His mouth captured hers as he lay back, bringing her atop him in the process, the softness of her flesh sinking into him. Moments later she lifted her mouth and stared down at him. “We still have some clothes on,” she whispered in the silence of the room.
He shifted his body, placed her beneath him and then leaned up and began removing her bra. The moment he uncovered her breasts, his senses jolted and desire slammed into him. They were high, sensuously shaped with protruding dark-tipped nipples that seemed to beg for his tongue. There was no way he could resist.
He cupped a breast in his hand as his mouth greedily latched onto it and began devouring it with deep male appreciation and far-reaching primitive hunger, trying to pull all the sweetness out of it. A rapturous gasp tore from deep within her throat, and moments later, when she shuddered and cried out his name, he was amazed that she had climaxed just from him kissing her breasts.
Good. It would make what he intended to do next even more enjoyable for the both of them. He pulled back slightly, ran his hands down her thighs, fingering the edge of her lace panties. He touched her there in the center and found the fabric damp. He was definitely grateful for that.
Without wasting any time, he removed her panties and then just as quickly he leaned back and removed his own underwear. He looked at her and immediately thought of a chocolate sundae, his favorite treat. He leaned forward and began nuzzling the soft skin of her flat stomach, licking the area around her navel. Her feminine scent surrounded him, making his body harden even more.
“Tag, what are you doing?” she asked, barely able to get the words out.
He lifted his mouth long enough to say, “I’m about to eat you alive, sweetheart. You look beautiful, sexy and delicious.” As soon as those words left his mouth he eased his head between her open legs and captured her with his mouth, kissing her there.
“Tag!”
He didn’t let up and when she began squirming beneath his mouth, he gripped her hips to keep her still as his tongue continued to devour her in this very intimate way. The succulent taste of her pushed him over the edge and made him even greedier, as desire rocketed through his veins, making him growl low in his throat.
He felt her feminine muscles suddenly clench beneath his mouth and then she came and his tongue savored each and every orgasmic vibration that filled him with more of her taste. She rocked her pelvis upward at the same time as she screamed out his name again.
Before she could catch her next breath, he quickly put on a condom and then eased his body over hers, positioning his erection right smack against her satiny flesh, settling his hips in the cradle between her thighs.
“Open your eyes and look at me, Renee.”
Their eyes met and the glaze of stark passion he saw there filled him with male satisfaction. “Don’t see color when you look at me,” he whispered huskily as he began easing inside of her. “Don’t think of social status when you feel me inside of you,” he continued, his voice rough and low. “Think of passion, desire. Think of me…the man who wants you.”
He continued going deeper into her, holding her gaze. “Say my name, baby.”
Renee bit her lip, trying to stop the fears of the future from overtaking her mind. She knew if she said his name now, when they were like this, it would become embedded in her soul forever. He had already found a way into her heart, but to take part of her soul…
“Say it.”
Tag tilted his head up and stared down at her. He was buried deeply inside of her, to the hilt. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her but she had been so tight and entering her hadn’t been easy. He held still, refusing to move his hips until she acknowledged that what they were sharing was passion between a man and a woman, and color and social status had nothing to do with it. On this point he was determined to be of one accord with her. In a voice that was lower still, he whispered, “Speak my name.”
Renee dug her fingers into his back, unable to fight it any longer. He was so intensely male that she knew who he was and what he was to her, whether she wanted to admit it or not. She would admit it but on her own terms. “Speak mine,” she countered.
He stared at her and smiled and brushed his fingertips against her cheek. “Renee,” he said huskily.
The caress was so tender that she fell deeper in love with him at that precise moment. “Tag.” And as every cell in her body vibrated in response to his touch, she said his name again. “Tag.”
He leaned down and buried his face in the curve of her neck, holding her close to him. Now that they had put things into prospective, at least for the time being, Tag began moving inside of her, mating with her in a way he’d never done with another woman. He felt the quivering deep in her womb with each and every push and pull. He feasted on her mouth, on her breasts while he increased the pressure, multiplied the thrusts and enhanced their bodies’ rhythm.
Moments later when she flew apart, he was flying right along with her. A release, of a magnitude he had never before experienced, ripped from him, shattering him to a degree that made his thighs quake. The low, guttural sound from his throat was necessary to keep the veins from popping in his neck when he threw his head back. He was worshipping her body, claiming her as his.
And he knew when another climax suddenly rammed through him, to piggyback with the first, that no matter what protests Renee might continue to make about them pursuing a relationship, there was no way he could ever let her go.
“I don’t want to leave you tonight,” Tag’s dark-velvet voice murmured softly against Renee’s ear, bringing her awake.
She opened her eyes and gazed up into his deep-blue ones and gave him a sleepy smile as she thought of all they had done together for the past few hours. “Then don’t.”
“Is that an invitation?” he asked, leaning down and kissing her jaw, savoring the line around her lips with his tongue.
