“I don’t think—”
“Maybe you shouldn’t think,” she said, pressing a finger against his lips. “Thing is, Erik, I’m a big girl now, a big girl who knows what she wants. So you either want me or you don’t. And honestly, you not wanting me might be ten times worse than you and I having crazy cabin-fever sex.”
“Not want you?” he asked, finding it incredible she didn’t already know how hot for her he was. “Here.”
He grabbed the finger that had slid down to imprint the cleft of his chin and tugged her hand downward to the raging erection he’d had since she’d first draped her hand over his waist. Placing her hand on the length of himself, nearly coming at the contact of her fingers, he said, “Does that feel like I don’t want you?”
“No, it doesn’t,” she said, fitting him to her palm.
“Oh, uh,” he groaned, wrenching her hand away before he made a total mess of the sheets. Again, he wondered how she’d relegated him to a green boy, inexperienced to such a degree he ejaculated on first contact. “I think we better slow down, Miss Emma Rose.”
“So are you going to warm me up, Matheson?”
He laughed and lifted himself on one elbow, pushing her back onto the creaky bed. “Oh, I’m about to see what lies beneath those puppies.”
Emma laughed and brushed her hands across his forehead, capturing a loose lock and twisting it around her finger. “I knew these pajamas would drive you mad. That’s why I left my fancy lingerie in the suitcase. I could see right away you were a dog man.”
Erik looked at her face in the dying embers of the fire. Conviction sat in those emerald depths, in the set of her chin. He’d never known she was so stubborn. This Emma was no delicate flower waiting to be tended. This Emma was a woman who asked for what she wanted.
What she wanted was him.
And that was damned sexy.
6
EMMA COULDN’T BELIEVE she’d made the first move.
She’d slept for a good fifteen or twenty minutes while Erik waited on the fire. But when he’d sneaked into bed, she’d felt him...this time. A night ago, at his house, she’d been so unaware and so tired from moving, she hadn’t felt him climb into bed. But tonight, she had a hyperaware thing going on. She’d thought about it for a few minutes, faking sleep.
Her mind kept flipping back to all those times she’d clammed up when he was around, tongue-tied and gauche. A girl who didn’t think she was worthy of a stud like Erik. So many opportunities to talk to him, to flirt even, washed away because she was too afraid to be vulnerable. Even last night, when he’d climbed into his bed naked, she’d acted shy. But she wasn’t that woman anymore, damn it.
She’d grown, gained her wings and thanks to Alexis, she had started asserting herself.
Okay, this was truly the bravest she’d ever been.
But when she’d thought about going back to the real world, without taking the opportunity to be with Erik, she felt disappointed in herself. She knew he wanted her. And she wanted him. So what was the big deal? Fear that their virtually nonexistent relationship might be damaged? Fear that Alexis might get miffed?
No.
None of that was reason enough to pass up what she’d always dreamed about.
Being Erik Matheson’s girl...for at least one night.
So now she lay beneath him, looking up at the sexiest man she’d ever seen—she lifted her hand and caressed his cheek.
“You’re so damn beautiful, Emma,” he said.
She couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt him take her in. Her pulse sped up and her breathing amped. “Kiss me. Please.”
Erik lowered his head and nipped her lower lip with his teeth. It was erotic, making her nipples harden and liquid heat pool inside her. Then ever so softly he traced her bottom lip with his tongue. “Mmm, you taste good, Em.”
“I brushed,” she whispered.
A flash of white teeth and then he lowered his head again. This time he pressed his lips against hers, light as an angel’s kiss.
She moaned and lifted her head.
“Oh no, sweet girl. I want to take my time with you. I want to tease you, drive you crazy, until you beg. Will you beg me, Emma?”
Emma nearly lost her breath. She’d imagined Erik as her lover many times before, but she’d never guessed he’d be so...erotic. He wanted her to beg.
Well, she wanted him to make her beg.