Rogue Diamond (18 page)

When they had eaten all they could and drunk all they dared, Nick and Alex left the celebration, his arm securely
tucked around her. In the hall
way Nick unlocked her door. "Does the
invitation
for the warm shower still hold?"

S
he
stepped inside and held
the door open
for him
.

Nick moved
beside
her. His hands slipped be
neath the weight of her hair to the heated part of her neck. "Alex, I want more than a shower. Te quiero." The door closed behind him.

As his lips closed over hers, Alex realized with a mixture of excitement and fear that Nick was hers for the night. Her re
si
stance melted like hot wax as the kiss deepened
. H
er lips parted
, inviting more, and she
moan
ed softly
. Nick traced the sen
si
tive inner circle of her lips with the tip of his tongue before plunging it into her mouth.

His whispers of
the promised
pleasure
s
muted any thoughts
of objection and oblit
erated all but a delirious crav
ing that swelled within her. His kisses danced over her face from her parted mouth to her flushed cheeks to the heat of her heaving bosom. Large hands reached in
si
de the elasticized neckline of her blouse to lift her throbbing breasts to his eager lips.

Alex arched her back, thrusting her breasts outward to receive Nick's caresses. He pressed the soft, warm globes to his fac
e, tea
si
ng the nip
ples to hardness, before his tongue encircled the sen
si
tive pink tips.

"Oh—Nick!" Alex moaned.

"Alex, oh, my Alex. I want to know you all over. To see you."

With his help, she pulled feverishly at her clothes. Alex could hardly wait for
Nick to dis
card his shirt and jeans. His cares
si
ng fingertips set her on fire. Then he bent to
tease
each breast with his tongue and blaze a moist trail to the most feminine part of her. He knelt before her, his tongue paying tribute to her beauty and arou
si
ng her inner frenzy to the shattering point.

Theirs was a
fierce
loving kindling a
fiery
de
si
re. The two had waited all evening, all week, all their lives, actually, for this moment. And the forbidden pas
si
on
was released in a lusty and vig
orous fashion.

Alex stood before him, nude and trembling. With a slight shaking of his hand, Nick's fingers glazed every feminine niche, sending whorls of flames whipping through her. First one tentative hand then both caressed and traced her slender feminine form. He brushed over the soft mounds of her breasts with his mustache then his hands traveled around her waist and to the charming swell of her hips. His darkly pas
si
onate eyes devoured her, sweeping her length with masculine approval.

"You're beautiful, Alex. So perfect. I've wanted you from the first moment I saw you. Touch me," he begged hoarsely.

She complied, trailing one hand from his chest all the way down to his thigh, as he had done to her.

His reaction was dramatic. With a sharp intake of breath, he pressed her hips to his, purposely forcing her to feel the strength of his arousal against her belly.

"See what you do to me? I want you, Alex . . . now
. . .
"
He fumbled with the condom.

“Easy now,” she murmured as she helped him with the task. Then, w
ith no holding back, Alex arched against his hardness, pres
si
ng her breasts to his chest and her belly to his. He kissed her fiercely, his tongue penetrating her mouth with merciless pas
si
on. In another frenzied moment they were on the bed, Nick plunging into her with the same fierceness he'd exhibited in his kisses.

With a matching fervor, Alex eagerly accepted him. Her de
si
re for this man was stronger than any she had eve
r known. Indeed, he elicited ev
ery emotion in
her—anger, grief, happiness, ex
citement, and now a de
si
re so desperate she couldn't get enough of him.

"
Don’t
... hold back
. . . Nick. . .
"

And so he didn’t.
His
deep
kiss muffled out further sound
from either of them, except the soft moans of ecstasy.

S
he moved with him in the ancient ritual of men and women
si
nce time began. Higher and higher she rode to the precipice, the craggy edge of obscurity that threatens complete oblivion. Then she was past the threshold of
know
ing, entering a
sus
pen
si
on of time which she wanted to last forever. Only sensation
mattered. Only she and Nick. To
gether they belonged, and together they swirled to the top.

With a frantic exclamation of joy, she reached the peak. . . . "Nick! Oh, God, Nick!"

He drove to his climax, plunging deeper and harder into her receptive body, un
willing
to hold back
any longer
.

When thought and time returned, Alex floated in a daze of heavenly gravity, only aware of the pleasure she felt with Nick. It was more than she ever dreamed pos
si
ble.

Nick's
mouth rested against her neck. His
voice w
as low, breaking into her eupho
ria. "Alex
, that was amazing. Are y
ou all right?"

"Hmmm." She didn't move, couldn't bear the thought.

"
Hope it wasn’t
," he
si
ghed, "
too
barbaric. Too fast."

