Page 26 of Vistaria Has Fallen
Calli closed her eyes against the ferocious rush of undiluted desire. She trembled. “Don’t,” she whispered.
He drew breath. She could hear it and felt his chest expand against her shoulders. He did notspeak.
She opened her eyes. In the reflection on the window she saw his other hand come up to her bare shoulder and hover there, as if he fought himself.
She held her breath, the skin over her shoulder tingling, all nerves stretched to their limits, anticipating his touch. Her thoughts paused, her whole body stilled. Waiting.
It was not a caress she received. His hand curled over her shoulderand she realized that he trembled, too. The warm fingers settled, as if by anchoring them so firmly he could resist moving it further. He let out his breath, stirring the curls by her ear and grew still. His eyes closed.
Yes, he battled himself.
“There is a difference in you tonight,” he said. “More than just the dress.”
“I haven’t changed.”
“You have...let go. What has happened, to make thatdifference?”
She thought of the stolen moment she had seen between Duardo and Minnie. “I have realized that some men will take what they want. You will not. I must find someone who will.”
He remained quiet for a long moment. “If it is simply sex you seek,” he said at last, “then you will not have far to look. Do you think Peter will appreciate what he has got? Do you think he will be able tosatisfy you beyond crude, coarse coupling?”
He had spoken her fears aloud. She sighed. “I don’t know.”
“Idoknow. Why must you do this? You did not, in Montana. I know that as surely as I know my own hand. The woman I see tonight, she does not normally show her face.”
“I, too, am not a machine. You cannot stir these feelings in me, stoke them and then expect me to remain untouched. Idreamof you, Nick. Everywhere here I see sensuality and lust and know I will never have those moments with you that I dreamed of. I will take what I can.”
“Not with him, Calli.” His voice held a note of pleading.
“You will not. He will.”
She felt him shake his head, even as his reflection made the same movement in the glass. “I could fill your mind so you cannot think of another man. So idea oftaking another would be as remote and alien to you as the surface of Mars.”
“Arrogance,” she breathed.
“Knowledge,” he corrected. “I can feel you trembling and I know how you have drugged me so I cannot sleep. All I must do is stamp myself upon you a little more and I know you will not think of another, for you are not like that.”
“Nick…” She spoke his name in warning…and in pleading. Theywalked upon treacherous ground now.
His hand on her shoulder slid, with a whisper of a caress, down to cup her breast. She gasped. The material of the dress was so fine and light it felt as if he held her naked breast. His hand was hot. Large against her skin and delicious. She could feel the details of his fingers, the swell of flesh, the joints, the tips, searing her skin.
“God, Nick, please....”she moaned, her head falling against his shoulder. Her shoulders pulled back, thrusting her breast into his hand.
“You plead for me to stop, or for more?” His voice was hoarse with pent-up emotion.
Calli clenched her jaw, determined not to speak aloud the rabid need she had for him. She cared not at all about their public place, that Peter might come looking for her at any moment, that anyoneglancing in the window would see them and see his hand at her breast. She wanted more, much more. She felt a ravening need to coax him by words and movements to take her right now.
He kissed her neck, by the corner of her jaw. His lips were hot. “I see your jaw ripple. Ah, you are strong, Calli. Do you know how much your strength is a goad, driving me to breach that strength, to have you whimperin my arms?” His voice by her ear sent another shiver through her. His heady, spicy and masculine scent enveloped her. She moaned, the soft noise slipping from her.
“Tell me what is in your mind to make you utter that sound,” he whispered.
“Your hand. I dreamed of your hand on my breast.” Her voice was throaty, distorted by raw animal wanting. “I couldn’t feel it in the dream, Now you touchme as you did then, and it feelssogood.”
She heard him swallow, the little ragged sound of his breath. “God help me, you are driving me out of my mind. The look on your face, your voice... Do you know how easy it would be for me to tear this dress from you, lower you to the floor and take you right now? Here?”
“I would not stop you,” she whispered.
His hand on her hip moved down to strokeher thigh beneath the dress, the little finger slipping between her legs. He didn’t slide it higher. It fluttered against the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, stroking with delicate caresses. When his fingers discovered the lacy tops of her stockings, he made a noise that was half groan, half growl.
