Now and Always (15 page)

Unsteady, she gripped his shoulders, holding on tightly to the muscles that bunched beneath her hands.

“Touch me, Connie,” he husked and bent to whisper in her ear, tightening his grip on her waist to press her even closer, her stomach brushing across the hard ridge of his arousal as they continued dancing.

She took a shaky breath and moved her hands down beneath the edges of his jacket to roam the broad width of his chest. She cupped his pectorals, then leaned close to lay her head against his heart. Its beat was heavy, but sure beneath her ear. She wanted it as wild as hers, as unsteady and uncertain.

She stood on tiptoe, insinuated her thigh between his legs, and pressed against his arousal, caressing him with the movement of her body as she nipped at his earlobe. He groaned and she smiled to herself, a woman blooming with heady and newly awakened power. She trailed kisses from his ear to his jaw, nibbling at his bottom lip as he wrapped an arm around her buttocks, and brought her full against him.

“Connie. That feels so good, love,” he urged as he took her mouth almost savagely and his hands reached beneath the hem of her dress, roving across the strips of silk and skin exposed by her lingerie.

Connie gently cradled his head and forced him to look at her. “I want this, Victor. I want it now.”

During their dance, they had moved across the room, and were nearly against the far wall, close to the sofa. “Please, Victor,” Connie pleaded.

Victor groaned, wanting it as much as she, but uncertain that the frantic coupling this was leading to was what was best for their relationship. “I want our time together to be special.”

He kissed her deeply and when the broke apart, nearly breathless, he said, “I was hoping this was where we were going tonight, because I think this is what we both want. Because we know what we have together is serious. But if you have any doubts that this is only about sex ….”

Connie shushed him as she again took in the care he had taken with his office and dinner. The music was still with them in the room and it was as if the music knew better than they what to do next. She placed her hand over his heart, the beat now unsteady beneath her fingers. Rising on her tiptoes, she gently ran her lips across his, wanting for the moment to go on forever. He groaned and she deepened her kiss, urging him to open his mouth to her and when he did, she let her tongue dance with his, her body pressing closer, until they were both trembling.

Connie broke away from the kiss, breathing heavily, wanting him with every fiber of her being. Knowing that if she was without him, there would suddenly be a gaping hole in her life nothing else could fill.

“I love you, Victor. I want you, I want this,” she said to reassure him. “I don’t want to turn back, or away. I want to think that it’ll be for now and always, like you said the other night.” She cradled his cheek and he turned his face and pressed a kiss into the palm of her hand.

“For now and always. I promise, Connie.”

Victor bent, lifted her in his arms, and walked the short distance to the sofa, where he sat down with her on his lap and reached behind him for two roses, which he passed to her.

“A white rose for pure love. A red rose for passion. Neither can survive without the other,” he said shakily as she inhaled the heady fragrance of the flowers.

Connie met his gaze, surprised by the man beneath the sophisticated veneer. The thoughtful romantic man hidden deep inside. “Passion can fade with time, Victor.”

“No, lust fades. Passion is always there, below the surface.” He cupped her jaw and danced a finger across her lips. “Even when we’re eighty, even if I’m in a wheelchair, I’d still feel passionate about you.”

His words scared her while sending a thrill through her at the same time. “Victor, it’s too soon to talk about anything permanent.”

He arched one eyebrow. “You think this is only for the moment? I don’t think so.”

Connie ran her hand through his hair, and then to the back of his neck, urging his lips down to hers. “It isn’t going to be easy,” she said, even as she opened her mouth on his lips and intensified the kiss.

Victor chuckled huskily before taking a quick love bite of her lower lip. “Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. It’s always hard.”

Feeling sexily mischievous, Connie reached down, stroked the length of him with her hand. She was rewarded with his groan and the jerk of his erection as she teased, “I certainly hope so.”

Victor rolled her beneath him and braced his hands on either side of her body. He parted her thighs with one leg and shifted quickly to press his arousal against her, eliciting a moan. “Take the time to be with me, Connie. To know this will last between us.”

