To Tempt A Tiger (17 page)

Another part of her thought,
This is Vlad, the father of your child. The man you always thought you’d marry. The one man you loved so much, you haven’t been able to even consider another man since meeting him. He’s yours.

She liked the way that voice thought. She decided to listen to that one. Just this once. Because she needed this, needed him, more than she needed her next meal. And she was a woman who loved her food.

Chapter Eleven

“Would it be rushing you to say let’s go back to your bedroom?” Rose asked between kisses.

He groaned, his big body trembling. In the next instant, he stood with her in his arms, the move so fast she gasped.

Capturing her mouth again, he carried her to his bedroom, bumping open the door, then reaching down to shut it silently. The fact that even now he was concerned and aware enough not to wake Zoe left her giddy, and the love she’d worked to forget overwhelmed her. They may have to start over and get to know one another again, she may still have to figure out how to trust him again, but falling in love with him wouldn’t be a problem. She was already there.

He settled her onto the bed, then straightened to strip off his shirt. She reached for him the instant he stretched out next to her, her hands roaming over the planes of hard muscles she remembered so well. And yet he was brand new to her. She set about relearning all the dips and rises, the lovely ridges of his abs, the way he sucked in a breath when her fingers brushed against his ribs. When simply touching him wasn’t quite enough, she slid down to run her lips across his chest, down the center of his stomach, flicking her tongue against the skin just above his jeans.

Oh, the sounds he made, those deep groans, growls, and hisses. She’d always loved listening to him, thrilling in his pleasure. She rubbed her hand over the hard ridge of his cock, through his jeans, and when his hips bucked, she grinned.

He rewarded her efforts by flipping her onto her back and indulging in his own exploration. He removed her t-shirt and bra, then dipped his head and took her nipple into the heat of his mouth. The feel of him sent a sharp shock of lust straight to her core. She squeezed her thighs together to contain the pressure building too fast.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he murmured as he kissed from her breast down the center of her stomach.

Everything in her clenched and tightened, straining and coiling, the tingles of sensation almost painful. “I’ve missed you, too,” she panted. Then groaned as he slipped a hand under the waistband of her jeans, not far, just enough to tease and torment.

He brushed his fingers gently just above the line of her underwear. She gasped and her hips bucked. For long moments, he did nothing more than drop light, wet kisses over her stomach and brush the skin along her lower abdomen, teasing at the elastic of her panties but never quite dipping beneath.

The teasing drove her to the very edge of screaming. Her every nerve jumped and fired. Her body clenched tight, straining toward more.

“Vlad.” His name came out low and husky between her clenched teeth, both a plea and a demand. If he didn’t remove her jeans soon, she was going to do it herself.

His chuckle tickled her stomach, sending another wave of tingles through her. Her nipples were peaked and so sensitive even the gentle brush of air in the room felt like a delicious torment.

“You always were in a hurry to get naked,” he said as he finally, finally unbuttoned her jeans.

“All the good stuff happens when we’re naked,” she said, wiggling to help him get her jeans and underwear off. “Speaking of which, lose the rest of your clothes. Now.”

His laugh was dark and husky, a seduction all its own. He stood long enough to shuck off the rest of his clothing, but he stared at her the entire time. Now naked, she arched and stretched under his gaze, feeling like the sexiest woman on Earth. The way his dark eyes narrowed and his breathing sped as he stared only made her hotter.

“You got a new tattoo,” he commented, his tone almost an octave deeper now.

She’d wondered if he’d notice. To her extreme pleasure, he knelt on the bed and brought his face close to the little red heart she had on her inner right thigh. He traced it with one finger. It was a simple enough design, but he studied it like it held some secret.

“It’s beautiful,” he said, before kissing her right on the tattoo.

She shivered and her muscles clenched.

“Why this, and why here?”

“Because of Zoe. I got it right after I found out I was pregnant, before I even told you. It was going to be my second surprise.”

He looked up at her as he stroked his thumb back and forth over the heart. “It’s perfect. I’m very sorry it’s taken me four years to see it.”

