‘Darcie,’ he muttered.‘Darcie.’
‘Don’tpity me.’
His grip on her wrists tightened and he suddenly leaned in, pressing the full weight of his body against her. Pinning her to the wall with every inch of him.
‘Feel me,’ he muttered. ‘Feelme, Darcie.’
She did. She felt the coiled steel of tense muscles and the rapid thud of his heart. She felt the swerving emotions—frustration, anger,arousal. It was there—his huge, hard shaft pressing deep against her belly. She quivered uncontrollably and he pushed closer still. Her breath hitched, shortening as sensation—yearning—tumbled inside.
‘Thisis how I’ve wanted you,’ he growled. ‘Here like this. With me. So close that...’ He dragged in a difficult breath. ‘From the moment we met. But from that moment you were my employee.’
Her throat was so dry she couldn’t swallow. She couldn’t move—and yet she was, secretly her insides were shifting. Her blood was heating, muscles softening—priming. Not just her insides. Goosebumps lifted on her skin as she shivered and her breasts tightened—her nipples peaking, pushing back against him. Welcoming him.
For a long moment they remained sealed together. So still. But their breathing shifted—hot and shallow, faster and faster as desire surged to the point of detonation.
‘My father had an affair with his secretary,’ he said harshly. ‘It was a mess. For her. For my mother. For my whole family.’ His tension built and stiffened his muscles, and he instinctively tightened his grip on her wrists. ‘So you’ll understand it was a line I could never,evercross.’
She also understood that it had cost him something to tell her that.
‘But you’re not my employee now.’ His mouth was by her ear. A hot, husky,hungrywhisper.
She couldn’t see his eyes but she could breathe in his scent, his heat, his intensity, and she understood she was about to get everything he could share of himself. Everything she wanted.
‘I want to kiss you again, Darcie. And if I do, I won’t want to stop. Is that okay with you?’
She felt him, believed him, and all the need she’d locked away for so long surged. ‘Yes.’
CHAPTER NINE
SHEDIDN’TKNOWwhat she’d expected but for some reason his total tenderness was a shock. The kisses he dropped on her cheek and jaw and then her neck were soft and light, and he was so unbearably careful her eyes stung. She closed them and released her caught breath on a sigh of blurred delight and despair. She wanted this. Him.So much. His thumbs swirled over the fragile skin on the inside of her wrists and the simple caresses swept her further and faster along the tide of arousal—ofemotion. Thank goodness for the wall at her back; she was literally melting. He crowded closer, sensing she needed support, and slid his leg between hers. It only made her heat and soften even more. ‘Elias...’
‘I’m not going anywhere.’ A husky promise that made her quiver.
His grip on her wrists tightened and he lifted them, placing her hands on his shoulders. Finally she was free to cling and she did. Shamelessly.
‘Please.’ Sheneededhis kiss.
He lifted his head and gazed into her eyes as he glided his hands back down her arms, torching skin that was already ablaze for him before dropping them to her waist. He nudged his leg closer and tightened his hold on her. She couldn’t resist rocking her hips ever so slightly as the hard heat of him pressed right where she ached most and she heard the answering hitch in his breathing. His eyes gleamed as he leaned in.
‘Darcie.’
Her response was effervescent and uncontrollable. She met him, her tongue swirling—dancing—with his. She needed the kisses deeper, to be everywhere. She needed him like this—his whole body flush hot and hard against hers—and she needed to touchhimeverywhere. Yet her fingers could only curl into his shoulders and cling. Desperate, she shook—unable to stand any more. But Elias had her. With an exultant growl he scooped her into his arms, effortlessly tossing her lightly to adjust his hold. Pressed close to his chest, she threaded her fingers through his hair as he carried her to the bedroom he’d taken last night. He smiled at her—a laughing, lustful smile the likes of which she’d never seen—as he placed her smack in the centre of the big bed.
Darcie then stared, slack-jawed, as he took charge. He’d never looked as handsome. Her innards liquefied as he pulled something from his pocket and tossed it up so it landed near the pillow. She glanced, realised it was protection. And he’d had it on him already? He’d considered this might happen? Her heart raced as she turned back to watch him toe off his shoes while also unbuttoning his shirt. Two seconds later he’d shucked his trousers in record time. She sank deeper into the mattress as he advanced on her clad only in black boxers.
‘You’re far too well-dressed for this,’ he muttered.
He toyed with the slippery satin fabric of her dress, seeking the hidden fastenings, the zip, and releasing them with practiced ease. She shifted as he worked, helping him slide the material from her.
A pause, an intake of breath from them both as her skin was bared. Spread before him in only lacy bra and panties, Darcie couldn’t believe this was happening. But the expression in his eyes grounded her in searing reality. The intensity, the concentration, the evident desire in his body all combined to set her every sense alight. But this wasn’t only superficially hot. This burned on the inside, too. With every kiss, every caress, he heated herheart—melting it, re-forming it, making it his.
‘Elias...’ she gasped.
She was completely naked in moments. And he was kissing parts of her no other person had ever seen, let alone touched. Her breathing quickened even more and she stretched out her hands seeking purchase but finding only the soft silken sheets. Her fingers curled into fists as he touched her, teased her,tastedher. With every lush swirl of his tongue he showed her how searingly hot such an intimacy could be and just how responsive her own body was. And how much her body hungered forhis. She strained upwards, locking her hips as he drove her swiftly towards the brink of ecstasy. One arm holding her in place, he growled, a guttural husk of approval, before deepening his attentions—sliding a skilled fingertip inside while sealing his mouth to her highly sensitive bud and repeatedly lashing her there with his tongue. Darcie screamed as the sensations tumbled, her body convulsing in pleasure as wave upon wave hit and he held her tighter still, helping her ride it through.
She breathed hard in recovery but even through the aftershocks, arousal resurged. Because his hand was still cupping her intimately, his finger locked inside her. But he’d moved higher up the bed so he could look into her eyes.
‘Do you want the rest of me?’ he asked bluntly, raggedly.