Celine was in such a sensuous daze she hadn’t realized Zion had brought her into the guest room instead of taking her across the hall to his bedroom. When he placed her in the middle of the bed and then leaned down and recaptured her lips, she became so caught up in the warm, silky taste of his mouth that it didn’t really matter whose room they used, as long as it had a bed.
If she had had her way, they would never have made it up the stairs. They could have used the sofa, the rug in front of the fireplace or the steps. The place would not have mattered to her, just as long as he was inside her. She needed him and she needed him now.
She had thought about this moment. Had dreamed about it. Had awakened in the middle of some nights, yearning for it and regretting what had not happened when he’d been in Los Angeles.
Not again and not this time. He would discover she was a woman who went after what she wanted—and she wanted him. She knew the score and accepted his rules. Now he would have to accept that some rules were meant to be broken. He had broken one before, and if needed, she figured he could certainly break a few more.
He pulled back from the kiss and stared at her. In her mind, she could hear the minutes ticking by as he did so. But she wouldn’t rush him. He could take his time, because in the end she would get what she wanted and he would get what he wanted, as well. There was no happily-ever-after for them, and she understood and accepted that. But whether they liked it or not, there was this thing between them that neither could control, tame or deny. All they had was now, and she intended to make this moment everything they desired and more.
“I want you, Celine,” he said, in a deep, throaty voice. “But I need to make sure there won’t be any misunderstandings between us. I need to be certain you fully understand my rules.”
Zion’s Rules. She held his gaze and figured this was the spiel he gave to every woman before sharing his body with her. He needed to make sure they not only understood but accepted.
“You told me what they were and I understand and accept them, because I have no desire to continue anything with you beyond our time together here.”
She figured that should have made him happy, and couldn’t understand the frown that darkened his features. Did he think he was the only one who could institute rules? “Why, Celine?”
He had the nerve to ask her why? After shoving his rules down women’s throats? “My main reason is my love of myself. I prefer not to deal with men who are heartbreakers. Been there. Done that. And I have no intentions of traveling that road again.”
He continued to stare at her, but said nothing. Neither did she. There was nothing either of them could say, since they fully understood each other. When time passed and they continued to sit there and stare, she finally did something she’d never done before. She reached out and copped a feel of him through his jeans. “I hope this is not going to go down while you’re trying to figure me out, Zion.”
He reached down and placed his hand on hers. “No. In fact, now that you touched me there, I’m convinced it’s gotten bigger.”
She noticed he was right about that and could actually feel it extending beneath her hand through the material of his jeans. “I think we have too many clothes on, don’t you?”
“Yes, I think so, too.”
She watched him slide off the bed. If he was going to do a strip show she intended to pay close attention to every single detail. Evidently he had other ideas how he intended to do things, and reached out and took her hand, drawing her to her feet. She tried ignoring the heated sensations that rushed through her from his touch.
“You undress me and I’ll undress you,” he suggested, smiling down at her.
“That will work,” she said. Without wasting any time, she took hold of his T-shirt, pulled it over his head and tossed it aside. Then she did the very thing she’d wanted to do when she had seen him last night shirtless, standing in the doorway of his condo. She buried her face in his chest and breathed in his scent. He smelled so darn good.
She finally lifted her head to meet his inquisitive gaze. “Your scent turns me on.”
That got a smile from him. “Your scent turns me on, as well,” he said, reaching out and pulling her blouse over her head. “But I’m more of a touchy sort of guy,” he said, quickly freeing her breasts by dispensing with her bra. “I could never understand why women bother with bras.”
Honestly? She could give him a ton of reasons, but not today. And when he lowered his head to her chest, she thought he was about to take a whiff of her scent like she’d done to him. Instead he sucked a nipple into his mouth, and she immediately felt weak in the knees. The warm pressure of his mouth was driving her insane, making her moan. And when he moved to the other nipple, she fought back a scream at the mindless, drugging kisses he was giving her breasts.
“Zion,” she moaned, grabbing his head to tug on his locks to hold his mouth right there. And he delivered, cupping her breasts and kissing them with an openmouthed, wet urgency that rocked her to the core. What was he trying to do to her?
