The Beautiful Ones (Arabesque) (11 page)

Chapter 15

S
olomon stared at Ophelia, afraid to ask her to repeat the question. It wasn’t until after the silence had stretched to its capacity that he realized she was waiting for an answer.

He coughed, cleared his throat, and then coughed some more. Was this some kind of a joke? Were Marcel and their frat brothers going to jump out at any moment with a camcorder? “Uh, what—?”

“Look, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Ophelia said. Her pretty cheeks darkened. “I just thought that… .” She released a long sigh. “Hell, I don’t know what I thought.”

Solomon’s gaze darted, yet again, to the candles, champagne, and strawberries. “Seems you went to an awful lot of trouble,” was all he could think to say.

She tied the belt on her robe. “Well, I sort of wanted the night to be…special.”

It would have been hard to ignore the note of disappointment in her voice. She was serious.

“Thanks for not laughing at me,” Ophelia added, avoiding his gaze.

He drew a deep breath in an attempt to calm his building excitement. “May I ask you something?”

She shrugged, while still having trouble landing her gaze. “Sure.”

“Why me?”

“There’re lots of reasons,” she said simply.

“Name one.”

She looked at him. Her eyes glossed with unshed tears. “Because you’re my best friend. You know me better than anyone. I trust you to be kind, gentle, and patient with me. I
want
to do this with you.”

A long silence stretched between them before Solomon leaned forward. Every muscle in his body was tight with anticipation. Sure, they’d kissed each other often, but those were mere pecks on the cheek or light brushes against her forehead. This was different.

The moment their lips connected, Solomon melted at the sound of her sigh and the blaze of an inferno roaring within him. This was no awkward adolescent kiss. This was a strange and intoxicating combination of hunger, passion, and undeniable longing.

His longing.

Solomon pressed closer, already addicted to the faint taste of strawberries on her lips. Gently, Ophelia’s soft hands cupped the sides of his face and pulled him even closer to her scantily clad body. He followed her lead and then stopped when she gasped. His solid erection brushed against her leg, and her gaze lowered to view its visible outline against his pants.

He knew what was racing through her mind. The last time they’d seen each other naked was years ago when they had gone skinny-dipping, and frankly, he’d grown considerably over the years.

Waiting for her gaze to return to his face, Solomon was suddenly aware that this intimate moment could come to a screeching halt. What would he do if it did?

Time stood still while his erection only hardened and his heart nearly hammered its way out of his chest. At long last, her beautiful golden eyes traveled upward to lock gazes.

“I just remembered another reason why I chose you,” she said huskily.

Solomon came to her with a groan, crashing their lips in another meaningful and needy kiss. However, it was the strangest thing—the more he drank from her sweet mouth, the thirstier he became. That didn’t make sense.

A once-nervous Ophelia floated languidly on heaven’s lofty clouds. She remembered having this same experience years before, but after so much time had passed, she’d convinced herself she’d imagined the whole thing. Everything tingled, tickled, or fluttered wonderfully, and he had yet to remove a single article of clothing.

Yet fear had a way of wheedling itself into any situation. She worried whether her experienced best friend would be turned off by her skills—or lack thereof—in the bedroom. At first, she tried to push the thought aside, but the question kept resurfacing.

She tore her lips away, much to the relief of her oxygen-deprived lungs, and sucked in a long, shaky breath.

“Is something wrong?” Solomon panted.

“Maybe we should talk.”

He slumped forward with unmistakable disappointment.

“Please,” she added. “Just for a minute.”

He closed his eyes, nodded, and drew in a deep breath before he pushed himself off of her.

Instantly, her body cried out in protest at the absence of his body heat. She took it as a signal to make her speech short and sweet.

“I’m nervous, I’m new at this, and I hope you won’t be disappointed.” There, she’d said it. She reached for him again and pulled him back.

“That’s it?” he asked.

She heard the laughter in his voice and she smiled. “Not unless you have something else you want to add.”

“Hell, no.” Solomon peeled off his dark turtleneck with a quick
whoosh
before he reclaimed his position above her.

Catching only a glimpse of his bare, smooth chest was enough to accelerate Ophelia’s wild heartbeat, but the joy of feeling it beneath her hands was immeasurable. While she absorbed everything he was willing to give, she playfully and tenderly slid her fingers over every inch of his chest and back. The many corded muscles that flexed and tightened intrigued her.

When she finished the exploration, her fingers lowered to the waist of his pants. Caught up in what she was feeling, she didn’t think to be surprised by her bold moves.

Solomon pulled away, and she was left to stare at him in bewilderment.

“Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

Stuck between embarrassment and flattery, she chuckled. “Am I doing something you like?”

“You’re doing everything I like.” He smiled and gave her a wink. “But maybe we should do this the right way.” He stood up.

