“I want you.”
That should have been his line. And the fact that she’d said it nearly knocked him off balance. He quickly gained his equilibrium though, reaching out and wrapping his arms around her waist. “I want you, too. I doubt you know how much.”
She took another step closer, so close that their bodies were touching. So close he could clearly see the way the ceiling light illuminated the whiskey coloring of her eyes.
“Then I’d like you to show me, Roland. Show me just how much you want me.”
• • •
Lennox knew she’d just practically asked Roland to make love to her and couldn’t believe her nerve. She’d never done that before, not even with DeWalt. But then, she’d never felt this kind of desire before, either.
Roland stirred something inside her with just a glance. And whenever they were in the same space, it seemed as if the very air around them sizzled with sexual energy. Even now, just their proximity had heat radiating through every part of her body.
Roland leaned in and took her lips with a hunger she felt all the way to the soles of her feet. She knew what she was in for…and she was ready. She’d spent the last few hours thinking of their kiss…and what would come next.
So, when he gently sucked on her lower lip, she knew it was just the first step in a full-on assault of her mouth. And she intended to enjoy every full-tongue-probing moment of it. Especially because this time, she knew there would beno stopping. This was it—everything she’d dreamed about since meeting him. And he was definitely delivering. Was it her imagination or was the rhythm of his tongue in tune with the sound of the rain beating relentlessly against the roof?
She was suddenly swept into strong, sturdy arms. At that moment, she knew that he couldn’t control the desire simmering between them any more than she could. And she didn’t want to try. Not any longer. They had both tried to ignore this need and they’d both failed. Now the time had come to do something about it.
He released his forceful hold on her mouth to brush light kisses there as he carried her into a bedroom that she was seeing for the first time--one neither of them had slept in the night before. As he placed her on the bed, she scanned her surroundings. The room was massive, and incredibly beautiful. But it only held her attention for a second before her gaze returned to the man who stood by the bed looking at her.
The degree of his desire was obvious in the depths of his dark eyes, as was his intent. But before he proceeded with whatever plans he had for her, he was making sure she was all in.
He moved closer to the bed, then leaned in and took her jaw in the palm of his hand, leaving her mouth mere inches from his. “You remember what I told you this morning, Lennox? About my inability to fully give myself to any woman?”
She nodded. How could she not remember? Just as she remembered her words back to him-- that she believed in possibilities.
That way of thinking had been the only thing that helped her to move forward after losing DeWalt. Her heart hurt at the realization that Roland believed his life ended the day his wife’s had.
He moved his hand from her jaw and sifted through her hair. “I love this.”
Lennox loved the feel of his fingers on her scalp. “I thought you preferred the wig.”
Roland held her gaze. “I like you any way I can have you. It doesn’t matter what you wear. I know the real you is sexy, too.”
His words gave her the confidence boost she needed. Leaning up, she placed her hands on his shoulders and whispered, “Show me.”
He grinned. “Maybe you should show me.”
Then he began removing her clothes. Slowly, piece by piece. Hot adrenaline rushed through her with every item he removed. Before she knew it, she was left in only her bra, panties and stilettos.
He took a step back from the bed and just stood there, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans, staring at her. It was as if she was a puzzle he needed to figure out.
“Is anything wrong, Roland?”
As if her question made him realize he had zoned out for a second, he said, “Nothing I can’t handle, Lennox.”
“Are you going to finish undressing me? Or do you want me to do it?” She didn’t want to sound anxious, but she was. She wanted to feel those hands all over her. She hoped he hadn’t changed his mind about making love to her.
But just to make sure—and give him a nudge in the right direction--she undid the front clasp of her bra. Before shecould blink, he was there, with one arm curved around her while the other pushed the bra straps from her shoulders.
“Evidently, I wasn’t moving fast enough for you,” he said, tossing her bra aside and then pulling her to him, flattening her breasts against his chest.
She wished he was bare-chested, the way he’d been that morning. She would prefer to feel his skin against her, instead of cotton. “No, you weren’t.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you, Lennox.”
She gazed up at him. “You mean, besides protecting me?”