Elijah tensed as a whisper of sound rode the air, alerting him to Sheridan’s presence. He hardened himself, fighting the surge of need. There could only be one reason she would come to him. “Go back to your bed.” He deliberately made his voice disinterested.
“No.”
There was a slight tremor in her voice. He tilted his head from the sofa in the room where he lay towards her. “Fucking hell!”
She hesitated slightly at his harsh snarl. She walked toward him with the innate sensuality of a seductress. The quilt wrapped loosely around her slithered off her body to pool on the floor as she came closer. She stood naked, hair rippling down her back to her hips, glorious jet-black hair, almost blue in its richness, against creamy white skin. She could not know how she looked to him, nervous, defiant, and hauntingly beautiful.
“I have missed you, Elijah.”
Tensions swirled hot and thick in the air at her announcement.
And I have missed you, so damn much. The words begged to tumble from his lips, but he held them in. She sauntered to him with naked lushness, tempting his control. A whiff of her unique scent, and feminine arousal, reached his nostrils, and it went straight to his head. Her breasts stood taut and firm, her stomach smooth and flat with rounded hips. Her curvaceous body looked so soft, and he knew she would feel as sublime as he remembered. His cock thickened on a pleasurable pulse.
He narrowed his eyes to slits watching her. He could feel her nervousness and he noted the slight trembling in her frame. She stopped a mere foot away from him. Her eyes darkened with sultry sensuality, but widened from her nerves.
“Go back to bed, Sheridan. I am not interested in anything that you are offering.”
His cock twitched in denial, and his heart thudded. Elijah wanted so badly to just touch her. He missed her scent, her taste, her laugh, her curiosity about life…he missed everything about Sheridan. He fought to keep his face a mask of stoicism. It would not do for her to see how she tempted him. The enticement of her naked body was unbearable.
“Do not push me away, Elijah. I can see you want me. I miss your kisses, your touch, and the way you smile at me, the way you make me belong.”
He froze completely, her husky words unravelling the chains of restraint he’d wrapped around his desire. “Sheridan—”
“Only tonight, Elijah…for now.”
A jolt of pure lust tore through him. His mind latched onto ‘only tonight,’ completely ignoring the ‘for now,’ and the hint of future liaisons. He’d been hungering for her for months. And she now offered herself so freely. He slowly sat up on the couch, silently beckoning her closer. He told himself it was not the need in her eyes he wanted to soothe, not the desire that emanated from her he wanted to immerse himself in. His resistance crumbled, and he convinced himself he only had one purpose in loving her. And that was to take her in every way possible, and exorcise her from his dreams before he exiled her from his life.
***
Sheridan saw the desire in Elijah’s eyes as she tempted him with her body. His voice was flat and indifferent, but the naked hunger in his eyes encouraged her. Her heart stuttered in both arousal and fear when he shifted, sitting up on the sofa and watching her with savage need.
She could not miss the rampant erection that strained against his buttons. He seemed hard and edgy and she knew taking him wouldn’t be easy. Her heart jerked at the thought. He’d always been so considerate of her, ensuring her pleasure, gentle with her always. Instinctively, she knew he would ride her hard and rough, if he gave in to his desire. He seemed too desperate. But she did not mind, for she felt the same fever of desperation igniting in her blood.
He held himself rigid on the sofa as she approached. She sank onto her knees gracefully holding his gaze, praying the hunger she spied would prevent him from pushing her away. “I have been without your touch for months, Elijah. I do not ask for promises. I know you have none to give, but I hunger for you.” Liar…her heart screamed, and she choked back a sob, for she wanted everything from him, especially his love. She rested her hands on muscular thighs and squeezed.
A rough, hungry sound escaped from him. The sound sank into her, making her bolder, her hands more confident. She snaked up and cupped his hardness, and her breath hitched when it flexed in her palm. All sense of shame and decency fled under the overwhelming desire that carved his features.
She rose and slowly straddled him, her knees bracketing his thighs. She fought to control her shivering as she sat on his lap and his rough denim scraped so sensitively between her legs. His nostrils flared, and she fought the blush that burned her body. She had never been so bold before.
She met his gaze, baring her emotions, hoping he would see the hunger and the entreaty for forgiveness. He shifted and need bolted to her core. She felt hot and restless, her limbs heavy and aching. Need poured from her, dampening her core, wetting his pants.
Calloused hands shifted from his sides to cup her breasts. His thumbs swiped over her nipples, before capturing the hard pebble between his thumbs and forefingers. The flood of sensations was so potent they bordered on pain. Her skin felt hot and tight.
“Elijah,” she gasped at the lighting pleasure that forked through her. She gripped his hair and leaned down to kiss him. “I missed you so much.” The words rushed from her as the ache became unbearable. “I miss our long walks, the way we held hands and talked for hours. I miss your smile.” She licked his lips, loving the texture. She rocked on him gently, more liquid seeping from her, wetting his denims. She groaned as his lips parted slightly and she slipped her tongue in between them.
He tasted of coffee and fire.
Her tongue pressed and dipped, and she moaned softly when his tongue twined with hers. He took the kiss from her and she freely relinquished it, loving the delight th
at warmed her blood.
His fingers dug into her hip and one of his hand trailed down across her belly to her core. His fingers delved between her swollen folds to caress. He thrust a long finger in her depth and she bucked into the sharp pleasure. She held her eyes open as his mouth ate hers. His expression was so sensual it dampened her more, easing the way as he added a second finger. His palm rested on the hot knot of flesh between her legs. He rotated his hand, pressing against her mound, and his eyes flared, then narrowed with sultry arousal.
He wrenched his mouth from hers and with one strong hand he lifted her slightly off his lap. The other hand went to his buttons and she watched as he cautiously, with a pained expression, released himself. His hardness pulsed with vitality, strong, hard, and thick.
He drew her to him, notching his length at her wetness. He nudged the broad head at her opening and pushed in with slow determination. She groaned low in her throat as he excruciatingly drew her down onto him, burying his length another fraction. She felt overstretched and she gripped his hair so tightly she feared she would pull out strands. She tried to pull back but he didn’t let her retreat. He slowly pulled her onto him, impaling her in delicious increments.
He paused. “All right?” he murmured, his voice was guttural with arousal.