Chapter 21
From an early age, Nate had guarded himself, never showing his emotions. But hearing Eliza tell him that he was her first obliterated any and all protective shields that he’d ever put up. It crumbled all of the walls he’d built, leaving him raw and exposed. He didn’t want to hide any of what he was feeling from her. He wanted her to see, to feel what that meant to him, what she meant to him.
As he stared in her eyes the energy in the room intensified. He felt time slowing down and his blood heating up. Needing to touch her, he stepped forward, eliminating the space that she’d put between them and placed his hand on her cheek. She smiled tenderly and tilted her head, leaning into his touch.
“I’m so happy…” she whispered as moisture filled her bottom lids.
With his thumb he wiped a tear as it fell down her cheek.
“I’m so happy,” she sniffed, “that you were my first.”
Not able to wait one more second to show her how he felt, he cupped her face with both hands and captured her pillow soft lips with his. His movements were gentle and slow as he explored the velvet warmth of her kiss. This was nothing like the manic frenzy that engulfed them in the coat closet. This was gentle and tender, but even more intense, somehow, than the visceral chaos they’d experienced before.
Her arms wrapped around him and her fingers threaded through the hair at the nape of his neck. Her nails scraped against his scalp and the sensation shot like an archery master’s arrow straight to his groin causing his shaft to grow even harder and throb heavily. Desire to feel her skin against his overwhelmed him as need and arousal built to an almost painful level.
He didn’t allow his intense need to drive him to rush. He reached behind her and slowly, patiently unzipped the back of her dress. When the zipper reached the bottom he ran his fingers up the bare skin of her back over her shoulders. His fingers hooked in the straps of her dress and he slid them down her arms. When the material pooled at her feet, she stepped out of the dress.
He continued their slow, drugging kiss as his hands roamed her body. Her skin felt like satin beneath his touch. Her hands continued gripping his hair as she held him in place, anchoring him to the moment, to her. His fingers traced the outline of her bra that crisscrossed over her shoulder blades, then down her spine and along the edge of her panties.
Wanting to see what he was feeling, he broke their kiss and stepped back. What he saw almost took him down to his knees. She was wearing the white lace bra and panty set that he’d held in his own hands, high heels and nothing else.
She was exquisite. She was beauty personified. She was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. And, at least in this moment, she was his.
Mine.
Taking his time so that he could marvel at each new body part he uncovered, he let his fingers run over the fabric before he removed it. Her nipples hardened beneath his fingers as they grazed her lace covered mounds. When he had finally removed every piece of clothing from her body and she stood before him completely naked, he stood back and let his eyes roam over her from head to toe, feasting on the sight before him as if it were a delicious meal. In a way, it was. It was sustenance for his soul instead of fuel for his body.
He stepped back and began removing his tie. She followed and reached out to assist him but he grabbed her wrist, halting her efforts.
“No.” His fingers tightened as the command left his lips.
He lowered her hand back to her side and saw the fire of arousal that his action and his authority flared in her. He’d always taken charge in the bedroom and he’d never had any complaints. Her lips opened on a gasp and her eyes grew heavy lidded. Urgency surged in him at her enticed response and his already-throbbing dick pulsed with wild, animalistic need.
As he undressed, he never tore his eyes from her gorgeous curves. The gentle flare of her hips. The delicate tuck of her waist. The feminine curve of her breasts. The elegant grace of her long neck. Every part more seductive, more sensual than the last.
When he stood there just as naked as she was, he reached his hand out and led her over to the bed, where he laid her down and brushed her hair back onto the pillow as he hovered above her. His arms framed her face and his fingers trailed along her jaw, marveling at how soft her skin felt against his work roughened palms.
He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers once again, but he did not linger long at her mouth. Rather, he moved his gentle kisses further down her body, first over the creamy flesh of her neck, then the hot and flushed skin of her chest. When he reached her breasts, he cupped them in his hands and flicked her nipples with his tongue, making the tip a hard edge that he could use to send brilliant sensations through her body. That’s all he wanted—to make her feel good. If that was all he ever accomplished in his life, that would be enough. He felt it was his purpose, what he was made for. And, like he did in every other aspect of his life, he was going to do it to the best of his ability.
He continued his oral exploration down her body by planting small, open-mouthed kisses over the expanse of her now-quivering belly. He loved how her skin trembled under the pressure of his lips. It was the sweetest torture, feeling those small erotic vibrations through his lips.
He’d never played an instrument, but this is what he imagined it would be like. Every action causing a reaction. And he wanted to learn every note, every nuance that brought her pleasure, and he was more than willing to devote his life’s work to it. When it came to the pursuit of satisfying Eliza, he would never settle to just perform at apprentice level. He was planning on achieving master status.
She moaned quietly as he pushed her legs apart and trailed his fingers up and down the soft skin of her inner thighs. Her skin was hot to the touch and he loved having the knowledge that she was as fevered with passion as he was.
He stared at her exposed sex, which was glistening with arousal. A whimper of need sounded as she let him spread her legs open even farther than they were. A flush of male pride rushed through him at her provocative invitation. He was the one that had turned her on so much that she now lay before him, wet and aching, squirming from the sheer desire for him to touch her sex.
Giving her what she wanted, he ran his fingertips up and down her glistening seam, spreading her juices over the expanse of her pulsing mound. She was even hotter there than her skin had been. She was burning up—burning for him. Just like he was for her.
Suddenly, he was seized with an overwhelming urge to taste her. It wasn’t enough just to touch her, he had to devour her. Claim her. Making her his, and no one else’s. That’s what he wanted her to be from now on. He couldn’t say that in so many words, but he was going to use his body to send that message, to show her what it was that he wanted—for her to belong to him.
Acting on his possessive impulse, he lowered his mouth and covered her mound. Her hips bucked as he lapped at her greedily. She tasted so sweet. Not that he was surprised. Everything about her was sweet, from her smile, to the way her hair smelled, right down to her soul. Why should her arousal be any different?
She writhed beneath his tongue, pressing her sex more firmly into his mouth. Taking what her body wanted as she whispered words of encouragement. Telling him how good his tongue and lips felt. Telling him not to stop, to lick harder. Faster. He loved it that she was so passionate, so feisty. He loved how vocal she was, that he knew exactly how much pleasure she was feeling. That he was making her feel.
Sensing her body getting closer to release, he slipped one finger and then a second into her tight channel. He pushed them in and pulled out, crooking the tips to reach her internal pleasure button as his tongue worked her external one.
“Oh, yes,” she growled as her body clenched and exploded at the same time. “Just like that. Yes, yes, yes.” She squeezed her muscles against the movement of his fingers, like her inner walls were clutching him as she tangled her hands in his hair and arched her back upward.