Guarding Miranda (22 page)

They hadn’t even made love yet and already, he had redefined her definition of orgasm. 

Numerous times, too.

“Definitely,” she answered finally, kissing him back.

“We’ll take it slow, the first time.” He smiled mischievously at her. “But after that, I can’t promise restraint.”

And by slow, he meant slow.

He began by nuzzling her neck, knowing that it pleasured her.  She couldn’t believe the sensation that his nuzzling evoked – it was an incredibly trusting thing, to allow another person to suckle your neck. 

Erotic was the tongue that caressed her there in small circles, while the mouth suckled with firm pressure.  Her breasts ached for his touch and sensing this, his hands found her breasts, kneaded them gently as his mouth moved lower, over her shoulder, her collar bone, to her right breast.

For the second time, she knew the joy of his mouth suckling her breast.  She felt that if she were to die with his mouth there, suckling her, she would die content.  Sensations swirled beneath her skin, remnants of her last orgasm, reactions to his current attentions.  Long, luxurious minutes passed as he sucked on each nipple, kneaded and weighed each breast with his hands.  Her own hands were busy exploring every inch of him, bringing her joy from the mere feeling of him...

Endearments fell from his mouth with his kisses and she glowed as a result.  He worked his way lower, to her navel and she was surprised by the tongue that dipped there, tasting flesh that she had never had tasted before. 

Never had she been licked there, in her navel. 

It was an odd but not pleasureless feeling...one that stirred the pool of low flames that had begun again to burn in her abdomen.

Slowly, succulently, he worked his way back up to her mouth, kissing her softly at first but then, with greater passion.

“It’s time,” he announced softly, running his hand down the insides of her soft, creamy thighs and back up again, exciting her. The hunger in his eyes disarmed her...

She reached for the box of condoms and opened it, withdrawing one. 

She tore it open and withdrew the circlet of latex that lay within. “Shall I do the honor?”

He offered her a sexy smile. “Certainly.”

With a shiver of anticipation, she lowered the sheath of rubber to his arousal and rolled it down.  The condom didn’t make it all the way down. 

“Uhm, I think it’s a little small...”

“It’ll stay on,” he promised, which was promise enough for her. He kissed her, hard, revealing the nature of his lust. “I’m going to love you until your voice is hoarse from cries of pleasure.”

He straddled her then and slipped his knees between hers, spreading her wide for him. “What do you have to say about that, love?”

“Bring it to me.” She challenged, aroused by the sight of him between her legs.

Using his hands to guide him to her, he rubbed himself over her mound once, twice, a third time, teasing her to distraction.

“Brian, stop teasing...”

“This is what we call foreplay, love.”

She growled deep in her throat as he did it again. “Do I have to beg?”

“No, no you don’t.” She gasped as he slid his entire length into her, filling her completely.  Her hands went to the strong muscles of his back, holding him close to her. 

For a long moment, they stayed frozen in time, staring deep into each others eyes.  She could feel him pulsing within her; he could feel her soft, surrounding warmth.

“Better?” He asked.

“Much.” She breathed, as he drew out of her, only to thrust slowly back in, causing a premature ripple of intense pleasure to course through her.

“What was that?” He asked, clearly amused by her quivering.

“I don’t know but I’ll gladly have another...”

He answered her request by thrusting slowly in and out of her soft body.  He was taut muscle, above her, within her, about her and she found comfort in his body, a comfort she had never known with anyone else.  It was a primitive comfort, the kind of relief that only a man and woman could share. 

It felt holy, sacred to her – she who held no religion close to her heart...

She lifted her hips to his, meeting his need stroke for stroke, as the flames of the ring of fire in her body raged as a firestorm, burning out of control, engulfing her, lifting her toward the sky until finally, she found release, the release that he had given her so many times before, only this time, with the entirety of her soul.

She cried out his name and heard it as though from a distance as slowly, her spasming flesh quivered and went still and the reality of his love making returned to her.  The downward spiral back to this reality was slower than the ascent and saccharine sweet...

Brian was not finished, not yet. 

True to his promise, the night was not going to be over in a whim.  His steady rhythm brought her back down from the heights she had found with release, only that she would be caught up in the tempo again, each thrust an expression of loving, of rapture.

Just as she was again about to burst into flame, a hushed warning fell from his lips, “I can’t hold back any longer.”

“Bring it all to me.” She crooned into the ear near her head. “I want to feel you come with me.”

And so together, they ascended and together they cried out in united satisfaction of a hunger finally sated.

In a matter of minutes after their descent into afterglow, feeling a safety and security she had never before known, Miranda fell asleep in Brian’s arms into a deep and peaceful rest...

