Spellbound (7 page)

‘And I really,
really
want to get out of these jeans,’ Nick agreed. He let her undo his shirt while he took care of the jeans, toeing off his shoes at the same time and almost overbalancing. ‘Wait,’ he said, turning away to rid himself of his clothes.

When he stepped out from the pile of his discarded clothing, Belle was looking at him with an undisguised hunger that only made his cock throb harder. A pearl of pre-cum beaded at the top, and the tickle as it ran down his shaft was enough to drive him to the edge of reason.

‘Wow,’ Belle said quietly. ‘
You’re
the beautiful one.’

‘I think when you’re talking about men the word is
handsome
, sweetheart.’

Belle shrugged one shoulder and pouted her lips thoughtfully. ‘No, beautiful. That’s the right word.’

Nick wasn’t about to stop for a debate on vocabulary. Sweeping Belle into his arms, his lips crashed down on hers, seeking entry to her mouth, kissing her savagely, leaving her in no doubt as to the strength of his passion or the desperation of his arousal.

He lowered them both to the bed, covering Belle’s body with his, suppressing a shudder as Belle moaned. He caught both her wrists with one hand and held them above her head, lowering his lips to her breasts, in case she was still in any doubt as to his admiration. He flicked his tongue at her nipple as he’d done with her clit, but that wasn’t nearly enough, and he couldn’t stop himself from taking the peak between his teeth and biting gently. Belle squirmed and for a moment Nick wondered if he’d hurt her, but then she muttered, ‘
Don’t stop
,’ and he fastened his lips around her peak and sucked away the pain.

She arched under him, a sexy sigh escaping, and Nick sucked harder. His free hand went to her other breast, squeezing the heavy globe before rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger. It hardened instantly, like the one between his lips, and Belle groaned louder.

‘Oh Nick, I think I could come from just this,’ she whispered in wonder. ‘I didn’t know. I’ve never . . .’ She trailed off with a pleasured sigh.

Her breasts were obviously extraordinarily sensitive, and Nick fleetingly thought about what kind of lovers she’d had, if no one had ever done this to her before, shown her the responsiveness of her own body. ‘Really?’

‘My ex-boyfriend wasn’t . . . he didn’t . . .’ Belle fumbled.

‘Fool,’ Nick muttered. His thoughts didn’t go much further though, because he was suddenly aware of Belle’s hands on
him
. In his focus on her breasts, he’d loosened his grip on her wrists and she’d escaped his light restraint. Her fingers explored his back, traced his spine, and now they were clasping the cheeks of his butt, cupping him, and her fingers were moving lower, closer to where he wanted her touch.

‘Belle, I want your hands on me,’ he murmured against her breast. He lifted up and kissed her again, tongues meeting and melding, and Nick wondered if he’d ever get enough of her taste.

Her hands flew from his butt and went to his chest, a move that at first Nick wasn’t sure was an improvement, but then her fingers wove through the light dusting of hair to play with his nipples.

‘Oh yes,’ Nick said between gritted teeth. He wrapped an arm around her and flipped them both so he was lying on his back and Belle sprawled over him.

She giggled, a cute, silly sound, and looked into his eyes. She shook her head, as if she doubted this was really happening. ‘You’re so strong,’ she said. ‘The way you . . .’

Nick sucked in a sharp breath as her fingers reached for his painful cock. ‘I want you to touch me at the very same time as I don’t.’

Her fingers sprang away. ‘What? Was I doing it wrong?’

He smiled. ‘No, sweetheart. It’s just that this has been a long time in the anticipation and I don’t want to go off in your hands before I get inside that luscious body of yours.’

Her cheeks coloured again, and she looked embarrassed yet pleased. Shooting him a quick, wicked grin, she scooted down the bed until her mouth was level with his groin. Nick growled, willing his body to withstand the blissful torture.

Her little pink tongue poked out and traced the line of fluid that dripped from him; that was almost enough to make him lose it. He gripped the sheet in his fists and closed his eyes, knowing he had more chance of lasting if he was just feeling her touch instead of watching her at the same time.

