Desperate Measures (22 page)

tray for a bit. She‟d asked for finger food and the chef had certainly given it to her. There were

thin rectangles of toasted bread and thin slices of meat and cheese. Wedges and slices of fruit

surrounded a bowl of thick sauce. Round golden puffs of bread were dusted with spices. It

looked delicious. She plucked a piece of bread from the tray and settled onto her knees at his

side. She brushed the piece of bread back and forth across his lips. His eyes locked with hers and

he didn‟t even look down to see what she was holding. His lips parted and she slipped the bread

inside. He bit down onto the crunchy toast.

He chewed slowly, but he wasn‟t still. She was surprised when his hand settled on her hip

and swept slowly up her side. His hand stopped just under her breasts but she wanted it to go

higher. He leaned forward and took the last bit of crunchy toast from her fingers. After he

finished with that bite, his tongue swirled across her fingertips. The man was so damn sensual

and she‟d bet he knew that sent thrills through her body.

“Now you need to eat a little, because this game isn‟t going to last long.” He half-turned

to pull a piece of cheese and meat from the cart.

She watched and slicked her tongue over her lips as her eyes drifted down to his hardened

cock. No, this definitely wasn‟t going to last long. She had a few ideas about what she wanted to

do with him, and food was almost the last thing on her mind. Now she wouldn‟t mind licking and

nibbling bits of food off him and definitely getting his mouth on her body was always a plus

regardless of what he was doing.

He turned back to face her and resumed his lounging position. “I have something like this

when I want to relax and not deal with the fuss of a full meal. I never really thought about how

useful it could be in this kind of situation though.”

“The sauce your cook recommended was what made my imagination run wild. He said it

was both sweet and a little salty and thick enough that it wouldn‟t drip too much. My mind easily

provided some wonderful uses for something like that.” She grinned and watched as he looked

back at the cart.

“Well, why didn‟t you say something about that a little earlier? I wouldn‟t mind having a

bit of that myself.” He turned back to her and lifted the cheese to his mouth.

“Isn‟t that supposed to be for me?” She tilted her head.

“Yes, come get it.” He slipped the piece of cheese and meat between his lips.

She laughed softly and rose to her knees to lean over him. Lowering her head, she

clasped the food and tugged, but only came away with part of it. She chewed and then went back

for more. Her lips brushed against his and she nibbled at the food, but his mouth interested her

far more than the snack he was offering.

As she swallowed the last sliver of meat from his lips, his mouth opened and his palm

cupped the back of her neck. He tugged her down and kissed her. She groaned and eagerly kissed

him back. She wanted to lose herself in him now. To forget about the worries of leaving and

what they‟d need to decide when they did. The hard decisions were coming, but in his arms all

she had to think about was the pleasure he gave her and giving him as much in return.

He tore his mouth away from hers. “Now, my turn.”

She reached blindly up onto the cart. Two of her fingers sank into the sauce and she

grimaced. Just as quickly, a wicked thought tore through her head and she knew she could use

those sauce-coated fingers. She grabbed a couple of balls of dough and relaxed back onto the

bed. She turned onto her back and put the seasoned bread balls between her breasts and using her

still wet fingers coated her nipples with the sauce.

“Come and eat. Don‟t forget to try a bit of the sauce.” She laced her hands behind her

neck and gave him a slow smile.

He licked his lips. “You‟re a wicked woman and I love that about you. Damn, you tempt

me.”

She laughed softly. “Why don‟t you show me how much you like it?”

He laughed, the sound low and wicked. It ricocheted through her body, setting off tingles

in its path. She loved that sexy, wild rumble. He came up to his elbow and leaned over her. His

breath feathered over her breast as he moved in closer. His tongue swirled over the slope. She

held her breath and tried to concentrate on anything but how close his mouth was to her breast.

She wanted to draw this out as long as possible.

His mouth moved to the valley between her breasts. His teeth sank into one of the small

round balls. He lifted his head and brought the food up. She felt the crust brush against her lips

and took a bite of the food he was offering. She barely tasted it and it could have been plain

bread for all she cared at the moment. His teeth nibbled at her lips and then he bobbed down and

plucked the second seasoned ball from between her breasts. Again he shared the bite-size morsel

and again he ended by nibbling and sucking on her lips. She could get used to eating like this. It

wouldn‟t matter what she ate as long as he was there.

“Now I can get to what I really want to enjoy.” His brown eyes dropped significantly to

her breasts.

She felt her nipples tighten and a spike of sensation shoot through her. He hadn‟t even

touched her nipples yet, but she ached for that. Just thinking about it sent a jolt shooting through

her body and she could feel the coiling tension building low in her belly.

He dropped a kiss on her shoulder and then in the dip between her breasts. His tongue

licked and swirled over the skin. When he touched and kissed her she had no doubt that he

enjoyed every moment of it and that excited her. His tongue moved up the side of her right breast

lazily as if he had all the time he could ever want to get to the peak. She wanted to grab his hair

and get his mouth right where she needed it, but she kept her hands behind her neck. Her arms

ached with the need to move, but even though it was driving her insane, she‟d go at his pace.

His teeth grazed over her breast. She shivered and her back arched. She glanced down at

him and saw the smile on his face. He was enjoying himself. His tongue swirled around her

nipple. She stiffened and drew in a hissing breath. Even that light touch felt so intense. She

shifted restlessly and her legs widened without conscious thought. When his mouth finally closed

over the tight bud, she nearly bolted off the bed. The sensation was so strong that it almost felt

like pain.

