All Through the Night (32 page)

Kneeling between her widespread thighs, Cameron eyed her slender back, the graceful line of her spine. In a rush, he pulled the dress the rest of the way off.

Asia half raised herself, but he pressed a hand to the small of her back and took his time looking at her. Her bottom was plump, her cheeks rounded and firm. He stroked her with both hands, feeling the slide of silken panties over her skin.

“Cameron…”

“Shhh.” He unfastened her bra and let it fall, freeing her breasts. Leaning over her, his cock nestled securely against that delectable ass, he balanced on one arm. With his free hand he reached beneath her and stroked her breasts, paying special attention to her pointed, sensitized nipples. She gave a ragged moan.

Cameron languidly rubbed himself against her, almost blind with need. It would be so easy to enter her this way. She was wet, hot and slippery and he could sink right in.

He groaned and pushed himself away. He had to do this right.

Before he changed his mind, he kicked off his shoes, sat on the edge of the couch, and pulled off his socks.

Asia was near his feet and she turned her head to look at him curiously. Their eyes met and she started to rise.

Cameron caught her under her arms. Her bra fell completely off, and it stunned him, this first glimpse at her bared body. She wore only transparent, insubstantial panties; they offered her no protection at all.

“You are so beautiful,” he said with complete inadequacy.

She smiled shyly, reached for him—and he pulled her across his knees.

For a brief moment, she froze. “Cameron?”

When he didn’t answer, determined on his course, Asia twisted to look at him. He controlled her easily, his gaze focused solely on that gorgeous behind. He could see the deep cleft, and the dark triangle of feminine curls covering her mound. He traced her with a fingertip, down the line of her buttocks, in between. She stilled, her breathing suspended.

Her panties were damp with her excitement and he pressed into her, feeling her heat, her swollen lips. His eyes closed. He wanted to taste her, wanted to tongue her and hear her soft cries. Her hands, braced on his thigh, tightened, her nails digging into his muscles even through his slacks.

He had to do this right.

Teeth clenched, Cameron opened his eyes, looked at his big dark hand on her very soft feminine bottom, and forced himself to give her a stinging slap.

She yelped.

“How does that feel?” he rasped, lifting his hand for another.

Asia was frozen on his thighs, not moving, not speaking.

He brought his hand down again, doing his best to meter his strength, to let her feel the warmth of the smack without actually hurting her in any way.

His heart thundered and his pulse roared in his ears. He thought he might split his pants he was so turned on, despite the distaste he felt in striking her. After all, they were minutes away from making love and she was a warm, womanly scented weight over his lap, all but naked and so beautiful—

“You bastard!”

Like a wild woman, she launched herself away from him. Stupefied, Cameron looked at her sprawled on the carpet some feet away, her naked breasts heaving, her eyes wet with tears.

Tears!

Her bottom lip trembled and she said with stark accusation, “I thought you were different!”

Very unsure of himself and the situation, Cameron said, “Uh…” And then, “I’m… trying to be.”

“You hit me!”

He had. Cameron looked at his hand, stinging a little from contact with that beautiful behind, and said again, “Uh…”

Asia pushed to her feet. Her breasts swayed, full and still flushed from arousal, the nipples tight points. Feet planted apart in a stance guaranteed to make his blood race, she glared at him.

Slowly, very slowly so he didn’t spook her or make this bizarre situation worse, Cameron came to his feet. “You wanted me to,” he reminded her.

Her eyes widened even more. “What are you talking about?”

He shrugged, gestured toward his bedroom where the damning tape was still in the VCR. He rubbed the back of his neck and felt a sick foreboding close around him. “You, ah, wanted a guy who was into spanking.”

She gasped so hard her breasts jiggled, further exacerbating his desire. “You
listened
!” she accused.

“Not on purpose.”

It was as if she hadn’t heard him. “You were the guy with the newspaper in the lounge. The guy wearing jeans!”

“Yeah. I, ah, had to work outside that day, to oversee work on the compressors, so my clothes were different.” He nearly winced as he admitted that, then thought to add, a bit righteous, “The lounge is a public place and I heard you say plain as day that you were into spanking.”

“I said no such thing!”

“Yes, you did.” Didn’t she? Her face was red, but he barely noticed with her standing there, the body he’d been dreaming about for two full months more bare than not.

“You said you would hook up with the guy who bought a spanking tape. Well, I bought the stupid thing.”

“Stupid thing?” she growled, and advanced toward him. “You mean you don’t watch them?”

“I never had before.” He was mightily distracted from the argument by the way she moved, and how her body moved, and how much he wanted her. “But I’d have bought a tape of monkeys mating if that’s what it took to get your attention.”

She drew up short, a mere foot away from him. “That’s sick!”

Cameron leaned forward, his own temper igniting. “No, sweetheart. That’s desperation. I wanted you. You barely acknowledged me, except in that too cool, distantly polite voice that kept miles between us. I heard you in the lounge and took advantage. So what?”

She looked slightly confused for a moment, then pugnacious. “You struck me.”

“Because I thought you wanted me to. Hell, do you think
I
wanted to?”

“Didn’t you?” She gave a pointed stare to this straining erection.

Cameron grunted. “You’re almost naked. You’re excited and wet and hot, and I’ve been hard since the day I first saw you.”

She blinked uncertainly. “You’re saying you didn’t want to swat me?”

Hands on his hips, he leaned down, nose to nose with her. “There are a lot of things I’d rather do to your beautiful naked ass than spank it.”

