His chest rumbled with a short laugh.
She followed her finger with her gaze. “You don’t do anything partway…do you?”
“Do it right, or don’t do it at all,” he said under his breath.
She grinned now, and moved her gaze to his.
Her breath caught with the intensity of his stare.
She flattened her palm on his chest and licked her lips. One subtle movement of her hand and he caught it in his. For one awful moment, she thought he’d peel her off.
“I’m not an easy man, Gwendolyn.”
“I never wanted easy.”
She matched his stare and her breath quickened.
He released her hand and pushed his fingers into her hair. He studied her face, like only Neil did…as if searching for the answers in life. If she could give them to him, she would. There was a vulnerability in his gaze that she wanted to make disappear.
And when he gripped the back of her hair, and pulled her into his embrace, he took control.
His kiss was hard, almost a warning…she enveloped it.
The thick expanse of his chest rippled under her hand as she matched him for every kiss. She nipped his lip when he pulled back to kiss her neck and shoulder. He tasted her, using his tongue and teeth along her collarbone. The scruff of his chin felt delicious on her soft skin. He’d leave his mark on her, she knew. She loved the thought.
He released her hair and ran his hand down her back. When he reached her bottom, he squeezed her hard, and pulled her close. Under the towel, his erection already strained. As much as she wanted to see and feel that part of him moving inside her, she wanted this more. The torture of discovery and desire that made every pore in her skin weep for him. Only him.
Fingers found the bare skin of her backside. “Where are your knickers, Gwen?”
Was that laughter in his voice?
“Useless garment when going to bed…don’t you think?” She scraped her teeth along the ink on his shoulder before swirling her tongue around his erect nipple.
He groaned, and brought her lips back to his for a deep kiss that reached to her toes.
His hand reached under her nightgown, his thumb grazed her br**sts.
Gwen pushed into his touch.
“You’re intoxicating,” he told her. “And this,” he tugged her nightclothes over her head, “isn’t needed anymore.”
His massive hands returned to her shoulders once she stood before him completely bare. Neil looked his fill, his lips lifted into a grin. “Incredible.”
His stare brought a wave of power over her.
Slowly, he eased his hands down her chest. He cupped one breast and leaned in to taste. When his soft mouth found her, the world tilted.
He caught her before her legs gave way completely, and he lifted her to the bed.
Neil’s eyes darkened as she stretched on the bed.
“Vixen.”
He dropped one of his knees to the bed.
“Drop the towel, Neil.”
It was on the floor in an instant. And she stared. Her body shivered. She knew he’d be large, given the size of the man…but bloody hell.
“Scared, Gwendolyn?”
She forced her eyes away from his intimate parts. “That is not fear on my face.” She sucked in her lip, chewed it.
“Good.” He fell onto her, setting one knee between her thighs and taunting her as he continued exploring her br**sts with his tongue and mouth. Her body was a mass of sensation. The staggering weight of him felt like armor. Protective.
She’d always wanted this man, and now she knew why. With her heart and body working in tandem to please him, she finally experienced what it was to feel everything. Every touch…like how his fingers gripped her hip as they descended on her thigh, lit up her skin, her senses.
His thick heat pressed against her belly, begging to be touched. As he explored her body, she played with his as she’d always wanted to. The firm globes of his butt filled her palms. As she squeezed him, he tilted his hips into her.
She distracted him with a kiss, and slid her hand between their bodies and gripped him.
Neil tore his lips away. “Fuck, Gwen.” He moved into her touch, dropped his forehead to hers. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
She loosened her grip, but stroked him softly. “That’s never going to happen.”
“You’re not ready…not for what I’m going to do to you.”
Her body flooded with moisture.
She opened for him. “Why don’t you check?”
The hand that gripped her hip moved to her center and easily slid inside her. Her eyes rolled back. “Oh, please.”
He stroked her again, added another finger. “You’re ready.”
“Maybe next time you’ll take my word for it.”
He played with her a little longer nearly completing her with his hand before chasing her orgasm away. She squirmed under him, trying to force all of him between her legs. He shifted on the bed, leaving her…and then returned with a condom.
“Finally,” she whispered taking the packet from his fingers and opening it herself. “Allow me.”
He knelt between her thighs as she sat forward and rolled the protection over him. She trailed her hands under him and down his legs before collapsing back to the bed.
With effortless hands, Neil pulled her hips up and toward him before teasing her a little longer by running his hands down her thighs and spreading the folds of her for his gaze. Only when she reached for him did he seem to snap out his trance. Taking both her hands in one of his he stretched them above her head and held her still.