Stiletto Secrets (16 page)

“I don’t want you in control, Nicholas.” She panted and tangled her fingers in his dark hair. Control was the last thing Emma needed right now.

He shook his head slightly. “I need to be in control with you. I need it to be different with you. Let me see you lose control first.”

He reached between them and touched her, causing the ache in her core to flame up with such force she wasn’t able to stop the moan that escaped her.

“God, that sound, Emma. It’s fucking owning me right now.” He kept on moving his fingers in a way that gave her a taste of the pleasure that awaited her, causing the most exquisite ache to take a hold of her body.

His touch grew stronger, harder, faster and a whole lot of moans and whimpers rolled over her lips. And then his hand was gone, leaving her aching, her muscles tight with pressure.

“Nicholas…” She wanted to beg him, she wanted to scream at him—anything to get him to touch her again.

“Patience, princess. I’ll give you what you need soon.”

He covered her mouth with his, drowning out the noise, swallowing her hedonistic whimpers. God, this man was playing her body like an instrument, hitting all the right notes at exactly the right time.

When he touched her again, her back arched with the delightful pressure that just kept on building, and building. She could feel the edge draw near, her release imminent, and she bucked her hips searching for the high she knew would follow.

“God you’re beautiful like this,” he said softly. Emma opened her eyes and saw him staring down at her. “Seeing you like this, filled with desire, needing me to give you more. Fuck, Emma, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Emma was on the brink of going crazy if he didn’t give her what she needed right now. The throbbing ache was just too much and her body begged for relief from the sexual pressure that now consumed her.

“Nicholas, I need you.”

“I know you do, and it’s the best feeling ever knowing that your body is fucking screaming for me to be inside you right now.”

Unable to stand the torture any longer, she reached down between them and took him firmly in her hand. Nicholas drew in a sharp breath and cursed as his eyes fell closed, flexing, pushing deeper into her palm.

Just as he had touched her, teased her, bringing her to the edge of insanity by playing her body like a violin, she touched him and teased him too. The room around them was now filled with their heady moans and their panting breaths as desire and the promise of mind blowing pleasure hung thick in the air.

Nicholas placed his forehead on hers. “Promise me, Emma. Tonight, here, now, it’s you and me, Emma and Nicholas. No Tremaine’s, no Blake’s, just us.”

“Just us,” she said while wrapping her other arm around his shoulder, wanting to feel his muscles flex beneath her touch as he moved. It was so intoxicating, so enticingly perfect; she pressed her nails deep into the skin of his back.

A loud, guttural moan came from the back of his throat and he threw his head back. “Fuck!”

He shifted and reached for his bedside drawer, pulling out a condom.

Emma watched as he tore it effortlessly between his teeth. The anticipation of what was to come was almost enough to send her over the edge before he even had a chance to put on the condom.

She lifted her hips and he pressed his thigh between her legs, giving her a taste of the pressure that she needed. Emma arched her back and closed her eyes, letting the sensation possess her.

With an abrupt jerk he grabbed both her hands and pinned them above her head on the mattress. With hungry, fiercely burning eyes he stared down at her, positioning himself between her legs.

“Breathe, Emma. Just breathe.”

And then he shifted.

A loud moan rolled over her lips when he entered her. Nicholas filled her to the brim, taking possession of her with every inch, with every stroke.

Using his body, Nicholas transported her to a place of pleasure she never knew existed. A place where Emma no longer had to keep her desire, her needs contained. Now she was able to let go.

He moved exactly like she needed him to, not too fast, and not too slow. Their bodies became one, melted together and it was the most euphoric feeling Emma had ever experienced.

“Lose control, Emma.” He continued to move. “Let go. I want to see you let go.”

And then it happened.

Everything inside of her exploded into a million pieces, the most intense pleasure bursting through every corner of her body. Emma trembled; her mind and soul shattered into nothing but tiny fragments of complete and utter bliss.

