Knock, knock... (31 page)

And damn it if she didn't want him too.

"Yes," she said simply.

"Good."

In a last-ditch effort to find some measure of control, she summoned up the courage to challenge him. "And your model? Is she an issue here?"

Her gaze locked on his lips. He smiled, a slow, long movement that made her heart race. Mentally, she could barely function at all.

"She was never an issue. She's an important part of my life. Then, so are you."

"So you aren't lovers?"

Dark secrets lit the depths of his gaze. Still, for all that she saw and all that she could sense, there wasn't anything malicious in him. Stefan would have warned her if there had been. Roman was entitled to his privacy. God knew she needed hers too.

"No. We've never been lovers."

And his energy wasn't lying. Streaks of gold slid toward her, reached for her. Waited for her. She hesitated, searching to maintain her sanity. Then she realized some of those waves of color were coming from his heart chakra. This wasn't just lust or a need to be slaked. It was obvious this was more. So much more.

He wanted
her
.

Relief blossomed inside. She smiled.

She didn't know how much she wanted him either, but maybe, just maybe, they could give it a try and find out.

***

Roman watched her awareness of him grow, and along with that, the unmistakable bloom of sexual longing in her gaze. He saw the almost imperceptible shiver whispering across her skin as she gazed at him. Good. He'd better not be the only one going crazy in this relationship. Despite the words of caution she wanted him too...yet he felt like he had to move slowly. As if any sudden move could have her changing her mind. And then she'd bolt.

With wide eyes, she stared at him. He glanced over her – enough to realize she wore only a thin cami – make that a transparent cami - and forced himself to look away.

He'd wanted her for such a long time. Too long. He didn't want just one night. He needed more.

He didn't know how much more, but if he could get her to take this step with him, they'd both find out.

Passion shimmered through his body. Lust heated his loins and fired his gaze. He tried to pull back and like a doe trembling in the headlights, she waited for his next move.

He leaned forward and gently stroked her plump lower lip. Her mouth opened, her tongue slipped out and stroked the pad on his finger. He stopped, then leaned forward and gently placed his lips against hers.

She didn't withdraw, nor did she throw her arms around him. She waited, tasting, testing the feel of him against her skin. So honest. So captivating. So sexy.

Just that bit of experimenting, that willingness to give this a try, sent shivers down his spine. God, he wanted her. He deepened the kiss.

She stiffened slightly, and then relaxed.

He withdrew slightly and she whimpered so he tugged her into his arms and kissed her as he'd been wanting to kiss her since forever.

S
hay lost herself in his heat. It warmed her from the inside as he surrounded her with his caring.

She'd forgotten the joy of being in a relationship. For all her time with Darren, she'd never experienced this specialness, this sense of being a part of a private twosome. Or realized how much being held mattered.

Only now. Only with Roman.

Her lips parted under his assault and she couldn't think.

There was something important happening here, but somehow even finding out what that was didn’t matter. At the moment, it seemed that nothing else would ever matter again – except that he never let her go.

She closed her eyes and let the tidal wave carry her off. And gave herself over to his care. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed sweetly. She wanted this. Wanted him.

He didn't disappoint. Holding her gently, carefully, as if she was delicate china, he deepened the kiss and held her captive in his embrace until she sagged into his arms, unable to think. Only feeling. And that was what she needed. What they both needed. To be together, just the two of them.

He lifted his head and held her close. "I've been waiting for this." He dropped tiny kisses along her cheek to her ear. "I've needed this…" He whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "For so long."

She turned her head, her hands moving to hold him so she could recapture those wandering lips with her own. She kissed him long and hard.

Pulling back slightly she said, "So have I." She smiled. "So how about a little less talk and a little more action?"

He froze, momentarily. She'd caught him off guard. He'd been gentle and caring and considerate. Worried about her. But as well as that she wanted his passionate heat and to experience his real need, to experience his passion.

And match it with her own.

A glint of lust glowed deep in his blue eyes. "Your wish is my command." And he lowered his head, taking her on a glorious ride of abandonment. Her cami disappeared under his expert actions. Her panties were tossed to one side. Before she really understood what was happening to her, she lay completely naked in front of him.

Instead of feeling embarrassed or uncomfortable, she felt sexy and desired. The blatant appreciation in his eyes raised her temperature even more, but she hated that he still had clothes on.

But she could take care of that.

She scrambled to her knees and moved his fingers away from his belt. With his hands out of the way, she quickly opened his belt and the top button of his jeans, unzipping the fly just enough to thrust her fingers inside.

"Jesus," he roared, grabbing for her hands. "Slowly. We don't want this over with before it's even begun."

She laughed.

He grinned, and raised her arms above her head and pushed her gently backwards. She stretched sinuously up, her breasts stroking against his bare chest. He groaned and lowered his weight to rest gently on her.

Heat raced across her chest as skin burned against skin.

Wanting the freedom to touch him, she twisted beneath him, trying to free her hands.

"Oh, no. Not so fast." He shifted up onto his knees. Holding both of her wrists in one hand, he awkwardly pulled off his remaining clothes.

She laughed. "It would be so much easier if you let me do that."

