And she was his. His large hands seemed to take possession, as he traced her shape with his palms, pausing only to cup her breasts in his hands and hold tight, feeling their weight and caressing her nipples with his thumbs. She let out a moan that surprised her.
He sat up, resting his weight back on his legs. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
She let out a shaky laugh. “Trust me, I have some clue.”
When he reached toward the elastic waist of her pants, she sucked in a deep breath and waited for him to tug them down. Off her body.
Instead he paused. “About protection …”
In most cases, the subject would be a mood killer. With Roman, it was just a delay she didn’t want. “I’m on the pill,” she admitted.
Surprise flickered in his eyes, replaced quickly with the unmistakable flare of desire. She wondered if his thoughts mirrored hers—all she could imagine was him inside her, flesh against flesh, no barriers, nothing between them. “But …” She was too smart for reality not to assert itself.
A taut muscle ticked in his jaw, evidence of what this restraint was costing him. “What?” he asked in a softer voice than she’d believed he could manage right now.
“It’s been a long time for me and the few times I … we … used protection.” She darted her gaze to the cream-colored wall to her left.
He sucked in a breath and she wondered if he was shocked by her words. Wondered if she’d scared him away. Men didn’t like to think a woman was investing too much into any one night. But she and Roman had had that conversation already and both knew the score.
“I’m not indiscriminate.”
At the sound of his voice, she refocused on him before she could lament the end of what hadn’t yet begun.
“I’m careful,” he continued. “And before each trip abroad I have every blood test imaginable.” A heavy silence descended between them. “And I never cared so much before what a woman was thinking, so don’t leave me in suspense.”
A heaviness formed in her chest and a lump rose to her throat as she grabbed his wrists in her hands. But she refused to succumb to emotion, not when desire was so strong and encompassing. “Stop talking, Roman. Or I might have to—”
He cut her off by pulling down on her pants in one swift move, and cooler air hit her thighs.
“I like a man that listens.” In fact, she liked him a whole lot. More than was prudent, she thought as she kicked the pants off her ankles.
He stood to undress and she shed her sweater next. When he returned to the bed, he was naked and he was magnificent. His tanned skin complemented his dark hair and his blue eyes had darkened with desire—for her.
“I like a woman who isn’t afraid to tell me what she wants.” He placed his hands on her thighs and spread her legs wide. “A woman who isn’t afraid of her sensuality.” Sparks of light glittered in his gaze as he took in the light blue bra and panty set. “Know what my favorite color is?” he asked.
She opened her mouth to answer, but with his burning touch searing her skin and liquid desire pulsing through her veins, no words would come.
“As of right now, it’s blue.” And with that, he dipped his head to taste her.
Charlotte thought she’d die of pleasure. She wondered if such a thing were possible. And then she couldn’t think at all. His tongue worked magic, managing to ease inside the open holes of the handmade panties. With broad strokes, he laved, then alternated with insistent suckling that sent white-hot darts of fire throughout her body as every nerve she possessed begged for release.
He brought her to the edge of climaxing more than once, only to slow the loving strokes of his tongue and bring her back down. She writhed and begged until he used his tongue and teeth to graze her sensitive folds of flesh, taking her upward once more. But she refused to have her first orgasm without him being inside her. She needed to feel that emotional connection with him too badly, and when he reached up and held her hand in his, she knew he understood.
Without warning, he slid up beside her, his warm body cradling hers in heat. He made fast work of her bra and panties, before cuddling alongside her again.
“You taste good.” He brushed her hair off her face and before she could respond, he closed his mouth over hers. At the same time, he pressed his hand over her aching, empty feminine mound. Waves of need began to build inside her again. She jerked her hips upward and whimpered, a sound he caught in his throat.
He broke the kiss but his lips lingered over hers. “What is it, sweetheart? Does this help?” he asked, easing his finger deep inside her.
Her body trembled in reaction. “I know what would help more.”
So did Roman. This restraint wasn’t easy. He was enjoying every minute, but if he didn’t come inside her, he was going to damn well explode. “Tell me what you want.” He needed to hear it from those well-kissed lips.
“Why don’t I show you instead?” Her cheeks were flushed pink with desire, her eyes glazed with need as she reached out and held his hard length in her hand.
He didn’t need to answer, just follow her lead—and he did, easing himself over her as she spread her legs and placed the head of his penis into the damp, moist vee of her thighs. At that moment, foreplay was over.
He thrust inside her, hard and fast. She’d said it had been a while and when her smooth muscles contracted around him, he realized how long she’d actually meant. She was tight and wet, capturing him in silken heat. He broke into a sweat, not just because he was aroused and so damn close to coming he thought he would burst, because he felt like he was exactly where he belonged.
He felt like he’d come home.
Roman opened his eyes and met her startled gaze. It wasn’t pain or discomfort he saw there, but awareness. She obviously felt it too.
He began a rapid thrusting meant to distract him, to separate himself from the reality of his feelings. Sex had always been a distant form of quick and easy release in the past. Not now.
Not with Charlotte. Not when her rhythm complemented his rhythm, her breaths matched his, and her body molded perfectly around him. And when he climaxed, taking her with him, Roman somehow knew—things would never be the same again.
* * *
Roman walked out of the bathroom and toward Charlotte, completely nude and not the least bit embarrassed. She supposed there wasn’t much left to hide between them and she didn’t mind looking at him. Not a bit.
She wasn’t as ready to be that free herself. She crossed her legs and pulled the sheets up around her. “I’m starving.”
Roman’s eyes glittered with deliberate mischief. “I can satisfy that hunger of yours.”
She grinned. “You already did. Twice. Now it’s my stomach that needs filling.” She patted the sheet above her belly. They’d worked up a healthy appetite and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
She was ashamed to look too deeply into her heart, because she wasn’t the same woman who’d walked into this inn. She found it too easy to be with this charming man who promised honesty as easily as he guaranteed he’d be walking out the door.
He reached over and grabbed the green leather-bound folder from the nightstand and looked through the selection of late-night snacks.
“What are my choices?” she asked.