“I can think of a few things you might consider doing while you’re down there that could make up for that.”

He grinned, a deliciously wicked expression that set her pulse pounding. Then he turned his full attention back to the little tattoo. “You still have the other two? I’ve been wondering all week.”

“You’ll have to see for yourself.”

“Can’t wait.” He flicked out his tongue, a quick lick along her inner thigh, then pushed her legs farther apart and settled between them.

She had to bite her hand to keep from screaming when he settled his mouth over her heat and licked into her. Her clit was so sensitive, so ready for his tongue, she was trembling and close to orgasm within moments. She panted and groaned and tried desperately to hold back so she could enjoy the feel of his mouth on her for just a little longer, but her body worked against her. She tightened and tightened and then broke apart with a rush of pleasure.

He continued to lick her gently, but she was so sensitive after the orgasm, her body jerked and twitched with sensations that were a little too close to pain.

She gripped his hair and sat up, forcing his mouth away from her. “Too much,” she said. “Need just a little time to recover.”

He kissed the inside of her knee and said, “Fair enough. I have a lot of other places I want to explore.” He brushed his hand over her curls. “I’ll just make my way back here.”

She couldn’t bring herself to argue.

“Now, let’s see about those other tattoos.”

He flipped her onto her stomach so fast she gasped, then giggled. She closed her eyes to savor the feel of his big hands stroking down her back to her bottom. He traced a finger over the sugar skull she had on her left ass cheek and hip, and she trembled in response. God, everything he did sent her close to the edge. He kissed the intricate artwork, then nibbled his way up, pausing at her lower back to lick the little dimple she had above her bottom, before dragging his lips along her spine. She arched, her hips lifting of their own accord.

With one hand still on her ass, he nuzzled her second tattoo on the back of her shoulder. This one was a small, single-color Celtic cross.

“I remember the first time I saw this one,” he murmured against her shoulder. “On the ground watching you start your climb. I kept getting distracted from my gear checks, trying to catch sight of this whenever your tank top moved enough to show it. My belayer actually had to punch me in the arm to get my attention. I was so distracted by you, I thought for sure I’d miss a hand or toe hold and drop.” He licked her shoulder blade. “The fall would have been worth it.”

“You could have just asked for a better view,” she said, lifting up to look at him over her shoulder. “I was hoping to give you a closer look at both my tattoos.”

“Then I really would have fallen to my death.”

“I would have waited until we finished the climb.”

“Yeah, but if you’d offered before we started, I wouldn’t have.”

She laughed quietly, then sighed and moved her head to one side as he nibbled the skin between her shoulder and neck. He made her feel so desirable, so feminine. How had she managed without this for four years?

He kissed his way to the other side of her neck, pausing at her nape to nuzzle a spot that was particularly sensitive. She shivered. When he started kissing down her spine again, she had to bury her face in the pillow to keep from groaning too loudly, and when his lips moved across her butt, she bit the pillow, hard.

“I love how sensitive you are,” he murmured.

His breath was hot against her skin.

He traced the elaborate, multi-colored design on her butt again, his fingers running over the flower vines that twined round the skull and across her hip. “How’d you manage to get this without having an orgasm in the tattoo parlor?”

Her laugh turned into a muffled gasp. “The pain offset the pleasure,” she said when she could manage to speak. “A lot.”

“Probably for the best. I’d hate to be jealous of a random, anonymous tattoo artist.”

“Not anonymous.”

“Oh?”

The growl in his voice made her grin as she looked over her shoulder at him again, her hair dropping across one eye. “She’s the only one I ever use. Very skilled.” She pushed the mass of her hair out of the way so she could see his expression better.

He paused. “I’m not sure whether to be jealous or turned on now. I’m leaning toward turned on.”

“Since we’re naked and in bed together, I should hope you’re turned on,” she said dryly.

He grinned, that wicked smile she loved so much. “More turned on.”

“Would you really share me with a woman?”

