A CONTRACT ENGAGEMENT

“Shh,” he replied, and then he moved down the length of her body to rest between her legs. He slid his strong arms beneath her hips, and before she had time to react, to take back the lead and use it, he lifted her and settled his mouth against the hot core of her.

Passion exploded inside of her, a white-hot, searing heat that blanked out her plans, her fears. He licked her, teased her, took her-his mouth more wicked, more clever, more confident.

She arched against him, into him, as he kept her anchored beneath him, his mouth glued to her heat. She heard her own voice, moaning wordless sounds of desire, of pleasure, of ecstasy, as if from far away.

Her breath came in hard, shallow pants, and she could not quite catch it, she could not calm down. And still he built that fire, stoking the flames with every swirl of his tongue, pushing her higher and higher until she toppled over the edge and dissolved all around him.

When she came back to herself and opened her eyes, he was braced above her, surrounding her, his wide shoulders blocking out the world. She felt turned inside out, exposed, made more vulnerable than she had ever been before. She did not know if she wanted to burst into tears-or kiss him.

“Pay attention, Red. You are mine. Made for me” he murmured, amusement and passion in his low voice, bringing himself down against her chest, his skin like hot satin over steel, rubbing against her taut breasts, making her sigh as the aftershocks still rolled through her.

And then he thrust inside of her.

Nina felt the leftover pleasure from her last climax coalesce and shiver through her, kicking into her as he began to move, slow and sure, building her up again when she would have thought she was more than sated.

Julian rolled over, keeping himself deep inside of her, but bringing her on top of him. Dazed, her legs weak, Nina could only stare down at him for a moment.

“I thought you wanted control,” he said, smiling wickedly and pressing kisses to her jaw, the corner of her mouth, her neck. “By all means, take it.”

“Your concept of control is a bit more elastic than I’d intended,” she said, amazed that she could speak at all-astounded that she could hang words together, no matter how breathless her voice sounded.

He laughed, and she felt it inside of her, as deep as he was. She felt it radiate through her, pleasure coursing outward from where they were joined, lighting her up from within.

“I don’t much care for boundaries,” he said, pushing her hair back from her face, teasing her lower lip with his teeth. “Unless I set them.”

He was so hot and hard within her, so uncompromisingly male, and Nina felt suddenly restless, urgent. Unbelievably, she felt that tightening, that coiling desire, begin to pull taut inside her all over again. All that mattered was that feeling. She sat back, settling herself against him. Then she rolled her hips into a slow, steady pace and watched his eyes go dark with passion, reveling in the power she had over him just as surely as he could wield it over her.

But she didn’t care about the power. Not anymore. Not after what had just happened between them. She knew she should care about that, but she shoved it aside. She cared only about the pleasure, about the slick slide of their bodies, the thrust and the pull that made her feel wild, insatiable. She forgot about her worries, forgot about everything that wasn’t him.

The truth was his hard length within her, his wild hands on her flesh. The truth was she wanted him with a desperation that should have terrified her, but instead made her yearning all the more intense. She was more hungry for him than she had ever been for anyone. Than she had ever imagined it was possible to be. She was too hungry for him to protect herself. She just moved, grinding against him.

At a certain point, his hands gripped her hips, and Nina could no longer think, she could only feel. And when she shattered one more time, he spurred her on, his thrusts wild and urgent until he, too, fell over the edge.

She thought he even called her name, though she wasn’t sure, because she was also coming down from her high, totally oblivious to anything else.

She gripped him, he cradled her, she kissed him, he thrust into her. It was crazy, irrational, it was the most erotic, bone-melting sex of her life. And she loved him beyond all reason and sanity.

She lay under him, holding him close as he panted against her neck. She was positively weak, and thank God they were on the bed, because she wasn’t moving. It wasn’t possible.

Finally Julian rolled away and threw his arm across the bed with a groan.

“I took my time this time,” he said. “Every time, I swear, I’m going to take it slow, make love to you with all the finesse I’m capable of. Then I see you and the teenage hormones start revving out of control, and I become some Eighteen-year-old on steroids. But I did it this time, I took my time”

Nina died laughing and then moaned when she moved too much. “I would have liked a Eighteen-year-old on steroids with your sexual know-how when I was seventeen. All the boys I knew then thought a kiss and quick grope was all the foreplay necessary before penetration.”

“I’d say what morons they are if I haven’t done the same thing to you,” he said in a pained voice. “But I have”

She rolled into the crook of his arm and laid her head on his chest. “You don’t hear me complaining, do you? I haven’t thrown you out for being an inconsiderate toad. I loved those other times too. It was amazing.”

He kissed the top of her head. “And for that I’m extremely grateful,” he said.

She snuggled into his arms. “Are you traveling for the weekend?” she asked.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

He went still and then tightened his arm around her. His hand lay possessively on her hip.

“There’s no reason we can’t go public with our relationship now, Nina. It’s all over. You have the account.”

She sucked in her breath.