Seb lifted his head and his deep, sombre eyes held hers as his hand travelled down the back of her neck to the zip of her dress. He pulled it down, one tantalising inch at a time, his fingers touching the skin beneath until the fabric gaped open to her buttocks. Using one finger, he pushed the fabric off one shoulder and then the other, until the dress fell in a frothy puddle over her feet.
Seb shoved his fingers in her hair and gently pulled the pins out, winding her curls around his hand before allowing the weight of her hair to fall down her back. Bending down in front of her, still fully dressed except for his jacket, he lifted one foot and deftly undid the ankle straps of her shoes. His fingers lightly caressed her ankles before he sat back on his heels and allowed his hands to drift up her calves, to explore the backs of her knees, the tops of her thighs.
‘You are so beautiful,’ Seb said, placing his forehead against her thigh.
Rowan frowned as she stroked his head. He sounded sad, she thought. Scared. As if this was just becoming a bit too much for him, a little too intense.
No, that was how she was feeling...
‘Seb? Are you okay?’
‘Fine,’ Seb said, his words muffled.
He placed an open-mouthed kiss on her right knee and Rowan felt the familiar rush of heat, the tightening of her chest. How much longer would she feel like this? The intensity of their lovemaking couldn’t last for ever—it never did. Then again, they didn’t have for ever. They only had next week and then she would be gone. But she would enjoy every nerve-tightening second while she had the chance. She owed it to herself to do that.
Rowan stepped back, reached down and lifted Seb’s tie, pulling it apart and allowing it to hang against his white shirt. Her fingers slipped between his neck and his collar and she snapped open the top button and then the next. Sinking to her knees, she placed her mouth on that masculine triangle at the bottom of his throat and inhaled deeply. God, she loved his smell.
Her fingers opened the rest of the buttons, and she shook her head when he tried to undo the clasp of her lacy bra.
‘No, not yet,’ she whispered. ‘Let me play. I need to touch you, know you, taste you...’
‘Why?’ Seb demanded hoarsely.
Rowan bit her bottom lip as their eyes collided. ‘So that I can remember every detail of you.’
‘We could do this for a while yet, Ro. Nobody is making you go.’
Rowan shook her head as her hands slid over the bare skin of his sides. ‘That’s just sex talking, Seb. We both know that this can’t last—won’t last. You don’t want a full-time lover and I can’t stay in one place. We know this, Seb.’
‘I just can’t imagine not doing this any more,’ Seb muttered, his face in her neck.
‘Right now, I can’t imagine going.’
Rowan pushed the shirt off his shoulders, stood up and pulled him to his feet. Small hands undid the snap of his suit pants and pushed the fabric off him, so that he stood naked in front of her, his erection hard and proud. Rowan ran her thumbnail down him and he jumped in reflex.
‘Sit on the bed,’ Rowan told him.
Rowan sat on the edge of his knees and her hands flowed over his broad shoulders, explored his tattoo and ran over the ridges of his stomach. ‘I’m going to miss you when I go. I didn’t think I would, but I know that I will. Lean back on your hands.’
Seb obeyed and tipped his head back. He stared at the ceiling, his chest rising and falling rapidly. ‘Don’t just slip away without telling me,’ he said, his voice vibrating. ‘When you say goodbye, say goodbye. Don’t sneak out.’
Like your mother did, Rowan thought. ‘I promise. When I know I’m going, so will you. I promise to say goodbye properly.’
Rowan stroked her hand over his lower abdomen, moving her hand into his thatch of hair, down his penis and around to cup his balls. She felt him tense, relax, then groan.
‘You’re driving me crazy, Ro.’
Rowan was enjoying the power she was wielding, having this fantastically smart, sexy man under her control. It made her feel immensely potent to feel his reaction to her, to know that he was surrendering to her, trusting her to take care of him.
‘I need to be inside you,’ Seb groaned, launching himself upwards.
Rowan slipped off him and knelt in front of him, her fist encircling him, hard, warm, pulsing madly.
‘Ro, don’t. I won’t be able to stop. I need you so much as it is,’ Seb begged, his eyes wide in the dim light of the room. ‘I won’t be able to wait for you.’
‘You can owe me...’ Rowan smiled wickedly before her lips encircled him. She knew she’d won when his hand burrowed into her hair and his back bent over her head...