“Yes. No. Christ, I don’t know— Don’t ask me to think. I can’t think while you’re lying there naked.” His mouth found hers, rough, seeking as he plundered her lips. “You taste like heaven. I could kiss you all night.”
“I hope you will. It would be a shame to waste the time. You don’t come home often enough for that.”
“I’m thinking of moving back.”
Smiling, she slid out of bed and walked to the shower, knowing he was watching every movement.
In two strides he was behind her, ducking into the shower, cursing about the size of the room.
Although the space was small it was cleverly designed, a stylish wet room with Italian tiles and glass. The O’Neils had taste and the finish was perfect.
The room always gave her pleasure, but tonight it gave her more than that. It gave her heat and possibilities. And Sean. Here, in this confined space, she was even more aware of the raw power of the man.
Lifting her gaze to his, she saw desire burning in his eyes and knew he was seeing the same in hers.
“Rainfall. But presumably not cold.” He adjusted the controls so that the water flowed at the right temperature. Every movement he made was purposeful and she felt her stomach squirm and her blood heat as he gave a wicked smile and reached for the soap. His hands were large and strong and he stroked every inch of her, leaving no part untouched until she was gasping and pliant under the fall of water, her fingers digging into his shoulders.
He was as physical as she was. As passionate and unrestrained.
Slow foreplay was never going to work for them. Once again the meeting of their mouths was more of a collision than a kiss, the stroke of his tongue hot and sensual, the nip of his teeth adding a ferocity she found deeply thrilling.
She breathed in the scent of him, stroked her hands over hard muscle and glistening male flesh, listened to the harsh sound of his breathing. When he lifted her and fastened his mouth over her breast, she let her head fall back, lost in the excitement, the sensations, the pleasure that burst around her with each slow flick of his skilled tongue. She wrapped her legs around him, feeling the smoothness of him brush against her but he held her high, for once denying her what she wanted and needed.
“No—” he growled the words against her throat “—not yet.”
“Yes, now.” She drove her hands into his hair, brought her mouth down on his and moved her hips, but he was stronger and he held her tightly, trapping her movements against him so that she could do nothing to alleviate the growing ache in her pelvis.
“I want you. Again and again—” He pressed her back against the wall, kissing her long and hard as he reached out and killed the flow of water. Without the rush of water the only sounds were the jagged rush of their breathing. “How do I stop f
eeling this? Tell me, because at this rate I’m not going to be able to go to work on Monday.” With those words he peeled away another layer of her protection but before she could try and snatch it back he grabbed a towel from the rail and wrapped her in it, still kissing her. His movements were rough and uncoordinated but that made it all the hotter. The fact that this normally sophisticated, controlled man was thoroughly out of control around her, escalated her own excitement to fever pitch and she told herself that self-protection could wait. That this was still just sex. Just sex.
His hair gleamed dark with droplets of water and he picked her up and deposited her on the bed, naked and slightly damp.
“Do your sheets mind a little water?” He didn’t stop kissing her, trailing his mouth and tongue down her body. The heat was intense. The chemistry so powerful her belly cramped with it. When he raised himself over her she grabbed his shoulders, dragging him down to her. She felt him, thick and hard against her and then he rolled onto his back and pulled her onto him so she straddled him.
They were both so aroused there was no question of taking it slow or holding back. She dug her nails into the sleek, hard muscle of his shoulders and sank down onto him, taking him deep.
“God, Élise.” He groaned deep in his throat, thrust his hands in her hair and drew her head down to his. She sank her teeth into his lower lip and he retaliated in kind, his eyes locked on hers as he drove into her. His eyes were dark with heat and raw desire, his jaw clenched in a face so handsome it almost hurt to look at him. But she did. She looked and so did he. There was no hiding, no pretending, just the same honesty with which their whole relationship had been conducted. She felt herself start to fall, felt her own spasms grip his straining shaft and heard his agonized groan as he lost his own struggle to hold on to control. Sensation swamped her, crashed over her in brutal waves and he smothered her cry with his mouth as he thrust deep and emptied himself.
Recovery took a while.
Drained, shattered, she lay on his chest, aware of the warmth of his hand against her back, the protective curve of his arm. As her heart rate slowly approached normality, she tried to move but he held her trapped and shifted slightly so that he could drag the duvet over them both.
It was the final intimacy. An intimacy she hadn’t allowed herself since Pascal.
Frowning, she was about to slide out of his arms and make noises about him going home when he turned his head, hauled her against him and kissed her again.
He was a master kisser. He knew just how to use that clever mouth of his to rob a woman of willpower and he’d done it to her on numerous occasions, but not this time. This time his intent wasn’t seduction, it was tenderness and the slow gentle nature of the kiss rocked her world.
Shaken by feelings she couldn’t identify, she stared into those seductive blue eyes and felt everything inside her melt.
He clearly intended to spend the night and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“Do you honestly think that sleeping in the same bed is any more intimate than what we just shared?” The fact that he could read her so easily scared her.
“I don’t do this. And neither do you. You don’t ever spend the night with a woman.” She knew Sean had broken as many hearts as he’d mended bones. “You walk away. Every time.”
“Sweetheart, I can tell you there is no way I am capable of walking anywhere.” His eyes closed and a hint of a smile touched his firm mouth. “My body has ceased to function.”