This was for her. For the first in a long time, she took something she needed and ignored all the sensible reasons to hold back. There, with him, she didn’t want to be rational and careful. She wanted heat and passion. Touching and kissing.
She’d stripped his suit jacket off him before they’d gotten out of the living room. She’d had his tie unknotted and slipped off by the time they’d hit the bottom step of the staircase curving up to the second floor.
His footsteps thudded on the stairs as he walked backward, his hand curled around the banister.
He stopped when she dropped the robe. His chest rose and fell on heavy breaths as he stared at her. He didn’t touch her, but his gaze traveled over her like a gentle caress.
Never breaking eye contact, he drew her closer, moving her to the step above him. Let his gaze dip to her stomach…to the tops of her legs. The anticipation burned through her. Labored breathing echoed in her ears, a mix of hers and his.
When he grabbed the back of her thighs and pulled her tight against him, her breath escaped her lungs with a hard punch. The next minute he lifted her off her feet. Without any thought from her brain, she wrapped her legs and arms around his firm body. Held him close.
Her fingers slipped into his hair. She loved the feel and smell of him. His strength. His determination.
She lowered her head and kissed him. Poured every ounce of need and want into it, and felt his arms tighten around her in response.
Boy, the man could kiss.
“Damn.” He whispered the word when he finally lifted his head. Then he started moving.
There was something breathtakingly sexy about having Derrick carry her up the stairs. About the way his fingers clenched and unclenched against the bare skin on her thighs. He didn’t break a sweat.
Their relationship had a ticking clock. For once, she didn’t hear it thumping in her head, threatening to steal him out of her life.
The house whirled until everything blurred. At the top of the stairs they passed a doorway, then another. She saw a bed and, in another room, what looked like a desk and a wall of bookcases.
None of it stopped him. Derrick kept walking until they got to the shadowed room at the end of the hall. He hit the light switch with his elbow. A soft light bathed the room in white.
She could see the deep blue walls and closed curtains. So soothing. A huge bed sat smack in the middle of the room with pillows stacked against the headboard. It dominated the space.
The furniture was sleek. Clean lines that hinted at a big price tag. Dark and mysterious…perfect for him.
“Are you sure?”
His question, asked in a deep, even voice, broke through her gawking. She looked at him again. Saw the warmth in his eyes, felt the need vibrating through him. There was only one answer. “Yes.”
His hold loosened and she slid down the front of him, felt every inch of his excitement. As soon as her feet hit the floor, her hands went to his chest and she started unbuttoning his shirt. Once she got it open and untucked, he captured her mouth in a kiss that made her knees buckle.
He caught her around the waist and held her with one hand while his other tunneled under her shirt. Then both of his hands were on her, caressing her breasts, learning her curves.
Tension ripped through her. The soft cotton of her shirt suddenly scratched against her. She wanted it up and off. As if she’d said the words out loud, he peeled the shirt up, lifting it off her, leaving her exposed to his gaze.
His thumbs rubbed over her as he cupped her. That intense gaze stayed locked on her breasts, on how they fit his hands. “Ellie…”
He barely touched her and her skin caught on fire. Every nerve ending snapped to life. Every instinct told her to hold him again.
He sat on the edge of the bed and she wanted to slip onto his lap, but he held her between his legs. Had her stand there as he spread his hand over her stomach…as he slid his fingertips under the band of shorts. With a tug, he had them skimming her body to the tops of her thighs. Wriggling her hips, she shimmied them the rest of the way off.
He stared at her white bikini bottoms. She knew they were see-through. She knew how much she wanted them off.
She climbed on him then. Straddled his lap and pressed her body against his. The way he inhaled, sharp almost as if on a gasp, empowered her. She loved the sound and his loss of control. When he fell onto the mattress, she went with him. They tumbled down and he shifted up on one elbow until he hovered over her.
He trailed his fingers over her stomach to the top of the bikini bottoms.
“You still have a lot of clothes on, big guy.”
“I can be naked in two seconds.” His palm flattened over the front of her underwear.
She could feel her body getting ready for him. Something inside her tightened and a tumbling started deep in her stomach. “Let’s see.”