He could feel his cock weeping as she made long, smooth licks up each side, maddeningly stopping just before she reached the head. Then she dipped into the slit at the top, scooping out the pre-cum that had gathered there, and Nick bit back a moan, promising himself that next time he’d watch. Watch as her tongue licked up the little pearls of liquid and,
oh God
, as she took him into her mouth.

Belle’s mouth covered the head of him, her tongue making swirling loops over his most sensitive skin. Her hand cupped his balls, stroking them and weighing them in her palm. Her fingertips were resting under his sack, tickling his perineum, although without providing quite the pressure he usually liked. Never mind, a trick to teach her later.

She sucked lightly with her mouth and her tongue pressed into the underside of the head, just as she began rolling his balls lightly in her hand. Nick almost lost it.

‘Belle!’ he gasped. He twisted away from her, pulling on her arm, wordlessly asking her to move up in the bed so they could get into the next phase.

‘Did I . . .?’ She looked confused for a moment until she saw the look on his face, and then her expression relaxed into one of smugness. ‘Oh.’

‘Yes,
oh
,’ Nick muttered, leaning over the bed to reach for his jeans. He quickly found the back pocket, released his wallet and found the condom he always kept stashed inside. Just as quickly, the packet was opened and he was dressed and ready.

He knew he should spend time making sure Belle was at the same fever pitch as he was, but he simply couldn’t wait. He’d make it up to her, he promised himself. After he’d lost this urgency, after he’d sated himself and didn’t need her quite so desperately, he’d make slow and careful love to her, kissing every inch of her skin, making her understand how much he desired her.

‘Oh, sweetheart,’ he said as he settled his body over hers, ‘I need you so much.’

Belle smiled up at him, spreading her legs and wordlessly inviting him between them.

He lay over her, chest to chest, belly to belly, and kissed her. His cock nestled between the hot, wet lips of her centre as if it were created just for that exact spot. Belle met his tongue with her own, twining around it, and the heat of their mouths took Nick’s arousal higher than he’d thought possible.

‘Nick,’ Belle breathed against his mouth. She squirmed underneath him, thrusting her hips against his, rubbing herself against his hard length. It was too much.

Nick raised himself on his elbows and repositioned his cock at her entrance. Belle stilled, and then, their eyes locked, Nick pushed slowly, sinking inside her inch by inch. It was unbearable torture, resisting every impulse in his body that told him to go hard and go deep as fast as possible, but something held him back. Belle’s eyes widened at the penetration, and when he was fully within she let out a little whimper from the back of her throat.

‘Are you okay, sweetheart?’

In answer, Belle bent her knees and tilted her pelvis, allowing him to push just a little deeper. He groaned but still he stayed motionless, waiting a moment for her to adjust.

‘Do it,’ Belle urged.

‘Do what?’ He couldn’t resist asking.

‘You know,’ she said coyly.

Nick lowered himself to her ear. ‘Ask me. Go on, say it,’ he whispered.

The expression on Belle’s face was priceless. Desperation and embarrassment and deep, overwhelming desire battled there. Finally desire won out, as he’d known it would. ‘Fuck me, Nick. Please.’

Nick was more than happy to comply.

He began to move, long slow strokes in and out, and Belle sighed and her eyes fluttered closed.

Long and slow could only last so long though, and soon Nick’s body demanded hard and fast and would not be denied. He hooked an arm under Belle’s knee and brought her leg up over his shoulder. They both groaned as she opened further in the new position and he plunged ever deeper inside her.

Belle was trembling, he could feel it along her whole body, and just as he was wondering if he could last long enough to take her over the edge, her vaginal muscles fluttered around him and her breath caught. A shudder went though her before she arched and cried out, her face set in the mask of ultimate pleasure. Nick knew he’d never seen anything more captivating in his life.

He pushed through the pulses of her orgasm, grunting with the effort of his restraint at the top of each driving push. His thrusts became harder, more urgent, as he built to his own climax. He took in the heat that surrounded his cock and the ache in his balls at the sight of Belle’s breasts bouncing as he pounded into her.

