"I'm
fine," she murmured.
"Fine?" His voice was
teasing. "Wow. I'm excited now. I've made you feel fine. Maybe I
do
deserve what they said about me in the newspaper."
She
wanted to tease back, but she was too scared. She stared into his
dark eyes and wished for inspiration.
"Reid, I…"
There weren't any words. She had no idea where this was going, but
she didn't want him to stop. More would be better. But how to say
that?
In the end she gave up on saying it right and simply
leaned forward a few inches and kissed him back. Lightly, almost
chastely, lips on lips, her hand pressing against his chest.
He
was warm all over. Heat seemed to radiate from him. She was aware of
that, along with the faint scent of his body. He smelled clean and
tempting at the same time. All man and sin and sex.
Need
flickered to life. Maybe she was like all those other women, offering
herself to him in the hopes that he would take her on. If so, there
was nothing she could do about it. She was afraid of being rejected,
but for once in her life when it came to a man, she was more afraid
of not trying.
She raised herself up onto her toes, wrapped
both arms around his neck and kissed him again. This time she put her
body into it, leaning into him, trying to convey her desire with
something as simple as a kiss.
For a second nothing happened.
But just as she felt the waves of humiliation rising up inside of
her, he wrapped his arms around her body and kissed her back.
He
tilted his head and swept his tongue across her bottom lip. She
opened for him instantly, wanting everything he could give her. When
he eased inside, she met him eagerly, kissing him back.
Their
tongues circled and stroked, rubbing, reaching, playing. He moved his
hands up and down her back, each time dipping lower until he cupped
her rear. When he grabbed her curves, she felt a surge of wanting
rush through her. At the same time, she instinctively arched forward,
bringing her belly into contact with his erection.
He was
hard! The happy thought filled her brain like a confetti explosion.
He was really, really hard. Guys couldn't fake that.
She was
so happy, she started to laugh, which made him pull back and study
her.
"You're going to make this difficult, aren't you?"
he asked.
She couldn't stop grinning. "No, I'm not. I'm
enjoying myself."
"You're not supposed to
laugh."
"There are rules?" she teased, then
rested her hands on his shoulders, pressed against him and rubbed her
belly against his erection. "Come on, Reid. We can play,
too."
"I didn't think you'd be the play type."
She
wasn't, usually. But these were not normal circumstances.
"I'm
not excited about playing escaped prisoner and the warden's wife, but
I don't need every moment to be solemn."
He raised one
eyebrow. "Have you ever
tried
escaped prisoner and the
warden's wife?"
"No."
"Then you
can't know if you'll like it or not." He stepped back and
grabbed her hand. "Come on."
CHAPTER
ELEVEN
LORI LET Reid lead her through the living room and into the
massive bedroom. She had an impression of dark furniture and a bed
the size of her kitchen. He released her, turned on a small lamp on
the night-stand, then pulled back the comforter.
Oh, God. They
were going to have sex.
It was what she wanted, she reminded
herself. It had been what she'd wanted practically from the first
moment she'd seen him. But this all felt strange. It was too
conscious. She liked to feel a little swept away with her
intimacy.
He turned back to her and she had no idea what to
do. Was she supposed to take her own clothes off? He was a man used
to being adored by women. All women. So how, exactly, did he expect
things to go?
"Shoes off," he said as he
approached.
"Okay."
She toed off her thick
nurses' shoes and kind of kicked them away. Instructions made things
easier.
He moved behind her.
"Relax," he
said, his voice low and close to her ear.
"Not
likely."
"Want to bet?"
"Sure. I
keep alternating between excitement and terror, which I probably
shouldn't tell you. I'm just not sure how things are going to—
"
He kissed her neck.
He stood behind her, his
hands on her shoulders. There had been a little breath of air as a
warning, but even so the kiss had caught her off guard.
She
had no real thoughts about her neck. It was fine, it supported her
head, sometimes she remembered to put sunscreen on it. But she'd
never considered anything about it erotic.
She did now. He
pressed an openmouthed kiss against her suddenly sensitive skin and
made her break out in goose bumps. He squeezed her shoulders, holding
her in place as he slowly, so slowly, kissed his way down to the top
of her crew-style sweater. Then he shifted to the other side and did
it again.
That was it— a simple kiss. Lips on skin with
a slight flick of his tongue. But it was one of the most sensual
moments of her life.
Her breasts felt heavy and swollen. She
wanted his hands on them, his mouth on her nipples. Between her legs,
flesh heated.
She started to turn toward him, but he wouldn't
let her. "Not so fast. We've got a lot of work to do
first."
Work? What work?
He dropped his hands to
the hem of her sweater and tugged. She helped him pull off the
garment and happily toss it onto a chair by the armoire. Once again
she tried to turn toward him and once again he stopped her. Then his
mouth returned to her neck.
He kissed her slowly, thoroughly.
