Snow Angel (The Hope Falls Chronicles) (27 page)

smooth skin of his rock-hard manhood sliding in and out of the wet suction of her mouth caused an aching

pull of need in her core.

She loved pleasuring him like this, loved the feeling of him getting larger and larger inside her mouth as

his arousal skyrocketed. Gripping the back of his thighs, she began moving at a speed she knew drove him

crazy.

“Lily,” he said in a warning tone.

She didn’t heed his warning. She continued sucking him as he slid in and out of her mouth. His

hamstring muscles tensed beneath her fingers as she clutched him for support. The larger he got, the deeper the pulse was in the apex between her legs, causing her to start making small, shuddering groans.

“I want to be inside of you,” he said through clenched teeth as he scooped her up from her position on

the floor and carried her quickly into the bedroom.

Her heart raced with anticipation as she held on to him, loving the feeling of being carried in his arms.

Stepping into her room, he shut the door behind them, making sure Shadow wouldn’t make an appearance.

He stalked over to the bed, tossing her onto it.

She gasped at the thrill of being so easily moved. Everything Eric did seemed effortless and easy. He

was so strong and capable, and she never felt nervous when he was around. She just had a feeling deep in

her soul that he would take care of her. Protect her. She loved that feeling, and she was starting to think that she loved him, too.

After grabbing a condom from a box he now kept in her dresser drawer, he took care of protecting

himself and quickly removed her booty shorts. Moving above her, he hooked his elbows under her knees,

causing her pelvis to tilt up, positioning the engorged tip of his shaft at her tight, wet femininity.

The muscles on jaw his clenched as he pushed into her. Watching where their bodies joined intimately

as he buried himself deep inside of her, Lily felt him not only penetrating her body but also her heart and her soul.

---~---

Eric shuddered as he plunged into Lily. He couldn't believe how hard watching her dance had made

him. He wondered if he had ever been this hard in his life.

God, there was just something about the way she moved, the sensuousness of the sway of her body, as

if water were flowing through her at the same time that she was on fire. He couldn't quite put words to the magic 'something' she possessed when the music started to move her body, but, damn… His body certainly

recognized it.

He thought it might have something to do with the intoxicating mix of vulnerability and power she

displayed when she danced. Every movement was a delicate balance between the two, and when Eric

watched her, he was torn between the desire to use his strength to shield her from the world and the

temptation to give in to his weakness and just fall under the power of her spell.

Now, touching her, kissing her, driving himself into her, he was as just as helplessly torn between those

two impulses as he had been when he watched her dance.

He opened his eyes wide, watching the expressions of ecstasy that flew across her face in quick

succession as he pounded into her, ever faster and deeper. He loved to watch her face as he drove into her

again and again, to see the pleasure so nakedly displayed there and know that he was the one causing it.

God, it was almost as intoxicating as the pleasure that he himself was feeling.

Eric slowed the pace of his thrusts. He could feel that he was building to a climax—and carrying Lily

along with him—and he didn't want that to happen too quickly. He wanted to savor their coupling, make it

last just a bit longer. He needed to learn to pace himself with her. He could tell that their intoxicating

chemistry was going to make him feel the need to rush, rush, rush every time the two of them came

together, and he couldn't give in to that. He needed to control himself, to last, to give her the pleasure out of the experience that she deserved.

However, to Eric's surprise, as soon as he slowed his pace, Lily's hands flew down his body and cupped

his ass desperately, urging him back to the path they had been rushing headlong down in a mad dash

toward frantic, chaotic climaxes.

He smiled. No. It didn't matter if she was as consumed by their incendiary chemistry as he was. He still

wasn't going to give in. In fact, maybe this could be fun.

Raising up slightly so that his weight rested firmly on his knees, Eric slid his hands up Lily's body,

breaking the hold her hands had on him and pushing her arms up over her head. His hands did not halt in

their persistent upward path until he had pinned her wrists high above her head, where he held them firmly, smiling mischievously into her eyes.

Breathlessly, she whimpered and pressed her hips forward, encouraging him to pick up his speed and

intensity. Much as she had done when he had put his hands on her derriere during the dance, he shook his

head, teasing her, drawing out the pleasure.

The movements of her hips became ever more frantic, and a cry escaped from her throat, one that was

equal parts frustration and pure pleasure.

Eric leaned down until his lips were barely brushing Lily's ear and her skin was quivering with the

sensation of his hot breath on her neck.

“Lily…” he said raggedly.

She didn't respond. She kept moving her body with his in the entrancing rhythm of their lovemaking.

He realized that she must think he was merely groaning her name in ecstasy, not that he was attempting to

get her attention.

“Lily,” he repeated with a more forceful tone in his voice.

This time, she whipped her head around immediately to look into his eyes, and he saw the spark of

arousal in them as she did so. He smiled. She liked it when he took charge. She liked it on an animalistic, visceral level. And hell, he liked
that
.

“Lily, do you trust me?” he asked in a whisper, his voice rough with passion.

She nodded vigorously, without hesitation.

He buried himself in her, up to the hilt, and then stopped moving. She whimpered in frustration and

began pumping her hips against him.

He stilled her with a kiss.

“Do you trust me?” he repeated.

Somewhat more reluctantly this time, perhaps realizing that this answer was going to somehow lead to a

scenario where their climaxes were put off for a few more aching moments, she did eventually breathlessly

sigh, “Yes.”

Eric smiled with satisfaction. “Good.”

With that, he began to pump into her again with even more fervor than he had originally displayed. He

had proved to himself that he was capable of controlling his urges, so why prolong the point? Just because

he was
able
to do it didn't make it a good idea.

