The Kiss on Castle Road (A Lavender Island Novel) (27 page)

He sucked in his breath and grabbed her hand to try to make sense of this for a second. “Is this a pity offer?”

“
No.
Definitely not. It’s—” she sputtered. Her hand waved in the air like a windmill. He watched the whirling for a second and moved out of its way.

“Maybe it’s a good-bye. I just thought . . .” She tried again. “I thought it would bring us
closer
.”

He watched her carefully. “Closer?”

She nodded.

“You want to get closer before we say good-bye?”

She nodded again.

He leaned back against the counter again.

“I’m not sure I even know what to do with a woman like you, Natalie Grant.” He laughed as reality hit him. “I don’t want to be toyed with by someone like you.”

Natalie snapped her jaw shut. “
Toyed
with? Is that what you think I’m doing?”

He immediately realized it was the wrong thing to say.

“No,” he finally said, looking into that beautiful face and realizing he might be blowing it. “I don’t mean that you’re teasing me. Sexually anyway. I mean that I really care about you, and I’m one of those guys who gets kind of attached, so if we have sex right now, I need to know you like me, and you want it, and this isn’t some weird thing about a bet anymore.”

She looked up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I’ll tell you this, Elliott. I’ve been staring at you all day, and hyperventilating a little every time you look at me, and remembering every practice and pretend kiss we ever had, and I called my sister in a panic just now to tell her I was throwing the bet because I really, really like you and I really, really want you to touch me. So, no, this isn’t about a bet anymore. Now kiss me. Please.”

Natalie’s heart pounded as Elliott snapped off the burners, grabbed her hand, and began pulling her out of the kitchen.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Bedroom.”

Her heart continued its erratic pace as he quickened his step across the three oriental rugs and moved forward with a singular determination.

“You’re okay with this, then?” she asked breathlessly.

His jaw muscle danced. “I am.”

“You changed your mind?”

“I did.”

“What changed your mind?”

“If you’re toying with me or you’re not, or if I can make you happy or I can’t, I might as well know I’ve done all I could and acted courageously.”

“Courageously?”

“Yes, courageously.”

“It takes
courage
to sleep with me?”

“It does.”

“Why does it—”

Before she could finish the sentence, Elliott turned and took both sides of her face in his hands and pulled her toward him, closing his mouth over hers in a long, silencing kiss. The warmth of his tongue, the warmth of his lips, the warmth of his hands in her hair, sent a hot slide of comfort and wickedness all the way down her center until her legs felt as if they were going to give out from under her. She nearly toppled in her high sandals, and she gripped his chest for balance. He slid his hand down her back to catch her, but kept his warm tongue moving, then brought his hands back into her hair just the way she’d shown him earlier. He ended the kiss with a long, soul-wrenching suck on her bottom lip that turned her limbs to jelly. He moved back, still cupping her face, waiting for her to open her eyes.

When she finally did, she met his.

“How was that?” Elliott asked huskily.

“That was . . .”
Wow.
She caught her breath. “That was fabulous.”

He nodded curtly. “Then let’s do more.”

While her heart pounded in a crazy way, he grabbed her hand again and led her to the bedroom, kicking his shoes off, shuffling papers and journals off his bed and sending them all over the floor. She’d seen him look singularly focused before, but nothing like he did now—he was a man possessed. Once the bed was completely cleared of notes and formulas and pencils and papers, he turned abruptly toward her and . . .
stilled
.

“Elliott?”

As if frozen, his hands suddenly dropped at his sides. He stared quietly at her body, her face, her breasts.

“Elliott? What’s wrong?”

“I feel like this is some kind of test.”

“Test?” she asked. “For what?”

He shrugged. “I’m used to learning, and being a quick study, and winning fellowships, and winning awards for my findings. But this . . . I’m not sure what to do here. I feel like if I don’t do well, I’m going to somehow fail.”

