He’d give absolutely anything to return her joy to her. Will had said Matt was the better man. But wouldn’t the better man put some space between them until he was certain they could make things work in the real world, not just in secret?
He cursed silently as he watched over Ari. While he couldn’t stand the thought of leading her on, there was no way he could leave her alone either. Not today when he needed to find the light as desperately as she did.
Stripping off his clothes, he forced away thoughts of anything but making her happy right here in this moment as he slid between the sheets. He pulled her close, and without waking, she snuggled, sighing sweetly, her arm across his chest.
He lay quietly, relishing the feel of her, soft and warm in his arms. Had any woman’s skin ever been so smooth? Had any lover ever been so trusting?
He trailed his hand along her arm, twirling a lock of her hair around his finger. As he listened to her gentle breathing, he couldn’t keep his hands off her. Couldn’t keep from kissing her cheek, her hair. Under the covers, he nestled her more deeply against him, her fragrance filling his head.
She made a light sound, beginning to wake as her leg slid up his calf, and he tucked his hand under her thigh to press her hips tightly into his. Her fingers flexed on his chest as he moved his lips over her soft skin.
“You’re so beautiful. So sweet.” He took her mouth, kissing lightly. “So giving. So kind.” Her arm curved around him. “I love how you are with Noah.” His fingers rambled over her bare back to the waistband of her panties. “I love the sound of your laughter.” He buried his face in her hair, then moved to her ear, tracing his tongue along the shell so that she shivered in his arms. “You’re strong and smart and funny.” He gently bit the curve of her shoulder, and she rewarded him with a soft laugh. “I love that you take Noah to see mummies and monkeys.”
“Gorillas,” she corrected, a smile in her voice as she came fully awake.
His heart expanded as he pulled back to see her smile. “I love how open you are with me. That you trust me to love you the way you deserve to be loved.”
She cupped his face in her palm. “Love me, Matt. Please just love me.”
Their mouths melded in a long, drugging kiss that sent his heart soaring. Rolling her onto her back, he braced himself over her, kissing her cheeks, her eyes, and finally her lips. They had until tomorrow morning, and he wanted to love her long enough to make her forget the unbearable scene at the Esterhausen place.
* * *
Their coming together had always been about pleasure, about how many times he could make her come, how crazy she could get, how hard and fast he could take her.
But tonight, Ari wanted the precious intimacy of Matt inside her. Just that. As if it weren’t merely sex, but a total union. She wanted to relish the feel of him without being blinded by her own climax. Not yet. First, she wanted to savor him.
After he stripped away her bra and panties, she trailed her fingers along the arrow of hair stretching down into his boxers. “You’re so beautiful,” she said, the same words he’d said to her. “So sweet.” She cupped him inside the cotton. Hard, hot, ready. “So giving.” He’d treated her so tenderly, soothing the hurt of that horrible visit. She couldn’t remember all the things he’d whispered to her, only that they’d wrapped around her heart and drawn her to him. “I love how you stood up for me.”
He closed his eyes and breathed harshly. “I should have done more.” His voice broke softly with his anguish.
“You already do so much. More than anyone else ever has.” More than she’d ever expected anyone would.
He was a protector, always looking out for her, physically, emotionally. And as he slid on latex, she let him protect her again, though she wanted nothing more than to feel his bare skin against hers.
She was already slick with desire, and part of her wanted the bliss, the mindless pleasure that would come if he took her fast, hard, out of control. But he filled her slowly, as if he were pouring himself into her, seeping into all the cracks and fissures that had been inside her for years. She swore he was healing them all, even the fracture she’d suffered today. When their bodies were finally tight together, she let out a sigh of soul-deep pleasure.
Then he kissed her.
They kissed forever, with only the sound of their breath and their mouths sliding together. It was sweetness, it was beauty, it was beyond pleasure.
She felt alive and beautiful and totally possessed.
Slowly, she raised her legs to his waist, and he moved deeper still, so high inside her that she could almost feel him touch her heart. His stillness let her feel everything fully—the pulse of his blood, the way her body tightened and rippled over him of its own accord. She curled her arms around his neck and kissed him with everything in her heart, until he was all she could taste and smell and feel. Until he was simply everything.
The other nights they’d shared had been bliss, but this was pure heaven.
She locked her feet at his back, and he moved to accommodate her. Then, suddenly, she needed more—and yet again, he read her mind, moving slow and sweet, so utterly tantalizing, her nerve endings coming completely alive.
All the while, he kissed her, angling his head to take another long sip of her. When he groaned, she felt the vibration in her mouth, her throat, against her chest.
She gasped, finally breaking free of his lips as he slid over her most sensitive spot inside, setting her on fire. “More,” she begged, and he gave it to her, his muscles gathering for speed, friction, and crazy wild sensation. She clung to him, rocking, letting him take her higher, until they were flying.
Then everything splintered, and she crashed through, holding him tight, hauling him with her, shuddering, quaking, losing herself in him, just as he lost himself in her.
Ari came to her senses slowly, drinking in the salty-sweet smell of their sex, the tightness of her muscles, his body on hers, his throb deep, his breath still wild in her hair, his skin stuck to hers. She didn’t want him to move, craving his weight on her and his pulse inside her. As if they were one.
“That was just what I needed. You are just what I needed.”
“I needed you too, Ari.” Finally, he moved, and her arms slipped away, only her hands remaining on his shoulders as he levered himself above her. “I wanted to be there for you with that woman today. I wanted to protect you. I wanted to avenge you.”