Hot Decadent Rising (Breath of Darkness) (21 page)

Closing his eyes
and tilting his head back, he heard his own groan of pleasure, of surrender as he
focused all of his attention on the sensations of her hands moving over his
body. She took her time exploring him. She was driving him insane. He was
burning up for her. His cock had never been as hard as it was at that moment.
He’d never known a more torturous, more intoxicating ache.

“Give yourself
to me tonight. Fully. Completely. Hold nothing back. Right here. Right now. I
want all you have to offer,” she whispered as she pressed her hand against his
cock. He really needed to get his damned pants off before he busted the seam.
“And I’ll give you all I have to offer. Now kiss me.”

Wrapping his
arms around her and pulling her close, she pressed her body against his as he
bent his head to kiss her. His world forever changed the instant she wrapped
her arms around his neck and she touched his lips with hers. He knew nothing
would ever be as it was. He would always yearn for the way her body felt as it
moved against his while she kissed him. And damn, the woman, his woman, knew
how to kiss. It was much more than a kiss. Her lips, her tongue were making
love to his. He’d never been more aroused than he was right then and there.

 She
abruptly stopped and, with her palms flat on his chest, she pushed him down
onto the foot of the bed. In reaction to her aggression, he growled. Not in
anger. In frustration. He needed more. He had to rip her clothes off and feel
her skin against his. “No getting all
wolfy
man on
me,” she teased as she pressed a finger to his lips. 

“You said you
wanted it all.”

She nodded. “I did.”
His natural urge to dominate kicked in. He started to stand up, but she stopped
him by placing her hands on his shoulders while straddling him. “And you said
that you were looking forward to me climbing on top of you.” 

“That’s right. I
sure as hell did.” He lifted her shirt, pulled it over her head and then threw
it onto the floor. “Damn it!” The faded bruises on her ribs looked horrible and
painful. He should’ve been there. He should’ve protected her. He was almost too
afraid to look at them too long, but he couldn’t tear his gaze off them.

She took his
face in her hands and forced him to look into her eyes. “They’re old. They look
worse than they are. They don’t hurt anymore.”

“You’re lying.”
Obviously attempting to make him forget about the bruises, she tried to kiss
him.

“I’m not lying.”
She pressed her forehead against his. “I need this. I need you right now. I
would tell you if I was in too much pain.”

“You will tell
me if I do anything to hurt you?”

“Yes.”

“The second I do
it.”

Rising up on her
knees so that her breasts were in his face, she giggled. “As long as you stop
being so mean and give me what I want, I promise to tell you the second you do
anything to hurt me whether it’s in a good or bad way.”

Tilting his head
back to look up at her, he laughed. She was one hell of a naughty seductress.
He bit her nipple through her white lace bra. “Ouch.” She dropped down off her
knees. Frowning, she stared up at him. “You said you wouldn’t bite me unless I
bit you first.”

“I needed to
make sure you would say something if I hurt you.” He unfastened her bra and
pushed the straps off her shoulders.

“Just so you
know it was a good kind of hurt.”

“Then I should
do it again and again.” He cupped her soft breasts in his hands and leaned over
to tease her nipples with his tongue. With her head thrown back and her fingers
tangled in his hair, she moaned and arched her body when he drew her nipple
onto his mouth and suckled.

***

Her heart raced as her breaths came in short
little gasps. She allowed herself to be immersed in the pleasure of his kiss,
of his lips moving against hers. His hands were everywhere. Touching her.
Caressing her. Teasing the hell out of her. It wasn’t the touch or the kiss of
a man enjoying a one night stand. It was too intimate.

He was pushing
her deep into a state of arousal that exceeded her wildest dreams. Of all the
mistakes she’d made in her life, this promised to be the best. With each breath
she took, he carried her deeper into waves of longing, needing. She felt
restless and warm. So very wonderfully warm. Trembling, her body ached for
release. Her core throbbed. Delicious sensations skittered over her skin. Every
inch of her body tingled with anticipation.

Kissing him was
like being washed out into a warm sea of passion and pleasure. She moved her
hips back and forth, rubbing her body against his. She couldn’t possibly sit
still. Not with his mouth on her skin and, even with their pants between them,
the heat of his bulging, hard cock between her legs.

She wasn’t sure
what to make of Eli, but the thought of ever forgetting him in the morning was
laughable. He couldn’t have been more different than every other man in her
life. She didn’t sense any need in him to rush. He had no intention of screwing
her and getting the hell away from her. He would give her pleasure before he
took his own. 

The heat between
them was burning her up. If she had more than a night, she would’ve considered
spending it with him. She would remember this night until she died.

His kiss was so
intense, so tender and wild all at the same time. As if he was totally focused
on her. His hands traveled over her body. Exploring. Caressing. Kneading. This
was not what she’d expected for a one night stand. If she didn’t know better he
kissed as if he adored, cherished her. It was the kiss of a man making love to
a woman. It was a kiss she’d never known before. He was entirely focused on
her. For this moment, she could pretend a man loved her. No. Not love. She
couldn’t go there. She couldn’t even pretend to believe in love.

The idea of love
between a man and a woman was nothing more than myth; a fantasy. Her mind
started to wander. How had she ever believed Tom was in love with her? How had
she ever fallen in love with him? She remembered wanting and needing him to
take her into his arms and hold her many times. He never bothered to comfort
her, or care for her needs and wants. It wasn’t long after she’d discovered she
was pregnant, that she realized he was too concentrated on getting her father
to notice him to ever focus on her at all. He didn’t love her. He never did.
He’d used her. 

