Excitement washed over her. He still wanted her.
She nodded. “I can handle it, Blake.”
“Then go change.”
She got to her feet. It was now or never. And right now never definitely wasn’t an option.
Samantha couldn’t deny she was nervous as she came out of her room in her nightshirt and descended the staircase in a pair of high-heeled gold sandals she’d put on at the last moment. The bottom button was missing from her nightshirt, but the material covered her and what did it matter now anyway?Blake had turned the lamps off and stood by the log fire, watching her in the flickering light with the same look he’d had on his face last Saturday night when she’d dressed for her date with Joel. She’d been trying to capture Blake’s attention that night to make him jealous. Tonight she’d definitely caught more than his attention. Tonight they both knew they would be a part of each other. The power of that thought stunned her.
“Come over here, Samantha,” he said huskily when she reached the bottom step. The air throbbed between them and she quivered, moving forward without a falter as she made her away across the carpet to him.
His blue eyes moved slowly down over her, and something flared in them. “You’re still missing the button,” he said, as if to himself.
She blinked in surprise as she reached him. “You knew it was missing?”
“Oh, yes. It came off this morning in the bathroom…when I lifted you up on the sink.”
She could feel herself go hot all over. “Oh. I hadn’t realized.”
“I know you didn’t,” he said, with a pointed look. He pulled her up against him. “God, you’re so damn sexy, Samantha Thompson,” he murmured, gathering her close. “My very sexy lady.” His body was hard and she trembled. “Now, does that feel like I can turn myself off so easily?” he said thickly, his breath stirring over her face.
The solid warmth of him pressed against her stomach. “No.” The word emerged on a whisper.
“There’s no going back this time,” he said, reassuring that this time he would not walk away.
The deepest longing stirred within her. “Kiss me, Blake.”
He did.
Once…twice…long and slow…
And then he eased back and looked deep into her eyes.
She looked back at him.
Blue on blue.
“I want you in front of the fire,” he murmured, sending her pulse jumping all over the place. “Here. Lie down on the cushions.” She saw he had placed two big cushions near their feet. “Be careful of your head,” he said, helping to lower her to the thick rug, so sweet and caring. She wanted to say it was too late, that she was about to lose her head anyway, only the words wouldn’t come.
Soon she was lying there in her nightshirt and her gold sandals and he was standing over her in the firelight, his gaze scanning the full length of her, before stopping at the junction to her thighs. “You left your panties on,” he mused throatily, telling her the front of her nightshirt must have fallen open at the hem.
She moistened her mouth. “I wanted to take them off, but…”
“I’ll be happy to do the honors…” he said, and her heartbeat quickened, “but in a minute.”
All at once she wanted him so much. “Take off your clothes first, Blake. Don’t make me wait.”
His eyes darkened and he dragged his sweater up over his head, along with his T-shirt, tossing them aside. He kicked off his shoes and his hands went to his belt….
He hesitated.
“Your trousers, too.” She was desperate to see him fully as a man for the first time, the thought making her lightheaded.
Another second, then his hands dropped away from the buckle. “Not yet.” He dropped to his knees beside her, and let his gaze slide along the full length of her, like he was committing her to memory.
But his bare chest beckoned her and she reached out to touch him, her fingers tingling as she came into contact with the dark whorls of hair over hard muscle. He groaned and slammed his hand over hers, stopping it from moving.
“Not yet,” he repeated, putting her hand back down beside her.
And then with slow deliberation he began to undo her top button. She gasped as he undid another and slid her nightshirt off her shoulder a little. “I’ve wanted to do this since this morning,” he murmured, lowering his head and trailing a kiss from the curve of her shoulder to her throat, then down to the valley between her br**sts.
He inhaled deeply, then lifted his face and undid another button, exposing her br**sts. Soon he was leaning over her, using his mouth to possess the tip of one nipple before moving to the other, gliding his tongue back and forth over them, imprinting them with his taste.
“Oh, my God,” she muttered, shuddering at such an exquisite touch. “I…”
“Steady, my lovely.” He shifted back a little. Another button undone allowed him to drift kisses along the exposed skin to her belly button. She shuddered again when he stroked his palm over her stomach, before the rest of the buttons were unfastened and the material finally parted, falling away to her sides and revealing her near-nakedness to him.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, dipping his fingers under the waistband then peeling the panties down her body. By the time he’d finished, he’d moved to kneel between her thighs. She moaned faintly, suspecting a blush was rolling all the way down to her feet.
“So beautiful.” He slowly reached out and slipped a finger through the triangle of curls, making her gasp. “You like that?”
She moaned again. “Oh, yes.”
