The Gambler (28 page)

She chose to celebrate her new life.

Noah held the door open with his foot, and with a wicked gleam in his eyes, he bent down and swooped her up into his arms.

“Noah!” she squealed, laughing. “You’re going to break your back!”

“Not a chance.” He grinned, looking down. “The bigger threat is me tripping on your dress and crushing you.”

She pulled up the fabric and shot him a wicked look of her own. “I prefer to have you on top of me in bed.”

The intensity of his kiss caught her by surprise. So much so she barely noticed Noah swinging the door shut behind them and lowering her until her feet touched the floor. Her arms still clung to his neck and he pulled her so close she couldn’t catch her breath.

She dropped her hands and unbuttoned his jacket, spreading her palms across his chest, the cotton of his shirt rough under her fingertips. She wanted to feel his bare skin. She wanted to taste it. She wanted to feel it pressed against her own naked body.

He groped at the rise of her ass and she realized he was fumbling with the lacings of her dress. He cursed under his breath and she couldn’t help laughing.

“You’ll never get it like that.” She turned around and presented her back to him. “It’ll go faster if you can see what you’re doing.”

He paused for a moment, then she felt his hands at her lower back. “You and this dress are going to be the death of me, Libby St. Clair. I’ll die from oxygen deprivation because all the blood that goes to my brain has gone somewhere else.”

“Maybe it’s Libby McMillan now.”

“Not helping,” he grunted as he turned her around and kissed her again. One of his hands cradled the side of her face as the other worked on the strings at the base of her spine.

She pulled back, grinning. “Who knew changing my name would make you so happy.”

“You can keep St. Clair if you want, but I have to admit I like the idea of you taking McMillan.”

“Why?”

“Because it would be just one more piece of proof that you’re mine.”

She gave him a gentle kiss and then spun around to show him her back. “Let’s get this off so you can see more proof of what’s yours.”

He sucked in a breath, and within moments his hands were at her ass again, tugging on the strings, but he moved slower than she expected. She was about to ask why when he bent down and placed a kiss over the skin exposed by the loosened dress.

It was her turn to suck in a breath of surprise as he continued to loosen the laces, his mouth following the trail. When it was halfway up her back, he stood and slipped his hand into her dress, reaching around to her abdomen, his fingers light on her skin. The tips skimmed down to the top of her panties, making slow circles, before dipping slightly underneath the lacy fabric and rising back up to her stomach.

“I think you’re trying to kill
me
now,” she murmured, her eyes closed.

“No dying yet,” he said, his tongue tracing circles on her back. He rose and his mouth found the base of her neck and moved up to her ear. His one hand was still inside her dress, but the other had abandoned its task of loosening her lacings. The hand in her dress rose to the underside of her breasts, as high as the fabric would allow. He blew cool air below her jaw, then licked and kissed the spot.

“Noah.”

“I’ve studied this spot for months, did you know that?” His voice was rough-edged with desire. “When you wore your hair up this summer, I wanted to lean over and taste it. And now I can.”

“You can taste a lot more if you get this dress off of me.”

His hand stilled under her breast, then moved to her breastbone and slowly slid down over her belly button, continuing its descent over her panties and between her legs. His mouth concentrated on her neck, finding the spot that made her squirm as his fingers concentrated on gently stroking the cleft between her legs.

She gasped. Intense heat spread throughout her body, burning hottest between her legs. Her knees weakened and his free arm circled around her front and cupped her breast, his thumb brushing her nipple over the fabric of her dress. His mouth stilled.

“You’re not wearing a bra.”

“I didn’t have one,” she gasped while his fingers between her legs focused on the spot that drove her crazy. “My black dress . . . the front . . . I couldn’t wear one.” Something in the back of her head reminded her that she’d left the dress at the wedding chapel, but she didn’t care. She had more important things to worry about.

The hand between her legs slipped inside her panties and she moaned at the direct contact.

“You’re so wet,” he murmured against her neck.

Rather than answer, she reached behind her and found his erection, rubbing the heel of her hand over the zipper of his pants.

He pressed himself against her and released his own moan.

She fumbled with his zipper and then the button on his pants, finding it hard to concentrate with the sweet torture his hands were performing.

“Noah. Dress. Now,” she panted as she climbed higher.

“Not yet. I rather like making you squirm.”

“So you’re a sadist,” she teased. “Maybe this should have come up before the wedding.”

“No. I just like knowing I can make you so wet.” His finger slipped inside her as though to prove his point.

She gasped again. “I don’t want to come on your hand. I want you inside me.”

“You can come over and over again tonight, Lib.” His teeth nibbled on her earlobe. “I’ll make you come as many times as you want.”

His words turned her on even more. “Not the first time.” She moaned as his finger moved in and out of her, the heel of his hand pressing against her mound. “I want you inside me the first time I come with you. I want you to make love to me.”

His hands stilled and his mouth stopped. For a moment she worried she’d somehow offended him, but then he pulled his hand out of her dress and gently turned her to face him, and the adoration and love in his eyes was undeniable. He cradled her face with both hands and kissed her, his thumbs brushing her cheeks.

The love in his eyes, in his touch, was nearly her undoing. This seemed like a dream. She was married to Noah. He was hers. She clung to him, worried she’d lose this perfect moment with him, worried she’d lose
him.
That he’d come to his senses and realize this was all a terrible mistake.

His hands glided down her neck and over the thin lace on her shoulders, and then reached behind her and started loosening the laces, all while they continued the kiss, his tongue performing a slow dance with hers. Suddenly she felt cool air hit her naked back as he pulled down the dress to expose her shoulders, but it stopped at her upper arms.

