Alexandre (10 page)

The coffee Lily had in her mouth spewed out in shock. She wiped her arms and legs while she glowered at him. “No.”

“And if I dared you again?”

“And nothing.”

“I’ll have to help you disrobe then.” His golden gaze stroked her body.

No mistaking that look for anything but wicked. Oh, my stars. He licked his lips.

“You and whose army?” she snapped, trying desperately to concentrate and not let him distract her.

Alex sat up then, a predatory expression on his tanned face that scared the shit out of her. The golden cat barred his teeth, and Lily saw they were sharp and dangerous.

“No,” she said faintly, scuttling backward like an awkward crab missing a leg.

“That sounded like a challenge.”

Excitement-tinged panic soared through her, sweeping to every nook, touching every inch of her body.

“It’s for your own good, Lily.”

The devilish glint in his golden eyes made her snort. “How do you figure that?”

“Lily.”

Meeting his gaze made her melt, a sweeping, whooshing sensation low in her belly. How did he do that? Make her feel like a rebellious child. Make her want to obey.

“Come here,” he whispered.

Lily inched closer to temptation.

“I’d never hurt you.”

He couldn’t promise that. Men always hurt her.

“Lily, trust me.”

In Lily’s experience when people said, “trust me” in that sincere tone, it was time to scamper. But something in his expression halted her retreat—a yearning in him that matched the want hidden deep inside Lily.

Alex closed the remaining distance between them. He touched her, his hands warm on her cool shoulders. One long, elegant finger traced along her collarbone then came to a rest on her pale blue bra strap. He twanged it lightly, a faint smile on his lips.

“This is very pretty.” He skimmed one hand across her stomach, grazing the top of one breast on the way, and came to rest on the elastic waistband of her panties. “Matching. Nice.”

Lily felt color bloom in her cheeks. They might be nice but she was beginning to regret the impulse that led her to donning her prettiest set of underwear this morning. Lily was sure her granny pants would have turned him from his determined course to get her naked.

His finger danced along the frilly edging that stretched around her hips. Lily shivered even as she concentrated on keeping her belly sucked flat. Suddenly she didn’t feel so cold. And she wasn’t disinterested that was for sure. Between her legs felt hot. Moist. And sticky, dammit. Her body had taken control of her mind.
Again
.

“Lie back,” he whispered, the sound low and sinful.

Somehow, she found the itchy blanket at her back and her view from a different perspective. Fluffy clouds danced across the sky. A flock of birds fluttered overhead, chased by the bossy tui. A soft breeze played with the leaves of the rimu across the other side of the clearing, setting the long droopy strands moving in hushed sighs.

And then there was Alex.

His spicy scent sang to her senses, reminding her of moonlit nights and the cool shade of native bush on a hot day.

“Turn over,” he whispered.

A block of potter’s clay in his hands, she followed instructions without demure. She waited in acute anticipation, pondering his next move. Her stomach danced with nerves while her pussy tingled without mercy. She wriggled uneasily and wondered whether to clench her bottom.

The warmth of his hands on her back came as a shock. She jerked, but he held her in place exerting gentle force. His hands swept across her shoulders, trailed down her spine. Then his fingers dug into tight, tense muscles, stroking, soothing. Lily eased out her breath and melted under his ministrations. He massaged her toes, her feet, her calves and thighs.

“Lift your hips,” he whispered.

Mindlessly, she obeyed then tensed abruptly when he whisked down her panties. Silence reigned while Lily screwed her eyes shut and waited for a reaction. She felt him move and understood. But then, to her astonishment, he returned to his massage. His hands smoothed and stroked her butt. The rustle of his clothing indicated he’d moved closer. She wasn’t sure how he’d missed seeing the size of her butt from his position. Ambrose had told her it was large so often that she believed him.

Lily couldn’t quell the urge to look over her shoulder. He was looking all right, but that wasn’t horror on his face. She held her breath as Alex leaned down and kissed her.

Right on the butt cheek.

She turned away, trying to quell her slight hysteria. It rose, tickling her throat and emerging as a nervous giggle. Well. That certainly gave new meaning to the saying “kiss my arse”.

Chapter Seven

What was he going to do next? She had no way of knowing how to traverse this uncharted territory.

To her astonishment, Alex kissed her backside again then kneaded her butt cheeks, his hands shaping and alternatively stroking until she quivered inwardly and her pussy wept in approval. He kept touching, stoking the fire that made her long to grab his hands and direct them to her achy clit. She could almost forget that her arse was naked and bare to the world.
Almost
.

Birds sang. The water in the stream bubbled its way across the clearing. Sun beat down on her bare skin, heating her outside while Alex worked his charms and warmed her inside. He trailed hands up her spine, his nails raking the skin hard enough to bite. She bit back a shiver of ecstasy at the sensual taunting.

Positively sinful.

The scratch of his nails felt so damn good she wanted to purr. Heck, she was purring. Each exhalation sounded rhythmic and in time with the rush of the stream and his kneading fingers. Without warning, her bra gaped open, spilling her breasts from the lacy binding. Her heart jolted in anticipation, her nipples tightening to rigid peaks against the soft cotton cups.

“Turn over,” he murmured.

Lily hesitated and against her better judgment followed his order. With a devilish grin, he whisked her bra down her arms and tossed it on the garment-draped bush. Her gaze jumped to his face, ready to flee if she read derision in his expression. Being naked in the great outdoors raised her vulnerability, especially since the alien remained fully clothed.

The heat in his brown eyes was approval but tinged with something else that tugged at her insecurities. Her hands darted up to conceal her breasts, but he caught them and returned them to her sides.

“You’re just as beautiful as I remember. Don’t try to hide.”