With a cry ripped from his very soul, Nick came, his orgasm pulsing from him in white-hot bursts of pleasure, giving over to the completely primal and instinctual gratification of burying his seed deep inside a woman. Instinct knew nothing of condoms.

As the last of his release spurted out of him, Nick let Belle’s leg go and leaned closer to her, pressing his mouth to hers. His arms shook with the effort, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull out just yet.

One more kiss.

And another.

Belle’s hands stroked his back and murmured nonsense words of comfort and reassurance against his skin, into his mouth.

He began to soften and, mindful of the condom, he reluctantly withdrew, grabbing a handful of tissues from the box on the bedside table and ridding himself of the condom before turning back to gather Belle into his arms.

She cuddled into his chest and for a few minutes Nick was the most contented he’d been –
ever
. In his whole life. He should have been nervous about that, he knew, but he felt too wonderful, too comfortable and too satisfied to worry about that now.

He was drifting to sleep. ‘That was . . .’ he mumbled. He trailed off, not wanting to say
amazing
, even though it had been, because it sounded so trite. ‘Belle, I don’t know how to say this . . .’ he began, his voice thick with sleep, not even sure what it was he couldn’t say.

He was suddenly conscious of a new tension. Belle’s body had become rigid against his, and a moment after, she shifted his arm and pulled away from him.

Frowning, Nick turned on his side to face her. ‘Belle? What’s —’

He broke off as all the wonderful feelings disappeared in an instant, and a headache began to pulse behind his eyes. That strange, flooding anxiety he’d experienced battling his way up to Belle’s apartment swept over him again, and Nick was awash in a strange, edgy self-doubt. Had he been too rough? He’d thought she’d come again, but what if she’d faked it? What if he’d hurt her? What if she were repulsed by seeing him naked?

The feelings were so foreign, and such a contrast to his earlier contentment, Nick had no trouble recognising them for what they were: imposters.

‘Belle, you’re not holding the crystal,’ Nick said, his eyes widening as the throbbing pain in his temples built further.

Belle blinked and bit her bottom lip in what Nick was beginning to realise was a nervous habit. ‘No, I . . .’ She frowned. ‘I let go when . . .’ She sat up and began to hunt under the pillows.

Nick watched; even through the crippling anxiety and growing headache, he couldn’t help noticing how her naked breasts swayed with her movements.

After hunting under the pillows with no success, she leaned over the edge of the bed, searching around on the floor, her butt high in the air. If Nick hadn’t already been so exhausted and so strangely affected, he’d definitely have taken the opportunity she presented.

‘Here, I found it.’ Belle climbed back into bed, her cheeks pink with exertion. She repositioned herself against the pillows and sat back, holding the crystal up to Nick’s gaze. Nick felt a short burst of emotion that was suddenly extinguished along with the pain in his head.

With the crystal now firmly clutched in Belle’s hand, his thoughts were once again his own. His contentment returned, along with genuine puzzlement. Before the crystal had somehow blanked out the fake emotions, he’d experienced an intense anxiety and the need to protect himself. The only feeling he could liken it to was when he’d once been mugged – the guy had had a knife and Nick had been too sensible to try to fight, but that instinctual protectiveness had still kicked in.

What did it mean?

‘Belle,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘What are we going to do?’

‘What do you mean?’ That nervous, uncertain look was back on her face.

‘I mean that crystal. You need to be touching it or the spell comes back. We have to find a way to break the spell, or you’re going to have to carry that crystal around with you all the time. Well, any time I want to kiss you, anyway,’ he added with a lopsided grin.

Her nose wrinkled and she gave him a shy little smile. ‘You want to kiss me again?’

‘I want to kiss you again and again,’ Nick confirmed. ‘But not right now. Right now I need a rest. That was wonderful, but it’s been kind of a big night.’

‘Mmm-hmm,’ Belle agreed wordlessly, snuggling next to him. Nick wrapped his arm around her and next thing he knew, he was asleep.

