He played with a loose curl of her hair, winding it around his finger and releasing it again. ‘Yes, well, your brother might have had something to say about it if I had, knowing my playboy reputation with women.’ He frowned and added, ‘I can’t help thinking he won’t be too happy about us spending the night together. I promised to keep an eye on you, not to sleep with you.’
Ivy pursed her lips, eyes flashing. ‘It’s time my brother accepted I’m not a child any more. I want to sleep with you, Louis.’ She took one of his hands and placed it back on her breast. ‘Now, where were we?’
Louis smiled. ‘Well, I was about to do this...’ He gently peeled her dress down to uncover half of her bra-less breast and then lowered his mouth to the ripe curve. She gave a soft sound of approval and he pulled the dress a little lower to uncover her nipple. He rolled his tongue over and around her peaking flesh, delighting in the exquisite softness of her skin and the way she was responding to his caresses.
‘Oh...oh...oh...’ Her voice was a breathless thread of sound and she gave a little shudder.
Louis lifted his head to look at her, his hands going to her hips to steady her. ‘Okay so far?’
Her eyes shimmered with the same desire he could feel thundering through his body. Hot. Urgent. Desperate. ‘More than okay. It feels so good to have you touch me like that.’ She sounded almost surprised that she enjoyed it. ‘Do it again. Please?’
‘Your wish is my command.’ And my most wicked fantasy.
Louis bent his head and placed his mouth over her right breast, sucking softly, teasing her with his lips and tongue and the gentle tether of his teeth. Her skin was like silk and she smelled of flowers and vanilla and musk, sending his senses haywire. He moved his mouth to her other breast, exploring it in the same thorough detail, delighting in the sounds of encouragement she was making, thrilled by her avid response to his touch.
She quivered under his hands, her eyelashes at half-mast, as if drunk on the sensations he was triggering in her. Powerful, intense sensations that were erupting vicariously through his own flesh. His erection was so tight and heavy it was painful, the desire for completion a pounding primal force in his blood. But he needed to be in control and, right now, his control was slipping away, pushing every thought aside for the goal of intense physical satisfaction.
But this wasn’t like any other one-nighter. This was Ivy and he had to take things slowly. Painfully, agonisingly slowly. With a strength of will he didn’t know he still possessed, he eased back from her, breathing heavily. ‘Let’s take a breather. I said I wasn’t going to rush you and I’m not going back on my word.’
Disappointment spread over her features, her cheeks darkening to a warm shade of pink. ‘Did I do something wrong?’ Worry was threaded through her voice and her teeth captured her lower lip.
Louis framed her face in his hands, holding her troubled gaze. ‘You did nothing wrong, ma chérie. I want your first time to be perfect and making love out here in the open is probably not the way to do it.’
‘So, you’re not going to change your mind about making love with me?’
He brushed her mouth with a light kiss. ‘If I were a better man, then perhaps I would.’ He gave a rueful twist of his lips and added, ‘You’ve done strange things to my moral compass.’
A small frown formed a tiny crease in the smooth perfection of her forehead. ‘What’s immoral about two consenting adults having sex? We’re not doing anything wrong or illegal.’
‘I know, but we’ll only be having sex tonight,’ Louis said, watching her steadily. ‘I don’t want there to be any confusion about that. This is not happening after we leave here tomorrow, okay?’ He wasn’t sure if he was saying it for her benefit or his. But it needed to be said. And underlined.
Her eyes drifted to his mouth and her tongue poked out to wet her lips. ‘I understand the terms, Louis. You don’t have to spell them out all the time. I only want this night with you. After that, we go back to being friends as normal.’
He had a feeling nothing would ever be normal again. He bent down and pressed another kiss to her soft mouth. ‘Stay here and finish your drink and enjoy the garden while I sort out dinner.’
And get my self-control back in order.
CHAPTER FIVE
IVY WATCHED HIM go back into the house and wished she had the courage to go in after him to distract him from cooking dinner and make him take her straight upstairs to bed. But she knew he was determined to take things slowly and a part of her was grateful he wasn’t rushing her. She had been rushed before and it hadn’t ended well.
In a strange way, his go-slow approach was making her want him all the more. Her body felt alive and tingling with anticipation, reacting to every look he cast her way, every touch of his hand or brush of his lips. She picked up her champagne glass and took another sip, listening to the sounds of the birds settling in the shrubbery, the throaty croak of a frog on the bank of the pond and then the resounding plop as it went below the silvery surface. She rose from the garden chair and wandered over to the nearest flowerbed, bent her head to smell the heady clove-like scent of night stocks.
She glanced towards the house and caught a glimpse of Louis in the kitchen, preparing their food. As if he sensed her gaze on him, he looked up from what he was doing and locked gazes with her. A hot rush of longing travelled through her body and she began walking towards the house as if drawn by a powerful magnet. She did have the courage to go to him. His touch had awakened it in her. The needs raging in her body refused to be put on hold. It was as if a fever had gripped her—a fever of longing to feel Louis’ mouth on hers, his arms holding her close to his body.
When she got to the kitchen, Louis wiped his hands on a tea towel and smiled. ‘Too cold out there now?’
Ivy stepped up to him and looked up into his grey-blue eyes. ‘I kind of like the heat in here more.’
His pupils flared and his gaze dipped to her mouth, his hands settling on her hips. ‘You’re not making this easy for me, Ivy. I’m supposed to be giving you dinner before we do anything else.’
She moved closer, winding her arms around his neck, her breasts pushing against his chest. Any shyness she might have felt was gone, obliterated by the overwhelming need powering through her body. The need he had brought to life in her flesh. ‘I’m not hungry for food. I’m hungry for you.’
He groaned and covered her mouth with his in a long, drugging kiss that made her senses go into a tailspin. His tongue mated with hers and her spine loosened and her knees wobbled. One of his hands cupped her breast, his touch light and yet sending thousands of shivers through her sensitive flesh. He pulled her dress down a fraction and began to caress her breast with his lips and tongue, teasing her nipple into a tight peak, tantalising her with the sensation of his stubble against her soft skin.