Chapter 30

“Haven’t you ever seen a Brazilian wax job?” she asked, thoroughly enjoying his shocked expression. “All the Playboy Bunnies have them.”

His eyes roamed over her, slowly taking in every detail with an approving grin. He gazed at her for so long and with such obvious appreciation that she felt as if nothing else in the world mattered to him.

Without a word, he moved closer. His hands rested lightly on her hips for a moment, then coasted upward a scant inch at a time. Over the curve of her waist. Up her rib cage. To her breasts.

He cradled one in each warm hand. She heard herself sigh. With a smile he let his thumbs rest lightly on her beaded nipples.

“Nice. Very nice.”

He reached down between her thighs and touched her, lightly skimming his hand over the smooth mound. The mere touch of his fingertips sent a warming shiver through her, and her thighs quivered in anticipation.

“It’ll be just like having my very own bunny.”

He shrugged out of his shirt and flung it aside. A few seconds later, he was out of his clothes and standing naked before her.

Crisp hair fanned across his pecs, sheltering flat brown nipples. The skein of dark hair tapered to a thin strip at his narrow waist, then unfurled, becoming denser. His burgeoning erection hung heavily between powerful thighs. He was so heart-stoppingly masculine that she actually sighed, which made him smile.

He eased her back onto the sheets and lay down beside her. The bed gave under his weight, rolling her toward him.

“Kauai was a quickie. Tonight we’re taking our time.”

Drawing her against his powerful body, he gazed into her eyes. She immediately was engulfed in heat. The heat of their bodies molded against each other. The heat smoldering in his eyes. The iron heat of his sex.

His rigid erection jutted into her stomach, hotter and harder than the rest of his firm body. Beneath her breast, his heartbeat thudded. She eased one leg between his.

He tasted her lips, kissing her gently, carefully as if for the very first time. She wound her arm around his neck and speared her fingers through his thick hair. Her lips parted of their own accord, and his tongue brushed hers, sending a rush of heat to the soft, smooth mound nestled against him.

“We have all night long,” he said as her hips moved against him, seeking … more. “All weekend, actually. I might not let you out of bed until Monday morning.”

“Don’t forget Rupert. We’ll need to walk him.”

Woof! Woof!

She glanced in the direction of the barking as the dog responded to his name. “Don’t look now, but we have an audience.”

Rupert had jumped up onto the wingback chair next to her dresser and was standing there, tail wagging, watching them.

Cole chuckled. “I wonder if he—”

“Watched Zoe.”

He put a finger on her lips. “Don’t think about it. Tonight belongs to us.” He gently nuzzled her ear, his tongue darting quickly over her earlobe, his warm breath fanning her skin. Her pulse kicked into overdrive. His hand caressed the underside of her breast, fondling the curves, his thumb stroking her puckered nipple.

“You’re incredible,” he told her. “Really incredible.”

She tried to say, “You, too,” but he’d claimed her lips and was kissing her with all the heat and intensity she’d been craving.

Woof! Woof!

Cole lifted his head, breathing hard, and looked over his shoulder at the poodle. He jumped to his feet, saying, “Save my place.”

Cool air washed across her overheated body, and she giggled. Like anyone else on the planet could take his place.

“Rupert, come!”

The dog jumped down, tail wagging, obviously expecting a treat or something. As soon as Rupert cleared the doorway, Cole closed the door.

He climbed onto the bed beside her. “Now we can get down to business.”

With a mischievous smile, she said, “I’m all business.”

She wrapped her hand around his penis. He groaned low in his throat and pressed hard against her palm. Eyes scrunched shut, his lips moved as if he were talking to himself or praying. She was fairly certain he wasn’t consulting God.

He pried her fingers off his penis. “Slow down. I’m in charge tonight.”

“No fair. You were in charge last time.”

He chuckled, smothering his laugh by burying his face in her breasts. She laughed, too, and thought no man had ever made her laugh during sex.

He lifted his head and grinned down at her. “Hey, last time no one was in charge. We went at it like wild animals.”

“True,” she conceded. “So true.”

He traced one finger from the curve of her neck, down one breast, across the flat plane of her stomach to her smooth pubis. “Have you got any of that dust stuff?”

Love Dust? He knew about Love Dust? She told herself not to worry about it. He had a past and so did she.

Love Dust was a common product sold in drugstores across the country. It would surprise her if a guy as sexy as Cole didn’t know about Love Dust.

“It’s right here in the night stand.”

She sat up, reached over, and opened the drawer. When Marshall had left, she’d tossed out the half-used canister of finely ground dried honey and spices. Enter Jason Talbott. She’d bought a fresh canister and popped for the special mink brush, but it had never been opened.

Cole took it from her and pried off the lid. “I’m going to dust my favorite parts and lick it off.”

She didn’t think she could stand him playing with her body for long. She wanted him inside her. She yearned for another mind-blowing orgasm like the last time.

“Make it fast.”

He tapped the canister and dumped a little of the talc-like powder into the well of her belly button. “If you get too pushy, I’m going to tie you to the bedpost.”

“Is that a promise?”

“You bet.”

He dipped the mink brush into the powder and dusted it with slow, sensual strokes across her breasts. She wiggled a little to hurry him along. If she was going to have to wait to feel him inside her, the least he could do was get started.

When he finally seemed satisfied with the coverage, he again dipped the mink brush in the powder. This time he swirled the powder across her abdomen, slowly moving lower and lower and lower. With his free hand, he nudged her thighs apart.

“Gotta admit, this is a first. My own bunny.”

She writhed in anticipation, her jaw clamped shut. Why didn’t he just get on with it?