"
My p
ayback ...
for yelling at you and cry
ing on your shir
t and hating you and
not trusting you
. . .
and
want
ing you."

"All that?"

She
smoothed her
hand
s
lightly across his buttocks
, then pressed him to her
. "I think all that made me want you more. And it's never been better."

"It'll be better next time." He sealed the pr
om
ise with another kiss.

Later, their
lovemaking was slower, more ex
acting, an unselfish sharing of feelings. And, as he'd promised, it was better. He admired her
body and touched her everywhere. She returned the favor with taunting hands and loving kisses.

"You
r breasts are beautiful
. I love touch
ing you. Alex
."

"
They’re
too small
. I always wanted large boobs. I guess every flat-chested woman does.
"

"
No, you’re j
ust right
.
" His
lips closed over each pert nip
ple and teased them to perfect erection.

"You, too, Nick. I love to feel these muscles." Her hand rode along his back. "You are so strong."

"
Again
, Alex—"
It was a question.

She
murmured her answer with a smile
.

He was lovin
g and gentle until pas
si
on over
took him. She was tempting and alluring, until she could wait no longer. Then she curved a leg over him and settled herself on him with an assertiveness she had withheld until now.
She pinned his wrists above his head.

"I've got you, Nick Diamond," she teased as she moved sensuously
over him
. "And you'll never be free
.
"

"Ahh
h
, is that a promise?" he groaned with some effort. "We may stay here
all day
. . . forever. Oh, Alex—"

She
discovere
d the satisfaction of bringing him to the brink, of knowing she had sensual power over Nick, of
the ecstasy of
feeling him in
si
de her. Then the crest of her pas
si
on spi
lled over and she moved hypnoti
cally until she fell in exhausted fulfillment against him.

CHAPTER NINE

Morning came too quickly for Nick. With sultry eyes he watched Alex sleeping peacefully against him. Her blond curls spilled over his arm like
si
lk strands. Long gold-tipped eyelashes edged her fair cheekbones. Her heart-shaped lips, slightly swollen from his vigorous kisses during the night, were curved into a faint smile. He wanted to kiss them again but d
idn’t want to disturb her sleep
.

What happened to the restraint he had pledged to himself the first time he saw her? He had been taken with her, even then. A man needed a woman, he rationalized. And this woman was
beautiful and
willing. Even as he con
si
d
ered it, he knew that wasn't the reason. Alex exerted some kind of power over him. And it wasn't just her sexual attraction. He was tied in knots by her anguish and wanted to relieve her pain, wanted to help her forget.

She shifted and t
he shee
t crumpled around her waist, re
vealing her breasts, creamy white and inviting. He couldn't re
si
st their
si
lent supplication and with one finger traced circles around the pink tip
until the nipple became firm. Then he brought the other to matching perfection. Still, she slept.

Unfair
-
he thought guiltily. Irre
si
stible
-
the devil part of him in
si
sted.

His hand was lazy in its intent, finally resting on top of one soft mound. The taut pink tip puckered fi
rmly between his thumb and fore
finger.

Alex moaned softly and shivered beneath his touch. "If you're trying to get my attention, you're succee
ding," she mumbled without open
ing her eyes.

"Your full attention is needed for what I have in mind." He took one of her pink nipples in his mouth and sucked on it.

Inexorably, s
he arched in response to his ac
tions. "And what is that?"

"Wake up, Alex," he rasped, throwing a heavy leg over hers. "Nothing worse than a sleeping, unrespon
si
ve female."

"Or an overly aggres
si
ve man
who can’t wait for someone to wake up
."

"You didn't say that last night." His knee came up to separate her legs.

"In the light of day, things look different." Her eyes betrayed her with their sparks of pas
si
on. "Relationships have a different meaning."

"Does
it
have to have a meaning? Can't it just be for . . ." he paused to kiss her lips, "fun?"

She turned
toward him
and pressed her body against his. "Sure." She kissed him squarely on the mouth just for the pure pleasure of it. "Tell me, Nick. How do I fit into this little scheme of
yours? Was it all just a device to get me to spend the night? And into your bed? Just for fun?"

"You misunderstand my intentions,
mi vida
. The scheme, as y
ou put it, didn't originally in
clude you at all. Then I found how perfectly we fit together. This is where we belong, Alex." He moved over her and molded his length to hers. "Just like this
.
"

"Nick,
listen. .
." She was pleasurably caught in the vise of his strong legs.

"
I’m listening to your body, calling for me
." He cradled her head be
tween his hands and kissed her deeply. "You've pushed me too far, Alex. I can't go back. Can't think. Mornings are a
beautiful
time for making love," he murmured between kisses.