HIS HIPS PINNED me against the mirrored walls, his lips crashing to mine. Pleasure soared through me from the passion of his kiss and touch of his hands. I could taste the red wine he’d been drinking, berries with a hint of toffee, and the sweet mixture had me craving more.
My bag hit the floor when he spun us until he was against the wall and I was between his parted legs. I held him steady, right where I wanted him, and kissed him back with everything I had.
“God, you feel good,” he breathed, sucking the heated flesh on my neck. His hand travelled down the back of my thigh, lifting my leg at the knee. He jerked away when the doors opened, leaving me panting and breathless.
Nate grabbed my bag and dragged me into a private entry foyer, digging into his jacket for keys.
I took advantage of the brief interlude to pull some air into my lungs and straighten the drape of my neckline. He waved a card over a panel on the wall, and double mahogany entry doors automatically swung open and sensor lights came on.
Dragging me in for another kiss, we moved towards a sweeping staircase. “I want you naked,” he growled, tugging my bottom lip between his teeth.
“Hmm,” I murmured my agreement, already working on loosening the buttons of his shirt as we headed up the stairs.
“You turn me on so much. I’ve never craved someone as strongly as I do you.” Nate pulled the tie of my dress until it fell open. Both hands found their way to my breasts as a low rumble shook his body. I was crying out for his touch, longing for him to make love to me.
I tugged open his shirt and pressed my mouth to the base of his throat, over his collarbone and along his shoulder. He grappled with the cuffs and shrugged out of it. I lost my footing trying to walk backwards up the stairs and slipped, taking Nate with me.
“If you wanted missionary, you only had to ask,” he said gruffly, his smile against my mouth. “That had to hurt.”
I laughed, taking a minute to breathe. To look at him. To slow the uncontrollable passion down and appreciate being together again. “I’m fine.”
Nate sat back on his knees a few steps lower and spread my dress open with both hands, eyes ablaze as they ran over me. “Three days,” he muttered, sliding my panties down my legs. “Far too long without your sweet taste.”
His mouth was on me, hands pushing my legs wider. He teased my clit with flicks of his tongue, moaning his satisfaction. One hand dived into his hair, the other reaching for support from the iron filigree balustrades beside me. It was a potent image, seeing him feast on me, worshipping me with his mouth the way he did with the words that came out of it.
Hearing the unrestrained groans that told me what I did to him, how much I affected him, I shuddered with the first swell of orgasm. My head dropped back and my eyes closed as the quickening grew and took over. Then his mouth was gone.
“Wait,” I panted, “don’t stop!”
Nate reared over me, eyes wild with passion. “I want you in my bed,” he rasped, freeing me of my dress. With an arm beneath my arse, slipping off my shoes as we went, he carried me the last few stairs to his bedroom.
A small sound, like a whimper, escaped my mouth as my need for him became unbearable. He unclipped my bra and my heavy breasts sprung free as I shrugged it off and let it drop to the floor.
Cool fabric caressed my burning skin as I hit the bed. Nate covered me with his body, still clothed from the waist down and kissed me slow and deep. I arched my back, moaning into his mouth when my nipples brushed his bare chest.
“I’ve missed you.” Nate’s hands were in my hair, holding me still, lips moving over my face and neck. He lifted his hips when I reached for his belt, frantic to get him naked. I shoved his trousers over his arse, my hands sliding over it and urging him closer.
Nate rose and stripped by my feet. Gloriously naked, his beauty was breathtaking. My eyes drifted hungrily down to his cock. Three times. Three times he’d had his mouth on me, and not once had I enjoyed the same pleasure. I sat, deciding I’d waited long enough to taste him.
I stroked my fingers down his hard length, head to base and back again, watching it stir, feeling him throb in my hands when I curled my fingers around him. I could hear Nate’s breathing gradually becoming deeper and rougher. Before I took his cock and placed it right where I wanted to, I allowed my gaze to rise.
Hair that only a short while ago was neatly styled, now fell over his flushed forehead. Unfulfilled need blazed in those smoky eyes, and his sinful mouth was open to accommodate uneven gasps. His immense restraint was wavering with every breath.
