Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,97

and Elise realised that she needed to lighten the mood. They’d both been serious enough for one night.

“Caveman!” she teased. “Next thing you’ll be standing over me and beating your chest!”

Vaughn lunged and grabbed her, hauling her onto his lap. “If you keep up with your smart mouth, Miss Grayson, there will be some beating going on but I can guarantee it won’t be on my chest!”

Before she had time to work out what he meant, he smashed his mouth down onto hers, his desperation clear, and she moaned under his assault. Reaching up she ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his head closer and deepening the contact. Vaughn groaned and ran his tongue across the seam of her lips, begging entrance which she gave without question. His hands ran down and across her back, eventually finding the half a dozen concealed buttons that secured her dress. Slowly he undid each one, taking his time to gently caress each piece of bare skin that he uncovered.

Their mouths were still locked; duelling, their breathing heavy and Elise could feel herself beginning to get more and more aroused despite her very recent performance in the ballroom.

Vaughn had managed to undo all of the buttons, leaving her dress to flap open slightly at the back. Both of his hands were now on her skin, rubbing up and down her back as far as the opening would allow and he groaned into her mouth when he came into contact with her bra strap. Thinking he wanted to remove it, she leaned away slightly to allow him to undo it but he surprised her by shifting her off his lap.

“No, Elise.” He said thickly, “Not here like this, I want to see you - all of you - properly.” He picked her up as if she weighed nothing and gently deposited her on the bed, turning on a hidden light that illuminated the curtain rail around the four posters and bathed the bed in a deeply sensual light.

Suddenly feeling as if she was on display, Elise began to experience a wave of self-consciousness and even though she was still fully dressed, she moved to try and cover herself with the throw, rolling to one side to pull it out from underneath her.

Seeing what she was trying to do, Vaughn stopped her, placing his hand on her shoulder and sitting down on the bed beside her. He had returned from closing the curtains and putting the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door.

“No...” he said softly “I need to see you – I have to see you. Don’t hide from me.”

She met his eyes, read the sincerity there and nodded her acceptance slowly. He had told her that she was beautiful on more than one occasion; she just had to trust that he was genuine. It was hard though, putting yourself out there on the line for someone – she’d not done it for so long and even though this felt totally right, the circumstances were about as wrong as they could possibly get. She just hoped that she could live with herself in the cold light of day, when the passion had cooled and all she was left with was a broken marriage and beautiful memories.

Vaughn watched her steadily as she fought with her emotions and he gently brushed the side of her cheek with his knuckles.

“I have an idea,” he said, gazing deeply into her eyes, “I don’t want you to feel nervous around me. I want you to believe in yourself and believe in what I see. I don’t want to rush this, I want this to be the best night of our lives. But for that to happen, I need you to relax.” He paused, briefly allowing his gaze to roam the full length of her body.

“How about for every article of clothing I remove of yours, you get to remove two of mine? Like strip poker but without the cards.” He smiled lightly. “That way we’ll both be getting naked at the same time and me, more than likely sooner than you. What do you say?” Vaughn finished speaking and watched her face closely, no doubt waiting for any indication of her response.

Elise flushed at how blatant he was about the fact that they would both be getting naked. Although she too had worked out that that would be inevitable, to actually have it out there was a bit of a shock. Dale wasn’t a talker and she wasn’t used