He had invaded her thoughts and her dreams and seemed to make a mockery of her declaration that she would never again be at any man’s mercy. Because here she was, lying nearly naked on his bed and feeling way out of her depth. And yet as scary as that thought was, as she looked at him like this, his face half in shadow from the bedside lamp, he looked amazing. His strong features and wide shoulders promised to fulfil all of her hidden desires and she felt utterly and completely safe with him, she realised with astonishment. Something she would have said she would never feel again in a man’s arms.
Warmth returned deep inside her. Warmth and a sense of wonder that made her feel hot and restless. Her gaze fell to where her hands rested on his gorgeous chest and then she slowly returned her eyes to his. The look in his was both tender and hungry and it made her insides melt.
Reaching up, she stroked the sexy stubble already lining his jaw. ‘Make love to me, Cruz. Please.’
As if he’d been waiting for her to say those exact words he took one of her hands and brought her palm to his lips. His answer, ‘It will be my pleasure...’ rumbled through his chest and arrowed straight into her heart.
His next kiss was hot and deep and sensation swamped her, sending sparks of excitement everywhere, cutting off her ability to think. Her inhibitions and worries seemed to be caught up with some primal desire and this time desire won out.
There was just no room to consider anything other than Cruz’s big hands on her body, stroking her, adoring her. His whispered words of encouragement as he discarded her dress and moved her tiny thong down her thighs raised her level of anticipation to an unbearable pitch.
Within seconds she was naked beneath him and his mouth was tracking a path to her breast. Aspen held still, already anticipating the heady pleasure his mouth would bring. And she wasn’t disappointed. Cruz drew the tight bud gently into his mouth, licked, circled, nipped and did things to her nipple that were surely illegal. Aspen felt dizzy and her hazy mind didn’t even register when his hand slid over the outside of her thighs. Then every neuron in her brain tightened and focused as she felt his hand drift inwards.
‘Still with me, chiquita?’ he asked, blowing warm air across her moist breast.
‘Yes, oh, yes.’ She curled her hands around the defined muscles in his shoulders. ‘But you’re still partially dressed.’
‘Not for long,’ he assured her. ‘But let’s take care of something first.’ He gently pressed her upper body back down on the bed. ‘Lie back, gatita. This is all for you.’
Aspen complied, but she still tensed when his hand returned to her closed thighs. She half expected him to open them and maybe move over the top of her, to push himself inside her. What she didn’t expect was that he would bend one of her knees up and start stroking her leg as one might a domestic cat. Or a startled horse.
And then she couldn’t think at all, because he brought his mouth back to her breast and laved the tip with his tongue. She pressed closer, husky little sounds urging him on, and her lower body clenched unbearably with every tug of his lips on her nipple. Then his hand started circling higher on her leg. Slowly. So slowly it was sheer torture. She couldn’t stop herself from restlessly trying to turn towards him. She needed weight, she realised, and pressure.
‘Patience, chiquita,’ he implored, his breathing heavy.
‘I don’t have any,’ she groaned, and then gasped as his fingers lightly grazed over the curls between her legs before circling her belly and dipping down again, this time lingering a little longer and pressing a little lower.
Unbelievably Aspen shifted her legs a little wider of her own accord and knew in that moment that she truly wanted this to happen. That she wanted more. That she wanted all of him. Inside her. Her fear of disappointing him, of failing, of him hurting her was completely eradicated as need spiralled through her and drove everything else out of her mind. If it didn’t work out she no longer cared. She just needed something. Him!
She waited breathlessly as his finger ran along the seam between her legs again, only to exhale as it continued moving up to link with one of hers.
‘Cruz, please...’ She curled her free hand around his neck and dragged his mouth back to hers.
‘You want me to touch you, chiquita?’ he said against her lips.
‘You know I do.’ Then she had a horrid thought. ‘Don’t you want to?’
He stilled and held her gaze as he brought the hand he held down to the front of his pants. He was huge. That was Aspen’s first thought. And her second was that she wanted to see him, touch him.