It wasn’t enough.
She maneuvered her legs over his body, straddling him. Alex ran his fingers through her hair, still kissing her senseless. The bed sheet was between their bodies, and Brianne desperately wanted to feel his skin against hers.
Tearing his lips from hers, he rasped, “If you don’t want this, stop it now.”
In response, Brianne gyrated her pelvis against him and kissed the underside of his jaw.
Alex groaned in pleasure, and Brianne felt a surge of power. There was something completely thrilling about knowing that she could seduce a man like Alex.
He was tall, dark and handsome—and she was tired of trying to deny that there was something between them.
And she wanted more than anything to know that he felt something for her.
As she continued to kiss his jawline, creating what she knew was a path of wonderful sensations all the way to his ear, he gripped her butt and squeezed the flesh. When his finger slipped beneath the edge of her panties, a jolt of heat went straight to her center.
Suddenly, she was being eased onto her back, the sheets were being kicked aside and then Alex was on top of her. Every nerve ending in her body was on fire. Her breathing was ragged as he stared down at her. As she saw the obvious lust in his eyes.
But not just lust. There was something else there. Something tender. Surely she wasn’t imagining it.
“Make love to me,” she whispered.
That was all Alex needed to hear before slipping his
hands beneath her nightshirt. He smoothed his palms over her hips, moving upward. His hands heated a path over her rib cage to the underside of her breasts, at which point a slow breath oozed out of her.
“My God, you’re so beautiful.”
His words flowed over her like warm chocolate, rich and sweet. And the look in his eyes. He regarded her like she was a priceless piece of art.
With deliberate skill, he ran the tip of his finger over the fullness of her breast before gently touching her nipple. Brianne gasped. His touch was light, but it was electric.
He met her eyes while he ran the tip of his finger around her areola. His eyes made her feel just as hot as his finger was making her feel.
He kissed her. A tender yet passionate kiss. Deep and oh, so fulfilling. When he was finished, he tugged Brianne’s T-shirt upward until it was out of the way.
Then he lowered his head, taking his time, and Brianne held her breath. When the first flick of his hot tongue hit her nipple, she began to writhe.
She moaned as he suckled her nipple slowly, exquisitely. It was clear to Brianne that he did nothing hurried. He didn’t believe in rushing. Gentle flicks, little nibbles—his mouth was driving her wild. As he pleased her with his teeth and tongue, he brought his other hand to her other breast, teasing the nipple into a hardened peak.
Brianne’s head moved from side to side. Nothing had ever felt as good as this. Nothing. Something about Alex’s touch electrified her body in a way she had never known.
He moved his mouth to the other nipple, pleasing her until she was panting from the unbelievable pleasure. Breathless, she didn’t think she could take any more.
And then he began to move his lips down her body, over
her belly, dipping his tongue into her belly button as his hands slipped beneath the sides of her panties.
The excitement, the sensations—it was as if Brianne were experiencing this for the first time. It had been so long, she had forgotten how delicious it could be to make love.
But as Alex dragged her panties down her thighs, she knew that wasn’t true. She hadn’t forgotten. The truth was that Alex’s touch made her feel like she was experiencing something brand new.
Alex kissed her inner thigh, and Brianne’s body tensed. Again he kissed and nibbled. The man knew how to use his teeth in a gentle yet thrilling way.
He kissed her other thigh. Sucked on her flesh. Brianne’s breath came in hurried pants.
Tenderly, he touched her center. Brianne flinched.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “Incredible.”
When Brianne felt the heat of his breath on her most sensitive spot, her eyes fluttered shut. And then she felt the heat of his tongue there, and she thought she would die from the overwhelming pleasure.
Alex pleased her until she was gripping the bed sheets and crying out his name, her body quivering from an earth-shattering orgasm.
Only when he knew she was completely satisfied did Alex ease back. He stretched his body across to the night table. It took Brianne a moment to realize that he was getting a condom from the drawer.
Brianne stared at him. Stared at this man who had made her feel more incredible than any man ever had.
