It was as if the word unlocked something within her that freed her from any further doubt, debate, any last vestige that would stop her from doing and taking what she wanted. It was just like it had been that first time in Greece. There was some strange alchemy between her and Theron that seemed to alter her DNA. And that change, that new element that rose within her filled her so completely it took over with the power of a crashing wave.
She pulled back from his hold and slipped her arms from the now damaged shirt, from where he had pulled it apart and sent the buttons flying. Her eyes were on his as his gaze scoured every inch of her skin, flicking back to her every other second as if making sure she was still there. That it wasn’t all a dream. She knew how he felt.
She reached for the clasp of her bra and released it, her heart soaring at Theron’s swift inhalation and the slash of crimson on his cheeks at the sight of her. She felt glorious. She felt beautiful and womanly and empowered all at the same time. Backing up off the chaise longue, she undid the buttons of her jeans and pushed them from her hips, kicking them out to the side with her bare feet.
He bit his lip and clenched his fists as if he was trying to restrain himself from reaching for her and she loved that she wasn’t alone in the madness. Her thumbs hooked in the waistband of her high leg briefs and the gold in his eyes flared. In a second he was half off the sofa, his hands pressing against hers stopping her as she was about to draw them down her thighs.
He looked up at her from a half crouch and her breath caught in her lungs. She felt worshipped. He batted her hands gently aside and slowly, inch by inch, drew the cotton down her thighs. The intimacy of it was overwhelming. As her legs began to tremble he placed a supporting hand against her hip, his fingers sweeping around, and once again she felt cared for and desired at the same time—a combination she’d never experienced before.
She stepped out of her briefs and Theron tucked them into his pocket as if they were something too precious to kick to one side. There she was, naked and vulnerable, while he was dressed only in his dark trousers, the button at the waist she’d undone what felt like hours before.
He gazed up at her as if he were more than happy to stay there at her feet for as long as she could ever wish it, but that stirring of need, that impatient desire unwound thick and fast in her chest and she reached to pull him up.
When he reached his full height she had to crane her neck to look up at him to take him in, to understand what arcane language their bodies were using to communicate. She wanted to spend the rest of her life learning it, using it and exploring it. She barely had time to register that thought when he swept her up in his arms and took her back to the chaise longue, laying her gently down on it.
He looked at her as if he couldn’t get enough. His gaze covered every inch of her and she smiled at the errant thought that he might even turn her over and inspect her back too. The thought brought a blush to her cheeks, one that his keen gaze didn’t miss. He opened his mouth as if he was about to ask her, but then shook his head as if he forgot what he’d intended, lost in the sight of her, his eyes glazed with the same desire and lust that she felt coursing through her body. Rather than the frantic desperation of moments before, the thick heavy thump of need pulsing in her veins became slow and languorous, as if they had both been hypnotised by the same thing.
He leaned back on his heels and reached for her foot, picking it up gently and bending to place kisses along the arch. Unconsciously, she pulled her leg back slightly, the sensation driving a laugh from her lungs and drawing him towards her and exposing her in a way that caught her breath. His hands swept up her thigh, his kisses following, open-mouthed and deliciously decadent as her heart thundered in her chest and he gently pressed her thigh to the side.
Her back arched off the mattress the moment his tongue pressed against her, and her hand fisted over her mouth to prevent herself from crying out. She had barely caught her breath when another long sweep of his tongue drove the oxygen from her lungs and her back into the air once again. She cursed, unable to stop herself, and she swore she could tell that he was smiling.
He pressed gently against her pelvis, angling himself and her into a position that allowed him to—
Her mind completely blanked. She couldn’t have said what he did, she didn’t know, other than it was amazing and incomprehensible and in the space of a heartbeat she was completely overcome by an orgasm that she felt broken by.
She came back round to the feel of gentle kisses around her abdomen, something about them bringing a sweet tear to her eye that she dashed away before Theron could see.
Eventually, as if reluctantly, the kisses began to move up her body, along her ribcage, Theron’s head gently nudging at her side, causing her to shift onto her side so that he could slip behind her and place more kisses on her shoulder blades as his hands wound around her protectively.
The hot humidity of the orangery was the absolutely perfect temperature to be there naked in his arms. Her heart felt light, happy but scared, as if this moment was precious only because it might not last.
She felt his forehead lean against her shoulder.
‘I don’t have a condom,’ he said, his tone regretful but not more than that.
She sighed, unable to help the smile curving her lips. ‘I think it’s a bit late for that, Theron.’
There was a pause before he replied. ‘There is no risk from me. I have not been with anyone since you.’
She swallowed, realising the thought of risk hadn’t crossed her mind. Even in this, she marvelled, he was protecting her. ‘Me too. I...’ Her words trailed off as his fingers entwined with hers, reassuring, loving even. She turned back to look at him, his gaze burning bright and intense. And, just like that, want and desire ignited in a firestorm and she reached for him, knowing he was the only thing that would quench her need.
They made love until the stars disappeared from the night sky and the sun peered at them from over the horizon. A gentle yellow glow filled the glass-walled room, warming the jasmine until its perfumed scent filled the air. Summer pulled the large throw Theron had found at some point during the night over her shoulders and burrowed deeper into his embrace. She thought he was asleep, but a new tension filled his form, an energy that ignited her own and for a moment she indulged in it. A moment where heady desire, expectation and promise were just there in the next heartbeat, if she could only—
In the distance she could hear the ring of Theron’s mobile and they stilled, holding their breath, as if instinctively they both knew.
Knew that something was about to happen that would change everything.
CHAPTER NINE
THERONWASWAITINGin her room for her when she came out of the shower. Her steps faltered when she saw his broad shoulders outlined by the early morning sun. He appeared to be looking out of the window, but she was half convinced it was to protect her modesty.
‘You should wear the green dress,’ he stated without looking at her.
And in an instant the fury that she’d banked with cool water from the shower reignited. ‘Calling Kyros was bad enough. You don’t get to tell me what to wear too,’ she threw at him.
Theron’s shadowy outline bowed his head. ‘He needed to know.’
‘Will you always put his needs before mine? Before yours?’