“I don’t know,” she said in a somewhat shaky voice. “It might make you want to stop.”
Not hardly, he thought, and knew he needed to convince her of that. “There’s nothing you can tell me that’s going to stop me from giving you want you want. Nothing,” he said fervently.
She gazed up into his eyes and he knew she believed him. She held the intensity in his gaze when she leaned forward and whispered. “I’m still a virgin.”
“Oh, Gemma,” he said, filled with all the love any man could feel for a woman at that particular moment. He had suspected as much, but until she’d confessed the truth, he hadn’t truly been certain. Now he was, and the thought that he would be the man who carried her over the threshold of womanhood gave him pause, had him searching for words to let her know just how he felt.
He hooked her chin with his fingers as he continued to hold her gaze. “You trust me enough with such a precious gift?”
“Yes,” she said promptly without hesitation.
Filled with both extreme pleasure and profound pride, he bent his head and kissed her gently while sweeping her off her feet into his arms.
* * *
When Callum placed her on his bed and stepped back to stare at her, one look at his blatantly aroused features let Gemma know that he was going to give her just what she had asked for. Just what she wanted.
Propped up against his pillow, she drank him in from head to toe as he began removing his shoes. Something—she wasn’t sure just what—made her bold enough to ask. “Will you strip for me?”
He lifted his head and looked over at her. If he was shocked by her request, he didn’t show it. “Is that what you want?”
“Yes.”
He smiled and nodded. “No problem.”
Gemma shifted her body into a comfortable position as a smile suffused her face. “Be careful or I’ll begin to think you’re easy.”
He shrugged broad shoulders as he began removing his shirt. “Then I guess I’ll just have to prove you wrong.”
She chuckled. “Oooh, I can’t wait.” She stared at his naked chest. He was definitely built, she thought.
He tossed his shirt aside and when his hand went to the zipper of his jeans, a heated sensation began traveling along Gemma’s nerve endings. When he began lowering the zipper, she completely held her breath.
He slid the zipper halfway down and met her gaze. “Something I need to confess before I go any further.”
Her breath felt choppy. “What?”
“I dreamed about you last night.”
Gemma smiled, pleased with his confession. “I have a confession of my own.” He lifted his brows. “I dreamed about you, too. But, then, I think it was to be expected after last night.”
He went back to slowly easing his zipper down. “You could have come to my bedroom. I would not have minded.”
“I wasn’t ready.”
He didn’t move as he held her gaze. “And now?”
She grinned. “And now I’m a lady-in-waiting.”
He threw his head back and laughed as he began sliding his pants down his legs. She scooted to the edge of the bed to watch, fascinated when he stood before her wearing a skimpy pair of black briefs. He had muscular thighs and a nice pair of hairy legs. The way the briefs fit his body had her shuddering when she should have been blushing.
All her senses suddenly felt hot-wired, her heart began thumping like crazy in her chest and a tingling sensation traveled up her nerve endings. She felt no shame in staring at him. The only thing she could think of at that moment was that her Aussie was incredibly sexy.
Her Aussie?
She couldn’t believe her mind had conjured up such a thought. He wasn’t hers and she wasn’t his. At least not in that way. But tonight, she conceded, and whenever they made love, just for that moment, they would belong to each other in every way.
“Should I continue?”
She licked her lips in anticipation. “I might hurt you if you don’t.”
He chuckled as he slid his hands into the waistband of his briefs and slowly began easing them down his legs. “Oh my…” She could barely get the words past her throat.
Her breasts felt achy as she stared at that part of his anatomy, which seemed to get larger right before her eyes. She caught a lip between her teeth and tried not to clamp down too hard. But he had to be, without a doubt, in addition to being totally aroused and powerfully male, the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. And he stood there, with his legs braced apart, his hands on his hips and with a mass of hair flowing around his face, fully exposed to her. This was a man who could make women drool. A man who would get a second look whenever he entered a room, no matter what he was wearing. A man whose voice alone could make woman want to forget about being a good girl and just enjoy being bad.
She continued to stare, unable to do anything else, as he approached the bed. She moved into a sitting position to avoid being at eye level with his erection.
Gemma couldn’t help wondering what his next move would be. Did he expect her to return the favor and strip for him? When he reached the edge of the bed, she tilted her head back and met his gaze. “My turn?”
He smiled. “Yes, but I want to do things differently.”
She lifted a confused brow. “Differently?”
“Yes, instead of you stripping yourself, I want to do it.”
She swallowed, not sure she understood. “You want to take my clothes off?”
He shook his head as a sexy smile touched his lips. “No, I want to strip your clothes off you.”
And then he reached out and ripped off her blouse.
* * *
The surprised look on her face was priceless. Callum tossed her torn blouse across the room. And now his gaze was fixed on her chest and her blue satin push-up bra. Fascinated, he thought she looked sexy as hell.
“You owe me for that,” she said when she found her voice.
“And I’ll pay up,” he responded as he leaned forward to release the front clasp and then eased the straps down her shoulders, freeing what he thought were perfect twin mounds with mouth-watering dark nipples.