Belle lay in Nick’s arms, not willing to trust her own senses. He was really there. Lying next to her. In her bed. Moments ago he’d been in her body. The
real
Nick, not some magiced-up phantom.

But all this stuff about a spell had her feeling uneasy.

What was with the crystal? She rubbed her fingers over the cool, glassy surface. No matter how long she held it, the crystal never seemed to get any warmer.

Other than that, it just seemed like a lump of rock. Kind of pretty, but nothing out of the ordinary. Holding the crystal made no difference to how she felt, and she still didn’t quite understand what difference it made to Nick. From what he’d told her, somehow he was prevented from speaking to her unless she was holding it. He’d been going to explain further, but then they’d got . . . distracted. Belle couldn’t help grinning.

Some distraction.

Nick shifted next to her. His deep breathing made her head rise and fall slightly as she rested on his shoulder. And she could hear his heartbeat under her ear.

Funny how she could never remember lying like this with Tony. Probably because as soon as they had sex he ran off to shower, as if he had to wash her from his skin. As if the whole thing had been somehow distasteful. Usually he’d throw some critique of her performance over his shoulder as he went. She realised she’d been expecting Nick to say something similar, had braced herself for it, but the crystal had distracted them both.

What did Aunt Gertrude have to do with this? Belle wondered. After all, it was Aunt Gertrude who’d given her the crystal. Did her aunt know about a spell cast over Belle? If so, why hadn’t she mentioned it? When Gertrude had given her the crystal, Belle had figured that it was some kind of dampener, something that would prevent Belle herself from casting more spells after the disaster with the phantom lover. A punishment – at least from Aunt Gertrude’s perspective. Right now, Belle didn’t particularly care if she never cast another spell in her life.

She’d sort it out in the morning, she decided. Maybe go see Aunt Gertrude and get to the bottom of it all. Right now, there was a warm, delicious man in her bed, and Belle intended to savour every minute of it.

Belle woke early, at first uncertain what had woken her, but then realised it was the unfamiliar feeling of being entwined with another as she’d slept. The bedroom smelled of sex and male musk, and for a long while, Belle was content just to lie there and watch Nick sleep, drinking in his Italian good looks.

He really was a beautiful man, even more beautiful up close. His thick, dark eyelashes – worthy of female jealousy – were fanned against his cheeks. His olive skin was smooth and even-toned all over. A small splash of colour decorated his left shoulder: an almost feminine Celtic tattoo that only served to emphasise the masculinity of the muscles it decorated. He had hair on his chest that spread outwards from his sternum and trailed down in an arrow to his impressive appendage. Although she’d kissed it last night, she still harboured a deep longing to get to know that part of Nick better, to learn every inch of him. And there were a number of inches to get to know, she thought, suppressing a giggle.

Belle was a little sticky and knew her make-up would be all smeared. She wanted to be presentable for Nick when he woke up so, sliding carefully out of bed, she headed for the bathroom.

The sensuousness of a lingering bath with lots of bubbles appealed, but she didn’t want to be away from Nick’s embrace for long. A nice hot shower instead, then.

Belle let the water run over her as she removed her make-up and then soaped up her hands with a vanilla-scented body wash. Her skin was extraordinarily sensitive. Slippery fingers slid over her breasts and encountered puckered nipples. Her own touch was enough to make her gasp. Perhaps Nick had enchanted her; or perhaps her body was programmed to come alive to his touch.

She let one soapy hand slide down over her belly and begin to work the froth into her curls and, even though she didn’t touch her clit, that pressure was enough to send a shudder through her entire body. A muted groan escaped her lips, and she shivered as a waft of cold air drifted over her.

‘Are you leaving me out this morning?’ a husky male voice asked behind her.

Belle spun around, almost losing her footing on the wet tiles. Nick reached out his gorgeous, strong arm to steady her. Belle knew she should have been embarrassed, mortified even, at being caught pleasuring herself like that, but the sight of him before her was more than enough to wipe out any other thought.

Nick’s dark eyes glowed with intent and his cock was fully erect, even more massive this morning than she’d figured last night. Belle bit back a gasp at the sight. She’d really been able to take that in her mouth? In her body?

