Page 42 of An Heir Made In Hawaii (Hot Winter Escapes)

Anika stared at him. She’d been so prepared for him to tell her he couldn’t do this, to walk out, that for a moment she couldn’t process what he was saying. But as his words sank in, a cautious happiness began to spread.

“You’ve already been wonderful, Nicholas. The dates, reading articles, all of it—”

“Nice gestures,” he agreed. “Ones I will continue to do. But I want to do more. I want to be more.”

She gave in to temptation and reached out, cupping his jaw in one hand. “You will be, Nicholas. You are nothing if not stubborn. I know that if this is something you want, you’ll make it happen.”

His breath shuddered out. “Thank you, Anika. For trusting me. I know that’s not the easiest thing.”

“Neither is altering the entire course of your life.”

“No. But—” a smile spread across his face, stirring heat low in her belly “—after seeing what I saw today, I don’t want to be anywhere else but here.”

She wasn’t sure how long they sat there staring at each other, the only sounds the occasional crackle of a log in the fireplace or a creaking from above as the house settled. Did she move first? Did he lean forward?

Does it matter?

The thought flitted through her mind before their lips joined in a searing kiss.

Nicholas circled his arms around Anika’s waist and pulled her closer on the couch. Fire shot through him as she moaned and melted into his embrace, her hands coming up to rest on his shoulders as he kissed her.

It had been two months since they’d last kissed. Two months since he’d held her like this. So much had changed, including the desire he felt for her. Back in Hawaii, he had been consumed by his need to take Anika to his bed. Yet the numerous times they’d made love that night had only made his hunger grow. Never had he let down his guard with a lover before, trusted her enough to take control and surrendered himself to someone’s touch like he had with Anika.

The desire he felt now, while still laced with that ravenous edge that threatened to drive him mad, was deeper, even more possessive. Not just a carnal need to have her body joined with his, but a want for the woman who continued to impress him. When he’d seen the joy on her face as she’d seen their baby for the first time, heard the breathless happiness in her voice, something had shifted inside him. Something that now drove him to cradle her in his arms and force down the desire that threatened to overwhelm him.

He gentled his kiss, sliding his fingers into the thick silk of her hair and tilting her head back. When she moaned, he teased her lips with his tongue until she laughed, opening her mouth to him. He teased, coaxed, savored each taste, all the while wondering how he could have lasted so long without kissing her these past weeks.

“Where’s your room?” he asked as he moved his lips down to the pulse beating at the base of her throat.

“Third floor.”

“Of course.” His hands moved to her waist, his fingers slipping under the soft cashmere of her sweater and settling on her bare skin. Just the feel of her sent a hot bolt of need straight to his groin. “Do you trust me to carry you up three flights of stairs?”

“I do, but...” She pulled back, a shy smile curving her full lips up. “Can I tell you one of my fantasies?”

“Considering how hard just hearing the word ‘fantasy’ from your lips made me, yes.”

“I’ve always wanted to make love in a library.”

The woman constantly amazed him. How had he ever thought her stuck-up and cold?

“Then let’s make your dream come true.”

He gathered her in his arms and laid her down on the plush rug in front of the fire. He pulled her sweater off and unclasped her bra, baring her plump breasts to his hungry gaze. She stared up at him with a mix of shyness and desire that drove him wild. He stripped himself of his own shirt and circled his arms around her waist. She arched up into his touch and pressed her body against his as he bent his head. He captured one nipple in his mouth, sucking and kissing and licking her as she moaned, her fingers digging into his hair.

He continued his sensual onslaught on the other breast before moving lower and unbuttoning her jeans. He slid them off slowly, kissing her from the swells of her thighs down to her slender ankles. But when he moved back up her body, she sat up and put a hand on his chest as he reached for the waistline of her panties.

“I go first this time.”

Aroused beyond belief, he stood. She moved to her knees and unbuttoned his pants, sliding them over his hips with torturously slow movements. A groan escaped his lips when she wrapped her hand around the base of his erection. He looked down just as she licked him all the way to the tip.

“That feels so damned good,” he growled.

Her smug look of feminine satisfaction made him harden in her grasp.

“Good.”

She took him in her mouth, nails scraping lightly along his thigh as she sucked on him. His hands tightened into fists. Part of him wanted to let his body take over, enjoy the incredible sensations to the finish.

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