“Later,” he growled, stepping back. “We both need to come, and I want it to be when I’m buried inside you.” Seeing his hands fist his cock, watching him roll the condom he took from his pocket down his thick length so blatantly sexually as his eyes fixed on me made me wet. He had me completely enthralled by the show.
Nate sat on the bed, tugged me onto his lap and sealed his mouth over mine. The slower he kissed me, the more he made my heart soar.
He guided the head of his cock over my opening, using my arousal to slide inside. I lowered, curling my arms around him, and buried my face in the crook of his neck.
“Slow,” he breathed into my shoulder. “I want to feel every move you make, every inch as you claim me, taking me in like you can’t get enough.”
“I can’t.”
Nate’s hands settled around me. I tipped my head back to see his face and began to move at an excruciatingly measured pace. I felt every slide in and out, every time he hit the hidden spot only he had ever reached. And I saw Nate feel it, too.
His eyes were dark, glassy, and expressing a million different emotions so clearly I was overcome.
“Nate.” I said his name helplessly. He was already inside my mind. With every caress and deliberate movement we made, he was entering my heart. When we made love, Nate made me feel cherished, wanted, courageous, and a little bit like me.
I craved that. I craved this.
“Let it all go,” he encouraged. “Let me in. Own me.” Nate held my nape, his right hand on my hip. “I’m yours, Kara. All yours…” His lips worked over my shoulder and down to my breasts.
My throat tightened. “So good,” I sobbed, eyes closing as an orgasm simmered low in my belly. “You’re too much.”
The strands of Nate’s hair entwined in my fingers were damp with the sweat from my body as I clung to him. Alight with all the sparks and tingles he could induce in me, I was near mindless with the urge to come.
I picked up the pace, hips churning against him. A low groan from Nate in my ear made me shudder, the effect scattering throughout my body. The exquisite feeling of my orgasm reached my groin, gradually spreading through every single cell of my body. I clawed his back, the powerfully lean muscles straining beneath his skin.
“Open your eyes, baby. Show me.”
I did. Nate saw me come undone, his wide gaze filling with wonderment. It was made all the more powerful, my thoughts buzzing with the intensity of those hauntingly expressive eyes as they glazed in ecstasy, fluttering briefly when his own release took over.
“Kara.” Raw waves of euphoria spread across his face, hips pumping up hard into me. My forehead fell to his. His breath hot and heavy, feathered over my flushed face. “This will never be enough for me.”
I tightened my arms and legs, crushing him to me so hard I could barely breathe. The strength of our connection, the way we’d made love, had shaken me once again. All my vulnerabilities came to the forefront of my mind. Sexually we were compatible, still, as much as we both enjoyed it—needed it—there had to be more to us. I wanted to know him, learn all about him as a man.
“You okay?” he asked quietly, tracing my collarbone with his fingertips.
Nodding, I touched his cheek, expressing how much I valued our relationship in that simple touch of adoration. This time, there was none of the apprehension, no worry or uncertainty. Elation and contentment shone brightly in his eyes, his smile was warm and sated. I collapsed onto the bed beside him and stretched my aching limbs.
“I’m gonna lose my mind over you.” Nate pressed a kiss above my navel and stood.
All too conscious of my nakedness, I grabbed a rumpled grey cashmere comforter from the upholstered ottoman bench at the foot of the bed and covered up. A slight frown wrinkled his brow. He dismissed his thoughts with a shake of the head. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” I said, lifting up onto an elbow.
“I’ll go wash up, then I’ll feed you.”
I admired his incredible body, still flushed and carried with immense poise and grace, move across the room and disappear down a small passageway.
Alone, I curled into the luxurious blanket. The bedroom was minimalist, with two traditional light grey suede armchairs facing the bed, and two smoky glass topped bedside tables the only pieces of furniture in the vast room. I scrunched the downy wool to my chest and let out a sigh.
Being with Nate gave me such an intense high, I worried the low would be too devastating for me to handle. I’d been with Stuart for two years and our break-up had ruined me. Two weeks with Nate, and I knew I’d be wrecked if it ended now.
