His gaze went to her mouth and it seemed to take him quite some effort to lift it again to meet her eyes. ‘Aerin...’ He swallowed deeply and continued, ‘The car we drove up in is not an all-terrain vehicle.’
‘So?’
‘So, snow.’
Aerin frowned. ‘You mean we can’t leave? It’s not safe on the roads?’
‘Not until the snow melts a bit.’ He glanced back out of the window. ‘It looks like we might be in for another decent fall. See those clouds over there? I should’ve checked the weather app before I brought you here. And I should’ve booked a different vehicle.’ The bitter self-recrimination in his voice was unmistakable.
‘Because, clearly, being snowbound with me in a cottage in Scotland is your worst nightmare.’ Aerin found it hard to remove the bitter edge to her own voice. Did he have to make her feel any more hideously embarrassed about herself? He’d probably had dozens of snowbound weekends with his long list of casual lovers, but he was baulking at the thought of one with her. Was she so undesirable? His kisses hadn’t given her that impression at all, but rather the opposite.
‘My worst nightmare happened twenty-one years ago, so no, being snowbound with you is not in the same category at all.’
Aerin bit down on her lower lip and cast him an apologetic glance. ‘I’m sorry. My choice of words was a little insensitive.’
He lifted his hand to her face and glided one finger down from the top of her cheekbone to the base of her chin in a faineant movement that sent a shower of sparks down her spine. ‘But it’s still a problem.’
She ran the point of her tongue over her suddenly paper-dry lips. ‘Why?’ Her voice came out whisper soft.
His gaze drifted to her mouth and her heart rate sped up. His lazy finger left her face and traced the contour of her mouth, sending ticklish tingles through her flesh. ‘Because I want to do this so damn much it hurts.’ His mouth came down and covered hers in a gentle kiss that throbbed with reined in erotic energy.
Aerin instinctively moved closer to him, her hands sliding up his chest to then link around his neck. Drake gave a low deep groan and put one of his hands in the small of her back, pressing her to his hardening body. His tongue commanded entry to her mouth and she welcomed him in with a breathless sigh of pleasure. The playful duelling of his tongue with hers sent liquid heat to her core, making her legs tremble with growing need.
His other hand came down to rest on her hip, his touch electrifying even through the layers of her nightgown and wrap. His kiss deepened, became more passionate, more desperate. Never had she dreamed a kiss could incite such fiery lust in her body. Never had she imagined a man’s lips and tongue could stir her senses into freefall. It was as though she had waited all her life for this moment—this passionate awakening of the senses that made her ache in her feminine core.
Drake lifted his mouth off hers but still kept her in his embrace. ‘I want to touch you.’ His voice was a deep, rough burr that sounded as if it were coming from Middle-earth itself.
‘Then touch me.’ Excitement thrummed in her blood, her heart hammered, her pulse raced, desire flaring between her legs in a tight throbbing ache.
His hand came up from her hip and gently brushed against her breast through the satin of her wrap and nightgown. It was a barely touching caress and yet it sent a laser strike of lust through her body. She pressed herself closer and his hand touched her breast again, this time cupping it in his hand. Aerin let out a gasp of pleasure, hardly believing it was possible that her breast could feel so different when touched by him instead of herself.
‘Touch me skin on skin.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I’m sure.’ She hadn’t been surer of anything in her entire life. His touch was what she wanted. What she craved. It was as if she had been waiting all this time for this to happen—for Drake to be the one to introduce her to the wonderland of sensuality. She couldn’t explain why she was so driven to allow him to be the first one to make love to her. It didn’t make sense in the light of her checklist and careful plans for her life. But right now, it was the only thing she wanted. She was living in the moment in a way she had never done before. Not thinking too far ahead, just rolling with the tide of want that consumed her so totally.
Drake eased aside her nightgown and cupped her naked breast, his eyes gleaming. ‘You’re so perfect.’
Body issues were the bane of many young women’s lives and while she was mostly happy with what genetics had handed her, there were some things she was self-conscious about. She had never been naked in front of a man before. She’d thought she would feel embarrassed, but she didn’t. It seemed the most natural thing in the world to reveal her body to Drake, to have his eyes devour her form.
‘I’m a bit on the small side...’
‘Nonsense. You’re just right. Not too big, not too small.’ He stroked the pad of his thumb across her budded nipple and a tingle of delight went through her breast. Then he circled her nipple with one of his fingers, his touch light and explorative as if he was committing her shape to memory. His head came down and he caressed her breast with his lips and tongue, the tingling sensations flowing through her like a hot current.
Aerin could feel the proud ridge of his erection pressing against her, making her need for him all the more out of control. Who knew this alchemy could happen between two people? This ferocious need to be skin on skin, to touch and be touched, to desire and be desired. It was mysterious and magical and she wanted to experience all of it. Every step and stage of lust, the steps and stages she had only ever experienced in solo and in secret. To experience it with someone she admired and felt safe and comfortable with was surely the right thing to do at this point in her life. She could not turn thirty without having experienced making love with someone she desired.
Drake came back to kiss her on the lips once more, as if drawn there by a force beyond his control. His tongue thrust between her lips and it sent a shock wave of delight through her, the flickering movement of his tongue stoking a roaring fire in her loins. He lifted his mouth off hers and sent it on a blazing trail down the side of her neck, gently moving aside her nightgown as he went. He kissed and caressed her other breast, his lips and tongue working their magic on her naked flesh until she was all but purring with pleasure.
‘You like that?’
‘How could I not? You seem to know exactly what to do to make me want you all the more.’ Aerin gave him a twisted smile. ‘But then, you’ve had a lot of experience.’
Drake placed his hands on her hips, holding her to him but lightly enough to give her the freedom to move away if she wanted to. ‘I admit I’ve lost count of how many lovers I’ve had, mostly because in the early days I used sex to blank out a lot of other stuff.’ He let out a sigh and continued, ‘I don’t want to give you the impression I use women as sexual objects. Not these days, at least. I only sleep with women who want the same as me—casual and uncomplicated sex, which is why going any further with you is wrong on so many counts.’
‘But how is it wrong if I want that too?’
‘It’s wrong because I can’t give you more than a fling.’