Be a Doll(49)

“You’re crazy,’’ I whispered weakly, my throat dry and my limbs unresponsive when my mind screamed at me to get away. I didn’t move. I only shivered more when his thumb slowly went up, releasing my chin to trace the underside of my lower lip.

My breathing hitched audibly.

“Crazy?’’ He uttered the word in a low voice as if testing the sound of it. His eyes fell to my mouth then, right when his thumb finally traced my lower lip. That touch, light in itself was impossibly charged and sent a shock to my system, directly linked to my core. “I suppose I am. All of this is crazy anyway, Lila.’’

“Then stop,’’ I said, almost pleading for him to prevent us from going that route. I had known as soon as my lips went into contact with his last night that it would announce my downfall. I had known that I had willingly signed my own loss.

For years I had prided myself on being a strong person, but a strong person wouldn’t be unable to pull away from that man. A strong person wouldn’t feel undeniably attracted to that man. A strong person would protect themselves instead of jumping into a situation that was bound to hurt them.

I was weak.

The marriage to Mathis Grimes made me weak in just about three days. Three measly days and I was ready to toss away who I was and what I had vowed to myself.

“Oh, but I don’t want to,’’ he replied with his annoyingly sexy smirk. With his thumb he pulled my lip down, just a breadth to make me part my lips in a sigh. I felt my heartbeat in my throat, beating and beating harder still in my neck, in my temples. “I want you stripped of everything, Lila. I want your fire in my bed. I want your moans, your shivers, your skin and sweat. So no, I’m not going to stop this craziness. Not until I have all of you. I told you you’d be mine in all ways, and I intend to keep my word.’’

“Don’t,’’ I said weakly. Even to my own ears it didn’t sound very convincing and the way he leaned closer with his smirk told me he didn’t believe that word I uttered stupidly too weakly.

“You’re not pushing me away,’’ he whispered so close to my mouth I almost felt them on my lips.

His rich aftershave that fit him perfectly invaded my nostrils and pushed the world away even more out of reach. His face was the only thing I saw with each of his eyelids, the specks of gold in his dark eyes, the whiskers already growing on his fair skin… I couldn’t miss a thing even if I wanted and it was too much.

I closed my eyes.

That’s when I realized that my hands were clenched on my husband’s powerful forearms, bare now that his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. That’s when my breathing became harsher, faster.

That’s when I whimpered, begging him to put an end to this teasing game he had me trapped in. That’s when, in that small noise, I surrendered.

My whole body was already primed for him with my drenched panties, my heaving chest, the heat going through me and the tingles coursing all over my skin. Even my breasts felt heavy and constricted in my bra and only his touch could bring me relief.

He had won.

For now, I was too lost to be mad or ashamed. All I wanted was to see if the intense sensations he had awakened in me would culminate to something far stronger than I had ever felt with a man. I needed to see if sex with Mathis would be worth the sacrifice I was making and the risk of losing myself and getting hurt.

“Do you want me to kiss you, little wife?’’ he asked, voice hoarse and a dark desire pouring out of him, basking me in lust even more.

I shivered and tightened my hands on his forearms. Any other man would already have kissed me, but he wanted me to completely surrender. I knew it, but somehow words failed me. Instead, I nodded once. Just once, but it was enough.

Eyes still closed, I first felt a light brush of lips and the rasp of his whiskers around my mouth. Then he pulled away and took with him my breath.

Heart fast beating in my chest and my hands shaking on his forearms, I listened to his own breathing accelerating while his breath caressed my face and down my neck to tease the swell of my breasts through the v-neck cashmere sweater.

He was playing with me, toying with me.

I hated him.

But I had never wanted a kiss so much in all my life.

Slowly, almost with a certain fear lingering somewhere, I blinked my eyes open. The first thing I saw was Mathis’ eyes, so dark, so enthralling. Then, I saw his mouth with his dark pink lips parted.

“There. I wanted to see those beautiful eyes full of desire,’’ he rasped. He pulled away his forearms from my hands and fisted my hair in both hands.

Once again he surprised me. Whenever I expected something from that man he found a way to keep me on my toes by choosing another way. For instance, he didn’t go straight for my lips. He tugged gently on my hair until my neck was exposed and bent forward to kiss my throat. His lips lingered on my skin trailing up to place another kiss, this time under my ear.

His fast breathing in my ear had me trembling against him. My hands found their way back to his body, this time taking a hold of his strong shoulders bulging under his button-down.

“You’re mine, Lila,’’ he whispered in my ear with clear possession audible. I had no strength to deny his statement or show any kind of annoyance. All I did was dig my fingers into his shoulders and whimper his name.

His whiskers abraded my flesh as he slowly moved from my neck to my face. I barely had the time to stare at his eyes so dark and seemingly mesmerized by my parted lips that he took my mouth by storm.