His nostrils flared as though he was scenting her the way a lion tracks his mate. “On your back.” His words were barely a whisper on the air. “Then close your eyes and put your arms over your head.”
She turned, lay back, and closed her eyes, her body buzzing with desire as she lifted her arms to the pillow.
“Are you ready, baby?” His voice seemed to stroke her, the sheets beneath her heating slowly as she lay there.
“Yes.”
The bed dipped, and he slipped something over her eyes. Cool and smelling like lavender—she realized it was a gel eye mask. As good as a blindfold.
With a caress of soft cloth, he bound her right wrist, pulling her arm higher until she was restrained. He did the same with her left wrist, then put his hands on her ankles. “Do you trust me?”
She couldn’t speak, could only nod. But that was good enough for him as he gently spread her legs and tied her ankles down too.
She was so damned gorgeous, her limbs spread, her skin creamy and flushed with arousal. He wanted to dive on her, take his fill, drown in her, make her scream. Yet he wanted it slow too, wanted to build her to a climax that would rock her world and his. He wanted to worship her body for hours.
And more than anything, he wanted to erase the sorrows of today. Yes, she’d learned a great deal about her brother, but even being the most positive and hopeful person he’d ever met, the dead ends racking up one after the other had to be a killer.
The champagne, the blindfold—and everything else he’d bought—were a temporary escape. As much as he could possibly give her.
“Is this okay?” He didn’t want to frighten her, but he’d found that when sight was taken away and movement was impossible, all the other senses kicked in, intensifying every sensation.
“I’m a million times better than okay.”
Did she have any idea what her eagerness did to him? Especially when it was so perfectly matched to his. “Tell me the moment you’re not. And I’ll stop.”
“Don’t stop.” Her lips were luscious, begging him to taste them. “Please don’t stop.”
He leaned in for a kiss, realizing too late that it was a huge miscalculation. Because one kiss was more than enough to drag him all the way under, rather than allowing him to continue to tease and tempt her until all thoughts but pleasure were driven from her mind. So when his cell phone rang just then, he realized answering it just might be the perfect way to drive her absolutely crazy.
“I’ve got to take this.”
For a moment, she was completely silent, her head turned slightly toward his voice. Then she said, “What?” with total disbelief. “While I’m lying here spread-eagled?”
“It won’t take long.” He grinned. “And while I’m on the call, I want you to lie there thinking about what I’m going to do to you.”
“But—”
He laid his hand gently over her mouth as he picked up the call. “Bruce, thanks for calling me back. I take it you’ve had a look at the spreadsheet I sent over?”
She didn’t make a sound, simply licked his palm—and the shock was so great, so hot, that he almost forgot about Bruce altogether. He simply wanted, his body hard and raging.
Barely listening to his accountant’s response, Matt dragged his fingers down to her knee, only to slide up once more, this time gently slipping his palm over her hot, wet center. She stifled a moan, her body shifting restlessly.
“Sounds good, Bruce,” Matt said, trailing fingers over her abdomen, her skin jumping beneath his touch. “Thanks for taking a look at it so fast.”
By the time he hung up the phone, Ari was writhing on the bed. And it was so damned good, exactly what he’d wanted—to give her long minutes, even hours, where there were no bad things and no sorrow.
Just all the pleasure he had to offer.
Everything was sharper like this—the sound of Matt’s voice, the feel of his hands. She couldn’t see, could barely move. But she could feel him with every sense. And that made it all the more powerful.
His touch on her while he talked to his business associate had been so hot—and so unlike the calm, intelligent businessman and loving father. She loved how, on the road, his outer mask was falling away to reveal the sexy, predatory male he was at his core.
Hearing the sound of his clothes being tossed across the room, one piece after the other, she couldn’t wait for the taste of him, for the feel of his skin against hers as she dragged him inside her. But when the bed dipped a moment later, rather than his hands and mouth on her, the touch was as light and airy as…a feather.
“Tell me how it feels,” he urged as he stroked her nipples, swirling around them.