He sucked in a breath and looking about to issue his own challenge when his hands clenched into fists and he relaxed his arms. Sarah was momentarily stunned by his submission, but the pulsing of his need against her sensitive folds distracted her.
Right … first things, first.
She reached over his body and retrieved a foil packet from the nightstand. Using her teeth to tear it open, she quickly sheathed him before aligning their bodies. She hovered above him, his pulsing heat poised at her entrance waiting for him to open his eyes. When his gaze tangled with hers, she slowly lowered onto him, taking him to the hilt.
She sat, unable to move, unable to take her eyes away from his while her body grew accustomed to his invasion. Something passed between them in that moment of quiet stillness. It was like something inside Falon cracked and seeped into her as she gave a piece of herself to him. The burning need and emotions in his eyes propelled her into motion as she slowly slid up his length then lowered again, pulling a gratifying growl she felt rumble deep in his chest.
The next moments were a jumbled mix of unrestrained need and passion. Sarah flew to new heights while Falon placed himself in her hands, giving her the control of the moment and trusting she would be there with him every step of the climb and the inevitable fall into the stars. When they reached the peak, they came crashing down together in a symphony of breathless moans and satisfied hums.
Falling onto his chest, she tried to catch her breath as she came to grips with the new world he had forced her to see. She was barely aware of him rolling her onto her side and kissing her brow. When he slid from the bed to dispose of the condom, she felt a shiver rack her body.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Falon said, looking down at her with tenderness she never thought him capable of. Noticing her chill, he placed the comforter below her chin. “I need to go take care of the fire hazard you set up in the other room.”
Too stunned, she could only absently nod. Somewhere during their mad rush to completion a piece slid into place. Her world had tipped on its axis and now she was faced with the reality she wasn’t sure she was ready for.
Chapter Eleven
Sarah lay on the pillow of Falon’s shoulder as he idly traced patterns on the bare skin of her back. She should feel sated, satisfied, but the only thing she was feeling in the wake of his loss of control was guilt. Sure her body was pleasantly humming with the aftermath of his skill, but her mind was circling around the fact that she just played the only man she ever loved.
When he returned from blowing out the candles, he had taken her into his arms again. Playing her body in the sweetest torment as he brought her to the point where waves of sensation pulled them both under. The undertow pulled them both out into a sea of fireworks.
Coming back to awareness to find herself snuggled up to his side, his hands tracing the lines of her body had nearly brought tears to her eyes. How could she have thought this wounded man cold? Reserved and protective of his heart, yes, but the man she could feel watching her with tendered resolve was not cold.
“What are you thinking?” he whispered.
Here goes nothing.
“About you.”
“Is that so?” He chuckled.
She nodded into his warm chest, running a hand down his rather impressive stomach and smile. “About how I’ll never think of you as the Iceman again.”
He froze and she thought she ruined the moment before she felt his knuckle under her chin bringing her eyes up to meet his.
“You thought that?” he asked, searching her gaze.
“At first, yes.” Sarah looked for a sign in his face that it was okay to continue. When she noticed his remained open to her, his eyes clear of the chill of indifference, she felt confident in continuing. “You seemed so different.”
That caught his attention. His eyes sharpened and some of that calculation returned to cool his warm eyes.
“Different from?”
How much to tell him? She didn’t want to hide anything from him, not anymore, but she was afraid how it would look if she went forward with “from the last time you brought me to screaming orgasm.”
“When I said that I didn’t know you in college that wasn’t exactly the truth.” When he pulled back a little, she hurried on. “I knew your roommate, Jim, pretty well. He helped me through the loss of my family.”
And it was the night that I went looking for him that I found you and a little piece of myself, she didn’t say the words that balanced on the tip of her tongue.
“Anyway, it wasn’t like you weren’t a living legend in out dorm or anything,” she tried for nonchalance but failed miserably.
“We lived in the same building?”
She nodded¸ unsure if he was upset about this revelation.
“Same floor actually. Not surprised you don’t remember me, I didn’t exactly run in the same crowd.” She sighed. “Anyway, I had seen you around”—understatement—“and, like nearly every other girl I knew, had a mild crush on you.” Even bigger understatement.
She tried to smile and failed. “This doesn’t make things weird now, does it?”
“Weird? A little.” When she tried to wiggle out of his arms, he tightened his hold. “It’s weird that you were right there and I never noticed.”
“Yes, well, you had other things to keep you busy,” she replied tartly, remembering the trail of hearts Falon left in his wake that year. Including hers.
“I’ll admit to letting off a little extra steam my senior year,” he answered. Amusement at her obvious jealousy danced in his toffee eyes before being replaced with something darker.
“What is it?” She was almost too afraid to ask. She didn’t want to watch him shut back down.
“Just remembering … my grandfather asked me to take a position in his corporation that year. He said that he wanted to make up for the mistakes of his past and wanted me to take my rightful place in the company.” He released a bitter laugh. “I turned him down flat. I was so determined not to become a man like him.”
“What kind of man is he?” She had been wondering since Falon first mentioned the man and couldn’t help asking.
“A man who would disown his own flesh and blood for not living up to the pompous standards he sets.”
The venom in his voice made her wince. There was yet another secret there and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know all of the details. Instead, she kissed a trail up the column of his throat delighting in the rough texture of his stubble as her lips found their way to his. She would worry about the implications of what he was saying later. Right now, she just wanted free his mind of everything but the feel of her skin on his.
***
Her hair dripped onto the tiles of the bathroom floor as she rushed to silence her phone. Falon was still sleeping in the other room and she didn’t want to wake him just yet. She still needed to figure out what she was going to do. What had started as a challenge of her own perceptions of the young man Falon had been had grown into something that, frankly scared her shitless. She could see now that her actions weren’t solely to prove to him that he wasn’t this block of ice, but that she was proving to herself that she wasn’t that undesirable creature he had made her believe she was all those years ago.
The fact was she had changed nearly as much as he had. She wasn’t that wide-eyed little girl half in love with a man she didn’t know anything about. Life had taught her a few valuable lessons and she had a feeling that the events of nine years ago weren’t as simple as they appeared.
Glancing at the name flashing across the screen of her phone she figured answering now would save her hours of harassing calls. Not wanting to risk ruining it she turned it on speaker.