Cinderella's Christmas Affair (10 page)

She was trying so hard not to let her body control her life again. And she realized that protecting herself from being hurt might be a bigger risk. Was it a risk she was willing to take?

He leaned close to her; his breath brushed her cheek. Her face still tingled from the rough rasp of his fingertip. Awareness spread throughout her body, pooling in her center. She shifted on the seat, clenching her thighs together.

“Invite me up for a cup of coffee,” he said. He had no doubts. Maybe she was thinking about this too much.

She tilted her head to the side. Inside her the heavy beating of lust awoke. Each beat of her heart seemed louder and fiercer than the one before it. Her clothes felt constricting.

Tad’s breathing was shallow as well. His nostrils flared and pupils dilated. Her mind noted every masculine detail and she realized that there was no turning back. She’d made up her mind earlier in the day.

“Want some coffee?”

“Hell, I want more than that,” he said.

“How about something sweet with your coffee? I still have some cookies, pies and cakes I baked the other night. Is that enough to satisfy you?”

“You’re all the dessert I need.”

She hesitated with her hand on the door. “Am I really?”

Tad framed her face with both of his hands and brushed his lips against hers. “Are you having doubts again?”

“You already asked me that.”

“I want you to be very sure of this, Cathy Jane, because once we make love everything will change.”

She swallowed. She knew that it would. And perhaps that was why she was hesitating. But she couldn’t live the rest of her life in fear of a man’s touch. Afraid that she’d indulge the passionate side of her nature at the cost of her sanity.

“No doubts.”

She got out of the car and led the way into her building. The doorman smiled and waved at them as they waited for the elevator. She hadn’t brought any man up to her place the entire time she lived here. Finally the doors opened and they entered the car. Tad pressed the button for her floor and as the doors swooshed close, pulled her into his arms.

He smelled good and it felt right to be in his arms. Every sense was attuned to him. His scent embedded deep in her hungry soul. He rubbed his hands down her back, cupping her buttocks and bringing her body more fully against his.

He possessed her with a complete attention to detail that left her burning for more. She turned her face toward his, seeking his mouth but he evaded her. Stroking his lips over her face.

His mouth settled on her neck. Teasing her with soft biting touches that made her forget everything but him. Her world narrowed to just the two of them. When the doors opened on her floor it seemed natural that he’d lift her in his arms and carry her down the hall.

He set her on her feet in front of her door. He watched her with narrowed eyes. He was aroused and wanted her with an intensity that warned her her time for running was over. Her body said good, she was through with running. But her heart warned her to be careful. That the price to be paid for passion was a high one.

“Open the door, CJ,” he said. His voice was deep and raspy and she knew he was on the razor’s edge as well. That for him reason and caution were being superceded by instincts older than time.

Knowing she wasn’t alone in these tumultuous emotions reassured her. She took her key from her purse and unlocked the door.

Glancing over at him, she wondered what he would do when he realized that she wasn’t the innocent girl he remembered. When he realized her fears stemmed from perhaps too much knowledge of herself and not an uncertainty of what sex with him would be like.

“Last chance to run,” he said.

She wasn’t running from Tad anymore. Or from herself. The past few years had been cold and lonely and she wasn’t going back to them again.

Taking his hand in both of hers, she opened the door and pulled him inside. She pushed the door closed and backed him up against it. She brought his mouth down to hers and laid both of their fears to rest.

CJ took his mouth in a kiss that was deep and carnal. She tasted him with languid strokes of her tongue, exploring him as if she meant to leave no secrets between them. As if she meant to uncover all of his desires. But he wasn’t eager to play the passive role.

He returned the thrusts of her tongue with his own. Tilting his head to the side for better access, he cupped the back of her neck, supporting her while he savored her mouth. She moaned deep in her throat and shifted restlessly against him.

His erection lengthened and he nudged his hips forward, thrusting one leg between her thighs and nestling his too purple flesh against her. Frustrated by the barrier of clothes between them, he pushed her coat and his to the floor.

