comfortable. You know, the kind of girl you can tell your secrets to.”
“You called yourself a girl.”
She mock-punched his shoulder. “I do it all the time, but that doesn’t mean I like hearing a man call me a girl.”
He smiled. “Just when I think I have you figured out you do something else to surprise me.”
“I hope I’m not so easy to figure out,” she said. No matter that she told him about her dancing suspension. She usually played her cards closer to her chest. But to be honest, she had no idea how to deal with this life now that she had no direction. And opening up to Nate felt right somehow.
“You’re not. You are very complex,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “And very beautiful.”
He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, telling her how sexy he found her body and how much he wanted to touch her all night. His breath was warm and she liked hearing what he said.
He made her feel like she wasn’t incomplete. And that was it, she thought. Since she’d had her appeal denied, she realized that she’d felt broken, but here in Nate’s arms none of that mattered.
She twined her arms around his neck and lifted herself up to kiss him. His mouth moved hungrily over hers and she lost herself. His hands skimmed down her back and settled on her hips. He pulled her closer to him.
The feel of his strong, muscled arms around her made her feel very delicate and feminine. She had never been with a man who felt like Nate did. He was strong, muscled, his body still in shape from years of being an athlete. There was no way for her to pretend he was anyone other than Nate Stern.
Her blood flowed heavier in her veins as he moved his hands over her. She knew that Nate was in control of this embrace. She was letting him set the tempo and as much as she wanted him, she wasn’t ready to take the lead in anything between them. He lifted her off her feet.
“Wrap your arms and legs around me,” he said.
She held tight to him as he walked them into the bedroom. He sat down on the edge of the king-size bed. His hands roamed up and down her back as she looked down at him.
He tipped his head up and kissed her. There was passion in the kiss but also a note of tenderness and it was the tenderness that won her over. She held his face in both of her hands and plunged her tongue deep into his mouth. He reciprocated, tangling one of his hands deep in her thick hair.
He held her tight as passion overwhelmed her.
He leaned back and she straddled him on the bed. He palmed her breasts, cupping and fondling them gently. She undid the buttons of his shirt and he slowly drew her blouse up her torso. She liked the sensation of the cloth against her skin. She stopped what she was doing and tipped her head back, enjoying the moment.
His hands were warm against her flesh and he draped the fabric over the top of her breasts so that it hung there. His big hands encircled her waist and drew her down toward him.
She felt the warmth of his breath against her nipple a moment before his lips closed around it. She held his head again as he suckled her through the lace of her bra. Everything in her tightened as he caressed her.
She tried to reach behind her to unfasten the bra but he held her wrists. “Not yet. I want to do it this way.”
“You do?”
He nodded.
She reached between their bodies and found the hard ridge of his erection. She stroked her hand up and down over him through the fabric of his pants.
“Do you like that?” she asked as he arched his back and moved his hips against her stroking hand.
“Very much. Want to get naked?” he asked, with a grin.
“More than you can imagine, but I thought you wanted to wait.”
“Touché,” he said, snaking his hands around her back and undoing the clasp of her bra. He pushed the fabric up out of his way and then lifted her off his lap. “I can’t see you in this light.”
He rolled over and turned the bedside light on. “Take your blouse off.”
She removed it and her bra as he took off his shirt. The muscles she’d noted when he’d carried her were visible now. His pecs well-developed, his arms all sinew and strength.
He had a light dusting of hair on his chest and it tapered down to a thin line, which disappeared under his belt into his pants.
She stood up next to him. She caressed him from his neck down his chest. Swirled her fingers over his pecs and thumbed his flat nipples before letting her touch go lower.
He stood there and let her explore him. She liked the way the hair on his chest abraded her palm. She liked the warmth of his body and the strength in him.
She leaned down and let her lips follow the path that her hands had. She nibbled on his neck and felt his hands on her back, sliding up and down. Rubbing over her spine and then moving slowly back up.
She felt him lower the zipper at the side of her skirt and the fabric pooled around her feet. She stood there in her flesh-colored bikini panties. He took her hands in his and held her arms away from her body.
“Someday, I’m going to ask you to dance for me when we are alone,” he said.
“I might,” she said. “But only if you do something for me.”
He nodded and brought his hands to his belt. Slowly he undid it and drew it through the loops on his pants. He tossed it on the floor and then pushed his pants down. “Come here.”
“No, you come here,” she said.
He arched one eyebrow at her and came over to her. She pushed him down on the bed and gave him a minute to get situated before she came down on top of him. She put her hands on his shoulders as she straddled his hips. She rubbed her feminine center over his erection and felt his flesh flex under her.
“Like that?” she asked.
“Hell, yes.”
He gripped her hips and rubbed her over his penis. She tipped her head back as she enjoyed the sensation, which spread out all over her body. Gooseflesh spread down her arms and her nipples tightened.
Nate leaned up and ran his tongue over her nipple and her flesh tightened even more. She shifted her shoulders so that her nipple brushed over his lips before he closed them around it and suckled her deeply. “I want you,” Nate said.
“I know,” she whispered. She leaned down over him, rubbing her self against him.
“Why aren’t we completely naked?” he asked.
“I … I don’t know. I thought you’d like to do the honors.”
“Indeed, I would,” he said.
He pulled her flush against his body and rolled them to their sides. Then his hands swept down over the curve of her hips. He tugged on the waistband of her panties lowering them slowly.
