The next time he entered her, she arched, trying to pull him deeper, but he held back. His muscles were trembling—she could feel it. But he still refused to complete his possession of her for some reason she couldn’t fathom. “Please, Alec,” she begged as a sigh of longing rippled through her. “Please.”
“Look at me, Angel.” His voice was deep and husky with desire held on a tight leash. And when her eyes flew open, she found him staring down at her with such emotional intensity she caught her breath. He surged into her, so deep she knew he couldn’t go any deeper.
Then he began a rhythm. Slow. Measured. Tortuous. Making sweet love to her, but taking his time. The first climax had been nothing compared to the one that was building now. Just as last night—as wondrous as it had been—was nothing compared to what she was feeling now.
Then she couldn’t think anymore. Didn’t want to. She was on fire, burning up from the inside out. Aching. Needing. But he wasn’t going to let her go...wasn’t going to let her find her release...until they found it together.
* * *
“Why?” she asked him when she could finally breathe again.
He propped up his head on one hand, idly running the fingers of his other hand over the swell of her breast, the curve of her hip. As if he just had to touch her. “Why what?”
“Tonight...last night...do not misunderstand, I loved last night. It was...” She tried to think of a word that would describe last night, but all she could come up with was, “Incredible. I had not imagined there were so many ways to...” She felt herself flushing. “But tonight was different. So very different. Incredible, too, but different.”
She didn’t know how to tell him the two nights appealed to different aspects of her character. There would be times she wanted him as he was last night—the fierce, demanding lover who would accept no less from her in return. Warrior heart calling to warrior heart. And there would be other times she wanted him as he was tonight—the sweet, tender lover. The seducer, who made her feel cherished. Adored.
But he seemed to understand anyway. “If I’d made love to you last night the way I did tonight, it wouldn’t have been what you needed. Last night you needed to erase the self-doubt. Needed to remember just how strong you really are. All I did was remind you.” He smiled lazily. “All I did was let loose a woman who met me halfway and demanded everything I had to give. And yeah, it was incredible. Mind blowing.”
He toyed with her hair. “But tonight...tonight you needed tenderness. You still needed everything I had to give, but emotionally, not sexually.” He rolled onto his back, tugging her until she sprawled across his naked body. “I want to be the one who gives you what you need, Angel,” he said seriously, holding her gaze with his. “No matter what. No matter when. And I want the same from you.”
She didn’t know what to say. Everything was still too new. Too unexpected. She’d denied this side of herself for so long, rationalizing she could never have her career and a man, too, that the two things seemed incompatible. And she’d been content with the choice she’d made. More than content—she’d been reasonably happy with her life exactly as it had been.
Until she met Alec. Until she realized she’d never really had to make a choice at all before now. She now realized how much she’d be giving up if she made the same choice this time around.
But she had to tell him something. “I... I have been alone for a long time, Alec. I have made a life for myself that was enough...until I met you. And now that life is no longer enough. I was not expecting it. And to be honest, I did not want my life to change.”
She caught a fleeting glimpse of pain in his eyes before he hid it. Both hurt her—that she’d caused him pain, and that he felt he had to hide his pain from her. “But now there is you,” she continued. “I am not so easily changeable, I think. I need time to come to terms with everything that has happened. The reality of you is so much more than my secret fantasies.” She touched his face with fingers that weren’t quite steady, then bent to brush her lips over his.
“But one thing I must tell you,” she continued when she finally raised her head. “You have given me more joy in two nights than I ever thought to have in my entire life.” She knew he could see the smile in her eyes before it spread slowly over her face. “That is your gift to me. Joy. I did not know how much I needed it. But you did, and you gave it to me. I want to give that same gift to you.”
Her words affected him powerfully—his face betrayed him. The same for the hard male flesh that responded as if she’d caressed him. “You do, Angel,” he said softly, his tone husky with emotion. “What we have is enough for now. You need time? Time you shall have. That, and anything else you need. As I said, I want to be the one who gives you what you need. Just ask.”