Intimate Strangers

by Laura Taylor

  He drove his fingers into her thick hair, blunt fingertips kneading her scalp as he angled his mouth over hers and invaded her sweetness once more. She sucked at his deft tongue while her hands roved across his broad shoulders and down his back to his hips.

  She silently marveled over the strength and power of his body even as streamers of unfamiliar tension came to life within her own. With each thudding beat of her heart, her insides heated and expanded. Straining beneath Nicholas, Hannah struggled to get closer to him. She wanted to crawl into his heart and never leave.

  Sensing her escalating tension, he released her lips and shifted down her writhing body. He clasped her breasts with possessive hands, sucking and biting at first one beaded tip and then the other. Hannah groaned low in her throat, the pleasure he brought to her cascading endlessly over her like a series of starbursts in the night sky.

  She arched more fully into his mouth as he alternated from one taut nipple to the other with relentless, tormenting skill. She dug her fingers into his shoulders, too mindless from his stunning assault on her senses to realize that her nails marred his skin. Nicholas sipped and nipped at her until she nearly screamed out from the pleasure that seemed to ribbon through her body like a thousand glittering streamers.

  Nearly overwhelmed by feelings and emotions she’d longed to experience but had never before known, Hannah surged up against him. Her body demanded what she didn’t have the words or the strength to request.

  He shifted down her torso, easily evading her attempts to bring him up and into her shaking body. He plucked at her nipples with startlingly clever fingers, stoking the flames of her desire even higher as his mouth traveled over her ribs and past her narrow waist. He sampled the quivering flesh of her firm belly with love bites, then soothed her flushed skin with hot, open–mouthed kisses that scorched her soul.

  She felt tormented by the flash–fires of sensation he left in his wake as he inched lower and lower. Nicholas shouldered her thighs apart, curved his hands beneath her hips, and lifted her to his mouth. Hannah cried out when he combed his fingertips through the black silk curls that concealed her sex, closed his mouth over the delicate flesh, and gently eased his finger into her swollen depths.

  She jerked up off the bed with a startled cry, her hips seeking more and the muscles in her slender body tensing. Heat bloomed brightly inside Hannah, only to mushroom outward in billowing, encompassing waves. Her body softened even as it wept its desire.

  Gasping for air, she stirred restlessly beneath his touch as he continued to torment her. She longed for the feel of Nicholas deep inside her, possessing her with his strength, loving her with his passion.

  He pressed a chain of stinging kisses down the length of one leg and then up the inside curve of the other. She groaned, too frantic for release to understand that the inarticulate sounds escaping her simply served to spur him on. Hannah began to feel nearly faint with anticipation.

  His breath flowed across her already sensitized skin like the heat from a blast furnace before he began to sip from her again. She trembled and quaked. Gasping little cries of disbelief and pleasure spilled past her lips.

  Nicholas gentled her with his mouth. Then, he reversed course, stoking the incinerating flames even higher, catapulting her into a state of mindless need. She tumbled back against the pillows, quivering as he explored her swollen wet flesh with a seemingly insatiable need.

  He slipped a second finger into her core, adding fuel to the fire already raging within her. A tumult of sensations swept over her as he coaxed her to the edge of a sensual abyss. He ravaged her emotions and destroyed her control.

  Hannah surrendered to Nicholas and to the feelings threatening her with devastation. She gasped his name as her body began to gather and tighten inward, but the inarticulate sounds she made seemed to tremor with fear.

  Nicholas realized an instant later that Hannah had never experienced a satisfying release with a lover. He silently cursed the carelessness of the man she’d almost married, and then thanked God that she’d been reprieved from such a fate. He shifted up her body, his intent clear in the harsh contours of his face and in the straining muscles of his body.

  As she opened her eyes, he gathered her into his arms and surged into her tight wet heat. And then he went perfectly still, straining against his own need to plunge even more deeply into her. He was a big man, so he gave her the time she deserved to accustom herself to the intrusive intimacy of their joined bodies.