Lily cried out, obviously taken by surprise with his sudden change of tactic, and her hands flew out

from under his grasp, clasping his back, digging her fingernails into his flesh as he pounded into her, hard, again and again.

“Oh, God...oh, yes... Oh, please yes...” she murmured desperately, although whether she was aiming

her pleas at him or simply the Universe in general, he did not know. He doubted she did either. She was

simply caught up in the ramblings of ecstasy.

They rushed on toward orgasm, their bodies rocking together faster, harder, and more intensely with

each passing second.

Before he knew it, Eric felt her inner walls tightening around him, and the sensation sent him over the

edge as well. Just the knowledge that his body was giving her the ultimate pleasure was enough to send him

spiraling into oblivion. As he exploded into her, his mind was lost in images of Lily— of Lily smiling, of

Lily dancing, of Lily lying below him as he pleasured her.

God. Eric had never felt this kind of intense focus on someone else while he was making love before.

While he was of course aware of his own pleasure and how much he was enjoying the experience, that was

secondary to the knowledge that he was sharing this with Lily, that he was giving her pleasure, that they

were joining together in this act.

As he came down from the powerful climax that was still cresting through him, with these thoughts

bouncing around in his lust-addled brain, he was struck by a powerful conclusion: it was because he loved

her.

This was what it was like to make love to someone when you loved them.

He could only hope she felt even a small fraction of what he did when they touched, or when their eyes

met, or when they smiled at each other…or when they made love.

If she did, then maybe—just maybe—they had a chance.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“All right, ladies…” Lily raised her voice to try and be heard over the chatter. She couldn’t believe the

turnout for the Burlesque class. There had to be over twenty women here, including some faces she never

would have expected to see. Of course Amanda, Karina, Sam, Lauren, Nikki, and Amy had come. But also

Karina’s grandmother Renata was in attendance as well as Sue Ann from the café. And the one that had

really taken her by surprise was Mrs. Maguire, Eric’s mother.

Lily was trying not to think about the fact that she’d practiced this routine for the woman’s son. All day

she’d been having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that she’d known his sisters would be here. His

mom
, though? Now that was a whole new level of awkwardness.

But Lily was a professional and she had a job to do. So she put those thoughts out of her mind. Plus,

there was no way that any of his relatives would know that she’d danced for him. Or what had happened

after she’d danced for him.

After everyone quieted down, mostly because of Renata’s shushing, Lily began. “The art of Burlesque is

the tease. It’s all about seduction and fun. So don’t take it too seriously. A well-placed smile, wink, flirt, and even a little gasp adds to the dance. I’m glad to see that you all came wearing shoes with at least a little heel on them. That extra lift makes a difference in our posture.

“Okay. First, before we get our props, I want us all to practice our strut. Before any routine begins, you

need to walk around and own the space, even stop briefly for a sexy pose. So, everyone, let’s all step to the back wall and walk towards the mirror.”

All the ladies shuffled to the back and stood, waiting for the next instruction. Lily walked to her iPod

dock and pressed play. The room was filled with the sound of Beyonce’s cover of the song “Fever.” Lily

began snapping her fingers along with the track.

“Okay, so it’s important when we strut to make eye contact and feel the beat. Does everyone have the

beat?” Lily asked the class.

They all demonstrated their snaps.

“Good.” Lily was happy everyone was listening. This was a lot more like what she was used to in a

class setting. “Now let’s walk.”

Lily began strutting towards the mirror and the rest of the class followed.

She stepped to the side to observe and called out helpful suggestions when she saw that someone was

struggling. Never pointing them out individually, she just mentioned them to the class in general.

“Remember, your movements can be exaggerated.”

“Don’t be afraid of a little hip sway.”

“You can cross your foot in front of the other one like you’re walking on a tight rope.”

“Your hands don’t need to stay by their sides. You can move them up your body. It’s your body. Own

it.”

When the song ended, she put it on replay and had the ladies all repeat the exercise. By the last half of

the song the second time around, they were all getting looser, starting to relax.

“All right, great job, ladies. Now for our props.” Lily pulled out her box-of-fun, filled with lots of gloves and boas. There were also several costume bustiers and garters. The women’s faces all lit up as they were picking through, grabbing their chosen props. Lily got a little sentimental remembering her students in Sacramento.

She’d left so suddenly that she really hadn’t been able to say goodbye to any of them. Some of them

she’d seen several times a week for the last two years. Even though she’d kept
her
life private, they’d shared a lot about themselves with her.

One of her students, Molly, had lost one hundred and three pounds taking her Zumba classes five days

a week. Another student, Martina, had been diagnosed with cancer and said that Lily’s classes we’re the

only thing that kept her going during her treatment. Last month, Martina had been cancer-free for exactly

one year.

Lily realized that, although her students may not have really known her, she knew them and she missed

them. Maybe after she got off tour she would head back and visit her former students. Not to stay but just

to see how they were doing.

The thought scared her a little bit. It must have been because she’d never returned to a place she’d lived

before. It was always leave and never look back. But things were different now. She could go back.

Shaking her head from her melancholy thoughts, she instructed everyone to get chairs. There were oohs

and ahhs of excitement as the ladies shuffled around and selected their chairs then pushed them to their

chosen spots on the floor.

“All right. Now all of your props, whether it be an article of clothing or an object like a chair, are just extensions of you. Extensions of the dance. For example, when we sit on, walk around, or hold the chair,

we do it with a little sass.” Lily placed her palm down on the back of the chair then fanned out her fingers, closing them slowly, one at a time, wrapping them around the wooden frame.