But something could happen now.
Emma closed her eyes. What was the worst that Larenzo could do? Refuse her, send her back to her bedroom? It would hurt, yes, and it would be terribly awkward tomorrow, but the alternative, of doing nothing, was far worse.
Wasn’t it?
Quickly she stripped off her gown and slipped on a white silk nightie that was the sexiest thing she owned. Not exactly the outfit of a great seductress, she acknowledged wryly as she glanced in the mirror. The nightie was simple but hopefully it would make her intentions clear.
Taking a deep breath, and before she could think better of it, she slipped out of her bedroom, tiptoed across the hallway, and knocked softly on Larenzo’s door.
She didn’t wait for him to answer, just opened the door and slipped inside, her heart beating so hard and fast she could feel it in her throat. Larenzo’s bedroom was lost in shadow, the bed no more than a dark expanse in the middle, and for a moment she couldn’t see Larenzo.
Then she heard his rapidly indrawn breath and she saw him standing by the window, the studs of his tuxedo shirt unfastened so it hung open, revealing the beautiful, bronzed expanse of his chest.
Emma stared at him dumbly, amazed she’d got this far and yet not knowing how to take that last step. I’ve come to seduce you sounded laughable. She moistened her lips and then croaked a beginning.
‘Larenzo...’
She didn’t get a chance to say anything more. As if propelled by a greater force, Larenzo strode towards her, then pulled her into his arms as his mouth came down hard and hot on hers. Excitement exploded inside her as she returned the kiss, hungry, desperate, overwhelming. Larenzo was already skimming his hands under her nightgown, tossing it the floor.
Emma pulled back his shirt; the sleeves snagged on his arms and she let out a ragged laugh as she tugged it off, the studs scattering onto the floor. She smoothed her hands along the hot, satiny skin of his chest and shoulders and let out a deep sigh of satisfaction.
She’d wanted this so, so much. And Larenzo must have too, because he barely gave her a moment to revel in the feel of him before he was carrying her to the bed, depositing her on top of the slippery satin duvet before joining her there, stretching his long, hard body out on top of hers.
She reached for the button of his trousers and with a few tugs and kicks the trousers were off, followed by his boxer shorts. Now they were both naked.
Emma drew her breath in sharply as her hand closed around the thick shaft of his arousal. Larenzo sucked in a breath too, his eyes closed, and then he leaned down and kissed her again. And again. Their limbs tangled as they drank deeply of one another, bodies pressed hot and close together, and even so Emma felt as if she couldn’t get close enough.
She arched upwards as Larenzo skimmed his hand down her body before finding the juncture of her thighs and when he touched her so tenderly and yet so knowingly, she nearly wept. She’d missed this. Missed him, so much.
‘Do you...do you have a condom?’ she whispered, not wanting to break the moment but knowing she had to.
Larenzo let out a soft huff of laughter as he rolled off her. ‘Actually, yes.’
Emma propped herself on her elbows. ‘So you were hoping to get lucky,’ she dared to tease.
‘I guess I was. I just didn’t want to admit it, even to myself.’
Her face softened and her heart ached with love for this man. This man who was such an astounding combination of pride and humility, hard and soft, need and arrogance.
‘Come here,’ she whispered, and held out her arms.
And Larenzo came, folding his body around her as he slid gently inside. Emma drew a quick, sharp breath at the intensity of it and he gazed down at her in concern.
‘I’m not hurting you, am I?’
‘No. No.’ She wrapped her legs around his hips as she brought him deeper into her body. ‘No,’ she told him. ‘Never.’ It felt like a promise.
* * *
Larenzo lay with his arms around Emma, his heart still thudding and his body tingling with the aftershocks of their lovemaking. She curled her body around his, one leg across his hip, and his heart swelled with emotion, with love for her. Love he hadn’t expected to feel, hadn’t thought he had it in him to feel. He’d been so empty, and yet Emma had made him full again.
Yet even now he wondered. Doubted. Could this really work? He wasn’t even sure what this was.
Shifting so she was resting more comfortably against him, he decided to go for light. ‘So did you come in here for a reason?’
She laughed softly as she smoothed one hand down his chest. ‘This reason.’