Though Arden had wanted to take Keera home right then and there, she refused, telling him they’d all know exactly why they were leaving. He’d argued that it didn’t matter, but she’d won the moment she said her reputation mattered to her. He’d never want her placed in a position where she felt compromised.
So instead of them both being satisfied, he’d brought her back to the table and spent two solid hours of torture next to her while her fingers trailed up and down his thigh beneath the safety of the tablecloth. He was barely able to speak more than a few words here and there between courses.
One thing Arden knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was that Keera was vulnerable, and he had to proceed carefully. He didn’t want just this night with her, he wanted forever, but he had to be damn careful with how he presented that.
Arden had zero doubt Keera had feelings for him. She was just so used to putting her own needs and desires at the back of her mind, it would take him time to get her used to embracing what she felt and trusting those emotions, trusting that desire. He could take his time, because he knew in the end, they’d make magic together. She was worth the wait.
Right now, though, he had to sate his hunger. It had been two weeks since they’d made love, and that was far too long. He’d only had her that one night, and it had consumed him, body and soul.
Saying goodbyes as quick as he could manage without rushing Keera or embarrassing her by dragging her caveman-style from the lounge, he let out his first breath of air as they stepped outside and waited for his car to be brought to them. When they got inside, Keera turned and looked at him, her lips parted, her eyes bright.
“If you keep looking at me like that, we won’t make it back to the house,” he warned, his voice a dangerous growl.
Her eyes widened, but not in fright—in unadulterated excitement. That had his body throbbing even more. He let out a low growl before slamming the car into drive and flooring it. It was only a few miles home, and if he had to count every single line on the road to keep them from crashing, that’s what he’d do.
Keera wisely kept on her side of the vehicle, though he could see how she shifted in her seat, how her legs rubbed together as she fought the ache consuming her. They were both burning up from waiting so long to sate this need.
They pulled into his garage, and he wasn’t even sure if he managed to get his car into park before slamming open his door and jogging around to her side of the vehicle. He took her hand and pulled her to him, giving her a hard kiss before both of them rushed toward the door.
They didn’t make it past the first wall in his house before he pushed her against it, his head lowering, his kiss unrestrained as his lips captured hers, wordlessly stating his intentions. She groaned into his mouth as she reached up, her fingers tangling in his hair as she wiggled against him.
Arden was sure the wall was the only thing keeping the two of them upright. He reached down, cupping her firm ass, squeezing as he lifted her from the ground, and pushing forward, letting her feel how hard he was, how much he needed her. She moaned her approval as her fingers fisted in his hair, pulling him closer.
He reached down lower and cupped her thigh, lifting her leg, incredibly happy with the high slit in the side of her dress. Still, the sound of the material ripping echoed through the hallway as he pushed between her legs. He’d get her a new dress. This one might get shredded.
“There are too many clothes in the way,” he said, not recognizing his voice. He spoke against her jaw, then kissed his way to her neck and sucked on the tender skin where her pulse was beating out of control.
“I need you, Arden,” she said, her voice scratchy, wanton.
“You have me,” he promised. In so many more ways than one. “We need a bed.”
He lifted her, his arm beneath the curve of her ass, as he held her leg with the other. She let out a giggle at the position as he began moving down the hallway. He’d been fantasizing about her in his bed again for too long.
He made it to his room, then pressed her against the wall again, unable to go a single step farther without tasting her sweet lips. As she pulled up her other leg, the dress gave out as she wrapped herself around him, her hot core pressed against him.
Dammit! There should be no clothes between them. If he could let go of her for a few seconds, he could remedy that. But even a few seconds was too long in his heightened state.
Keera let out a cry of pleasure as he ran his fingers up her sides, squeezing her luscious breasts. Her nipples pebbled in his palms, and he needed to taste them.
With more effort than he thought he was capable of in that moment, he moved away from the wall, walking to the bed without his lips leaving hers. Only when he felt the mattress against his legs did he lower her, his body immediately aching when she wasn’t pressed up against him.
But it was almost worth it to take a step back, to see the flush of her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes, the tangle of her hair.
“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he said, filled with awe.
“Oh, Arden,” she said, her arms stretching out to him.
He wanted nothing more than to rip their clothes away and sink deep within her folds. But he also needed to touch and taste every inch of her. He needed to claim her, for her to be his from this night until forever.