With languid strokes, he whisked the honey powder across her thighs and—finally—onto the smooth mound. Slick moisture had been building there from the moment he’d taken her into the bedroom. She was embarrassingly wet now.

He coated her skin and she tried to suppress a moan. Her crotch had never been exposed like this and the flesh was hyper-sensitive. She might just come before he even touched her.

He again dipped the brush in what remained of the powder.

“What are you doing?” she cried.

“Giving the bunny a second coat.”

“Come on, I—”

“Don’t rush me.”

She clenched her teeth, quivering with anticipation. Surely a mere brush on a smooth pubis couldn’t trigger an orgasm. That would be embarrassing. To take her mind off what Cole was doing with the brush, she reached for his penis and ran one finger up the ridge that ran along the back.

“Oh, no, you don’t.”

He dropped the brush and grabbed her hand. In an instant both her wrists were manacled in his large hand above her head.

He hovered over her breasts, his pupils so dilated that only a band of blue no wider than a knife’s edge remained. With her arms in the new position, her breasts had changed shape. Her nipples jutted upward, dusky rose, jewel hard. And impertinently demanding to be kissed.

“Beautiful. Just beautiful,” Cole whispered.

He laved one taut nipple with his tongue, then blew across it. She inhaled a tiny puff of honey-scented powder. With the sweet smell came a surge of desire so elemental and primitive that it frightened her for a moment.

She struggled to free her hands. She longed to touch him, feel his powerful shoulders, furrow her fingers through his hair. But he effortlessly held her in place.

Using a variety of strokes—long, then short, then spirals—he licked the powder off her breasts. The faint prickling of his emerging beard chafed her soft skin, sending an erotic charge through her body.

Cool air caressed her breasts, but the lower part of her body was liquid heat. Her breath rushed out of her lungs in long, surrendering moans.

“Like that, huh?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. He lowered his head and drew a tight nipple into his mouth with firm, hot pressure. Using his tongue, he played with the nipple while he sucked hard. She arched upward, thrusting her hips off the bed, the blood thundering in her ears.

He released her hands and lifted his head to kiss her. Their lips met and his tasted of sweet honey. He took her mouth with a savage intensity considering the leisurely way he’d been removing the Love Dust.

She clutched his shoulders, kissing him with such passion that it shocked her for the fleeting second the thought registered. She wanted to devour him—or have him devour her. She had never, ever been this aroused.

Except in Kauai.

His lips left hers, and he trailed feathery little kisses down her breasts to where he’d stopped licking off the Love Dust. With broad swipes, he took care of her belly, then stopped where she’d been waxed.

“You know, the Times almost sent me to Brazil once on an assignment. A—”

“Come on. You’re killing me.”

He kissed the rise of her mound where it met her stomach. With a series of little nips and kisses and swipes of his tongue, he edged lower. His whiskers rasped her sensitive skin, but it felt sooo good. If she’d known how much more exquisite pleasure she would get during sex, she would have gone in to be waxed years ago.

He eased a finger between the slick folds of skin and found her clitoris. He teased the nubbin, rolling it in her own slick moisture.

“Yes! Yes!”

She’d come darn close to climaxing the second he touched the cleft of her thighs with that mink brush. How much longer could she hold out now that he’d found her sweet spot?

His mouth took over while his finger plunged deep into her. Involuntarily her muscles clenched, clasping his finger, drawing it into her body. Any second she was going to come. He was just too good at this.

She held out for as long as she could. Her body convulsed in an uncontrollable shudder of pleasure.

“Hey, not so fast.”

Too late.

Cole brushed the velvet smooth tip of his penis over the nub several times. Her waning pulse surged again. He guided his shaft into the opening, pushing hard and slowly stretching her. He managed to get partway in. Pulling back, he gave her a quick kiss and tried again. With a powerful thrust he was deep inside her. He stopped, rolled onto his back so that she was on top of him.

“Do you have any idea how many times I’ve wanted to be inside you like this?”

She managed to shake her head. “Do you know how many times I’ve wanted you to make love to me again?”

A low groan rumbled from his throat, and he reached for a pillow. He put it on her bottom, then moved her onto her back again. This time her hips were elevated, her legs spread wide to accommodate him. He reached down and separated the soft folds so his penis rested against the small nub.

Slowly, rhythmically, he began to rock back and forth. Each movement brought a rush of sensation as powerful as any narcotic. Jackhammering now, Cole pummeled her, and she lifted her hips to meet each thrust.

She hung on to him, her legs wrapped around his hips, her arms clutching his shoulders. A few seconds later, her world fractured in a cataclysm of erotic pleasure so profound that she cried out.

“Cole!”

Somehow she managed to hold on as Cole kept thrusting deeper as if he couldn’t get enough of her. With a final forward surge, he drove into her. And stopped. He threw back his head, a cord along the side of his neck pulsing, his face contorted with what appeared to be pain.

The next second, he collapsed on top of her, his arms bent to keep the brunt of his weight off her. Still buried in her, Cole rolled her onto her side. Facing each other, still linked, they lay there winded, their bodies dewed with moisture.

Jessica huddled in his arms, a delicious lassitude creeping through her body. Kauai hadn’t been a fluke. She’d never made love like this. Through the years she’d had her share of men, and she’d enjoyed sex.

But she’d never given herself fully. Allowed herself to lose control like this. Now that she had, she couldn’t imagine making love any other way.

How did Cole feel?

After all, he’d loved another woman and had mourned her for more than two years. Where did she stand? she wondered.

He lifted her hair and kissed the nape of her neck. “All I can say is—WOW!”