Tempting Donovan Ford (29 page)

He’d proved something to her. But Julia wasn’t sure what to do about it. Could she trust him? Or had he already shown her that he didn’t deserve her trust? She didn’t know. People could change. They could learn from their mistakes. But had he?

Her room was small and sparse, but large enough for one. She changed into a T-shirt and some sleep pants, but her mind refused to shut down. Not even when she counted sheep. In French. Up to one hundred.

When the knock came at her door, she almost wondered if she’d been expecting it because there had been no jolt of surprise, no wondering who might be there or what they might want. She knew.

Julia crossed the room and flipped the lock, opening the door to let Donovan inside. Just before she kissed him she said, “This doesn’t change anything.”

And after he’d kissed her back for a solid minute, he pulled his head back and said, “Yes, it does.”

She kissed him again, not wanting to talk, just wanting to feel. The smallness of the room became more evident with Donovan in there with her, but it didn’t feel cramped. It was cozy, pressing them closer and closer together, the fresh scent of linens on her bed and lemon cleaning products.

Donovan walked her farther into the room, his hands on her waist as he kissed his way along her collarbone. “I missed you.”

“You said that before.” But her argument came out muffled because he was kissing her again and wouldn’t stop. Not to take off his shirt, not to slip her sleeping T-shirt over her head. Not to unbuckle his belt or take off his shoes. No, he managed to do all of that and kiss her breathless. The man had moves.

He didn’t stop even when he lowered her onto the cool white sheets of her bed. Her entire body felt sensitized, each kiss lighting a flame in a different location. The sizzle worked its way from her toes out to her fingers. She rolled against him, reveling in the feel of skin on skin.

She’d missed him, too. Though she wasn’t ready to admit out loud that she loved him.

Julia had thought she’d been in love before. The handsome Italian Paolo and his soft eyes; Guillaume, a French winemaker who used to take her down into the cellars and undress her with quiet endearments; Chris, her high school sweetheart. But there was something more to what she had with Donovan. Something deeper and scarier, which hooked into the quietest part of her.

She ran her hands up his back, caressing the bared skin and pressing his body more closely to hers. She wanted to feel him, every part of him against her, inside her. Her hand slid up the back of his neck to cup his head, pull his mouth to hers.

He tasted like wine and the chocolate mousse they’d shared for dessert at the restaurant. She shivered and pressed her tongue against his, tangling them together. As their lives were.

Julia felt a pull through her center. She ached to be completely naked, to strip off the gold silk underwear she still wore, but that would mean letting go of Donovan. As much as she wanted the lingerie to join her clothes somewhere on the floor, she wanted to touch Donovan more.

The ripple of his abs against her stomach as he rocked into her, the crisp curly hairs on his legs as he settled between her thighs, and the smooth, polished feel of his shoulders.

“You taste like summer.” Donovan’s words whispered against her ear before he caught the lobe between his teeth.

“Coconut and lemonade?” she asked as she stretched, letting her muscles loosen.

“French summer.” He kissed her again, his tongue dipping past her lips for a taste. “Crisp white wine, sunshine and heat.” He bent his head to the crook of her neck and inhaled. “And you smell like lemons.”

Julia shuddered under his ministrations, her body already warming under his touch, aching to let go. She slid the soles of her feet up the backs of his legs and back down. But Donovan didn’t speed up. He didn’t slow down, either, just kept up his steady, systematic pace that was sure to bring her a great deal of pleasure.

And she wanted that pleasure, to lose herself with him, on him, above him and deal with everything else later.

He slid one hand between her thighs. The thin material of her panties did little to prevent the transfer of heat and touch. “I meant what I said earlier.”

“Oh?” She lifted her hips. “What’s that?”

“I love you.”

She blinked and gasped when he slid his hand back up her body to focus on her nipple, rubbing slowly and rhythmically. She arched her back, silently asking for more as her temperature increased. He lowered his head. She could feel his breath drift across her skin and make her other nipple pebble with need. “That’s a pretty big declaration.”

He lifted his head to look at her. “It’s a pretty big feeling.” He sucked her nipple into his mouth then, his eyes still watching her.

