“And you have, I suppose?”
“Yes. Colin….” Realizing that somehow the conversation had become personal, Kylie sought a way to change it. “I understand how Stephanie feels, Nick. There was a time when I did what I was told because I didn’t believe in my ability to think for myself. Certainly office rules must be followed. But assertiveness training doesn’t advocate breaking rules. It simply teaches you to respect the rights of others and to expect the same consideration for your own rights.”
“You’re very convincing, Kylie.” He leaned forward to cover her hand with his.
She heard the skepticism in his voice. “But you’re not convinced, are you, Nick?”
“No,” he conceded with a heavy sigh. “But couldn’t we just agree to disagree? After all, what’s a little disagreement between friends?”
“Nothing at all.” She snatched her hand from his touch and pushed back from the table. “I’ll take care of the dishes. You can practice cracking your whip.”
His silence was expressive as she stood and began stacking the plates and silverware. “Kylie.” He paused and seemed to come to a decision. “How about an exciting game of Scrabble?”
A fork clattered against the plate as she looked to see if he was joking. “Scrabble?” she echoed. “I’ll beat you.”
“Doesn’t that appeal to you at the moment?” He smiled, and she was irritated by his attempt at persuasion.
“You’re on, Nick. But no cheating.”
He raised his right hand in solemn denial. “The dictionary and I will be waiting.”
After clearing the table and loading the dishwasher Kylie slipped to her bedroom to change clothes. She exchanged the tailored dress for jeans and a blue checked blouse, combed her hair, then promptly mussed the curls into disorder again. She would make no concessions to whatever amorous plans Nick might have for the evening. Amorous plans, she thought and made a face at her reflection. If previous evenings in his company were any indication, his only advance would be to spell a suggestive word on the Scrabble board.
That was cold comfort, though, especially when she entered the living room and saw Nick. He looked up from his prone position on the floor, propped himself up on an elbow, and motioned for her to join him. It was a casual gesture, but her pulse skipped at the grace of his movements. She veiled her inspection of the sensuous length of his body and lowered herself to sit cross-legged opposite him.
With feigned concentration on the game set out between them, she chose seven letter tiles. She tried to ignore his disquieting appraisal and wondered why her resistance seemed to be ebbing away. Finally she met the seductive amusement in his eyes with a guileless smile. “Your move, Mr. Braden.”
“Yes, it is, isn’t it?” he answered, his tone of voice making it clear that his words had a double meaning. He placed two letters on the game board and recorded his score.
Kylie looked at his word, is, then at her letter tiles, then back to the board. A frown grooved a dimple in her cheek as she realized she had only one playing option. With a show of nonchalance she picked two letters and formed the word kiss.
“Good start,” he commented as he counted her points.
It wasn’t a good start, though, and as the game progressed it went from bad to worse. Her points accumulated steadily, but so did the suggestive words. Ouch became touch, at became pat. When she tried to cheat and make the word beed, Nick called illegal procedure, and she had to shorten it to bed.
The play continued until she was left with an s, which would only fit in front of his ex. She accused him of using a prefix as a word, and while he leafed through the dictionary she discarded the remaining letter and totaled the scores.
“I won,” she announced.
“Oh, no, you didn’t.” He gave her a quelling look. “Ex, as a word, is listed at least four times. You’re not playing fair, and I demand a rematch.”
“You should learn to accept defeat gracefully, Nick.”
“It seems pointless when it happens so seldom.”
Her gaze traced the line of his jaw but found no hint of arrogance. He simply didn’t often lose, even at games of Scrabble. “Of course,” she teased, “that was before you met me.”
She moved her legs to stretch her cramped muscles before reclining full length on the carpet. Too late Kylie realized the unconscious invitation of her position, but she knew that jerking upright would be even more incriminating. So she closed her eyes and hoped Nick wouldn’t notice her vulnerability.
