Yours in Black Lace (20 page)

He cleared his throat but the gruffness remained when he teased her. “You were supposed to read it naked.”

The slow, insistent throb became a deep pulsating need. She tilted her head, coyly watching him from beneath her lashes as she arched her back and reached around for the zipper. The thin straps of her dress fell from her shoulders and the bodice slipped down her outthrust breasts. When she shrugged, the white satin gown flowed from her body to pool at her feet.

“For your eyes only, chér.”

“I’m going to use more than just my eyes.”

Emelio felt gravity double in the pit of his stomach as he stood up and prowled toward her in a single movement. She stepped out of the puddle of fabric to stand proudly before him, sexy as hell in nothing but her white-lace panties, thigh-high silk stockings and stiletto heels.

Her body was incredibly beautiful; both sculpted and curvy, toned and soft. Her eyes sparkled like sun rays on the water and her smile made him believe that anything was possible. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Stevie looked strong and feminine and sensual and alive.

His throat constricted. He could have lost her tonight. Just when they’d found each other and discovered something special, he might have lost her. He knew in his heart that if that had happened, a part of him would have died with her.

Overwhelmed by the intensity of his feelings, he reached for her. She draped her arms behind his neck while his hands skimmed down her bare back. Their lips met and mated as she rocked her hips against his pelvis. She kissed him hungrily, her tongue tracing circles inside of his mouth while her hands slid down to unbutton his shirt.

Then her fingers stole beneath the material to brush his skin in a long, gliding caress. He shivered, his body ever sensitive to her touch. When she pushed the shirt off of his shoulders, the feel of her bare breasts was like warm silk against his chest.

He broke the kiss only long enough to remove his shirt completely. She reached down to unzip his trousers and ease her fingers inside his briefs. Stevie wrapped her fingers around the base of his penis, grasping him firmly in slow up and down strokes. His breath caught as his shaft lengthened and pulsated against her palm.

“Aah, don’t do that or this will be the shortest mission of your career.”

“Then let’s continue this…debriefing in the other room.” She turned and walked toward the ornate French doors. Her hips swayed seductively, inviting him to follow her.

At the foot of the bed, Emelio swept a hand over her hair and along her cheeks before cupping the nape of her neck. He sought her lips again more slowly, more tenderly, but with no less passion. They parted for a moment to remove the last of their clothing, then Stevie turned to climb onto the bed.

Light from the full moon filtered through the billowing curtains, illuminating her features and yet keeping her enticingly in shadow as she lifted her arms toward him. He joined her, easing her back onto the smooth linen sheets before covering her body with his own. They lay together, as close as possible without becoming one.

He wanted her. Not only in his bed, but in his heart. Not just for tonight, but every night for the rest of their lives.

Emelio indulged himself in the pleasure of touching her. His hands skimmed over her flawless skin, caressing the toned and sleek muscle, rediscovering the places that were susceptible to certain kinds of fondling. His mouth followed the path his hands had set and she quivered in response to his attentions.

Stevie didn’t utter a word as she stirred restlessly beneath him, rocking her hips in subtle encouragement. Her body told him in the language as old as time how much she wanted him. Heat, slow and molten, spread through him as he breathed in the scent of her desire.

Emelio trailed a line of kisses along her throat and over her chest. He slid lower on the bed until her full breasts were accessible for his pleasure. Her hands sought his back, caressing his skin and massaging the muscle below the surface, as he rained kisses onto the soft orbs.

Taking one hard, straining nipple into his mouth, he suckled it to a sensitive peak. His tongue drew lazy swirls around the crest before turning his head to give its mate the same consideration. When his teeth gently scraped her ultraresponsive flesh, she squealed in unabashed delight.

Then he shifted his weight to free his right arm. Emelio reached among the silken curls between her thighs to find her soft feminine folds. Stevie moaned softly and clutched at his shoulder while he rubbed her swollen clitoris in languid circles. She arched her hips against his hand as he slid his fingers in and out of her damp passage.

After making sure they were protected, he moved over her, his body humming with need as he claimed her mouth. She nibbled his bottom lip before thrusting her tongue inside to taste and tease and tantalize. Stevie spread her thighs, draping her calves over his, urging him to claim her completely.

She pressed her mouth to his throat, her hands gripping the hard muscles of his back, while he pushed into her wet passage, inch by inch, drawing out the moment of joining. Incredible emotion and fierce desire combined to intensify the sensation, but he struggled for control.

Her heat enveloped the full length of him before he drew back a little at a time. He built the tension and anticipation, heightening the pleasure while prolonging the climax. Stevie wiggled and strained beneath him, urging him on.

He slipped his palms under her hips, pulling her closer still. The need to be part of her drove him deeper, rocking him to the core. Unable to hold back any longer, he began thrusting heavily and she lifted her body to meet him. He felt the change inside her, felt her tighten around him. He cried out his release as she moaned his name.

