Page 49 of Wedding Season
“Ditto,” she repeated then licked her dry lips. “I want to be with you, Alex.” The sentence left her feeling both exposed and exhilarated.
Alex’s dark gaze intensified, both sexy and somehow reassuring. Mariella realized she felt safe with him. She wouldn’t have guessed that mattered, but her chest tightened and goose bumps erupted along her skin. Safe was a turn-on. Who knew?
She took a step back and shed her sweatshirt. “Tell me more about wanting me. I’m detail-oriented, you know.”
He looked like he wanted to smile but then his gaze raked over her body and his expression went serious, almost reverent.
“That makes two of us,” he said as he closed the distance between them and cupped her breasts. He peeled down the lacy edge and swirled his tongue over one pebbled peak.
Detail-oriented didn’t do him justice, she realized as he lavished attention on her body. She hadn’t ever considered the possibility of finding release just from second base, but her knees went weak as he continued his ardent ministrations. His tongue did the most amazing things, quickly followed by nips and kisses.
He wrapped a supportive arm around her as if he knew she was about to melt into a puddle of lust at his feet.
At this point, she didn’t even care about holding back. She wanted him. Every part of him.
They made it to the bed, and he curled his fingers in the waistband of her cotton pants. The air felt cool on her fiery skin as he pulled them down her legs.
He toed off his shoes then stripped out of his jeans with practiced efficiency to join her. The first man she’d allowed into her bed since her broken engagement.
The only man she could imagine wanting there.
He’d pulled a condom packet from his wallet, so she expected things to move fast from there, but once again, Alex did the unexpected.
He gave her a long, deep kiss then trailed his mouth down her body as if he wanted to memorize every inch of her by taste and feel. When he stopped at the apex of her thighs, she thought about protesting.
That was too much, too intimate, too vulnerable for her. But she couldn’t find her voice or the real desire to make him stop. In fact, she heard the wordyesescape her lips, the answer to a question she wasn’t even sure he’d asked out loud.
The encouragement seemed to be exactly what he wanted, and he licked along her center, sparks shooting through her as he teased and coaxed her with his tongue and teeth.
Oh, he knew his way around a woman’s body. Or maybe it was just her reaction to him. He hummed her name, and she fisted her hands in his hair. Her back arched as he drove her out of her mind with pleasure. She lost herself to it, shocked when the explosion pulsed through her, far more quickly and with more intensity than she could have imagined.
She hadn’t ever imagined feeling the shuddering bliss Alex gave her.
When he moved back up her body, she reached out and grabbed the condom he’d tossed onto the bed next to them.
Because as amazing as her release had been, she still wanted more.
Rolling the condom over his hot length, she nudged him between her legs, reveling in the heat she felt rolling off him in waves.
“Tell me again you want this,” he said, his voice hoarse with need.
“More than I want my next breath,” she answered. She cradled his face between her hands. “I want you, Alex.”
“Ditto,” he told her then gripped her hips and plunged into her, filling her in a way that felt so right.
They set the rhythm together, steady as they moved as one. Emotions shimmered through her like hummingbird wings, delicate in a way that could terrify her if she let them. So she concentrated on the sensation of their joining, the way he whispered her name like a prayer, and the passion that flamed between them.
She wasn’t inexperienced, but this felt new and precious. Her eyes drifted closed as the release washed through her, not as sharp or surprising as the first time. It was like being bathed in golden light and she cried out Alex’s name then heard his answering groan as he found his own climax.
After, he relaxed next to her, pulling her close until she was wrapped around him.
“You okay?” he asked. She knew he wasn’t talking about physically.
“Yeah,” she answered, surprised to find it true. “I’m good.”
“Me, too.” His fingers gently stroked along her back as their breathing returned to normal.
Questions pinged through her mind, but none of them needed answering at the moment. Right now, she wanted to simply enjoy this...whatever it turned out to be.
