She’d never known she could be so relaxed and so excited at the same time. He caressed her back with steady strokes, but all the while his breath fanned her ear, and occasionally he planted a kiss on her shoulder or neck.
And as good as her back and shoulders felt, she was eager to turn around. Her breasts already ached for the touch of his hands and his mouth, her lips for his kiss. And she yearned to run her palms over his chest, to his flat stomach and deeper, between his legs. Sitting still became difficult, so she placed her palms on his hard thighs and started making small, circular stokes up and down the insides of his legs with her palms.
“Impatient wench.”
She giggled. “Have you heard me complaining?”
“You have your own way of talking and I heard you loud and clear.” His jutting erection pressed against the small of her back. “However, I promised to wash all of you and I intend to do just that.”
“Okay. But I get to reciprocate.”
When he again reached for the soap she thought he would finally reach around for her breasts. But instead, he murmured, “Tuck your knees under you and kneel.”
She did as he asked coming up out of the water. He washed her lower back and bottom as thoroughly as he’d done her shoulders, leaving not one inch of flesh untouched. Although she parted her knees, he didn’t once graze his fingers between her thighs.
When he began to work his way down her legs, she muttered, “I already washed them.”
“But I didn’t.”
When he reached the spot behind her knees, she giggled. “That tickles. And I’m getting cold.”
“Where?”
“My breasts.”
“Hmm. I suppose my hands could warm them up.”
Finally, he was going to touch her. But no, not yet. Instead he began at her knees, sliding his hands over her upper thighs, and then guiding her hips back down into the water so her folded legs under her kept her thighs open and ready for him.
But he seemed in no rush at all, skipping her mons to her belly where he seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time before giving attention to her rib cage, swirling his soapy fingers over her belly button and tummy and hips. Her breasts, swelling with need, had never felt so sensitive. And he had yet to touch her there.
“What would you like most right now?” he asked.
“To feel you inside me.”
“That’s not going to happen for a while.”
“Why not?”
“Because waiting makes you more sensitive.”
“Waiting makes me more impatient. I don’t want to wait.”
“I know. But you will do this for me, yes?” He cupped her breasts from underneath, lifting her and flicking his thumbs over her nipples, shooting heat straight to her core. “Now, aren’t I worth waiting for?”
“Yes, but…”
“But what?”
“Now I want you even more.”
“That was the idea.” He chuckled, rounding his palms over her breasts, teasing, stroking, plucking.
“Your ideas are…not…so…bad.”
He nibbled the back of her neck. “I’m glad you approve. Are you still cold?”
“A little.”
“Why don’t you lean forward and turn on a trickle of hot water.”
She did as he asked, then his fingers slid from her breasts to between her thighs, parting her folds and she gasped with the pleasure of him finding her there. “You planned that, didn’t you?”
“Mmm.”
She rested on her hands and knees, her breasts in the warm water, his hand creating a fire of need between her legs. “I can’t—”
“Are you uncomfy?”
“No, but—”
“You can do anything you want. Don’t you feel good?”
He was driving her wild, his finger dipping inside her heat while at the same time he rubbed her clit, yet never giving enough pressure for release. “I need more.”
“Of course you do.” But he kept right on doing what he was doing. His fingers playing and plucking but never quite finishing what they started.
“I want you inside me.”
“Okay.”
He agreed but didn’t so much as change his position one centimeter and she groaned in protest.
“Now would be good.”
“You think?”
“Please.” To her own ears, her voice sounded wanton and desperate.
“Soon. First I’m going to rinse all the soap off you and then I’m going to follow through on the rest of my promise.”
She had no idea what he was talking about. Her body clenched with unspilled tension. She was about to claw at him. Ready to explode.
And then he pulled his hands away, depriving her of his touch, depriving her of release.
“I promised to lick you dry. Remember?”
13
“LATER. You can dry me later.” Kimberly demanded and Jason loved making her wild, loved drawing her out of her practical self, loved revealing her passionate nature.
“Such impatience,” he teased, but in actuality holding back with her had caused his muscles to strain, his heartbeat to increase to thudding levels and his erection, to stiffen. He’d never been this ready to explode or this ready to tamp down his own needs in order to give them both more pleasure.
Part of him craved the ultimate satisfaction of driving into her heat. Yet another part of him wanted to see exactly how far they could go together, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. He certainly hadn’t expected her to make him feel happy enough to consider making important changes in his life in order to stay with her, but he was ready to do whatever it took to keep her. She’d captivated his interest and captured his heart.
He slipped on a condom, then rubbed his erection between her legs. She rocked back and forth, open and ready to receive him deep inside her, but instead, he stroked against her slick warmth, while his fingers played slip and slide with her clit.
She panted, rocking her hips, wild to take him inside her. With any other woman he would have taken his own pleasure by now. But with Kimberly, he loved seeing her wanting him so much that she forgot to hide behind her shell.
Right now there were no barriers between them. Just bare flesh. Primitive and raw needs. And more enjoyment that he’d ever conceived possible.
