Adam pressed his lips against the soft fullness just below her navel. “Enjoy that?”
If she opened her mouth, she was sure only incomprehensible babble would come out, so she merely nodded.
His journey continued onward, his hands caressing her hips, the small of her back, her waist, followed as always by his lips. When he came to her breasts, she’d recovered enough to let him know how much she was enjoying his attention with a series of moans and sighs. She traced her fingers along his well-muscled back, pausing to dig her nails into his skin when he took her nipples between his teeth and sent a sharp pang of pleasure straight to lowest recesses of her pelvis.
By the time he made it to her lips, her body was demanding release. Her hips ground against him, searching for the firm rod of flesh she wanted inside her. And still, he took his time teasing her. His weight settled on her, pinning her against the mattress. His fingers threaded through hers, raising them above her head. His rigid cock pressed into her thigh, inches away from the opening of her sex. His mouth swallowed her cries of protest in a slow, easy kiss.
At last, his lips came to the top of her forehead, and he gave her a crooked grin. “Now I’m ready to make love to you properly.”
He rolled off her long enough to slip a condom on. Then he slid into her with the same agonizing slowness he’d employed up to this point. Last night, they’d rushed to their climax. Tonight, he seemed determined to take his sweet time.
He built up his rhythm, sliding in and out of her with a control she wished she could master. Instead of a series of sharp jabs, his strokes were long and languid. Each one drew out the exquisite friction that made her breath catch and her stomach tighten.
“I love watching you enjoy me.” He raised his hips and lowered them, reaching the deepest recesses of her sex. “I love watching your face light up as you come. I love listening to the little sounds of pleasure you make every time I slide into you.”
His words proved to be as potent an aphrodisiac as his touch. Her pulse quickened, and she tightened her hold on him in preparation of the wild rush she knew awaited her when she came. “I love that fact you want to make love to me like this,” she whispered.
His body shuddered against her, and his voice bore the strain of his control. “Oh, Lia, I want every night to be like this—just you and me.”
“So do I.”
Her response seemed to break the restraint he’d shown all evening. His movements became quicker, more erratic. He shifted his hips, changing the angle of penetration so it hit the one spot that would send of her over the edge. She squeezed her arms around him, gulping for air, gritting her teeth as she foolishly tried to delay the inevitable. But it was all for naught. Her orgasm boiled up inside her and erupted with a bone-shivering vengeance.
“So beautiful, Lia.” Adam’s pace sped up, finally seeking his own release. “So beautiful when you come.”
Then his words morphed into a low groan, and he stilled. His jaw fell slack. A look of bliss washed over his features. “Oh, God, Lia,” he said in a hoarse whisper before collapsing on top of her.
She held him as his body twitched with the last waves of his release, stroking his hair and wondering when exactly she’d fallen completely head-over-heels in love with Adam Kelly.
A touch as light as angel wings pulled Adam from the abyss of ecstasy. He inhaled Lia’s scent, the sweet notes of peaches reviving his weary muscles. As much as he enjoyed coming inside her, it was the quiet moments in her arms afterward that he looked forward to.
He propped himself up on his elbows and soaked in the radiance of her face, trying to find the right words to express the jumble of emotions swirling inside his chest.
“Satisfied?” she asked.
“For now.” He rolled to the side, taking her with him so they were lying together the exact same way they had this afternoon. Her soft hair fanned out across his arm, and her leg draped over his thigh. Perfect. Things couldn’t get more perfect than this.
Except there was more he wanted to say to her. His gaze drifted over the closed laptop on his desk and the angry e-mail he’d received from Ray after Adam told him he was going to renew Lia’s lease. Doubt had plagued him all the way from his condo to La Arietta. Had he made the right choice? Would giving Lia what she wanted be worth the risk of lawsuits and the loss of investment capital Ray could provide?
But once he saw her in action, his mind eased. Lia was in her element in the kitchen. Her cheeks glowed with excitement as she prepared one dish after another, her eyes following each plate as it went out the door like a proud parent. He’d stood there in the back of the kitchen for almost half an hour before she finally noticed him, but the glimpse he’d gotten settled any lingering questions he had. He couldn’t give her the moon, but he could give her the one thing she loved above everything else.
Adam had planned on telling her tonight, but he feared ruining the moment if he brought up the subject right now. Instead, he focused on matching the rise and fall of his chest to hers. “I could die a happy man right now.”
She threw her arm around his chest and hugged him. “Me, too.”
His heart squeezed tighter. Lia had become the one thing he desired more than anything in his whole life. “I want to spend every night like this, Lia, with you lying next to me.”
She lifted her head from his chest, her lips parted and her brows drawn together. She searched his face as her fingers trailed along his chest, finally settling over his heart. A small smile appeared. “And you always get what you want.”
“Yes, as long as you’re willing to stay here.”
The crease reappeared above her nose. What had he said that caused her concern?
Before he could ask, his phone rang. This time, however, it was Bates’s ringtone. What would possess him to call this late at night?
A second ring tone pierced the silence, and Lia jumped. The two phones continued to ring, each one echoing the other, demanding their attention until Adam grabbed his and stepped into the living. “What is it, Bates?”
Lia’s phone stopped ringing as well, followed by the hushed sound of her voice as she answered.
“Mr. Kelly, there’s been a fire in the Michigan Avenue property.”
Chapter Fourteen
A sheen of sweat broke out over his skin. “Where in the building?”
“The top floor, from what I’ve been told.” Shit! La Arietta. He sucked in a breath and held it, praying he’d heard Bates wrong. “I’m en route now to see if I can get in and assess the damage.”
“I’ll meet you there.” He hung up and stood outside his bedroom door, listening for Lia. When no sound came from the room, he gently pressed on the door to open it.
Lia sat on the edge of the bed, the phone cradled in her hands. Wet lines streaked down her pale face. She stared straight ahead like a statue, letting her tears fall.
A crushing sensation of helplessness engulfed him. If he could wave a magic wand, the spell he’d cast would keep her from ever learning the truth about the fire. Instead, he settled for the role of being the person she could lean on in this time of trouble. He found her clothes and laid them next to her. “Lia, let’s get dressed and go see the damage.”
Her shoulders shook, lightly at first but quickly growing into a sob that wracked her entire body. He sat next to her and held until her initial grief passed and the flow of her scalding tears ebbed.
“We’ll get through this together, Lia,” he whispered. “I promise.”