  He saw the glazed look in her eyes a heartbeat before he claimed her lips. He pumped into her, slowly, steadily. He handled her with exquisite care, hungry for his own release but mindful of Hannah’s needs as he allowed her to find her rhythm and set their pace.

  The quickening sensations began again in her lower abdomen, spirally slowly outward to encompass her entire body. Despite her efforts to quicken her movements, he refused to allow her the haste she sought to achieve her quest for fulfillment. He wanted nothing—not even his own driving need—to diminish the full impact of what she was about to experience for the first time.

  Hannah suddenly cried out in surprise. Nicholas drew out her climax with deliberately timed movements. She splintered beneath and around him, clinging to him, gasping his name as tears seeped from her eyes, and surging against him even as her tight channel quivered around his sex.

  His release threatened. And as her hot core milked his hard, pulsing length, he felt the pressure building at the base of his sex.

  He followed her into oblivion, the force of his own climax powerful as he repeatedly plunged into her and filled her with his seed. He nearly collapsed atop her when it finally eased. Stunned by Hannah’s volatile passion, Nicholas held her close, shifted their bodies to one side, and listened to the sound of her ragged breathing and his own pounding heart.

  Eventually, he said, "It’s a damn good thing you didn’t marry that selfish bastard."

  She opened her eyes and met his gaze.

  "You’ve never been loved properly, have you?"

  "Not until now." She burrowed closer, pressed a kiss to his collarbone, and sighed her contentment.

  He tipped up her chin and took in her tired, but contented smile. "And I was right."

  "About what?"

  "You are hell on wheels."

  She laughed, the sound soft, innocent, and seductive all at the same time. He rolled her onto her back and leaned over her.

  "Is that a complaint?" she asked.

  "God, no."

  "Praise, then?"

  He smiled down at her. "Definitely praise."

  A few moments later, he savored the sound of her laughter when it turned into a moan of pleasure as he captured a swollen nipple between his lips and sucked at the puckering tip. Hannah arched beneath his mouth and hands as he began to reacquaint himself with every inch of her responsive body.

  He roused her passions and reawakened her senses repeatedly throughout the night. He terrorized her with tenderness, and then he rode her hard and fast, taking her to shattering sensual heights unlike anything she’d ever imagined or experienced.

  He shocked her, as well, with his knowledge and skill as a lover each time he made her frantic with desire. He pleasured her until she screamed out her satisfaction and then fainted in his arms on the heels of one particularly stunning climax.

  But, most of all, Nicholas simply loved her, giving himself free rein to experience complete emotional and physical intimacy, something he’d never done with a woman. And although he considered asking Hannah to share his life, he knew it was too much to expect of anyone.

  8

  Hannah rested her arms atop the flagstone ledge that circled the black marble whirlpool tub in the master bathroom. Gazing out the window that overlooked the valley below Nicholas’s home, she shifted lazily in the warm water and watched the snowflakes as they drifted down from the pale winter sky.

  Nicholas smiled when he heard Hannah’s sigh of contentment, but he didn’t open his eyes. She was
relaxed and within reach, and that knowledge filled him with a sense of well–being he’d only dreamed of in the past. Chest deep in water as he reclined on a submerged bench that ran the length of the oversized tub, he couldn’t recall a time in his entire adult life when he’d felt more physically depleted or more sexually sated.

  Hannah turned away from the view and moved to the opposite side of the spacious tub a short while later. Warm water surged against her body, pummeling her as she paused to sample a piece of fruit and a small wedge of cheese from the platter Nicholas had left on the ledge. Next to the platter sat a bottle of champagne and two half–filled crystal goblets.

  After selecting an apple slice and a piece of cheddar for Nicholas, she floated over to his side. She kissed his chin and then ordered, "Open wide." She tucked the fruit and cheese into his mouth, and then lingered beside him as the water lapped at her shoulders.