Reaching between their bodies, he unfastened her blouse. Her bra was lacy to the touch and her nipples hard little stones. He tore his mouth from hers and stared down at her in the dim light. She was exquisite. Her body pale alabaster.

Her fingers worked busily at his shirt as well. Raking her fingernails down his chest, she gave him a smile as old as time. He let her explore his chest for a few moments, savoring the arousal spreading throughout his body. She leaned down to nip at the skin that covered his pectoral with her teeth and then went lower to suckle both of his nipples.

Her mouth on his nipples sent a pulse of pure fire through his groin. His erection tightened, becoming painfully full. This wasn’t going to be a soft gentle seduction. He needed more. And he needed it now.

Using his hand under her chin, he tipped her face up to his and kissed her again. And then she was rocking against him, her breath coming in short gasps. He pulled away.

With one hand he unfastened the front clasp of her bra, but didn’t push the cups away from her skin. He felt her breath catch in the back of her throat. Knew she was anticipating his next touch.

He wanted to bend down and take her hard nipples in his mouth. But he waited until he was sure she was aching as much as he was for the touch. He circled the areola carefully, watching her squirm as he did so.

“Like that?” he whispered against her neck, right below her ear.

“Oh, yes,” she gasped.

He slid his mouth down the column of her neck stopping at the base to suckle against the wild pulse beating there.

She grasped the back of his head and held him to her. Her lower body gyrating against his. “Tad…”

He bent and moved lower. Nibbling along her skin until he encountered the cups of her bra. He traced the edge where fabric met flesh with his tongue. Goose pimples spread across her chest. And her grip on his head tightened.

He cupped her breast in his hand. Molding and lifting the globe, he turned his head and blew lightly on the tip. She shivered again.

He hovered over her aroused nipple letting his hot breath bathe her flesh. When he touched her with the tip of his tongue, she moaned his name again.

She was on the brink of orgasm and he wanted to see her go over for him. Wanted to see the moment when pleasure infused her entire being. He unfastened her pants and pushed them down her legs.

CJ unfastened his pants and pushed her hand inside, stroking her hand down his length finally cupping his balls. She squeezed gently and he almost came. But he wanted their first orgasm together to be hers. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the couch.

He set her down on the soft cushions. She leaned forward and he could feel her breath on his groin. He groaned. He wanted her mouth on him. “Not yet.”

Gently he pushed her panties down her legs and then arranged her so that she was spread out on the couch for his consumption. He slid one of the pillows under her hips so that she lay before him like a scrumptious feast.

“This is what I call dessert,” he said, reaching between her legs, he fondled her humid flesh with long slow strokes.

Carefully he pushed one finger into her channel and she moaned, her fingernails digging into his shoulders. He slipped a second finger inside to join the first.

She was so wet and ready for him. But he didn’t want this to end too quickly. He dropped openmouthed kisses on her stomach and abdomen. Then trailed his mouth lower. Her hands were in his hair once again. He glanced up at her. Some women didn’t like a man’s mouth on them in such an intimate way.

“Okay?” he asked.

She bit her lip and nodded.

She smelled musky and womanly and he couldn’t wait another minute to taste her. He parted her with his thumbs. Her pleasure center was thick and swollen and he teased her with his breath and lips. He continued working his fingers inside her body.

With his other hand, he plucked at her nipples and stroked her from neck to waist and back again. Her hands moved restlessly up and down his back and as her tension grew her touch became more frantic. He stopped caressing her body and held her hips with both hands. Tasting her deeply until he felt her clench around his tongue.

She cried his name out loud and her body shook in his hands as she came.

He lifted his mouth from her and stood. Then lifted her and carried her down the hall to her bedroom. He placed her on the center of her bed and removed his clothes before climbing in next to her and pulling her into his arms.