She arched her back and cried out, unable to keep the intense feeling of rapture contained. He palmed her cheek, his thumb starting to stroke her throat and then squeezed as he started to move, to
really
move, now searching for his own pleasure. Emma reached down and cupped his firm, toned behind, urging him deeper, faster, needing him to lose control just as she had.

His body started to shake, his breathing becoming more labored as his release grew nearer.

To Emma it was beautiful. Feeling him, watching him, giving him exactly what he needed from her, it was the best experience of her life.

Nicholas buried his face in her neck, smothering his low, hard moans of ecstasy as his pleasure crashed over him, his muscles twitching beneath her palms. Emma loved it. She loved everything about that moment.

For a few seconds they remained still, only the sounds of their labored breathing filling the room now. Nicholas didn’t move. And neither did she. She was too afraid of it all being over. She didn’t want it to be over.

Nicholas took a deep breath and moved, sliding to her side. Suddenly the feeling of euphoria she had minutes ago was replaced with a sense of foreboding. Nicholas had made love to her. He had pushed her body to the limit like no man ever had, and it was amazing. But now one question started to swirl like poison around in her mind.
What now
?

“Emma.” His voice was soft and calm, and Emma closed her eyes, steeling herself against what he was about to say. She felt him gently touch her cheek. “Stay with me tonight.”

Those four words caused Emma’s heart to almost leap out of her chest. She sucked in a breath since she was holding it for so long. She thought for sure that he was going to ask her to leave, or tell her not to expect anything more. But she did not expect him to ask her to stay.

Emma turned to him, and she noticed his face was damp with sweat, the exertion of their lovemaking showing on his glowing face. “Are you sure, Nicholas?”

He brushed his knuckles adoringly down her cheek. “Can anyone ever be sure about anything?”

He smiled, and that was the moment she realized that he didn’t just possess her body, but he had now possessed her heart as well.

A great sense of uncertainty swooped in right at that moment.

What about Cinderella?

What about her job as a stripper? She couldn’t give that job up. She made twice the amount of money as Cinderella than she did being a maid in the Blake mansion. Emma needed that money if she wanted to get Lizzy through law school.

But what if—and that was a very big if—something strong and solid developed between her and Nicholas, what would she tell him? Would she tell him everything? How would he feel if he knew that she was Cinderella, a woman who stripped and teased and seduced men for money?

But as Nicholas drew lazy circles with his fingertips on her naked hip and over her belly, the most important question—and also the question she feared the most—came up inside her head.

What if Nicholas went back to see
Cinderella
?

NICHOLAS
lay awake staring at the beauty next to him. Emma had been asleep for a while, and she had snuggled up next to him, her head on his shoulder, her arm draped over his chest. For some reason it felt really, really, good.

He had given up on falling asleep about an hour ago. He was still pumped with excitement after what he had experienced with Emma. Nicholas had bedded countless women—he had fucked more women than he would have cared to admit. But none of them, none of those countless nights of meaningless sex came close to what he just shared with Emma.

The way she responded to him, the way her soft moans of pleasure shot straight through his chest right into his heart, everything with her was just fucking amazing. Emma managed to rouse a feeling inside of him that he couldn’t explain. There were no words to describe what he felt when he slipped inside her. And when her warmth wrapped around him he knew he was experiencing a piece of heaven.

She
was heaven.

The moment she came undone beneath him, when her whimpers and moans of pleasure filled his ears, it was goddamn beautiful. A fucking sonnet. Never did any woman’s desire and pleasure please him so much as hers. Her body, her hands, her mouth, it felt like everything about her was specially made for him. With her it all just felt…it just felt
right.

But Nicholas couldn’t shake this feeling he had the entire time he was with her. Her breathing, her panting and moans all just sounded so
familiar
. Good familiar.

He had no idea why, but there was something about Emma that reminded him of…of
her
.

Nicholas’ thoughts slowly slipped toward the stripper who called herself Cinderella. Why would he think of her
now
? He was such an asshole.

