Page 66 of Breaking the Ice

Before she could protest, his fingers were stroking her belly as they tugged at the bow of her dress and somewhere in the mush her brain had become Samantha was aware it was her last defense. Once it was gone the fabric would part and there would only be two wispy pieces of lace between him and her bare flesh.

Time for some cover.

Reaching over, she located the switch on the bedside lamp and turned it off just as he parted the fabric. Darkness enveloped them once again and she relaxed. But only for a moment as the light suddenly flicked on again.

“I want to look at you.”

“I look better in the dark.” Lifting her head to kiss him, she groped for the switch again, flipping it off.

He chuckled against her mouth and it was such a turn-on Samantha almost forgave him his persistence as the light came back on.

“Sam.” He stared down at her in earnest. “I’m here. You can take it as a given that I want to see you naked. In fact, I’ve been fantasizing about unwrapping you from this dress all day.”

Samanthawantedto undulate her body at his words and the way he was eating her up with his eyes but her instincts, as per usual, were tohide. She knew she shouldn’t be letting years ofinternalized body shaming mess with this moment but try as she might, she couldn’t suppress the cringe. So… out the light went.

And on it came again.

“Nick!” Samantha squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to cover as much of her body with her arms as possible.

“You’re beautiful, Samantha,” he said quietly.

Gently, he tugged the arm over her breasts away and Samantha shivered, her flesh stippling in goosebumps, as his finger traced a line from the hollow at the base of her throat to the swell of her breast then into the dip to the front opening clasp.

“So beautiful.”

In one twist, he released the clasp and her breasts spilled free. His breath hissed out and she didn’t have to look at him to know he was staring right at them. They ached under the heat of his gaze, her nipples tingling as they puckered to tight points. The wanton in her wanted to arch her back, give him a show but she lay passively, shutting her eyes.

“Look at me.”

Samantha swallowed. “No.”

She couldfeelthe intensity of his gaze on her nakedness. On her less-than-flat stomach. On her thighs dimpled with cellulite. On her breasts that fell softly to the side.

Really, was having sex in the dark too much to ask? It washerbirthday after all.

“You’re gorgeous,” he murmured, dipping his head to nuzzle her throat as he caged both her arms above her head. “Every part of you is sexy and I’m going to prove it. I’m going to kiss and lick and suck every inch of your skin. Every” – he kissed each closed eye – “inch. And when I’ve done that,” he whispered, grazing her ear with his lips, “I’m going to do it again until, light or no light, you’re begging me for more.”

Samantha swallowed. His hot breath in her ear and his whispered promise was incredibly arousing but did he really mean it? Did hereallyfind her desirable?

His tongue did the talking then, wandering down her neck, inching along her collarbones and drawing a wet line between the valley of her breasts before moving across to claim first one nipple then the other. A strangled moan escaped her throat as the hot wet heat of his mouth teased them mercilessly. When he grazed his teeth along the tip of each rosy peak she cried out in pure ecstasy.

Jesus.He was really good at this, turning her body into a quivering mass. But her brain was on a treadmill of doubt and insecurity.

What if, despite all this, he had his first failure?

“You’re thinking,” he murmured as his mouth returned for some more plundering.

Samantha moaned as sensations overwhelmed her and his lips moved south once more, his tongue leading the way again, dawdling across her belly then lower, licking wet circles close to the band of her underwear before edging away then heading back again. She tensed as he nuzzled the fabric on his way to her thighs.

“You’re still thinking,” he murmured as he pressed soft kisses to the flesh of her inner thigh.

Samantha swallowed as a hot tingle sparked between her legs. “I’m really trying to relax.” But he was close to ground zero andthe lights were on.

As if reading her mind, Nick kissed his way back up her body, his mouth landing on hers as he reached across and flipped the light off. Darkness fell around them and Samantha opened her eyes as every muscle that had been strung taut, let go.

Their gazes met and he murmured, “Hey there,” before he kissed her again, soft and gentle this time like she was the mostexquisite piece of expensive glass and shemeltedinto him as his hand brushed down her belly and slid into her underwear.

Shemoanedas his fingers found the slick heat of her, stroking along her aching sex and shegaspedwhen they found the heart of her and pushed inside. One finger. Then two.

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