Subtle and seemingly almost reluctant as it was, a man would have to be blind not to notice that invitation, Nick decided. And he wasn’t blind when it came to Kylie. He watched the lifting thrust of her breasts as she breathed and knew the familiar ache of desire. His hand, of its own volition, reached toward her, stopped, and with a betraying tremble returned to his side. Masking a sigh, he rolled onto his back and stared at the beamed ceiling.
She was close. Too close. And he wanted like hell to toss reason on its ear and make love to her. It wouldn’t be difficult. She wasn’t immune to desire. Even now the silence fairly vibrated with awareness. All he had to do was turn and kiss her the way he’d wanted to kiss her for days on end.
Frustration at his own weakness knotted his stomach. It wasn’t that simple at all. He wanted the pleasure of her body, but more than that he wanted her soft and yielding in his arms. He wanted to capture her laughter and replace the rebellious gleam in her eyes with a smile—just for him.
And she would come to him that way if he gave her time. His hands-off strategy had worked so far. He knew she recognized the attraction between them, and she hadn’t done anything to discourage it. At the moment that was small satisfaction, but he’d promised himself that he wouldn’t rush her.
“Kylie? What do you want most in life?” Nick hated the trite question, but he had to do something to keep from touching her, didn’t he?
“Hmmm.” She mulled the question over before answering. “My immediate objective is to make you admit you were wrong about the seminar. I want you to say, on bended knee ‘Kylie, I see the error of my ways, and I apologize for being so bullheaded and opinionated’.”
“I thought you believed in setting realistic goals.” Her laugh was musical, and Nick resolutely closed his mind against its siren call.
“After I convince you and finish the training here, I’ll track down another lead and find someone willing to listen and give Motivation Management a chance. Maybe one day companies will be waiting in line for my seminars.”
“With your persistence I’m sure you’ll succeed.”
“Do you think so? The thought scares me silly.” She raised herself on an elbow and turned toward him. “I suppose I shouldn’t admit that to you.”
“Why not? I can be as understanding as anyone else. Reaching a goal you’ve set for yourself can be frightening because then you have to set new ones.”
The air seemed full of unspoken thoughts and dreams that oddly didn’t need a voice. Without warning he felt the gentle stroke of her finger on his chin, and his resolve crumbled. His hand closed over her wrist, and he pulled her down on top of him. He knew this lapse would probably bring regret later, but for now he had to have a taste, just a taste of her lips.
Hesitation hung between them like a separate presence, and Kylie could only stare into the cloudy depths of his eyes. She had instigated his action unintentionally, but she-knew she couldn’t tease him by resisting. She didn’t want to resist. Or tease. But she was so very unsure of herself with Nick, unsure, but absolutely certain she had to feel his kiss. Her doubts succumbed to temptation, and a sigh escaped her lips as she lowered her mouth to his.
The touch was zephyr soft and melted into her like the first drops of a gentle rain. And, thirsty for him, she returned for another taste. And another, until his hand cupped her nape and urged her to drink more deeply.
It was a lovely, delicate meeting of lips that made her glad she was a woman and could discover pleasure in h
is kiss, in his quiescent strength beneath her fingertips. It was a feeling of power and, at the same time, a reminder of her own weakness—a give and take that required surrender but promised a thousand delights.
He parted her lips with tender insistence, and a silky shiver drifted contentedly through her body. She responded by pressing into his caress, making tentative overtures of enjoyment. She returned the searching thrusts of his tongue and wondered how she could behave so unguardedly. But as he nuzzled a moist path along her cheek, caution seemed a petty intrusion. The sensations alternately racing and floating through her were too delicious to analyze. So she simply savored his scent and the quiet rhythm of his breathing. The rise and fall of his chest beneath her breasts created an unbearable tension inside her.
“Kylie.” He reached her ear and circled its outline with his tongue before searching out the sensitive recesses within. Her fingers entwined the thickness of his dark hair as she tried to answer his whisper.
“Nick?” It was all she could manage over the slow rise of longing in her throat.