  He opened his eyes, watching her as he chewed. Flushed and pink cheeked, Hannah reminded him of a rose in full bloom. He expressed with his gaze his appreciation for her thoughtful gesture. And he knew from her gentle answering smile that she understood his silent message.

  Before she could return to her underwater perch before the window, he drew her forward and arranged her atop his reclining body. He closed his arms around her, trapping her legs between his powerful thighs.

  She flowed against him like liquid satin, her full breasts nudging at his chest, her nipples tightening, and her hips undulating against his hardening sex thanks to the constant movement of the swirling water. Heat rushed into his bloodstream, and he savored every seductive inch of her naked body as he recalled the night they’d just shared.

  Nicholas clenched his jaws, resisting the need to lift her out of the water to suckle her breasts. He contented himself, instead, with the feel of them nudging suggestively into the dark hair that covered his chest.

  Glancing down at her, he saw that her smile had changed. She looked now as she’d looked the night before—hungry for him and willing to share any experience he initiated. His muscles tensed, his body flooding with renewed desire, the kind of desire that would never be appeased for more than a few hours at a time.

  "I’m not sure I like what you’re thinking right now," he warned, his voice unexpectedly low and lethal–sounding as he stroked her narrow back.

  Hannah squirmed closer, and then she grinned. "I feel absolutely decadent."

  "That’s all?"

  "Hardly. I want you again."

  He chuckled, amazed and delighted by her frank words. "This is a far cry from a classroom filled with first graders, isn’t it?"

  She playfully nipped at his stubble covered chin. "What do you think?"

  "I’m too numb to think. You’ve worn me out, woman."

  She moved experimentally against him, trapping his thick sex between her thighs. She tantalized him with a slow rolling motion of her hips, which sent a burst of glittering heat into his bloodstream.

  Hannah breathed against his lips, "You don’t feel numb. In fact, you feel…"

  He settled his hands on her hips, stilling her movement. "Slow down. You need a break, even if you’re not willing to admit it. Your body’s not accustomed to all of this activity."

  She groaned a protest. "But it feels so good when you’re inside me."

  "Greedy, aren’t you?"

  "Only where you’re concerned." She slipped her arms around his neck, relaxing against him.

  He came up out of the water and shifted into a seated position on the underwater ledge. He settled Hannah atop his thighs so that her hips and legs remained submerged. He held her still with his hands anchored at her waist, although she tried to inch closer for more intimate contact. Unable to resist her sensuality, he groaned out a curse, lifted her out of the water, and brought her breasts level with his mouth.

  He licked at her nipples like a predatory cat with long, tantalizing strokes of his tongue. Sometime later, he pressed an open–mouthed kiss to the scented valley between her breasts. He lingered there as she clutched at his shoulders, his breath hot against her skin. Shifting his mouth to one of her breasts, he sucked the nipple deeply into his mouth and flicked his tongue back and forth across the distended tip until Hannah moaned and trembled beneath his hands. He then gave her other breast the same lingering attention.

  Hannah arched into his mouth, her body begging for more even as she closed her fingers around his throbbing sex. Nicholas ended his sensual torment of her just as abruptly as he’d begun it. He ached with need, and he knew he’d take her soon if he didn’t restrain that need.

  She didn’t relinquish her hold on him as he lowered her back down to a position astride his powerful thighs. "I adore touching you." As if to demonstrate the validity of her remark, she clasped him more snugly and stroked his hard length until he thought he might burst.

  He finally muttered, "You’re torturing me."

  "I am?" she purred. She slipped her fingertips down beyond the root of his sex and cupped his balls.

  He jerked beneath her fingers as she fondled him. "Yes, you are." He sucked in enough air to feed his lungs before he tried to speak again. "I thought we decided you aren’t quite ready for this yet."

  "You decided." She groaned as he closed his hands over her breasts and rolled her nipples between his fingers.

  "I seem to know your body better than you do."

