He didn't mind bending the rules to make her feel good, but until she told him otherwise, sex was off the table. Which would have sucked completely if he didn't at least get the benefit of watching Desi climax. She was so beautiful, so hot, so gorgeous when she came, and he'd missed seeing it more than he should have if all she'd been to him was a one-night stand.
But there was time enough to deal with that later, to try to figure out where they were going from here and how everything would end up. Right now … right now all he wanted was to get his mouth on Desi and to hear her call his name as she came.
With that thought in mind, he pressed soft kisses in a straight line up from her abdomen. When her tank top got in his way, he pulled it off with a growl and flung it over his shoulder. And there she was, soft, sun-kissed skin and full, heavy breasts. Dark pink nipples peeking between strands of long blond hair.
"Beautiful," he murmured as he looked up at her. "You're so damn beautiful, Desi."
She was looking back down at him, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. She blushed at his words, turned away, but he caught her chin in his hand and gently brought her gaze back down to his.
"Don't hide from me," he told her, underscoring his words with a soft bite to the underside of her breast.
She moaned, her eyes going blurry, and he almost lost it. Almost turned her around, bent her over the counter and took her as he'd dreamed of too many times in the past five months.
But that wasn't what she needed right now-wasn't what either of them needed-and so he tamped down the wildness inside himself and concentrated on her instead. Just her.
The changes in her body were more evident now that she was naked, her stomach round, her breasts full and swollen, her nipples bright pink and hard as rubies. She was still tan, golden, but for the first time he could see blue veins running beneath the delicate skin of her breasts.
They made her seem so fragile, so delicate, and he forced himself to be gentle as he cupped her breasts in his hands. She gasped, and he asked, "Are they sore?" before leaning in to trace the upper curves with his tongue. "The books say-"
"They're okay. A little sensitive, but if you're gentle-"
Her breath broke as he licked his way closer and closer to her nipple. Tiny, tender strokes of his tongue meant to both soothe and inflame. He took his time, was as slow and gentle as he knew how to be as he relearned her body after all the long months without her. He kissed and licked and lapped at her, learning every inch-every centimeter-of her breasts all over again.
It took only a couple of minutes before Desi was thrashing against him, her beautiful body trembling with need as she clutched at his back, his shoulders, his hair. He loved the way her hands felt on him, loved even more the way she responded to him. The way she held nothing back. The way she gave him everything.
He wanted to do that for her. Wanted to give her everything. Wanted to make her feel so good that even when this was over, even when she was away from him, she wouldn't remember all her reasons for why they shouldn't be together.
He wanted her to want him-to need him-the same way he needed her.
"Nic, please." She trembled against him, then bucked and arched as she tried to coax him into giving her what she wanted.
He laughed and pulled his mouth completely away, but stayed close enough that she could still feel his breath on her nipple. She moaned in response, grabbing his head in her hands and tangling her fingers in his hair as she tried to pull him back to her breast.
"Don't tease me," she pleaded.
"Baby, I haven't begun to tease you." He curled his tongue around her areola and sucked it into his mouth hard enough to have her gasping.
"Too much?" he asked, immediately softening the pressure. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her.
"No! Please. I'm so close. I'm-" She broke off as he stripped her pajama pants down her legs and tossed them aside. "Take me," she said. "Please, Nic, I want to feel you."
"I'm right here," he told her, kissing his way down to her firm, round stomach. The noises she was making, the things she was saying-they were revving him up, making it harder for him to be careful. Harder for him to take his time.
Even as he tried to calm down, his hands were rough when he parted her trembling thighs. She cried out and he soothed her with a kiss to the soft skin right above her navel. Then he pulled back and just looked at her for long seconds. "You're so beautiful, Desi. So damn beautiful." He stroked a finger right down the center of her.
As he did, he noticed a small tattoo on her inner thigh that hadn't been there five months before. He spread her legs wider so that he could get a better look.
"I like this," he murmured, leaning forward so his mouth brushed against the tattoo. "It's new."
"I got it on a trip I took to San Francisco, before I knew I was pregnant."
"It suits you." He nuzzled at the small tattoo, licked over it again and again. He moved on, skimming his lips over her hip bone and her abdomen as he stopped to explore each curve and freckle.
"I can't-Nic, I'm going to fall," Desi cried out, her hands clutching his shoulders.
"I won't let you." His mouth closed over her navel, and he fought to keep his tongue gentle as he probed her belly button and the soft skin of her belly. "I've got you, Desi. I promise. I've got you."
And then he was moving on, moving down, his lips skimming over the curve of her stomach, down the side of her hip. He made little forays under her hip bone, delicate touches and sharp little nips, all designed to make the fire burn hotter inside her.
And then he was there, right there, his mouth poised over her sex. She smelled delicious, like warm honey, and for long seconds he just knelt there, his cheek pressed against her as he tried to absorb her scent. He took a deep breath, then another and another, even as his thumbs stroked closer and closer to her slick, sexy folds.
With each slide of his thumb, Desi trembled more. With each press of his fingers into her hip, she took a shuddering breath. And when he moved forward, blowing one long, warm stream of air against her, she started to cry, her body spasming with even the lightest touch.
He was nearly as desperate as she was, his erection so hard he feared he might actually come in his pants like a teenager with his first girl. But this wasn't about him getting off, he reminded himself viciously. This was about giving Desi as much pleasure as her body could handle.
He wanted to savor her, wanted to push her higher than she'd ever gone before and then send her flying over the edge.
He knew he didn't have much longer, though, not with the way she was coming apart in his hands, her body so sensitive and responsive it humbled him even as it made him sweat.
"You're unbelievable," he muttered as he delivered one long, lingering lick along her sex. "So sexy, so gorgeously responsive, I could just-" He stopped talking as Desi screamed, her hands grabbing his hair. He kissed her a second time, then again and again, lingering each time on her most sensitive spot.
And then his name fell from her lips like a prayer as she hurtled over the edge of ecstasy. He held her while she came, stoking the flames higher and higher until she screamed silently, her hands holding him as if he was a lifeline. And when her body came back to earth, he held her still and murmured sweet nonsense words as he pressed gentle kisses to every part of her he could reach.
When she was lucid again-when she'd stopped trembling and her eyes grew a little more focused, a little less dazed-she sank to the ground beside him and started to unbuckle his belt. Though it cost him, he stopped her with a gentle hand over hers.
"Don't you want … ?" She looked confused, and maybe even a little hurt, which was the last thing he was going for.
"Believe me, I want," he told her, pulling her into his lap and cuddling her against him. "But not now, when we still have so many things unsettled between us."
"I don't understand. I thought you wanted me. I thought-" She broke off, looking away.
"Don't do that, baby. Talk to me." Gently, he turned her face back to his. "What did you think?"
"I don't know, I just … I made the no-sex rule, but I thought that was more for you than for me. And now I'm the one taking advantage of you, and-"
He laughed. He couldn't help it. "Oh, honey, you can take advantage of me anytime you want."