Renee’s senses immediately responded. “Yes,” she purred against his lips. “That’s an invitation.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her mouth to welcome his strong, hot tongue that started seducing her all over again, sucking her very breath. At the same time his hand traveled down her naked body to the apex of her thighs. Within minutes he had her writhing and moaning into his mouth.
He slowly lifted his lips from hers and his gaze roamed over her face as he pulled a shuddering breath into his lungs. “I can’t get enough of you, Renee. It’s like you’re entrenched within every pore in my body.”
She watched as he stood to pull another condom from his wallet and swiftly roll it into place. When he returned to the bed she held his gaze as he slid his body over hers once more, her thighs automatically opening for him. Like dry tinder, her body ignited when joined to his, and she could feel the tension building inside of her as she raced forward, fast and furious, toward the release he was driving her to.
Moments later she screamed his name, as she felt herself shattering into a thousand pieces. He continued his intimate strokes, withholding his release with ironclad control while pushing deeper and deeper still. Ecstasy seized her once again and a sensuous cry tore from her lips at the same time she felt him buck and call out her name.
Tag continued to murmur her name repeatedly and it sounded like music to her ears. She slid her hands up over the tense muscles of his back, kneading them as she savored the slow aftermath of what they were sharing. A part of her knew it was time to start pulling back. She was falling in love with him even more and was beginning to need him too desperately.
She knew if she didn’t start thinking straight that she would find herself in deep trouble, but at that moment the only thing she wanted to think about was Teagan Elliott, what he meant to her and how he was making her feel.
Seven
T ag slowly began waking just as the first light of morning shone into the room. He breathed in deeply as Renee’s sensuous, womanly scent was drawn into his nostrils.
Shifting his body, he glanced over at the empty spot in the be
d but relaxed at the sound of the shower. He looked at the clock. It was a little past six. He sprawled on his back and threw one arm across his face to ward off the daylight that was coming through the window blinds. Instinctively, he ran a tongue over his top lip and discovered the taste of Renee was still there, and without any control he released a groan of pleasure at the memory.
Last night had been special to him in many ways and even now his body was exhausted, drained from spent passion. But if she were to walk out of the bathroom, he would be revived and want her all over again.
But by no means, regardless of how sexually compatible they were, did he think what they were sharing was all about sex and nothing more. He had been there with other women, but this thing with Renee was different. He sighed as an unexplainable sensation began developing deep within his chest and a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding forced its way from his lungs. He wasn’t sure what any of this meant but he did know that no matter what problems she thought they had, they would work them out because he had never wanted a woman like he wanted Renee.
With that thought in mind he shifted back on his stomach, buried his head into the pillow and slowly drifted off to sleep again.
Renee adjusted the shower cap on her head as she stood beneath the spray of water. The soreness in her thighs and the area between her legs were a blatant reminder of how long it had been since she had made love to a man, and never with the intensity of what she had shared with Tag.
She had lost count of the number of times they had come together during the night, but each time the pleasure had intensified even more. She had slept with only two other men in her lifetime, a guy she’d dated in college and Dionne. Neither had had the time or the inclination to prolong their lovemaking, and would never have considered withholding their own pleasure to make sure that she soared to the highest peak.
But Tag had.
He had proven there wasn’t a selfish bone in his body when it had come to pleasuring her, and no woman could ask for more than that. The thought of everything he’d done made her quiver, deep down in her womb.
She sighed deeply. It was a new day and with it came all the insecurities of yesterday. Nothing had changed. He was white and she was black; he was rich and she was a working girl. But none of that could stop her from thinking about how right he had looked in her bed when she’d slipped out of it, being careful not to wake him. Although it was Friday, it was a busy workday for her, but Tag had a position within his family’s company where he could make his own hours, and since he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, there was no telling when he would wake up.
Turning off the water, she stepped out of the shower. She had meetings most of the day and couldn’t afford to be late. She would be as quiet as she could while dressing for work. She wasn’t used to having a houseguest, especially one like Tag.
Tag awoke with a jolt at the sound of a car backfiring. He sat up and glanced at the empty spot in the bed beside him and saw the note pinned to the pillow.
I had to leave for work. Thanks for everything last night. Renee.
A smile touched his lips. She was always thanking him whether he wanted her to or not. But in this case it should be him thanking her. Everything they had shared had been special and he had gotten the best sleep he had in a long time, ever since that outrageous feud between the magazines and his mother’s bout with cancer.
Last night he and Renee had shared a night of passion but he wondered what her thoughts were today. Would she allow their relationship to move to the next level without making a big deal out of things? Maybe it was pure possessiveness on his part, but he didn’t intend to wait around for her to call the shots. He wanted to be with her, to continue to share this special relationship with her and he refused to let her end things between them before they got started. Somehow he had to show her that with them, color and social status didn’t matter. And he intended to start doing so today.