He moved down her shoulder and took a gentle bite. Shivers rippled
through her. He rested his hands on her hips, just holding her in
place. She couldn't help thinking that his hands could be doing
other, more interesting things. Then she got lost in the way he
nibbled across her back and licked down her spine.
Nothing was
rushed. Over and over he kissed her, teased her, until she felt that
time had actually stopped. They were alone on a different plane. Need
pulsed in time with her heartbeat, but she understood the appeal of
making it last.
He returned to her neck and licked the
sensitive skin behind her ear. The action both aroused and tickled.
She giggled softly, then caught her breath as her bra fell off. She
hadn't even felt him unfasten it.
He moved his hands to her
waist, then slid them up her ribs. At the same time he bit down on
her left shoulder, then licked away any hint of pain.
She
didn't know what to think about first— the feel of his mouth or
the movement of his hands. But when he reached her breasts, she
allowed herself to get lost in those feelings.
Still standing
behind her, he cupped her curves. With his thumbs and forefingers, he
captured her nipples. Pleasure shot through her and her breath
caught. Her legs began to tremble.
He teased her tight flesh
over and over, brushing the tips and sending ribbons of need all
through her.
"Open your eyes," he murmured in her
ear.
The words startled her so much, she did as he asked. She
looked down and saw his tanned hands caressing her pale skin.
A
blush heated her cheeks, but she couldn't seem to look away. Not when
he again rubbed her nipples and she could both see and feel what he
was doing. Then he moved close, pressing his erection against her
rear, making her wish they were naked so he could be inside of
her.
She knew she was wet. She could feel the dampness of her
panties. She wanted him touching her there. She
needed
to feel
him touching her everywhere.
Without thinking, she reached for
the button on her jeans. She unfastened it, then had the zipper
halfway down before she realized what she was doing.
"Don't
stop," he whispered, as he continued to stroke her breasts.
"Don't stop."
So she lowered the zipper all the way,
but she couldn't seem to find the courage to push down her jeans.
Fortunately, that wasn't required. He dropped his right hand to her
belly then went down, down, down, slipping under her bikini panties.
His warm fingers found their way through her curls and between her
legs. He went right to the core of her and found it on the first
try.
She was swollen and ready. The first touch made her gasp.
The second made her want to scream.
He used his first two
fingers to pleasure her, finding a circling rhythm that sent her
spiraling into madness in a matter of seconds. It was as if he could
read her mind, or maybe just her body. Not too fast, not too slow and
most important, the perfect amount of pressure.
She sagged
against him, letting him support most of her weight. Her legs
threatened to give way at any moment, but she didn't want to move.
What if he stopped and never started again? She would die from the
need.
Round and round, moving faster and faster, pushing her
closer to the edge of her release. Need filled her, making it
difficult to breathe or think. She wanted to beg or scream. She
wanted more.
Even as he touched her between her legs, he also
caressed her breasts, moving back and forth, squeezing her sensitive
nipples and pushing her closer and closer to coming. Her muscles
tensed in anticipation, yet she didn't want to come. Not yet.
Everything felt too good.
Without thinking, she shoved down
her jeans and kicked them free. Then she widened her stance, giving
him more access. In response, he slipped both fingers inside of her,
filling her. She felt her hot, wet, swollen flesh part for him and it
wasn't enough.
"I want you inside me," she said,
stunning herself by speaking the thought aloud. She could feel his
hard-on pressing against her from behind and she wanted
more.
"Soon," he told her. "Just
relax."
Relax? Relax? He moved out of her and was once
again circling that sensitive part of her. She was seconds from
coming, not sure how she was going to keep standing long enough, but
she didn't dare suggest a shift in positions because then she might
miss the whole thing and that would kill—
He stopped and
stepped back.
Lori felt the breath leave her body as she
struggled to understand what was happening. She was naked, except for
socks and how embarrassing was that, seconds away from possibly the
greatest climax of her life, begging Reid to be inside of her and he
was
stopping?
He moved in front of her, pulled her
close and kissed the hell out of her. There were lips and tongues and
reaching and then his hands were between her legs and rubbing and she
was so damn close.
Her climax exploded without warning, making
her cling to him in an effort to stay standing. Muscles convulsed and
throbbed as pleasure poured through her. She might have screamed, she
wasn't sure— but as they were kissing, it didn't much
matter.
The man knew what he was doing, she thought hazily as
he continued to touch her, drawing out every ounce of amazing without
pressing too hard on her suddenly sensitive flesh. Then, when the
shuddering had stopped and she could breathe again, he eased her back
onto the bed, lay down next to her and stroked her face.
Without
her glasses, the room was blurry, but Reid was close enough to be
exactly in focus.
"Still fine?" he asked, the
corners of his mouth twitching with an almost-smile.
She
sighed. "Better than fine. Much, much better."
"Good."
