Laving one of his nipples with the flat of her tongue, she unbuckled his belt, pulled his zipper carefully over his enormous erection, and let his trousers fall to pool around his bare feet. His briefs followed, which he promptly kicked aside, leaving him completely naked while she remained fully dressed.
"Consider it an invitation, a dare, a challenge."
She knelt in front of him, her palms sliding down his hair-roughened thighs as she went. "I'm game for any or all three."
He chuckled at her playful reply, then groaned as she wrapped her fingers around his aching shaft and stroked him from base to tip, drawing a bead of clear fluid from the head of his penis. Pulling the clip from her hair, he tangled his fingers in the spill of silky strands and dared her to indulge in a more carnal intimacy.
He watched his fantasy unfold as her lashes drifted shut, her lips parted, and she enveloped him in the wet heat and suction of her mouth. She teased him with her tongue, drawing him deeper still, and when she moaned in the back of her throat, the sound vibrated along his shaft and threatened his control.
Effortlessly, she'd taken over the reins of tonight's seduction. She pushed him to the brink, testing his restraint not once, but twice, before she finally stopped, leaving him full and throbbing for release. Refusing to go there without her along for the ride, he pulled her back up and captured her mouth with his, taking over with a challenge of his own.
Their tongues tangled and mated as he tugged the sleeves of her dress all the way down her arms. With a helpful shimmy of her hips, the sweater material slid the rest of the way off her body. When he finally stepped back and looked his fill of her, standing there in a strapless bra, barely there string-bikini panties and silky thigh-high stockings, the first thought that filled his mind was that she was a sexy centerfold come to life. His own personal playmate to enjoy and devour.
"This was definitely worth waiting for," he murmured appreciatively.
Dipping his head, he traced the full swells of her lush breasts with his tongue while reaching behind her to release the catch on her bra. The garment fell to the floor, and he latched onto a taut nipple, suckling her as his name tumbled from her lips. He cupped her other breast in his palm, fondling the warm, resilient flesh until the dual assault had her body twisting against him and her fingers digging into the muscles of his back.
He straightened, and with a hot, deep kiss he guided her back toward the foot of the bed and onto the center of the mattress. He didn't join her just yet, too enthralled by the sight of her lying there. Her blond hair haloed her head, her breasts rose and fell with each deep breath she took, those insubstantial panties covered her feminine secrets, and the provocative stockings encased her long, slender limbs.
Hooking his fingers beneath the thin strings at the sides of her panties, he dragged the damp scrap of fabric down her legs while his lips pressed hot, moist, openmouthed kisses up her thighs. His tongue tasted, his teeth marked her, and she writhed and moaned under his ministrations.
Once her underwear was off, she automatically opened her stocking-clad legs, issuing him the final invitation to come inside her. He did, using his tongue and fingers to make love to her and take her to the edge of orgasm. Again and again, he teased and tormented her with the promise of an explosive climax, just as she'd done to him.
When he was confident that she was primed for him and a few strokes away from release, he rolled on a condom and knelt between her legs. But instead of driving into her as she seemed to expect, he shoved a pillow beneath her bottom, raising her pelvis higher, and draped her thighs over his so that his pulsing cock nestled against the warmth and dewy wetness of her sex.
She looked up at him, a sultry smile on her lips. "You have a thing for pillows, don't you."
"It gives me better leverage, and deeper access." His hand smoothed down her fiat belly and his thumb pressed against her swollen clitoris, making her groan and grip the covers at her sides. "Do you mind?"
"Not at all. I'm all yours, to do with as you please." She dampened her bottom lip with her tongue and asked, "Aren't you going to take off my stockings?"
"No, I don't think I am." His other hand trailed over the strip of bare skin where the lacy bands of her stockings ended, and his stomach muscles constricted in restraint. "I find the contrast of sheer black nylon against your pale, creamy flesh highly erotic."
She blinked lazily, sensually. "You make me feel erotic."
Aching to be inside her, he guided the head of his shaft between her slick folds, found her opening and pushed forward, watching as she took the entire length of him. She made a small sound of pleasure as he buried himself to the hilt, though he didn't move or thrust, just savored the heat and tightness and wonder of being such an intimate part of her.
Keeping his finger on that pulsing nub of flesh at the hood of her sex, he lifted his gaze to hers. Now that he was inside her, he didn't want their lovemaking to end, though he knew it was inevitable. But before he sent them both soaring, he needed to know what was going through her mind, what was happening in her heart.
"What else do I make you feel?" he murmured, arousing her all over again with the slow, slick slide of his fingers.
"Desired," she whispered breathlessly, moving against him in an instinctive motion that drew him deeper. "And cherished."
Unable to hold off any longer, done tormenting them both, he gave her body what it craved, using a firm, seductive touch to make her unravel. He watched her beautiful expression as she came, savoring her soft cries of completion, determined to devote everything about this passionate moment, this woman, to memory, and praying she did the same.
Before the contractions ebbed completely, he moved over her, pressing her deeper into the mattress with the weight of his body, and the heavy, rhythmic glide of his thrusts. He entwined their fingers at the side of her head and she locked her heels at the base of his spine, the tilted angle of her hips granting him deeper penetration and greater friction.
She gasped as he pumped harder, higher, and he watched ecstasy play across her features as yet another orgasm convulsed through her. She quivered beneath him, her inner muscles tightening around his length, milking him with exquisite spasms and coaxing him over that razor-sharp edge of pleasure with her. Arching into her one last time, he tossed his head back with a low, primal growl and gave himself over to the branding heat and scorching climax that jolted down his spine and rocketed through his veins.
Utterly drained, he lowered himself fully on top of her, heartbeat to heartbeat, and kissed her tenderly, deeply, loathe to separate their bodies and shatter the cocoon of intimacy that was theirs alone to share. Possibly, for the very last time.
Minutes later, he lifted his head and smoothed her hair away from her face. "Are you okay?"
A soft smile curved her lips. "Mmm, never better." Her fingers touched his jaw, his lips, and she suddenly grew very serious. "I love you," she whispered, the truth of her emotions shining bright in her eyes, along with a wealth of trust that he didn't deserve. "I just needed to say the words out loud."
His chest tightened in response, and he swallowed hard. "I love you, too," he said, unable to deny what was in his own heart, as well.
She brought his mouth back to hers, sealing the profound moment with a slow, languid kiss that made both of their bodies quicken with renewed desire. And as Noah proceeded to make love to her again, he couldn't help but wonder what this night, and their declarations, would cost them both come the morning when he revealed the truth.
Noah had never been so afraid of losing anything in his entire life. From a very early age he'd learned to guard his thoughts and feelings, protect his emotions from potential pain, and form no attachments other than to his immediate family.