“I have . . .” Her throat went dry. She swal owed and tried again. “What I mean to say is . . .” Anxiety had her stal ing out. Damn, this shouldn’t be so difficult!
Wade smiled, his tone playful when he said, “Sometimes it’s easier to just blurt it out. Like a bandage, just rip it off, Gracie.”
“Piercings,” she muttered. “I have piercings.”
Wade’s smile fel flat. “You have pierced ears? That’s the big confession?”
“They aren’t in my ears.”
His gaze shot to her breasts and lingered. If it were at al possible her face heated even more. At this rate they’d have to cal the fire department just to put out the blaze in her damn cheeks.
“You had your nipples pierced?” Wade’s voice sounded as if he’d swal owed sandpaper.
“Years ago. I went through a rebel phase, I guess.” She took a deep breath before asking, “Do you think it’s strange?”
He licked his lips, his gaze stil on her chest. As he started to tug her gown up, Gracie grasped one large hand in her own and halted his movements. His head snapped up, brown eyes, now nearly black, locked onto hers. “Let me see.”
The quiet demand nearly did her in, but she wasn’t budging. Not until she had an answer to her question. “You didn’t answer me.”
He licked his lips, and Gracie found herself watching, wishing, so very desperate to feel that sensual lick between her thighs. “No,” he murmured, “I don’t think it’s strange. I think I’m about to come in my jeans right now. I think if I don’t see you I’m going to die. I think my mouth is watering for a taste of you.”
Gracie hadn’t real y expected Wade to be anything less than total y honest. It just wasn’t his way. Stil , the heat behind his statement scorched her and sent her into another realm. She wasn’t terribly sure she was ready to deal with it. Then again, hadn’t she just told the man that she was tired of not taking what she wanted? She had him in her bedroom, undressing her; this was her chance.
Gracie dropped her hand and held her breath. “O-Okay then.”
Within seconds Wade had the gown over her head, the cast on her wrist barely slowing him down. After he let the material fal to the floor in a white heap, he went to work on her panties. He didn’t stop until she stood before him naked. When he went back to staring at her breasts, licking his lips, Gracie smiled. Unless she was mistaken, Wade liked what he saw. The knowledge gave her the bravado to make a demand of her own.
“Undress, Wade. I want to see you too.”
“In time, baby. First, a kiss.”
Then he dipped his head and licked her nipple. Gracie grasped onto his head, tunneling her fingers into his thick, dark hair, and gave herself up to the man she’d only made love to in her dreams.
8
Wade couldn’t believe the shy, headstrong woman with the buttoned up blouses had nipple piercings. Christ almighty. He cupped her breasts in both palms, squeezing the bountiful orbs gently before swiping his tongue over the little ring piercing one hard nipple. Enthral ed by the way it shimmered in the light coming in from the hal way, he growled, “You have magnificent breasts, Gracie. Such a luscious handful. I could lick you for hours.”
Large pink areolas centered by hard, berry nipples beckoned Wade to suck. Only one thing held him back. The three-inch-long mark marring the skin between her breasts and the bruises that covered her shoulders and torso. Anger at her stalker boiled to the surface and threatened to spoil what should be a sweet, beautiful moment between them. He leaned in and kissed the long mark, letting his lips linger a few seconds before lifting his head. “You should be in bed, resting. I should be horsewhipped for ever letting things get this far.”
Her palm came to rest over his heart; the tender smile she gave him warmed him clear to his soul. “The bruises wil fade. The mark from the seat belt wil fade. This moment, right now, it’l stay with me forever, Wade. Please, don’t let him take it from me.”
With only a few words from Gracie, Wade’s strength scattered. It u
nsettled him to know she could so easily work him. Worse yet, she didn’t even seem to be aware of the power she wielded. “I won’t have you in pain,” he gritted out. “Before we go forward I want your word that you’l do what I say. Everything I say. Are we clear, sweetheart?”
She grinned, and the playfulness of it burned a path straight to his groin. “You’re the boss.”
“Hmm, little temptress.” With one hand he flicked and toyed with her pretty nipple, then wrapped his lips around the other, taking as much of the tender flesh into his mouth as he could. His name was a plea on her lips as she mashed her breast against his face, begging for more.
Wade was a heartbeat away from fal ing to his knees. His legs had turned to rubber as soon as she’d uttered the words “nipple piercings.” It was a humbling thing for a man who thought he’d seen it al , done it al . When it came to sex, he’d experienced nearly everything there was to experience. So why had he been ready to explode at the sight of Gracie’s creamy tits? Simple, because they belonged to the woman who’d captured his attention that first day she came to work for Cherry. One thing was certain. It would take more than a few nights to get the woman out of his system.
He didn’t like the thought.
He was an independent man. He didn’t relish the idea of needing any one particular woman. Variety was the spice of life. Or it had been, before he’d seen Gracie Baron in the buff. Now, Wade didn’t give a damn about variety. He just wanted Gracie.
Crouching low in front of her, Wade slipped one arm behind her knees and the other beneath her neck, then lifted her, cradling her against his chest. Damn, she felt right there. She felt good. He looked down at her bed and grinned. “I like the big bed, baby. I’m going to need plenty of room for what I have in mind for you tonight.”
Gracie curled against him, not saying a word. Her acceptance was like tossing gasoline on a live flame. She was giving him her complete trust, and he’d see to it that she didn’t live to regret it. Wade laid her gently in the center of the bed. As he turned on the little lamp on her bedside table, drenching the room in a soft glow, Gracie groaned. “I’d rather have the light off.”