‘A light. I want to see you.’
‘No!’ Her voice was strident, a strange discord in the evening. ‘I... I want you now. Like this. Don’t leave me.’
The blood surged through him again. That wasn’t something he could ignore and now his eyes had adjusted to the lower light he glimpsed the way the moon glowing through the expansive French doors cast her in its silver light.
‘Whatever the lady desires, she shall have.’ He moved to her dress. That bow at her side, which had been plaguing him all night. He plucked at the end of the tie, ever so slowly, pulling as the loop of the bow slipped through. He eased apart the remains of the knot and peeled the dress open. She lay splayed on the fabric, her body pale, her bra and panties a dark trace of lace on her moonlit body.
He craved to see those breasts again without a bra. To taste them, toy with her nipples till she writhed in ecstasy. Something wild and possessive grabbed him, wanting her to beg him to satisfy her. To prove she should never have left him. To prove that no one else could ever give her what he had.
As much as desire drove him to tear off her clothes and pound into her like a crazed man, he wouldn’t. Her rapid breaths were like music in the air. He eased her panties down her legs and tossed the flimsy lace to the floor. Leaned over her, stroked his fingers whisper-light up her leg till she shivered and moaned, then dropped his head and kissed the soft, pale skin of her stomach, lower and lower. Breathing in the scent of her sweet arousal. He hovered for a moment, one hand stroking, his breath on the juncture of her thighs because he wasn’t ashamed to admit he wanted her too. He was aching and hard, his clothes gripping him too tight.
Eve squirmed underneath him. ‘Please.’
He smiled. Kissed his way up her body. Settled his lips over her left nipple, already a hard peak, and sucked it through the lace of her bra. Her groan was deep and carnal and sliced through him with shards of anticipatory pleasure.
Gage pulled down the other cup of her bra, twirled her free nipple between his fingers as Eve reached her hands and grappled with the buttons on his shirt. He loved her desperate, staccato movements, her frantic tugs at the fabric, pulling it from his trousers.
‘Too many clothes,’
she groaned. He shrugged the shirt from his body and threw it to the side. Undid his belt and whipped it from his trousers.
‘Get rid of this damned bra.’ He kissed the side of her neck as she rolled to one side and he undid the clasp at the back, freeing her. He sat back on his haunches, looking down at her body in the cool light. Sprawled out on the bed with her hair feathered on the pillow. Her features were smudged and blurred like a charcoal portrait in the soft light. Gage dropped his head again, kissing her perfect breasts. Laying his body over Eve and relishing in the contrast of her softness to his hardness, her edges and angles underneath him.
He didn’t care that he still had his trousers on. If he took them off, this would be over too soon. Eve wrapped her legs around him, ground her body against his hardness as he captured her lips in his own, their kisses wet and frantic with nipping teeth. He wanted to see that, see her lips, swollen and well kissed, and know that he had done that. Wrecked her, like she was wrecking him. Her legs gripped tighter as he lost himself in the grind of their bodies, plucking at her nipples with his fingers, tongues exploring, their movements in such synchronicity it was like they’d never been apart.
She pulled her mouth away. ‘I need you.’
The bright burst of arousal tore through him, his body heavy with it. Aching. ‘I know,’ he murmured against her lips. He rolled to the side, his trousers now an impediment. He reached for the zip.
Eve rolled to the side too. ‘Let me.’ She slid the zipper down all too slowly, reached her hand into his trousers and gripped his length through his underwear. He dropped his head back. Relished her touch. She slipped below the waistband of his briefs. Stroked him with her cool, firm touch and he almost shot off the bed at the shock. It was his turn to groan, throw back his head. Take. Savour.
Her firm fingers rubbed over the tip, working him like he’d shown her he enjoyed so many years ago. But this wasn’t about him as the prickle at the base of his spine sounded a warning, the heaviness that told him he’d lose control soon. It was about her, breaking her apart.
He moved off the bed and looked down at her, unable to judge her expression in the darkness. He stripped himself of his trousers, underwear and knelt on the bed, dropping his head to the juncture of her thighs. Breathed in her sweet musky scent.
She spread her legs wider, fell open for him as he traced her with his tongue, relishing the salty sweet taste unique to her. He delved between her legs. Concentrated on the tight little bud and made her squirm and moan, lavishing her with attention. He slipped his hand between her thighs, probing her wet depths as he slid one finger inside then another and curled them to hit the spot he knew drove her wild.
Her back arched. She gripped the sheets, her thighs trembling as he lapped at her body, taking her higher and higher, but he wouldn’t let her fall yet. He eased off a touch, bringing her back down. He could make this pleasure last for hours if he wanted to. He knew all about delayed gratification and patience. He had warned her after all.
Her hands released the sheets and one thrust into his hair, gripping tight. He relished the bite of pain, the desperation it showed.
‘All of you.’ Her voice was like the slip of lace over beautiful curves. As soft as the moonlight caressing her body. ‘Inside me. Please.’
He’d wanted to hear her beg but it didn’t hold the pleasure he’d thought it would. He needed to be inside her, to slide into her hot, wet depths and lose himself right along with her.
‘Yes.’ He rolled over and opened the bedside drawer.
‘No,’ Eve said, and he halted immediately, a sinking feeling hitting his stomach. She’d changed her mind? She reached out her arms and tried to pull him back to her. ‘Only you. Nothing between us. Just you inside me.’
The rush was like a drug. Like being hit, hard. In all the time since Eve he’d never had sex without a condom. The only time he ever had was with her that long-ago morning.
‘I trust you. I need you.’
And that’s all it took, the expression of trust so heady he almost came then and there without her hands even on his body. He didn’t care anymore. He rolled over onto her, settled between her glorious thighs. Positioned himself and hesitated for a second before slowly pushing home. His mind blanked. The white-hot spike of pleasure almost undid him. Eve gripped his body hard. He hesitated for a moment.
‘Good?’ He ground out the word through gritted teeth because this was better than good. Just having her underneath him, being inside her, felt life-altering.
‘Yes.’ Her voice was barely a whisper and then he began to thrust, long and slow, a hypnotic rhythm of push and pull. Her lips on his, tongue exploring his mouth. All slick and wet and barely controlled. She moved with him; her legs wrapped around his. Meeting him with every thrust. Moments of exquisite sensation that had him thanking the heavens she’d allowed him back into her body again. He didn’t care right now what had come before, only this moment, pure and perfect.