“No,” I blurted out, not sounding desperate at all.
“No? You sure?”
I released his hands, grabbing hold of his T-shirt, holding on as if my life was at stake. Or at least my sex life. He was mine, for the moment, and I wasn’t giving that up.
“Babe?”
“I want you.”
“I want you too,” he said, groaning as I pressed myself against him. He felt so good, strong and sturdy. Also, the man smelled fucking great.
If only I could imprint myself in his skin, hide away in his arms for a good long time until things felt safe again. Instead, I flattened my breasts against his chest, wrapped my arms around his neck, getting as close as I could. Stubble gently scratched my face and fingers dug into my ass, holding me closer, encouraging me further.
“I really, really want you,” I said. “Not later. Now.”
“Fuck. Lydia.”
I knew exactly what he meant.
“Your skin’s so pale.” His voice made gravel sound smooth. “How do you feel about biting?”
I blinked in surprise, pulling back so I could see his face. “Biting?”
“Yeah.”
“Um. I’ve never tried it.”
“Just little bites. Nips. Nothing to hurt you, I swear. I’ll behave.”
“Th-that’s what you like?”
“I like you.” He leaned closer, almost bringing our mouths together. “Question is, do you like me?”
“You’re my favorite person on the planet,” I told him honestly.
“I am?”
“Yes.” Dazed, I stared up at him, his eyes and mouth both so enthralling. My heart pounded and the air grew thin, every inch of my skin electric. I was more than alive and beyond awake, despite the overly long day. Desire is such a disease. It’d completely taken me over.
“Thanks, babe. I like you a hell of a lot too.”
“Not just my breasts?”
He chuckled, low-down and dirty. Warmth swelled to alarming levels in my chest. My heart needed to calm the heck down. My loins felt about ready to burst into spontaneous combustion. The man had started a fire in my panties only he could put out.
To think, if I’d married Chris, I’d never have had this again. Seeing my needs reflected in someone else, being so in tune with another human being. Amazing. I might have spent my whole life having average sex with someone who wasn’t really into it, and all for the sake of security. To have a home.
“What are you thinking about?” Vaughan’s hands slid over my arms, untangling me from him, easing me back.
“Nothing.”
“Try again.”
I groaned, my face blazing to life. “I’m just grateful to have this time with you. I thought my life was ruined, that I’d made all these bad choices and messed everything up. But being here with you, things feel a long way from bad.”
“Good.” He kissed my forehead, smiled. “Let me tell you a story.”
“Now?”
“Yeah. Right now.” Then he went down on one knee, picked up one of my feet and eased off the very sensible black flat I’d been wearing all day. Excellent, my foot odor would knock him dead. Very sexy.
“When I was fifteen I started seeing this girl who was a couple of years older than me, a senior.” He calmly set my shoe aside and reached for my other foot, baring it as well. Hair slid forward, hiding his face, and he pushed it back as he stood. “She was a cheerleader. Had a hell of a lot more experience than me, which wasn’t hard, ’cause I had none.”
“She was your first?”
“She was.” Fingers worked at the button on my pants, the zipper. The cooler night air hit my exposed skin, raising gooseflesh. Though probably, it was just him. Hot hands slid over my hips as he eased the material down. Down over my thighs, down until they lay on the floor and I stood there in a not so sensible pair of black lace panties.
You never could tell when swanky underwear would be needed. Best to be prepared.
I stepped out of my work pants, pushing them aside with a toe. “And?”
“And I had issues meeting her expectations.” He stroked my neck, running his fingers around the neckline of my work T-shirt. “Kept getting overexcited and coming too soon.”
I grinned.
“She liked me, but ah … she was starting to get a bit angry about it.” One finger wandered, drawing a line down the middle of my tee, pressing in between the divide between my breasts. Of course he had my nipples’ undivided attention. Hell, he had my whole body’s attention, apart from my brain. It was swimming with happy hormones, drowning in them.
“Huh,” I said, because I’m an intellectual genius like that.
“Not that I wouldn’t finish her off. She showed me how to give her a hand-job, told me how to use my mouth.” He gripped the hem of my T-shirt, the backs of his fingers sliding over my stomach, toying with me.
My insides tumbled and twisted. My panties were wet.
“Now that I think about it, she was seriously bossy. But I learned a lot.”
Up went my T-shirt, exposing my matching lace bra. Then away it went, flying off into the darkness.
“Christ,” he said.