Reluctant Deception - Cambria Smyth Page 0,28
stroked the length of each toe through her sock.
He continued, "I didn't hurt you just now, but you are sore from our workout the other day, and you're only lying on my bed trying to decide which view is the most photogenic? Have I got this right, Miss Reed?"
He continued his ministrations, moving now from her foot up to her ankle. Chris gently massaged the strained tendons with strong fingers, appearing to be so absorbed in the conversation that he wasn't aware of what he was doing.
Docilely, she nodded in response. Holy heaven, but she couldn't move if she wanted to. It was even hard to talk, his hands working on her overwrought muscles felt so good.
"Well, I'm glad you're in as much pain as I am. Misery loves company and misery has surely been my middle name these past two days. Just ask Edwina," he remarked with a trace of humor.
"But really, Elizabeth. Falling asleep on your client's bed. I'm surprised." He winked at her devilishly, his hands now gently kneading her calves, sending delicious shivers through her.
"I, I didn't know this was your bed," she stammered with as much indignation as she could summon. "And if I had known, you never would have found me on it."
His massage made her weak and tremulous despite her show of annoyance. When he started to rub the muscles behind the soft part of her knee, Libby thought she was going to melt. Being touched this way, even through her jeans, had never felt so wonderful. She relaxed even more, floating on the wave of soothing sensations he was creating.
She looked at him sharply when he began to ease the soreness from her thighs. If he continued and went further up her legs, she didn't think she'd be able to resist him. Slowly, mysteriously, his massage was affecting her senses. Tendrils of desire coursed through her body. Hot, delicious, needy. She was smoldering, ready to burst into flames at any moment.
Chris stopped and looked at her as if reading her mind. "I promise to keep it clean, OK?" he pledged. "Roll over and I'll rub out your shoulders and back."
She hesitated, wondering if he would keep his word. She surely didn't trust herself right now and hoped she could trust him.
"Look," he asserted with authority, "This is the best thing for sore muscles and yours have got to be sore because I tried my best to make them that way!" He laughed, flashing her a brilliant, conspiratorial smile.
Libby grinned at his honest admission, then, deciding he meant to keep his pledge, rolled over. It did feel great. And if he was willing to give her a G-rated rubdown, she wasn't going to refuse it.
Chris started at the nape of her neck, slowly and deliberately seeking out each tightened muscle. With steady, circular motions, he eased them into relaxation. Tentatively, his hands moved to her shoulders, where she moaned softly at his touch. There, too, he gently rubbed the stiffness away. The length of her back was next to receive his undivided attention as he kneaded, probed, and stroked the pain away.
Surely, no woman has ever looked this inviting in bed, Chris mused, as he bent over the petite form sprawled in abandon before him. At times she looked terribly fragile, but as he ran his hands over her body, he realized she was much stronger than she appeared. And her body, so slim and sleek, felt undeniably wonderful to the touch.
He felt his body respond, then cursed silently at his promise. It was getting damned difficult to concentrate on what he was supposed to do, as opposed to what he really wanted to do with her up here, in the forbidden privacy of his bedroom.
Of their own free will, his sturdy hands bore down around her narrow waist, reveling in her smallness, before resuming the familiar, rhythmic rubbing. Remembering his promise, he forced himself not to massage the two exquisitely rounded muscles in her derriere, and moved instead to the backs of her thighs. When he first touched her there, she tensed, until relaxing again with the steady ministrations of his hands. It took all the willpower he could summon to keep from straying to the tempting valley between her legs at the top of her thighs. How he longed to touch her there, gently, with unhurried strokes, feeling the heat of her desire build, then explode.
Maybe just a kiss, he thought. A little kiss on the back of her neck. How