Xander moved in slowly, his gaze on Merry’s as he lowered his head, leaning in, closer.
His lids dropped low and hid the bright sapphire glint of his eyes from her. Then his lips touched hers and a pulse of desire passed between them like an electric current.
He nipped at her lower lip before delivering a soft but sensual kiss, his thumb and forefinger gripping her chin as if to keep her in position. As if she’d ever want to leave?
She felt like the only woman in the world. Or at least the center of his world. Extra special considering that spot used to be reserved for his phone.
When he moved his hand, it was to cup her face between his palms as he tipped his head and kissed her more deeply. A glacially slow almost imperceptible deepening that ramped up the need that burned steadily hotter within her.
An uncontrollable sound of pure need escaped her throat. Xander echoed it with one of his own, the sound like accelerant on the fire between them.
His tongue stroked inside her mouth as he moved in even closer. His hands gripped her hips holding her tight against him. He leaned in, bending her back over the counter as she grabbed his arms for support.
The man could kiss.
Not that she’d expected anything less from Alexander Barrington. Still it was a wild ride navigating the many shades of Xander that his kisses revealed. From slow and sweet, swoon worthy. To hot and passionate, assertive, claiming.
“Merry.” Her name sounded as much like a cuss as a prayer on his lips. Begging.
Needy.
She felt the physical manifestation of that need pressed against her.
“Bedroom,” she said in response.
“Yes,” he expelled on a breath part relief, part promise.
The single-word sentence conversation might be the most satisfying exchange she’d ever had. It led them exactly where she wanted to go.
Xander stepped back and, grabbing her hand, tugged her up and forward. He spun toward the hallway, then glanced back at her. “Bedroom?”
She smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. He’d never gotten past the living room and kitchen in her apartment. And as he’d commented on, more than once, there were many rooms.
Tipping her head to the right, she moved ahead of him. Taking the lead, she tugged him by the large warm hand he’d laced with hers.
They walked to the door at the very end of the hall.
“The last room? That figures.” He snorted.
“It’s worth the walk,” she said, glancing back before swinging open the door.
He breathed out a soft obscenity as he glanced around at the chandelier suspended from the high, white-painted, wood paneled ceiling. His gaze moved to the seating area in front of the fireplace and then to the king-sized bed.
The pale blue walls against the white woodwork gave the room an elegant, but light, rich quality. But somehow it also felt comfortable and cozy.
“This is your bedroom?” he said, finally broken out of his stupor.
She might have miscalculated taking him there rather than the smaller bedroom she’d always used as a child. The one with a full-sized bed she still slept in now. She’d wanted them to have the extra space the larger bed afforded.
That choice might have been a mistake. She was no longer the center of his universe as she clearly took second place next to the architecture. She felt the cold resulting from the lack of his attention. As if the sun had gone behind a cloud.
He was good and distracted now so she might as well answer his question. “No. But it is for tonight.”
His gaze narrowing, he turned to face her and drew her close. “Whose bed are we about to defile?”
“Once upon a time, it was my grandparents. More recently, my parents use it.”
Turning them, he backed her toward the bed. “I can live with that.”
She thought it would be the last thing he’d say as his mouth covered hers again and they both tumbled onto the bed.
But as his weight pressed her into the mattress, he broke the kiss to ask, “Jeffy boy ever come here back when you were dating?”
She felt her brows twitch up at that question. “No.”
A victorious, satisfied smile tinged with a touch of evil tipped up Xander’s lips as he said, “Good.”
Xander jealous was not a bad thing. She thought he couldn’t get more motivated than she’d seen him at work. She was wrong. Now his single-minded focus was on her and that was a very good thing.
After growling the word, “Naked,” he worked to get them both that way before he spread her legs wide.
He bent her knees, putting her feet flat on the bed. She was exposed, bared before him, but there was no time to think about that as he crawled between her legs.
Thanking the sex gods that she’d thrown in a last-minute bikini wax at her hair appointment last time she was home, she watched Xander dive headfirst between her spread thighs.
He gazed up at her with an intensity in his eyes that had her walls clenching before he ran a fingertip down her slit that made her jump.
With a small, crooked smile, he leaned low and followed the path his finger had taken with his tongue.
He worked her with his mouth in earnest until she sucked in a breath. He thrust his fingers inside, pressing up on a spot that had her throbbing, all while maintaining that addictive pressure on her core with his mouth.
Without hesitation, without limitations, he helped himself to her body splayed out, bare and open in front of him.
He worked her until her eyes rolled back in her head. Until her fingers clawed at the bedding as she looked for something to hold to anchor herself to the bed—to the earthly plain—before she floated away.
She watched him for as long as she could. His eyes closed now as he concentrated on only her.
Then she couldn’t see anything. Her head was thrown back, her eyes squeezed shut, as Xander took her to the highest heights and back down again.
The only sensations she could focus on were what he was doing to her and how her body was responding. That was probably a good thing or she might have been embarrassed by the sounds coming out of her as he drove her to orgasm, and then pushed her further to another level she didn’t know existed.
Her thighs shook as her muscles clenched tight, pressing her pelvis higher, tighter against Xander’s mouth. He doubled the pressure on her core and she keened out her approval with a loud, wordless cry she’d probably be embarrassed about later.
He eased off the pressure, withdrawing his fingers, bringing her back to earth, slowly.
Lowering her hips to the bed, she opened her eyes and saw she’d thrust her fingers into his hair without realizing it. She released her hold on his head, leaving his bad boy hair looking even more devil-may-care than usual.
She still gasped for breath, her throat dry, her body tingling. And he’d done all that to her just with his fingers and tongue.
What was he going to be able to accomplish with the hard length that bobbed between them now as he crawled naked over her?
She looked forward to finding out as the tip of him pressed against her entrance and began to breach her, when he stopped all forward motion, dropped his head and said, “Shit. Merry. I’m sorry.”
He slid off the bed and reached for his pants and all she could do was watch as her heart pounded for an entirely different reason.