Stories of experimenting aliens flashed through her mind and uneasy with the exposure, she attempted to read him, trying to second-guess his intentions. His eyes glowed, more golden than brown, and they seemed to change color as she studied him. He gave away none of his thoughts, and she breathed out a frustrated sigh. She didn’t think he was lying, but she’d been wrong before.

“I have to taste you.”

Suiting action to word, he leaned over to sip at her mouth. Slow, lazy kisses that left her aching for a deeper penetration. She reached for him, twining her arms around his neck and tugging him closer to force a proper down-and-dirty kiss. The sort of carnal kiss she’d always craved from Ambrose. The sort of kiss she’d hungered for and never received. But then her breasts squashed against the cotton of his shirt, reminding Lily of her vulnerable position.

Naked versus fully clothed.

She tensed, shock at her exposed state kicking her in the gut. Public sex. Where was her head? Ah-ah. Dumb question. She’d been blindsided by the thought of sex after such a long dry spell. But even so…

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she said.

Alex pulled away enough to stroke her face. “Don’t fret. Let me pleasure you.”

“Plea…pleasure?” Her toes curled in reaction while she felt moisture gather between her thighs.

“Please, let me touch, Lily. I need you.”

If he’d said anything else, she would’ve refused. But to be needed. That was different. An enticing lure for a woman who’d failed to hold her man in the past.

“Are you sure?” Lily infused her words with a silent plea for reassurance. Under his hot, hungry gaze, her legs trembled and her stomach roiled with the force of the panicked butterflies stampeding around inside.

Alex smiled, obviously picking up on her hesitation. “I don’t do anything I’m not sure about. Don’t overthink this, Lily.” His hand wandered downward and lazily circled the nipple of her left breast. A trail of goose bumps surfaced in the wake of his touch, nudging her desire higher. Making it difficult for her to refuse.

She swallowed, while she battled the need to grab him and direct his mouth to her nipple. Last night had given her a taste of how the sensation would feel. She recalled the wet warmth of his mouth and the tug that shot to her pussy when he’d drawn her nipple into his mouth. Now, she craved more, but she was terrified to verbalize the desire coursing through her body.

What if he laughed?

Ambrose had called her a slut the time she’d suggested where he touch her. But the knock back hadn’t stopped her fantasizing. Besides, when a male looked like Alex, it was natural to wonder. Lily gave her mind full rein. She wanted him to kiss his way down her body, part her folds and tease her clit until she tumbled into orgasm. She panted, feeling suddenly scorching hot from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

He wouldn’t know if she didn’t tell him.

“Alex?”

“Hmm?” He planted a kiss in her cleavage and nuzzled the curves of her full breasts.

“Stop teasing. Kiss me.”

“Teasing? Me? I don’t think so.”

Lily felt the silent laughter in him and was about to protest when he kissed his way up the slope of one breast. Her eyes drifted shut to relish his ministrations.

His fingers tangled in her damp hair. The light massage to her scalp sent a frisson of pleasure surging through her veins, but still he teased her, fondling, stroking and kissing every part of her upper body apart from where she needed his touch most.

“Alex,” Lily said in a strident tone. “Please kiss my nipple.”

Alex lifted his head to grin. “Moon heart, I thought you’d never ask.”

At last
. She relaxed against the blanket, closed her eyes and waited for the warmth of his mouth, for pleasure to drug her system.
I wonder what a moon heart is
. She felt a quick tug on one nipple and promptly forgot about moon hearts. The sensation repeated on the other and then…nothing.

Her eyelids flew open, and he could see the clear consternation in her blue eyes. Alex wanted to laugh but manfully held back his inclination. Lily needed tender wooing… Wooing! Hell, just listen to his thoughts. He shouldn’t touch this woman. His excuse for the contact was that it helped ease the painful throb in his groin and in the rest of his limbs.

Alex sucked in a deep breath, the faint tang of her arousal an aphrodisiac to his raging hormones. His erection tightened with painful intensity that told him to quit his teasing. He couldn’t handle much more of the petting without wanting to take this loving further, to free his tom and surge deep inside her channel.

A shiver rocked him clear to his toes. Man, he wanted inside so much his hands trembled, his palms sweated. But that just wasn’t gonna happen. He wouldn’t let himself. Focus, dammit.

“Alex?”

“Yes?”

“Please don’t make me beg.”

A chuckle escaped. Even though the teasing tormented him, too, watching Lily lose some of her stupid inhibitions thrilled him to the inside of his bone structure. The Earth woman was so beautiful. At the back of his mind was a vision—he’d drag her off to the nearest cave, have wild tigoth sex, and not let her leave until she bore him a child. He snorted. Presumptuous, of course, but that was the way he felt—for the first time in his life. And it scared him because the timing sucked dragonbird eggs.

His father wanted to match him up with a suitable female. Eventually, he’d have to join and bestow his mark, probably on the female his father chose, but not before he’d proved his worth.

Lily’s nipple puckered as though silently begging his touch. Unable to resist, Alex covered the tip of her breast with his mouth, laving her nipple with his tongue. Her soft groan boosted the pleasure he gained from handling her silky skin. Alex sucked lightly to test her reaction. She bucked beneath him, her hands tugging insistently in a silent bid for more. So he’d give her more, he decided.

Alex pulled away from her breast with a soft slurping sound. Her nipple looked wet and glistened in the sun. A soft blush highlighted her cheeks while her lips glowed red from his kisses. With her hair loose and disheveled, she appealed to him on every level. Lily reminded him of Marisee, the famous Dalconian consort. Marisee’s portrait graced the wall of the salon in the castle. Rumor said males dueled for her favors, and the court had gone into mourning when she died. Lily had the same look—like the women in the Renaissance paintings depicted in his Italian guidebook.

“Alex?” she whispered, gazing at him through lowered lashes.