Sex with Tom was
worse than boring. He was a handsome man. He took care of himself. He had a
solid muscular body that could’ve performed the act of making love with much
more vigor than he ever did. It was kind of sad in a pathetic sort of way. He
acted as if achieving anything more than his pleasure during intercourse was a
chore. He never truly saw to her needs at all. She always felt cold and empty
after having sex with him. It was always over before it ever truly began.
Frustrated, she would stare at the ceiling for hours as he snored night after
night away.

Forcing her to
look into his eyes, Eli framed her face in his hands and tilted her head back.
“Can you do me a very big favor, babe?”

She wouldn’t
admit it just yet, but she was game for doing just about anything with him.
“What kind of favor?”

“Let’s not think
about the past right now.”

“Oh, crap. I’m
sorry. I really am.” Feeling like an idiot, she shook her head. “I forgot you
could hear my thoughts. Maybe it’s too soon for me.” It was. And it wasn’t fair
to Eli. All that had happened was too much to just forget. The pain was too
much. The past was so close it was relentlessly nipping at her heals. She
couldn’t stop her thoughts from straying. She couldn’t be mad at him for
hearing them. He was what he was. And she knew from the start that he could
hear them. She frowned. “This is a bad idea, isn’t it?”

She expected to
see anger and frustration, but she didn’t see anything except for understanding
in his eyes as he smiled at her. “Don’t be sorry. If it’s too much…if you would
rather wait for another day we will wait.”

She rolled her
eyes. Obviously, he didn’t understand the concept of having a one night fling.
“This is it. There won’t be another day for us.”

“I have an
idea.”

“What?” She
wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Come into my
mind. Share my thoughts. Share the here and now with me. Let the past go for a
little while.”

Frowning, she
bit her lower lip. For a second, his gaze left hers and drifted to her mouth.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She closed her eyes when he looked into them
again. It wouldn’t hurt to try. She opened her eyes and nodded. “It’s worth a
try, right?”

His lips slowly
parted in a sexy smile that caused her doubt to melt away. “I promise to do my
best to make sure it is.” Oh, damn. How could she resist him? His voice was
deep and so very rich with his masculine sexiness that it caused her body to
flush all over.

She’d never
tried to fully enter a stranger’s mind. She didn’t know how. She didn’t know if
she could do it. Touching a person’s mind was far different than completely
merging with it. “I’m not sure how to do it.”

“Hold on to me.
I will show you.” Cradling her hips, he lifted her with him as he stood up.

She was
immediately aware of her size and weight. “Put me down. I’m too heavy to hold
like this.”

He laughed out
loud. “You’re tiny. You’re not heavy at all.”

During her pregnancy,
Tom had ruthlessly badgered her over her weight gain. He seemed to know about
every single pound she gained before she gained it. He called her horrible
names. A cow. A dump truck. A beached whale. And many, many more that she
didn’t want to remember, but she couldn’t forget. “Sorry. I’m doing it again.”

“He hurt you. I
get it. You don’t have any reason to say you’re sorry. Just kiss me. Give me a
chance to take the pain of his memory away from you.” He was too good, too understanding
to be real. But no one, including him, could ever take away the pain of knowing
her child had been killed by the man she’d chosen to love. “You’re right.
Nothing will ever have the power to take away all the pain of such a terrible
tragedy, but perhaps I’ll ease it a bit.” He paused for a few seconds. “It
wasn’t your fault, Kara. You must know that.”

It was her
fault, but she wasn’t willing to argue about it with him. “Are you searching…I
mean…are you digging things up? To be completely honest, I’m not comfortable
with you knowing my every thought.”

She couldn’t
believe he was still supporting her ass, holding her up, and having a
conversation with her as if she weighed nothing. “You aren’t heavy at all. I
like holding your ass and feeling your legs wrapped around my waist. And no,
I’m not digging up anything. You’re sharing your thoughts.” She shook her head
in denial. She wasn’t sharing anything…was she? “You are. You would know. You
would feel it if I went deeper into your mind to invade your thoughts.”

“How would I
know?”

He didn’t
respond right away. He appeared to be searching for the right words to explain
it. “It would feel much more intimate,” he finally said. 

She wasn’t sure
if he was right, but she didn’t want to worry about anything anymore. She
wanted an escape from reality for a while. No, she needed it. Needed him. If
she hadn’t already wrecked his mood, she just wanted him to make love to her.
It was an odd choice of words for a one night stand, but that’s exactly the way
she envisioned their joining would be.

“Then just kiss
me,” he whispered.

She kept her
arms locked around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist as he tilted
his head back to kiss her. But then something happened. He sensed something or
heard something. She wasn’t sure what it was, but something had distracted him
before his lips ever touched her. He made a sound. It was like a soft growl as
he turned his head and, going completely still, stared over his shoulder.

She started to
become a little worried when he stared at the door for few seconds. “Tell me
you haven’t had a change of heart.”

He turned his
head and looked at her, his eyes a strange but sexy combination of dark brown
and glittering gold, and he smiled. His smile, his gaze captured her. Wholly.
Completely. “There’s no chance of that happening unless you change your mind.”

Rather than wait
for a response, he captured her mouth with his. Starting out gentle and turning
into something more turbulent the kiss went on and on. Tangling his hair in her
fingers, she held onto to him as her entire body reacted to his kiss. She was
trembling. Her mind and her body were solely focused on his kiss. A hot surge
of desire raced through her bloodstream. Wanting more. Aching for him. Needing
more. So much more. She returned his kiss. She poured herself into the kiss.

Parting her lips
with his tongue he deepened the kiss even more. They were flying together,
soaring high over any wall of resistance that might’ve cautioned her to stop.
She began to feel his presence grow stronger deep inside her mind, but it
didn’t bother her. She was too focused on the sensational fire building in her
to care about what he would discover in there. She didn’t resist or shy away
from his invasion, though she knew he was taking control.