His hand trembled when he touched them, fondled them between his eager fingers, while watching her watch him, and seeing how her eyes darkened, and how her breath came out in a husky moan.
“Hold those naughty thoughts, Gemma,” he whispered when he released her and reached down to remove her sandals, rubbing his hands over her calves and ankles, while thinking her skin felt warm, almost feverish.
“Why do women torture their feet with these things?” His voice was deep and husky. He dropped the shoes by the bed.
“Because we know men like you enjoy seeing us in them.”
He continued to rub her feet when he smiled. “I like seeing you in them. But then I like seeing you out of them, too.”
His hand left her feet and began inching up her leg, past her knee to her thigh. But just for a second. His hand left her thigh and shifted over to the buttons on her skirt and with one tug sent them flying. She lifted her hips when he began pulling the skirt from her body and when she lay before him wearing nothing but a pair of skimpy blue panties, he felt blood rush straight to his heads. Both of them.
But it was the one that decided at that moment to almost double in size that commanded his attention. Without saying a word, he slowly began easing her panties down her thighs and her luscious scent began playing havoc with his nostrils as he did so.
He tossed her panties aside and his hands eased back between her legs, seeing what he’d touched last night and watching once again as her pupils began dilating with pleasure.
And to make sure she got the full Callum Austell effect, he bent his head toward her chest, captured a nipple in his mouth and began sucking on it.
“Callum!”
“Umm?” He released that nipple only to move to the other one, licking the dark area before easing the tip between his lips and sucking on it as he’d done to the other one. He
liked her taste and definitely liked the sounds she was making.
Moments later he began inching lower down her body and when his mouth came to her stomach, he traced a wet path all over it.
“Callum.”
“I’m right here. You still sure you want me?” His fingers softly flicked across her womanly folds while he continued to lick her stomach.
“Oh, yes.”
“Are there any limitations?” he asked.
“No.”
“Sure?”
“Positive.”
He took her at her word and moved his mouth lower. Her eyes began closing when he lifted her hips and wrapped her legs around his neck, lowered his head and pressed his open mouth to her feminine core.
* * *
Pleasure crashed over Gemma and she bit down to keep from screaming. Callum’s tongue inside her was driving her crazy, and pushing her over the edge in a way she’d never been pushed before. Her body seemed to fragment into several pieces and each of those sections was being tortured by a warm, wet and aggressive tongue that was stroking her into a stupor.
Her hands grabbed tight to the bedspread as her legs were nudged further apart when his mouth burrowed further between her thighs and his tongue seem to delve inside her deeper.
She continued to groan in pleasure, not sure she would be able to stop moaning even when he ceased doing this to her. She released a deep moan when the pressure of his mouth on her was too much, and the erotic waves she was drowning in gave her little hope for a rescue.
And then, just like the night before, she felt her body jackknife into an orgasm that had her screaming. She was grateful for the privacy afforded by the seclusion of Callum’s condo.
“Gemma.”
Callum’s deep Australian voice flowed through her mind as her body shuddered nearly uncontrollably. It had taken her twenty-four years to share this kind of intimacy with a man and it was well worth the wait.
“Open your eyes. I want you to be looking at me the moment I make you mine.”
She lifted what seemed like heavy lids and saw that he was over her, his body positioned between her legs, and her hips were cupped in the palms of his hands. She pushed the thought out of her mind that she would never truly be his, and what he’d said was just a figure of speech, words just for the moment, and she understood because at this moment she wanted to be his.
As she gazed up into his eyes, something stirred deep in her chest around her heart and she forced the feeling back, refusing to allow it to gain purchase there, rebuffing the very notion and repudiating the very idea. This was about lust, not love. He knew it and she knew it as well. There was nothing surprising about the way her body was responding to him; the way he seemed to be able to strum her senses the same way a musician strummed his guitar.
And then she felt him, felt the way his engorged erection was pressed against her femininity and she kept her gaze locked with his when she felt him make an attempt to slide into her. It wasn’t easy. He was trying to stretch her and it didn’t seem to be working. Sweat popped on his brow and she reached up and wiped his forehead with the back of her hand.
He saw her flinch in pain and he went still. “Do you want me to stop?”
She shook her head from side to side. “No. I want you to make it happen, and you said you’ll give me what I want.”
“Brat,” he said. When she chuckled, he thrust forward. When she cried out he leaned in and captured her lips.
You truly belong to me now and I love you, Callum wanted to say, but knew that he couldn’t. Instead, after her body had adjusted to his, he began moving. Every stroke into her body was a sign of his love whether she knew it or not. One day when she could accept it, she would know and he would gladly tell her everything.
He needed to kiss her, join his mouth to hers the same way their bodies were joined. So he leaned close and captured her mouth, kissing her thoroughly and hungrily, and with a passion he felt through every cell in his body. When she instinctively began milking his erection, he deepened the kiss.
