Bunny and the Beast(Divine Creek Ranch 22)(40)
While “Let It Be Me” by Ray LaMontagne played, he held her close, and they swayed to the slow, soothing rhythm. He smiled, unsurprised she was familiar with the song when she began to sing along. Her voice had a sexy rasp to it as she sang softly, her hands stealing around his waist so she was against him from her forehead to her toes, as if she’d been molded just for him.
She went silent as the vocalist sang the last refrain, and he leaned down to kiss her, taking her warm lips and drinking in her sweetness, and the pliant sensuality of her body. Her soft moan against his lips sent a keen vibration through him that went straight to his cock, and he wallowed in her acceptance as she tightened her hold and kissed him back.
Her lips were tender and a brighter shade of rose when he released her. “Is your grandmother expecting you home tonight?”
The gulp was audible as she shook her head. “I told her I was staying over with a friend. She’s at home with Tristan.”
“Am I your friend, Bunny?”
Blinking her beautiful eyes, she said, “It’s a good way to start, don’t you think? I would want a lover to be my friend first.”
“I want to be your lover…and more, fiammetta.”
Her answer was her kiss.
Chapter Ten
Bunny slid her fingertips up into the short hair at his nape, returning his kiss, and then winding her arms around his neck when he reached down and gripped her thighs and lifted her to him.
She rubbed her nose against his and giggled. “I better be careful. The air is thin up at this altitude. I feel faint.”
“I’ll take care of you, fiammetta, until you adjust,” he said as he rubbed her nose back. “I can show you a clean bill of health from my doctor, and I’d be happy to use condoms if you’d prefer.”
“Somehow ‘happy’ and ‘condom’ don’t fit well in the same sentence,” she murmured, relieved he’d brought up the subject. “Condoms would probably be best. I’m on the pill and have been for several years. I need to find a doctor in Divine, though. That’s been on my list of things to do since we moved here. I don’t have any medical records with me to prove I’m clean.”
His gray gaze seemed to see beneath the surface, and she wanted to cuddle closer when he brushed one of her wild locks of hair over her shoulder and then caressed her cheek. “I didn’t expect you would. This isn’t a transaction where I provide proof and so do you before we move forward. I wanted to reassure you out of respect. I can recommend an excellent doctor, or you could ask Violet Tyler if you’d rather. I wouldn’t take you to my bed if I thought your sexual habits were questionable, but I am curious about something.”
“What?” she asked, dimly aware he was carrying her across the cavernous space of his bedroom.
“How long has it been since you had sex?”
“Four years,” she whispered against the tanned column of his neck, flushing as she remembered that mistake. The last guy she’d dated seriously was probably part of the reason she’d distrusted Joseph. Talk about controlling.
“That long? You must’ve lived among blind men prior to moving here.”
“Just no one I wanted to be with.”
“So full of mysteries,” he murmured.
She could tell by his tone he was smiling, but he didn’t press her for more information, and damned if that didn’t make her want to pour out all her secrets to him.
He stopped beside a tall window and looked out, and she sighed with pleasure as he slowly rocked her back and forth. It was late, and the full moon was making its descent. She could remember rolling her eyes when reading passages in romance novels that spoke of the heroine melting in the hero’s arms, but that was just how it felt as he held her.
He clutched her to him and groaned. She felt how hard he was through the layers of clothing, and her pussy responded with a warm ache growing outward from her center.
After squeezing her still-tingly butt cheek, he placed her on her feet and set about unbuttoning her shirt, sliding it down her arms, and then lifting the camisole over her head. Kneeling in front of her, he unbuttoned her jeans and tugged them over her hips.
She placed her hands on his to halt his progress. “This isn’t very Dom-like behavior, with you kneeling in front of me. Aren’t I supposed to be the one kneeling and doing all the work?”
Joseph’s chuckle had an edge to it that sent all of her nerve endings on alert. “You’ve been reading too many romance novels, Bunny. I’ll get to the more ‘Dom-like’ later, but I’m quite comfortable here. I may be kneeling in front of you, but I still get to do what I want, namely this.”