He looked so sweet standing there, unsure, uncertain. She just wanted to throw her arms around him. “It’s not a test.”

“I don’t want to mess this up. What do you like?”

“I think you can figure out what I like.”

“How will I know?”

“I’ll make noises.”

His eyebrow lifted. “I look forward to that. But I want to elicit them correctly. You were supposed to be teaching me, remember?”

She let a smile escape. “That’s right—I was supposed to be helping you with the seduction part, wasn’t I?”

“Yeah, way to drop the ball, Natalie.”

She laughed. “I guess I could pick up from here. Where did we leave off?” She took a step toward him and the T-shirt stretched across his chest. He had no idea how good that thing looked on him, but it truly outlined the physique he rarely showed off.

“Well, the Colonel coached me on dating. Doris taught me to dance. Nell instructed me on how to dress. So what do I need to know from you?” he murmured.

She tugged at the T-shirt hem. “Looks like you’ve got everything down pat. What more do you want to know?”

“I, uh . . .” He watched her fingertips move under the fabric. “I think you covered the erogenous zones. And, uh . . .” He cleared his throat as Natalie pushed the shirt upward. “I think I understood that. Or most of that.
Some
of that.”

He reached over his head and yanked the shirt off for her. Natalie ran her hand across the taut chest and abs she’d seen only briefly before. “Elliott, I’m sure you’ve done this before. I think you know what’s next.”

“Yeah, no,
technically
, I’m fine. I just don’t know what
you
, in particular, might—
oh God
.” He caught her head in his hands as she trailed a kiss down his torso. “Damn, Natalie, that’s good, but I—oh
gah
.” He stumbled back a little and cradled the back of her head against his abs, where she’d started to tempt with her tongue, working his waistband undone with her fingernails. He let out a hiss and then lifted her face in his hands. “Okay, here’s the deal—I know what
I
like. You’re not going to have any problems whatsoever making me a happy man tonight. As you can see, we’ve already started.” He indicated the tent in his pants. “But I want to know what
you
like. What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do
to you
?”

Natalie couldn’t remember ever having a man ask her such a thing in her life. She studied his face to see if he was kidding. But she was met, simply, with a hunger in his eyes—and an absolute determination to please—that shot an ache of want right between her legs.

“Well, first you can undress me,” she said.

“My pleasure.” He reached for her shirt. “Do you like to be kissed while you’re being undressed? Or can I just stare?”

Her breath caught at his husky delivery, then the hungry way his gaze made its way across every inch of her skin as her shirt was tossed to the floor.

He didn’t need an answer for that one. He’d decided to stare. And then touch.

A shiver went through her as his hands caressed her, undoing her bra, gazing at her with reverence as if he were memorizing every curve, his fingers tracing the planes of her body. She helped with her jeans and then stood before him in her lacy cheekies. She wished now she’d worn something a little sexier, but . . . On the other hand, Elliott didn’t seem to notice. She’d never been met with such a cherishing gaze. All those years in the past, when she’d run from men’s stares, she’d never known they could be like this. The element of tenderness stroked her like a fingertip. Her breath came shorter as he held her out slightly and turned her around.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he said.

She’d never felt more so. She reached up and pulled the loose plaits out of her hair. She wanted Elliott to stare at her this way for the rest of her life—his eyes feasting over her legs, her bottom, her breasts, as he turned her. The adoration in his eyes was coming not just from the appreciation of body parts but every bit as much from how he felt about her as a whole. He truly cared about her. And it shone through.

She reached toward him, but he caught her arms. “I’m not done,” he said. His voice was raspy. “So, erogenous zones. Let me see if I can remember.” He brought her wrist to his lips and watched her eyes as he kissed gently, then extended the trail of tender kisses up her arm. When he kissed the inside of her elbow, she let out a little gasp, and he brought his eyelashes up to her. “There’s the sound.”

“Yes.” Her voice was breathless and embarrassing.

