Paul didn’t miss a beat. “I don’t have a problem in the world with that.” He held her a little tighter. “And I will do exactly that in another 17 days.”
“No. I don’t want to wait anymore.”
“I think everyone might notice if we missed dinner.” Mischief twinkled through his icy gaze. “Besides…all the snow might be a little uncomfortable, don’t you think?”
“Paul…I’m serious.”
He searched her face. “You really are. Sara…” His hands moved from her waist up to the sides of her face. “Are you really sure? I’ll wait the 17 days. Hell, I’ll wait another six months if I have to. I don’t want to, but I would. You’re worth every minute of the wait to me, Sara Tancredi.” He cupped her face in his palms. “Every second.”
Something about the emotion in his eyes when he said that made her insides quiver. How was it possible for his eyes to be so blue and yet so unlike Michael’s eyes? “I’m sure. I want to be with you.”
“Sara…”
In a bold move, she reached between them and grabbed him by the collar of his black leather coat, pulling his lips down to hers in a rough kiss. There was no natural progression to the kiss; instead, she pressed her tongue passed his surprised lips in search of his own. Her body arched against his in need.
When she broke away from the kiss, they both fought to gain control of their ragged breathing. In little more than a hoarse whisper she managed, “No more waiting.”
“When?” His voice was grainy with need.
“Now.”
His hands were inside her coat pulling her close so that he could nibble on her earlobe. “Where?”
“My room. It’s far enough away from everyone else that no one should hear us.” She bit her lip, suddenly shy…suddenly realizing she must sound like a sex-starved psycho. “If you want to.”
Paul brushed his lips over hers and then grabbed her hand, giving it a light tug. “Let’s go, fiery angel.”
Together, they hurried across the grounds towards the house, fingers interwoven. Butterflies danced through Sara’s stomach as nervous adrenaline pumped through her veins. It had to be the cold seeping through the layers of clothing making her hands tremble.
Didn’t it?
Only Lincoln and Jane were on the couch when they snuck through the back door. Sara’s hope was to get by them unnoticed. Paul had other plans.
“Hey, Linc. You’re in charge of keeping dinner from burning now.”
Lincoln looked back at them for half a second before a knowing smile spread over his lips. “You owe me, man.” He winked at Sara. “Have fun.”
“Babe, why are you in charge of dinner?” Jane’s voice was smooth as silk when she purred out her question. Sara could understand why Roni hated her.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Michael entered the room just as Sara and Paul were leaving, but she could still hear the beginning of their conversation.
“I thought Paul was dealing with dinner tonight?”
Lincoln let out a hearty laugh. “He’d rather fool around with his girlfriend.”
“Can you blame him, bro?”
“Sure can’t.”
There was a smacking sound before Jane’s annoyed, “Hey!”
And then they were encased in the silence of her room.
Alone.
Just her and Paul.
But what had Michael meant by his comment? Had he meant that he couldn’t blame him because he wanted to fool around specifically with her? Or did he mean that he couldn’t blame a guy for wanting to fool around with his girlfriend because if he were in Paul’s shoes he wouldn’t pass up any opportunity to go fool around with his girlfriend because he was dating Nika and she was, well…Nika?
Wait. Paul had also slept with Nika.
Was there any chance at all she could measure up to her friend in that department? Maybe this was a mistake. She really liked Paul – could maybe even love him. What if she wasn’t as good in bed as Nika had been? Would that be the absolute kiss of death on their relationship?
Paul clicked the lock and then met her eyes with a heated gaze. He hung his coat from the doorknob before closing the distance between them. “What is it?”
She looked down and fiddled with the hem of her coat. “I’m nervous.” At least that wasn’t a lie.
Using a single finger, he tilted her chin up so she was forced to look at him. “We don’t have to do anything you aren’t ready to do.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what?”
Sara couldn’t find the words. Come to think of it, there may not be words for the insanity taking place within her head. Silence was best.
“Sara, I’m in love with you and when we finally do make love, I want you to be completely at ease so you can really be there with me. If something’s wrong and now isn’t that time…I can wait for you.” He took her hands, kissing each in turn. “The way I feel about you is the real deal. I’m in this. All the way.”
Tears stung yet never formed in her eyes. “Paul, I’m not…it isn’t…it’s just…” She chewed on the inside of her lip and then blew out a breath. “It’s just been a while for me. That’s all.”
“Then why don’t we do this…”
“I don’t want to wait.”
He grinned. “You jumped the gun. I wasn’t about to suggest that.”
“Oh.” A shiver moved through her body.
Paul slid her coat from her shoulders and draped over the chair in the corner. He returned to her with a sly smile. “I was going to say why don’t we first get you out of your coat then take things slow and see where it takes us? If you feel comfortable then we can keep going.” His fingers brushed back her hair, tucking it behind her ear. “And if you still feel nervous then we’ll stop and go out there to see how many times we can get Linc in trouble with Jane. Sound like a plan?”
While that would do little to allay her insecurities over Nika, it may allow him enough time shut off her mind so she’d stop thinking of everything else and think only of him. He was what she needed to focus on anyway. He was a part of her future. Nika and Michael were in their past.
And the past didn’t matter anymore.
“I like that plan.” She sat down on the bed to remove her boots. At the time, it hadn’t felt as though she was outside all that long, but her toes were practically numb from the combination cold and confines. “Does taking things slow involve me being on the bed and you standing in the middle of the room?”
“Maybe.”
“We can move a little faster than that.”
He stepped out of his shoes and moved to sit beside her. “I was letting you set the pace.”
“So I have to be in charge then?” She’d said it as a joke, but panic set in the moment the words left her mouth. Is that how it had always been with Nika? “Um…”
“Don’t get any ideas, Tancredi. I said you could set the pace, but I never said you got to be in charge.” His lips teased over hers. “I am most definitely running this show.”
Sara didn’t get the opportunity to consider if he’d also made that comment to Nika because Paul’s tongue was caressing the inside of her lower lip with a feather’s touch until her whole body was on the verge of melting into a molten pool of need. Electric desire leapt from nerve ending to nerve ending when he finally kissed her fully, holding her face with both hands to keep her captive to the sensual onslaught being brought by his lips and tongue.
She couldn’t take it. Breaking away from the kiss, “More.” Desperate fingers tugged his shirt over his head and discarded it to the foot of the bed. This was a definite surprise. Sure, she knew her boyfriend was in shape, but she never guessed his shirts were hiding lean, chiseled muscle underneath. Her hands moved over his chest of their own volition. Her lips weren’t far behind.
Paul’s hands slipped under her sweater and lifted it up. She felt the cool air hit her skin before she understood her sweater was going over her head. Panic didn’t get a chance to set in because his lips were on her neck and his hands were trailing down her spine in the most delicious manner. “Your skin is so soft.”
Sara tried to get the angle to kiss his neck, but instead lost her balance and fell back onto the bed, pulling him on top of her. With one arm he pushed himself up so that he could meet her gaze; with the other he pulled a single strap of her bra down her shoulder. The look in his eyes was passion incarnate.
“Stop or keep going?”
© 2009, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
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