But he was already done. He released her hands and shifted so he straddled her lower legs, pinning her in place. Then slowly he stroked up her body. She murmured and shifted under his expert touch as he caressed her, feeding the heat building between.

She wanted, no, needed to touch him as he was touching her. She sat up in a smooth movement and wrapped her arms around him. With her face against his neck, their bodies were flush with each other’s, his erection captured between them. Slowly, smoothly, she slid to one side, then just as slowly back to the other. Letting her hardened nipples stroke across his chest, she tilted her head and nipped at his chin.

He lowered his face, and she kissed the corner of his mouth, his lips, and then kissed him – hard.

He responded with deep, drugging kisses, and she reacted mindlessly, helplessly. Going where he led and happy to follow. When he pulled her up and reversed positions, she barely noticed. Except for the sheer expanse of male in front of her, available to her.

She straddled his body, her core perfectly positioned to rest on his hips. She reached down to grasp him in her hand. His groans were music to her ears as she caressed and stroked, squeezed and teased – it was his turn to thrash on the bed.

He reached up to pull her down, but she resisted. Changing her position slightly, she rose up high enough to take him inside. Slowly, very slowly, she sank down until he was fully sheathed within. She gasped and stilled, feeling the sensation of fullness. She let her body adjust while he lay shuddering in place.

She leaned over and smoothly lifted off. He opened his eyes and she sank back down. He shuddered.

She did it again, and again, settling into a smooth ride. He grasped her hips, his fingers digging into her soft flesh, and he rose up beneath her. Together they set a slow pace that quickly drove them forward. She cried out, her back arching as the tremors started deep inside and spread throughout her body.

He groaned and bucked desperately beneath her. Then he arched, the cords of his arms taut, as he held her locked in place. She sagged as he collapsed down on the bed.

Then he tugged her forward into his arms, crushing her up against his chest, his heart.

Exactly where she wanted to be.

***

Roman rolled over, tucking her up close against his side. To say she'd rocked his world would be to minimize this experience of a lifetime. He had no idea it could be like that between them.

And though she'd dominated his dreams for years the reality of her, of them like this, was so much better.

He dropped a tender kiss on the tip of her nose. His artistic eye caught, and then memorized, the tiny details. The small bumpbump on the long, patrician nose. The full definition of her lips. Her eyes. How did he paint that stormy brown with gold flecks?

He tightened his grip on her, wishing he could slip her inside his soul and keep her there. Never to be separated.

She murmured softly.

He loosened his grip. "Sorry," he whispered against her temple. "Sleep. You need to catch a few hours."

"Need more than a few," she answered softly. "But I'll take what I can get."

Reaching for the crumpled bedding, Roman tugged it up and over them both. Settling deeper into the center of the bed, he held her close as she drifted off to sleep.

He knew that somehow he had to share his secret. He should have done so before this. But he hadn't quite foreseen their relationship coming to this stage so quickly.

Not that he had any regrets. He'd have to hope she'd understand when the time came.

That she asked about his relationship with his model was both amusing and touching. That she might feel the fool after she found out, could be an issue.

He hoped not because finally one of his dreams had come true.

Now he had to work on making the rest happen.

He knew one thing for sure. Now that he'd gotten her this far, he was never letting her go.

***

Tuesday morning…

Shay woke feeling surprisingly rested, considering the late night. She went to sit up and realized Roman's arm held her in place. She smiled and tried to wiggle out from underneath.

He grumbled, his voice deep, and yet gentle in her ear. She studied his shadowed face, realizing she had nothing in the apartment that he could shave with. Too bad.

Then again, she kinda liked the shadow. Stretching up, she dropped a gentle kiss on the dimple in his chin. As he shifted in his sleep, she slipped out from under his arm and escaped to the bathroom. Once done, she grabbed a silk housecoat from behind her door and, knotting the belt, walked to the kitchen to put on coffee.

She needed a shower. Glancing at the kitchen clock, she realized the memorial service for Robert Dander was in an hour. As much as she'd come to hate funerals, she felt obligated to go. And maybe she could learn something.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear Roman get up.

"Do you mind if I take a shower?"

She spun around. He stood in the doorway, bare except for softly hugging cotton boxers. Mutely, she shook her head.

He grinned, and said, "Join me?" He disappeared from view before she had a chance to answer. But not before she saw his sculpted butt disappear. She sighed. He had a really great ass.

I so didn't need to know that.
Stefan's sardonic voice whispered through her mind.

She gasped, and then broke out laughing.
Sorry, Stefan.

She gently closed the door in her mind and raced after Roman, still grinning. She couldn't get there fast enough. He'd just stepped under the hot spray when she dropped the housecoat and opened the glass door.

"Don't mind if I do," she murmured, holding up a bar of soap.

His happy gaze widened to delight when her bar of soap stroked down his front and over the hard length of him. He groaned as her fingers slipped over his shaft. "Like that, do you?" She smiled, her hand movements sensuous but teasing.

"Witch," he said thickly. In one smooth movement, he turned, lifted her, and pinned her to the wall. With his hard length poised at the heart of her, he said, "Two can play that game."

She laughed and then groaned as he slid deep inside. Hard and fast he pounded into her as the shower water pounded down on them. She cried out. Secured against the wall she couldn't move. She could only hang on as he rode her to the edge, then drove them both over.