He paused, deliberately grazing his thumbs over the underside of the soft mounds, over the lace of my bra, just allowing himself the luxury of touch and time. The pads of his thumbs reached inward, tracing the lines of my areolas but never touching the distended peaks just begging for the pressure of his fingertip. My clit throbbed, the dampness pooling between my legs overwhelming and embarrassing, but I wasn’t going to mention it. I didn’t want him to stop, even if his maddeningly slow pace might kill me, and I shifted restlessly on my feet.
He reached up and tweaked one nipple hard, and I squeaked aloud, then sucked in a shallow breath. “What was that for?”
“You left me, you made me wait months, and now it’s going to be at my speed, not yours.”
“Whatever happened to wham, bam, thank you, ma’am?” I asked grumpily, thinking of Lance. He might not have satisfied me all that much, but at least I didn’t have to suffer through such intense arousal and near pain of wanting and being denied.
Gabe’s indigo eyes narrowed. “Is that what you expect from me? From us? You have to know I’d put your pleasure first.”
And I had to admit the pain had morphed into something different. A warm pleasure suffused my body, and as if there was an invisible connection between my ni**les and my sex, there was a direct correlation to the need he’d inspired with that hard pinch.
I relaxed at his words. This wasn’t about torturing me, this was about pleasure. Mine. And hopefully his. I felt my shoulders dropping, my breathing slowing.
“That’s better,” he said in a husky voice. He slid my top up and over my head, then paused to fold it and place it on the dresser.
I waited obediently, allowing my mind to empty. He returned to me, those dark eyes intense, and he unhooked my bra, slowly easing the lace material down the slope of my breast, revealing my lush curves and the darkened ni**les, aroused and erect. For him.
He sucked in an approving breath. “You’re so f**king gorgeous, Iz.”
My lashes fluttered down. I couldn’t meet his gaze any more than I could believe him. Yes, he wanted me. I still hadn’t figured out exactly why or what he saw in me that my long-term, live-in lover hadn’t.
A strong hand tilted my chin up. “Eyes open. You can’t believe what I’m telling you if you don’t watch my face when I say it.”
I swallowed hard. Looked into his gorgeous face, his expression taut.
“You can’t think this is easy for me, denying myself the pleasure of my c**k sliding into your soaking-wet pu**y now.”
Another thing I wasn’t used to. The blunt words. The honest sex talk. I felt myself blush.
“I want you so badly I ache with it.” He pulled me flush to him, his erection so hard and thick against my belly.
I lost the ability to breathe.
“I just want you to know what you mean to me,” he continued, his honest words lulling me into submission. “This isn’t some one-night stand. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.” He growled the words in disgust. “You deserve much more than that.”
I sighed. So gruff sometimes, yet so sweet at others. All part of this enigmatic man.
He placed my bra with my top, returned and unbuttoned my slacks. My belly quivered at his deft touch. Pants slid down my thighs, my panties along with them, both pooling at my feet.
My heart pounded hard in my chest. I fought the embarrassment of being naked while he was so elegantly dressed. I stepped out, and he patiently bent down, folding the pants and adding them to the pile.
“Shoes?” I asked, gesturing to the sandals I’d chosen, thong-style with glittering rhinestones.
To my surprise, he knelt and slid them off my feet. Those, he placed on the floor near the dresser. My meticulous man. I bit the inside of my cheek. Not mine … I wasn’t sure what this was. Nor did I know what I wanted it to be.
But when his hand came down on my shoulder, nothing mattered beyond now.
I reached for the pearls, intending to pull them off too.
“Leave them. I want to f**k you with nothing but those pearls between us.”
He was so sure of himself, so sexy, and I was … a lot inexperienced and even more naïve. I couldn’t imagine what he wanted from me and was even less certain I could satisfy him. My history with Lance had proven that.
“Okay, enough thinking.”
He lifted me into his arms as if I weighed nothing, dropping me onto the bed in one smooth move. Without warning, he had both my wrists over my head, and somehow, he secured me to the headboard using the bracelet on one hand and cuffs I hadn’t noticed before.
“You’re kidding.”