Tall, Dark & Hungry (24 page)

Giving up her hold on his buttocks, Terri moved her hands to his back, her nails unconsciously digging in and scraping the skin up to his shoulders, then she grasped his upper arms and thrust against him. That need was building once more, straining, urging her to urge him on as Terri struggled toward the release he'd already given her once. She wanted it again. Needed it.

A keening started in her throat as the pressure built. The urge to twist her head back and forth was strong, but even as she tried to do so, Bastien caught one hand in her hair to hold her in place. His kiss became more insistent as he drove into her over and over until Terri stiffened beneath him, her eyes shooting open as release slammed violently through her body. The moment it did, Bastien broke away with a groan, tossed his head back, thrust one last time, pinning her shuddering body to the couch, and spent himself in her heat.

"Are you all right?" he asked a moment later.

Terri stirred lazily, her eyes fluttering open. She lifted her head to peer at Bastien. She had been barely aware of his coming down atop her, then shifting them both so that their positions were changed. He now lay on his back on the couch, with her splayed on his chest, limp as a rag doll.

"Yes. Thank you," she said, her voice a husky rasp.

Bastien smiled at the polite words and lifted a hand to brush the hair from her face. "I wasn't too rough, then?"

Terri shook her head, aware that a blush was making its way up her face. It was rather dismaying to have to actually discuss what they'd just done. Which was silly, she supposed. They had just performed the most intimate act known to man, and she found it embarrassing to talk about it?

Bastien lifted his head slightly and pressed a kiss to her lips, then drew her head down on his chest and continued to simply hold her. His hand rubbed soothingly over her back, caressing the soft skin. She felt her eyes droop closed; then he murmured, "Thank you."

Terri blinked her eyes open and raised her head to peer at him. "What for?"

"For this," he said simply. "For giving me the greatest pleasure I've experienced in my life."

She uttered a wry, almost embarrassed chuckle. "I didn't do much. You did all the work.
I
should be—Thank
you,"
Terri ended lamely.

Bastien smiled and ruffled her hair, then tugged her upward until their lips met.

Much to her embarrassment, the moment his tongue swept her mouth, Terri felt the tingling begin in her body again. There was no way to stop the moan that rose from deep in her throat. Her embarrassment died the moment she felt Bastien begin to harden again beneath her thigh, which lay draped over his hips. It seemed she wasn't the only one who still had a little more fire left.

Beneath her, Bastien felt his need for the woman in his arms stir again, and he almost groaned. He couldn't be ready again already. But he was. Just the way Terri gasped and shifted against him stirred his passion to life once more, making him immediately hard. He didn't recall ever wanting anyone this much, or ever being this hungry for a woman. Even Josephine hadn't fanned the flames of his desire like Terri could with a mere murmur of pleasure. The way she had moved against him earlier—the way she'd moaned, and cried out, and clawed at him—had all conspired to elevate his excitement to unbearable levels. Now it was happening again; his body coming alive like never before.

Catching her by the waist, Bastien shifted Terri over him so that they rested hip to hip. He kissed her, his mouth demanding what she was offering. Then he caught her by the backs of her thighs and urged her legs apart so that she half straddled him. He wanted to enter her now, let her warm wetness close tight around him and down his length, but he worried that it was too soon. It was clear from the things she'd said that Terri hadn't had a lover since her husband's death, and Bastien didn't want to leave her sore and aching from too much too quickly. Unfortunately, his body wasn't as reasonable, and his hips shifted of their own accord, pushing upward and grinding against her.

Terri immediately moaned into his mouth and ground back. She slid across his sex where it swelled between their bodies. Aware that she was as excited as he, Bastien decided it would be cruel to stop. He'd just avoid making love to her this time. He'd pleasure them both without actually entering her; and his hands found her breasts and began to gently knead.

