From This Moment On (The Sullivans #2)(37)

“Give me more, Nicola,” he urged her, his words hot as he feathered kisses across her chest so that he could take the tip of her other breast into his mouth. “Give it all to me.”

His thumb made delicious circles of pleasure over her and she pressed her hips into his hand over and over again as her orgasm shook through her.

Almost incoherent with exhaustion from the extreme pleasure, she was only vaguely aware of Marcus unwrapping the sweater from around her wrists and moving to remove his clothes. Through half-closed lids she watched him go to the bathroom and then return with a condom on. Her arms weren’t bound anymore, but she simply didn’t have the strength to move them.

And then he was kneeling in front of the couch and shifting her so that her back and shoulders were braced against the cushions, but her hips were hanging off the edge. Before she could take her next breath, his hands gripped her bottom and he surged into her, taking her body, making her irrevocably his, owning her as nothing but music ever had.

Needing to feel his hard muscles beneath her fingertips, she reached for him. Winding her arms around his neck, she pulled herself up so that her br**sts were rubbing against the dark hairs on his chest. Her mouth found his, greedy for his kisses—kisses she’d dreamed of all day long, even as she’d tried to convince herself that she was too busy to think of him.

He kissed her back just as hungrily, as if he couldn’t get enough of her, and then he was groaning against her lips, filling her so completely she had to fight for breath. When he broke their kiss and the sound of his pleasure reverberated in the room, Nicola was pitched over the edge yet one more time.

Straight into Marcus’s waiting arms.

Chapter Fourteen

Marcus was getting too used to waking up with Nicola curled up in his arms. When he was making love with her and she was coming at him with all her hunger and passion, he almost forgot how small she was. But as he spooned her body in the big bed, he was reminded all over again. She was holding one of his hands over her br**sts and he had to dig deep for a control that had been missing practically since the moment he’d met her. He would not take her before she even woke up.

He tightened his hold on her, pulled her closer into him, even as he forced himself to face the insanity of what he was doing.

He shouldn’t have spent more than one night with Nicola. Even one night on Smith’s couch while she slept on his lap had been too much. He definitely shouldn’t be looking forward to an entire day with her, shouldn’t feel like a kid in a candy store at the chance to see the way her skin glowed in the sunlight, to wait with held breath for her to laugh again and fill his soul with her joy and beauty.

And he sure as hell shouldn’t be dreading saying goodbye to her when she got on her next plane to another town, another show.

He was so focused on steeling himself against everything he shouldn’t be feeling for her that he was caught off guard by the slow slide of her tongue against one of his fingers, and then another, and another.

Jesus, was she really going to lick her way up each finger, one at a time?

Holy hell, she was.

Thank God he’d put some condoms close enough to the bed for him to easily grab one. Hating to take his hands from her for any longer than he absolutely needed to, he broke the wrapper open with his teeth and quickly slid it on.

There were no words between them as he put his hands on her thigh and shifted her hips so that he could slide into her heat. Her breath left her in a hard whoosh as he pulled her tightly against his chest.

This was what he’d miss most, he realized as he slid his hand over her br**sts and felt her heart beating strong and fast. Not just her incredible body, not just her passion, not just the way she was seemingly always ready for him to take her like this...but how pure, how sweet she was.

The unexpected flood of emotions for Nicola had him losing hold of the shreds of control he still held. Knowing he barely had thirty seconds left before he exploded, he slid his hand down from her br**sts. She gasped as his fingers slipped and slid over her and then she was pushing back into him in wild jerky movements that told him it was safe to let go, because she was already there.

Together, Nicola helped him greet the day with more pleasure than he’d ever known. And as her climax drew his out, he could no longer deny the truth: She now held a piece of his heart.

Whether he wanted her to or not.

* * *

Nicola looked at Marcus over the small round table by the window where they’d just devoured pancakes and sausages and a huge bowl of fruit. How was it, she wondered, that eating breakfast together could feel as intimate as making love?

Probably, she told herself, it was simply that she hadn’t shared a leisurely morning-after like this with a man in a very long time. Ever, really, considering Kenny had always been too hung over to wake up much before noon.

Although Marcus worked in the wine industry, she couldn’t picture him drunk. It was just one more thing about him that made her feel safe.

Suddenly wanting him to know how much she appreciated him, how much she was enjoying their stolen, secret hours together, she said, “I know how much you must have to do at your winery.” She reached for his hand across the table, thrill bumps moving up her arms when he threaded his fingers through hers. “Thank you for spending this time with me.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he said, and then, “What do you normally do on your days off?"