Lila was poised on the edge of an incredible, tremendous orgasm. Aching with sensation, her entire body trembled. Tom puffed again, the air caressing her so delicately she would not have felt it had she not been so incredibly aroused. She wanted—no, needed—his lips and tongue on her again, but something held her back. She wanted to beg, but could not.
"Lila." The thrum of his whisper nearly sent her over the edge. "Open your eyes and look at me."
She couldn’t look at him; she just could not. Not when he had reduced her to such a quivering bundle of nerves. Lila moaned lightly, her fingers kneading the sheet.
"Lila."
Lila opened her eyes. His hazel gaze didn’t flicker as he met hers. Suddenly, it didn’t matter to Lila if her voice cracked with desire when she spoke. Shame had no place in their lovemaking, nor did embarrassment. Nothing they did together could harm either one of them. All they shared was pleasure, nothing more. And if it gave him pleasure to have her speak, then she would do it.
"Yes, Tom," she murmured. "Please."
With a groan, he dipped his head back between her thighs. One kiss, then another, and she was undone. The tight ball of sensation that had been growing within her could no longer hold together. It shattered, driving a cry of sheer ecstasy from her throat.
She cried his name again, and he pulled her on top of him, unmindful of the stickiness left over from the caramel. She slid onto his length like he was coated in oil and cried out again from the sheer pleasure of him filling her. Tom rested his hands on her hips, but Lila needed no guidance. She rocked with him, moved in the rhythm they both set.
She could see nearly every inch of him as he lay beneath her. Now it was Tom’s turn to close his eyes, and Lila liked watching him that way. His jaw was set fiercely in his arousal. The cords of muscle on his arms stood out as he clutched her hips nearly hard enough to hurt. The smooth ripples of his stomach rolled with each thrust of his hips.
"You feel so good." He opened his eyes. "I love making love to you."
Tom slipped one hand around between them so his thumb could press against her where she needed it most. She was going to climax again. Their rocking sped up. Wanting at the last moment to feel his lips against hers, Lila bent forward to crush her mouth to Tom’s. He moaned inside her mouth as his thrusts became ragged with the force of his passion.
The tingling ecstasy burst through her again just as Tom shuddered beneath her and cried her name over and over. She could feel him throbbing inside her, the sensation sending another, final inferno of feeling through her. Then she collapsed on him as his hands curved around her back to hold her close.
"Wow," Tom said a few minutes later when Lila had rolled off him to snuggle against his side.
Lila laughed. "My thoughts exactly."
"I don’t think this is what your sister had in mind when she wanted us to work together on the food."
"You don’t know my sister." Lila ran a finger down his side. "She’d probably be more excited than I am about this."
He tipped her face until she was forced to meet his eyes. "Are you excited about this?"
Though he tried to shield his expression, Lila still saw the uncertainty lingering in his eyes. It touched her. She knew and understood her reasons for fear because William had certainly given her reason to be wary of handsome men. That Tom might be as uncertain of her was a surprise, but a poignant one.
She reached her mouth up to press a gentle kiss to his. "Tom, you are the best thing that’s happened to me in a very long time."
He didn’t answer her. Instead, he drew her close to him again and pressed his face into her hair. His silence didn’t bother Lila. His actions had meant more than words could ever have.
* * *
Tom woke to the sound of the shower running. Even before he opened his eyes, he knew where he was. Lila’s bed. Her scent, like fresh flowers and baby powder mingled with caramel, lingered on everything.
He stretched a little, and the sheet stuck to his leg. More caramel. Tom tossed the covers back and saw in the light of morning just what damage he’d done to her linens. The delicate flowered pattern was spotted disastrously with gooey caramel and bits of maraschino cherry.
From the doorway, Lila gave him a stern look. "I hope you’re satisfied." She wore the largest, most shapeless robe he’d ever seen, and an equally bulky towel completely covered her hair. She looked captivating. "Those were my very best Laura Ashley sheets."
He grinned, unable to help himself. "I’ll wash them."
With a cry of mock fury, Lila launched herself across the room at him. Thankfully, the huge expanse of terrycloth surrounding her cushioned her landing. She pummeled his bare chest, laughed and met his mouth for a kiss. "You’ll wash them. You’ll get every last speck of caramel off those sheets, or I’ll…."
"You’ll what?" He pinned down her flailing hands. "Spank me?"
