Just like she felt now.
"Yes," she told him. "I trust you."
"Good," he said. He led her over to the massive king-size bed and said, "Lie down on your stomach."
Even though she couldn't see him behind her blindfold, Leona cocked an eyebrow at him. "Please," he added. She did as he requested. "Scoot a little more toward the middle," he instructed. But he didn't get on the bed, either.
"When do I get to know what it is you've got planned with all these candles and this blindfold?"
He chuckled. Then she felt the mattress shift as Byron kneed onto the bed. She could feel him getting closer, feel the warmth of his breath against her ear. "Very soon, babe. Don't tell me the anticipation isn't driving you crazy."
She shifted her hips, trying to take the pressure off the one place in particular where the anticipation was, in fact, driving her completely nuts. "All right, I won't tell you then. I will tell you, however, that you're being a tease."
She felt the bed shift under him as he moved. She couldn't help it-she tensed. "I consider it turnabout for fair play. Do you know what it did to me to watch you for the past two weeks?" He straddled her legs and said, "Lotion," which her brain hadn't quite made sense of when suddenly there was warm liquid being slicked onto her bare back.
She tensed. "Just massage lotion," Byron repeated. There was a pause, then his strong hands began to work over her body.
"This is what you wanted to do the other night?" she murmured into the pillows as he found a knot in her shoulders and began to rub. "Oh, that feels good."
"I did," he said, his voice thick. "You've been pulling some long days and long nights and a three-minute shoulder rub didn't seem enough. I wanted to take care of you.
"You've changed," he went on. "You were always so quiet, back when you started at the restaurant. For a hostess, you always seemed almost...afraid of people. Like you had to force yourself to smile at them. It was like you didn't want to be noticed."
Leona relaxed under his touch. "I didn't, at first. But you noticed me anyway."
"I did," he agreed, attacking a particularly tight knot in her shoulders. She heard the click of the cap, then he applied more lotion. "I could see then that there was something else going on with you, under the surface. And these past few weeks? Watching you manage the construction and juggle everything? It's been like..." Unexpectedly, he leaned forward and kissed her in the middle of the back. "It's been like watching the woman I always knew was there finally emerging. You're strong and confident and decisive. And I like it."
Oh, my. Even though she still had the silk tied around her eyes, she turned her head to look back at him. "You do?"
This time, when he leaned down, his whole chest pressed against her back. He'd taken off his shirt, she realized when his bare skin came into full contact with hers. "I do. You were always different with me-you relaxed and you were sharp and snarky and I liked it. I liked you." His hands moved over her arms, stretching them out against the bed. "But after a while, it hurt me to watch the woman I loved retreat behind that wall of willing invisibility. I wanted..." He sighed and pushed himself into a sitting position. This time, instead of kneading her shoulders, he trailed his fingers up and down her back in long, sure strokes. "I wanted you to be free enough to be yourself in the daylight, not just at night with me."
She had no reply for that. None at all. Was that how he'd seen her? Someone trapped behind a wall of subservience, someone dying to break free? She'd never thought of herself in those explicit terms-but had Byron been wrong? He'd been her first love, her first rebellion-and the reason she'd left behind a toxic home life when she couldn't bear the thought of her father treating her baby like he treated everyone else.
"I didn't have to be anyone else when I was with you," she said in a quiet voice. "That's why I couldn't stay away from you."
Byron's strong hands were suddenly stroking down until he found the waistband of her panties. He traced the edge for a moment before his hands moved to her thighs. Then he pushed his fingers under the thin cotton fabric. "I'm glad you couldn't," he said as he gripped her bottom.
Leona sucked in air as he massaged her. There was something else in his touch, something that bordered on possessive. "Oh," she moaned as he dug the pads of his fingers into her skin.
She wasn't sure she could relax, not with him working on her like this. The more he loosened up the muscles in her back, the more tense other things seemed to get. The tension inside of her coiled down, tighter and tighter, until she was having trouble keeping her hips still.
Just when she was sure she couldn't take much more, he scooted up. She could feel his erection now, pressing into her bottom, hot and hard and for her. She thought he'd do something else, but instead he went back to work on her shoulders.
All she could do was moan when he hit a particularly tense spot. She let go of the stress of the past few weeks. Her body felt warm and limp under his touch.
He moved again and she expected more oil, but instead he leaned down and kissed her in the middle of her upper back. "How are you doing?"
"Better," she whispered as his mouth moved lower and he trailed kisses down her spine.
She didn't know what he would do next and he was clearly in no hurry to do it. By the time he sat back up and his hands left her body again, she was on the verge of begging for release. Anything he wanted-loud, quiet-anything, as long as he made her come.
When the oil dripped onto the backs of her legs, she jumped. "Easy," he murmured, spreading the oil up her legs and under the edge of her panties. "I'm taking care of you."
"Byron," she moaned, but she didn't know if she was begging or not.
His slick fingers moved in, stroking her sex until this time, she couldn't lie still. She writhed against the bed, the release she needed so close but not there yet. "Please," she moaned.
"You like that?" he asked, his voice ragged as he stroked in and out.
"Yes," she whispered. He slipped a second finger inside of her and her hips bucked from the pressure. "Oh, Byron."
He pulled her panties to one side and kissed the skin he'd exposed. She couldn't help the low moan that escaped her lips as he stroked and kissed her. She fisted her hands in the covers, desperate to hold herself down. "I can't-I can't," she gasped out when he hit just the right spot. A sensation of light and heat shivered through her. The pressure was so good, so intense-she couldn't take it. "Please, Byron. Please."
"Yeah," he said gruffly. "You tell me what you want and let me do everything else. Let me take care of you." Then he bit down on her bottom-not hard, but more than enough to send spikes of pleasure and pain crashing through her body. She moaned as her body writhed under his touch.
"Tell me," he said in a sterner voice.
"I need you." It came out almost as a squeak.
She felt his teeth on her again, pushing those spikes of desire higher into her stomach. "Be specific."
If she hadn't been so turned on, she would have laughed. Who could be specific at a time like this? But as it was, she could barely speak enough to say, "I need you inside of me."
Even though she couldn't see him, she could feel his grin against her skin. "Wait a second-don't move."
Then he pulled away from her-his body, his fingers, his hands. She didn't want to lose his touch. But he'd told her not to move, so she didn't.
Then she heard a crinkle that she guessed went with the opening of a condom. "That's a new one, right?"
"Bought them yesterday. The massage lotion is compatible."
That made her smile. "You planned ahead."
"I can't help it if I can't stop thinking about you. Here." The pillows around her head were pulled away. Then he guided her hips up and shoved the pillows underneath. His hands lingered on her skin. "Okay?"
She couldn't speak-she could only nod. He had her so turned on that it took everything she had to lie still and wait for his next touch.
It came soon enough. He grabbed her panties and roughly yanked them down. Then he was against her. "I'm going to take good care of you, Leona," was the last thing she heard him say before he thrust into her.