6

He lifted her slightly and withdrew from her body, letting her unhook her legs from his waist and slide them down to the ground. She was amazed she could even stand. Her skirt fluttered down around her thighs as she moved off the wall. Draco rearranged his clothing.

 

“Come, I think we both need to shower after that. Let me take care of you.”

 

Blair picked up her backpack and let him take her by the hand as he led her through the apartment. Floor-to-ceiling glass faced the inner harbor and Viaduct Basin. Light glittered off a myriad of buildings and luxury super-yachts and cruisers moored in the basin to reflect on the inky surface of the ocean. The vista was surreal. About as surreal as the fact she’d just allowed herself to be swept away by a sensual hunger she’d only barely begun to acknowledge.

 

The master suite led off the living room, and beyond that, the master bathroom. Soft dove-gray walls softened the black-and-gray marble vanity tops and black-tiled floor. Blair placed her pack on the vast spread of marble as Draco reached inside the massive shower stall to turn on the water. His task complete, he turned back to face Blair. Even without the evidence of his arousal against his trousers she could tell by the look on his face that he wanted her again. He framed her face with his large hands and kissed her, softly this time, taking his time to play the soft tissue of her lips against his before breaking contact.

 

His hands went to the hem of her T-shirt and he lifted it up and over her head. He traced one finger along the line of the rose-pink lace of her bra, where it met the gentle swell of her breast, before bending his head to press soft warm kisses where his finger had just been. With an expert hand he unsnapped the clasp at the back, and the fabric, which had so ably cupped her, slid away to reveal her to his avaricious gaze.

 

“So beautiful, so perfect,” he murmured, rolling the tips of her nipples between his fingertips before bending his dark head to lave first one taut bud, then the other, with the tip of his tongue.

 

He reached behind her to unzip her skirt and let it fall to the floor, leaving her standing only in her sandals. He knelt before her and placed her hands on his shoulders before lifting one foot to unbuckle the strap at her ankle. Each

movement was so measured, so deliberate—in total contrast to the uncontrolled passion that had consumed them both only minutes ago—and deep inside her Blair recognized the building fire and knew Draco’s idea of making things up to her would be monumental.

 

Once she was completely naked, he swiftly divested himself of his shoes and socks before pulling his shirt off and sending his trousers and briefs to the floor.

 

He guided her into the shower stall, angling the multiple shower heads to course over her body before he closed the door behind them.

 

“Oh, that feels so good,” Blair moaned as the pulsing spray jets massaged her back.

 

Draco just smiled as he filled his hands with shower gel then began to smooth the slick liquid over her shoulders and down her arms, then stroke his hands back up again. He repeated the movement several times before gently running his hands over her chest then down to cup and gently knead her breasts.

 

She’d never felt “enough” before Draco. Each of the other men she’d been with before she’d met him had teased her about her breast size. Not in a cruel way, but enough to ensure that the taunts of her teenage years rose large and ugly in her mind. Enough to make her feel less than feminine, less than a woman. But beneath Draco’s touch she had no doubt she was everything he wanted, the attention he paid to her breasts, to her tight, puckered nipples, left her in no doubt whatsoever.

 

He filled his hands again with the shower gel and continued his ministrations, sliding one hand down to cup her and spread her legs gently. He cleaned her with an intimacy she had never experienced with anyone else, but then Draco Sandrelli was like no other man Blair knew. And that was precisely why he both scintillated and terrified her. It would be too easy to succumb to his spell, to his lovemaking. To lose herself. No, no matter what delights he brought her—and she knew there would be many—she had to remain strong. To take what he offered tonight and then go back to the life she’d chosen.

 

A ripple of pleasure spread from her core, just a hint of what his touch promised, she knew. His hands slid around to her buttocks, softly squeezing

them before running down the backs of her thighs. He dropped to his knees, his hands still running up and down the length of her legs, and she marveled she could even stand when he brought his mouth to the apex of her thighs and pressed his lips to the sensitive bundle of nerve endings there.

 

His tongue flicked over the nub, at first soft then more insistent. Blair knotted her fingers in his hair, holding him to her as he increased pressure, then teasingly slowed again. Her legs were trembling, barely able to hold her slight weight when he began to suckle at her. She let her head drop back as the scream of pleasure ejected from her in tune to the orgasm that nearly rent her apart.

 

Draco stood, supporting Blair’s quaking body with the strength of his, relishing that he could bring her so much pleasure, so much passion. For a woman who kept herself locked down so tight emotionally, he’d been ecstatic to discover the deeply hidden sensuality inside her. It was a waste for her to pour all that passion purely into her work, when she could have so much more if she would only embrace it.