She dropped the roses she held onto the floor. “Promise you’ll chase me when I’m eighty?” She rubbed her pelvis against his, her breath catching at the size and heat of him.

Victor groaned and dropped his forehead to rest against hers. “If I’m not crippled first from wanting you.”

She pushed his jacket off his shoulders and slowly opened the buttons on his shirt, but he couldn’t wait. With one quick yank, he tore them open. Laughing huskily, she buried her face against his chest.

“Impatient, are you?”

When she suckled on a nipple, he bucked into her, nearly coming from the swell of emotion which ripped through him.

“Connie,” he said and groaned.

“Love me, Victor. Before I realize how insane this is,” she nearly begged and her ragged plea caught at his heart. She was afraid, her bravado a show.

“Crazy is our not being together,” he said as he ran a hand behind her neck to draw her head to his. As he explored her lips, he punctuated his kisses with words meant to soothe and arouse.

Her body moved beneath him in answer, wanting him. Wanting the union of their bodies in ways she could never express.

Victor broke away and urged her to sit on the edge of the sofa. Reaching behind her, he located the zipper on her dress and drew it down. The bodice of her dress gaped, and she reached for it modestly, holding it in place.

Victor kneeled before her, placing his hands on hers, and gently eased them away. He watched her face, the becoming blush that stained her cheeks as he slipped the small straps off her shoulders and brought the dress down until it rested at her waist. Then and only then did he look to see all he had revealed. The sight made him rock hard and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“You are so beautiful.” How he wanted to cup one full breast through the lace of the strapless demi-bra, but her small hands rested on his shoulders, holding him away as she trembled with her passion and drew his gaze to hers.

He realized then how uncertain she was of all that certain femininity. She had prepared especially for him and he wasn’t about to rush it. He wanted to finish unwrapping the rest of her present.

Victor urged her hips off the sofa and slid the dress down to reveal a scrap of lace that barely covered the dark nest of curls at the apex of her thighs and a thin, bright red garter belt which circled her luscious hips. He kept on going, drew the dress past the leanly muscled legs he had lusted after, and finally swept the dress off.

He sat back on his buttocks and paused to enjoy her. She leaned up on her elbows, her washboard stomach muscles rippling, a contrast to all her lovely feminine curves and roundness. Victor smiled, glanced up, and studied her myriad facets, the complex pieces that sometimes hid, sometimes hinted, at the woman beneath.

The independent strong-willed woman who had defied the odds and become an FBI agent. The almost innocent and needy girl who was still unsure of her worth and of her place in life. Finally, the sexy and passionate woman-child who only just now seemed to be testing her wings. All of them his to love, to nurture, and to protect.

Connie was nearly overwhelmed by the emotions on his face and the caring which called to her. From the first night they had made love, he had reached something deep within her and drawn out all those parts of her she had neglected. Made her feel, made her want, more than she ever had before.

Now she wanted him, this very macho, very compassionate man who rested on his knees before her, cherishing her with his eyes. She sat up, reached beneath the edges of his shirt, and slipped her hands onto his shoulders. His skin was hot to the touch and slightly damp from sweat. She moved to the edge of the sofa and brought her lips to his forehead. His scent was strong and intoxicating.

Connie trailed her hands down his arms, pulling off his shirt as her hands explored the muscles in his strong biceps and lean forearms. When she reached his hands, she tossed the shirt away, twined her fingers with his, and gave their hands a playful shake.

“You may have to help me a little,” she said with a nervous chuckle.

Victor grinned, rose up on his knees, and brought their hands to his belt. He released her hands and continued to undress, but she brushed his hands away and undid the belt and his pants, drawing the zipper down slowly over his arousal.

“You seem to be doing all right so far.”

Connie blushed and pinched a spot above his open waistband, eliciting a small yelp. “Stand up,” she commanded, certain her legs would be too wobbly to support her.

He did, toed off his shoes, and did a wicked little shimmy to peel off his pants and socks, leaving her mouth dry at the sight of all his glorious tanned flesh in nothing but a pair of skimpy black briefs.

Taking a deep breath, she took hold of the waistband of his briefs and shakily removed that last piece of clothing.