Chapter Ten:

Miranda woke alone Friday morning, just after ten o’clock, the dream of her and Brian’s coupling still fresh on her mind. 

As she came to complete awareness, she realized that it had not been just a dream: his scent was upon her, the very smell of their passion lingering so organically in this room and here she was, naked between the sheets. 

She who slept most comfortably in panties and a nightie.

Collecting her robe from the floor, she donned it and ventured downstairs, where she found Brian sipping coffee, nonchalantly flipping through one of the coffee table books.

He spotted her coming down the stairs and smiled. 

Her heart skipped a beat at the sincere warmth of his smile and disarmed of all hesitancy, she found herself smiling back.

“G’morning, love.  Sweet dreams?”

“For the first time in weeks,” she admitted, plodding off to the bathroom.

She stole a glance at her reflection: her hair was in tangles about her head, still messed from the passion with which they had consummated their shared attraction. 

Her eyes brightened at the memory of that last powerful orgasm and the faintest bit of color crept over her cheeks as she relived the moment in the forefront of her mind. 

She used the toilet, relieving herself even though she knew that he would hear.

When she came out, a small frown played on her lips. “Uhm, Brian?”

“Yes, Miranda?”

“About last night-”

“Wonderful, wasn’t it?” Brian knew fully well what was coming. 

He had anticipated it during his session of push-ups, squats and lunges.

“It was a mistake, Brian.”

“A mistake?” He arched a bushy eyebrow in mock contemplation.  His stormy grey eyes were lit by a touch of sullen humor as he continued, “Consenting adults don’t usually make errors where the identity of bed partners arises.”

“I mean, we
shouldn’t
have...”

“It was as good for you as it was for me – it put color in your ivory cheeks.”

She sighed impatiently. “You know what I mean.”

“Oh I see.”

He was humoring her.

Of course he knew what she meant
.

Women’s sensibilities being what they were and all.

She was trying to come to terms with all that he had brought out in her. The wanton woman within. The woman with primal desires, itches that needed a right proper scratching.

That flame inside of her, once ignited, was now spent and she wanted to forget the exhilaration of the burn.

Yet, there would be scars…

Brian knew how to rekindle that flame, knew that he would once the time was right.

He was not through with her.

Not yet.

Nor she of him, he
knew
it.

But he was willing to play this game, this game as old as time.

For the sake of her humility, her dignity, her sense of self.

“You want to forget that it ever happened.”

“Precisely.” A long moment of silence passed between them. The faucet dripped and to her it was a woeful sound. Miranda fought back the lump of guilt that had lodged itself in her throat. “Look, I’m going to have a shower.  Do you need the bathroom first? I might be in there a while?”

He didn’t look up from his book. “I’ll use the one in the basement, if I need to.”

Miranda wasn’t sure how Brian felt about their shared night of passion but she knew that it was one she was not going to forget any time soon. 

He was so hard to read...

He had been more interested in the coffee table book –
Birds of Manitoba
– than he had been in anything she had said. 

Or at least, he had appeared uninterested. 

Had she dealt a harsh blow to his ego?

It was as good for you as it was for me - put color in your ivory cheeks
, he had said.

And indeed, it had. 

The memory of his hands upon her alone was enough to bring that color back to her otherwise ivory cheeks. 

Her brilliant green eyes watched him intently for a long moment, wondering if she should say anything else... 

There were to be no more kisses, no more love play, no more touching – had she made that perfectly clear? 

It was a really amazing way to spend the night
, she thought.
Out of this world, in fact.  But there can be no more of it...

“Brian?” It would be better for her to clarify her end of the issue.

Again, he did not look up from the book but flipped to a page that he studied intently. “I could have sworn you said something about a shower?”

“Never mind,” she sighed, closing the bathroom door behind her. 

Obviously, he was respecting her wishes, conveniently forgetting all that had come to pass between them. 

Which was exactly what she wanted...

Wasn’t it? 

She searched deep inside of herself for the honesty that lurked there, in her heart, body and mind and found a truth there that disturbed her.

She ached to be held, as he had held her and loved, as he had loved her, if only for as long as he had loved her during the night. 

Oh, what was she thinking!

She plugged the Jacuzzi tub and turned both the hot and cold taps to full spray. 

The sooner she got his smell off of her, the better. 

The earthy, enigmatic scent of him that clung to her every pore was beginning to cloud her better judgment.

Stripping off the robe, she let her fingers slide for a moment over the places he had loved her.  They were still sensitive to the touch, aching either from exertion or longing, it was hard to tell. 

Her nipples hardened with only the slightest brush of her fingers, as she remembered the path that his hands and mouth, had taken there, only a few hours before.

His words came back to haunt her.

I’m going to love you slowly and for the rest of the night, until you’ve had your fill of me and I of you...