Page 25 of Speak No Evil

She lay back, and he stretched over her, caressing her with both hands and lips. Her insides melted. When he braced himself on his elbows, licking down and over her breast, her pulse galloped. The brush of his beard sparked unexpected shivers. His fingers popped the button on her jeans and slid the zipper lower. He slipped his hand down to caress the center of her desire before giving her a devilish smile. “You want me.”

He didn’t bother to ask, but there was no denying the truth. She smiled back. “We still have on too many clothes.”

He pushed her hands away, whispering roughly, “Let me.”

Bending his head to take her mouth again, he rose and discarded his own clothes.

She looked up at him, letting herself feast on his long, hard body, a body without an ounce of fat, a body very eager to get on with what they were doing. She wanted to be close to him, skin to skin.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice nothing more than a rasp. He planted a knee on the cushion and slowly peeled off the rest of her clothes, kissing each newly exposed inch.

She gasped. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to explode.”

“Good,” he murmured against her upper thigh. The brush of his breath tightened her skittering nerves. She fought the urge to both push him away or pull him closer. Then he touched her core with his fingers. And his tongue. She moaned, unable to keep from slipping into a vortex of sensation. He moved up to kiss her just as she came apart.

The heat rippling through her finally subsided. Will cradled her, and she teased her fingers down on muscled arm. “This is not fair. I’m getting all the attention.”

“We’re not through, are we?”

“No, but?—”

He pressed his fingers against her lips. “I’ll be right back.”

Will left the room and returned with a foil packet and a chenille blanket. He set them both conveniently at hand. “In case you get cold.”

She smiled “I doubt I’ll be getting cold anytime soon.”

“Not if I can help it.” He came down beside her again, and before she could count to five, his mouth was everywhere, urgently kissing and nibbling. The sweet pressure built all over again. She closed her eyes, intent on holding off until he could join her.

“Hurry.” She urged.

He sheathed himself and braced himself above her, his fingers tangling in her hair. “Look at me, Gwen.” He held her gaze, easing himself inside her, watching her expression. “This okay?”

She nodded and then lost herself to the exquisite tension building between them.

Sometime later, as their bodies cooled, Will spread the blanket over them. She snuggled against his chest under the spread . She wanted to relax, enjoy this moment of togetherness, but perverseness urged her to set the record straight immediately. “Will…”

“Hmm.”

She should probably move to a chair to say this, but his embrace and his hard muscles pressed to hers felt so good that she couldn’t resist resting her head on his shoulder. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“What idea would that be?” His brows lifted.

“Thinking I’m playing with you.”

He stilled then stroked his fingers down her arm. “Why would I think that?’

“I’m coming off a bad experience with a guy. A romantic relationship,” she tried to clarify, but probably none of this was making sense to Will.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me, too. Mostly because it’s destroyed my confidence.”

A frown rumpled his forehead. “You seem self-assured to me. How else would you have gotten that research job at a world-famous university? You insisted on meeting me tonight and took the necessary steps to get there.”

“What I meant was, I fell for this other guy too soon, and I guess I idolized him to some degree. He could do no wrong, but whenever I wanted him to meet Uncle Tim and Aunt Kathy, he invented an excuse. When he kept stalling, I confronted him and discovered he was dating me simply to make his quote one-true-love unquote jealous. He didn’t want to leave the city because he needed to finesse meeting her when I was with him. He wanted to make her jealous. His former girlfriend had apparently refused to continue seeing him because she thought him self-centered.”

“Sounds like he proved that true, Gwen.” Will smoothed her hair off her face and cupped her cheek. “No one likes being used, but I met your family.”

---