But Ari already knew the answer. Her brother would have risked his heart no matter what.
Just the way she was risking hers for Matt.
If it one day turned out that she’d misjudged Matt’s feelings…well, she’d deal with it when she had to. But right now, all she wanted was to confirm the beauty of life by making love to him over and over, then falling asleep in his arms.
Their room had a king-size bed, a small sofa under a bay window, and a big bathtub. “I made sure they gave us the room with the largest tub available.” He cupped her cheek, his lips so close to hers, his body warm, enticing. “Why don’t you take a bath while I run a few errands?”
“Errands?” Instead of getting naked with her right this second?
He was planning something, and judging by the burn in his eyes, it had to be good. And he knew her well—a few minutes to decompress from the high emotions of their day would be nice.
“Yes.” He kissed her for long, sweet moments, their breaths almost one. “Errands.”
“And after your errands?” She let her heated question hang between them.
He gave her one more wicked smile—and a kiss so hot it started a fire inside of her—then left.
Slipping into lavender bathwater a few minutes later, she closed her eyes and went over everything she’d learned about her brother. When sorrow threatened, she pushed it away.
Close. She was so close. Not only to finding Gideon—but so much closer to Matt too.
Being with him like this was her dream come true, as well as everything Rosie and Chi had warned her she couldn’t have. But they were wrong. She had it right now.
And she wasn’t letting go.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ari had just climbed out of the bath when Matt returned. By the time she walked into the bedroom, wrapped only in a thin bathrobe, she found him sitting on the small sofa, a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket and a plate covered with a cloth napkin on the coffee table in front of him.
He didn’t say anything, just gazed at her with such heat she actually lost her breath. “Should I put on some clothes?”
“No.”
Oh God, just one little two-letter word was enough to make her whole body tingle. She bit her lip, wishing she were experienced enough to know the next move to make. But then she remembered his hand engulfing hers as he sat beside her today, sharing her emotions, soothing her, simply being there, as if nothing else was more important than that moment—and everything eased.
“Come here.” His deep voice was full of so much sinfully hot promise that her legs trembled as she crossed the room, the robe still tied tightly around her waist.
“Have some champagne.”
He poured one glass for her, one for him. The burn in his gaze scorched her as she sipped, the bubbles going straight to her head.
His eyes followed her every move, lingering on her lips while she drank and tracking her when she set down the glass. “Good?”
She nodded, licking the sweetness from her lips.“And about to get so much better,” he murmured. “I’m going to make you feel so good you won’t think of anything but my touch. My kiss. My body inside you. I want to help you to forget everything bad. Tonight there will be only this, us, together.” He dropped his voice even lower. “Now take off your robe. Slowly.”
As he leaned back, stretching his arms along the sofa, Ari’s heart beat so hard she could feel the pulse in her fingertips. No one but Matt had looked at her as though she was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen and he wanted to devour every inch of her.
Instead of untying the robe’s sash, she slowly slid the fabric off one shoulder, revealing the swell of one breast as well.
“Perfect.”
God, his voice, that word, his eyes on her. She pushed the robe off her other shoulder, letting the thin terrycloth fall to the upper curves of her breasts. Turning her back to him, she glanced over her shoulder, then shrugged and the robe fell to her hips, leaving her naked to the waist.
“So pretty.” His words were raw with need.
His voice turned her liquid inside. Under his gaze, she reached for the sash, only to have him stop her with another of his delicious commands. “My turn now.”
Rising from the couch, he stalked her, stopping so close behind her that her body tingled with static electricity. He palmed her breasts, and she gasped at the intimate sensation of his big, warm hands over her, his hard body behind her. He thumbed her nipples, turning them diamond tipped.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me? You make me burn.”
She was hypnotized by the harsh need in his voice, and by his touch as he leisurely, tantalizingly slid his hands down her rib cage and stomach to the fabric sash. Blood rushed so fast in her ears that she was dizzy with desire as he slowly undid the bow she’d tied.
Finally, the robe gaped open. A beat later, with fabric pooling at her feet, she was completely bared to him. Everything, from her body, to her heart.
To her soul.
He pressed one hot kiss to her shoulder, then followed it up with the sexiest of orders. “On the bed.”
She was naked. He was completely dressed. He was naturally dominant in bed—which she loved, so very much. But in their two precious nights together, he’d taught her how to take a little power for herself.
Bending over, her back to him, she stretched, slowly, deliberately, to grab the top of the bedspread. He groaned.
And she smiled.
After pulling the covers back all the way to the sheets, she crawled onto the bed until she was on all fours. Then she slipped down onto her haunches and looked over her shoulder.
His nostrils flared as though he was scenting her the way a lion tracks his mate. “On your back.” His words were barely a whisper on the air. “Then close your eyes and put your arms over your head.”
She turned, lay back, and closed her eyes, her body buzzing with desire as she lifted her arms to the pillow.
“Are you ready, baby?” His voice seemed to stroke her, the sheets beneath her heating slowly as she lay there.
“Yes.”
The bed dipped, and he slipped something over her eyes. Cool and smelling like lavender—she realized it was a gel eye mask. As good as a blindfold.
With a caress of soft cloth, he bound her right wrist, pulling her arm higher until she was restrained. He did the same with her left wrist, then put his hands on her ankles. “Do you trust me?”