“Nothing. Just Kylie.” He moved to the hollow below her ear, and then, deftly, smoothly, he turned her onto her back and positioned himself beside her. His lips found the pulsing ache in her throat and delivered a sensuous promise.
Deep in her mind Kylie heard the voices of reason whisper a warning. She meant to heed their counsel, but her fingers discovered the ripple of muscles across his back, and she had to explore further. Another minute, she soothed the voices. Just another minute—or two.
But the minutes slipped into timeless wonder as Nick returned to taste the sweetness of her mouth. Smoldering tension unfolded inside her with unsettling swiftness, and she forgot everything except the need to cling to him.
Forgot, that is, until she felt the edge of the game board pressing into her back.
She tried to shift away but couldn’t seem to escape the sharp edge. “Nick,” she murmured against his lips. “Nick, the Scrabble board. It’s cutting into my back.”
He lifted her easily and shoved the intruder across the floor. The sound of the tiles scattering in confusion echoed the splintering of her control. Kylie knew she had to stop the seduction now or she wouldn’t have the strength to stop it at all.
She felt the neckline of her blouse part at the insistence of his agile fingers and raised her hand to stop him. But Nick seemed to realize that it was only a token resistance, lacking any real conviction. His hand lowered to the next button, and her hand followed, not assisting but not getting in the way either. She felt the material separate to form a vee, felt the brush of his knuckles between her breasts, felt suddenly hot and breathless.
Nick pressed a treacherously soft kiss on the exposed hollow before lifting his head and looking into her eyes. Once captured, she couldn’t look away as he propped himself up on an elbow and rested his cheek on his palm. His other hand didn’t rest, though. The scalloped edge of her bra burned against her skin with each foray of his fingers underneath it.
Thoughts trembled inside her.
Questions.
Answers.
Scraps of reason that didn’t seem reasonable at all.
She had never experienced anything like this. Nick was different, and for the first time in a very long time she didn’t want to be in control. She wanted to lose herself in his arms, to open herself to this new realm of feelings.
His tender smile quieted her uncertainty. Only the duskiness of his eyes revealed the depth of his emotion.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re about to ask for a rain check, Kylie?”
She drew in her breath. “Would you—give me one?”
He skimmed a kiss from the corner of her mouth. “Only if you insist, and you’re not going to do that.”
“I’m not?” Was that shaky voice really hers?
“You don’t stand a chance, you know. I’ve been taking assertiveness training.”
She tried to frown away his confidence, but her lips lacked the desire to cooperate. The mere huskiness of his voice was magic. “It…it doesn’t work with things like this.”
“I’ll have to mention that to my tutor. Later.”
“Definitely later,” she agreed and then felt the warmth of embarrassment, on her cheeks and in other, more vulnerable places. Uncertainty furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure I meant to say that.”
His fingers trailed upward across her shoulders and neck to tangle in her hair, and his gaze followed. Over and over he brushed through the tendrils, seemingly mesmerized by the way they curled around his hand.
Kylie watched the cleft in his chin come and go, sensing and understanding his tension. Her palm curved along his jaw. “Nick?”
Slowly he turned his head the bare inch needed for him to meet her eyes. The laughter, the teasing was gone. In its place she saw a longing so intense that it spiraled inside her with echoing awareness.
‘I’m rushing you, Kylie,” he said in a throaty voice. “And I didn’t intend to. I meant to give you plenty of time. Plenty of time.” Almost against his will, it seemed, his hand moved to her shoulder and slipped the strap of her bra down her arm. Her blouse gave in to the downward slope, and Kylie made no move to stop it. With a gentle touch Nick lifted the lace covering her breast and lowered it to reveal the swelling fullness growing taut beneath his gaze. His finger circled the evidence of her desire as he searched her eyes for approval or denial. “I want to make love to you, Kylie.”
Yes, her heart answered without hesitation, against all logic, against all reason. In her midnight dreams he was already her lover, seducing her with whispered promises and ethereal caresses. In her daydreams he was the seducer of her thoughts, the temptation she couldn’t seem to resist. And she couldn’t resist him now.
