Walking over to him, she pulled his sweater up and over his head. He cooperated with a smile until she reached for the button of his jeans. Then his hand came to hers, covering her fingers and keeping her from going any further.
“You get into bed and under those covers,” he said. “Your skin is like ice. I’ll start a fire.”
Bree pouted for a moment but had to admit that was an excellent idea. She sauntered over to the bed, slipping off the last of her underthings and crawling beneath the heavy down comforter. It was like slipping into a warm bath. She sighed as she snuggled down into the luxury linens.
Ian quickly went to work building a fire. In only a few minutes the fireplace just beyond the foot of the bed roared with flames. That done, he finished undressing and disappeared into the bathroom. Bree waited patiently, unbraiding her hair and combing her fingers through the blond waves left behind. He returned a moment later with a handful of foil packets.
Bree was surprised to see the physique he hid beneath those bulky sweaters he wore. Back in college, he’d been tall and lean but not particularly athletic in build because he spent most of his time playing guitar. Given that for the past ten years he’d mainly sat at a desk, she’d expected him to have a head start on middle-age spread.
Instead, she was rewarded with a hard, lean body with thick muscles twitching beneath his skin. He had more chest hair now; the dark sprinkle across his pecs narrowed to a trail down his belly. At that point, her cheeks flushed. His desire for her was no secret. Her palms tingled with the need to touch him, but he was just out of her reach.
He paused at the edge of the bed, holding up one of the condoms. “I’m trying to fight the urge to wear three of these at once. I’m feeling a little paranoid. Please don’t take it personally.”
“One is perfectly effective,” Bree said, “as long as the woman in question isn’t after anything but your body.”
Ian’s dark brows went up. “Bree, are you just using me for my body?”
“No,” she said with a sweet shake of her head. “I fully intend to, of course, but at the moment you’re out of reach.”
Ian laughed and tossed the condoms onto the nightstand. “I feel so cheap.” He eased back the blankets and slipped in beside her. His skin was blazing hot as he brushed against her. How was it possible that the man could produce so much body heat?
Bree groaned and pressed the length of her body against him like a nuzzling cat. Ian hissed for a moment when her ice-cold skin touched his, but he was gentlemanly enough not to pull away.
“You’re freezing, Bree.”
She ran her palm over the hard muscles of his chest and leaned in to give him a kiss. “Then warm me up.”
“If you insist.” Smiling, Ian rolled over, pressing her back against the mattress and covering her body with his.
The heat and the weight of him were soothing. When he dipped his head to kiss her, she forgot all about being cold. His touch heated the very blood in her veins, the spreading warmth awakening her long-ignored body’s desires. She relished the slide of his tongue along hers. His every caress was expertly targeted to her most sensitive parts as though the almost decade apart had been just a blink of an eye.
When his thumb brushed over the hard peak of her nipple, Bree gasped. When he sucked it into the warm heat of his mouth, her back arched up off the bed. He was relentless in his assault, teasing her with his teeth and tongue as his hands glided down her hip and dipped between her thighs.
“Ian!” she cried as he made contact with her feminine center. He smothered any other sounds when he kissed her again. His tongue mimicked the movements of his hand, slowly sliding in and out of her mouth. She squirmed beneath him, panting as he drew her ever closer to the edge of her release, again and again, always backing away before she shattered.
Then he reached for the nightstand. Ian sat up to roll the latex sheath over himself, then slipped back between her thighs. He tugged the blankets up over his bare shoulders to keep them in the warm cocoon and then lowered onto his elbows. His mouth found hers again and with a subtle shift of his weight, he was pressing against her entrance. Teasing her. Toying with her despite the need he was responsible for building inside her.
But she’d already waited too long for this moment. Now, she would have it. Bree cradled Ian’s hips between her thighs. Impatiently, she drew up her knees, gripping his hips and drawing him forward. He moved with her and before she knew it, she got what she wanted. Every inch of Ian was buried deep inside of her. The moment was familiar, pleasurable, memorable...perfect. It shouldn’t have been. This wasn’t a reunion. They weren’t getting back together. They were just venting pent-up desires and emotions and frustrations on each other while the snow kept the rest of the world from existing.
But what would happen when the snow melted?
Bree closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. In this moment she didn’t want to let all those worries creep in. She just wanted to enjoy being in Ian’s arms again. Watching him play his guitar and sing last night had built a need in her that only he could soothe.
Ian eased forward and thrust into her a second time with a sharp hiss. Bree rolled her hips, taking in all that she could. Her body strained and flexed around him, her muscles clamping down until he groaned.
“Nice trick,” he said. “But we’re not finishing that quickly.”
Leaning down, he kissed her and started moving at a quicker pace. Eventually, Bree had to tear her lips from his so she could cry out with each pleasurable drive into her.
They fell into an easy rhythm, her hips rising off the bed to meet his every advance. The pleasure easily built up inside her again, this time with more intensity than before. He had toyed with her so much earlier that this release might be one for the record books. She clawed futilely with her short manicured nails at the taut skin stretching across his shoulders. She was trying to find something to hold on to, something to keep her anchored when her orgasm hit like a tsunami.
It was coming. Her whole body tensed, and her mouth fell open into a soft “O.”
“Yes,” Ian coaxed, recognizing the telltale signs of her impending release. “That’s what I want to see. Don’t hold back, Bree. Come apart for me, baby.”
He increased his pace and she hardly had a choice in the matter. In an instant, the dam broke and the waves of pleasure crashed in on her. She gasped, she cried, she thrashed and writhed beneath him. And when it all subsided, her eyes fluttered open to find he’d watched every moment of it.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, looking down at her.