He sucked at her breast and his tongue danced over her nipple. She‟d never felt anything

so sweet. His hand cupped her other breast, squeezing gently. His mouth moved over her as if he

couldn‟t get enough. When his mouth lifted, she wanted to scream out a denial, but all she could

do was moan her objections. He rose and slashed a quick hard kiss on her lips. His tongue thrust

into her mouth and she met him eagerly. Just when she was getting into the kiss, his mouth lifted

away and trailed kisses on her neck and shoulder before moving down her chest.

“I love this sauce. Can‟t get enough of it, but I think that you put it on a little light for my

taste. We need more.” He smiled just before he lifted away just long enough to reach over and

grab the bowl of sauce.

She gulped at the thought of him licking that sauce off her. “More is good.”

He laughed softly and drizzled the sauce over her breasts and down her stomach. His

tongue swirled and lapped. A hunger built in her that had nothing to do with food. She couldn‟t

stay still. Her thighs parted as his mouth followed the trail of sauce. Her breath hitched in her

throat. She could feel the slick liquid on her thighs and knew it would only increase.

His hands smoothed down her thighs and then journeyed inward. She pulled her hands

out from behind her neck, not sure how much longer she could hold back from sinking her

fingers into his hair and tugging him to where she needed him to be. She ached and burned. Her

palms smoothed down his shoulders and back. He dropped a kiss on her hip and then nipped her

thigh. She jerked beneath the sting, but almost in the same moment his tongue was there soothing

the small pain.

His hands lifted her thighs and then parted them even more as he moved fully between

them. As his fingers brushed over her folds, his tongue followed, leaving a trail of sizzling fire in its wake. His fingers parted the sensitive lips and anticipation roared through her. She tensed as

his warm breath puffed over the sensitive tissue. His tongue took a long swipe from her entrance

and across her clit. At that first touch, she came.

She felt the pleasure whip through her from her toes up. She gulped in breaths but before

she‟d even fully come down from that hard orgasm, his tongue began working on the hard little

nub and two of his fingers slipped inside her. She loved that, but she needed more than his

fingers. She wanted the weight of his body, the thrust of his hips, his lips slashing across hers

and the intensity in his eyes as he focused on her. When he finally rose onto his knees between

her thighs, she was panting and clawing at him.

He hooked one of her thighs with his arm and slowly joined them. Her nails sank into his

buttocks, trying to make him go a little faster, but it didn‟t seem to have any effect. His chest

heaved and she could tell he was as excited as she was, but he joined them slowly and when he

began moving against her, it was slow and not nearly the hard grinding pace she needed.

She surged up, her arm wrapping around his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss. Their

mouths clashed fiercely. Nips and small growls escaped as they fought for dominance of that

embrace. That seemed to push him over the edge. He began thrusting into her. She eagerly lifted

into each forceful plunge. His eyes burned into hers and she couldn‟t look away even as the

pleasure took her. Light exploded in front of her eyes and pleasure slammed over her, leaving her

feeling almost lost. He found release in just a few strokes and his weight settled onto her. They

held each other, hands softly stroking as the last tremors faded.

She felt a few moments of regret as he lifted away from her and lay on his back, but when

he pulled her close, she snuggled against his side.

“Well, I‟m a little tired, but I‟m not hungry. What about you?” He smiled as he looked

over at her.

“I‟m not hungry. Why don‟t we just cuddle a little until we‟re hungry for either food or

each other?” She didn‟t lift her head from his chest. She didn‟t want to lose the contact.

As she relaxed against him, her mind began to focus and she wondered if she‟d been

crazy. Now, after the intensity and the surge of feelings, she wasn‟t so sure that this had been

such a good idea. She‟d wanted intense and she‟d gotten intense. She didn‟t know if she‟d ever

be able to get this night out of her mind. She didn‟t know what she was going to do if she

decided she needed to stay away from him. Her mind wouldn‟t stop even when she saw he was

asleep.

She was almost relieved when the tone sounded from the door. He jerked and was

immediately alert. She started to rise, but he put a hand on her stomach.

“Stay there. It‟s probably nothing.” He smiled even as he pulled on pants and tossed a

blanket over her. She tucked the blanket over her breasts and rose to her elbows to watch.

It wasn‟t nothing. It was one of his men. She couldn‟t hear the words, but from the tone,

she knew it was something the man thought was important. Connal said a few words in reply and

then turned back to face her as the door slid shut behind the crewman. She sat up and swung her

legs around to scoot off the bed. She knew the locations hadn‟t been fully narrowed down. She‟d

have gotten a message about that even before he would.

“Stay there.” His smile softened the order. “Please stay the night here. I don‟t know how

long I‟ll be but I want you to be here when I get back.”

She took a deep breath and nodded relaxing back on the bed. “Is something wrong?”

“I have to go soothe one of our clients who thinks we aren‟t going to be able to deliver

his goods on schedule. From what I was told, he received a message that the ship had been put

into dry dock. This is probably part of what Everett has been doing.” Connal shook his head as

he walked over to the closet and pulled out a fresh shirt and pants. He disappeared into the

bathroom, but it didn‟t take long for him to come back out. His hair was wet, but otherwise he

didn‟t look like he‟d just been pulled out of a woman‟s bed.

After he left, she relaxed on the bed, wondering if she should catch some sleep and hope

for another round when he got back or eat a little and find something to do. It wasn‟t until she

was looking around the room that it really hit her. She was alone in the room. He wasn‟t here to

see her. She could take something of his and not risk getting caught.

His shirt. He hadn‟t grabbed that when he‟d gone to the door and to the bathroom. She

found it on the floor at the bottom of the bed. She looked at it and grimaced. It was too big for

her to hide and carry out without him noticing in the morning unless she only took part of it. She

ripped a piece off and stuffed it into a pocket. She put the shirt in the bottom of his laundry

basket. She knew from the time here that it would be picked up tomorrow. Hopefully, he