Ophelia frowned. “Are we doing something wrong?” She watched him cross the room to her old stereo in the corner.

“No. I just think we should make the night as special as we can.” Once he selected and inserted a CD, the smooth, hot tunes from Jodeci filled the room.

She didn’t know what to say, but she appreciated him caring so much.

He approached the couch again and held out his hand. “Maybe we should start off with a little dancing.”

She glanced up at him. He had a wonderful smile. She thought about that while sliding her hand into his. Ophelia stood and glided easily into his arms, where once again his bare chest brushed against the thin, lacy material of her teddy and his ever-present hard erection pressed against other parts. Weak-kneed by just the thoughts of things to come, she didn’t know how she managed to sway in time with the music.

“Strawberries and champagne?” Solomon asked.

“And whipped cream,” she added, and then blanched in embarrassment.

Solomon chuckled. “No, let’s not forget that.”

Certain that her face was turning every shade of red, Ophelia buried her head against his chest, but soon found that she loved the sound of his steady heartbeat. By the second track of the CD, she was completely relaxed and at ease. She didn’t give it a thought when he tilted up her chin and once again swept her mind away with another kiss.

Time stood still, the earth moved, her stomach filled with thousands of butterflies—every flowery prose she’d ever read in a romance novel was actually happening to her, and she couldn’t be more pleased.

Solomon gently slid off her silk robe and then took his time lowering the spaghetti straps from her shoulders. His dear best friend had no idea how long he’d dreamed of this night, and he was going to make sure they savored every moment.

He pulled her teddy down until it reached her waist and then gently cupped her full breasts. He devoured her soft gasp and absolutely fell in love with the feel of her hard nipples in the palm of his hand. He played with them until they grew even harder.

He needed a bed. He had no intention of taking her right there on the floor or even on the small contraption she and her roommate called a couch. With his mind made up, he broke their kiss, swept her half-nude body up into his arms, and carried her toward her bedroom.

However, when he pushed open the door, he was surprised to find more candlelight, chilled champagne, strawberries…and whipped cream awaited him.

“I see you put some thought into this.”

Ophelia giggled. “A little.” She smiled up at his handsome face, pleased that everything was going so well.

His gaze darkened with desire, and it literally stole her breath. In the next moment, she was being lowered onto the bed. She forgot her breasts were still exposed, but when Solomon’s gaze deserted hers, she was suddenly embarrassed and crossed her arms to cover herself.

His smile warmed. “Don’t do that. You’re beautiful.” Gently, he pulled her hands away.

Laying still, she watched as he reached for her, even quivered when his finger brushed against her hard nipples. An ache seemed to resonate from her very soul while she waited for more.

It wasn’t a long wait.

Solomon leaned down and kissed her, a deep, devouring kiss that left them both breathless. During that time he also managed to slide the lacy lingerie from her body and reveal a small nest of curls between her legs.

No doubt about it: Ophelia Missler was all grown up.

“What about you?” she asked softly. “Can I see you?”

He shot to his feet and reached to unbutton his pants when she stopped him.

“Can I do it?” Her hands replaced his and, although shaky, unbuttoned his pants.

He watched and waited. The pants fell off easily enough, but the hesitation came once she reached the boxers.

“Hey.” Solomon brushed her hands away. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” He said the words and meant them, but predicted years of therapy if she did change her mind.

“No. I want to do this,” she said in an adorable pout, while her hands returned to his boxers and slid them off.

Ophelia’s eyes widened and twinkled in the candlelight. “You’re beautiful, too,” she whispered.

They reached for each other in the same moment. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he eased her gently onto her back. Their lips locked, their hands explored, and the room was filled with sighs and moans.

The heat of his arousal, pressed so intimately against her, overwhelmed and thrilled her. Through it all, he remained surprisingly gentle. Yes, she’d made the right choice.

Her wild response to him was overwhelming, and all plans of patience and restraint were quickly being tossed out the window. Finally, he dragged his mouth away to delve and taste the fragrant valley between her breasts. However, it wasn’t long before he drew a hard tan nipple into his mouth. As a mere mortal, this was his first taste of heaven, and as long as this night never ended, he couldn’t care less if he never returned to earth.

Solomon reveled in the feel of her soft breasts rubbing against his face. While he took his time switching from one taut bud to the other, his hand stroked a path downward. Gently, he caressed her inner thighs, occasionally brushing the downy V between her legs.

Ophelia moaned at the sweet torture and even tried to thrust her hips toward his roaming hand. However, each time his strong fingers drew near, they ignored her open invitation and nearly made her mad with longing.

“Sol?” she panted.

“Hmm?” He continued his slow suckling.

“Please—I can’t take much more…”

On cue, Solomon dipped two fingers into her warm, slick passage.