CHAPTER TEN
THEVIOLENCEWITH which she’d slammed the door behind her made it swing back open, but she seemed oblivious to that as he stepped over the torn silk robe that lay crumpled on the floor.
It took him a few dazed seconds to label the emotion that broke loose inside him as tenderness when his gaze lifted to the slim figure standing there, staring blankly straight ahead like a beautiful, flawless marble statue... Except she was not stone, she was blood and flesh and nerve endings, and the flaw on her body that stood out only emphasised how stunning she really was.
He could only imagine what was going through her mind. This woman had more guts in her little finger than a regiment of marines.
‘Haven’t you seen enough?’ she asked, staring at a point over his left shoulder. If he hadn’t, she certainly had!
She would never forget that look of horror in his eyes.
Every resource he had was needed to retain his control, but he was straining at the leash so hard he could barely form the word. ‘No!’
Her eyes flew to his face as he walked towards her, the fierce tenderness in his eyes making her tummy flip and her throat tighten, as she had no defence against it.
‘But...’
‘I want to do more than look at you,’ he growled out, lifting a big hand to curve his fingers around one side of her face. ‘And I think we can do better than just sex!’ he declared with arrogant confidence. Holding her startled gaze, he bent his head, closing his eyes only when their mouths were sealed together.
When he raised his head they were both breathing hard, her eyes were bright, her skin was feverishly hot, and every skin cell on her body was bursting with painful awareness.
‘Let’s even things up a bit, shall we?’ he suggested, stepping away but only far enough to slide his wet shorts over his hips.
She swallowed, her eyes dropping to watch his actions, helpless to resist the desire that flowed through her as she observed how the lowering of the fabric revealed the level of his arousal. He flashed a grin at her, but his features were hard and fierce as he held her eyes.
‘Come here!’ he demanded.
She did and he took her hand, directing it straight onto his groin and curling her fingers around the hardness of his erection. ‘That is what looking at you does to me.’
‘But... I’m not...’
‘You’re perfect to me...and you are perfect for me.’
At the stark declaration the muscles deep inside her fluttered and the rapid rise of desire swept over her like a wave, wiping away the last shreds of her self-consciousness. As she tightened her fingers experimentally over his crotch, excitement swirled through her.
‘Amazing!’ she murmured.
He gave a low, sexy rumble of laughter that made the hairs on the nape of her neck tingle.
Nik caught hold of her hands, raised them to his lips and pressed kisses into each curling palm before lowering his mouth to hers once again.
The kiss began as a slow, sensual tender exploration and then suddenly it became something else, his tongue driving deeper inside her mouth and eliciting an explosion of raw need and desperation as teeth clashed and tongues collided. Chloe moaned deep and raised herself up on her toes, gasping as her aching, sensitised breasts flattened against his iron-hard chest.
By the time they broke apart, they were both breathing as though they’d just crossed the marathon finishing line, and he hooked a hand behind her neck, sliding his fingers into her hairline, the fingertips gently massaging the skin there.
Then he kissed the swan curve of her neck and Chloe’s head fell back in rapture, her eyes squeezed closed on a long sigh that became a groan as his hand claimed first one quivering breast and then the other, stroking then kneading... Her head fell back further to allow him greater access, her spine arching back, supported by the iron strength of the arm across her ribs.
Her passion-glazed blue eyes flickered open as he scooped her up as though she weighed nothing and walked towards the bed.
She stroked his face, touching his mouth, his fascinating, pleasure-giving mouth, thinking that she honestly wouldn’t have cared if he had laid her down on the floor and taken her there and then... The thought was both shocking and incredibly exciting to her.
As he strode towards the bed, although she wasn’t small or delicate he made her feel both, yet at the same time powerful and strong.
He laid her down on the tumbled sheets and stood there looking down at her, nostrils flared, breathing hard, each breath lifting his ribcage.
His body was hard and tanned, warm, bone, sinew and muscle all so perfect that the desire low in her belly clutched hard as she stared at him, unable to look away.
‘You’re beautiful,’ she whispered. ‘Perfect.’ Her eyes suddenly filled with tears as she choked out, ‘I wish I still was for you too—’