Rule's Property (The House of Rule 2)

His chest was massive and toned with hard muscle. She pulled in a ragged breath as she watched him undress. She'd seen his chest before, of course, at the swimming pool in his mother's backyard. But never before had she seen his naked chest as it was now, his pectorals lifting and falling as he fought for oxygen.

As he reached for the zipper of his pants, his eyes dropped to her breasts. A tic began beating in his cheek, and as he began sliding his pants down his legs, Courtney felt a moment of nerves and glanced away. With a hurried motion, she slid her sandals off her feet, pulled the covers back and slid underneath. There was no question that she wanted to do this, but she'd feel calmer about it if they were in the bed and not on top of it.

As she settled underneath the covers, she saw a blur of motion. Hard muscle, tanned skin and pure, unadulterated naked man slid under the sheets with her.

She was lying on her back and he slid in beside her, the sheet dropping to their hips. He wrapped his arm around her waist as he lay on his side, the long length of him pressing against her as he leaned over her. His hand tightened on the indentation of her waist and Courtney felt a sharp, sexual tug as she glanced down and saw his dark, masculine arm against the paler skin of her belly.

He dropped his head down and fastened his mouth around her nipple, and that fast, a wave of heat encompassed her. The fingers at her waist clenched and caressed; his touch on her nipple was a gentle lick and then another.

And then the soft touch disappearing, with a growl he sucked her nipple into his mouth and pulled on it, drawing it toward the roof of his mouth with a suction so strong she felt it course down and land between her thighs.

Desire exploded inside Courtney's head. At her moan, the hand at her waist slid up and enclosed her other breast and he began playing with it, holding its weight in the palm of his hand and then stroking her nipple with his fingers and thumb. The twin caresses on both breasts caused Courtney to lift her hips off the bed in immediate reaction. She felt herself flood with wet heat as Nick's lips tugged at her nipple, firmer, harder.

She moaned again and he let out a tight groan in response and then trailed his hand away from her breast, down her torso to land between her legs. He cupped her there, over the silk of her underwear, and then with a sudden motion, he reared up from her and stripped her panties down her legs and tossed them aside.

He balanced on his knees as he stared down at her nude body and Courtney felt inflamed with a rush of fire. As he ran his eyes over her, he slid a single finger from between her breasts, down past her stomach to land just at the spot where her legs met. Her stomach muscles quivered as slowly, he moved his hand down and cupped her again, only this time she was naked and the feeling was even more exquisite. She whimpered and his eyes lifted to hers and locked on her with the same intensity as his fingers locked at the juncture of her thighs.

They stared at each other while Courtney tried to control the breaths coming in and out of her lungs. He was breathing just as heavily. As he stayed focused on her, his fingers separated her folds and found the heart of her. She gave a responsive jerk and was lacerated by his territorial look. The skin on his face tautened as he said, "Whatever you want, baby." As he spoke, his finger circled her damp opening. "It's okay, sweetheart. I want what you want, okay?"

She nodded her head. "I want the covers."

His eyes swept down her nude body one last time and quickly, he lifted the covers over them and lay back down to his original position at her side. His hand slid back down to her wet heat and he cupped her there. "You'll have to get used to me looking at you."

She worried her bottom lip. "Not tonight."

Placing a closed-mouth, lingering kiss on her lips, he said, "Okay, not tonight." He lifted and they studied each other for a mere second before his lips fell to hers again. The kiss they shared was carnal, emphasized by his hand gripping her intimately. Courtney wrapped her arms around his neck and gave in to the feelings rushing through her body.

Chapter Six

Nick felt as if his life had finally settled into a perfect world. Courtney was here, with him, in his bed, and God help him, they were going to be together forever. Swear to God, he wasn't going to live without her any longer.