Page 53 of All the Beautiful Things
“You did.”
In the end, it was as simple as that.
He came to me in three long strides and placed his warm palms on my cheek. His lips followed, suffusing me with warmth from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes and my hands went to him, to his hips. I held him to me as he claimed my mouth, slipped his tongue inside and with a feral groan from deep in his throat, he claimed me.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, sliding hands to my neck, down my sides until his hand was at my lower back, dipping beneath the hem of my dress until we were pressed, flesh to flesh.
One barrier gone between us.
Too many remaining. Ones to think of another night.
“I have waited, my entire life, for a man like you and still, even in my wildest dreams, no one I dreamed of came close to the man you are.”
He settled his forehead against mine and exhaled a shuddering breath. “Let me have you.”
I was his to have whenever he wanted. I would deny him nothing. Not for all he’d given me.
It wasn’t the job. It wasn’t the home.
It was everything that was him… safety, security, but most of all, a love that didn’t demand and steal and berate. A love that was pure and honorable and beautiful.
I kissed him this time, rolling to my toes and found the hinge of his jaw, his throat, before he dipped down and took my mouth while sliding his hand deeper into my dress until he was cupping my backside, pressing me against his desire for me.
I gasped into his mouth at the feel of him and surged forward, taking him back a step, guiding him down the short hall to my bedroom.
His other hand slid to the back of my neck, snaked into my hair and dug fingertips to my scalp that held me in place while he devoured my mouth.
We moved slowly and in sync. He paused to kick off a shoe and I unbuttoned his shirt. Another shoe removed. So went the tuxedo coat and vest he wore like a Tom Ford model. He found the zipper at my side and I found the cufflinks at his wrist.
We undressed each other slowly, mouths only separating when necessary until we stood at the edge of my bed, half-disrobed, completely disheveled.
Both of us with heaving breaths and swollen lips and I imagined the desire in his eyes was only the fraction showing in mine. God, I wanted him. I wanted to forget the pain he caused. I wanted to show him how much I loved him too even if those words still cling to my throat unable to break free.
“Hudson,” I whispered and opened his shirt. He stayed still while I explored his chest with my fingertips and hands, sliding them over the curves of his chest, over the definition on his abs. “There is so much I want to learn to do with you.”
“Trust me. I feel the same.”
His voice was the low rumble of an animal, restraining himself before he attacked.
I pushed off his shirt, revealed the muscled expanse of his body, and fumbled with the buttons of his dress pants and belt. Once opened, the zipper tore through the room like a thunderstorm.
And my heart rate rumbled the same when his hands went to my dress. He pulled it forward from the back toward my shoulders. The velvet and sheer fabric at my arms scraped sensitive skin and nipples, abrading them and heating my body while he slid it down, freeing my arms, my breasts, and my waist until in one firm tug, he pushed it down where it pooled at my ankles.
My heart lodged in between my ribs. I was desperate for him, so damn afraid.
“Exquisite.”
I reveled in his praise. His darkened eyes were heated, and I shivered.
In front of him, there was no shame or embarrassment. No nerves as he swept the length of my body with his eyes, caressing me in a way I’d never felt, and yet no hands touched me.
My swallow was heavy and slow as his hands covered mine at his waistband. “Let me help you,” he said so quietly, his gaze seared to mine with intense beauty.
He bent again and kissed me. Together we pushed down his pants and then he curled an arm around my lower back, lifted me and settled me on the bed. He climbed over as he kicked out of his pants and removed socks and then the length of his body was on mine, the weight of him warming me from the inside out while his hands on me scalded me from the outside in until it felt like my entire body was simmering embers, ready to set aflame.
Beautiful. So beautiful. We were perfect together.
“The last time we did this, I did not want those secrets between us,” he admitted, voice like gravel while he skimmed his hands over my sides, curved them around my breasts, over the swell of them before scraping my hardened nipples.
