a huge shock to find out I wasn’t the girl you thought I was.”
Memories of that horrible day in Scotland came flooding back. “You think I treated you poorly, Lara? After your dad came bursting into our room and literally snatched you out of my bed, and then proceeded to tell me that you’d lied to me? That you were no more than a bairn out of the schoolroom?” He laughed in disbelief and raked a hand over his hair. “I wanted to strangle you for botching things so royally. For not trusting me with the truth.” He grabbed her by the upper arms and hauled her close, until their faces were no more than an inch apart. “I’d have waited for you, Lara, I loved you that much. You didn’t need to lie to me.”
“You wouldn’t even look at me,” she whispered. “When my father told you that I was only seventeen, you looked at me once and then refused to meet my eyes again.”
He shook her lightly. “Jesus, Lara, I’d just spent two days debauching a teenager! When I think of the things I did to you…I felt like I’d ruined you. Like I’d taken something clean and pure and sullied it.”
“But I loved you. I loved what we did together,” Lara said earnestly. “I was going to turn eighteen in just two weeks. The other girls in my school had been doing those things since they were sixteen. I didn’t feel sullied. I felt sexy and loved.”
Graeme groaned, closing his eyes briefly against the memories. “You were sexy.”
And loved. Letting Lara go had been the hardest thing he’d ever done, hands-down, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. She already had too much control over him.
“I waited for you.”
Graeme opened his eyes and stared down at Lara. He saw the pain she’d felt reflected in her eyes and he wanted to tell her that he had come for her; he’d followed her to the States. But he’d also have to tell her how her father had ensured he wouldn’t gain entry.
His visa had been denied and there was no question in Graeme’s mind that Lara’s father was responsible. But whatever Brent Whitfield had done to him, he was still Lara’s father and Graeme wouldn’t be responsible for diminishing him in her eyes. He’d paid a lot of legal fees to have his record cleared, but it had been more than two years before he’d finally been issued a new visa. By then, Lara had been a junior in college and had seemed to be happy with her life.
“I’m sorry,” he said simply. “I figured you’d moved on with your life.”
She stared at him, and Graeme felt about two inches tall when he saw the disappointment and hurt on her face. “Actually, that’s why I came here,” she finally said, drawing in a deep breath and visibly pulling herself together. “To put you behind me so that I could finally move on with my life.”
He put up a hand to forestall her. “I know…with Christopher, the nice guy who treats you well. Is it working?”
Lara didn’t pretend to misunderstand him. “No,” she said, sounding miserable.
Graeme’s mood shifted, and he suddenly felt lighter than he had in a long time. “So what’s the problem? You’ve seen me. Christ, you’ve had me in every way possible. What more do you want?”
One of the things he’d always loved about Lara was her candor, and her inability to hide her feelings from him. Now she looked at him, her expression glum. “If you must know the truth, I deliberately seduced you earlier tonight.”