He grimaced slightly. “Sorry. I was doing it again, wasn’t I?”
Esa just raised her eyebrows wryly. “Nice of you to realize who was in bed with you. Let me guess. Your ex-fiancée wasn’t only snooty when it came to things like where you worked but where you went to school as well.”
She went completely still when he leaned down over her until his lips almost brushed her own. “I don’t really feel like talking about that right now. Do you?”
He dropped a slow kiss on her upturned lips. It was a closed-mouth kiss—nowhere near as blatantly sexual as he’d kissed her in the past—but Esa found herself wondering if it wasn’t the most erotic kiss of all. He sandwiched first her lower lip between his own, then the upper. He rubbed against her and molded and teased until she squirmed beneath him in renewed arousal.
“I’ll take that as a no,” he said huskily before he applied those gold-medal lips to her neck. She shivered.
“W-what?” she asked, no longer certain what they’d been talking about.
He examined her face before he smiled.
“Never mind. I’m about to make love to you again,” he explained patiently. “Are you going to be good?”
“What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously.
“I mean that if you don’t hold still while my tongue familiarizes itself with every inch of your beautiful body, I’m going to have to tie you down to this bed.”
“You would never do that,” Esa scoffed. She paused, mouth hanging open, when she saw the gleam in his blue eyes and felt his cock lengthen and stiffen against her thigh. He didn’t bother to reply but just lowered his head and proceeded to make good on his threat.
She gasped at the sensation of his firm lips and warm, slightly abrasive tongue on her shoulder. He took a gentle bite out of the muscle before he scraped his front teeth along her neck.
Esa tried her best to keep still but she couldn’t seem to stop from arching her back, suddenly desperate to rub her hypersensitive nipples against the crinkly hair on his chest.
He’d said her body was beautiful. Was it remotely possible that Finn didn’t mind that she hadn’t been to the gym in almost a year and staged a daily battle with the Häagen-Dazs cookie dough ice cream in her freezer…a battle which she usually lost miserably? She ground her teeth together and forced herself to remain stationary when he kissed the sensitive sides of her torso and examined her goose bumps with his sleek tongue.
She would persevere at all costs, excruciating torture though it would be.
Chapter Nine
Finn lay in bed, lazy and extremely sated, while he watched dawn break around Esa where she stood by the windows. He found himself entranced by her still figure, the beguiling, feminine curve of her hip, the contemplative tilt of her head, the elegant lines of her back.
When she’d come out of the bathroom a few minutes ago she’d been wearing his discarded gray flannel work shirt. It fell on her to mid-thigh, leaving exposed a good portion of her long, shapely legs. She’d brushed her hair while she’d been in there because it hung below her shoulders in shiny auburn waves.
He’d wager that most women would be extremely envious of Esa’s natural beauty. She’d awaken after only an hour or two or actual sleep looking downright gorgeous—skin glowing, hair mussed and spilling in a sexy auburn mess around her lovely face…the mysterious smile of a well-satisfied woman on her swollen, well-kissed lips, Finn added to himself with a touch of male smugness.
He had no grounds for being cocky, of course. She was the most sensual, responsive, carnal creature he’d ever had the privilege to make love to, and that had precious little to do with him. But it wasn’t only her sexuality that had captivated him throughout the long night. So had her obvious intelligence, her sense of humor…even the occasional glimpses of her little insecurities.
He liked Esa Ormond—he liked her a lot. Too bad he’d met her at such a crappy time in his life.
His eyelids narrowed on her thoughtful feminine form outlined by the sunrise. It wasn’t just his recent breakup that made a relationship between them highly unlikely. Esa had clearly stated that she wasn’t looking for anything permanent. She was obviously used to having casual affairs, given the circumstances of how they’d met and her job. Which was convenient for him.
Wasn’t it?
He frowned.
“Come back to bed,” he called, eager to chase away his unsettling thoughts.
She turned and gave him a smile that made his demand even more imperative. “I have a better idea.”
He shook his head while he held her stare. “Ain’t a conceivable better idea in the entire world, honey. Come here.”
She laughed low and husky as she came toward him. “Even you can’t have that much energy. Come on, get out of bed. You’ll like this, I promise.”
He couldn’t resist the sparkle in her brandy-colored eyes.
“How long will I have to be out of bed?” he asked warily.