Water Bound (36 page)

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Authors: Christine Feehan

BOOK: Water Bound
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“I’m right here, Rikki, I’m not going anywhere.”
Her breath caught in her throat. He wasn’t going anywhere and this was her home. She couldn’t go anywhere. What was she supposed to do? Should she offer him something to eat or drink? Should she get up and shower? She was going to be sore; maybe a bath. Or should she get out of the house altogether? She could sit in her swing, if she could find the energy to get up.
Shivering, she dropped her hand and clutched at the sheet, frowning. She was going to blow this. It had been so perfect. Absolutely perfect, and she had no clue how people handled the aftermath of making love. She recognized the difference. He’d poured himself into her, body and soul, given her a priceless gift, and she was liable to inadvertently throw it back in his face from lack of experience or knowledge.
Her mind raced round and round, filling with fear. She was going to ruin everything. She was in new territory and it was frightening. Her brain wanted to retreat to familiar places. The rain, maybe, just allow herself to be absorbed by it, but she didn’t want to do that to Lev. It was difficult, trying to fight the inclination with her head all over the place and no ability to rein it in.
Lev frowned down at Rikki, suddenly concerned. He laid his hand over her heart to discover it pounding so hard he was afraid she’d have a heart attack.
“What’s wrong, Rikki?” he asked, his voice gentle, almost tender.
She shivered and reached beneath the bed for her weighted blanket, her gaze eluding his.
“Lubov moya
, you’re moaning. Are you in pain?”
Her fingers fumbled on the blanket, and he reached over her and found it for her, tucking it around her with care.
“I’m sorry,” she managed.
“Don’t be sorry, Rikki, talk to me. Let me know what’s happening.” He didn’t wait for her to speak, but pressed his left palm against her left palm and thrust into her mind.
Use your words
,
Rikki
. A woman’s voice advised.
Her mother, and it was a memory that often comforted her. She rocked her body a little, as the memory of her mother holding her tight, putting pressure on her chest when she felt her body was flying apart, surfaced.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
She sounded so forlorn, his heart twisted, but he waited in silence. She opened her eyes to look at him. The moment her gaze connected with his, he heard her thoughts.
That face, rugged and strong and so beautiful
.
His eyes. As blue as the beloved sea. His expression tender
. He felt relieved that she took comfort in his presence and wasn’t wishing him gone.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and moved her body with his easy strength, tucking her close to him. “There aren’t any rules, here, Rikki.”
Her eyes flared wider and a little gasp escaped. “No. No, there have to be rules. There’re always rules. What do I do? I don’t know.”
“What did you do before with Daniel?” He didn’t want to bring the man’s memory into her mind, not after what they shared, but he needed to find a way to comfort her.
“I left. I got up and left, fast, and went back to my house.” She looked around her. “But this is my house and you live here too, and I don’t know what to do.”
She sounded so confused and vulnerable that his heart ached for her. “Remember what we promised each other?” he asked. He smoothed tendrils of hair from around her face. “We make our own rules. I say we hold one another and talk until we’re both either too tired to stay awake, or we’re recovered enough to make love again.”
She looked genuinely shocked but also more than a little interested.
“Again?”
“Doesn’t the idea appeal to you?” He slid his hand under the blanket and cupped her breast, his thumb sliding over her nipple, teasing it into a hardened peak.
She gave him a dark scowl. “Of course the idea appeals to me, but I never read the rules on sex. Is there a certain number of times a day or a week?”
He smiled at her and bent to take possession of her mouth. He kissed her long and deep and with enough mastery to keep her tongue dancing with his. He loved how she gave herself up to him. There was no hesitation when he touched her. He nibbled on her lips and took a nip out of her chin before he answered. “Two individuals sharing their life together have sex when they choose. It can be slow and gentle or wild and crazy. But it should be an expression of love. And trust me on this, Rikki. I love you. When I’m touching you, I’m loving you.”
He kissed his way down her throat to the side of her neck. Her pulse fluttered like that of a bird’s wing and then began to pound with alarm beneath his lips. He stroked her hair gently, fear sliding into his mind at the thought of what she meant to him. He knew he had committed himself fully to her, to a new life, but he was still just catching glimpses into her world, into her mind.
She was fragile and vulnerable in ways others weren’t, yet amazingly courageous and strong. He knew he never wanted to be without her. And he didn’t want to stumble, to upset her without knowing what he was doing.
“So we can just stay in bed?” Her gaze searched his.
“That’s right,
laskovaya moya
, we’ll stay in bed together. Do you mind if I indulge myself?”
She gave him that adorable little frown of concentration again. “I don’t know what that means.”
“I want to explore what’s mine. I like touching you.”
“I didn’t think I’d like it,” she conceded, “but I do.”
“Do you like touching me?”
A small little grin teased the corners of her mouth. “I give you a massage almost every night”
“You’ve touched me everywhere but my cock, Rikki. Are you afraid to touch me there?”
Her tongue touched her lower lip. “Maybe. A little. I don’t want to hurt you. I could do it wrong, you know.”
“I’m yours, Rikki. My body is yours. I want to feel you touching me. I want your hands and your mouth on me. You’d be giving me the same pleasure I gave you.”
She pushed herself up on one elbow, the blanket slipping down over her breast. “You mean if I touch you ...”
“Or suckle me,” he interrupted.
“I can make you feel out of control with pleasure?”
He nodded solemnly. The idea of her fantasy mouth on him was already making him feel a little out of control and his body was already stirring to life at the thought of it. “How did you not know this?” Her fiancé couldn’t have taken any time with her.
