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And wet.
God, she was wet. So ready for him.
Gently, he encouraged her to lift her buttocks, and pulled her jeans down over her hips. He made short work of removing them after that, taking off her socks at the same time so she was left wearing only a tiny pair of knickers. He looked at her, lying against the pillows, and sucked in a breath. ‘Wow. How come I never noticed you’re a pocket Venus? All curves.’
Curves. She flushed and wrapped her arms round herself.
He groaned. ‘I didn’t say “fat”.’
‘I am compared with the stick insects you normally date.’
‘I might date them,’ he said softly, ‘but it doesn’t necessarily mean I sleep with them. And, for the record, I happen to like curves. And yours are gorgeous.’ He slid the tips of his fingers underneath hers. ‘Don’t be shy with me. I want to see you, Isobel.’ Gently, he prised her hands away from her body. ‘You’re lovely.’
She dragged in a breath. ‘This isn’t fair. You’re still wearing your jeans.’
‘I’m all yours, honey. Do with me what you will.’ He spread his hands in invitation.
It had been a long, long time since she’d played this sort of game with anyone. Towards the end, with Gary, sex had been primarily to make a baby, not an expression of love. And when that had all gone wrong…
‘Touch me, Bel,’ he said, his voice sinfully inviting.
Isobel reached out and undid the top button of his jeans. And the next. And the next. She could feel his erection straining against her fingers as she continued unbuttoning his fly. What was sauce for the goose, she thought with an inward smile, and traced the outline of his penis with one fingertip.
He shivered. ‘I think I should warn you not to tease me.’
‘Is that a threat?’
He shook his head. ‘You can tease me as much as you like, later. But I want this first time to be for you.’ He took her hand and kissed it, sucking each fingertip in turn.
The movement of his mouth against her skin made the pulse beat hard between her legs. If he could make her feel like this just by playing with her fingers, what was it going to be like when he touched her more intimately?
She sat up again and pulled his jeans down over his hips. On impulse, she pressed her mouth against his abdomen.
He groaned. ‘I warned you about teasing me.’ He rolled to one side and ripped off his jeans and socks, then joined her on the bed.
‘I half expected you to go commando.’
He laughed. ‘No. ‘Then his expression went serious. ‘Bel, just for the record, I don’t sleep around. I date a lot, I have a good time, but I’m fussy about who I take to bed. And in the past I’ve always used protection.’
She nodded, appreciating his candour. And she believed him absolutely. ‘I haven’t—’ she dragged in a breath ‘—slept with anyone since I split up with Gary.’ Two years. More, if you counted the last disastrous months of her marriage. She’d dated a couple of times but she’d never gone further than a goodnight peck on the cheek.
He stroked her cheek. ‘Then we’ll take this slowly.’
He was going to stop? Now?
She must’ve said it aloud, because his eyes darkened. ‘I’m not going to stop, Bel.’ His voice was deep and husky and sexy as hell. ‘And, as much as I feel as though I’m going to implode if I’m not inside you in the next nanosecond, I want this to be good for you.’
He wanted her that much? Oh-h-h. ‘I need you inside me, too,’ she whispered. And she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt that needy. The last time she’d wanted sex for its own sake and not to make a baby.
Gently, Alex removed her knickers and slid one hand between her thighs. She felt the long, slow stroke of one finger against her sex, a movement that had her quivering and needing more. As if he could read her mind, he did it again. And again.
‘This is taking it slowly?’ She could hardly get the words out.
‘Uh-huh.’
‘You’re driving me crazy, Alex. I want …’
‘This?’ He pushed one finger inside her.
She gasped. ‘Yes.’ The word came out as a hiss of pleasure.
He continued circling her clitoris with his thumb, and she wriggled against him, wanting more.
‘You’re so warm and wet for me,’ he whispered. ‘Just how I want you.’
‘Alex. Now. Please,’ she said huskily. ‘I need … I want …’ Why couldn’t she even string a sentence together? She was never this inarticulate.
He smiled. ‘Guess what? I want you all the way back.’ He stripped off his jockey shorts, then took a condom from his discarded jeans and rolled it on before kneeling between her thighs again and kissing her. She felt the tip of his penis nudge against her entrance—and then he was inside her with one long, slow, deep thrust.
She shuddered.
He stilled, letting her body adjust to his. ‘Are you all right, Bel?’
‘Yes—I just wasn’t expecting this to … Oh-h-h,’ she said as he began to move again.
She could feel the pressure growing, warmth curling at the soles of her feet and spreading up through her body into ripples, then waves.
She’d known Alex would be good at this—Alex was good at everything he did—but she really hadn’t expected it to be this good, taking her to a completely different world.
‘Bel,’ Alex demanded softly. ‘Look at me.’
She opened her eyes—and saw the same wonder she was feeling reflected in his own eyes as her climax hit her.
It was a while before she could even think, let alone speak. And she was cradled in Alex’s arms, her head resting on his shoulder.
‘I think,’ he said softly, ‘that proves we’re pretty compatible.’
‘Yes.’ More than she’d ever expected.
He stroked her face. ‘So. We like each other. We have a lot in common. And the sex is good.’
She had a nasty feeling she knew where this was heading.
