Page 13 of I Dream of Danger
No. Better.
Because she hadn’t realized how alive this would make her feel. Hot and buzzing with life right down to her fingertips. These past years she knew she was alive because she ate and drank and cared for her father, but she hadn’t felt alive, not in any way. Colors were muted, food tasted like cardboard, eating something she had to force herself to do. She had to remember to eat and drink and go to bed.
She had to work really hard to get up in the morning.
And now? Now she was one with the earth. Now she could leap mountains, breathe fire—now she could fly.
It was her first, but she’d known instinctively how to kiss Nick. Her mouth had known. Her breasts had known to rub against his strong chest because they knew better than she did how good it would feel. And her hips all by themselves knew to move back and forth and feel him as he grew.
He grew erect because of her! He was excited by her! She turned him on, and that was the greatest turn-on she could possibly imagine.
It was what she thought it would be, except better, and hotter, and more exciting.
Kissing him—no wonder she’d never tried to kiss anyone else…how could any man’s kiss compare to Nick’s? Every time his tongue touched hers, her skin prickled with electricity. Every time she felt that hard club rubbing against her stomach, the muscles in her thighs pulled and her vagina clenched, as if seeking to pull him inside her quickly.
This was fast, but it felt like she’d been preparing her entire life for this, for feeling Nick against her, soon inside her, for him to be a part of her in the truest possible sense.
The words came out of her mouth without any volition on her part, low and sexy, so unlike her voice it took her a second to recognize the fact that she was the one who’d spoken. It felt like it wasn’t her vocal cords that spoke, but her belly, the area between her thighs. The words simply welled up from deep inside of her.
“Take me to bed, Nick.”
This was the way it was supposed to be. At her lowest point, after years of grayness, merely existing, watching her father’s decline, at precisely this point Nick came back. As if the gods had sent him, as if the earth and the sun and the moon had sent him. An emissary from the forces of life to drag her back from the verge of death. She didn’t question it any more. He was here. He was supposed to be here. And they were supposed to be together.
Elle had never felt anything this strongly in her life. Nick was hers, she was his.
Waiting made no sense whatsoever. Not to mention the fact that her body was on fire.
Nick looked down at her and she memorized his features all over again. His face had been so clear to her that all she had to do was close her eyes and she could conjure him up. But this new Nick was even better than the old Nick. Not just handsome, but fully a man. Face filled out more, a few lines around his eyes, jaw more prominent. She studied every feature eagerly, because this was the Nick that was going to be hers. This hard man with a hard face but looking at her with tenderness in his dark eyes.
“To bed,” she whispered, just in case he hadn’t heard her.
His lips curved. He was devastating when he smiled. Her heart simply turned over.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and bent his knees slightly and swung her up in his arms.
Oh yes. Yes yes yes.
She’d dreamed of this for years. For half her life, it seemed. Nick and her, heart to heart. Him carrying her wherever he wanted her to go. And she wanting to go wherever he took her.
Maybe this was a dream, after all, because it felt like Nick floated up the stairs with her in his arms instead of climbing them. His movements were smooth and effortless, not at all as if he were carrying an adult woman. Her arms were around his shoulders and she could feel the power in his muscles as he carried her—a deep strength, greater than that of any other man she’d ever seen. All the other men she’d ever seen in her life faded to background noise, pale simulacra of men.
Oh God, this was Nick!
In a sudden burst of joy, she leaned forward and kissed him, deeply, fully. Everything she needed to know about kissing Nick had taught her in an instant. She’d simply followed his lead and every second of it was pure joy. She opened his mouth with hers, tightening her arms around his neck, licking into his mouth, trembling. One hand moving through his short hair to hold his head tightly against her, though he wasn’t making any signs of wanting to pull away.
Her back hit the wall as he swung her around and pressed into her, taking over the kiss. Possessing her, mouth eating at hers, tongue tasting her deeply.
It was overwhelming, she could hardly breathe, hardly think. Pleasure swamped her as she panted.
Suddenly Nick lifted his head and she could see the changes the kiss had made in him. His dark hair stood up and the half smile had gone. His eyes were narrowed, serious, the skin over his cheekbones flushed. His mouth was dark red, swollen, wet. He looked dangerous.
Now he looked as if he was having trouble carrying her but it wasn’t that. He was aroused. His breath came in and out in short pants and she could feel him trembling.
She’d done that. Oh yeah. She’d smile at the thought but it wasn’t a moment for smiling. It was too big and too serious.
“You do that again and I’m having you right on the stairs,” he said, voice low and dark.
For a second, she didn’t understand what he was saying and then she did. Her thighs clenched at the image his words conveyed, both of them naked and writhing on the stairs.