For long, heart-stopping moments he toyed with her dampening skin, sending tremors through her. And then he slid his hands under her, cupping the cheeks of her bottom and tilting her lower body up to him, the satin material of her nightshirt falling away fully as his head lowered to the dark V at her thighs.
But before he touched, he stopped and looked up again, his eyes catching hers, holding still. He didn’t speak or move a muscle, but there was a primitive look in his eyes that swept her breath away.
Slowly he lowered his head again and sought her out, his mouth beginning a slow worship of her femininity. She gasped as his tongue slid between her folds, teasing and tantalizing her, stroking her in erotic exploration, taking her to the brink, then bringing her back…once…twice…then finally he took her right over the edge, any remnants of her control disintegrating as she pulsed with the purest of pleasures.
Long moments later, she was still trying to recover when he rose to his feet and stripped off his trousers. She watched mesmerized as he put on a condom, thrilled that she had the power to make this man so hot and hard for her.
He was soon kneeling back down between her legs, and kissing his way right up the center of her until he found her mouth. He gave her one long kiss, then suddenly he was part of her. In her.
She held him deep inside, finally one with Blake Jarrod. She’d been waiting so long. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
He kissed her deeper as he began to thrust, long strokes time after time. Soon she began to tremble around him, toppling over the edge again, the flickering of the flames in the fireplace nothing compared to their own fire burning within.
Samantha lay amongst the cushions in front of the fire and watched Blake stride toward the downstairs bathroom. He’d covered her with the throw from the couch, and she enjoyed lying there watching his bare back and buttocks that were all firm muscle and arrestingly male.She smiled to herself in the gentle glow from the fireplace. She couldn’t believe it. She’d made love with Blake. She felt marvelous. He’d been so generous and loving and…
All at once, she found herself blinking back sudden tears. Their lovemaking had been so much more than sex. She hadn’t admitted it to herself until now lest she back out, but when he’d said earlier they were hav**g s*x, something had gnawed at her as she’d gone up the stairs. It had sounded like they would merely be hav**g s*x for sex’s sake. And while that was somewhat true, that wasn’t what she was only about.
She’d known the same was true for Blake. He’d already proven that by not taking advantage this morning when he’d thought she was a virgin. She’d “made love” with Blake, despite love not being involved. There was respect between them and that was more important to her.
Right then she heard him coming back and she quickly blinked away any suggestion of tears. He wouldn’t want to know. Otherwise he’d think she hadn’t been able to handle it, when it was merely because she hadn’t expected to be quite so touched by all this.
He gave a sexy smile as he dropped down and leaned over to kiss her. “How do you feel?” he murmured, pulling back and looking into her eyes.
She was fully aware of his nak*dness next to her. She could easily reach out and touch him. “Wonderful.”
He looked pleased as he lifted the throw and slid under it to lie on his back, pulling her against his chest and kissing the top of her head but being careful of her injury. “Is that better?”
She was glad he couldn’t look into her eyes. “Much.”
He chuckled, his breath stirring her hair. “Who knew, eh?”
“What?”
“That we’d be so good together.”
She’d never doubted it. “We work well together in business, so why not in bed?”
“True.”
After that, they lay in quiet. The fire crackled and the clock on the wall ticked the seconds by. Samantha began to feel sleepy. There was no place she’d rather be in the world right now, she thought, as her eyelids drifted shut and she listened to the tick tock…tick tock…tick…she loved him…tock.
Startled, she jumped. Dear God, she loved him.
“What’s wrong?”
Her brain stumbled. Panic whorled inside her. The ability to speak deserted her for a moment…and then somehow she pulled herself together. “What? Oh, nothing. I think I fell asleep too fast.”
“Don’t worry. There’s no chance of that happening again just yet.” He put his hand under her chin, lowering his head and lifting her mouth up to his. She quickly closed her eyes, hiding them from him, hiding her deepest secret. She’d betrayed him by falling in love with him. And she’d betrayed herself. She hadn’t wanted to love him. She had never intended for that to happen.
Then he kissed her and the slow, delicious process of making love to her started again. She prayed to God for the strength not to reveal her love for this man who was leaving his mark on her like no one had ever done before. She couldn’t afford to give her feelings away, or their relationship would be over before it had really begun. Wanting Blake had been hard enough.
Loving him was going to be intolerable.
Eight
Blake made love to her many times during the night, both downstairs and in his bed. Samantha had never known such bliss, but by the time the next morning rolled around and she’d gone back to her own room to get dressed for work, she had a thousand worries inside her head. She loved Blake and that presented so many problems. She’d virtually promised him she wouldn’t fall for him. Now it seemed like she’d gone back on her word.