Julia gasped again. He loved her. He wanted her. And yet...she couldn’t bring herself to say the same, even if she felt it deep in her heart. She ran her fingers through his hair, loving the silky strands as they spilled through her fingers. “Donovan.”

“I want to start our lives now.” He hovered over her, placed his hand on her heart. “Okay?”

She couldn’t speak, couldn’t even nod. He smiled a slow sexy smile that made her stomach flip and her limbs weaken. She reached for him, grabbing his biceps, pulling him to her, kissing his mouth, his neck, his chest.

He let her, keeping up a steady exploration of her body while she rained kisses all over him. Stroked her hands up and down his back, sliding beneath the waistband of his boxers and over the smooth globes of his ass.

Donovan rolled his hips into hers. His hard length pressed against her, making her want to strip her panties off herself and open her body to him. But he placed one hand on her hip, holding her still while he ran his tongue down the slope of her breast and sucked her nipple into his mouth.

Julia clutched his shoulders, holding on while he worshipped her.

“I want you.” His words were quiet since his mouth was still pressed against her skin. “I want all of you.”

“Donovan.”

He hooked his thumbs in the sides of her underwear. And drew the expensive material over her hips.

He’d seen her naked before. Plenty of times, in fact, but this time felt different. As if he was seeing more, as if she was letting him. She lifted her hips off the mattress, brought her legs together so her underwear could join the rest of her clothing on the floor, and then let him nudge her knees open.

Julia saw the heat in his gaze, felt it as his eyes traveled up her legs, over her stomach, along her breasts to her face. He kissed her gently, taking his time, sucking on her lower lip and then letting it go. Dipping his tongue inside her mouth while he stroked the outside of her hip, occasionally running a hand across her stomach.

Desire bloomed. She wanted him to touch her, ached for him to slip a finger between her thighs and stroke the warm wetness there. But he didn’t, concentrating on other, less obvious areas of her body.

The sensitive skin on the backs of her knees, the outside of her thighs, the spot between her breasts. Places that rarely felt the swipe of a tongue or the caress of a finger. Places that longed for such care, making her feel as though the blood in her veins had reduced to a thick, sweet caramel.

“Donovan, please.” She dug her fingers into his scalp, moving restlessly beneath him. But he only smiled and kept up his relentless touching.

When he finally deigned to slide his hands to the sides of her breasts, push them together and run his tongue across her nipples, she almost came from relief. Seriously, she was going to burst, going to pop right open.

She spread her legs, tried to urge him to give her more, but he continued his assault on her breasts. First one nipple, then the other. And back again.

Julia moaned, felt her body soften further, readying itself for him. He sucked one nipple into his mouth and cupped her sex. She bucked her hips against his palm. He didn’t move, waiting until she stilled, then slipped one finger inside her.

It wasn’t enough. But it was good.

She moaned again, his name this time. Begging with her voice and her body. “Don’t stop.”

“Never.” A second finger joined the first, curled up and pressed. Tiny darts of need shot through her, swelled when he slid down her body and added his tongue to the mix. He pumped his fingers in and out while his mouth circled the tiny button of pleasure at the apex of her thighs.

Julia squeezed her eyes shut, straining for what he offered, what was so close to being taken. She spread her legs wider, touched her own breasts, capturing the nipples and rolling them back and forth.

Her breath came faster, harder. She opened her eyes, looked down at him. His mouth buried against her, the shift and pull of his shoulder as he moved his fingers. And his eyes, watching, taking pleasure from her pleasure.

“Donovan.” She came on his name, crying her release, her legs clamping around his head as the shaking took hold, took over, filling her with something much greater than desire or lust. An emotion deeper than need.

He slowed his pace gradually, eking out every bit of bliss. Careful not to push too far, to turn the pleasure into pain. Julia swore she saw stars. Sparkly fireworks that exploded on the backs of her eyelids, and the ceiling of the room.

She wanted to return the favor, to rub her body against him and give him the same gratification. But she couldn’t move, not until she caught her breath and felt the control return to her limbs.

