It stole his breath from his very lungs.
With a low moan, he thrust inside her, revelling in her answering shudder. The way she locked her legs tighter around him, and lifted her hips to meet him. He made himself slide out of her slowly, then back in again, setting a deliberate pace and fighting the driving urge to take her there and then.
He had no idea how he kept it going. Whether he even managed it for long at all. But then he found he was moving faster, harder, deeper, and Anouk was matching him stroke for stroke. And he could feel it building inside her, just as it was inside him.
When her breath came in shallower gasps, he hooked his hand under her and angled her perfectly, reaching between them to find the very centre of her need, and then he sent her over the edge, the sound of her crying his name far more potent than it should have been.
And Sol, unable to bear it any longer, followed her.
CHAPTER TEN
HE KNEW SHE was gone even before his eyes had adjusted to the pitch-black of the room. He could sense it. The bed felt...empty without her. And an irrational sense of anger rolled through him that she should have snuck out, like some kind of thief, whilst he slept. He who never slept soundly.
Throwing back the sheet and st
abbing his legs into a pair of night-time joggers, he stomped out of the bedroom and down the hallway. And stopped abruptly.
The light to the living area was on and he could hear the sound of cutlery on porcelain. It was insane how glad that sound made him.
Wandering through, he leaned on the doorjamb and watched her, perched on the granite worktop, one of his T-shirts swamping her delectable body, eating his cereal.
‘Hungry?’
She jumped instantly.
‘It was a long shift and...an energetic night.’ She offered him a sheepish grin. ‘I didn’t mean to wake you.’
‘You didn’t.’
Stepping in, he opened the cupboards and retrieved his own cereal bowl, filling it up and pouring on the milk she had left on the counter, before putting the bottle away.
‘I didn’t realise you were a neat freak,’ she teased.
‘I didn’t consider that you were a slob.’ He laughed.
She straightened up indignantly.
‘I am not, I was going to clean up as soon as I’d finished, so you can take that back.’
‘Fair enough.’ He took a spoonful of the cereal, watching her wriggle off the counter-top and potter around his kitchen.
He had no idea what rippled through him at the sight but he didn’t care to analyse it too deeply.
‘So...do I come back to...your bed? Or do I...go to the guest room?’
Ah, so the new, bold Anouk had taken cover again and the old, reserved Anouk was back.
‘Come back to bed.’ He didn’t even bother to keep the amusement from his tone.
‘It’s all very well for you to laugh.’ She bristled. ‘But I’m not used to...this.’
‘I know I have a reputation as a playboy, Anouk. But I’m not a complete bastard. Just because I’m not cut out for relationships, or love, or any of that mumbo jumbo, doesn’t mean I throw women out in the middle of the night as soon as the sex is over.’
‘About that,’ Anouk announced, loudly if a little shakily. ‘I think that’s utter tosh, as it happens.’
‘Say that again?’
To say he was incredulous didn’t cut it. Anouk moistened her lips nervously and he had to force himself not to let his eyes linger.