The weight of his words filled the silence. She looked up, read the truth in his expression.
‘I’ll stay.’ She had no choice. Her feet were clamped to the floor. Leaving without feeling that beautifully sculpted body against hers would be criminal.
‘Good.’ He reached out and snagged her hand, pressing his mouth to her palm. His tongue swiped her skin.
Immediately her nipples budded as sparks showered from her hand through her body, coalescing into a searing arc of fire that shot to the aching, empty place between her legs.
Alice shuddered and moved closer, only to halt when Adoni gripped her hips and dropped to the floor before her. Eyes huge, she watched as he bent low, his mouth skimming the skin below her navel.
His hand splayed across her belly. ‘I can’t describe how it makes me feel, knowing you’re cradling our child.’
Another gentle kiss then another, his hands holding her close.
‘Try,’ she whispered. ‘How does it make you feel?’ Adoni hadn’t spoken about anything but practicalities, about paternity and obligations. What did hefeelabout this child they’d made?
‘Humble.’ He planted a kiss near her hip. As well as his soft lips, she felt delicious friction where his stubble had begun to grow.
‘Excited.’ Another kiss, further across her belly. ‘Determined.’ His lips skimmed wider, trailing heat across her abdomen as if he spun a web of delicate sensation with each caress. ‘Nervous.’
Alice looked down at his dark head bowed over her pale skin and her heart went into free fall. There was more honesty between them now, more true feeling than there had ever been.
She threaded her fingers through his crisp hair, intending to turn his head up so she could meet his eyes.
Instead Adoni ducked lower, sitting back on his heels, his gaze fixed on the triangle of darkness at the apex of her thighs.
Alice breathed shakily, vulnerable and needy at the same time. Then her thoughts frayed as he lifted his hand. His finger traced a line down through dark hair, slipping through her folds. Sparks ignited again and she shuddered. Internal muscles grabbed hard, more than ready for him. Yet Adoni took his time, tracing that sensitive bud then sliding his finger lower, deeper.
Alice gasped, her hips jerking as this time her muscles had something to tighten on.
‘Please.’ Did she whisper it aloud or was the word in her head?
Adoni didn’t look up. He moved closer, grasping her thigh and pushing it wide. Then his mouth was on her, his tongue, and Alice was sure she’d collapse as a fierce tug of erotic pleasure juddered through her.
Surely it was only his hands on her thighs keeping her upright?
‘Adoni? I can’t...’ Her voice was blurred, almost non-existent, like the shimmer of heat over boiling water.
He pulled back and everything inside her gave a throb of loss. Tremors ran through her and her legs shook so hard it was a wonder her teeth didn’t chatter. His eyes met hers and something zapped between them. The air felt different—charged, and her nostrils flared at the rich scent she’d only smelled once before—pheromones and sex. Arousal.
Adoni rose on his knees, hands still on her hips, and pushed her back. Unresisting, she went, surprised to find the mattress immediately behind her. She’d forgotten the bed was there.
Alice opened her eyes and her arms at the same time, ready to hold him as he sank down on her. But he held back, kneeling on the floor between her open legs while she was supine on the bed.
‘No.’ One warm hand skimmed her stomach, making her quiver. ‘This time I want to see all of you when you come for me.’ The low words in that gravel and velvet voice thrilled her.
Adoni’s eyes held hers as he anchored his hands on her hips and slid her closer to the edge of the mattress. Closer to him, for in the same movement she felt him against her, then entering, then gliding hard and high within her.
Alice caught her breath, her teeth biting her bottom lip at the wonder of them together, made all the more intense by Adoni’s unwavering stare.
‘Does that hurt?’ He was withdrawing when she leaned up, reaching for his arm.
‘No, don’t! It doesn’t hurt. It just feels—’ He moved within her again, just a smidgeon, and her eyelids fluttered.
‘Good?’ His mouth stretched into what might have been a smile but looked more like pain.
‘Better than good.’ Her hand trailed his forearm, rigid muscle and soft hair, as she flopped back on the bed.
He moved again, sure and slow, and Alice thought she’d die of pleasure. Adoni kept one hand planted possessively at her hip but he used his other hand to stroke fingers up her side to her breast, circling the nipple till she gasped and writhed, lodging him more firmly at her core. Then his caress slid low, back to her belly, circling the place where their child rested.