I heard Nate finish in the en-suite and shuffled down the passageway with the blanket still tight around me. I found him in a massive walk-in closet.
“God,” I said quietly, using the wall for support. Grey drawstring pyjama bottoms hung low on his hips, drawing my eyes to his pelvis dipping below the waistband. I tucked some hair behind my ear, hot and bothered by the sexy sight in front of me. Nate shoved a drawer shut, eyes twinkling with wry awareness.
“That for me?” I nodded to the navy t-shirt in his hand.
“Um…” Nate pursed his lips, cocking his head in careful deliberation. “Nah, I don’t think so. I prefer you naked.” He shrugged it on, his smile wicked when the cotton cleared his head.
“Now you tell me.” I backed away as he prowled towards me. “And there I was, hoping you were interested in my brain.” Even though I tried passing it off, the cautious look Nate gave me said he knew I believed there was an element of truth in his statement.
“I’m interested in you,” he said when he reached me. He peeled the top back off and handed it over. “Every precious part of you, inside and out.”
Nate was straightening the bedcovers, waiting to take me downstairs when I came out from the bathroom. “Do you want to order in or have something from here?” he asked as we headed downstairs. He collected our discarded clothes from the staircase along the way and deposited them in the laundry room.
“You cook?”
He shrugged. “A little.”
“Then it would be rude to turn your offer down,” I said, following him into a breakfast room. “Maybe you can teach me? I’m terrible.”
We ended up in a vast contemporary chef’s kitchen. High-end stainless steel appliances were built-in to the chic carpentry of the units, a modern contrast to the period parquet flooring running throughout.
Nate set his phone on the thick white quartz countertop, opened up some wine and told me to get comfy. I settled onto one of the two white leather swivel barstools tucked under the large kitchen island that housed the stove and marvelled as Nate busied himself with preparing dinner.
Nothing sexier than a man who can cook, I told myself. Especially one doing it half-naked.
The conversation was easy between us as we ate a delicious warm lamb salad. When my bowl was empty and my belly full, I sighed contentedly, washing the last mouthful down with some wine.
“So,” Nate began, “want to discuss what’s going on in your head?”
“Pardon?”
He set his fork down and wiped the corners of his mouth with a black linen napkin. “I’m trying to understand how you can switch from being so open, so sure about us when we’re making love, yet decidedly uncertain of where we’re headed the rest of the time.”
I watched his fingers drift along my bare arm as I spun the stem of the crystal goblet.
“I see it in your eyes, Kara. The bareness of your soul when I’m deep inside you makes me crave you all the more. Uncontrollably so. Your vulnerability draws me to you. But when we’re like this,” he said, gesturing between us, “a shield forms around you to stop me getting close.”
The direct, albeit accurate observation, made me uncomfortable. I let go of the glass and clasped my hands in my lap, my whole body tensing.
“Are you happy?” he asked quietly, his left hand settling over mine. I held his curious gaze, way out of my depth.
“Very.”
His lips curled. “Good. So talk to me. Help me understand why you’re holding back.”
My pulse suddenly spiked, starting a frantic rhythm as adrenaline surged through me. How could I tell Nate I was battling to safeguard my heart from being crushed, without letting him know the depth of my growing feelings for him? My legs repeatedly tapped up and down, so I raised our hands onto the island top, hoping Nate hadn’t noticed.
“Tell me.” His voice was so kind I felt compelled to give him an explanation.
“I’m scared.” The enormity of the conversation we were having so soon engulfed my thoughts. With a trembling hand, I picked up my glass, needing a drink.
“What are you scared of?” The tenderness in his tone left a painful ache in my chest. It was dangerous, forcing me onto an edge I was frightened to fall off.
What am I scared of? It was a loaded question. I couldn’t give him the honest reply I wanted to. I couldn’t say you and the million things you make me feel. Of loving you, and having my heart broken when you realise you can’t give me what I want, and find yourself in the arms of another woman. “Of looking into those wonderful blue eyes and seeing something I can’t have.”