Her breath hitched somewhere in her chest. He was perfect in every way and he was hers. She took a shuddering breath, looked up, and the intensity of his gaze sent a surge of heat through her.

“It seems unfair that one of us still has so much clothing on,” he said as he dropped to his knees before her again.

Connie swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Maybe I need a little help with that, too,” she tossed back.

Victor grinned sexily and moved his hands to the tops of her stockings. “I was hoping you’d say that.” He dropped a quick kiss on the exposed skin of her inner thigh and undid the snaps on the first stocking.

Connie sucked in a breath, watching in fascination as he slowly rolled the stocking down her leg. She moaned as he paused at her knee to take a small bite and finished removing the stocking. He repeated the process on her other leg and by the time he was done, she was trembling and hot. So hot she wondered how she would survive any more of this.

“Victor, I need you,” she said, wanting him to release her from the grip of his passion.

Victor heard her plea and wanted to bury himself in her more than anything. Well, almost anything, he acknowledged with what was left of his rational thought. He wanted to please her, wanted her to experience the kind of mindlessness he had only touched upon the other night.

“I know what you want. But first,” he replied as he buried his face against her stomach, kissed the flat plain below her navel, and edged down the strip of garter belt and panties with his hands.

As he moved down her body to remove her clothes, the heat of her, her musky smell told him of her want and nearly undid his resolve. He bit his lip, took a fortifying breath, and kissed his way back up her legs. When he would have moved between her thighs to give her the most intimate of kisses, she closed to him.

Connie moaned a half-protest, shifting her legs together, unsure of what he proposed. “Victor?” she asked shakily.

“Let me taste you, Connie” he urged and kissed a spot above her bikini line.

Connie rose up on her elbows as he trailed his mouth over the sensitive skin on her inner thigh. He nuzzled her and slipped his hand between her thighs to find the nub hidden beneath her curls. With his thumb, he rubbed it gently. Warmth blossomed across her breasts. Her nipples tightened and her breasts felt suddenly full.

Victor smiled tightly and brushed a fleeting kiss on her thigh before he replaced his thumb with his mouth. He kissed the nub with his lips and slipped his thumb downward, entering her.

Connie groaned and closed her eyes.

He raised his free hand, gently pressed her down against the back of the sofa. He cupped her breast, stroking his thumb against the hard bud of her nipple while he brought her to the edge with his mouth and fingers. Licking and pressing against her until she gasped and light tremors traveled over her body, warning him that she was on the edge.

Victor wasted no time then. He sheathed himself in a condom and entered her tight, trembling body.

Connie gripped his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist as he drove into her, pushing her down into the cushions of the sofa with the force of his thrusts. Drawing ever higher as pleasure suffused her from the motion of his hips and his kisses against her mouth and the hard tips of her breasts. Inside, her body tightened and she arched her back, urging him on with soft cries and the press of her hands against his back.

As he bent his head and suckled at her breasts, each sharp pull of his mouth tugged her ever higher until with one strong thrust, a wave of pleasure swept over her body. She called out his name and dug her fingers into the hard muscles of his shoulders to keep him near.

With a few more strokes, he joined her with his own hoarse shout of completion, and collapsed on her.

Connie held him tight, cradling his body to hers until his breathing slowed and he shifted, brought them to lie along the length of the couch. Slowly her heartbeat returned to normal and her own breath calmed.

“I could get used to this,” she admitted, wanting him to know she had no regrets.

Victor raised himself on one elbow and looked down at her. “Maybe this wrist of yours needs a follow-up visit next week,” he said and gave her now castless limb a gentle shake.

She smiled and dropped a quick kiss on his chest. “Whatever the doctor orders.”

#

He had a small full bath at the end of the hallway opposite his office.

Connie put her hair up and took a quick shower. Afterward she dressed again and reapplied her makeup. When she left the bathroom, Victor was sitting in his waiting room. He had slipped his suit back on and substituted a white T-shirt, which still bore the fold lines from the packaging, for the dress shirt they had ruined earlier.