Page 44 of Sweet Passions at Bayside
“Me too,” she whispered.
“I’ll try to behave.”
She giggled. “Ditto.”
He leaned in and kissed her, tender and slow, savoring every second as her hand moved from his cheek to his hip.Behave, he reminded himself.
As he drew back from the kiss, he was holding on to his control by a thread. He knew he could probably persuade her to let him make love to her, or at least pleasure her. But that wasn’t how he wanted their first time to happen. He wanted her to crave him so badly she couldn’t hold back. He wanted her to be out of her mind with desire. As he struggled to regain control, he realized he not only wanted to be the best lover of her lifetime, but he wanted to be her last.
“Sleep?” he asked reluctantly.
She nodded, snuggled in close, and closed her eyes. “Sleep.”
Chapter Thirteen
EMERY DIDN’T KNOW how long she lay awake last night, but she’d been keenly aware of every inch of Dean’s body, from his muscular legs, to the dusting of chest hair tickling her skin, all the way to his long lashes moving ever so slightly when he dreamed. He’d slept with one arm tightly around her. About an hour ago he’d rolled onto his back, and she’d snuck from the bed long enough to pee and brush her teeth. Tango and Cash had followed her into the bathroom and then cuddled up beside Dean when she’d returned to the bedroom. She’d been lying awake ever since, trying to draw her eyes away from the tented sheet bunched around his hips. But after dreaming about him all night long, and waking herself up with a moan, it was proving to be an impossible feat.
It seemed like hours before the predawn light crept across his tanned and toned abs.Finally. That was the longest night of my life!Emery’s pulse quickened as she leaned up on one elbow, her gaze rolling over Dean’s face. The face she’d thought she’d memorized, but as he’d slept, she’d cataloged a few things she’d missed. His brows were blonder than his hair, and the upper half of his mustache and beard were lighter, too. Even in his slumber he had the serious face of a warrior.A Viking. My Viking?Her insides trembled with memories of the way he’d made her feel last night. Her body was on fire, her breathing erratic. She needed a Dean fix.
She continued visually devouring him. His flawless skin only slightly softened his sharp features.But that smile, she thought dreamily. His smile made her stomach tumble and flip, and the way he’d looked at her last night, and the way he’d spoken to her, like she was his entire world, had an even more powerful effect. Had it always been that way?
His eyes opened slowly, and she watched the fog of sleep clear, bringing rise to that heart-melting grin.
“Finally” fell from her lips like she’d been stranded on a desert island and he was her rescuer. “Are we good? Still friends?”
His brows knitted. “Of course, why?”
“Thank goodness!”
Shepounced, straddling his body as she crashed her mouth to his in a fury of feverish kisses. “I’ve been waiting so long,” she said as she stripped off her top and tossed it away, touching her chest to his. That first skin-to-skin contact sent magic dancing along her skin.
Dean swept her beneath him, his eyes ablaze with desire. “I like the way you greet the morning.”
He trapped her hands beside her head with a glimmer of demand in his eyes, and he took her in a fierce kiss that sent tingles zipping through her. Their lips parted with a rush of heat, and he kissed her cheek, her forehead, the corner of her mouth, the sensitive spot beside her ear. They were only kisses, but each one felt more erotic than the last. And when he put his mouth beside her ear, his warm breath sinking into her pores, she hung on every second, waiting for him to speak, or kiss, or—
His tongue moved along the shell of her ear. “There will be no rushing today, sweetheart.”
A whimper escaped before she could stop it.
“Those noises make me lose my mind. I’m going to make you whimper, moan, andbeg.”
“Yes,” she pleaded.
He circled her ear again, this time with kisses. When he got to her lobe, he whispered dirty things in her ear.
She was surprised by how his words made her cheeks burn. She wasn’t intimidated by dirty talk. She’d always known she’d love it, and as she’d lain awake, she realized she’d fantasized about dirty talk coming fromDean’svoice for months, and she’d buried that acknowledgment right along with the rest of her feelings. But actually hearing him talk like he did in her dreams as the room became brighter by the second was a whole different ball game.
He bit into her earlobe, and she sucked in air between clenched teeth. “Do you want me, Emery?”
“More than anything.” The truth felt so good, she felt like a great weight had lifted from within her, and her eyes fluttered closed.
“You’re trembling for me.”
“Yes,” she said, closing her eyes against the embarrassment.
He dragged his beard along her neck and nipped at her chin. “Open your eyes for me. I want you here with me. Don’t hide from us.”
Her eyes opened, and the look in his eyes wasn’t erotic—it was deep and emotional—and she realized he’d repeatedfor me. He was setting this moment apart from all others. Showing her—and himself?—that when they were together, they were different. And he was right. The guys she’d been with had never wanted,demanded, such defining lines.