He finally released her breasts and lifted his head to stare up at her. The sound of her satisfied sigh whispered through the room. Had he not stopped when he had, there was no doubt in her mind she would have had a full-blown orgasm just from what he’d done to her breasts.
“Now to move on,” he said, reaching out and releasing the clasp to her skirt. It slid to the floor, leaving her clad in a thong. The heat of his gaze roamed over her like a slow burn, causing a luscious ache to consume her. He then took hold of the waistband of her undies and bent to slide them down her legs.
“My turn,” she said softly, reaching out to unzip his jeans. “I’m going to need your help with this,” she said, seeing how the size of his erection would make things a little tricky.
“No problem,” he said, taking over and tugging both jeans and boxer shorts down a pair of muscular thighs.
Her mouth literally dropped open upon seeing the size of him. She’d known from the feel of him that he was big, but he wasn’t just big—he was colossal. And that thatch of dark curls surrounding it tempted her to slide her fingers through them.
“Anything wrong, Celine?”
Was he toying with her? He had to know he was a lot bigger than most men. She was wondering how in the world gigantic him would get into tight little her. There was no way she wouldn’t be tight after not sharing any man’s bed in almost four years. “Nothing is wrong as long as you promise to go easy on me.”
He lifted a brow. “Go easy on you?”
OMG! Did he need her to spell it out for him? She would if doing so would spare her unnecessary physical pain later. “I haven’t done this in almost four years.”
She saw disbelief in his eyes. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not kidding, Zion.”
“What about...?”
“All that stuff you’ve read and heard?” she offered. “Especially how I jet-set all over the world with my numerous lovers?”
“Pretty much,” he muttered in reply.
She shook her head. Most of the time when the tabloids were accusing her of those things, she was hiding out in her office at Second Chances or behind the scenes at one of her soup kitchens. “I once warned you not to believe everything you read about me,” she said, placing her hands on her hips, ignoring the fact that she was naked and he was getting an eyeful of her, like she was getting of him. “I’ve told you the score, so what do you intend to do about it, Zion?”
He moved closer and swept her into his arms and then whispered, “I’ll go easy.”
* * *
Or die trying, Zion thought, placing her back on the bed and then lying beside her. Totally naked, they faced each other without saying anything. At that moment nothing needed to be said. The sexual chemistry surrounding them said it all. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted a woman and he needed to be cautious moving forward. She was the one woman he’d broken rules for when he’d mixed business and pleasure while in LA. But now she was on his turf and he wouldn’t break any more.
He leaned forward and captured her lips in a demanding and greedy kiss. Intentionally so. With his mouth clamped to hers he took total possession. He knew the desire was mutual when she moaned deep into his mouth. Then he began touching her practically everywhere, loving the feel of her velvety skin.
Zion suddenly broke off the kiss to stare down at her and she tipped her head to stare back. At that moment, something—he wasn’t sure exactly what—happened. The connection was like a click in his brain and he felt invisible threads tighten between them. He resented the feeling and in protest he cradled her face in his hands, claiming her mouth again, boldly sweeping his tongue between her parted lips.
He reluctantly released her mouth and eased from the bed to grab his jeans off the floor. After opening his wallet, he pulled out a condom packet. He was very much aware that Celine was watching attentively as he eased it on. A part of him recalled what she’d said earlier about his size. She wasn’t the first woman who’d made reference to it. However, it was the first time such a comment actually mattered.
“Had you asked, I would have told you that I’m on the pill.”
He glanced over to where she lay, propped on the bed in one hell of a sexy pose. Just looking at her naked body made the blood in his veins burn hot and molten. “It would not have mattered,” he said, coming back to the bed. “I wear a condom regardless.”
“Another one of your rules?”
“Yes, another one of my rules. Like I told you, I am fiercely bound to them.”
“Umm, one day you’re liable to come unbound,” she said.
“That will never happen.”