And when he felt her body explode, which triggered his to do likewise, he pulled his mouth from hers to throw his head back to scream her name. Her name. No other woman’s name but hers, while he continued to thrust in and out of her.
His body had ached for this for so long, his body had ached for her. And as a climax continued to rip through them, he knew that, no matter what, Gemma Westmoreland was what he needed in his life and there was no way he would ever give her up.
Eleven
Sunlight flitting across her face made Gemma open her eyes and she immediately felt the hard muscular body sleeping beside her. Callum’s leg was thrown over hers and his arms were wrapped around her middle. They were both naked—that was a given—and the even sound of his breathing meant he was still asleep.
The man was amazing. He had made love to her in a way that made her first time with a man so very special. He’d also fed her last night the tasty meal he’d prepared, surprising her and proving that he was just as hot in the kitchen as he was in the bedroom.
She drew in a deep breath, wondering which part of her was sorer, the area between her legs or her breasts. Callum had given special attention to both areas through most of the night. But with a tenderness that touched her deeply, he had paused to prepare a warm, soothing soak for her in his huge bathtub. He hadn’t made love to her since then. They’d eaten a late dinner, and returning to bed, he had cuddled her in his arms, close to his warm, masculine body. His hands had caressed her all over, gently stroking her to sleep.
And now she was awake and very much aware of everything they’d done the night before. Everything she’d asked him for, he had delivered. Even when he had wanted to stop because last night was her first time, she had wanted to experience more pleasure and he had ended up making it happen, giving her what she wanted. And although her body felt sore and battered today, a part of her felt that last night had truly been worth it.
Deciding to get a little more sleep, she closed her eyes and immediately saw visions of them together. But it wasn’t a recent image. She looked older and so did he and there were kids around. Whose kids were they? Certainly not theirs. Otherwise that would mean…
Her eyes sprang open, refusing to let such an apparition enter her mind. She would be the first to admit that what they’d shared last night had overwhelmed her, and for a moment she’d come close to challenging everything she believed about relationships between men and women. But the last thing she needed to do was get offtrack. Last night was what it was—no more, no less. It was about a curious, inexperienced woman and a horny, experienced man. And both had gotten satisfied to the nth degree. They had both gotten what they wanted.
“You’re awake?”
Callum’s voice sent sensations running across her skin. “Who wants to know?”
“The man who made love to you last night.”
She shifted her body, turned to face him and immediately wished she hadn’t. Fully awake he was sexy as sin. A half asleep Callum, with a stubble chin, drowsy eyes and long eyelashes, could make you come just looking at him.
“You’re the one who did that to me last night, aren’t you?”
A smile curved his lips. “I’m the one who plans to do that to you every night.”
She chuckled, knowing he only meant every night she remained in Australia. She was certain he knew that when they returned to Denver things would be different. Although she had her own little place, he would not be making late-night booty calls on her Westmoreland property.
“You think you have the stamina to do it every night?”
“Don’t you?”
She had to admit that the man’s staying power was truly phenomenal. But she figured, in time, when she got the hang of it, she would be able to handle him. “Yes, I do.”
She then reached out and rubbed a hand across his chin. “You need a shave.”
He chuckled. “Do I?”
“Yes.” Then she grabbed
a lock of his hair. “And…”
“Don’t go there. I get my hair trimmed, never cut.”
She smiled. “That must be an Austell thing, since I see your father and brothers evidently feel the same way. Don’t be surprised if I start calling you Samson.”
“And I’ll start calling you Delilah, the temptress.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “I wouldn’t know how to tempt a man.”
“But you know how to tempt me.”
“Do I?”
“Yes, but don’t get any ideas,” he said. “Last night you made me promise to get you to your new office by ten o’clock.”
Yes, she had made him promise that. He’d told her she could set up shop in the study of the house. He would have a phone installed as well as a fax machine and a computer with a high-speed Internet connection. The sooner she could get the materials she needed ordered, the quicker she could return to Denver. For some reason, the thought of returning home tugged at her heart. This was her third day here and she already loved this place.
“You do want to be on the job by ten, right?”
A smile touched her lips. “Yes, I do. Have you decided when and if you’re returning to Denver?” She just had to know.
“Yes, I plan to return with you and will probably stay until after Ramsey and Chloe’s baby is born to help out on the ranch. When things get pretty much back to normal for Ramsey, then I’ll leave Denver for good and return here.”
She began nibbling on her bottom lip. This was September, and Chloe was due to deliver in November, which meant Callum would be leaving Denver a few months after that. Chances were there would be no Callum Austell in Denver come spring.
“Umm, let me do that.”
She lifted her gaze to his eyes when he interrupted her thoughts. “Let you do what?”
“This.”
He leaned closer and began gently nibbling on her lips, then licking her mouth from corner to corner. When her lips parted on a breathless sigh, he entered her mouth to taste her fully. The kiss grew deeper, hotter and moments later, when he pulled his mouth away, he placed his fingers to her lips to stop the request he knew she was about to make.
Brenda Jackson The Westmoreland Series Books 16-20 Page 38
