‘You are the most resourceful woman.’ Clearly he liked that because his kiss almost lifted her off her feet. ‘What next, now that we can do whatever we want? I have no expectations...’
She was stone cold sober and she knew exactly what she wanted. ‘I don’t have any expectations of you either. Can we take the rest of that bottle of wine downstairs with us now, and find out what happens next?’
‘That sounds wonderful.’
He kissed her again and she felt his body hard against hers. One hand on her back pulled her in tight against him, the other caressed her jaw, sending shivers of sensation through her. His fingers brushed the sensitive spot right behind her ear, as if he’d remembered how it turned her on, but he wasn’t getting to that quite yet.
Instead, she felt his hand move, trailing across the neckline of her dress and lower to cup her breast. At last. It felt like fire, out of control and spreading through the whole of her body.
He responded to her whimper of pleasure by backing her against the high stone ramparts. Her gaze locked with his, as he rubbed his thumb gently over the material that covered her nipple, and when she caught her breath he smiled.
‘You feel so good. I want you so much.’ He whispered the words into her ear.
That was just fine with her, as long as he took it slowly. The sudden urge to be taken right now, right here had receded into a hotter, more unrelenting fire and she wanted this to last.
‘Not yet. Not for a while...’
‘You want to drive me crazy?’ Jon’s gaze burned its way into her senses.
‘Yeah, that’s the plan. You want to come downstairs?’
Before he let her go, there were more caresses, leaving her in no doubt that Jon intended to show her exactly who was boss, and for her to tell him so. Which was fine, because when she moved her hips against his, his gasp held all the surrender that her whispered words had.
He held the moment for as long as it lasted, his eyes dark in the moonlight. Then he turned, taking her hand and leading her downstairs, picking up her phone and the bottle of wine on the way.
‘Not here...’ Chloe took her phone from his hand, calling downstairs to say that the waitress could come and clear the coffee things now and that they wouldn’t be wanting anything else. Then she led him downstairs to her room, locking the door behind them.
Jon reached for the box of matches on the high mantelpiece and bent to light the candles that stood in the grate. Soft light danced through the
room.
Standing between the fireplace and the four-poster bed, he kissed her again, while she struggled with the buttons on his shirt. When she’d pulled it off, he slowly undid the first of the row of buttons that ran down the front of her dress.
One more, and then another. Jon was obviously enjoying the suspense as much as she was, and she watched as he deftly undid each one.
‘You’re better with buttons than I am.’ She smiled up at him as he slipped her dress from her shoulders and it fell to the floor.
‘I’ve got a good reason to be. You’re very beautiful.’ The way he was looking at her made her feel beautiful. Made her feel strong.
He ran his finger along the chain that encircled her neck, and when he got to the citrine, nestled between her breasts, he was suddenly still. ‘I’ll take care of you tonight, Chloe.’
She believed him. The citrine had been all she’d had once, but Jon was here now. ‘Will you take it off for me?’
He turned her round, sweeping her hair to one side. She felt him open the catch and then he put the citrine and its chain into her hand.
‘Look at me...’ Turning her round again to face him, he tipped her chin up. His face held all the promise of pleasure. ‘How does it feel when I touch you?’
‘It feels wonderful.’ She knew what he wanted her to do. He wanted her to put the citrine aside and rely on him completely. That was what she wanted too, but suddenly in the back of her mind the memory formed, clear and insistent, taking her back to a time when every touch had been potentially painful, every loss of control had had to be fought. She felt her hand instinctively close around the citrine.
The moment of uncertainty must have shown in her face and she felt his fingers curl around hers. ‘Chloe, you can hold onto this if you want. It doesn’t matter.’
She could see that it did matter to him. And it mattered to her, too.
‘You’ll be there for me? This is the first time...since I’ve been ill.’ She knew that shouldn’t matter, but the softness in Jon’s eyes told her that he understood.
‘I’ll be there with you all the way. I promise.’
She reached behind her, putting the citrine and the chain down on the cabinet beside the bed. When Jon kissed her, she didn’t miss it at all.