When she realized what he wanted, she went willingly. He slid to the middle of the bench and she came over him, straddling his lap. He opened his hands at the back of her waist and hauled her closer along his thighs. Her eyes sprang wide. He was aroused.
From listening to me play?
“Asher—”
He cut off her breathless query about his sudden intensity by reaching for the tie on her cover-up. She watched, her heart in her throat, as he solemnly drew on the strings. He parted the thin cotton fabric, revealing the tops of her breasts above her bikini top. Shivers poured through her. She went still at something she saw flash into his eyes.
“Believe me, I’ve been trying so hard not to touch you. I’ve been holding back all night. I can’t do it anymore. Not after hearing you sing. Not after experiencing that part of you. You shine so bright in my eyes, it hurts, Laila.”
Then he was pressing his lips against the swell of her breast. She whimpered softly. His mouth burned a place deep inside her.
“I don’t think this . . . thing between us is going to come around every day. Do you?” he asked.
She saw him through a veil of tears. She didn’t know where they’d come from, only that they were suddenly there when she’d watched his face as he told her how bright she shone.
“No,” she whispered.
“I know what I said earlier. We could give up on it all. Or we could plow through. Hold on tight. Hope that an answer eventually comes to us. I know what I want to do. What do you want, Laila?”
“To hold on tight,” she said without hesitation.
She saw something flash across his expression. Happiness. Triumph?
“Then that’s what we’re going to do,” he said grimly before his mouth seized hers. His arms closed around her. She clutched onto his shoulders, feeling herself heating. Softening, until it felt like she was melting into him. Holding her tightly against him, he moved her, rubbing their s
exes together until the friction made her moan shakily into his mouth.
He sealed their kiss. Holding her stare, he began to draw her cover-up off her. She lifted her arms, mesmerized by something she read in his eyes. He tossed the garment aside. His gaze dropped over her. She’d never been so aware of her body. Her skin tingled. Her nipples pinched tight. He lifted his hand and rubbed one distended tip through her swimsuit. Her hips jerked at the contact, her sex grinding down on his erection. A muscle flickered in his tense jaw. Heat swept through her cheeks, lips and chest.
“So sensitive,” he murmured, as if to himself. She heard the awe in his tone. He reached behind her neck and drew on the tie of her bikini top. The fabric slithered off her breasts. For a few seconds, he just stared at her bared flesh while her heart hammered in her ears and she struggled to breathe.
“So beautiful,” he whispered, before he leaned forward and kissed a nipple with such tender, focused passion, her entire body shuddered with feeling.
• • •
He’d never known anything like her. Her entire body was like a live wire. He felt the tension fly into her muscles every time he touched her. He felt her tremble, even at the lightest of his touches.
She was like a rare treasure, resting there in his lap, her face luminous, her eyelids heavy with arousal, the lamplight sheening her smooth, golden-brown skin. Her breasts were medium-sized, firm and high, the globes perfectly round and pale next to her tan. He’d never seen more beautiful breasts. He hadn’t known a woman’s nipples could get so hard and erect. Unable to stand it a moment longer, he leaned forward to feel her against his lips.
When he felt her tremble at the simple caress, he groaned and took his first taste.
Her flavor filled him. Laila, distilled. Sweet. Addictive. He rubbed his tongue against a rigid nipple, absorbing her tremors. She grabbed at his head, the sensation of her fingernails scraping his scalp raising goose bumps along his arms. He cupped her ass, pulling her tighter to him. Her back arched. Her hips shifted subtly as she rode his rigid cock. Pleasure suffused him. She was so soft and supple here . . . but her nipple was diamond hard, he thought wildly as his lips and tongue charted her breast. He drew on her firmly, absorbing her precious, delicate shudder.
Pure lust made everything go black for a few seconds. The sounds of the piano keys being struck brought him out of his trance. His nose was buried in her soft, flat belly. She smelled subtly of honey and flowers. He blinked heavy eyelids and raised his head unwillingly. He held both her arms outstretched on either side of her. It had been her knuckles that’d struck the piano keys as he’d opened her wide for his consumption. She leaned back slightly, her eyelids closed, her lips and cheeks flushed, her spine arched, her beautiful breasts thrust forward.
A knot of need twisted so tight inside him, he winced in pain.
“Laila—”
Someone pounded on the salon doors.
“Asher? Laila? Are you in there?”
Her eyelids snapped open. He saw panic fly into her expression.
“Tahi? Yeah, what is it?” he yelled. As he spoke, he lifted Laila partially and slid out from under her, grimacing as her knees scraped across his erection. He stood and reached for her, hauling her up off the bench and setting her on her feet.
“I just got a text from your mother. She said she tried to text you, but when you didn’t respond, she tried me. I told her you had your phone off for the movie. She wants to know when we’re coming home. I think you better text her. We’re going to have to get going,” Tahi called through the door. He had the fleeting impression from Tahi’s weary tone that she was used to Laila’s mother behaving similarly. Asher bent and retrieved Laila’s bikini top and cover-up. He handed them to her and nodded significantly toward a closed door. Bathroom, he mouthed. He watched, frowning, as she jogged across the room, her naked, elegant back and long legs gleaming in the lamplight.