Lila laughed again, relaxing against him. "You’d love that."
"Maybe."
She felt so good, lying on him the way she was. Not even, Tom noted with small surprise, in a sexual way. Not that her kiss hadn’t caused him to stir, but she just felt nice when she was near him.
"Penny for your thoughts. Fifty cents to act them out." Lila tickled his side.
"You seem so…comfortable." That was it. It seemed as though they’d been lovers for years. He sensed no awkwardness from her. More surprisingly, he felt none himself.
She looked seriously at him, her blue-ice eyes seeming almost violet in the morning light. "I don’t do things half way, Tom."
"No, you don’t." It was something he’d guessed about her right away. "You don’t feel…weird? Having me in your bed, I mean."
She shook her head. The towel fell off and she didn’t replace it. Her tangled curls fell over her face, and she impatiently pushed them behind her ears.
"I don’t feel awkward about having you in my bed because I invited you into it. I slept with you because I like you. Why would I feel awkward about seeing someone I like?" She appeared to think for a moment. "Is it awkward for you?"
He decided to be honest with her. "I don’t usually stay over."
Her lovely brow furrowed. "Oh."
At once, he wanted her to see, as he did, what a good thing that was. "I never wanted to wake up next to any woman before."
She seemed pleased. "Oh!"
"I think I’d like to do it more often." Tom found himself saying things like that around her. Here, in her bed, with the bright morning light streaming in, it didn’t seem like such a crazy thought.
Lila frowned slightly, pulling away. "Tom, it’s too early in the morning to have this talk. You hardly know me."
"I know enough. I like the way you laugh. I like that you brought me flowers. I like that we can talk for hours. Isn’t that enough?"
She picked fretfully at a thread on her robe. "It ought to be."
"It is."
Their conversation held such irony. In his experience, he had always said the things Lila was saying now. He understood her reluctance because he’d been there so many times himself.
Lila sighed. "I have fun with you. Even though we don’t have anything in common—"
"You keep saying that." He took her hand away from her robe and captured it with his.
"Because it’s true."
Tom sighed and dropped her hand. "We have lots in common."
She quirked her brow at him, but granted him a smile. The grin, slight though it was, eased his mind.
"You drink coffee. I drink tea. You like westerns. I prefer horror. You like ham and cheese. I like matzo ball soup. You like running, and my idea of exercise is walking to the kitchen for a doughnut to go with my tea and my horror novel."
"Those are small things." Tom cupped her face in his hands and gazed into her eyes. "We both like to laugh. We both love our families. We both have jobs we love. Aren’t those more important?"
Lila rested her head against his chest. Her hair was soft against his
skin. Her cheek was smooth. He ran his fingers again and again through her curls and waited silently for her to speak. He’d had enough of these conversations before to know the timing was critical. He had made his decision about her, but that was worthless if she didn’t feel the same. What she said next meant everything. Or nothing.
"I’m afraid."
Tom smiled. "Everyone’s afraid."
She shook her head against him. "I dated a man two years ago. His name was William. He was very handsome, very charming. He was also incredibly arrogant, selfish, and cruel."
He knew where she was going with this, but kept silent. His looks had always been something he used or didn’t use to get what he wanted. Now, for the first time, he wished he had not been blessed with his father’s eyes and his mother’s hair. Tom wished to be average.
Lila sighed. "You’re not like that."
At her words, relief shot through him, making him realize just how certain he’d been she was going to tell him she didn’t want to see him again. She met his gaze. "After he left me, he married a blonde with breasts the size of basketballs and a stomach you could probably bounce a quarter off of. He told me he didn’t want to see me any more because he was done doing me a favor."
"Oh, Lila." He could see the pain in her eyes and wanted to smash the other guy’s teeth in.
She blinked rapidly, clearing away a sheen of tears. Despite her obvious distress, her voice was strong. "He was a jerk. You’re not."
"Lila, you’re intelligent, funny and beautiful. Any guy who couldn’t see that is more than a jerk. He’s a moron."
She bit her lip and ducked her head before looking up at him again. "Thank you. I’m not beautiful, but thank you."
He’d been with plenty of skinny women who complained of being fat, gorgeous women who obsessed over tiny imperfections noticeable only to themselves, and women who downplayed their intelligence so they didn’t intimidate the men they dated. He didn’t get the impression Lila was fishing for compliments, or talking about bad qualities to emphasize the good.