Donovan moved up her body, cupped the side of her face. “That was good for me.” He pressed his lips to hers. “Was it good for you?”

She laughed, still a little breathless. “I’m not sure
good
covers it, but yes.”

He laughed, too, gathered her up in his arms and rolled, carrying her with him so she was on top. She laid her head on his chest, listening as her pulse slowed.

“I might even show you just how good,” she told him, toying with his nipple. “Just as soon as I can move without shaking.” What was she playing at here? But every time she told herself to pull away, she looked at him and told herself that it was only for tonight. Just one more night.

She rolled off Donovan and onto her side. “Sit up,” she told him, maneuvering him into place against the headboard. He let her do it, leaning back and allowing her to shift him into the position she wanted, pulling off his boxers and tossing them over her shoulder.

She straddled his hips and reached down to stroke his cock. It twitched, seeming to leap toward her. He’d been so patient, so good. She stroked him again, then slithered down his legs to roll her tongue around the head.

“Julia.” Her name escaped from his lips. She rolled her tongue again and sucked him into the wet heat of her mouth, pressing the flat of her tongue against his length. His hands tangled in her hair and he exhaled. A long, low moan of satisfaction.

She took him deeper and deeper into her mouth, using her tongue and lips to give him greater pleasure. He put his hands on her head, gently at first, then gripping, his fingers catching in her hair, tensing as she hit her stride and found his ideal pace.

“Julia. I’m going to...”

She bobbed faster, felt the clench of his hands and knew she was right. He’d said he wanted all of her. Well, she wanted all of him, too. All of him and then some.

He swelled in her mouth and she sucked harder, not stopping or slowing until he came. Until he shuddered out his pleasure. She swallowed, but didn’t move, letting her mouth continue to warm him, letting him come down slowly. His hands relaxed, one sliding around to rub the back of her neck.

Julia lifted her head then. “Well? Good for you?”

Donovan didn’t answer, simply grasped her arms and hauled her against him, chest to chest, her legs around his while he kissed her hard. She felt him harden against her, his body rising to the occasion.

“And you said you weren’t sixteen,” she teased.

“I also said I wasn’t dead.” He kissed her again, harder, their mouths opening, tongues dancing together. His hands roamed across her back, pulling her closer while she ground herself against him.

God, she was crazy about him. And crazy to want more of him. She clutched at his shoulders, pressing as close to him as she could, feeling the roll of his body as he rocked toward her. “Do you have—”

“In my pants.”

Julia looked over the edge of the bed, saw them lying there. He moved with her as she shifted to pick them up, one arm wrapped around her waist, pushing her hair off the back of her neck while he kissed her and she fished the foil packet from his pocket.

Donovan took it from her, settled back against the headboard while he ripped the package open and rolled the condom on. Julia felt her nipples tighten, watching the way he stroked himself, seeing how he grew in his hand.

“Come here.” He grabbed her hand, hauled her on top of him, eagerness in every touch. Julia felt the same. She wanted to feel him inside her, his body sunk deep in hers. She gripped his shoulders and rose up. He sucked her breast into his mouth. Her hips rolled, an involuntary movement of need.

And then he was inside her, and her mouth was on his, sucking and licking. Kissing and moaning. He caught her bottom lip with his, dragged his teeth across it. Julia jerked against him, rocked faster, their bodies slapping together. She still wanted more.

She wrapped her arm around his back, gripped his hair in her hand. His fingers bit into her hips, urging her up and down, setting their pace faster and faster.

Julia leaned her head back to look at him, to see the look in his eyes while he pumped inside her. It was a mix of need and lust and something softer, something that made her slow.

“Julia?” Donovan’s voice was quiet.

She shook off the feeling and tried to return to their previous pace. “It’s fine. I’m fine.” But now he slowed, his fingers spasming, then relaxing.

“You sure?”

She looked into his eyes, saw that softness there again and knew it for what it was. Love. “I’m sure.” She rose up and pressed down, slowly now.

He exhaled, cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth toward his. He kissed her more slowly now, too, longer and more intense. She shuddered and he leaned back. “I love you, Julia.”