Tired of talking, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her, loving the warm and silky feel of her mouth. For the past month she had been the one constant in his mind, the one person he’d thought about when he went to bed, the one and only to ever invade his dreams. And now she was here.
Zion could feel the air surrounding them suddenly take on a life of its own, becoming sexually heated with a nuance of desire so intense it seemed to overpower him, made him intensify the kiss even more. He was driven to touch her between her legs and stroke the swollen folds of her moist femininity.
This time she was the one who pulled back from the kiss, the one who cradled his face in her hands to whisper, “I want you inside me, Zion.”
At that moment every single nerve in his body vibrated in both anticipation and need. “I want to be inside you, too.”
He meant it with every ounce of his being. “I’m going to let you control things,” he said, lifting her into his arms and placing her on top to straddle him. “This way you take inside you only as much of me as you want.”
“I want it all.”
He wanted her to have it all. “You can and will. Take your time. No rush.” He just hoped he could keep control and handle the torture.
Zion stared up at her as his hard, solid erection poked against the folds of her warm womanly core. Just the thought that his engorged manhood was there at the entrance of her mound made sexual excitement curl in his stomach.
She grabbed hold of his shoulders as she stared down at him. “I hope you’re ready for me, Zion.”
He was more than ready. When she began lowering herself onto him, he gritted his teeth as bone-melting fire began spreading through his bloodstream. And at that moment all he could do was whisper her name with a need he couldn’t hold back.
* * *
This was a first for Celine. Never had any man allowed her to do this, use this position to take control. But now Zion was giving her this chance to regulate their lovemaking. When the head of his erection began entering her, she could feel her body stretching to accommodate him. Their gazes locked in the process and she knew from the way he was gritting his teeth that he was fighting the urge to thrust up hard inside her.
As she’d known it would be, her body was tight. She kept lowering herself onto him and his hardness seemed to fill every inch of her, until she couldn’t press down any farther.
“Hold still for a moment,” he whispered. “You’ve accomplished a lot already.”
Had she? He wasn’t even halfway inside her. “Open your legs a little wider,” he instructed in a soft yet husky tone.
Celine did so and then gave a satisfied sigh when she felt herself sinking even farther, taking more of him inside.
When she knew he was embedded as deep as he could possibly go, she lowered her head and met his lips. The kiss they shared was hot and carnal. Feeling totally exhilarated, she began moving, slowly. Then she picked up speed, moving to her own rhythm, and began riding him. The lower part of her pelvis moved up and down and she loved the feel of him fitting so snugly inside her.
She broke off the kiss and whispered against his moist lips, “I want you to take over now, Zion. And please take me hard.”
* * *
She didn’t have to make the request twice. Without missing a beat, Zion quickly switched their positions so that he was on top. The moment she was pinned in place beneath him, he began thrusting in and out of her, withdrawing and then reentering her again. Over and over. Her fingers dug deep into his shoulder blades, but he felt no pain. What he felt was pleasure so intense, so toe-curling, so fantastic, that he was driven to lean down and cover her mouth with his own again. He kissed her while his body took hers the way she’d asked him to, appeasing the sexual hunger neither of them could contain any longer.
Celine’s inner muscles were gripping him, holding him, milking him for the semen the condom prevented him from sharing with any woman. But damn, he enjoyed the feel of her trying. When her body arched upward to receive his thrusts, he couldn’t ever remember experiencing this feeling with any other lover. He was burning, on fire, and the flames threatened to consume him.
With one last thrust he was pushed over the edge, the same time she was. Simultaneously, screams tore from their mouths.
“Zion!”
“Celine!”
Sensations ripped through him, spiraling him into one hell of an orgasmic explosion. Throwing his head back, Zion screamed out his pleasure in a way he’d never done before.
The need to kiss her again consumed him, urging him to connect with her mouth just as another orgasm slammed into him. He captured her lips, sucking them into his mouth with a need that pulsated in his very soul.
Moments later, when his body ceased its vibrations and his breathing returned to normal, he eased off Celine and pulled her against him. Instinctively, her body curled into him and he wrapped himself around her. Loving the feel of her in his arms.