 

He turned off the shower faucets and scooped Blair into his arms. She was so slender it was as if he lifted a child—she’d lost weight since her return to New Zealand. Weight, in his opinion, she could ill afford to lose. If he’d gauged her correctly, she’d no doubt been running herself ragged since leaving him. And if he didn’t miss his mark, she was already on the point of exhaustion—her physical reaction to their lovemaking already leaving her limp, shattered in his arms.

 

He wrapped her in a thick, dove-gray towel and dried her with painstaking care.

 

“Draco?”

 

Her voice made him look up from his ministrations.

 

“Hmm?” he answered, reaching for a fresh towel to dry her hair before skimming his own body dry.

 

“What about you?”

 

He smiled. “Later. For now, you rest, si?”

 

“I’m sorry, I—”

 

He put a fingertip to her lips. “Don’t. Don’t tell me you’re sorry.”

 

He guided her to the master bedroom and pulled back the voluminous, down- filled duvet and the crisp cotton sheet before gently pushing her down onto the mattress. She was asleep in moments, confirming his belief she’d been pushing herself too hard. It was certainly more than the languor of the aftermath of lovemaking that dragged her into somnolence. He tossed her damp towel to one corner of the room and climbed into the bed next to her, propping himself up slightly so he could watch her as she settled into a deeper sleep. Eventually, he flipped the control that dimmed the bedroom lights into darkness and settled down onto his pillow, scooping Blair against his body and pulling the sheet over them both before letting sleep claim him also.

 

It was her feather-light touch that woke him only a couple of hours later.

Somewhere in the night she’d slid from his hold and he’d rolled onto his stomach, a position that was becoming increasingly uncomfortable as awareness flooded his body.

 

Blair knelt over him. Her fingers touching, yet almost not, as they traced a line up from his ankles to the backs of his knees and then higher. Blood surged to his groin as her touch coasted up the inside of his thighs. Up and down and back again, each time moving a little higher, until goose bumps raised all over his skin anticipating her next move.

 

He felt the mattress shift, ever so slightly, as she moved, straddling his legs, keeping him captive, prone. He could feel her firm buttocks on the backs of his thighs, feel the heat of her core against his bare skin. It was both a torment and a pleasure.

 

Her touch strengthened now, deepened as she stroked the long line of muscles on either side of his spine, stopping every now and then to change her touch to that feather-soft caress that threatened to drive him crazy with want. His hands, shoved deep under his pillow, clenched into fists as he fought not to reach for her, to spin her beneath him and torture her as she now did him.

“Are you awake yet?”

 

The teasing note in her voice made his lips pull into a smile.

 

“Yes, I am awake,” he ground out through clenched teeth as her fingers tracked his spine—down, down, until she skimmed the crease of his buttocks.

 

He felt her weight lift from his legs.

 

“You’d better turn over then,” she instructed.

 

Draco rolled over, hissing in a breath as she wrapped her fingers around his hardened length and caressed him, her other hand reaching for the packet she’d already removed from the bedside cabinet. He nearly lost it as he watched her tear the foil open with her teeth and slide the condom from its wrapper, then meticulously slide it over him.

 

He reached for her hips as she rose above him, poised at his tip.

 

“Let me,” she whispered, placing her hands over his. “Let me look after you this time.”

 

He was unused to surrendering control, whether it was in the boardroom or the bedroom, but for Blair he would do this. Her heat threatened to consume him as she lowered herself to take only his tip within her body. Every instinct within him demanded he take charge, insisted he drive into her and bring them both to the shattering pleasure he knew lay in store, but he beat back the urge and forced himself to concede.

 

A groan broke from his throat as she tilted her hips, taking a little more of him, then more, until finally he was exactly where he wanted to be, needed to be. She clenched her inner muscles around him, holding him tight then releasing him, shifting her hips back and forth ever so slightly with each clench and release, increasing in tempo until a sheen of sweat broke out on his body and hers.

 

He could keep his hands from her no longer. He reached for her, his fingers closing over the small globes of her breasts, squeezing them as she thrust forward, flicking her nipples with his thumbs. And then he was lost, pleasure unleashed in waves through his body. Beyond control, he thrust upwards and

was rewarded with her cry as he felt her spasm around him, again and again, her body shaking.

 

He supported her against his hands as she climaxed, eventually lowering her to lie over his body. Lazily he rubbed one hand up and down her back, savoring the boneless sense of completion that permeated every part of his body.

 

Eventually, Blair lifted herself off him and took care of the condom. A simple thing, but one no woman had ever done for him before. When she came back into the bedroom she climbed back into bed beside him and curled up against his body and Draco allowed himself to sink into sleep, secure in the knowledge she wanted him now as much as he wanted her.