The flickering candle was behind him now, and his face was in shadow. Darkness closed around them like a blanket. Sweet secrecy. Her stolen night. Stolen pleasure. She had to take it, and run with it.
And treasure that memory for as long as she managed to stay alive.
He pulled his hair tie loose, shaking out his shaggy mane. Black, wild, gleaming. The sexy barbarian warrior look. Not a style she’d ever favored before, but Nate made it hot. Nate could make anything hot.
He ran his hands reverently over her shoulders and her back. He settled them into the curve of her waist, and then drifted lower, cupping her ass.
He hissed softly between his teeth when he felt her bare skin. No panties down there.
“Wow,” he ground out. “Your skin. So soft and smooth. You’re perfect.”
Hah. She wished. She felt like a hot mess, with all the conflict and terror and doubt and guilt. She shouldn’t be here. Not if she truly cared about him.
And she did, whether she wanted to or not. She’d tried so hard to keep her distance from him. She had failed.
Then he kissed her, and his magic swept her into that altered state instantly.
The cocoon of flickering light surrounded them. Nate’s fierce kiss demanded sensual surrender to the depths of her being, and the chatter in her mind dissolved like smoke. She’d hidden from her own depths, trying not to feel the fear, but she couldn’t hide from it in Nate’s arms. He anchored her in absolute awareness.
She was conscious of every detail. Every sensual thrust of his tongue promised infinite pleasure as it reverberated through her body. The strength of his big, callused hands cradled her softness. Through his pants, the heat of his erection prodded her belly.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and just drank him up. He was a font of wonderful, life-giving energy.
She let his power fill her, charge her. She felt molten hot, squeezing her thighs around that yearning between her legs. He swept her off her feet, but she was too busy kissing him to pay attention. Then she felt cool cotton against her bottom. The sheet she used to cover the old futon couch, her living room’s only article of furniture, besides her drafting table, and the straight-backed chair.
The candle flame wavered wildly with their movements. Shadows shivered and danced as Nate knelt on the floor in front of her. His dark eyes were intent upon hers as he stroked the tops of her thighs, waiting for her to relax and open them.
Nate leaned down to press soft, gentle kisses on tops of her thighs, first one, then the other. The delicate rasp of his beard stubble was a ticklish caress, sending a delicious shiver up her spine. But in spite of his tender, patient coaxing, it was a long time before the tension in her legs would unlock.
Nate made a low, ragged sound in his throat when she finally opened them, and pressed her thighs wide. “Elisa. You’re so beautiful.”
She felt like she should respond, but words failed her, particularly when he leaned down and put his mouth to her. Right over the vortex of dark hair that curled over her clit, while his fingers slowly petted and stroked the sensitive folds of her pussy. Slow, gentle, seductive kisses. Just pressure, not penetration. Not until excitement bloomed and his caressing fingers found the slick, liquid warmth of her lube, welcoming him inside, into her secret places.
He took that as an invitation, spreading her pussy lips delicately open, and groaned with delight as he took her clit in his mouth. A tender pull, then the twist and flick of his tongue, sliding, delving, licking. His strong hands holding her hips in place as she bucked and shuddered against the bold, sensual thrust and lap, the drum roll of tension inside her, getting more and more agonizing—
The sensation coalesced. An explosion of shocked delight. She unraveled, to her very core.
When she finally looked up, Nate had a look of discovery on his face.
“The guy in the drawing,” he said. “Was he your last lover?”
She was speechless. Unable to deny it, and she didn’t have the presence of mind to lie about it, either. Or better yet, to tell him it was none of his damn business.
“Nate,” she whispered. “Don’t ruin this for me.”
“That explains a lot,” he said.
“You can’t figure me out just by looking at me,” she said more forcefully. “Don’t you dare make pronouncements. You don’t know a damn thing about me.”
“So teach me. I’m all ears. Tell me where I’m wrong. Help me do it better.”
“You were doing it just fine, until you started to talk,” she said tartly.
“Ah,” he murmured. “Sorry.”
He stood up, pulling her up to her feet, and sat down himself on the futon couch, pulling her down onto his lap, facing him. “Straddle me.”
She did so. He slid his hand up her back, cupping the nape of her neck. They looked at each other for a long, silent moment, and he tugged her closer, back into that marvelous kiss. He was irresistible. She couldn’t get enough of that feeling.
Then he slid his hand up her inner thigh, stroking her pussy. Caressing it tenderly as he trailed hot, hungry kisses over her breasts.
It felt as if she was destined to open and melt for him, to yield to his coaxing kiss, to open to his questing hand. He teased open her slick folds, seeking out her sweet spots. Slow, thrusting, pulsing caresses that were just…exactly…right.
Again, that tension was rising. So soon, like something had been unleashed inside her and was making up for lost time. Oh. Yes.
She clenched around his thighs with a sharp cry, straining as the wrenching jolts of raw pleasure throbbed through her.
She was lost to time and space for a while, floating in that sweet, dreamy drifting space. It felt good. There was room inside her. Light and air. She hadn’t felt anything like it in…well, maybe ever. Even before her marriage blew up in her face, she’d felt so tense and contracted. Trying to meet his demands and requirements.
She’d been in a cage. For years. Right now, she was floating free, and for the first time, she felt it. That ineffable, soft, infinite freedom was a pleasure all its own.
It changed everything. It changed her.
When she drifted back, she found her hands were wound into his hair, her cheek resting on his shoulder. He didn’t seem to mind.
His hand was still between her legs, stroking her like he was petting a kitten. As her eyes opened, he slid his finger boldly inside her, and licked his finger.
“Tastes so good,” he murmured. “I want to go down on you again.”
“Later for that,” she said. “Do you have a condom?”
He reached down beneath her, fumbling in his pants pockets for a second, then pulled it out and waved it triumphantly. “At the ready.”
“I’m ready right now.” She climbed off him and reached for his belt, jerking the buckle loose.
Nate laughed and stood up, tugging his pants and underwear down. His erection was stiff and purple and impressive, jutting from the thatch of dark hair. Broad and blunt, his cockhead shiny with pre-come.
She clasped him and stroked, making him gasp. Mmmm, so hot, so hard. She wanted to play with him, but she needed this. Needed it right now.
She ripped the condom open and put the rolled latex in his hand. “Put that on.”
Once he was safely sheathed, Elisa straddled him again, swaying over him.
Nate pressed his face to her breasts, kissing them through the stretchy fabric of her shirt. “You sure you’re ready?”