“I get an A there, then. Let’s do the other side.”

Another tender trail led up her right arm as her legs became unsteady.

“You said the back of your neck?”

Before she could answer, he turned her slowly, lifted her heavy hair off her neck, and began a trail of sinful kisses across the back of her neck, exactly where she’d shown him before, eliciting the same shivers he had on the rock above the city. This time, though, his other hand was exploring the edge of her cheekies, running a fingertip along the lace, over her hip, along her bottom.

“I like these,” he murmured into her neck.

His finger teased the opening where she was already wet, and another gasp escaped her throat.

“Another sound.” He smiled against her skin.

“You’re . . .” She inhaled some air. “You’re a very fast learner.”

“One of my strengths,” he mumbled. He spent some time there, arousing a series of gasps from Natalie, then lifted his thumb to rub a circle at the small of her back. “Here?”

“Sometimes,” she exhaled.

He was on his knees next, dragging her panties down, helping her step out of them, but then he surprised her by running his finger down the backs of her thighs and calves. She was aching for him now, wanting him undressed, inside her, but he stopped at the backs of her knees. “Here?”

“We can skip that, Elliott, let’s just—” She had a hard time catching her breath now, and she tried to turn to grab his hair, bring him in front of her, get his clothes off, get him to—

But he grasped her hands to stop her from pulling him, and his tongue warmed the back of her leg in a long, deep suck that seemed to pull at every other sexual organ in her body. She let out a little moan.

“Elliott,
please
, I—”

“Bend over, Natalie.”

“What?”

“Here. Bend over the bed.” He motioned toward it.

“Please, Elliott, just get undressed now. I really want to—” She reached for his waistband again, but he caught her hands.

“Am I getting Ds here?”

“No.”

“What would you give me?” He smiled. He knew.

“I’d give you an A, but—”

“Then let me continue. We’ve got a long night ahead of us, and I’ve got a lot of learning to do about you. I think we’ve got a few important erogenous zones left for me to explore, don’t we? I think we’ve hit all the before-dinner ones; now let’s get to the naked ones.” His grin was wolfish. She felt a little light-headed.

In minutes, he had her facedown on the bed, his hands and fingertips running across every square inch of her. He explored, then tasted, then studied, then trailed kisses across her skin, finally turning her to repeat the process in front. When he stalled at her nipples, pulling them into his teeth, she cried out and begged him to enter her, reaching to guide him.

“Elliott! Please.”

“I’ll get there,” he said, pinning her hands back. “I’m learning here.”

“I’ll give you an A-plus-plus if you’ll just enter me
now
.”

He chuckled. “Aren’t you enjoying this?”

“I’m enjoying it
immmmm-ensely
. I’m just . . . enjoying it
too much
. I need you. Inside me. Now.”

“We’ll get there.” His fingertips came down along her pelvis to explore, and she bucked her hips up. “I want to ruin the curve.”

She laughed.
“Elliott!”

He teased her for only a few moments more, stroking her, parting her, inserting a finger, then two, studying her face, smiling every time she moaned, then finally, gloriously, he reached for a condom from his nightstand, kissed her while he put it on, and then slowly, wonderfully, entered her.

“Oh God, Elliott.”

She pulled him tighter to her with each thrust, let the wonderful emotion overwhelm her of being
one
with this man—one motion, one body, one mind, one spirit, one feeling, in this one exact moment—and thought how she’d like to meld with him forever. She’d never felt so connected, wanting to envelop him in her, wanting to be enveloped by him, and she pulled him tighter and tighter as they both rode high. Finally, ready for release, she dragged his hand between them, showing him where to stroke—she was definitely one of those clit-orgasm girls, although most men didn’t take the time to learn that. But Elliott was eager to learn, eager to please, and followed her lead with mastery. It took him two seconds to bring her to orgasm, which she released with a cry and tears in her eyes. Moments later, he followed, shuddering against her until he buried his head against her shoulder.