She would be wearing one of the silk and lace bras he had bought her, he thought. The ones with the little front clip, easy to release and peel away. Her br**sts were full; her ni**les were hard, so damned hard and tight beneath her shirt that his tongue ached to curl around them. He knelt to the floor beside her, his hand lifting, his fingers smoothing a stray strand of silken hair from her cheek. Her whispered sigh was almost a moan, her pouty lips parting as though for his kiss. She needed her sleep, he told himself as he stared down at her. She didn’t need him awakening her, molesting her in her sleep. Too many choices had been taken away from her; he didn’t want to take that from her too.
He was aware of Serena slipping on a coat in the kitchen, the whisper of the sliding doors as she left the house. Privacy. For what? For the hunger to rage inside him until he devoured her? He didn’t think so. Didn’t think she was ready for that step just yet.
Her eyes opened then. They were drowsy, slumberous, staring up at him with a hunger that was impossible to miss.
“I felt you,” she whispered, a smile tilting her moist lips. “Watching me. Should I feel you watching me?”
Was she asleep or awake?
“Of course.” He found the growl building in his throat. “Every time I look at you, baby, I touch you.”
Her cheeks flushed as her hand reached up to touch his face. Cool, silken fingertips brushed over his flesh before they touched his lips. They traced the curves, her eyes darkening with need, the scent of her arousal wrapping around him until he wanted to drown in it. Drown in her. His lips opened, drawing one of the slender tips into his mouth, caressing it with his tongue as he wanted to caress one of the hard little ni**les poking against her shirt. His hand settled just under one of the swollen curves, plumping it up as a spark of surprise lit her eyes.
“When I get you beneath me, I’m going to devour you,” he told her harshly as her finger slid from his mouth. “Every inch of your body, Elizabeth, I’ll make burn for me.”
She was breathing roughly now. Her br**sts rising and falling with her quick breaths.
“I already burn,” she admitted with slumberous sensuality.
“I’ll make you burn brighter,” he promised as his lips lowered, but rather than moving to her lips, he allowed his own to whisper over the soft curve of her breast revealed by the slipped button. Her breath caught. He could smell her wet heat building, knew her cunt was pulsing, spilling the soft liquid of her arousal. And he wanted to taste it. Wanted to bury his tongue so deep between her thighs that he would always be a part of her.
“Dash.” Her sigh was thick with pleasure as his thumb reached up and rasped over her hard little nipple. It was killing him to touch her like this. To maintain a façade of decency when all he wanted to do was strip her and pound so hard and fast inside her gripping cunt that denying the need was agony.
“I have to stop this,” he groaned, allowing his tongue to rake over her fragrant flesh. “Now, Elizabeth, or I’ll embarrass both of us.”
He would do worse than that. He would be f**king her on his host’s couch within minutes if he didn’t get the hell away from her. Mike was a pretty understanding guy, but Dash didn’t think he would appreciate coming in from the study to find his guests f**king their way to oblivion on his couch. He raised his head, seeing the hard flush of desire on her cheeks, her knowledge of where they were and who could walk in at any moment. She cleared her throat and swallowed tightly as he settled back and watched her. She pushed herself up until she was sitting on the couch, her trembling fingers fumbling with the button of her shirt.
“Let me.” He brushed her hands aside and committed the ultimate sin. He buttoned her shirt, once again covering the perfection of the delicate curves.
“Dash.” He could hear it in her voice. Knew what was coming. A carefully constructed excuse. A denial of what he knew would happen.
“Don’t.” He laid his finger against her lips. “It’s going to happen, Elizabeth. You know it and I know it. Don’t make excuses and don’t try to deny it. When the time is right, when I have the privacy and the time to make you burn so hot you’re screaming, it’s going happen. Don’t think it won’t.”
Her eyes widened. Her little pink tongue peeked out to moisten her rose-tinted lips. The low moan that rumbled from his throat had her cheeks flushing further.
“Hey, Dash.” Mike forestalled anything she would have said as he walked in from the hallway. He paused, staring back at them. His expression suddenly reflected a wry apology. “Sorry. I was going to get lunch as soon as I could drag Serena back into the house. Hungry?”
Oh, he was hungry all right, Dash thought. He glanced at Elizabeth, seeing her chagrin.
“Lunch?” he asked softly.
She cleared her throat. “Lunch.”
Chapter Ten
The tension slowly building between them didn’t ease. Dash stayed locked in the study with Mike for the better part of the day, but he came out often. And when he did, he came searching for Elizabeth. He gave her soft touches. A hand on her shoulder, at her waist, as he eased her against him. He smiled down at her, stealing cookies when she and Serena weren’t looking, his eyes glittering with heat. He wouldn’t wait much longer. Elizabeth could feel it in his tense body, see it in the way he looked at her. He had claimed her before he ever met her and soon, he would make good on that claim. Finally, that evening, she found a few minutes to pin him down on the progress being made. Sitting around the house and waiting was wearing on her nerves. She could only rest so much. Serena was a perfect hostess, the kids got along well, and Elizabeth found herself filled with so much nervous energy now it was hard to control it. She was used to running and worrying. She wasn’t used to a place of safety or any amount of time on her hands that wasn’t filled with the fight for survival. After dinner, Mike and Serena took the girls to the living room, leaving her and Dash in the kitchen to talk. Dash watched her closely as they left, his eyes somber, reflective, though arousal lurked hot and impatiently in the very depths of his gaze.
“What have you found out?” she asked him after the children were resting in front of the large television in the Toler’s family room.
Serena and Mike were sitting in the living room with the girls as Elizabeth and Dash finished their coffee in the kitchen. Elizabeth watched Cassie for long moments, seeing a shadow of the once playful little girl she had been. Her heart clenched. Cassie had lost so much.