There were too many obstacles, too much bad timing. Too many things that would result in both of them being hurt.
“I told you to stop.” She pulled away.
“I thought you said the truth was the most important thing.” His hands roamed her body, dulling the sharpness of her mind, thawing her heart. Hushing her worries. “And the truth is…I want you more than anything.”
“Then be quiet.” She pressed a finger to his lips and shimmied down his body, her hands finding the button of his fly and pushing it open. He was hard inside his jeans, and it made her blood pulse eagerly in her veins. “And let me show you how much I want you.”
She drew his zipper down and palmed him through his boxer briefs. Trent’s moan cut through the quiet room, sharp as a blade. When her hand connected with his warm flesh, her insides flipped. And as she lowered her head, her hair brushing his stomach and his fingers threading through the curling strands, she forced herself to focus on the physical.
He tasted of salt and skin, and the slide of him along her tongue was more erotic than any time she’d done this before. Because deep down she knew this was something different. Something more. At least to her, it was. But she’d seen how quickly people could turn—like when her ex’s declarations disintegrated once things got too difficult. Words didn’t mean a damn thing.
But action…action meant something. And she would show Trent what he meant to her, how he made her feel emboldened and empowered and transformed. Only recently, she’d pulled away from their first kiss, afraid to proceed. Now she was in charge, controlling their passion. Charging it and churning it up.
“Cora.” He moaned her name.
She took him deep, using her hands as well as her mouth, and for now, she was relieved that he could only say her name. Because walking away from Trent—from this great, explosive pleasure—would be torture. But her heart could be shattered only so many times before she might not be able to put it back together.
She had to go home and figure out her life. Figure out her head. And now, because of him and this incredible, beautiful place, she felt strong enough to do it.
“If you keep going…” he warned, fingers tightening in her hair. But she wasn’t going to listen. This was her time to be in charge.
She felt his thighs tighten beneath her as his orgasm swelled, saw the muscles clench beneath his white T-shirt. The change in him was breathtaking—the raw sounds coming from the back of his throat, the feel of the bed shifting as he thrust into her mouth, the taste of him as he exploded, crying her name like it was a prayer to every god that ever existed.
…
The next week followed a similar pattern—Trent would try to talk to Cora about what was going to happen at the end of her vacation, and she would distract him by any means necessary. This had resulted in another sexy reading session, blindfolding him with a silk Hermès scarf that she usually had tied to one of her purses. Another time it had been touching herself in the bath, hands diving under the bubbles and letting her head roll back while he watched, enraptured. Last night she’d stooped even lower—anticipating that he’d bring the subject up after dinner, so she’d gone into the kitchen to “get dessert” and had come out wearing nothing but whipped cream and strawberries.
Trent was starting to get suspicious. And frustrated. Thankfully, he had the sex drive of a bull in mating season, so she’d ruthlessly used that to her advantage. But tonight they were supposed to work on the last few pages of the scrapbook in time for Liv to return home the following Wednesday and to present it at the Walterses’ big anniversary dinner. Cora would be long gone by then.
Gone.
She brought two mugs of coffee to the table and hoped that Trent couldn’t see how her hands shook. The milky liquid sloshed up against the sides of the cups as she set them down. It was impossible to think that merely a month ago, they were complete strangers. Now…
Now he felt like a key piece of her world.
Despite her trying to maintain the distance early on by retiring to her own room, she couldn’t tear herself away anymore. She slept every night in his arms and woke struck with how magnificent he looked