Gasping into his mouth, Terri placed her palms on his chest. She levered herself upward so that she sat atop him. Once she had her balance, her hands covered his and she intertwined their fingers, urging him to caress her more firmly as she slid along his shaft again. Her eyes were closed, her head tilted slightly upward so that her long chestnut hair trailed down her back, and Bastien in fascination watched the play of emotions glide over her face. Pleasure, need, desperation—all crossed her features as she writhed back and forth over him. Then her eyes popped open and she speared him with a look he recognized at once. Bastien had seen it before. He'd been watching her face as he pleasured her with his mouth, and that same uncertainty and fear had claimed her just before she found release against his tongue.

"Please." It was one word with a wealth of meaning:
Please pleasure me. Please keep me safe. Please take me where my body wants to go.
Perhaps even:
Please love me.

"Please," she repeated, then added with a sort of helpless frustration, "I can't…"

Unable to restrain himself anymore, Bastien rose up on the couch and shifted them so that he was seated properly, with her astride him. Then, despite his earlier intentions, he reached between them and guided himself inside her.

A small sigh of relief slid from her lips as Terri eased onto him, her arms slipping around his shoulders. Bastien caught that sigh in a kiss, and grasped her hips and began to urge her to move, controlling the rhythm as their bodies slid together, working toward the release they both wanted and needed.

Terri suddenly broke the kiss and pressed her cheek to his, gasping in his ear, "Bastien.
Please."

Turning his head, he caught her neck in his mouth and felt his teeth slide out. Her vein pulsed between his lips. He almost bit, almost sank his teeth into her tender flesh and drank from her. It was an automatic animal instinct, but he caught himself and tore his mouth away, forcing his fangs to retract.

"Please," she groaned once more, and Bastien again claimed her lips, this time in a violent kiss. He'd had that same biting instinct the first time they'd made love, wanting to hold her in place with his teeth like a cat, but he'd fought it then as he fought it now, the struggle turning the kiss almost into a punishment. He knew by the way Terri responded that she, too, was almost frantic with need, desperate for release, teetering on the edge, but unable to find fulfillment.

Bastien could feel his own release creeping up on him, threatening to make its arrival whether she found hers first or not. Deciding he'd best move her along, and fast, else leave her disappointed, he reached between them and found the center of her excitement. Caressing her feverishly, he urged her toward the release that would free him to find his own.

Just when Bastien thought that he couldn't stand a moment more, Terri tore her mouth from his and tossed her head back on a cry of triumph. Her body clenched in spasms around him; squeezing and releasing, then squeezing again. Relieved, Bastien immediately allowed himself to let go. His own body stiffened as he drove upward one last time and poured himself into her.

Terri lay limp against Bastien's chest as he shifted her and eased to the edge of the couch. She'd collapsed against him after finding her pleasure, and now lay with her face nestled in the curve of his neck, sound asleep. Or unconscious, he thought wryly, considering how she wasn't even stirring. He'd sat for the longest time, just holding her in his arms, their bodies still joined. But she was showing no signs of waking up. If anything, her breathing was becoming deeper and more relaxed. The woman was dead to the world.

Smiling as she murmured sleepily and shifted against him, Bastien carefully stood, stepped out of his pants, which were bundled at his ankles, and scooped Terri into his arms. Even that didn't wake her. She merely cuddled against his chest and made lip-smacking sounds against his skin, as if she were either eating or kissing someone in her sleep. Hopefully she was kissing him if it was the latter option, he thought as he strode across the living room with her.

Bastien did consider how risky it was to be wandering naked around the apartment, with an equally naked Terri in his arms. But then, it had been even more risky to make love in the living room, where either Vincent or Chris could have come upon them at any time. Fortunately, they'd been lucky in that respect, and he could only hope his luck held out. Bastien was too exhausted to bother dressing himself, let alone her, and it didn't appear she was in any shape to dress herself. He had definitely worn the poor woman out with his demands, he thought with satisfaction, though she had been equally demanding.

He managed to make it all the way to the master suite without running across either Vinny or Chris. After setting Terri down in his bed, he made a quick trip back to the living room for their clothes. Bastien was aware that she would be terribly embarrassed should the others find that evidence scattered across the living room floor in the morning and guess what had happened. He wanted to spare her that.