He lifted his head to look down at her. “You have to let go, Lib.”

She hadn’t realized she was clinging so tightly to him, but she couldn’t bring herself to let go.

He cupped her cheek and whispered, “Trust me.”

But he wasn’t just talking about what they were doing physically. He was asking her to hand him her heart.

He reached up and pulled her hands down, kissing her knuckles and skimming kisses over her wedding ring. Then he lowered her arms to her sides and continued the task of undressing her. He was slow and precise, lowering the dress a few inches at a time, pausing to place kisses on her shoulders, her collarbones, over the swell of her breasts, in the valley of her cleavage. She watched him until she was lost in sensation, closing her eyes so she could enjoy the feeling of him worshipping her.

The edge of the dress brushed over her bare nipples, making them even more erect. Then his mouth found one and his fingers teased the other. She moaned, tangling her hands in his hair.

The dress lowered to her waist, his mouth following, then over her hips. After it fell to the floor, leaving her in a puddle of silk and crinoline, his mouth continued its descent, placing kisses over the band of her panties. He rubbed his chin over her mound and she moaned again. Need coursed through her, stronger than she’d ever experienced it.

He rose and stood in front of her, and as they stared in each other’s eyes, his hands reached behind her and started pulling pins from her hair.

“God, Libby. You’re so beautiful,” he whispered as he removed the last pin and her hair tumbled down her back. “I love your hair up, so I can see your sexy neck, but right now I want it down.” He kissed her again, still gentle but more insistent than before.

She realized she was completely undressed except for her panties and her heels, while Noah was still completely clothed. She reached inside his jacket and pushed it over his shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. Breaking free from his kiss, she looked into his dark eyes as they watched her—the expression in them turning her on even more. She was surprised her fingers made quick work of his bow tie, letting it hang loose as she quickly freed his buttons and pulled the shirt free of his pants. She slid her hands inside his open shirt, placing kisses over his chest and the trail of hair leading to the top of his pants. His chest and abdomen were even more gorgeous than she’d imagined. Her hand followed behind her kisses, partially satisfying her need to touch as much of him as possible.

She looked up at him, her breath coming in shallow pants at the hunger and lust in his eyes.

His zipper was undone, so she turned her attention to the still-fastened button. Once it was free, she knelt in front of him and tucked her thumbs into the waistband of his briefs. She slowly slid the fabric of his pants and briefs down over his sexy hipbones, her fingers gliding over his skin. His underwear slid down his erection, and she left open-mouth kisses over his shaft as she made her way down to his scrotum.

When his pants dropped to his ankles, he reached over and put his hands under her arms, pulling her up, her bare chest against his.

His hands were everywhere as he kissed her with a hunger she answered. Then they were on the bed and his mouth and hands were driving her to the brink of madness. He grunted and rolled off her, then practically ran to his suitcase to pull a condom out of his toiletry bag.

When he sank down next to her on the bed, she took it from him and quickly opened the package and rolled it over his shaft, taking him in her hand and stroking. He grunted again and rolled her onto her back, moving over her as he grabbed her leg and wrapped it around his back and plunged into her with one stroke. She cried out in pleasure, arching up to take him. He looked down at her as he took her higher and higher, the hunger in his eyes lifting her even more. They met each other stroke for stroke, a frenzy of passion and fire, need and hunger, until she was sure if she climbed any higher she would pass out from the lack of oxygen. And then she fell apart, letting her love and her need for him overcome her, vaguely aware that he had found his own release. She called his name as she came, wave after wave carrying her somewhere she’d never been before and had never thought she’d ever find.

Home.

He stared down at his wife in amazement.

His wife.

Her gorgeous dark hair lay in a puddle on the pillow behind her head. Her eyes were closed as she caught her breath, but they fluttered open to reveal the rich dark brown pools he loved to stare into.

She was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. And she was his. His chest burst with emotion. “That was . . .” How did he describe the most perfect moment he had ever experienced? “I’ve never . . .”

She smiled. “Me too.”

“I love you.” How was it he hadn’t told her yet?

Tears filled her eyes. “I love you too.”

“It seems a little backward to tell you that now.”

She didn’t respond, only watched him with hesitation in her eyes.

“I love you, Libby McMillan. When I told you I’d only been in love once, I was referring to
you.
I’ve loved you for months. I was just too stupid to see it.”

She lowered her gaze for a moment before her eyes found his again. “I knew it too, deep down, but I was so afraid to lose you if it didn’t work out.”

He shook his head and gave her a soft smile. “You don’t have to worry anymore, Lib. I’m here. I’m yours.”

A shadow of doubt crossed her face, but before he could ask her about it, there was a banging on the door. “That must be whatever Ned was sending up.”

She continued to smile, but something was off in her eyes.

“Lib?”

The pounding continued and she pushed his chest. “You better get that.”

“No. What’s going on inside your head?”

“I’m fine,” she sighed with a soft smile. “I’m just overwhelmed. I never knew it could be so . . . perfect.”

He felt the same way, but he couldn’t help thinking there was something she wasn’t telling him.

“Go.”

He pulled out of her and grabbed his briefs. After throwing the condom in the trash and pulling on his briefs, he opened the door.

“A special gift for you and your bride, Mr. McMillan,” the employee outside his door said. His hand rested on the handle of a room service cart that held a covered plate, a silver bucket with a bottle of champagne, and two champagne flutes. “Although I can see you’ve already gotten started.”