Her Little Secret, His Hidden Heir(25)

Closing the space between them, he carefully pried her arms away from her breasts, but used his own chest to hold the bra in place. He ran his hands down the insides of her arms, then linked their fingers together. Just the way he used to, the way that used to make her feel so close to him, so cherished.


Pressing his lips to hers, he whispered, “Let me warm you up.” Then he kissed her and started backing her slowly toward the bed.

The backs of her thighs hit the edge of the mattress and she toppled over, but Marc followed her down, so smoothly, it felt almost choreographed. The movement finally dislodged her bra and he grabbed it by one of the cups, tossing it aside.

His chest pressed her brea**sts flat and abraded the tight peaks of her nipples. She moaned, wrapping her arms around his shoulders while he kissed all but about three functioning brain cells straight out of her head.

Shifting his hands to her hips, he hooked his thumbs into the waist of her panties and dragged them down. He lifted her just enough to slip them off, then quickly shed his own.

They were both blessedly naked, pressed together like layers of cellophane. Insecurities threatened to surface again, reminding her that it had been months upon months since they’d been together…that she’d gone through a pregnancy and childbirth since then…that she’d spent her first trimester in a deep depression over the breakup of her marriage and the prospect of being a single mother—and therefore had spent a good deal of time in bed with cartons of ice cream and cookie dough that never quite made it into the oven.

In addition to baby weight, she’d put on pity-party weight, and though she’d been much more disciplined since she’d stopped feeling sorry for herself, she still hadn’t managed to shed all of those extra pounds. Her hips were wider than before, her stomach far from flat, her thighs a bit more well-rounded.

The only upside to her new, more curvaceous figure was her bosom. Whether it was due to the pre-baby caloric binges or the post-baby breast-feeding, the increased bra size was kind of nice. And being bigger up top helped to keep the rest of her body in proper proportion.

But whether her recent physical changes were good or bad, Marc didn’t seem to mind either way. In fact, he didn’t even seem to notice. Or if he did, he was enjoying them enough that he didn’t feel the need to comment.

Knowing that allowed Vanessa to relax and stop obsessing. Marc’s hands on her body, his mouth trailing along her jaw, her throat, her shoulder, her collarbone, were too potent to ignore for long, anyway. As was the need to touch him in return.

She stroked his back, toyed with the hair at the nape of his neck. Nibbled his ear and rubbed her cheek against the slight stubble that was growing in and would need to be shaved clean again in the morning.

His erection was pressed between them, rubbing in tantalizing places and she arched slightly to feel even more of that rigid length against her belly and lower. With a low growl, Marc sank his teeth into the muscle that ran from the side of her throat to her shoulder. She sucked in a sharp breath, groaning at the light stab of pleasure-pain and digging her nails into the flesh of his back to repay the favor.

He chuckled against her skin and she felt the vibrations clear down to her bones.

“Stop teasing,” she ordered more than a little breathlessly just above his ear.

“You started it,” he retorted, words muffled as he spoke into her skin. He trailed wet, openmouthed kisses across her chest, over the mound of one breast, tighter and tighter around her nipple.

“Besides, I’m not finished yet,” he added a moment before taking that nipple into his mouth and suckling gently.

Oh, mercy. Vanessa’s upper body shot off the mattress, pleasure streaking through her like lightning. She couldn’t even cry out, the oxygen was knocked so thoroughly from her lungs.

She clung to his shoulders, panting and writhing as he didn’t just tease, but tortured. He licked and nipped and sucked at one breast before moving to the other and driving her crazy all over again.

When he finished, he lifted his head and smiled down at her. A wicked, devilish smile.

He started to lean down and she was afraid of what he might do. She wasn’t sure she could take much more, whether he decided to continue his cruel ministrations to her brea**sts or to move lower.

Oh, no, he couldn’t go lower. Another time, maybe. Another time, she was sure she would be delighted, and more than willing to reciprocate.

But tonight, it would be too much. She couldn’t bear it.

So before he got any bright ideas, she linked her legs around his hips and reached between them to take him in a firm, but careful grasp. He let out a hiss of breath, lips pulling back from his teeth and his eyes falling closed.

“Enough,” she told him.

His lashes fluttered and he gazed down at her. “Do you want me to stop?” he murmured.

The bastard. He knew she didn’t want him to stop, he was just teasing her—torturing her—again.

Giving him a little taste of his own medicine, she tightened her fingers around his arousal, causing him to gasp and flex his hips.

“Not stop-stop,” she clarified, as though there were really any doubt, “just wrap up the opening act and get to the big bang already.”

He arched a brow, his lips splitting into a wide grin. “The ‘big bang,’ huh?”

She felt her cheeks heat at her choice of words. Then again, she was lying naked beneath her ex-husband, all but done with the dirty deed, as it were. Was there really any reason to be embarrassed about anything at this point?