“I like them too,” he said, even though he couldn’t care less about what she was wearing. She was here; that was what mattered. He wanted to take her and throw her on the bed, kiss her all over, then make love to her until she forgot that this was temporary.
Temporary. Did it have to be? And shouldn’t he finally find out more about that before they moved on to hot and heated? The last two times he’d lost his senses and let lust rule, instead of asking the pertinent questions.
He’d regretted that ever since, not how much they’d wanted each other or how she’d satisfied him, but that he let her go without finding out how, and if, he could get her back on this side for good.
He swallowed and tried to ignore the fact that the sheet was now pitched in a tent from his hard-on. He needed answers, in case she was pulled away again. “Celeste.”
“Yes?” she asked, licking her lips.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t want to lose you again without finding out a few things. So, before we do-anything-I need to know. Where have you been? How did you get through? And how long can you stay?”
“I don’t know where I’ve been,” she said, stepping toward the bed. “I got through because of Adeline.” She moved her hands to the hem of her long blouse, then crossed her arms in front of her as she brought it above her head, and let the green fabric fall to the floor. Like before, when she’d worn the silky white gown, she wasn’t wearing a bra, and her nipples, like before, were tight little points, rosy pink and perfect for kissing, nuzzling, suckling…
“Celeste. Please, I need to know.”
She put her hands to her waist, ran her fingertips inside the flat waistband of her pants, then slid them to the floor and stepped out of them. Last time, she’d worn nothing beneath her gown, but this time, a thin scrap of lacy white panties made Dax even harder.
“How long can you stay this time?” he repeated.
“She said it was up to me. If I can control my tiredness, keep myself from becoming completely exhausted, I should be able to stay longer than before.” She stepped closer to the bed. “I’m going to try to do that this time. I know it’ll be hard, because I’ve honestly thought of nothing else but being with you, in every possible way. But if I feel myself getting tired-”
“Then we’ll stop, and you’ll rest,” he completed. “We have to, Celeste. I need to try to figure out what’s happening to you when you’re gone, and I have a better chance of doing that if we work together and you tell me everything you remember about when you’re gone.”
“But I want you, Dax. I want you so much it hurts.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“So if I start feeling tired, I’ll tell you, but right now, I’m not tired-at all. And since I’m not, we can talk about any questions you may have later, can’t we? I want you, Dax.” She eyed the tent in the bed. “And you want me too.”
“Yeah, but-” He glanced at his hands, then smiled.
“But what?”
Dax climbed from the bed and then motioned for her to get on top of the covers. “This time, I’m in control.”
It was her turn to glance at his hands. “Can you, without touching?”
One corner of his mouth crooked up. For the past four days, he’d thought of nothing but how many ways he could, without touching. “Hell, yeah.”
She crawled up on the bed, her heart-shaped bottom facing him as she moved toward the pillow, then turned around and licked her lips. “How can you?”
“You see, there’s a loophole in that no-touching rule that I never realized until after you left last time.”
“What loophole?” she asked.
Dax moved to the foot of the bed while she stared brazenly at his erection. He’d gone to sleep nude, and he was glad for it. Her skin was flushed and excited, tinged with a hint of pink, visible even in the midst of her shimmering glow.
He slowly moved up the side of the bed, careful not to touch her, not to let her know everything he was thinking, everything he’d be doing to her soon. Then he reached across her and braced both his hands on the headboard, his forearms within inches of her golden hair, tumbling wildly down her body. He’d feel that hair against him soon.
He grasped the headboard tightly, then brought his face to hers. “The part about me being able to touch, with everything but my hands.” Then he lowered his body to press against her hot flesh and to his complete delight, the friction was just as sweet as before.
“Do you feel that, Celeste?”
She nodded, her eyes dilating with pleasure.
He moved his mouth to her forehead, kissed her lightly, and felt her skin scorch his lips. “Tell me,” he said. “Tell me everything, what you feel, what you sense, what you want. I want to know.” His words feathered across her temple as he nuzzled her hair out of the way and nibbled his way to her ear.
He licked the lobe, blew warm air on the dampened spot and demanded again, “Tell me, Celeste.”
“I-” She turned her head so that her mouth rested against his. “I feel hot, burning all over.”
He put his tongue against the corner of her mouth, then swept it slowly along her lower lip, while she gasped. Then he eased it inside and was rewarded with her hips bucking up to rub against his erection.
She broke the kiss and, panting wildly, said, “Please, Dax. I-I want this, all of this, but I don’t know how much I can take. Please. I want to feel you inside of me.”
Strengthening his grip on the headboard, he rose above her and peered into her eyes. They were still silver, still glittering with desire, and there was no sign of charcoal, or darker gray, or-heaven forbid-black. He wasn’t about to rush his first time with her if he wasn’t in danger of losing her.
“You can take a little more,” he said, and her eyes widened. “Can’t you?” he asked, and he moved his head down toward her breasts, but he didn’t kiss them, not yet. First he moved his face beneath them, then bowed his head and rubbed the stiff peaks with his unshaven face.
Again, her hips bucked wildly, this time pushing against his abdomen, and he could feel her damp heat, hot and ready.
He moved his head, forcefully grazing her nipples with his stubble, and he knew every sensitive nerve ending was being teased by each pass.
He looked up at her, saw her eyes were still silvery-gray, then took his tongue to the base of her breast and slowly licked his way to the tip. Her back arched off the bed as she pushed the tight point into his mouth, and he hungrily accepted her offer, sucking it between his lips, then pulling it between his teeth.
A sharp, piercing moan escaped her, and he felt her juices begin to flow between her legs.
“Need-you,” she said on a gasp. “Please.”
He looked back at her eyes, and though the change wasn’t drastic, they were darker now, and as much as he wanted to make this last, he didn’t want to push her too far. He couldn’t lose her after one time, but he wasn’t going to leave her this hot, this feverishly ready, either.
Pressing against the headboard, he lifted his body from hers, and she shook her head. “No, don’t stop. Not now.”
“I won’t,” he promised, shifting his weight so he could release his hands, bracing them on the bed on both sides of her, then lowering his mouth to her thigh. “Raise your hips, Celeste.”
She did as he asked, pressing her heels against the bed and lifting her center.
Her scent teased him, and he nearly lost his fight to keep his hands away. He gripped the comforter in his fists, then lowered his head to her hip and ran his tongue beneath the tiny strap of her panties.
While she watched and moaned, he pulled her panties off with his teeth, moving down one side, then the other, and kissing, nipping and sucking as he worked. By the time he had them at her ankles, her entire body was writhing, and her center was glistening wet and completely open…for him.