Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(92)

He flicked the center clasp of her bra. A lone light shined in the room from a small table lamp and it cast shadows around them, making Dax’s body appear even more heavily muscled and predatory than usual. He settled himself on top of her, still wearing his jeans while he’d stripped her down to nothing but a bra and a filmy pair of panties. His every muscle seemed taut and there was a lean, hungry look in his eyes.

“Maybe.” He drew the cups of her bra to the side, freeing her breasts, exposing her peaked nipples. “I still wanted you. I wanted to fuck you until you couldn’t muster the energy to betray me again. On those long nights at sea, I would close my eyes and there you would be, spread out underneath me. You would beg me to take you back and offer me your body. And, oh, I would accept. I would brand you with my skin and you would never be able to leave my side again because everyone would know you were mine. In those dark hours, nothing mattered but making you pay and, sweetheart, I was definitely interested in my pound of flesh.”

Somehow he made the nastiest things sound so sexy. “Tonight isn’t about revenge.”

He cupped one breast. “No. It isn’t, but I still want to fuck you so long and hard that you can’t even think of another man again. I want to be the only man in your mind, your body, and your heart.”

She couldn’t tell him that he’d already achieved his goal. Even when she’d dated another man, she hadn’t forgotten Dax. No one would ever match him. “Touch me. No one touches me the way you do.”

He palmed the other breast. “No one cares about you the way I do, Holland.”

It was true. She could pretend that her desire stemmed simply from the fact that he was so damn good in bed. But she’d learned that his passion and skill in bed meant nothing without the emotional connection they’d found.

Maybe it had been severed when they parted. Maybe it wouldn’t come back.

He leaned in and his naked chest met her breasts. “You’re everything to me. When I was bleeding in the Crawford building after being shot, the only thing I could think about was you. I couldn’t imagine dying without seeing you one last time.”

The idea of a world without Dax filled her with complete denial and terror.

Holland clung to him tightly as his mouth descended on hers. She let go of her reservations, her barriers. No more talk of the past or the future. She couldn’t handle it tonight.

Instead, she looped her arms around his back to find the smooth skin there. She traced the long line of his spine as she kissed him back with everything she had. Their tongues tangled as her nipples hardened, begging for his attention. “Please, Dax.”

He nipped at her ear, the sensation flaring along her skin. “Please what?”

“Kiss me all over. It’s been so long.”

“How long? Never mind. I don’t care. What you did with that asshole doesn’t matter to me. I only care that you’re with me now.” He kissed the shell of her ear, dragging his tongue over the sensitive flesh there.

She shivered. He was right. All that mattered was the here and now. She had to stop thinking about anything except how good it felt to be in his arms in this moment.

He kissed his way down her neck, leaving a trail of heat wherever he touched her. He forced her legs apart, making a place for himself between her thighs. The roughness of his denim rubbed against her damp folds. Only those thin panties shielded her and they did nothing to disguise his thick erection jutting against her.

“It feels so good to be here with you.” His low voice rumbled over her breast as the heat of his mouth caressed the skin around her peak. “Like finally, finally coming home.”

Holland concentrated on sensation as his tongue laved her nipple and tried not to think about his words. They were too sweet and they dragged her from the now into insane thoughts about the future.

She rolled her hips, needing the friction to take her higher. The frenzy she always felt when he touched her, took her, was already starting. The desperate need to feel him inside seized her.

But he seemed determined to take his time. He pinned her down, his body pressing her deliciously into the comforter. “Are you going to go wild for me?”

“I already am.” She couldn’t play coy or pretend.

Now that she’d made the decision to give him her all, she couldn’t stop touching him. She hated the scant clothing still between them. It felt wrong. Nothing should come between them when they were alone together. They should spend hours naked and entwined.

“You’re going to have to wait until I’m ready.”

“Dax.” She pressed her hips up, grinding against his hard erection. “You feel ready.”

“Not even close.” He sucked her nipple into his mouth as he forced her back down.

He tormented the tips of her breasts, his body infuriatingly still. Tingles brewed between her legs. As he brushed her hair from her face and murmured her name, Holland felt dangerously adored. Dax must know it, but he just piled on the torture, licking and sucking, moving between her nipples until she wanted to scream out her need. Every time she skidded toward the edge, he pulled back, contenting himself with a kiss, a caress, a sweet nip on her aching buds.

“Please, Dax,” she panted, feeling feverish and restless. “I can’t take it anymore.”

He lifted his head, lips curling in an arrogant grin. “What do you want from me?”