“Nick.” His name was no more than a sliver of sound, but it seemed to echo in the quiet room. Shadows of doubt clouded his eyes as he watched her, and she knew somehow that he thought she was going to refuse.
“Nick, I—”
“Shhh.” His hand went to her lips, urging silence. “I know it’s too soon for you. It’s all right. Waiting will only make the loving sweeter.”
“Waiting?”
He drew back as if he couldn’t bear to be so close and not be allowed to touch her. “I haven’t changed my mind, Kylie. We will be lovers. Not tonight, but soon.”
She lifted her hands to his shoulders, preventing him from moving farther from her side. “Assertiveness principle number four, Nick—don’t procrastinate.”
“What?”
Invitation tipped her smile. “I said, Never put off until tomorrow what you can do—tonight.”
Her meaning registered in the tension-filled stillness that settled over him, His gaze touched her eyes, her lips, her breast in soft desire. Then he bent his head and possessed her mouth with tender reverence. His lips trembled slightly, betraying a depth of feeling that quickened her pulse and tightened her arms in an encircling embrace.
Kylie threaded her fingers through his hair, exerting just enough pressure to deepen the kiss. She dared to tease him with her tongue, content with tentative explorations while his breath filled her.
Their lips clung, parted, then met again. Passion skimmed her veins, robbing her of the last vestige of contentment and leaving her unbearably warm. Now her mouth opened eagerly to accept the imperative demands of his tongue. She had imagined this experience so many times, imagined the powerful seduction of his possessive embrace. But she had never imagined anything that came close to the yearnings that burned inside her. Desire stirred in the pit of her stomach, and her body arched against him in ardent communication.
Smoothly, without breaking the contact of the kiss, Nick sat up, pulling her with him. Then, one agonizingly slow button at a time, he finished unbuttoning her blouse and eased it from her. His lips traced a gentle path over her cheek to the sensitive spot below her ear. Kylie let her head fall against her shoulder to give him access to the curves and hollows of her neck.
Nick discovered each one with tantalizing deliberation as he loosened the fastener of her bra and freed her breasts. She felt wonderfully free and desirable as he leaned back to view her unconcealed beauty. Until that moment Kylie had never found beauty in her body, but now the look in his eyes told her it was there.
With hands that shook she reached toward him, obsessed with the need to see and touch him. He helped her pull the knit shirt up and over his head. Kylie tossed it aside and stared at the dark hair on his chest that invited her exploration. Her fingertips slid lightly through the crisp texture as Nick bent to take the tip of her breast into his mouth. Shivers coursed beneath the surface of her skin as he alternately teased and sucked her nipple. There seemed to be a soft melodic rhythm in the air, and gradually she realized it was the blending of their heartbeats. A melody so hypnotic that she lost all sense of time and movement in its song.
Kylie was dreamily aware that there was too much empty space around her, too much air cooling her. She cupped Nick’s face in her hands, letting her thumbs stroke the corners of his mouth as he kissed her flesh. Her eyes closed in sensual delight as he slowly pulled away from her breast and began to nip at the fleshy pad of her thumb. With a gentle nudge she persuaded him to lift his head and give her room to nestle into his warmth.
Enclosed in the cloak of his embrace, she tried to savor the myriad sensations racing through her. But his every movement brought some new awareness of him, turning the heat of desire to sublimated fire.
Against her breasts Kylie felt the sigh that rose in his chest with erotic roughness. Like rubbing against the nap of velvet. Rich and stimulating and infinitely pleasurable.
Nick rediscovered the taste of her lips as his hand glided beneath the back waistline of her jeans. The snug denim refused to give and trapped his palm against her hips. Kylie released the snap and zipper and moaned softly as he pressed her backward into the carpet. His fingers splayed across the heated skin of her stomach, slipped inside her bikini panties, and found the secrets of her femininity.
Winds of Heaven Page 8
