Predatory (Immortal Guardians #3.5)(18)

She trembled as his fingers threaded through the loose strands of her hair.

“Oh.”

He growled low in his throat as he lifted a fistful of hair to press it to his nose, breathing deeply of the apple shampoo she used.

“Do you know how many hours I devoted to fantasizing about releasing your hair from its bondage so it could spread across my pillows?”

“Bondage?” The word came out as a croak as she all too easily pictured being handcuffed to Niko’s bed, her body a willing slave to the promise of paradise.

Keeping one hand tangled in her hair, he used the other to gently trace the sensitive skin of her temple.

“Dark velvet eyes that tempt a man to become lost in their depths,” he continued his verbal seduction, his voice smoky.

“Boring brown,” she corrected.

He ignored her interruption, his smoldering gaze tracing every line and angle of her upturned face.

“A noble little nose,” he murmured. “Did you know you scrunch it up when you’re concentrating on your work?”

“I do not.”

His fingers drifted down to trace her nose before outlining her trembling lips.

“A mouth that is as ripe and delicious as cherries.”

Her lips instinctively parted at his searing touch. “Niko.”

“And this skin.” The warm fingers continued their path of destruction down the length of her neck to trace the loose neckline of her sweatshirt. “As smooth as the most expensive silk.”

“I’m too pale.”

“You’re perfect,” he growled in response. “Ivory silk. It tempts a man to discover if you’re the same porcelain shade all over.” Holding her gaze, he lowered his hand to the hem of her shirt. “May I?”

She knew what he was asking. And that if she agreed there would be no turning back.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Obviously a man of action, Niko didn’t hesitate to pull the sweatshirt up and off her body. It happened so fast that Angela didn’t have time to feel embarrassed. Then, catching sight of Niko’s harshly appreciative expression, she forgot to worry that she was too skinny, or too pale, or too whatever else her insecurities could imagine.

“Yes,” he rasped as his hands reached to dispense with her lacy bra. “Ivory tipped with rosebuds. An irresistible combination.”

His fingers cupped the small mounds of her br**sts, his thumbs teasing the ni**les to tiny points of aching pleasure. She sucked in a startled gasp, her back arching as if to beg for more.

Muttering a low, rough curse, he lowered his head and licked the tip of her breast.

Angela jerked in astonishment, her hands lifting to plunge into the short strands of his hair.

“Dear . . . Lord.”

His own hands slid down the curve of her waist, tugging her against his rigid muscles at the same time he sucked her nipple between his lips.

She groaned, as he caught the tip between his teeth. It felt so good. Blissfully, wondrously good.

“I want you,” he whispered, kissing a path to her other breast to torment it with the same dizzying skill.

“I want you too,” she husked.

And she did.

What had his word been?

Desperately. Yes, that was it.

She wanted him desperately.

This was chemistry at its most basic form.

He made a low sound deep in his throat, planting impatient kisses up the line of her collarbone until he buried his face in the curve of her neck.

“But—”

“No,” she snapped.

He pulled back with a frown. “No?”

Dammit. She’d spent six weeks tormenting herself with the fear that this man who filled her every fantasy could never desire her.

Now that she was in his arm, hovering on the edge of paradise, she didn’t want it snatched away.

Just once she wanted to say the hell with logic and common sense and give in to temptation.

“Don’t give me a reason why we can’t do this,” she muttered. His hooded gaze skimmed down to her ni**les that remained hardened with desire before returning to meet her frustrated gaze.

“It’s more a warning.”

“A warning? Oh.” She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I’m not stupid. I know the routine. This is just sex. It means nothing.”

“No.” The blue eyes flared with a stunning emotion. “It means everything.”

If Niko hadn’t been battling his caveman urge to strip Angela of her remaining clothes and take her against the fridge, he would have smiled at her baffled expression.

Hell, he didn’t blame her for looking at him like he was out of his mind.

Until he’d encountered this woman he would have bet his left nut he would never utter those words.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me.” He gently brushed a stray curl from her flushed cheek. “For me this isn’t just sex.”

“You don’t have to pretend, Niko.” She unconsciously licked her lips, her expression troubled. “In fact, I would prefer that you didn’t.”

With a low growl he was scooping her off her feet and heading out of the kitchen.

He didn’t know if it was the lip-licking or her refusal to believe that he was sincere that tipped him over the edge, but he knew that one way or another he was going to convince her that this was no longer a matter of duty or revenge or mere lust.