He took off his tux jacket for the second time that evening and tossed it across the back of the nearest chair. When he started to loosen the black bow tie, Isabella stopped him.
“Let me,” she said.
He opened his senses and saw the heat in her eyes.
When she reached up to unknot his tie, her fingers trembled a little. He caught her hand and kissed her palm. She let the ends of the tie dangle around his neck and went to work unfastening the onyx cuff links. There were two faint clinks when she put the cuff links carefully on the table. The small, intimate sound jacked his senses even higher. He was certain he had never been so hard in his life.
She went to work on the black studs that secured the front of his shirt.
He kissed her and began to strip her with quick, focused motions. The evening gown collapsed into a dark pool at her feet. He got the lacy bra off next. The panties followed, leaving her in the sexy high heels.
Energy ignited the atmosphere of the shadowed room. Isabella’s effect on him could only be described in terms of alchemy, he thought. She was the fire that transmuted the cold iron inside him into gold. With her he could look into the heart of chaos and glimpse the ultimate goal of the ancient art, the Philosopher’s Stone. With her he was, for a time, complete.
Desperate now, he picked her up and braced her against the nearest surface, the wall. She put one bare leg around his waist and then the other. Her scent was more intoxicating than any drug. He cradled her with one hand and stroked her with the other until she was wet and frantic.
“For me,” he said. He caught her earlobe between his teeth and bit down a little, needing to reinforce the words. “I want you like this only for me. No one else.”
“It has never been like this with anyone else. It couldn’t be. Only you.” She clutched at his shoulders and looked at him with her mysterious eyes. “This had better work both ways or it’s over now.”
“Only you,” he said. He was shatteringly aware that his voice was hoarse with passion. He could barely speak at all. “Never like this with anyone else.”
She smiled her devastating smile.
“Good,” she said.
Her fiercely wonderful energy filled the room, enveloping him.
He managed to unzip his trousers and then he was pushing into her. She closed tightly around him.
He thrust again and again, fast and hard. She clung to him, wrapping herself around him. He could hear her breathing: quick, shallow gasps that betrayed her rising excitement.
“Fallon.”
He forced himself to stop pounding into her long enough to lift her away from the wall and put her down onto the bed. He got rid of his trousers and briefs, kicked off his shoes and lowered himself onto the bed beside her.
“My turn,” she said.
She flattened one hand on his chest and pushed him onto his back. He went willingly. And then she was on top, sliding slowly downward, fitting her tight core to him.
She rode him slowly, tormenting him until he thought he could not endure it. But he forced himself to let her set the pace. He gripped her soft thighs and opened his senses fully. He did not try to focus his talent. Rather, he gave himself up to the glittering exhilaration of the moment. It was only at times like this, when he was so intimately connected to Isabella, that he could safely slip the bonds of his self-control and fly free.
Sensation and the heat of desire carried him on a relentless tide. The knowledge that Isabella was riding the same wave thrilled him beyond measure.
When she came undone in a storm of energy, he followed her over the edge into the endless night.
25
She came back to her senses a long time later, aware of a faint rustling sound. Fallon was no longer in the bed.
She opened her eyes and saw him dressing by the light of the moon. She pushed herself up on her elbows and watched him tuck the white shirt into the waistband of his trousers. She was not sure whether to be amused or annoyed or hurt.
“You’re leaving?” she asked, trying not to show any emotions at all.
“If I stay here until morning, there’s a good chance that someone will see me leaving your room.”
She relaxed, smiling a little. “I told you, everyone at the conference