His eyes widened. “It’s too late for that.” His hand came to my face, lovingly brushing my cheek and moving down my jaw. “You already have me. I’ll never hurt you again, Kara.”
I sucked in a breath and lowered my gaze, not wanting Nate to see how bared I was. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
He lifted my chin. “It would kill me if I did.”
I saw truth in his eyes. I swallowed the butterflies that had woken in my belly. All my basic instincts told me to run—to him. There was something in this remarkable man beside me I needed.
“You told me you wanted a relationship and I’m trying to give you that.” His mouth thinned. “Am I not doing it right?”
I placed a hand over his and leant into the touch, holding him to my face. “You are. More than I expected.”
His brow drew in. “Don’t let me drive you away. What’s preventing you from giving us the commitment we deserve?”
Nate’s penetrating eyes could see into my soul—I was certain of that. Why else would he be encouraging me to open up if he didn’t know I needed to do it? Needed to free my mind and body of this burden I’d carried for far too long before I could move on. He saw something in me that needed healing.
“You won’t drive me away so long as you’re honest with me.” I slipped off the barstool and stood between his parted legs, settling both hands on his hips. I wished I could tell him everything but had no idea where to start.
His arms came around me, resting on the curve of my lower back. “I don’t have to try to feel anything when I’m with you.” The rasp of his last word caused my already raging heart to miss a few beats. “Whatever it is, it’s just there.” The shy smile that banished the last of his concern melted the defences in me he’d so accurately pointed out.
“You give me courage to be myself again,” I breathed against his mouth. “I haven’t had that in a long time.”
When he smiled into my kiss, the butterflies in my stomach took off like a tornado. I gently teased the long silky lengths of his hair through my fingers. “I thought we’d be so different. But we’re not. Not where it matters, anyway.” I cast my eyes around the designer kitchen. “Materially, we’re very different,” I said dryly, “but none of this is important to me. You are.”
I broke away from his adoring gaze, knowing if I didn’t, words would be said that were too premature. Too heavy for now.
“I love when you pull my hair,” Nate murmured hoarsely. “It reminds me of making you come.” He tugged my waist, encouraging me to look at him. “And there you go again.”
“What?”
A broad smile touched his lips. “Blushing.” I shoved his shoulder. “Come here,” he whispered, moving in for a kiss.
It was excruciatingly tender and full of honest affection. His tongue moved in languid exploration, as though we’d never kissed before. Teasing, tempting and quickly making me forget all my fears. My nipples puckered through the t-shirt as they skimmed his bare chest, my body growing lax and compliant as Nate’s hands slid over my arse.
The amorous moment was interrupted by the vibration of his mobile as it whirred on the countertop.
“Ignore it,” he implored. Curving my hands over broad shoulders, it was easy to obey his order. My head fell back as his mouth slid down my neck. It rang again.
He held me tight against him and reached for the phone. He saw the caller display and glowered, muttering his disdain under his breath.
“Answer it,” I told him as it continued ringing in his hand. “They’re not giving up.”
“Yes,” Nate snapped into the phone. He rolled his eyes. “I’m fine, is there a problem?…Where are you?…” His tone was brusk and growing impatient. Then he snickered. “I don’t think so.”
Reluctantly, he let me slip out of his arms. I sat back down and poured us some more wine. He wasn’t pleased with the interruption, nor the direction the conversation was heading. His whole body radiated tension and unease. The carefree, open man slipped away as his face turned grim and pained.
Nate eyed me warily, letting the caller do all the talking. Then he pushed off his stool and tilted my chin up. “A lot can change in a month,” he said, his tender gaze never leaving mine. The softness of his voice was at odds with the rigidness of his frame.
I tried to smile, but my jaw clenched tight with anxiety.
“Why are you in LA?” he asked them, moving to the huge windows so his back was to me. One hand reached across his chest to the opposite shoulder. “Look, it’s late,” he sighed, his voice lowering as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I have to go, I’ve got company.”