He kissed her. "You’re beautiful."
She blushed. "Stop."
"Do you really think that’s what matters to me?"
She stared at him for a moment before replying. "I think you are used to being with a certain type of woman, Tom. And I’m not…I’m not that type of woman."
She sure wasn’t. "But that’s what I like about you."
Lila ran a hand along his arm, up to his shoulder, then tousled his hair. "That I’m not a sexpot?"
He kissed her hand. "I didn’t say that."
Lila sighed and wriggled closer to him to put her head on his shoulder. Her voice was soft when she answered him. "One step at a time, Tom, okay?"
Another of his own lines come back to haunt him. "Okay."
Her breath heated his chest while her hand stole up to caress his bare skin. "You are the one who’s beautiful, not me."
"Men can’t be beautiful."
"Gorgeous then."
She traced the outline of his nipple with one fingertip. It stood erect at her touch. Tom put his hand over hers to stop her from moving more. He waited until she looked at him quizzically before speaking.
"Is that all I am to you, Lila?"
She licked her lips, then chewed lightly on the soft flesh. "At first."
"What about now?"
"I have a good time with you. A really good time."
He didn’t want to push her further, not when she looked like she was about to run away at any moment. One step at a time, she’d said. He nodded.
"I have a good time with you, too."
She smiled and moved her hand again over his nipple. She bent to lick it, and the sensation of her hot, wet tongue on his flesh made his dick stir. She pushed him back on the bed and took him in her mouth, all the way to the base of his cock, so far down she could kiss his balls. When she did, he lifted his hips, and she backed off.
"Want me to stop?" she asked teasingly.
"Hell, no."
"Good."
She bent back to lick and suck him, and in just moments, he was like a teenage kid, ready to explode. He put a hand on her head. "Hold off. I don’t want to come yet."
Lila sat up, her smile glistening. "That’s something you don’t usually hear."
"I want to make love to you first."
"Ah." The smile widened. "That’s okay."
"But first I want to lick you."
Her smile faltered, but the heat in her eyes blazed. She swallowed and licked her lips again while she took a deep breath. At first he thought he’d made a mistake, that he’d frightened her again, but without another word, Lila straddled him, bent to kiss him, then slid her body up along his, until his mouth could reach her.
Tom put his hands on her hips and kissed her. She sighed when he did, and she trembled, but she didn’t pull away. He slid his tongue along her folds and found the spot he knew brought her the most pleasure. She sighed again, louder this time. He cupped her buttocks as he licked her, and she tensed and relaxed as her hips began to move against his tongue.
Lila’s head fell back, and her gorgeous brown curls fell down over her back to graze his knuckles. He wanted to tangle his hands in the silken tangle, but couldn’t the way they were. He had to content himself with moving her body against his mouth and lips and tongue, with licking her until she began to moan, and until her body clenched in her first orgasm.
He wasn’t done with her. Gently, Tom rolled her over while he slid open the nightstand drawer and pulled out a small foil packet. Sheathing himself quickly, because he could barely stand to wait, he slid inside her. Then he waited for a minute to catch his breath. Resting on his forearms, he leaned down to kiss her lips and cheeks while she smiled and wiggled beneath him.
"Stay still," he whispered.
"I can’t," she whispered back with a giggle. She moved again, arching her back and tilting her pelvis to take more of him in.
"You have to," he replied. "Or else I’m going to be finished before we start."
She laughed again, a low, husky sound that made his balls tighten. "That’s something I like about you. Most guys would not admit to a lack of control in the bed."
"I’m not admitting anything," he told her with a gentle thrust that made her moan aloud.
She grabbed his hips and pulled him closer to her. "Tom…less talking. More action."
"Your wish is my command," he whispered and kissed her again.
He’d said the words as a joke, light-hearted humor, but as soon as they left his mouth, he knew he meant them. He wanted to please Lila, not just in bed, but everywhere. He wanted to make her smile, hear her laugh. He wanted to take care of her.
Love her.
The thought filled his mind before he could stop it, but then the passion overtook him and he moved with her until he couldn’t think any more.
* * *
Lila was late to work and didn’t care. She had a pile of mail to go through and a crisis with the printer, and she didn’t care about that either. Life is good, Lila reflected as she settled down at her desk. She felt like singing.