“My dress?” she asked, awakening from her pleasurable fog.
“Your dress. Are you afraid to expose yourself? To let me see you?” he asked as he lifted his hand, traced a soft line from one ear, across her jaw, to the other ear. “Aren’t you just the least bit curious to know what she looks like?”
“Who?”
“The real Rebecca,” he said. “Don’t you want to know who I see when she will let me? How she appears to me?”
Rebecca pressed down the strange urge to hit him. Damn him. Damn him! How could he know so much about her that she didn’t even know about herself? Yes, she wanted to know what she looked like to him, if he found her attractive, if he found her sexy, if he felt that goddamn fire racing through his veins. She wanted him to see her with his naked body, wanted to feel him, on her, in her, around her. Just thinking about it had made her wet; desire throbbed between her legs.
“Are you going to retreat into your fear?”
No, goddammit! “To hell with you,” she said, and grabbing the hem, she lifted the summer dress over her head, tossed it aside, and stood there before him, naked as a jaybird. Starkly naked.
To her surprise, Matt did not act the least bit smug. In fact, he dropped her panties along with his jaw. And his breathing, she noticed, was getting heavier, like hers. That was empowering, and she unthinkingly stood a little straighter.
Matt drew a long, ragged breath. “Turn around.”
Rebecca turned slowly, until she was facing him again. His expression was hard; he swallowed, muttered, “Touch them.” Rebecca hesitated; he lifted his gaze to her eyes. “If you can’t even touch yourself, how will you feel good about me touching you?”
Self-conscious, but wanting this strangely erotic experience, Rebecca put her hands on her breasts, and the moment she saw the light in Matt’s eye, her self-consciousness slipped away. She gripped herself firmly, squeezing the stiffened nipples between her fingers.
Matt swallowed again. “What are you thinking?”
“That I like the way you are looking at me.”
“And I definitely like looking,” he growled, and pulled the polo shirt over his head. He stood before her, admiring her naked body, and remarkably, Rebecca didn’t feel ashamed. She felt alive. Without thinking, she reached out and touched his chest, felt the heat of his skin beneath her finger, heard him draw a ragged breath that sent a flame of pleasure licking her groin. She liked this.
Matt stepped closer, but didn’t touch her in return, just leaned in so that his lips grazed her temple, and whispered, “Lie down.”
Rebecca slowly backed away from him, bumped into her bed. This was so different than anything she had ever experienced. Her senses were vibrant, wanting more, wanting it all. She sat on the edge of the bed and slowly leaned back until she was lying on it.
Matt walked over to the bed. He stood a moment, gazing down at her . . . and shook his head. “Not like that,” he softly chided her, touching her knee. “Lie back like a woman who wants a man to make love to her.”
Yes, yes . . . She scooted up until her head was on the pillows. She draped one arm above her head, let the other one fall open at her side, bent one knee over the other. “Yes,” he breathed. “Now close your eyes.”
Oooh, this was going to be good. Rebecca closed her eyes, heard Matt moving, heard the drawers of her bureau being opened. “Ah,” he said, and she heard the drawer shut again, then a moment later, felt Matt’s weight on the bed, then the silk of something across her eyes as he lifted her head. “A scarf,” he said as he tied it behind her head. “Don’t take it off, don’t move. I don’t want you to see anything. Just feel. I’ll be right back.”
“Wait!” she said anxiously.
“Rebecca,” he whispered, his hand touching her cheek and floating to her neck. “I adore you, remember? I promise you are safe. Trust me,” he murmured soothingly, stroking her arm. “And think about what you want me to do to you while I’m gone,” he said as his fingers skimmed down her belly to the apex of her thighs.
And then he was gone.
Rebecca lay there, her eyes closed and wrapped in one of her scarves, listening to the trees rustling outside, thinking, as Matt had instructed, of what she wanted him to do to her. Delicious things she had always wondered about, imagined occasionally, but never dreamed she’d actually experience until now.
Just as quickly as he disappeared, Matt was back; she heard him enter the room, heard the door close softly behind him.
“What are you doing?” she asked, and jumped, gasping softly at the feel of his hand on her face.
“Ssssh,” he said. “Just lie back and enjoy.”