He knelt next to the bed, and she whimpered until he took her delicate feet in his large hands and undid the clasps of her sexy-as-hell shoes. He pulled them off and kissed the tops of her feet as he squeezed them. She lay back and moaned.
He ran his hands up her calves, kneading them, appreciating the firmness of her body, how every square inch of her turned him on. He ran his tongue along the inside of her thighs, pushing them apart as he took his time tasting her, appreciating her, building her pleasure to nearly unbearable heights.
He reached the top of her legs, and only a tiny wisp of lace was keeping him from touching her. Easily, he slipped his fingers beneath it and flicked them across her tender flesh, making her scream out his name as her hips arched off the bed.
“You are so damn responsive,” he said as he slid his fingers inside her, her core hot and wet and ready.
He needed to see what he was touching, so he pulled from her, making her whimper her displeasure at the loss of his touch. But he reached to her side and found the zipper on the dress, pulling it down, and finally freeing the material.
He tugged the dress away, nearly going insane when he found she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her breasts came free, her nipples hard, her chest heaving. With the slightest of tugs, her panties were gone, and there she was before him—beautiful, hot, and waiting.
He leaned back down and ran his tongue across her slick opening. She arched again as her fingers fisted in the blankets. He pushed open her thighs and didn’t hold back as he devoured her, running his tongue across every sensitive millimeter of her, circling his lips over her swollen clit and sucking until she begged for mercy.
He flicked his tongue across her flesh again and again, and when he slid his fingers inside her, she screamed, this time her body coming undone as she squeezed him, her orgasm taking her away on a perfect escape.
“More,” she groaned, her body still gripping his fingers. “I want you, all of you,” she said, her words barely distinguishable.
“Yes, Keera, more,” he said.
He climbed up her body, finally getting to taste her ripe nipples, licking and sucking them as she wrapped her legs around his waist and pushed upward, moaning her frustration at the barrier of his clothes preventing them from becoming one.
“Please, take me, please,” she said as he sucked hard on her nipple.
“Yes,” he agreed. She reluctantly released him, and he tore his clothes away, then grabbed a condom and rolled it on before he was finally lying against her with nothing to keep them apart.
As soon as her legs were wrapped around him, as soon as his thickness was resting against the safety of her hot folds, the urgency that had filled him dimmed. He was right where he needed to be, and it gave him a sense of peace.
He gently rocked his hips, rubbing against the outside of her, against her throbbing flesh, as he savored this moment. He didn’t want this night to ever end. Only when she opened her passion-filled eyes did he finally begin to sink inside her, slowly, surely, fully.
“Oh yes, yes, yes,” Keera said as her legs clasped him tightly and her fingers clutched the back of his head. “Don’t ever stop, Arden, never,” she begged.
He knew exactly how she felt. “I’ll make love to you all night,” he said, knowing he could be happy doing nothing more than lying in her arms day and night.
He moved slowly in and out of her, but soon the need was too great. She squirmed beneath him, and his body throbbed. He needed to give her another release, and take one for himself.
They’d make love all night, but some of this hunger had to abate first or they were both going up in flames. With a fierce cry, he grabbed her hips and slammed inside her, making her eyes snap back open as she looked at him in awed delight.
“Yes!” she encouraged, her fingernails digging into his shoulders as she trembled beneath him. He moved faster, nearly pulling out of her before hammering back down, over and over again, the room filled with cries of their pleasure and the slapping of their skin hitting together.
With a shudder, Keera’s body tensed as she leaned against his shoulder, her teeth biting down on him, her core squeezing his erection harder with each contraction.
He let go, pushing deep inside her as his own release overtook him, fire and ice tingling through his body as he swelled within her, throbbing with the force of his release.
When they both stopped shaking, he collapsed on top of her, not willing to pull from her tight body, not willing to let this connection between the two of them end. The first time they’d made love had been amazing; this time it had been otherworldly.
“You’re mine, Keera,” he said against the soft, damp skin of her neck.
“I’m yours,” she said, her voice sated, her body clinging to his just as much as he was holding on to her.
They might have lain that way for seconds, minutes, or hours. Arden didn’t know. But soon she began moving her hips—small, gentle thrusts as her lips trailed their way across his neck. Yes, it was time for more. It would always be time for more. She was his, and he would show her exactly what that meant.