He pushed her open blouse and bra from her body and savored the feel of her in his arms. His stroking hands rekindled her desire. But when he tried to roll her under him, she pushed against his shoulders and he let her force him onto his back.

She straddled his hips and rose over him. His sex was still rock hard and he could feel her wetness against him. Thrusting upward he teased himself with her warmth. He moaned out loud. He needed to be buried hilt-deep inside this woman. Now.

“Not so fast, Rad Tad. It’s time for my dessert.”

Eight

“D
essert, am I?” he asked with a mock frown.

Leaning over him, CJ licked her lips. “You are more tempting than anything in my kitchen.”

She had Tad in the one place she’d always wanted him—her bed. Even though he’d brought her to climax on the couch, there was still an unnamed emptiness inside her that only complete possession would satisfy.

She wanted him to fill her. She wanted to engage his senses the way he had hers, sending him beyond anything he’d felt with any other woman so that he’d always remember her. She wanted to brand his soul the way he was marking hers.

But she wanted to do it on her terms so that she could protect the woman deep inside her. The woman who’d always been susceptible to her appetites and who’d never really learned to say goodbye to her dreams. The woman who was very afraid that Tad was going to realize one day that CJ was no more than a facade.

She wouldn’t allow herself to be that vulnerable. She caged his wrists in her hands, holding them on the pillow next to his head. Tad said nothing only watched her through narrowed eyes. His penis stirred against her moist center, letting her know he enjoyed the change in roles.

She lowered her body until they were pressed together, propping herself on her elbows she stared down at him. His eyes were languid as if he had all the time in the world and there was no urgency. But his heart told a different story, beating frantically beneath her chest.

She leaned down and kissed him. Taking her time and finishing what she’d started at the front door. He tried to take control of the embrace, lifting his hands. But she forced them back to the bed.

CJ nipped at his bottom lip in warning. He returned to his supine position but she knew that it wasn’t her will dominating him but his desire to let her dominate him.

She hadn’t meant to tease him when he’d given her such pleasure earlier. “What do you like?”

“With you, everything.”

She smiled. That was one of the nicest compliments she’d ever received. “Good. Lace your fingers together and keep your hands under you head,” she ordered.

He did as she commanded. She rocked back on her heels, still straddling his body. He was a strong man with an athletic build. “Wait here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

She hurried into the bathroom and grabbed her massage oil and a box of condoms from the medicine cabinet. She also picked up a box of matches and lit the candles on her dresser when she reentered the room.

Tad had propped three of the pillows on the bed under his shoulders and now reclined on the bed like a pasha awaiting his harem girl. It didn’t matter that she’d told him to wait there for her, his presence dominated the room.

She placed the box of condoms on the nightstand before sitting on the bed near his hips. She lifted the small brown bottle that contained a sandalwood scented liquid.

“What have you got there?”

“Just some oil. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

She poured a small amount into her palm and rubbed her hands together. Then leaned over him. Rubbing the soothing lotion into his skin. His muscles under her hands were hard and strong. But he was putty in her hands.

She massaged her way down his torso, taking the time to explore his bare upper body. The hair on his chest tapered down to his groin. She poured a small puddle of oil low on his abdomen and then rubbed it downward. His body twitched as she moved lower. She teased him by massaging his thighs and then working her way further down his left leg.

She massaged his feet and then moved back up the right side of his body. His hips moved restlessly as she neared his groin again. This time she shook two small drops onto the swollen flesh. His breath rasped between his teeth as she worked her hands over him rubbing until all the oil had been absorbed into his skin.

Straddling him again, she bent over him until she could caress him with each undulating twist of her body. His penis was hot and hard between her legs. Each circular motion of her hips brought him closer to her entrance. She felt him tense underneath her each time she brought him closer and closer to her center.

“I need more,” he said.

“How much more?” she teased, rubbing the tips of her full breasts against his chest. He moaned and rocked his hips up towards her, seeking entry.