He turned his gaze to the ceiling while he tried to push the memory of
her
aside. It wasn’t right for him to think of her, not while Emma lay beside him sleeping so peacefully after he had made love to her. But something about the intense energy he experienced while he was with Emma reminded him of how he felt the times he had been with
her
. It was like the entire world around them disappeared and there was nothing but them, there would
be
nothing but them. He experienced that same pull, that same captivating force of being sucked in and not wanting to ever resurface again. He felt it with both Emma and Cinderella—which was just fucking wrong on so many levels.

Guilt, a strong sense of shame, forced its way up inside of Nicholas’ chest.

He turned and stared at Emma while she slept. Suddenly thinking of Cinderella made him feel more guilty than he ever thought possible. Guilt wasn’t something Nicholas was familiar with. He never had a reason to feel guilty before. Like he told Emma, he never made any promises to women. He never put himself in a position where he would feel guilty over anything. But now as pictures and flashes of high-heeled stilettos and the memory of a temptation Nicholas wanted to succumb to twice already poured through his mind, guilt took a firm hold of his insides.

Was he starting to fall in love with Emma? What else could explain the guilt he was feeling?

Unable to lie still any longer, Nicholas gently got out of bed, careful not to wake Emma. He pulled on his sweatpants and then took a moment to look at her. Her raven curls were splayed over his pillows. The arm she had draped over his chest she now slipped underneath his pillow as she nestled deeper into the mattress. With everything that had gone wrong in her life, with all the sacrifices she had to make, and probably still had to make, she looked so incredibly peaceful. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and he realized that the room felt a little stuffy.

Nicholas softly walked across the room and opened the window to let in some air. He closed his eyes as the cool spring breeze wafted over him. Tonight when he was with Emma, inside of her, something shifted deep within him. Something big and true took root in his soul. But he could not shake Cinderella from his mind. Nicholas had this epic experience with Emma which he wouldn’t trade for anything in the world, but now he kept on thinking about
her
.

Was it because Emma reminded him so much of her? Was it because being with Emma had brought back that same feeling of wild anticipation, a covetous need for release?

Fuck!
He was going insane. What was wrong with him?

Emma stirred on the bed, and Nicholas turned to watch her. Something told him that he had fallen for this raven-haired beauty, but he also knew that there was this unfinished
thing
with Cinderella.

But as he climbed back into bed, placing his arm around Emma and pulling her closer, he did something he had never done before with any woman. He spooned.

That was the moment he became sure that the warm and fuzzy feeling that burned with a slow intense heat inside of his chest would help him put
her
out of his mind.

It just had to.

* * * *

The next morning Nicholas woke up and groaned as he turned around to check the time. It was 7.16 a.m. He closed his eyes and turned back while reaching for Emma, but she wasn’t there. He opened his eyes and lifted his head.

The bed was empty. He was alone…and it sucked.

He sat up. “Emma? Are you here?”

He thought that maybe she was in the en suite bathroom, but the door was open, and no one answered.

Where was she?

Nicholas jumped out of bed, pulled on a shirt and hurried out of his bedroom. On his way down the stairs he passed Beth who was on her way up.

“Good morning, Mr. Blake.”

“Beth, have you seen Emma?”

“Oh yes, she’s in the kitchen helping with the dishes from last night.” And then Beth moved further up the stairs.

The thought of Emma doing dishes didn’t sit well with him at all. In fact, the thought angered him. And why the hell did she get out of his bed to go do housework? He had planned to ravish her again the second he woke up. He wanted to move inside her and watch as the ecstasy of their lovemaking consumed her over and over again.

But no. She was in the kitchen washing dishes.
What the fuck?

Nicholas stormed into the kitchen. “Emma!” he called out and everyone stopped dead in their tracks, staring at him.

He ignored them. “Emma,” he called again, and then saw her peeking from around the corner.

“Yes, Mr. Blake?” Her voice sounded shaky, and she was staring at him all bug-eyed.