He must have misconstrued the look in her eyes, because he said, “It’s not that I was planning this…but I—”
“Shh.” Brianne placed a finger on his lips. She didn’t care if he had been thinking about this moment ahead of
time. She was just glad that he’d been thoughtful enough to think of protection. “All I’m thinking right now is how much I want to be with you.” She paused, smiled up at him. “And I’m thinking something else.”
“What?” Alex asked, stroking her face.
“I’m thinking…wondering…what would have happened if you’d talked to me first that day.”
“I would have made you mine and never let you go.”
Brianne moaned softly, the statement arousing her even more.
Alex leaned over her and kissed her deeply, then he stood and stripped out of his briefs. Brianne watched him, a delicious rush washing over her as she saw him in his full naked glory. As he began to slip the condom on, she pulled the T-shirt over her head.
Alex emitted a raw, sexual growl as his own eyes drank in the sight of her nakedness. Had Brianne ever felt more sexy?
She lay backward and he devoured her mouth as he settled between her thighs, bringing the passion between them to a fever pitch.
He entered her slowly, filling her completely. And Brianne knew that as long as she lived, no one would ever make her feel this amazing.
For the next hour, they made sweet love. It was intense, yet it was tender. They gave and received the pleasure that a man and woman were meant to give to each other.
Every stroke, every touch, every sigh and moan had meaning. Far more than Brianne had ever anticipated.
Finally, their bodies spent, they lay together, wrapped in each other’s arms as if that was where they were both meant to be.
Brianne was satisfied beyond measure.
But she was also afraid.
She wasn’t sure of all the reasons why she had come into Alex’s bed, except that at the time she’d been looking for an escape from her pain. Her emotions were all over the place, and she’d needed the kind of distraction where she wouldn’t have to think for a while.
She’d gotten something else.
Proof that she had feelings for Alex.
And that thought scared her to death.
Chapter 17
A
lex awoke slowly. In the moments before full consciousness, he had the sense of total contentment.
His eyes flew open, the memory of last night hitting him full force. Brianne…
His head jerked to his left. She wasn’t in the bed with him, and for the briefest of moments Alex wondered if last night had been a dream.
But her scent lingered on his sheets. He could almost still feel her in his arms.
No, it wasn’t a dream. Last night had been real.
He threw the covers off of his naked body. Standing, he stretched. He was tired, but it was a good kind of tired.
Because he’d made love to Brianne, and it had been the best experience of his life.
Where was she? In the shower?
Alex slipped into his briefs and made his way to the door. She was up. He could hear her in the hallway.
Smiling, he opened the door and stepped into the hallway, ready to scoop her into his arms and plant a deep kiss on her. But when he saw her, his smile faltered.
Brianne was heading toward the stairs. With her suitcase.
Her eyes widened, indicating she was surprised to see him, and perhaps a little panicked. She quickly looked toward the opening to the stairs, then back at him, then at the stairs again—and Alex could tell she was debating whether or not to make a run for it.
What the heck?
He wasn’t about to let her leave. Stepping toward her, he asked, “Brianne, where are you going?”
She opened her mouth but said nothing. Then she sighed. “I think it’s best I leave.”
Alex looked at her with the same expression he would have had she grown a second head. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t try to talk me out of it.”
Alex was flummoxed. “Last night, you were purring in my arms. Now you’re trying to slip out without even saying bye?”
“Last night was—”
“Don’t say it.”
“—a mistake,” Brianne finished. She said the words with difficulty, glancing at the floor as she spoke.
“It sure as hell was not.” Alex stepped toward her, and she instinctively took a step backward.
“Alex, please.”
“Please what? Please kiss that spot behind your ear that drives you wild? Please give it to you—”
“Stop!” Brianne cried, her heart thundering. Hearing the words she’d uttered in the throes of passion was too
much right now. She didn’t want to remember a single thing about the spectacular time she’d spent in Alex’s bed.
Because she’d woken up with a new clarity. The clarity that she needed to take a step backward. How long had she loved Carter, even after he’d disappeared? Suddenly she was feeling something for Alex? It didn’t make sense. Clearly, what she’d believed to be attraction was her mind’s way of coping with a totally stressful situation.
