Even as a fresh hit of need nailed him, guilt rose. “Tatiana, I shouldn’t—”
“I’ve told you again and again, you should. In fact, speaking of all the things the two of us should be doing together...” She purposely left him hanging there for a few seconds, not because she was an actress who knew how to play her audience, but because she was a beautiful woman with an innate sense of just how to make her lover crave her more with every second she spent in his arms. “I know I don’t have the sexual experience you do—”
“Jesus, if you knew anything more we might never make it outside a bedroom ever again.”
Did she have any idea how sensual her answering smile was? Clearly, she liked the idea of being locked in a bedroom with him forever. And because something told him her question would likely do more than just rile him up, he decided to do whatever he could to get her to forget all about it. But though she let him roll her beneath him for yet another heated kiss that he couldn’t resist taking from her, when he made himself pull back for a moment to let her breathe, he could see that she hadn’t forgotten what she wanted to say. His beautiful, brilliant girl never did.
His?
No, she wasn’t really his, he reminded himself silently, and brutally. But even as he thought it, his hands tightened on her.
Only here, in this strange island world so completely separated from reality, could he let himself possess her.
Only for as long as the rain and wind drove the leaves from the trees outside, and the rough waves of salt water carved out chunks of the cliffs, could he reach for her and know that she was right there reaching for him, too.
Only for this rare moment in time when he was completely cut off from phones and computers could he devote himself entirely to the beautiful woman beside him.
The storm outside, he knew, would end too soon. But the storm inside of him would rage, crashing between desperate desire and the knowledge that what he had to offer could never be enough for Tatiana.
Ian came out of his swirling thoughts to find Tatiana’s eyes, clear and sparkling, on his. How many of his thoughts had she read? Too many, he was sure. Enough that sometimes he might as well just speak every thought he had out loud.
“Go ahead, ask your question,” he said, in a voice rough with desire—and affection for her that grew from moment to moment.
“Well, I was hoping while we’re here and real life is on hold for a little while, maybe you could teach me…” This time she didn’t draw out her words to tantalize. She did it because she was clearly embarrassed. Her skin was flushed as she finally said, “Things.”
“Things?” The word came out strangled from his throat. “You want me to teach you things?”
“Yes.” Such innocence, even as she made the sexiest request on the planet. “Sexy things.” There was another pause, another moment of obvious bashfulness, before she lifted her bright eyes back to meet his. “Please.”
It was the sweet and simple please that got him. That, and the fact that for all his legendary self-control, in this small room, on this island, in the throes of this storm, he was lost.
Completely, utterly lost in Tatiana. Even when he knew better than to drag either of them deeper...
She watched him, clearly confused as he got up off the bed and walked naked—and aroused—across the room to pick up one of the red-painted wooden chairs. Deliberately, he set the chair at the foot of the bed and sat down on it.
“Touch yourself.”
He could see a thousand new questions pop up in her eyes, but she finally settled on only one. “Is this your way of saying yes?”
He didn’t smile, though he wanted to. He didn’t reassure her, either. She’d said just minutes earlier that it turned her on when he was a little rough. A little hard. Lord knew his erection was as hard as it had ever been from nothing more than looking at her sitting sweet and naked on the crumpled quilt.
“Touch. Yourself.” Each word was spoken as a command, because for all her strength, for all her determination, it was obvious to him that she also loved giving herself up to his dominance in the bedroom. Not every time, perhaps, but definitely tonight.
While he taught her things.
Jesus, he thought as his erection pulsed hard between his thighs, he wanted to pounce on her, wanted to take her again and again until he’d figured out a way to burn through his fierce need for her. Instead, he forced himself to remain on the chair as she blushed and began to slowly slide her hand on top of her stomach.
She bit her lip, the flush now moving from her cheeks to spread over her br**sts. “Do you want me to touch my br**sts? Or...between my legs?”
He didn’t stop his lips from curving into a smile this time. Of course, as an actress, she would ask him for direction. And he would give it to her. Only, it wouldn’t be anywhere close to the kind of direction she was expecting.
“I want you touch yourself the way you have, alone in your bed, naked beneath the sheets, since the day you met me at the wedding.” Her eyes grew even wider as he said, “I want you to show me if my own fantasies about you were right.”
“You fantasized about me?”
“I thought you wanted me to teach you things,” he replied in a deceptively gentle voice, “but from the way you keep stalling with more questions, maybe you aren’t serious, after all.”
That was all it took to persuade her to shift on the bed so that she was lying on her back with her legs falling open on the messy bed covers. From his perfect vantage point, he could see that she was still aroused from their earlier lovemaking, the smooth skin between her thighs plump and slick. Her hair was wet and tangling over her shoulders, where a few marks from his lips and teeth were starting to come into stark bruised relief against the pale skin. There was no order whatsoever to any part of the picture she painted before him...and yet, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever set eyes on.