She shrugged. “I was never interested in sex. I don’t learn about things that don’t matter to me. But I’m interested now.” She turned toward him.
Lev was still lying on top of the crumpled sheets. The other blankets had long ago fallen to the floor. She let her weighted blanket do the same, kneeling up over him, studying his body. She knew every inch intimately, since she’d given him massages every single night, but she’d never explored his manhood. He was long and heavy and thick, and she had been drawn to the sight of him naked and full many times. He never tried to hide an erection from her, and she’d grown used to the sight of him hard and thick.
Rikki stroked an experimental caress over the broad, flared head of his cock and Lev’s body jerked. He gasped. She smiled. He tried to lie still for her. Her hands cupped the weight of his balls. She was very gentle, rolling them, getting used to the feel and texture of them. He could barely breathe, waiting for what came next. Rikki was very focused on what she was doing, just as she often was when she was fascinated by something. Lev liked that his body fascinated her.
At first, she was Rikki, completely enthralled and caught up in her exploration so that, for a time, she was wholly focused on feel and the mechanics of her experimentation. He set his teeth and tried to just let her be in control. She had a natural sensuality that shook him, and when she began using her mouth and tongue, his breath left his body in an explosive rush.
All of his training didn’t seem to work around her. It didn’t matter that she had no experience; she made up for that in her enjoyment, in the way she savored taste and texture, in the way she lost herself in making him pulse and jerk under her ministrations. He finally gave in with a groan and guided her head with his hands, his eyes wide open, watching her. Without a doubt he found her the sexiest woman he’d ever met. It didn’t take long before he could tell he wasn’t going to last.
Very gently he stopped her, needing to feel hot silk and tight, scorching heat. “Straddle me,” he ordered.
Rikki obeyed him, and breathing deep, Lev pushed upward as she came down over the top of him. He felt her sheath unfurl, an exquisite fire surrounding him. He thrust and she shivered, giving him that soft, sexy moan he loved so much.
Need
. It was alive. Breathing in him, clawing at him, ripping at his heart and mind. He needed this beautiful, giving woman. She was so damned sexy, so giving and generous.
He lifted his hips even as he reached up and covered her breasts with his hands, claiming her. Claiming her body. Wanting to feel her heart beating into his palm.
“Ride me,
lubov moya
,” he whispered and tugged at her nipples, feeling the answering rush of heat bathing his cock.
Her hair was disheveled and wild, the way he liked it, the sun-kissed streaks darker from her dampness. There was a sheen on her flushed skin, and her eyes were bright and glazed. He loved that he could do that to her, bring that change—the vivid color, the harsh, ragged breathing and the soft, musical moans.
He kept changing his rhythm, just to hear her gasp, to hear those astonished little whimpers as he impaled her. His hands were on her hips, driving her down to sit on him deeper and deeper each time. He felt the hot clasp of her body as her silky muscles surrounded him, gripping like a vise. She shuddered and the first strong wave moved over her, taking her. He increased his thrusts, driving up into her, holding her to him, wanting to explode with her. Scorching hot ecstasy washed over him, left him mindless for a few sweet moments.
Rikki took his past, took every bad thing and simply obliterated it. He floated in that sea of emptiness. Somewhere, sometime, when his mind began to work again, he realized it wasn’t emptiness—it was love and he had it. And he was keeping it.
He reached up and caught her head with both hands, bringing her down to him so he could kiss her long and deep. Very gently he helped her off of him and coaxed her to lie beside him. She was exhausted, and this was the part where she felt awkward and uncertain. He dragged her blanket over her and tucked it around her.
“I’m staying, Rikki. Just so you know.” He could tell she was drifting a little beneath the weight of the blanket and the sound of the rain through the open window.
She smiled, her eyes closed. “I want you to stay.”
“Rikki,” he whispered, holding her close, his mouth to her ear. “When the weather’s good, let’s go out on the boat together. You can dive, and I’ll just rest and enjoy the views.”
She stirred, her lashes fluttering. “You can’t go on my boat.”
He kissed his way from her mouth to her breast, his tongue flicking the tight little bud. She groaned and put a hand on his chest as if in protest, but she turned her body toward his, giving him better access. He suckled for a minute or two, his free hand massaging her buttocks.
“I’ll just sit quietly. Not touch anything,” he promised.
She made a growling noise, but she didn’t look at him and her lashes settled. He lapped at her breast, teasing with his teeth.
“Lev, you can wake me up in an hom.” Her voice was so drowsy his cock gave a little attempt to stir to life again.
“I want to watch you work. You look hot in your diving gear.”
She sighed. “If you wake me in an hour, I’ll let you on my boat. But you can’t touch anything while you’re on it”
“Not even you?” he prompted.
She smiled without opening her eyes. “I might let you touch me.”
He kissed her breast and curved his body around hers before setting his watch. One hour it was.
14
“I can’t believe I fell for the oldest trick in the book,” Rikki said, glancing sideways at Lev before turning her gaze back to the narrow ribbon of asphalt above the ocean.
Highway 1 was deserted in the early morning hour, and she usually had the coastal road to herself. The sea sparkled invitingly with the sun barely up and joy was already spreading through her. Excitement lent a teasing note to her tone, but as always, she drove with her slow control, mindful of her speed.
Lev glanced pointedly at the speedometer and assumed an innocent air. “I have no idea what you’re talking about”
“Sex. You managed to worm your way onto my boat using sex.”
He laughed softly. “Any means,
lyubimaya moya
.” He was totally unrepentant. “I wasn’t about to let you go out to sea without me. Who knows what you might find in the ocean?”
She couldn’t help but laugh at the implication. “So you think I’m in the habit of pulling strange men out of the sea and bringing them home?”

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