He didn’t know exactly the moment when her pleasure had become more important than his own, but he recognized that he’d never felt this way about a woman. Kimberly was special. Different. Precious.
Before he lost control and took what he wanted so desperately, he tossed a towel on the floor next to the tub and then helped her out of the water. Her face flushed from the heat, had a reckless gleam in her eyes.
Her lips were full and pouty. “You’ve tortured me long enough. I believe it’s my turn.”
She leaned over, placed those lush lips around his nipple. And bit him. The sharp nip followed by her lapping tongue was a systematic pattern of pain and pleasure that she inflicted on both nipples, his neck and his buttocks.
She seemed to know exactly where he was sensitive and she focused on those areas with a healthy glint of challenge in her eyes. He stood perfectly still, allowing her to have her way with him, enjoying both her attention and her pleasure at arousing him beyond what he’d thought were his limits.
Kimberly didn’t seem to recognize limits. Now set free, her boundless enthusiasm soared, taking him to a place where thinking became difficult.
When she cupped his balls, his first inclination was to lean into her touch, but he forced his feet to root into the floor, letting her explore at will. But when his breath came in short, painful gasps, when he told himself he could take only another minute and then another minute more, when he feared he’d lose control, he tried to sweep her into his arms.
“No.” She squeezed his balls, demanding that he hold still, taking charge. “You made me wait. It’s time you had some of your own medicine.”
He could barely bel
ieve her brazen command and he found that he enjoyed this side of her, too. But her caresses were driving him wild. “Now, Kimberly—”
“Don’t you ‘now Kimberly’ me. It’s my turn to play. Your turn to wait.”
And he did. Sweat popped out on his scalp, his breath came in ragged gasps. He must have clenched and unclenched his fists a dozen times. Until he burned. Until he knew he would explode. Until he let out a roar of frustration and finally swept her into his arms and carried her toward the bed.
He’d meant to lick her dry, but he couldn’t wait another second. He needed to take her now.
They never made it to the bed. Somehow, she wrapped her long legs around him and they ended up on their sides, face-to-face, on the rug.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured in her ear.
“For giving me the best sex of my life?” She shifted so she was on top of him.
“I can’t wait.”
“I can’t, either.” And she took him into her heat. But that wasn’t enough. She slanted her mouth over his, taking, demanding as she gyrated her hips, riding him, setting a pace that took his breath. When he reached for her breasts, she grabbed his wrists, held them by his head. Then she rode him hard.
He couldn’t close his eyes. Couldn’t get enough of watching her expressive face. The green fire in her eyes, the bold set of her jaw, the determined angle of her chin.
She was magnificent in her passion, this wild, wanton woman who was taking him to a place he’d never been. All the blood in his body seemed to have gone south. His head was spinning, his thoughts dizzy from lack of oxygen. And all the spiraling tension focused deep in his center and blossomed under her expert gyrations, mushrooming into a swell of epic need.
And then she ceased all movement. Held perfectly still.
Through a cloud of confusion, he growled. She’d brought him right to the edge, he was dangling by a frayed thread. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She smiled at him, a wide, pleased-with-herself smile that would have taken his breath away if he’d had any air left in his lungs.
“Why…did…you…stop?”
“Because.”
What the hell was she saying? He couldn’t think through the haze of desire she’d woven around them. And then as the raging lust abated just a little, he realized she’d turned the tables on him. Taken him right to the brink of orgasm, then left him frustrated and unbalanced. Almost desperate.
That’s when he knew he was going to fulfill his promise to her—even if it killed him. Inch by inch, he would lick every centimeter of her dry.
Without saying one word, he rolled them over. Remaining inside her for now, he began with her ear, lapping off the water droplets suckling her cute little earlobe. And when she squirmed under him and let out a breathy sigh, his determination to wait longer hardened.
When he abandoned that ear for the other one, then moved down her neck, her hips tried to pump against his. But he held her immobile with his weight, pinning her to the floor, denying them both what they wanted.
Her head tossed from side to side. “Surely you aren’t…”
“I am.”
“But—”
“You reminded me of my promise, and now I intend to keep it.”
As his tongue licked her breast, she wiggled and groaned. “Please. Can’t we finish?”
“Sure. You go right ahead.”
But she wouldn’t come. Not unless he touched the right places, and he wasn’t inclined to do so any time soon. Not after the little minx had taken him all the way to within a nanosecond of orgasm and then backed down.
He kept his hips still, enjoying her soft moan of pleasure and her hands attempting to urge his hips to move. He especially liked the way her breath rasped and her fingers dug into his back.
He lapped at the hollow at her hip, the shadow of her belly button, plunging ever downward until his sex eased from her warmth. But he needed a break from her heat, needed to control his own undeniable urges.
And then his mouth hovered over her mons and he parted her legs. She tasted like nectar from the gods, sweet and musky. When his mouth came down over her and his tongue swirled over her clit, her hands dug into his hair, her back arched, and funny little coos emerged from the back of her throat.