Bastien heard knocking as he started back to his bedroom, and glanced up in alarm to find Chris standing at the end of the hall outside the master suite, rapping loudly. Afraid the noise might wake Terri, Bastien picked up speed to reach the man and stop him from knocking again. At the last moment, he remembered the clothes he carried and glanced down. He'd bundled them all together, not bothering to separate them. Spying Terri's lacy bra on top, he tucked the clothes quickly behind his back to hide this indicator of what they'd been up to.

"Chris!"
he hissed as the fellow raised his hand to rap on the door again. "What are you doing up?"

"Oh, Bastien." The editor turned, opened his mouth to speak, then noticed his nakedness. He let his breath out on a vexed sigh. "What is it with you and your brother? Did you guys spend your summers at nudist camps while growing up or something? Don't you guys have any decorum at all? Sheesh."

Bastien glanced down at himself, started to bring the clothes back around to cover his nudity, but at the first glimpse of white lace, quickly tucked them behind his back again.

"Never mind that," he said with a scowl. "Why are you knocking at my door at"—he glanced at his watch, the only item he still wore—"at two o'clock in the morning?"

"Oh." Reminded of his purpose for being there, Chris sighed and absently rubbed his stomach. "I'm not feeling too well, and I wondered if you had anything like an antacid or something. I don't think that casserole I ate agreed with me."

Bastien peered more closely at the man, taking in the pallor of his skin and the way he was trembling. Then he breathed in, noting the acrid scent of Chris's breath. "It more than disagreed with you, didn't it?" he asked grimly. "You've been sick."

"A couple of times," the editor admitted.

"Any stomach pains or diarrhea?"

Chris grimaced in answer, and Bastien nodded. It was just as he'd thought. "Go get dressed," he instructed, moving past him to the door of his suite.

'I'm not the one undressed," C.K. pointed out dryly.

"In your street clothes," Bastien clarified. He glanced at the editor's boxers and T-shirt, which had obviously been pulled on to come out into the hall. "You're going to the hospital."

"I'm sure I don't need to go to the hospital," C.K. protested.

Bastien arched an eyebrow. "Chris, your symptoms suggest food poisoning. And with the streak of bad luck you've been having lately—not to mention the fact that you only ate two hours ago, yet it's already hitting you hard—I'm guessing it's going to be a serious case.
Go get dressed."

Grumbling under his breath, the editor turned away and moved back toward his bedroom. Bastien waited until he'd stepped inside, then opened the door to his own room and slipped through, not at all surprised to find Terri standing near the door. The sheet from the bed was wrapped around her sarong-style, and there was concern on her face. Chris had obviously woken her with his knocking. She had probably heard most of their conversation.

That was good, he decided. He didn't have to wake her up and explain.

Chapter Thirteen

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"Food poisoning."

"Mmm." Bastien nodded solemnly.

"Bloody food poisoning," Vincent repeated, with a combination of disbelief and disgust. "The guy is a walking disaster. This is what? The third time he's been to the hospital in a week?"

Terri stirred in her seat and glanced at the men on either side of her. "Has it only been a week?"

Vincent frowned. "Hasn't it? Kate brought him to the penthouse last Friday. It's Friday again.
Really early
Friday," he added, scowling at the clock on the emergency room wall.

Terri followed his gaze to see that it was four a.m., definitely early. And apparently Friday morning. She pondered that information. Terri had known somewhere in the back of her mind that it was Friday morning, but it hadn't occurred to her until Bastien's cousin said it, that this meant she'd now been in New York for a week. Only one week. She marveled over that fact for a moment. She had only met Bastien a week ago. It felt as if a lifetime had passed. It was hard to recall what her life had even been like without him. He was so ingrained in her thoughts now, it seemed as if Bastien had always been in her life, or at least had always belonged there.

"Food poisoning," Vincent muttered again with a shake of his head. "How has the guy survived to this age? He'll never make it to thirty."