Taking my wine with me, I slid off the stool, deciding to give him some privacy. Nate turned, studying me carefully. He moved the phone away from his ear and covered it with his right hand. “Sorry about this, Kara,” he said as I headed out the kitchen.
I made a show of it not bothering me as I disappeared back into the breakfast room. At the end of a long hallway, a large dining room flowed into a massive lounge. Dimmed down-lighters and a limestone fireplace added to the warmth of the striking room, furnished entirely with Italian made contemporary pieces in earthy tones.
The door in the middle of the sweeping floor to ceiling windows was unlocked when I tried it. I stepped out onto the huge wraparound balcony. The hum of traffic and nightlife drifted up from below as Los Angeles sprawled beneath me, its grid of lights twinkling as far as the eye could see. The lit skyscrapers of Downtown loomed to my left in the distance.
“Here you are.” Nate’s arms came around me from behind. He stepped us back from the glass perimeter edge. “What are you doing out here?”
“The city always looks magical from up high.”
“I guess so,” he said, cautiously peering over my shoulder. “I don’t come out here very often.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not a fan of heights.”
I laughed out loud and spun around. “Why live in the penthouse if you don’t like heights?”
“Because it’s the best.” He smiled unapologetically and shrugged. “If you think this is impressive, wait ’til you see the view in New York.”
Hearing him talk about a future together filled me with optimism. My happiness was reflected in his gorgeous face. “You busy next week?” he asked, grinning widely.
My joy was short-lived. “You’re going back?”
The smile on his face fell. “On Sunday.”
My body sagged as his words sunk in. A knot formed in my stomach. No sooner had we got together, we were going to be parted again.
Nate cradled my head into his shoulder. “New York is great in summertime. Come with me?”
“I have a job.” I eased back. “I couldn’t drop everything and jet across the country.”
Nate was mulling something over in his head, his brow furrowed. “Let’s go back inside where it’s cooler.”
I wondered if his odd mood had anything to do with his earlier phone call. “I need to finalise work for next week,” Nate apologised, closing the door behind us. “I want you to make yourself at home.”
“Are you always working?” I asked as we strolled back to the staircase. “Even at weekends?”
“Not if I can help it.” He gave my shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”
“Can I have a shower?”
“Sure, I set a few items out for you earlier, but use whatever you need.”
I handed him my glass and climbed the stairs, feeling the weight of his gaze on me. At the top, I turned. Nate stood, hand tucked into his pocket and smiled when I met his gaze. Then he sauntered, in that sexy way, out of sight.
I stepped under the huge shower head and let the powerful jets of hot water run over me without wetting my hair. I was the right kind of sore as I carefully washed between my legs. Nate’s earthy shower gel brought a smile of remembrance to my mouth and a wild fluttering in my stomach.
I’d always shied away from eye contact when I made love, but with Nate it was different. He was so commanding, so enthralling, I couldn’t not look. I enjoyed watching him seduce me, get so lost in me, encouraging me to open up with his praise. And it was thrilling to let him watch me.
I finished up in the bathroom and decided to wait for Nate in bed. That was when I discovered his considerate gift, carefully laid out on the ottoman bench—a gorgeous sand coloured satin chemise with contrasting steel blue lace on the bodice and hem.
The bed was magnificent. A huge, custom-sized leather frame in tobacco grey with upholstered cushions to soften the headboard. The crisp white linen, luxurious against my nude skin, smelt freshly laundered. I wasn’t surprised by its comfort, likening it to falling asleep on a cloud.
I switched off the table lamp and curled around a pillow. It was a poor substitute for Nate, but would do until he joined me.
THE bed dipped next to me. “Shhh, go back to sleep.”
I shifted from my diagonal position to make room, then curled around Nate’s warm, naked body when he slipped in beside me. He must’ve showered because he smelt unbelievably good. “I’m not tired,” I mumbled, settling against his chest.
“Then you’re a better actress than I’d hoped,” he murmured dryly. That made me smile. He moved my hand so it was flat over the beating of his heart. “Sorry I took so long.”
I lifted my head. The dimmed hall light illuminated the room sufficiently to see each other, yet provided a cloak of darkness for me to hide behind and shed my inhibitions. Even though we’d made love only a few hours earlier, I had the sudden urge to claim another orgasm from him.