‘Not leaving you out,’ she managed to find the breath to say. ‘Just getting ready for you.’

He gave her a wicked grin. ‘Just as well. Scoot over.’

Nick stepped into the shower with her. It really wasn’t large enough for two, but that just meant they had to get nice and close and Belle didn’t have a problem with that.

Nick’s hands took over where she’d left off, rubbing the soapy bubbles into her skin. Only he cleaned her far more thoroughly than she would have cleaned herself, starting with her arms, moving over her shoulders and down her back, then kneeling in front of her and working his way up from her feet, starting with each individual toe.

By the time his hands pressed against her belly, having not yet touched either her breasts or pussy, Belle was a quivering mess.

‘You’re a tease,’ she whispered.

‘So are you,’ he replied. ‘Just you standing there naked is a tease.’

Belle sighed. He said such nice things. He even made them sound true.

Belle decided it was time to take the teasing into her control. Grabbing the bottle of body wash, she directed Nick under the shower spray, making sure he got wet all over. She squirted a huge amount of soap on her hands and began to rub it into his chest, lathering up his hair, making sure that her fingernails scraped against his nipples as she did so. A rush of pleasure flooded through her as the areola pebbled into hard nubs at the stimulation. His groan echoed through her, sending sparks to her groin, making the throb there even more insistent.

She traced the trail of hair down his belly, skirting around the straining erection that thrust towards her. Instead, she foamed up the hair at its base before her hand stroked lower and took his balls in her palm. Under the pretence of washing them, she rubbed the skin gently, looking up from her careful ministrations when a loud hiss of breath left him. His eyes were screwed shut, his teeth clenched and jaw taut, and Belle revelled in the fact that she was doing this to him – that she could bring him as much pleasure as he brought her.

With hands still slippery, Belle traced around his hips and soaped up his butt cheeks, squeezing them with both hands. It was really the most delicious feeling holding the mounds of muscled flesh in her grasp – almost as good as squeezing his arms.

She ran her hands up and down, tracing the line where his legs met his butt, and then lightly ran her fingertips up the crack. Nick gasped in response and Belle wondered if it was a good gasp or a shocked gasp. She’d read that some men liked it when women played around there, but Belle had never done it before.

Tentatively, she did it again, and this time Nick muttered something like
oh yeah
into her hair and pushed into her hands more firmly. Belle figured that was a good sign.

Leaving one hand to explore his butt, Belle brought her other hand between them and finally gripped his cock. It was hot and solid and strained towards her.

‘Fuck that’s good,’ Nick muttered in her ear as she began to move her hand on him.

His mouth sought hers for a punishing kiss as she worked him. She tightened her grip at the top of every stroke, being sure to press against the sensitive skin just under the head. The fingertips of her other hand continued to play up and down the crevice of his buttocks, each time slipping a little deeper. When she encountered the pucker of the opening to his body, she circled and pressed, circled and pressed, and he tore his mouth away from hers to moan.

‘Oh God, Belle.’ He made a muffled, gasping sound of pain and then his cock pulsed in her hand. Hot cum erupted from the tip, splashing against her belly and the tiled shower wall. She kept pumping, and three more spurts of fluid surged from him, spraying her with each burst. The sight of his cum on her stomach, of it sliding down the wall, was carnal and dirty and inexplicably
hot,
and a sharp ache of want pierced her core.

He groaned, a long, low sound, and his head fell to her shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, stopping her hands from moving on him. He was shaking slightly and pressing little kisses into her skin, his breath still coming in heavy gasps.

Belle was flooded with something she could only call
happiness.
She’d brought him as much pleasure as he’d brought her; he’d moaned her name when he’d come. That was the first time any man had done that, as far as she could remember. It was a powerful feeling. She felt sexy and confident.

Raising her arms to the jet of water from the shower, Belle twisted slightly in Nick’s embrace to sluice the soap from her body. She was ready to return to bed and find out how quickly Nick could recover.