She half turned away, then back. Watching him with suspicion, and what appeared to be sensual curiosity, she asked, “Like what?”

Cameron took a small step forward, further closing the gap between them. In a lower, more controlled but gravelly voice, he said, “Like pet you, and kiss you—”

“My behind?”

“Hell, yes.” Moving slowly, he reached out and caught her shoulders. “I can’t imagine any man alive not wanting to kiss your behind.”

She giggled at the wording, but flushed at the meaning. “My husband would have never considered…”

He released her so fast, he almost tripped. “Husband?”

“Ex-husband.”

Clutching his heart, Cameron said, “Thank God.” It took him a second to recover from that panic. He hadn’t heard anything about her being married. “So you’re divorced?”

“Yes.”

“You still care about him?”

She laughed, which was a better answer than a straight out “no,” but she gave him that too.

“I stopped caring about him almost as soon as I said, ‘I do.’ Unfortunately, it took longer than that for me to admit it to everyone else and to get the divorce.”

He didn’t want to talk about any idiot ex-husband. Holding her shoulders again, he said, “Know what I want to do?”

Her hand lifted to his crotch, cuddled his cock warmly. Her smile was sweet and enticing. “I can maybe guess.”

He drew a deep breath. “You’re willing?”

“No more hitting?”

Cameron kissed her. “It took all my concentration to get it done the first time. Believe me, it was for you, for what I thought you wanted. Not for me.”

She looked touched by his gesture. “Then, yes, I’m willing.”

Disinclined to take the chance that she might change her mind, Cameron lifted her in his arms and started for his bedroom. “I promise to make it up to you,” he said. And he meant it. Now that he could think clearly, he’d know to concentrate on her responses, not on the dumb conversation he’d overheard. But that made him think of something else.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“That is a question,” Asia replied, but she didn’t sound put out. She was too engrossed in his chest, caressing his chest hair, finding his nipples and flicking them with her thumbnail until his knees nearly buckled.

Cameron quickly sat on the edge of the bed, Asia braced in his arms. He kissed her, then against her mouth asked, “Why did you require I buy that stupid tape?”

She tucked her face into his throat while she explained her theories—dumb ones, Cameron thought privately—and when she’d finished, she looked up at him.

“My ex-husband was forever trying to force me to do… kinky things that turned him on. He said it was the only way I could satisfy him. I didn’t like it, and then he’d be angry about it and call me a prude and a cold fish. I used to wish he’d get his jollies that way with a movie or a book.” She shrugged. “I wanted us to just make love, like two people who…”

Cameron squeezed her, wishing he had her damned ex close at hand so he could offer her retribution. But all he could do was say, “Like two people who loved each other?”

She gave a tiny nod. “Yes.” Then she shocked the hell out of him by adding, “I haven’t been with anyone since him. I needed to prove to myself first that I was independent, that I didn’t believe all his garbage about me not being woman enough. He made me feel so low, and in my head, I knew he was a jerk. I knew he was wrong, too. But no man tempted me.”

“Not even me,” Cameron admitted, more for himself than her. He’d gained a lot of insight tonight, and most of it broke his heart. He’d handled things all wrong. Asia hadn’t wanted him. She hadn’t wanted any man.

She’d only needed validation, and instead he’d shot down her beliefs by spanking her. Damn, he was a real idiot.

Asia touched his jaw. “That’s not true.” She bit her lip, then let out a breath. “I think if it had been anyone other than you in that store, I wouldn’t have had the guts to go through with it. But it was you, and I liked you already, and respected you a lot.”

“You hid it well,” he teased, shaken with relief.

“That’s because I wanted you, too, though I was afraid to admit it. It scared me to want someone again.”

With a trembling hand, Cameron stroked her throat, her shoulder, her breasts. “Let me show you that there’s nothing to be afraid of, sweetheart. Let me show you how it should be.”
How it’ll always be between us
.

“Yes.” Asia closed her eyes on a soft moan. “I think I’d like that.”

Like a lick of fire, Cameron’s kisses burned her everywhere. With incredible gentleness, he tilted her back on the bed and half covered her. She loved the tingling abrasion of his chest hair over her sensitive nipples. She loved the exciting, not-so-gentle stroke of his hand on her body. He seemed to know exactly how and where to touch her. And he found sensitive places she hadn’t known about—the delicate skin beneath her ears, her underarms, below her breasts, the insides of her thighs and backs of her knees.

He kissed her, but not where she wanted his mouth most. Her breasts ached for him, her nipples so tight they throbbed with need, but he kissed around them, his tongue flicking out, leaving damp patches on her heated skin. He kissed her belly, tongued her navel until she squirmed, then put tiny pecks all around her sex, not touching her, but she heard him breathing deeply, inhaling her musky scent with appreciation.

She moaned, then caught her breath as he turned her onto her stomach.

“Easy,” he whispered, his mouth brushing over her shoulders, down the length of her spine. He caught her panties and stripped them off. Through dazed eyes, Asia looked over her shoulder and saw him lift them to his face and inhale deeply. He gave a rough, growling groan of appreciation, and when his gaze met hers, his blue eyes burned like the hottest fire.

As promised, he kissed her bottom, especially the pink handprint on her left cheek. He murmured words of apology but she barely heard them because his hand slipped between her thighs. His long fingers just barely touched her, teasing and taunting while his mouth continued, so very gentle, so careful.

She couldn’t hold still. She pressed her face into the bedclothes and squirmed. “
Cameron
.”

He turned her over again, and this time when his fingers went between her thighs he parted her and pressed his middle finger deep.