Getting out of bed, he crossed the room to dig his cell phone out of his pants pocket. Within minutes he had his secretary on the line. “Joanne, clear my calendar of any appointments and meetings this morning. I won’t be coming in before noon. And tell Gannon to call me the minute he gets back from his meeting with Rick Howard.”
He then placed a call to his father to check on his mother. The news wasn’t too uplifting. His mother was still withdrawn, not very talkative and still wasn’t ready to see her children.
Sighing deeply, he then placed a call to a florist and ordered a dozen red roses to be delivered to Renee. And last but not least, he dialed the phone number for his good friend Alton Malone.
“Hey, Al, this is Tag. That painting you had displayed at Hollis on Saturday, I want it.”
He smiled when his friend joked about Tag having enough of his paintings already. “It’s not for me but for someone I’ve met. Someone special.”
Tag laughed when he heard Alton pretend to be gasping for breath. Like Tag’s siblings, Alton knew how limited his time was when it came to indulging in affairs. “Okay, knock it off, and yes, I think she’s special. I think she’s very special.”
Renee leaned back in her chair and stared at the vase of flowers that had arrived that day. To say they were beautiful would be an understatement, and it didn’t take long for word to get around the office that Renee Williams, the quiet, keeps-to-herself social worker who never dated, must have finally found a boyfriend since she had gotten flowers—and a dozen long-stem red roses at that.
She was glad she had taken off the card and inserted it into her desk drawer before Diane had breezed into her office to see the flowers that everyone was whispering about. Diane had looked high and low for the card, evidently feeling she had every right to read it.
But as far as Renee was concerned, it was a card meant for her to read in private, and since she had a few moments alone now, she pulled it out of her desk and reread Tag’s words.
Last night meant more to me than you’ll ever know. Have dinner with me tonight so I can thank you properly. Tag.
Renee sighed. According to Vicki, Tag had called twice while she had been in meetings. More than likely he wanted to confirm that she would be free to go out to dinner with him tonight.
She stood and went to the window. Although there was no way she would regret what she shared with Tag last night, a part of her knew it may have sent him the wrong message. Her thoughts and feelings on them dating hadn’t changed. She wished things could be different but they weren’t and she had accepted that. If only he would.
She turned when the phone rang on her desk and quickly crossed the room to pick it up. “Yes, Vicki?”
“Mr. Teagan Elliott is on the line for you.”
Renee briefly closed her eyes, inhaled deeply. “All right, please put him through.” Her legs felt weak as she eased into the chair behind her desk.
“Renee.”
She swallowed upon hearing the sound of her name from Tag’s lips, those same lips he had used to make love to her. His skill and virility in the bedroom surpassed anything she’d ever known. “Yes, Tag, it’s Renee.”
“How are you feeling?”
She knew why he was asking. No woman made love as many times as they had last night without feeling some discomfort. But then a part of her didn’t mind the discomfort. The pleasure she had received had made any discomfort well worth it. “I’m feeling okay, and you?”
“I feel better than I’ve felt in a long time and you’re the reason.”
She nervously licked her lips as she glanced across the room at the flowers. “Thanks for the roses. They’re beautiful.”
“And so are you. I don’t think there’s an inch on your body that isn’t beautiful.”
Abruptly she flushed and moved her gaze away from the flowers, remembering just how much of her body he had seen, touched, tasted. Red-hot embers swiftly flickered to life within her, forcing her to remember every moment, every intimate detail. “Tag, I don’t think…” Her voice trailed of
f. The fact of the matter was that at the moment she couldn’t think. She could only remember, and the memories were overwhelming her.
“Have dinner with me tonight, Renee. I want to take you someplace special.”
She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. “Tag, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“And I happen to think it’s a wonderful idea, unless…”
Involuntarily, she reopened her eyes. “Unless what?”
“Unless you’re ashamed to be seen with me.”
She sat straight up in her chair. “That’s not it and you know it,” she defended stubbornly. “I have been seen with you. I was with you last Saturday and again last night.”
“But I don’t consider those real dates. I want to take you out to dinner and dancing.”
“But I’ve told you that I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to take things further,” she implored, desperately needing for him to understand. Why couldn’t he get it that they were from two different worlds in more ways than one?
“Too late, sweetheart. We’ve already taken things further. In my book they can’t get any further then they got last night. You might chalk it up to merely a night of passion, a night we lost our heads to lust, but I consider it something more solid and substantial. If you don’t think so, then I need to convince you otherwise. Don’t try to make what we shared last night nothing more than casual and fun. It was more and you know it.”
Renee bowed her head. Yes, she knew it. She also knew something else that he didn’t know. She loved him.
“Have dinner with me tonight, Renee. Please.”
Renee lifted her head. What would it hurt if she had dinner with him? Maybe she could use that time to convince him there were too many issues facing them in a relationship. And then there was the fact that she did want to be with him, share time with him, make love to him again, even though she shouldn’t.
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