"Hot. Definitely very hot," she whispered.
The needy, breathy sound of her voice nearly made him come undone. Actually, he liked the feel of silk next to his skin, caressing his engorged member. And he positively loved the look of hunger in his woman's eyes as they roamed over his body, narrowing on the bulge at his crotch.
She didn't bother to hide her desire for him and it made him insane. "What's this?" He opened his fist, exposing the tiny cardboard heart. Flipping it over, he saw the handwritten words.
Good For One Wish!
He looked up at her, perplexed. She was worrying her bottom lip, looking anxious.
"It's a heart-wish. I didn't really have my own money--" She held her hand up as he drew in an audible breath to argue. "Don't start that again. Anyway, I made these up. You can cash them in any time. They're good for one wish or favor that you want from me. Anything that you can think of that's in my power to grant you."
"Anything?" His heart pounded as his mind filled with images.
She raised a brow. "Anything I'm capable of doing."
"I wish you would keep the money I put in your bank account and not argue about the security." Feeling a little guilty that he was using his gift against her, he frowned.
She gave him a look that his mother used to give him as a child. It was the dreaded “I'm-so-disappointed-in-you” look. Fuck! That hurt.
She folded her arms in front of her. "That wish interferes with my morals and values. Plus, that's two wishes. Not fair."
"Compromise?" he breathed softly, not liking the disgruntled look on her face.
Her face softened. "I'm open."
"Keep the money in your account. Use it if you need to. I'm not saying you have to keep it forever. Just keep it for now. Until you graduate and get a job. We can renegotiate later." Of course, he'd refuse to take it back later. But this was now, and he wanted her to be safe if anything ever happened to him.
"Wish granted." She let her arms slide down her body and planted them on her hips. "Security?"
"Let me leave the security in place, but I'll make them back off. You'll barely know that they're there. But let me keep security on you." Holding his breath, he watched her expression. "For my peace of mind, Kara. For me."
"I'll do it for you provided they back off and quit scaring my classmates. Wish granted." She snatched the paper heart from his hand and tore it up.
He dropped to the floor, searching frantically for the other heart-wishes. "How many were there?" He'd found two. Seeing another one lying under the table, he crawled forward, totally oblivious to the carpet burns on his knees. He wanted every one of those bad-boys in his hot little hand. They were definitely made of solid gold.
"Five," she choked out with a laugh.
He heaved a sigh of relief as he snagged the last one from the carpet. As he stood, she had her hand out and an expectant look on her face. "What?" No way was she getting another one to tear up.
"You made two wishes. You owe me one of those."
"I compromised." he said heatedly. Compromise should count for something. It wasn't like he did it every day, or for just anybody.
"Gimme." she answered, wriggling her fingers.
Oh, hell. He had gotten his way. Mostly. Pulling one of the small hearts from his palm reluctantly, he handed it over with a grunt. "Can I have these every holiday?"
"We'll see," she muttered vaguely, a secret smile on her lips, as she tore up the paper.
"What did you mean when you said you'd never gotten flowers? You had a long-term boyfriend."
She sighed heavily. "He didn't do gifts. Thought they were a waste of money. Especially flowers, because they eventually die."
"No offense, sweetheart, but why in the hell did you stay with him for so long?" His jaw clenched, wishing he could beat the hell out of her ex.
"I honestly don't know. It probably had something to do with the death of my parents. I missed them. I felt so alone after they died. I guess I was pretty young, vulnerable and stupid." Her voice was forlorn.
Simon hated the bastard even more. She had been young and alone, stunned after losing her parents. He wished he could have been there for her then.
But he was here now. He pulled her unresisting body into his arms, vowing to protect her from this moment on. "Never again, baby. You'll always have me. I'll never let you be lonely."
Neither one of us will ever be lonely again.
He took the clip from her hair and dropped it on the floor. As he ran a soothing hand over the silky strands, he realized that he had been lonely his entire life. He'd just never really recognized it. "I've been waiting for you forever," he whispered to her in a husky voice. Somehow, he had known her from the moment he saw her. Not with his eyes, but with his heart.
And God, how he needed her.
She pulled away from him slightly to see his face. She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. He could see her love, her heart glittering in her eyes. He traced her lips with his fingers, moving slowly to her cheeks and down her neck, savoring the softness beneath his fingertips. He drew invisible initials on her exposed cle**age, left bare by his too-big robe. His initials, tracing over them again and again, needing to stake his claim on this woman who drove him to ecstasy and to the edge of sanity.
"Simon." she whimpered his name, pulling his head down to her lips.
He groaned into her embrace as her hands stroked over his shoulders, loving the feel of her fingers on his heated flesh, a touch so exquisite that his heart was thundering against the wall of his chest.
Needing to make her his, claim her, he thrust his tongue into her mouth with desperation, need so intense that it was almost painful. The possessive beast in him sighed as she opened for him, letting him in, asking for more. He plundered until they were both breathless, panting. Pulling back, he sucked in a deep breath, nibbling at her lower lip, unable to separate himself from her, but also needing to have her naked.
He moved back, cupping one of her silk-clad br**sts, running a finger around the prominent nipple. "Do you remember what I told you about this robe," he rumbled against her lips, tracing them with the tip of his tongue.
"Every word," she answered in a low, sexy voice. "I have very fond memories of this robe."
"Me too." he replied hotly, reluctantly releasing her and pulling one more tiny heart from his other hand. "But right now I wish you would get naked."
With a graceful move, she swept the heart from his fingers and tore it up. Slowly, she opened the front tie of the garment, letting the silk glide effortlessly off her shoulders. He swallowed hard as her perfect br**sts appeared and the garment caught at her elbows for a heart-stopping moment, before it slid to the floor in a pool of shimmering black.