“I’m…going…to…”
“Ah, please…”
“Yes.”
He sensed her trembling, clenching, tightening. Just a little more would shoot her out of control. And that’s when he stopped, rolled her on top again.
“Take me, Kimberly, darling. Take everything you want.”
And she did. Her hips bucked and thrust. There was no going back this time. Her eyes closed, her face raw and needy, she clenched around him, taking him deep and then she was spasming around him, taking him with her. Exploding.
He didn’t recall her collapsing on top of him. But then he’d lost it for a few seconds or a full minute there. But now he cradled her against his chest, ran his hands through her hair and felt like the luckiest man alive.
“You were wonderful.”
She snuggled closer. “So were you. I’ve never felt that good.”
They were good together and he didn’t mean just sexually. He enjoyed her company. He looked forward to holding her, to waking up next to her, looked forward to being part of her life. Vowing to make it happen, he tugged the sheet from the bed over them, perfectly content to be her pillow until morning. It was his last coherent thought before he drifted off to sleep.
KIMBERLY SEARCHED through the extensive files Logan Kincaid had sent, especially the one on the professor. She found nothing out of the ordinary and was about to shut down her computer when she came across one last file, marked Omega.
She clicked open the file. A short one-pager. The CIA had concluded that her parents’ deaths were accidental. The theory was they’d been sucked down by a strong current, become lost in the underwater cave and had taken too long to surface, creating an excruciating condition called the bends. Preferring fast deaths to long and painful ones, her parents had chosen not to suffer. Hence the poison in their bloodstreams.
Her parents had died as they’d lived. Together.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she read how their bodies had been found in an embrace. And now they were together for all eternity.
Kimberly swallowed the lump in her throat. Knowing the truth was better than eternally wondering. And she felt a tension easing in her heart that she hadn’t known existed.
Thanks to Logan Kincaid and Jason Parker she had a sense of relief and had a place she’d never been able to go. She would always miss her parents, but the love they’d given her would stay with her forever.
“What’s wrong?” Jason asked, shoving aside the sheets and padding over from the bed in his bare feet. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
She turned the laptop screen so he could read it. “I’m okay. And thank Logan Kincaid for me.”
After reading the file, he drew her into his arms and held her, giving her comfort as well as time to regroup to set her thoughts in order. Today was not about the past. Her problems weren’t connected to her parents, but were all her own.
For the moment, she liked snuggling against Jason, enjoyed the strength of his arms around her. More importantly, she appreciated that he cherished holding her just to hold her.
The man really was perfect for her—except they came from different worlds. She lived in one place, Los Angeles. California was the epicenter of the movie industry. His work took him to every continent, barring Antarctica. Her life was safe, practical. His life was always at risk. They had no future together, but being with him felt so right.
She shoved away the sadness of the past and the pain she’d feel without him in her future for the pragmatic matters in the present. “I wish we could bring in the police on what is going on—”
“They’d arrest us. Besides, I can’t go to the authorities,” he reminded her gently.
She sat on
the sofa, drawing her knees to her chest. “Of course you can’t. I’m sorry. The news about my parents must have—”
“It’s okay.” He poured coffee that she’d fixed earlier and handed her a mug.
She sipped, appreciated the kick of caffeine. “So what do we do next?”
“Eat. Rest. Follow the script. And then we do what you suggested, come up with a plan to catch the culprit.”
She thought back to her story. “We’re heading to Edinburgh, Scotland, next.”
“The problem is that we don’t know exactly what the stalker plans to do next. Whoever stole the Book of Celts after you left the library must have stashed the book outside their hotel room, since the police searched all of our rooms and didn’t find it.”
Jason paced and drank his coffee and she couldn’t help admiring his bare chest and powerful shoulders. She liked the way he looked in the morning with his flyaway black hair and his pajama bottoms just barely clinging to his narrow hips. She wouldn’t mind waking up to the sight of him every day. Her heart skipped and she told it to settle down.
Jason continued to pace. “While he’s a man of superior taste in jewels, it makes setting a trap more difficult because we don’t know what he’s after.”
Kimberly snapped her fingers, an idea forming. “Wait a minute. The missing script from the printer only has the version I wrote before Quinn requested his revisions.”
Jason eyed her over the brim of his coffee cup. “How will that help?”
“Quinn didn’t change any of the suspense elements. Only asked me to add the love scenes. If we have a conversation about Quinn’s changes, but aren’t too specific, then no one can anticipate our moves. They won’t know that Quinn didn’t change the suspense. Since we won’t be following the script, it’ll force whoever is doing this to come after us.”
Jason nodded in agreement. “We should allow the entire tour group to overhear us. And, I’m going to call Logan for more help from his team. While we set up this trap, I want the tour members tailed and taped—so we have more than our word as evidence.”
She grinned at him. “This could work out. If I have a tape of someone doing something illegal, you needn’t be involved with the authorities at all.”
A Burning Obsession Page 17