Tempting Donovan Ford (17 page)

Julia moved restlessly beneath him, her hands falling from his body to clutch the sheets. Donovan licked again, stopped over the right to suck the nub into his mouth, letting his tongue lie flat against it, then spinning it around in a quick swirl.

Her back arched, bowed against him as she gasped and buried her fingers in his hair, tugging and pulling but making sure he didn’t go anywhere. Donovan had no problem with that. He did the same to her other breast. First, pressing his tongue down, warming the area, and then, with a quick twist, swirling his tongue around.

She responded with the same aching gasp and a renewed rubbing of her body against his. It was heaven being surrounded by softness and curves instead of the hard, sharp lines of his last few relationships, and Donovan wondered why he hadn’t noticed it then. Maybe because he hadn’t known what he was missing.

Urgency was beginning to rear up with each rub of her chest along his. The peaks of her nipples brushed against his pecs, letting him know how much he excited her.

Donovan lifted his head enough to admire the view. A flush crept up her body, turning her chest rosy. He laid his palm on her belly then slowly ran up the center, stopping in the middle of her chest. She didn’t feel cool anymore. Her breathing was rapid and she watched him with hooded eyes.

The thin thread of control he’d managed to grab started to slip, done away by her bold excitement. Flew away completely when she placed her hand on his crotch and stroked. Once, twice. Stars burst along the edges of his vision as his body jerked, strained toward hers, feeling her lush heat surround him, warm him from the outside in.

He wanted to be in. In bed. In a relationship. In Julia.

With great disappointment, he pulled back. It was hard to drag his gaze away, to look somewhere other than those pearling nipples and soft, white skin, but he could look his fill later. In the shower. In the tub. In his bed. He’d show her delectable body all the care in the world once his mind wasn’t burning with desire and threatening to blow up.

Donovan didn’t think Julia was bothered. Not when he hooked his thumb in her underwear and tugged them down her legs and she only reached forward to do the same for him. His body jerked again and he gritted his teeth to keep from shredding her underwear in one strong yank.

He had a stack of condoms in his nightstand drawer, not that he generally brought girlfriends to the family cabin, but he was responsible and prepared just in case. Because excusing himself to make a quick run to the village drugstore would surely kill any mood.

He pulled one out now, hands shaking as he fought to get it free of the foil packet. It probably would have helped if he’d watched what he was doing, but that would mean taking his eyes off Julia.

Oh, Julia. He felt the heat boil up inside him as he watched her. The teasing way she curled onto her side, balancing her head on one hand, letting her arm slide along her body while she watched him.

He managed to roll on the condom, his body demanding that he hurry up, then turned her onto her back and took one of her ankles in each of his hands. He pressed a kiss to the inside of one. He’d have liked to lick his way to her knee, along her thigh and directly into her heat, but just the thought was enough to make his body ache for release.

Instead, he ran a hand along the smooth firmness, the hours a day she spent on her feet showing in the sleek muscles, and cupped her core. She sighed and wriggled against him, drawing his fingers inside.

Donovan saw no point in waiting, in continuing to play. She was ready, he was well past ready and it would be better for them both if they gave in to the fiery need now and took their time later.

He positioned himself at her entrance and nudged inside. Her body stretched around his, adjusting as he glided in with one long stroke. He held still for a moment by squeezing his eyes shut and mentally counting to ten, and then he looked down at her, saw the line of her exposed neck, head tilted back and couldn’t wait any longer.

She moaned as he drove into her, and Donovan might have said he was lost, except he was exactly where he wanted to be.

CHAPTER NINE

O
H, YES
.

Julia couldn’t catch her breath. Couldn’t get enough. Couldn’t say or do anything except moan in pleasure.

Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

Thank goodness she’d admitted what she wanted and told Donovan. She gasped when he pressed a thumb to the aching bud between her legs. Lightly, so there was only pleasure and the continued climb toward release. Then kissed him again and again. Wanting to be closer, to feel more, their bodies locked together.