He
sat up and pulled off his University of Washington sweatshirt.
Despite her weakened condition and general sense of well-being, she
couldn't help notice the perfectly toned abs and his smooth, muscled
back. The man was a walking, breathing advertisement for great genes,
a challenging workout and the sense to take advantage of both.
Maybe
it was tacky, but she couldn't help wanting to see the rest of the
package.
She reached for the button of his
jeans.
"Impatient?" he asked.
"A
little."
"I like that in a woman."
While
she took care of business on her end, he stretched out an arm behind
her and tugged on the coated rubber band holding her braid in
place.
She abandoned his jeans. "What are you
doing?"
"Unfastening your hair. I've been wanting to
see it loose for weeks now."
"My
hair?"
"Uh-huh."
After what had just
happened, she was more than willing to give him anything he wanted.
So she sat up and reached for her braid.
"Get naked,"
she told him.
"Yes, ma'am."
He pushed off
jeans and briefs a lot faster than she was able to deal with the
braid. Apparently not sure what else to do with his time, he leaned
in and licked her right nipple.
Despite her recent orgasm,
fire shot through her, all the way down to her crotch. She fell back
on the bed and resisted the need to grab his head and hold him
captive over her breasts.
"You're distracting
me."
"Ignore me."
He knelt over her and
drew her nipple into his mouth. First he flicked his tongue against
the sensitive peak, then he sucked. Hard.
Forget the hair, she
thought as she closed her eyes and gave herself up to the experience
of being seduced by Reid Buchanan.
He moved back and forth
between her breasts. He used his mouth, his tongue and his fingers to
explore every inch of them several times over.
She writhed
beneath him, feeling her body ready itself for a second round. Her
insides hungered to be taken by this man. He was hard again or still
or always and she subtly tried to shift so that he could slide inside
of her. But he resisted.
"Soon," he said against her
breast.
"You told me that before."
"I'm
not lying."
Before she could complain, he began moving
down her body. First he kissed her breastbone, then her belly. He
teased her belly button with his tongue and continued his journey
south, finally reaching his destination between her legs.
Lori
closed her eyes and decided to accept her fate at the hands of a man
determined to make her boneless. She thought about mentioning the
fact that she'd already come once and that it was unlikely it would
happen again. Except there wasn't anything ordinary about making love
with Reid, so who knew what would happen.
He parted her with
his fingers. She felt anticipation, the coolness of his breath
followed by the warm, erotic touch of his tongue.
Oh, yeah,
she thought as she relaxed into the slow, steady movements. Just like
that.
He circled her with the tip of his tongue, then used the
flat part to stroke her senseless. He was a man on a mission and she
found that she liked that. He was patient, he read her body and she
found her muscles tensing in anticipation about forty-five seconds
after his first touch.
She'd always needed a slow build, but
not today. She went from intrigued to panting in far too short a
time. Even as the pressure inside her increased, she tried to figure
out what it was he was doing that was so great. Then she decided she
didn't care and lost herself in the ride.
He caressed her,
moving back and forth against her center. Need made her part her legs
more, as if trying to offer all she was to him. She was torn between
going for it and making it last longer. Everything felt too good, she
thought as she felt herself getting closer and closer.
Her
legs began to tremble. She clutched the bottom sheet and dug her
heels into the mattress. He moved a little faster, then gently
inserted a single finger inside of her.
She hung suspended for
a heartbeat, then two. Tension built until she knew she was going to
be ripped apart. It was her last conscious thought as her release
crashed through her, causing every muscle to contract and her whole
body to get lost in perfection.
She cried out, caught her
breath and cried out again. She pushed against him, needing more,
wanting everything and then getting that and more. She rode his
finger, gasping with thanks as he pushed in two. She felt herself
contract around him. It was too much.
She couldn't wait to do
it again.
A few minutes later her heartbeat had slowed from
hummingbird speed. She lay on the bed, exhausted and exhilarated. She
wondered if she would ever be the same again.
"Mission
accomplished," she told him. "I'm officially
boneless."
Reid lay next to her, his head propped on his
hand. He smiled slowly. "I'm glad."
"No,
seriously. This was amazing. You could get your own cult."
Her
words made him smile. He liked that he'd pleased her. No, more than
liked it. He felt as if he could take on the world.
Everything
about her screamed satisfaction. Her skin was flushed, her eyes
dilated. She looked like a very happy woman.
"I don't
need a cult."
"Are you sure?" she asked. "I
could be president."
Her eyes were hazel. He'd never
noticed that before. They were large and sexy and he found himself
wanting to get lost in them.
He'd wanted to please her for a
couple of reasons. First because he always liked his partner to enjoy
the experience, but also because he had something to prove. That damn
article still haunted him.
But somewhere along the way, that
hadn't mattered anymore. He'd wanted to make the experience great
because of who Lori was. Because he wanted to please her.
Specifically her.