RUSH (City Lights, #3)(61)

He stared, his eyes desperately searching for me, his expression pained. But I kissed him again, to show him I trusted him even when he didn’t trust himself.

He returned the kiss, first gently, reverently, like its own silent vow. Then we let the spark between us catch again, and his kisses became deliciously ferocious with need. I clung to him, delirious under the onslaught of his lips, tongue, and nipping teeth. And his hands…oh god, his hands were roaming with lust and want, but building an image of me in his mind too, sculpting me for his mind’s eye. He felt the flat of my stomach, the bow of my waist, the rounded curve of my hips, kissing me hard all the while.

He peeled my sweater from me, then felt along my sides to determine what I wore. Maddening tingles shivered over my skin as his hands slipped down my waist, to my hip, to the hem of my dress. He lifted and pulled it off me, letting it fall to the floor to join the sweater.

Down to my bra and panties now, I watched his sightless gaze sweep over me, seeing nothing, and yet I felt beautiful in his eyes—more beautiful as a woman standing before a man than I ever had before.

Noah took a half step closer and encircled me in his arms. He unclasped my bra and started to pull it off my shoulders, pausing just long enough to whisper in my ear, “I want to touch you.” The bra fell to the floor.

I nodded weakly and he held me close for a moment, warming me with his body.

Then his hands slid down my naked back, over my panties, and we both moaned as he ground me against him. Then back up, his hands surged into my hair, and he angled my head to kiss me deeply. He held me there with one hand while his other slipped down, over my collarbone, and down to my breast.

He groaned into my mouth as his hand cupped me, his thumb sliding over my nipple that was already hard and aching for him. He brought his other hand to join the first, and explored my breasts, kneaded them, felt their weight in his hands with exquisite audacity.

I clutched his waist, dizzy with the sensations he was creating in me. Shards of electric pleasure radiated out to all parts of my body, and converged between my thighs. I wasn’t cold anymore; I couldn’t remember what cold felt like. I was on fire.

He walked backward, leading us to the bed. When the back of his knees found the edge, Noah lifted me with a feral growl, turned around, and laid me on my back on the bed. I immediately drew him down on top of me.

He braced himself on his forearms over me, kissing me with teeth and lips, and his tongue that was so sweet despite its insistence. And the weight of Noah on me…God, that alone was driving me crazy. He was so tall and strong and lean, and I couldn’t quite grasp that the gorgeous man I’d seen in that Planet X promo shot was now on top of me and kissing me as if his life depended on it.

His moan filled my mouth, and he pressed his body against mine, his hard muscles against my soft breasts, his erection grinding into the cleft of my thighs, and my hips rising and falling in answer. I gasped, reveling in his arousal—one that I had created—since he’d told me it hadn’t happened since the accident.

I’d never wanted a man so badly but there was too much clothing between us. I started to lift his shirt when Noah broke our kiss like a man coming up for air.

“Wait, wait…Damn…Oh, god, wait…” He shifted his weight to the bed and fought to catch his breath. “I’m sorry…it’s just…sensory overload. I haven’t felt anything in months and now I’m feeling everything all at once.”

I took a breath to calm my own racing heart. “It’s okay,” I said, stroking his cheek. “I’m sorry, I should have thought of that.”

He shook his head, his voice gruff. “You couldn’t know. I didn’t.”

“Maybe we can just…slow down?” I ran my hands over his biceps and up the bunched muscles of his shoulders gently, slowly, to match my words. “Are you still…aroused?”

He coughed a small laugh. “To say the least.”

“Then let me.”

I kissed him again, though it was hardly a kiss. My lips hovered over his while my tongue swept across his. I drew his lower lip into my mouth, sucked it for a moment before letting go.

“Jesus, Charlotte…”

I pushed him back onto the pillows. He brought one leg up to hide the evidence that strained against his pants, but not before I could see that part of him was just as impressive as the rest. The throbbing between my own legs increased, and I wanted to straddle him until we both came undone, but I had to wait. His senses were in overdrive to make up for his lost sight, and he hadn’t touched anyone in months.

I scooted up so that my body was flush with his and trailed little feathery kisses along his neck, my tongue darting now and then to taste the warm, faint saltiness of his skin. He smelled so good. Masculine and clean, whatever it was that made him, him.

His breathing increased at once, and my hand on his chest felt the pounding of his heart. My hand went lower. At the hem of his shirt, I slipped under, to feel the hard lines of his abs, so tight and hard they hardly seemed real to me. He sucked in a breath, and those muscles contracted under my touch.

“Noah, your body,” I breathed. “My god…”

I nuzzled his neck now, as my hand went lower, touching him for the first time. He let out a harsh exhale and closed his eyes. “Oh, Christ…”

Slowly, slowly, I stroked him over the smooth material of his pants, and then ventured under the waistband, under his boxer-briefs, until my hand closed around the warm, hard length of him.