He kisses the back of my neck, his lips making a sweet trail along my skin before he turns me to face him. “You will ruin me, Liz. If I lose you now, I don’t think I’ll ever recover.”
I don’t know what to say.
“Don’t you see?” His voice is low. “You’ve made me your slave again. All I do is think of you. You’re intoxicating, and I can’t bear to imagine not having you.”
I bury my face in his chest. Allowing myself to hope, to fantasize, to imagine that future I’ve dreamed about. Me and him together. His arms tighten around me and I melt and moan his name.
“You’re temptation, and punishment…and I’m helpless to resist.” He kisses me again, and there’s a frantic intensity in his kiss, a hunger that makes me forget everything but how it feels to be in his arms.
“I need you.” The words fall out of my lips with an urgency I can’t mask. “I need you so much.”
My dress falls to the ground. His clothes follow and then he carries me to my bedroom. He covers my body with his and covers every inch of my skin with kisses, bringing me to a fever pitch with his touch.
By the time he pushes my legs apart and plunges into me, my body is almost fluid with pleasure and heat. He makes love to me, fast, and then slow, bringing me to a climax again and again until I fall into an exhausted sleep in his arms.
Chapter Thirty Five
Aidan
I stay all night. The next morning when I wake up, Liz is not in bed. For one frantic moment I’m convinced she is gone, just like the last time, but then I see her standing at the door to the balcony, wearing a cream silk robe that reaches down to her knees.
“Good morning.”
I stretch and notice I’d tossed the covers off sometime before waking. I’m naked, with the sheets tangled around my legs. “How long have you been ogling me Liz?”
She laughs. “Longer than I care to admit.”
I leave the bed and walk over to her, still naked. I grab her waist and press her body against mine, covering her face with kisses.
She giggles and dodges my kisses. “Get dressed.”
“Ar
e you sure?” I untie her robe. Underneath, she’s wearing just a wisp of silk panties.
“Yes.” Her voice sounds breathless. She escapes from my embrace, her face pink as she gestures toward the food laid out on a low table on the balcony. “Let’s eat. I don’t know about you, but I need food every once in a while.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You mean feasting on me isn’t enough?”
She tries not to laugh but doesn’t succeed. With a smile, I steal another kiss before heading to the bathroom.
I join her later, wearing my briefs and a bathrobe I found in her bathroom. She reads the reviews from the night before, grinning in delight at every little word of praise for the play.
In the afternoon, I leave for the theater, and in the evening, once again, Liz kills it with her spectacular performance.
This time we go to my place, I fix her dinner, and we eat, make love and fall asleep. Hours later, I wake up and watch her sleep by the light filtering in from the windows.
She looks more beautiful asleep than she does when she’s awake. Her skin is alabaster smooth, her lips soft and parted as she breathes softly.
Who am I without you?
I don’t say the words out loud, but I think them. Those seven years without Liz, I was an empty shell, if she leaves again, I won’t even have my resentment or my supposed hatred.
Who would I be then?
She stirs, then opens her eyes and catches me watching her. “Apparently, I’m not the only one who likes to ogle,” she murmurs sleepily, stretching like a cat.
“Perfection should be admired.”