‘Surely as Queen you can make your own Christmas traditions? Demand all the fluorescence you can stand?’
One might think so, but it wasn’t that easy.
Alvaro’s expression grew serious again. ‘What are you really doing here, Jade?’
She swallowed. ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted from the bottom of her heart. ‘I just know there’s nowhere else I want to be right now.’ She didn’t know why she was whispering, but she couldn’t seem to breathe any volume into her voice.
‘Me neither.’ He reached out to caress her cheek, sliding his hand to cup her jaw. ‘But you know this is madness.’
‘It’s my time for madness.’ But her heart puckered at the swirl of emotion clouding his eyes. ‘You’re not doing this out of pity, are you?’
‘Pity?’ He half choked. ‘No. Not pity.’
‘You’ll have a good time too? It’s not all about pleasing me, is it?’
‘Why shouldn’t it be?’
‘People try to please me all the time. It can be awkward. They don’t quite know how to act around me. They get nervous and it’s... I don’t want this to be like that.’
‘Not going to lie, I’m a little nervous, Jade. I don’t want to hurt you and I do want you to have a good time. But honestly, I’m being more selfish now than I’ve ever been in my life. And I’m a pretty selfish guy.’
She didn’t believe that about him.
‘But I’m not awkward around you. And I think we’re past getting hung up on our respective jobs and titles.’
‘No one’s ever yelled at me the way you did the other morning,’ she confessed with a wry smile.
‘And you snapped right back, which, I admit, doesn’t usually happen to me. But I’m guessing you don’t usually do that?’
‘Not usually, no,’ she acknowledged. ‘It would be rude and abusive of my position. I know I have more power than most people, I need to be mindful of that.’
‘Not with me. Not then. Certainly not now. I’m not awed by your crown, Jade.’
‘I know you’re not.’ She half laughed.
‘I’m glad you’re not too polite to yell at me. I don’t want you to be polite or hold back from me in any way. Not at any time. Understand?’ He stepped closer and she battled to stand in place. ‘So if you don’t usually, if you master your emotions, why did you yell at me? Why did you lose your cool?’
‘Because I was tired, and you were half naked, and I couldn’t get my brain to work.’
‘So to get absolute honesty from you, I just need to strip down and wear you out?’
His smile lifted and all she could do was stare at him. It was impossible, how beautiful he was. And she realised, with slight shock, that he could do anything he wanted with her.
‘I’m going to make love to you, Jade.’
His rough, low promise devastated her.
She swallowed hard. ‘I thought we were having sex.’
He shook his head and the serious determination in his eyes melted the last of her mind. ‘If this is the one night that you get, with a man you actually want, and who you’re giving your virginity to, then you deserve to be worshipped and adored. You deserve to have the best possible experience. So no, we’re not having sex. I’m making love to you.’ He stood up from the table and held his hand out to her. ‘Okay?’
She couldn’t possibly speak now. But she put her hand in his and rose to meet him.
‘Jade?’
She was trembling. Aching so much for his touch. The kiss was everything she needed. A luscious sweep of passion and security. She slung her arms around his neck and heard his pleased little grunt as he caught her. He stepped her back until she was braced against the kitchen wall. She loved it like this with him so big before her.
‘Jade?’ He pulled back to look into her eyes. ‘I want to know what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling, whether you’re okay. I need to know that, sweetheart.’
But as he spoke, he worked the buttons down the front of her dress free and pushed it from her shoulders, leaving her in just her green silk slip. He fingered the thin straps on her shoulders, tracing one down to the seam at the neckline, and looked. His smile made her so grateful for the support of the wall behind her. ‘Why, Queen Jade,’ he mock-reproved. ‘I do believe you’re not wearing a bra.’
She laughed, finally able to answer. ‘It’s hard enough to breathe around you,’ she muttered. ‘I didn’t want anything constricting my ribs and making it even harder.’
His gaze shot to her face again and he seemed oddly touched. ‘You know you can say “when” any time.’
‘That doesn’t seem fair,’ she breathed.
‘Life isn’t always fair. I think you and I both know that already.’
She didn’t want to think about that right now. She lifted her chin and pressed her full, pulsing lips to his again. Her toes curled in her shoes when he kissed her back. His hands shaped her curves beneath the silk, eventually sliding under the hem and up to the lacy panties she’d specially worn. She gasped as he grazed the strip of silk at the front.
‘I’m a big guy, sweetheart, you need to be ready,’ he said softly as he kissed down her neck and across her collarbones. ‘Getting you there is my job now.’
A wave of anticipation swamped her and she moaned as he skated his fingers across the dampened silk again.
His little laugh was low and searing. ‘You like that idea?’ He growled and nipped her gently. ‘Do you want to know just how big?’
‘Yes,’ she breathed. She wanted to know everything about him. And she ached to feel all of him.
But her eyes closed and she could only lean against the wall for support as he skimmed over her secret parts. And as he kissed her deeply she unashamedly drove her hips against the sinfully tormenting touch of his hand.
‘Please,’ she begged but he kept strumming her so lightly, while his hot mouth softly kissed her sensitive skin and breathed even hotter words against her.
‘You want me inside you, Jade?’
‘Yes.’ Desperately. So desperately. But he still didn’t press harder where she wanted him to. And it was deliberate. The man was an impossible tease.
‘We have all night,’ he promised.
‘That’s...not...long,’ she breathlessly complained, pressing harder against his wicked hand.