Tension was beginning to coil in her muscles, encouraging her to draw him deeper, roll her entire body into his. Her lungs hitched with each new sensation. The feel of his muscles under her hands, each one bunching and shifting in a harmony of movement. The smell of his skin, masculine and strong. The rustle of the sheets as he pushed them to the side and rocked his hips against hers.

She pulled her mouth from his and tilted her head back, fighting to pull in a breath, fighting to pull him closer. His thumb paused and then dipped down, circling in a firm steady twirl. Her nails dug into him, her knees rose up and the tight, winding tension in her body twisted to its peak.

Julia had had sex before. Maybe not lately, but definitely her fair share over the years. She knew what she liked and she wasn’t afraid to guide a man in the right direction. To show him with her mouth and her body and her words what she liked, what made the heat blaze through her limbs and left her sated and limp.

It had never been quite like this. The ability to read a lover’s body as though she’d been given a list of directions and had handed over her own in return. She ran her hands over his ass and thighs and back up again, loving the feel of the strong muscles tightening and releasing. And then he did that thing with his thumb again at the same time he bucked into her.

If she’d been able to speak, she’d have told him to keep doing that, not to change a thing, right there. Luckily, she didn’t need to. Donovan stroked and circled and Julia broke.

Simply let go of everything and allowed the rippling, throbbing sensations to carry her away on a sea of sighs.

Donovan kept moving, increasing his pace until the sound of their bodies meeting filled the room. Then he paused, gave one hoarse shout and collapsed on top of her. Julia was too full of her own pleasure to care that his body was crushing hers, that she couldn’t draw a complete breath or move.

Instead, she ran her hands up from his ass, traced his spine to his shoulders and his neck. She brushed her fingers along his hairline and along the curve of his ears. A low moan of approval rumbled through him and she felt it in her chest, as well.

Julia smiled, appreciative of both his skill and her own, and hooked her arms around him, not ready to break the moment. Not yet.

His face lay in the curve of her neck. She could feel his breath slow and grow steady. Each pulse of air was a small shudder across her skin. A reminder that they remained linked and neither of them seemed interested in breaking that.

Even when his weight became noticeable, pressing her into the mattress and pinning her legs in place, Julia wasn’t interested in moving. She skimmed a hand over his arm. She felt whole here. Complete.

The thought surprised her. She’d never been the type of person who needed a partner to feel satisfied or happy. She’d always been content with her own company, with her work. But maybe she was changing. Or maybe it was just the hormones talking. Really, a person might agree to anything when caught in the sex haze.

Donovan murmured against her neck when her hand trailed back down his arm and then swept across his body. “I think your nails left marks in my ass.”

Julia would have lifted her head to check, but that would have taken too much effort and would likely have dislodged him. She smoothed her other hand over his hair. “Poor baby. Do you need me to kiss it better?”

He raised his head just enough to look at her. “If you’re offering, I’m accepting.” Then he kissed her and she forgot about the marks until he finally rolled off the bed and walked to the bathroom.

Julia didn’t bother to move. Not even to drag the covers over her rapidly cooling body. But she did note the marks on his ass. And when he crawled back into bed and lay on his stomach beside her, she stopped him from pulling up the covers. “Not yet.”

“Julia.” It was half groan, half barely contained anticipation. “I’m not sixteen anymore.”

“And thank God for that.” She sat up, her hair falling across her shoulder to tickle her chest. “No sixteen-year-old has moves like that.”

He twisted his head to glance at her, his eyes glinting with mischief. “You like my moves, then?”

She patted his cheek. “Don’t get cocky.”

“Too late.”

She stifled a laugh and crawled on top of him, paying particular attention to the red marks she’d left in her excitement. Soothing them with light brushes of her fingers and then a lighter brush of her lips.

The skin on his buttocks was smooth and pale and soft. He groaned under her ministrations. She kept doing what she was doing since he so clearly liked it. First, a stroke then a kiss and repeat.