  She laughed. "You certainly do, and I love it." She eased her hands free of his flesh and settled them on his shoulders. "I’m happy, although I still have a lot to learn. You don’t mind, do you?"

  He stared at her. She still shocked him with her seemingly boundless enthusiasm for everything. "There are times when I think you view the world as some kind of enormous playground."

  She sank against him, looping her arms around his neck. "Not really. It’s just that there’s sadness any place you might want to look, so when you have a chance to experience the good in people, my personal policy is to welcome the more positive emotions that come along for the ride. It all boils down to having a positive attitude. I’m not Mary Sunshine, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I do look for the good in everyone. I also give them a chance to be their best, and I try to cope with my disappointment when they’re not."

  Nicholas sobered, thoughts of his past intruding on the serenity he’d found with her. "I’ve seen people at their worst. The world can be an ugly place, Hannah."

  He exhaled. The sound, ripe with frustration, was harsh enough to make her frown. She bracketed his face with her hands and studied him, her gaze moving slowly over his thick damp hair, high forehead, dark brows, and eyelashes now spiked from the sweat dripping down his face.

  "What’s really wrong?"

  "Nothing. Everything. Take your pick." He shifted her to the bench and surged to his feet, his mood altered by realities he couldn’t ignore any longer. Water cascaded down his tense, hair–roughened body.

  Hannah stood, too. She tried to slide her arms around his waist, but he sidestepped her and reached for a towel from a stack on the tub’s ledge. Shoving a towel into her hands, he climbed out, dried himself, and shrugged into a heavy terry cloth robe.

  A puzzled Hannah followed him. She patted her body dry, encompassed her wet hair with a second towel, and accepted the robe he offered her. She belted it before she rolled up the too–long sleeves. Tugging up the hem of the garment so she wouldn’t trip over it, she trailed after Nicholas. She joined him on the couch situated before the fireplace of his bedroom.

  When he remained broodingly silent, she speculated, "There’s something you need to tell me, but you’re not sure how I’m going to react." Settling back against the armrest, she lifted her feet, wrapped her arms around her up–drawn legs, and rested her chin on her knees. Then she watched him as she waited for him to speak.

  He glanced at her before shifting his gaze to the flames that danced across the logs in the fireplace.

  "It’s obvious that something’s troubling you, Nicho
las. Why don’t you tell me what it is?"

  "Once the snow stops, I’ve decided to show you where Sean’s been living."

  "That’s wonderful!" she exclaimed.

  Nicholas shook his head, his gaze still fixed on the flames leaping up from the logs. He didn’t want to see the excitement or anticipation lighting up her eyes right now. "Not necessarily, Hannah. I doubt he’ll even be there. Sean has trouble staying in one place for very long. When he gets restless, he wanders. I often don’t see him for weeks, sometimes even for months, at a time."

  "But he might be there," she pointed out. "So it’s a place to start."

  He sighed. "We need to start somewhere else."

  "I don’t understand." Her smile faded.

  "I know you don’t."

  She hesitated, as if sensing the need to proceed with great care as she studied his hard profile. "It’s become apparent that your lives are linked by many shared experiences, not simply friendship. And it’s also obvious that some of those experiences were extremely difficult, perhaps even traumatic."

  Nicholas reluctantly nodded.

  "Then why don’t you start at the beginning?" she encouraged, the patience and compassion she’d acquired in her work with abused children guiding her now.

  He finally looked at Hannah. The stark emptiness in his eyes chilled her heart, but she cared too deeply about his emotional well–being and loved him too much now to ever abandon him. Whatever his personal burdens, she intended to share them—all of them.

  "You make it sound easy."

  "That’s not my intention, Nicholas, but you have to admit that I’m operating at a slight disadvantage here. So, the best thing I can do for you right now is to listen."

  She watched him thrust the fingers of his right hand through his still–damp hair. A stray lock escaped and fell back across his forehead. Hannah quelled the urge to reach out and smooth it out of the way, just as she forced herself to smother the urge to put arms around Nicholas and hold him.