Stevie’s breath fanned his ear as they held each other. Waiting for his pulse rate to slow, her body still joined with his, Emelio felt a sense of belonging, of union. Each breath seemed to bring them closer together, emotionally as well as physically. There were things that didn’t have to be said in order to be known. But he wanted— No, he needed to say the words just the same.

He closed his eyes, suddenly anxious and uncertain. He thought he knew how she felt. What if he was wrong? Stevie had survived one dangerous relationship and the past week had proved that this was another. Considering how she’d reacted to the idea of marriage and children, he was taking a huge risk assuming she wanted the same things he did.

But tonight had shown him that he had to seize the moment. He thought about his life over the recent years, then pictured his future without Stevie by his side. He didn’t want to waste another second. She was worth any risk. He inhaled deeply, gathering his courage, and tried to calm his racing heart.

“I love you, Emelio.”

His eyes popped open and the breath escaped his lungs in a whoosh. Raising his weight onto his elbows so he could look at her, he let out an involuntary chuckle. There was that control issue again. She couldn’t even let him declare his feelings first.

Stevie’s stomach lurched and embarrassment flamed onto her cheeks. The heaviness in her chest had nothing to do with Emelio lying on her. She regarded him through a narrowed gaze and forced a joking tone into her voice. “Oh, great. Tell a guy you love him and what does he do? He laughs in your—”

Emelio sealed her lips with his own, effectively stopping her words. His kiss was gentle and sweet and reassuring. Even in the darkness, she could see the emotion in his eyes.

“I love you, too, Stephanie. I thought I knew what love was before, but I was wrong.”

“I’ve been wrong before, too. All of a sudden I feel scared, vulnerable. In the past, everyone I’ve loved, everyone who was supposed to love me, has hurt me terribly.”

He put one arm around her waist and rolled onto his back, enfolding her in his embrace. “I’ve sworn time and again to protect you. With that comes my promise to honor, cherish and respect you. No one will ever hurt you again, especially not me.”

She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heart beating beneath her ear. She wanted to savor the intimacy, the precious connection that bound them together, and have it drive away the uncertainty. “It’s been a different kind of hurt. I could never live up to what people expected of me. I couldn’t be who they wanted.”

“You don’t have to be a good girl. You don’t have to be a Bond girl. You only need to be yourself for me to love you.”

Her anxiety subsided, quieting her erratic pulse. He was saying everything she could want to hear, but she had to be sure. “You told me once that when time gets compressed and emotions run high, what normally take months to develop can happen in a matter of hours. I guess I’m wondering whether a relationship begun in crisis can last.”

Emelio held her face in his strong but gentle hand and tilted her chin until she looked at him. He held her gaze, his melodic voice hoarse with feeling, and she saw the promise in his heart. “This is real, Stephanie. This is true. And this is forever.”

She felt the last of the darkness inside her shatter, allowing the radiance of his love to fill her heart. At last, she’d found her soul mate, a man she could belong to without ever being a possession. She could be herself. She could lose control. She could love him.

Emelio chuckled over Stevie’s half-muttered comment from the bathroom as he pulled a raspberry-colored polo shirt over his head. She was nowhere near three hundred pounds, but her athletic figure had softened and expanded over the past four months. He smiled to himself. The one time they’d forgotten to use a condom…

“I’m heading downstairs,
querida.
”

“I’ll be down as soon as I manage to stretch these pants over my belly.”

In the living room of their house in Coral Gables, Emelio made sure everything was ready for later tonight. Satin sheet laid out on the carpet. New sable paint brushes. Caramel ice-cream topping. Hot fudge sauce. Vanilla body frosting. He chose a note card from the box of stationery on the end table and began writing a black-lace letter.

The painting represented their discovery of joy and trust, laughter and passion. It symbolized a new beginning for both of them. He heard her enter the room behind him and turned his head to look at her. Stevie was radiant, blossoming in the warmth of their love and her impending motherhood. She reached for him and he glanced down at their joined hands as he stood up.

On her left finger was a three-stone ring that bore the inscription, Diamonds Are Forever. He wore a matching gold band that read, From Stevie With Love. In keeping with her love of all things Bond, he’d flown her to Jamaica to propose at the real Golden Eye estate.

“Okay, chér, let’s get this marital madness over with.”

During the past four months, his parents, aunts, uncles and cousins had all welcomed her into their loud and affectionate embrace and shown her the true meaning of family. Stevie claimed that the “three
cariñas,
” as she referred to his sisters, were driving her crazy with all of the wedding plans. But there was no denying the gleam of happiness in her eyes.

Emelio gazed at his inspiration, his friend, his future wife, and smiled.

YOURS IN BLACK LACE

Copyright © 2004 by Mika Boblitz.

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

® and TM are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.

www.eHarlequin.com