Steadily, she began to make her way up his back. Stopping to investigate any freckles, shadows and anything else that caught her attention. It was some time before she got to his upper back, where she pressed her hands into his shoulders and bent over to kiss the nape of his neck.

Her only indication that he had something planned was his quiet exhalation before he flipped over, keeping her on top of him, steadying her hips with his hands while he adjusted their positions.

Julia glanced down at the bulge now fully on display. “I thought you weren’t sixteen anymore?”

“I said I wasn’t sixteen. I didn’t say I was dead.”

She laughed, but the sound drifted away on a contented sigh when he rubbed his thumbs across her stomach and slid his hands up. His fingers knew just how to move, just where to touch. He palmed her breasts, the heat from his hands causing them to tighten. She swallowed, fitted her hands over his and let her neck fall back.

They rocked into each other, slowly, gently. More like people who were used to each other’s rhythms and needs than new lovers. He watched her, his eyes scanning up and down her body, along her face, noting everything. But she felt powerful instead of shy. Confident in the knowledge that she was the one who caused the heat in his gaze, the curve on his lips, the hardness even now nudging the warmth between her thighs.

And when she’d teased long enough, when it grew obvious they needed to move to the next step, she reached into the nightstand drawer, snagged one of the foil packets and opened it with her teeth. She saw the bob of Donovan’s throat, felt his hands curl into her hips and smiled as she moved down his legs so she could put the condom on.

Then she rose above him, all female power and attitude, and slid her body around his. This time she set the pace. Slow and easy. Different from their first time but just as good, just as fulfilling. And when Donovan’s hands cupped her breasts, rolling her nipples between his forefinger and thumb, she felt the ripple of release flow through her. Her body pulsed around his until he came, too. A quiet, soft release that was no less powerful for its delicacy.

“Julia.” His voice was soft, too, more breath than words. And she knew exactly what he meant without him saying anything else. She bent over him and kissed him, openmouthed and openhearted. Leaving everything she had, everything she was, between them. Because there was no point in hiding for herself or from herself anymore.

* * *

D
ONOVAN WOKE HER
up twice more in the night, under the shade of dark where he loved her silently, softly. Their bodies wrapped around each other so there was no indication of beginning or end, just skin on skin. And once more in the pearly-gray dawn, with the hum of day beginning around them as they stared into each other’s eyes. She reached up to hold his cheek in her hand, stroking the bristle of his beard growth, and felt her heart squeeze when he turned his face to kiss her palm. So small, so minimalist, and yet she felt as though it spoke to their connection.

When she finally woke up and stayed awake, the morning was no longer the soft light of dawn. But even the sight of the gloomy overcast day couldn’t dampen her spirits. Not when she saw the circles under her eyes in the mirror. And not when she realized that although she’d been far-thinking and organized enough to bring along a change of clothes and toiletries, she hadn’t seen it through to the final and necessary step of taking the bag upstairs with her.

She slipped on last night’s shirt, which was just long enough to provide full-body coverage, and padded downstairs to find Donovan tapping away on his laptop at the breakfast counter in the kitchen. She hadn’t gotten a good look at the space last night, but she drank it in now.

The thick granite slab the color of honey, the white cabinets and large windows that looked out onto a patio. It was a place to create and test. She suspected the huge stainless-steel fridge would be stocked and wished she’d brought her knives with her.

“You’re up.” Donovan rose and greeted her with a kiss. “Coffee?”

“Please.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and adjusted her shirt, which had ridden up thanks to his enthusiastic hug. He patted her hip and then moved around the kitchen island to the coffee machine on the other side. It had plenty of shiny knobs and emitted a soft hiss when Donovan turned one of them.

Julia shivered, partly from the memory of the way his hands had touched her last night. And partly because she was dressed in only a T-shirt. She found her overnight bag inside the coat closet and returned to the kitchen with it.

Donovan turned from the coffeepot, his eyes flicking to the bag in her hand. “Leaving already? Do you need a to-go cup?” His eyes flicked farther down to her bare legs. “And maybe some pants?”

“Very funny. Just the coffee.”