“No. But I like the fantasy.”

She tossed a pillow at his head. He retaliated by biting her ass, none-too-gently. The sensation went right to her core and her body clenched in reaction, winding tighter and closer to another orgasm, just from having his mouth on her.

“You keep this up, I’m going to be too worn out for the actual intercourse part of the night,” she said.

“I doubt that. I remember you having a great deal of stamina.”

“I’m out of practice.” More quietly, she said, “It’s been a while for me.”

He stopped kissing her, though his hand continued to caress her butt. “How long?”

She kept her head down, shy to admit this truth because it revealed so much. “Since you. I haven’t been with anyone since you.”

He remained so quiet, she forced herself to look at him. Something she couldn’t read moved through his expression. In a blink, he moved up the bed, rolled her onto her back, and kissed her, deeply and with so much passion she was overwhelmed. She wrapped her arms around him, trying to tell him with her kiss how much she’d missed him, in ways words just couldn’t express.

He settled between her legs, his cock nudging against her entrance, but for a long moment, they just held that position, caressing and kissing as if they had all the time in the world. When he pushed a little farther, almost entering her, a strange but important thought invaded her passion addled brain.

She pulled his head up so she could look him in the eyes. “I’m not on birth control. And I don’t have any condoms. We never worried about them because we thought we couldn’t get pregnant, but we did. Which means we can again. I know we were together for two years before it happened last time, so it’s not likely to happen tonight, but…”

She swallowed. She couldn’t even consider pregnancy at the moment, not with everything going on with Zoe, not with the way her world had been upended, and certainly not with a man she was still learning to trust again.

He grimaced and in the dim light she could swear she saw color climb into his cheeks. She had to be imagining that. His skin tone was too dark and the room was shadowed, the lights out.

He said, “I have condoms in my bag.”

“What?”

He rolled his eyes and looked away.

She took his face in her hands and forced him around to meet her gaze. “Are you telling me you planned this? You intended for us to end up in bed together again?”

“It wasn’t exactly a plan. Wishful thinking maybe, but I didn’t intend to rush you into anything.”

“And you thought of birth control, even though we never bothered with it before?”

“Like you said, we can get pregnant. I didn’t think you’d want to take that chance yet. Maybe after you forgive me and marry me, we can talk about it, but—”

“Wait.” She put a finger over his mouth. “Did you just say marry you?”

“Of course. What did you think I wanted?”

“Well how the hell should I know? We have been…estranged for four years. You just came back into my life. And there’s all this other stuff with Zoe.”

“I know. Which is why I haven’t brought it up. But I meant it when I said I would be here for you, Rose. Any way you want me. If I get my way, eventually you’ll marry me. I won’t rush you or pressure you, but it is what I want.”

“And in the meantime, you brought condoms.”

He grimaced.

“That was very presumptuous of you.” She stopped him when he opened his mouth. “And very thoughtful.”

In fact, his actions did more to prove his honorable intentions toward her then he could have guessed. Because if he was here to coerce her into marrying him, the best way to do that would be to get her pregnant again. The fact that he wasn’t actively working to manipulate her that way made her heart swell. She pulled him close and kissed him.

When he raised his head again, she was panting and no longer thinking clearly.

“Does this mean I should go get one of the condoms?” he asked, sounding breathless too.

“One. Or two. Depending on
your
stamina.”

He kissed her hard once and leapt away so fast the move made her bounce and the bounce made her giggle. He was back as quickly, with two condoms. He set one aside, slipped one on, and returned to kissing her before she had time to feel the chill in the room.

This time, when he nudged between her legs, she angled her hips and opened to him, eager to finally have him inside. For just an instant, the feel of him stretched her so fully she wasn’t actually sure she was ready. She was more than eager and wet, but she was also very tight after four years of celibacy—despite having a child in that period of time.

Then he settled in fully, her body adjusted, and all she felt was the zing of satisfaction, a wholeness she’d almost forgotten. She gripped his shoulders and rocked against him, and the power of her need took over.