“Don’t leave, Brianne. Not after what happened between us last night.”
His soft plea touched a spot deep inside of her. But she steeled her jaw and said, “Last night was about…about needing an outlet for stress.”
“So I was just an outlet for you?” Alex asked, his voice tinged with incredulity.
He was more than that. Too much more. Which was exactly what scared her so much. “Yes.”
“You said that it always should have been me.”
Oh, God. She
had.
“I…I didn’t mean it. Words of passion, that’s all.”
“Wow.”
“What do you expect? You’d just told me the truth about Carter, and the fact that you’d lied to me—”
“And then you crawled into my bed and seduced me. Forgive me for thinking we’d turned a corner.”
Brianne’s face flushed hotly. How could she make him understand? Make him understand that she didn’t trust herself and sure as hell wasn’t ready to trust what she thought she was feeling for him.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said. “Is that what you want me to say? You want me to apologize again?”
“Oh, don’t give me that self-righteous tone,” Brianne retorted, calling on her anger. She needed to be angry. That was the only way she would remain objective around Alex,
because Lord knew, just one of his looks made her knees buckle. “Just because we ended up in bed doesn’t change the issue. You lied to me. You had me come down here with you on what I thought was an attempt to find Carter. But all the while, you had another agenda.”
“We talked about this last night.”
“So it shouldn’t bother me?” Alex looked confused, and Brianne knew he had to be. Truly, she couldn’t say anything that would explain why—if she was still angry with him—she had ended up in his bed.
“Would you have come here with me had I told you the truth?” Alex asked. “Would you have gotten on a plane and come to Florida with me, knowing what we’d find?”
Brianne thought only for a moment, then said, “No. Never.”
“There you go,” Alex said. “That’s why I did it. Because I needed you to say yes. Bree, we’ve gone over this.”
“Until a couple of months ago, I thought I was still in love with Carter. But I finally decided I could no longer put my life on hold.” She lifted her gaze to him. “And when you came to see me, everything I had hoped and prayed for was finally coming true. You thought Carter was alive, and I…”
Her voice trailed off. She moved to the banister and gripped it, staring down to the foyer below.
“And you what?” Alex asked gently.
She faced him. “I shouldn’t have fallen into bed with you last night. I was confused and needed comfort…and you were there.”
If she had sliced him with a razor, it would have hurt less. “I don’t believe that,” Alex said. Maybe he was stubborn or hopelessly pathetic, but he refused to believe her words. He had felt every bit of her passion for him last night, and he knew it was real.
“And it’s hard to say no to a woman hell-bent on seduction, isn’t it?” she went on. “I can’t stay because there’s obviously some sort of attraction between us, something I don’t understand, and the last thing I want to do is get caught up in emotions based on a lie.”
“A lie? Nothing about last night was a lie—at least not for me.”
“Don’t…don’t say things you don’t mean.”
Alex closed the distance between them, curling his hand around the back of her head. “Do you know how many times I wished I’d made it to you first?” he asked quietly. “How many times I regretted that I wasn’t fast enough? It wasn’t just that I knew Carter was the charmer, that he would woo you the way he had other women. It was that I knew he’d hurt you. But I…I never would have hurt you, Bree.”
Brianne’s heart was pounding so hard, she thought she might go into cardiac arrest. “But you did hurt me.”
“The truth hurt you. And I’m sorry for that. But if I’d told you the truth that day I went to your place in Buffalo, would you even have believed me?”
Brianne’s mouth opened. She wanted to say yes, that she would have believed him. But she knew suddenly that she wouldn’t have. She was angry with him on principle, but Alex was right. If he’d dropped his bombshell about Carter that day, she would have sent him away and maybe cut off all communication with him.
It was what she’d done before.
At the time, she wouldn’t have been willing to believe the truth about Carter from a man she’d never had a close relationship with. Now that she’d spent day and night with Alex, learned that he wasn’t the cold, unfeeling playboy Carter had made him out to be, she had grown to trust him.