“Is everything okay?” he asked quietly, tugging his pillow higher behind his neck. I nodded, searching for something—anything—to give me an indication he’d be receptive to what I was about to do. His hand slid over my nude skin. “You’re not wearing my gift.”
“No.” I pressed into him. “I like being naked when I’m next to you.”
“I like you being naked next to me, too.” His playful reply was all the encouragement I required.
“It’s later,” I purred, lips working over his ear, one hand splaying over his stomach and easing the sheet lower. “You made me a promise.”
His muscular frame relaxed beside me. “I did.” His hands slid either side of my spine. “You seem to be taking advantage of that.”
I grinned against his neck. “You’re not the type of man easily exploited. Unless you want to be.”
“Hell, sweetheart,” he said roughly, “with where your hand’s heading, you can manipulate me all you want.”
My fingers curled around his quickly hardening cock. “Don’t worry,” I smiled, raising my head, “That’s the plan.”
I gave him a long, teasing kiss, humming at the taste of cool minty toothpaste. Nate’s hands came to my hair, fingers tangling into the waves. His hold was firm enough to dictate the direction of the kiss but lax enough to allow me to break away and begin my descent of his glorious body.
I took my time, mapping every inch of flesh with my lips and tongue. His growing erection in my hand as I pumped quickened my arousal. I sank my teeth into the dark trail on the flat skin below his navel, my greed and impatience growing too strong.
“Kara, damn it,” he hissed, pulling my hair roughly.
I sat back on my heels. Seeing my hand wrapped around his cock made my muscles tense with a sweet yearning as I remembered him sliding deep inside, pleasuring me.
“See something you like?” Nate drawled, both hands tucked behind his head. Watching with stormy eyes, his mouth parted with a sigh as my thumb brushed the head.
Humming my agreement, I lowered my head and licked from base to tip. Nate hissed through gritted teeth when I licked back down and sucked at the base. Fisting him with both hands, I firmed my grip and trailed my tongue to his balls.
“Jesus,” he cried hoarsely, hips bucking reactively. The glittering blackness in his eyes told me he desperately wanted his cock in my mouth, banishing away the irrational fear that he wouldn’t enjoy it. Gradually, I took him into my mouth. “Ah, Kara.”
I was giddy with power, my stomach twisting into knots as electricity surged through my loin. I moved slowly up and down, sliding my tongue over his thick length, applying a little pressure. Never had I enjoyed giving pleasure to a man as much as right now. I was so turned on by taking control I let out a small moan.
“Baby.” Nate’s voice shook with emotion. “I can’t fucking breathe.” The uninhibited admission that it was all too much drove me to suck harder. This was what I could do to him. He was as completely mindless as I got when he worked his mouth over me.
“Ah, that’s so good.” He shuddered as the first drop of pre-cum spilt onto my tongue. He fisted my hair, holding me tight as he started pumping his hips, fucking my mouth. An aphrodisiac of scents consumed me. Shower gel, lust, the unique scent of Nate, all heightened by the increase in body temperature, engrained in my memory. “I’m gonna come so fucking hard.”
His warning sent a shiver down my spine. “Yes,” I panted, hungry to taste him.
His thighs tensed, the tug of my hair the right side of painful as the unmistakable groan of lost control reverberated in the darkness. Then he was coming. I swallowed repeatedly, drinking him down, licking and sucking until there was nothing left.
Feeling drunk on him, I let him slip out of my mouth with a moan of content. I peeked up at the man I’d taken to his limits and broke.
“Damn.” He lifted his head. Even in the dimmed light I could see his flushed face, his hair the disheveled mess I was beginning to love. “I knew those lips would be the death of me.”
I smiled my satisfaction, my elation furthered when his mouth curved lazily. He was thoroughly fucked. Because of me.
Nate sat and brushed his lips over mine. Then he buried his face into my chest and held me close. “What are you doing to me?” he murmured, sounding lost.
It was a question I wasn’t expected to answer.