I didn’t wake up, if I lay perfectly still with my body pressed against Nox, maybe I wouldn’t need to get on the plane, maybe I could stay in Del Mar forever. The warmth radiating from his skin covered and shielded me from the cool air-conditioned chill of the suite.
Skin to skin, nothing separated us.
“Are you awake,” he asked, his deep voice gravelly with sleep.
“No.” I buried my head against his chest.
“Isn’t this early for you? Yesterday you didn’t wake until, what… ten?”
My cheeks filled with crimson. “I think you wore me out the other night.”
“Oh?”
Nox rolled me onto my back, his hands upon my shoulders and chest against mine. “Does that mean I didn’t do a good job wearing you out last night?”
I looked into the pale blueness of his eyes. It was barely light outside, but his gaze held that hint of menace that twisted my insides. He’d done a fine job of testing my limits. I still didn’t know where they were—not with him. It wasn’t that I’d ever imagined some of the suggestions Nox made. It was that when he proposed the limit, no matter what it was, I wanted to test it, for him and for me. I saw the happiness he derived, and I knew the happiness he could provide. Nox made each and every prospect sexy and pleasurable. Even if, like the wax, it didn’t start that way, Nox made sure it ended that way.
I shook my head. “No, you did a fine job. It was just…”
The pad of his thumb tenderly caressed my cheek as his prominent brow furrowed. “Charli, why are you crying? Did I..?”
I swallowed and shook my head. I didn’t want Nox to think he’d done anything wrong. I also didn’t want to admit how strongly I felt for him, or how I didn’t want our time together to end. “I don’t want to wake up. If I stay asleep then today will never come.”
His lips gently brushed mine. It was meant as an affectionate kiss, but I didn’t want that. I wanted more, needed more. I wove my fingers through Nox’s dark hair and pulled him closer. The taste of his lips and his tongue as it wrestled with mine was the catalyst to my desire. Breathing no longer mattered as my back arched and I pushed my pebbled nipples against the hardness of his chest.
We didn’t rush. For what seemed like an eternity, we lost ourselves in one another. It was much different than our first time, and different from every time after that. Nox had said he’d made love to me the night he brought me back to Del Mar after 101, but this was more. Every movement of his hands, tongue, and body was deliberate. He played me like an expert musician plays a prized instrument.
My body ached with need and desire as he took me to amazing highs with catastrophic earth-shaking conclusions. I gripped the sheets and called out his name, afraid I’d fall, and yet each time he was there to catch me. When we both descended from the final high, I collapsed against his shoulder and slipped off to sleep.
He’d granted my wish. The day wasn’t ready to begin.
A warm breeze brought me back to reality, and I shifted against the edge of the pool. I had no idea where Nox was, but even from far away he could do things to my body. Looking down at my breasts, I thanked God that I was alone. My thin strapless bra and pink dress did little to conceal the thoughts my nipples broadcasted.
I leaned back on my arms, lifted my face to the sun, and twisted my head from side to side. The slow movement allowed the warm wind access to my perspiration-moistened skin and freed the few stuck renegade strands of hair that had escaped from my messy bun.
Is it the Georgia heat that turned up my internal thermostat or my thoughts?
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been outside when I made my way back toward the house and up the stone staircase, but when I entered the house, Mother and Alton were in the sitting room. They didn’t hear me enter and for a few minutes I stood and watched them. Last night I’d heard their exchange, but today, from their expensive casual clothes to the way Alton waited upon my mother, filling her wine glass, they appeared the perfect couple.
It wasn’t until my shoes clicked upon the hardwood floor and