‘So how about we don’t burst anybody’s bubble?’ He shifted so he could kiss her lightly. ‘If we get married, it’s going to solve all the problems at a single stroke.’
No, it wasn’t. Because she was going to have to tell him about the miscarriages. ‘Alex—about the baby business …’
‘It’s fine.’ He pressed his forefinger lightly against her lips. ‘Stop worrying. I know you love your job and you’re good at it. I’m not expecting you to give it up. If we do have children, we’ll work something out. If we don’t, then we’ll carry on exactly as we are.’
He said that now, but how would he feel later?
‘It’s a win-win situation.’
Hardly. Because Alex didn’t love her. Which meant their marriage would be one-sided—and if he had any idea that she was falling in love with him, he’d back off straight away. He made no secret about the fact he considered himself allergic to love.
‘Bel. Stop panicking.’ He stole a kiss. ‘It’s going to be fine.’
‘Is it?’
He smiled. ‘I think I’m going to enjoy spending the rest of today proving it to you. Very, very slowly.’
Her face felt hot. ‘Alex!’
‘I’m going to get us something to eat.’ He climbed out of bed. ‘Stay put. And I mean it, Bel. No worrying. This might just be the best idea either of us has ever had.’
CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_c04d6a3f-6e8f-5b3f-854c-c82c8ddeefc8)
THE alarm shrilled; Isobel rolled over to hit the snooze button and collided with a body.
A warm, hard and very obviously male body.
‘Good morning, Bel,’ Alex said quietly.
How could he possibly be awake already? They’d spent much of the previous night making love, after Alex had returned to bed with a platter of fruit and cheese and crackers and insisted on feeding her. They’d explored each other’s bodies so completely that neither of them had anything left to hide.
And right now all Isobel wanted to do was snuggle back under the duvet, wrapped in his arms, and go back to sleep.
‘Hello? Earth to Isobel? Anyone home?’ he teased.
He sounded bright and chirpy. But that was Alex, able to burn the candle at both ends. He could stay up late—or, in the case of last night, spend a fair part of it making love—and still be wide awake and ready to go at the crack of dawn.
‘Uh,’ she said.
He must’ve hit the snooze button because the alarm stopped shrieking; then he rolled her onto her side and curved his body round hers. ‘Good morning, sleepyhead.’ He kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear. ‘I take it you have to be up for work this morning.’
‘Uh.’
He chuckled. ‘I always thought you were a morning person.’
‘I am,’ she mumbled, ‘if I get enough sleep first.’
He traced a lazy circle round her navel with his fingertip. ‘Ah. That. I guess we were a bit … busy, last night.’ His hand flattened against her stomach, then slid upward to cup one breast. ‘Any regrets, this morning?’
Apart from aches in muscles she’d forgotten she had … She twisted round to face him and pressed a kiss into his chest. ‘No.’
‘Good. So you’re going to marry me, then.’
He hadn’t actually asked her, the previous night. None of the traditional down-on-one-knee stuff, no declaration of love, no four little words.
She suppressed the sting of hurt. He had asked her, a few days before—and she’d refused him. So this time round he hadn’t asked and she hadn’t accepted. Which, in a weird sense, made them quits in this marriage that wasn’t a marriage.
‘Bel?’
She forced herself to sound light-hearted. ‘Depends.’
‘On what?’
‘I need coffee.’
‘I can take a hint.’ He laughed. ‘Go and have a shower, and I’ll make us some breakfast.’ He stroked her hair. ‘I’m tempted to join you in the shower … but then you’d be seriously late for work, and I don’t want to get you into trouble.’
‘Trouble?’
‘For spending the morning in the shower with me instead of doing what you’re supposed to be doing.’
She could just imagine the water beating down on them as Alex eased into her body, and desire flooded through her. ‘Oh-h-h.’
‘Tempted?’ he teased.
She slid the flat of her palm down his side, curving round his buttocks. ‘Mmm.’
The alarm shrilled again, and she groaned. ‘I have to go to work.’
‘We’ll take a rain check. Just keep thinking about whatever put that incredibly sexy look on your face just now—and tell me tonight. In detail. So I can act it out.’
Oh, Lord.
How was she supposed to concentrate on anything for the rest of the day, after a promise like that?
He shut off the alarm and climbed out of bed, pausing only to pull on his boxer shorts, and headed for the kitchen.
By the time Isobel had showered and dressed for work, Alex had made a pot of proper coffee, set the table and was halfway through buttering some hot toast.
‘Breakfast,’ he said with a smile.
Sitting there at her kitchen table, bare-chested, he looked utterly edible.
She’d never breakfasted like this with Alex before. Sure, they’d had breakfast together plenty of times. But not when he was practically naked. And not when they’d spent most of the previous night making love, and his hair was all mussed, and she knew just what that sexy mouth felt like against her skin. All she wanted to do right now was sit on his lap, make his hair even messier, kiss him stupid and drag him back to her bed.
God, she really needed that coffee.
She couldn’t fall in love with Alex. This wasn’t part of the deal.
‘Thanks,’ she mumbled, reaching for her mug. He’d made the coffee just the way she liked it—hot, strong and milky. ‘Mmm. Perfect.’
‘Me or the coffee?’ he enquired with a lazy grin.
‘The coffee, of course.’
