had no option but to wrap her legs around his waist. He sat on the bed and she straddled him, poised over him, before she slid down exquisitely slowly. Engulfing him in liquid heat. Shrouding him. Making him cry out with the perfection of it.
Her eyes never left his as she started to move, their bodies synced to the same rhythm, the friction driving him wild. Sweat slicked his skin as he let her set the pace, biting back the urge to grab her hips and pound into her.
Sensing his need, she whispered, “Don’t hold back.”
Lunging forward, he kissed her with every ounce of pent-up desire, holding her waist and thrusting upward. Over and over. Her hands groping, his anchoring, in a world turned topsy-turvy.
Her arms caged him, but he slid a hand between their bodies and touched her clit, stroking her, savoring the slickness. She picked up speed, wrenching her mouth from his, riding him with abandon.
He’d never seen anything so beautiful.
Her carnal gaze made him let go, driving them closer to the brink. The tremors started, and Manny pushed her over the edge as his orgasm slammed into him with a force that made him see stars.
When he could finally form a coherent word, he hugged Harper tight. “You are perfection.”
She nipped his ear. “You know what else is pretty close to perfect besides me?”
“What?”
“Cold pizza, and I’m starving.”
He laughed, and when she joined in he marveled that he’d finally found a woman he could be himself with, who laughed at his lame sense of humor, who got him.
The question was, what would he do with her when he got back to Melbourne?
33
The moment Manny headed to the bathroom to take care of the condom, Harper sprang into action.
She couldn’t let him see her naked, not when light from the setting sun filtered through the blinds. They’d been too caught up in the moment earlier for him to study her body. Their coupling had been hard and fast, just as she’d wanted. No time for him to see the patches on her body and ask probing questions. Not that he would. As a doctor he’d pick up on the vitiligo straightaway, and no way in hell did she want to go through the explanation of how/when/why she’d been diagnosed.
So by the time he came out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, she was fully dressed and brandishing a piece of pizza.
“Sorry, couldn’t wait.”
“You were right about being starving.” He cast a quick glance over her clothes but didn’t say anything as he pulled on his boxers and dropped the towel. “Save some for me.”
“There’s plenty,” she said, taking a big bite to stop from blurting the truth: that she’d give anything to spend the night with him, that she wished he could see the real her, that she was grateful for the amazing time they’d spent together.
But this had to end, the sooner the better, before she became further invested.
Too late, her conscience cried, because the thought of walking away from this amazing man made her chest ache.
“Hey, slow down, you’ll give yourself indigestion,” he said, as she stuffed several bites into her mouth.
Chewing bought her a minute, demolishing the crust another, but she knew she’d have to say something eventually. She wiped her mouth with a napkin, balled it, and shot it into the trash, before raising her eyes to find him staring at her.
He knew. He had this look, like he expected her to run.
“What’s going on?”
“We’re leaving tomorrow and I need to answer work e-mails and check on another job for when I return and Skype my parents and—”
“You don’t need to make excuses.” Stone-faced, he pointed at the door. “You’re free to leave anytime.”
His blank features, his dull monotone, and his eyebrows gathered in a frown spoke volumes. Her needing to bolt wasn’t new for him. He thought she was a flake, selfish, someone who took what she wanted and left.
Her throat thickened, the truth lodged there. She wished she could tell him she wasn’t that person. That she’d fallen for him. That she wanted to trust him. But if anyone had learned the hard way about the pitfalls of trusting, she had.
She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
“Would you believe me if I said I don’t want to leave but I have to?”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” He scrubbed a hand over his face, but when he refocused on her, disapproval pinched his lips together. “Is it the sex?