‘Not so fast,’ Nick murmured. Using those strong arms of his, he repositioned her so her back was to his chest, the shower raining down directly on her breasts. The way he could move her around like that, put her body where he wanted it, made her feel both vulnerable and feminine, and a swell of emotion rushed through her, feelings that had nothing to do with the fact that his hands were working on her: one on her breast, the other between her legs.

He kissed her shoulder, then her neck, then nuzzled against her ear, taking her earlobe into his mouth for a brief suck.

‘You’re all hard and soft,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘Your nipples are like firm little blueberries, but your breasts are so beautifully soft.’ He demonstrated his words by first cupping her breast and squeezing it, then taking her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and giving it a gentle twist. Belle’s breath caught when his hand moved to give her other breast the same treatment.

‘And your skin,
here
,’ he tapped the fingers of his other hand lightly against the juncture where her thigh met her hip, ‘is so soft and smooth, like butter. And you’re all soft here too,’ he murmured, his fingers moving to cup her mound. His middle finger pressed against the entrance to her vagina and then slid upwards, parting her slit until he pressed against the nub of her clit. ‘Except for this bit,
here
.’ Belle let out a whimper as his finger circled her and then slipped over the tip of her clit once more.

‘You got all wet from touching me, didn’t you, sweetheart?’ He left her clit to slide just the tip of his finger inside her, pushing in and out in a maddeningly unsatisfying rhythm. Belle fought to stay upright as the assault on her senses continued. Nick’s voice in her ear, his breath and lips and stubble tickling her; his hand on her breast, cupping and squeezing; the hot, constant pulse of the shower on her chest and belly; the steamy vanilla-and-Nick-scented air; the pressure and heat of Nick’s fingers where he explored her so intimately. Her knees threatened to buckle.

‘I don’t think it would take much to tip you over the edge,’ Nick continued whispering into her ear. ‘Would it, Belle? Are you about to come? Are you going to come for me?’

Her only answer was a sobbing breath of unspoken pleading; she was desperate for him to take his teasing touches to the next level and let her body complete the journey.

His finger left off its teasing thrusts and returned to her clit, stroking firmly up and down, driving her instantly to the brink. Belle shuddered and gripped her hands into fists. She couldn’t come just like that, with only thirty seconds of pressure on her clit; that wasn’t how her body worked.

‘It’s okay, sweetheart, I’ve got you. Let go.’

And then, beyond her control, her clit pulsed against Nick’s finger and she cried out, a nonsensical sound of bliss. Her head fell back onto his shoulder and she lost all capacity for rational thought as her body contracted and released. Nick kept up the pressure, drawing out her orgasm until she almost lost her mind. All the while he muttered reassuring, sexy things in her ear.

Finally the waves began to recede and Belle sucked in a shaking, sobbing breath. He let go of her breast and instead wrapped his arm around her ribcage, holding her tight as if she were in danger of falling over. Which, Belle figured vaguely, was a distinct possibility if her knees didn’t start working again soon.

His finger stopped its relentless movement against her centre; instead he shifted his hand so his palm cupped her entire mound, holding her body firmly against him. She could feel his cock, reinvigorated, pressing against the small of her back.

There was the answer to that question.

He shuffled forwards a little so the shower sprayed over them both.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked when her breathing began to return to normal.

‘Mmm-hmm.’ He wanted her to speak? After that?

‘Come on, sweetheart,’ he urged. ‘Let’s rinse off and get out of here. I’m turning into prune man.’

Belle managed a little laugh and was thankful she managed to stay standing when Nick let go of her. Taking turns, they each stepped under the spray to wash away the soap and fluids of their lovemaking. Nick watched her with a lustful yet puzzled expression when she reached up to smooth out her wet hair.

‘Belle?’

‘Mmm?’

‘You’re not holding the crystal, are you?’

Belle stiffened with surprise. ‘No. It’s still in the bedroom.’

‘But I feel fine. And we still did . . .
that
.’

‘Yeah.’ She frowned. ‘Maybe the spell is broken?’

‘I’d be the first to celebrate if that were the case,’ Nick said. ‘Shall we head back to the bedroom to see if it really is broken?’