Page 43 of Release You

“Did you find anything?”

“No. Another bust.” I didn’t want to deal with the Pandora’s box I’d just found. Not while Nikki sat on a bed, in a dark room, away from the crowd. I stepped toward her, aching to touch her exposed legs and see if her skin was as soft as it looked.

As if she could read my thoughts, she jerked to her feet. “We should go. Someone might notice we’ve been gone a long while. You know, longer than necessary.”

“I’m sure there are several people downstairs keeping time. Thanks to you. That was quite a display.”

“Scandalous.” She laughed, standing inches from me.

I reached for her hand and squeezed her fingers. “We should go,” I whispered.

Her perfume sent a shot of desire through me. My whole body felt alive, just standing here, breathing the same air as her. She sighed, and that was my undoing. I cradled her neck and kissed her the way I’d wanted to do since I first saw her in the study downstairs. And for once, she didn’t pull away. Instead, her teeth grazed my bottom lip before she deepened the kiss.

“Are you sure?” I tugged at the velvet straps of her dress and slid them off her shoulders.

Her dress fell to her waist, and my self-restraint fell along with it. She buried her fingers in my hair. A gesturethat felt so intimate and familiar. When she pulled me toward her, I bent down and captured her hardened nipple in my mouth.

Was it so bad that I wanted her to replace the horrors in my past? Nikki was the only one who could make me forget about the life that was stolen from me. She was stolen from me too. But she was back, and I couldn’t let her walk away. My tongue circled the tip of her breast while I kneaded the other one, so full and supple. She felt so good.

“Sure of what?” She breathed into my ear, a sexy mix of a moan and a sigh.

“What are we doing, Nikki?”

“Oh, umm.” She stared at me, brows furrowed, as if considering her options. “I’m tired of hiding and shoving my feelings aside.” She reached inside my tuxedo jacket and untucked my dress shirt. Her hands on my bare skin put all kinds of bad ideas in my head.

“This would be a good time for you to say stop.” I pressed my forehead to hers. It hurt to want her this bad.

“This thing between us, I don’t see how I can stop it…I don’t want to.” She panted a breath.

“Let me taste you.” Gripping her waist, I walked her to the wall and pinned her against it.

The pounding in my chest drowned all sounds around us. With a sigh of surrender, she let her head fall back. I kissed her neck, gentle at first and then harder. Slowly, I nibbled on her chest, on the curve of her breast, and any patch of soft skin I could find before I fell to my knees between her legs.

CHAPTER 15

The Mesquite Tree

Nikki

He lifted the front of my dress and tucked it inside the waistband, where my spaghetti straps hung loose, while the one still strung around my nipple. I sighed and shoved my fingers into his hair again. Henry slid his hands up the underside of my thighs and fastened my leg over his shoulder. With his gaze never leaving mine, he moved my thong out of the way and drew circles on my slit with his tongue, over and over until I melted under his touch. He breathed me in. Omigod. When he’d said he wanted to taste me, he meant it.

“Henry.” I thrust my hips forward.

“I’m right here. Do you trust me?” His words vibrated across my core.

“Yes,” I whispered.

Or maybe I screamed it; I couldn’t tell. I couldn’t hear anything except my heart drumming in my ears and Henry’s voice. My body ached with need, need for Henry. In spite of everything that happened and all the time we spent apart, myfeelings for him never changed. I couldn’t keep lying to myself anymore. I wanted to feel again.

He pulled gently on the strap tangled on my breast as he drank more of me, blowing soft air and licking until I finally exploded. My orgasm came hot and slow, in waves at first and then all at once. All this time, I’d never allowed myself to fantasize about Henry or what he’d be like because I knew this couldn’t happen between us. Because I’d thought I needed to let him go. I was wrong. Henry and I were meant to be together. He was the only one for me. I leaned on his shoulder, feeling disoriented but also feeling so alive.

“You taste better than I imagined.” He kissed and sucked around my navel, kneading my ass as he rose to his feet.

When he met my gaze, he licked his lips and yanked at my strap to tease my hard nipple some more. I was a puddle of desire at his feet, and based on that satisfied smirk on his face, he knew it. He knew he could have any part of me right now.

I placed my hand on his chest, where his heart pounded as hard as mine. Maybe it was the side effects of the orgasm. Maybe I wasn’t thinking straight anymore. But right now, we belonged together. We owed this to ourselves. After so many years of loneliness, we’d earned this moment.

“I want all of you.”

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