reach her on another level? What was it about Lucien Stone that left her feeling unsettled and incomplete, filled with more questions than answers?
Without thinking of risk or consequence, she put one of those questions to words. Tia stepped close and placed her hands on his biceps. Slowly she stroked the smooth muscles beneath his cotton sleeves and felt the strength of the man, felt his arms tense beneath her palms. She cocked her head to one side and looked up at him. As tall as she was, it was a new experience, looking up to a man.
Luc wasn’t so bulky that he made her feel petite, but his size definitely made Tia feel feminine, standing this close, her hands moving slowly over his smooth muscles. A small thrill went through her and settled where every feeling she’d had since meeting Luc seemed to settle.
Right between her legs.
Gathering her courage, Tia ran her tongue across her upper lip, then quietly asked him, “What’s going on, Luc? Is it just me?”
He sighed, glanced down, away from her steady gaze, and shook his head. A mere ghost of a smile touched his lips. “No, Tia. It’s most definitely not just you.” When he looked up, he was grinning. “Now that you’ve brought it up…I’m not quite sure what it is, but it’s something I’d like to investigate a little further. With your permission.”
She sucked in a breath, caught in the feral gleam in his eyes, the sense of possession hovering between them. Her fingers tightened on his biceps. Luc stood so close, mere inches away, his chest broad and muscled beneath the light chambray shirt, his arms hanging deceptively relaxed at his sides.
He must have read permission in her hopelessly besotted gaze, because he was raising his arms, his warm palms clasping her shoulders, drawing her closer still. Tia felt his biceps shift and tighten beneath her grasp. Her nipples hardened against her lacy bra at their first contact with his chest. She raised her chin, tilted her head back and lifted up on her toes, meeting Luc halfway.
His mouth found hers so easily, so naturally, his warm, mobile lips recognizing their mate in hers. He nibbled at her mouth, slipped his tongue along the seam between her lips and she parted for him, breathing him in as he tasted her.
Luc widened his stance, pulling Tia closer until her hips fit into the cradle of his strong thighs. She felt the hard ridge of his cock straining against her belly, felt the tension in his arms as he surrounded her in a sheltering embrace. His mouth, though, his mouth…Tia sighed with the beauty of his kiss, the deft swirl of his tongue inside her mouth. She drew him in, suckled and licked, tasted paradise on his lips.
The mattress pressed against her thighs, a welcome invitation Tia fought to ignore. This was her home now, her new life. This man was, so far, the only new friend she had. What if he was like the others? All promise, no substance? She knew nothing about Lucien, not nearly enough to risk a chance at passion, only to find, once more, something lacking.
His hands swept up her spine, fisted in her hair and held her steady for pleasure. His lips explored her mouth, her jawline, the sensitive spot behind her ear. Tia realized she had a death grip on his upper arms, as if steadying both of them against falling into something so deep neither would be able to escape.
Luc growled. She felt as much as heard the rumble deep in his chest and her body responded with a heated gush of liquid between her thighs. The skin along her forearms crawled. The same sensation rushed over her legs, up her spine. Instead of feeling irritation, Tia let her nerves pulse as they would. No matter, not when her entire body pulsed to the same rhythm.
All that mattered was Luc. His taste, his strength, his sensual touch arousing Tia beyond rational thought. His rock-hard thighs pressed close to hers, his arms, just as powerful, surrounded her, yet his touch was gentle, loving.
His growl, deep and powerful, a sound of need, of desire such as she’d never experienced, stirred Tia on a level beyond comprehension.
Searching for something more, needing more, Tia pressed her pelvis close, raising up on her toes so that her mons found his lengthening cock. She swayed against the long, hard ridge of his erection, sinuously; like a cat in heat she rubbed herself against his solid length. Blood rushed in her veins, her heart pounded, and she kissed him, frantically, passionately, wanting more, needing all of him.
His scent enveloped her, made her thoughts spin and her nostrils flare. His taste was a drug. She wanted to absorb the flavors of Luc, the sensual, invisible aura of sound and scent and taste bombarding her. Tia’s senses screamed—alert, aware of everything that encompassed Lucien Stone. Her skin felt more sensitive, her needs stronger. Passion and desire somehow transferred itself to the man holding her and swept back again, to Tia.
Luc growled again. His body tightened against hers and he rubbed his cock against her belly with bruising strength, the motion frantic, out of control. His grip on her hair tightened to the point of pain. He nipped sharply at the tender skin beneath her throat, then bit again behind her ear. The sharp sting of his teeth, his hands twisting in her hair, controlling her, jerked Tia out of the sensual fog surrounding them.
No longer a gentle, questing sensual glide into arousal, this felt wrong. Something dark, something beyond Tia’s understanding seemed to drive the man holding her, controlling her body with the greater strength of his.
Tia released her grasp on Luc’s arms and shoved forcefully at his chest, flattening her palms against the solid muscles. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t have to.
Luc’s body immediately stilled. He backed slowly away after a single, gentle swipe at her lips with the tip of his tongue, breathing as if he’d just run a mile. With a strangled bark of what might have been laughter, Luc leaned his forehead against Tia’s. She wrapped her arms lightly around his slim waist.
It took a moment before he had his breathing under control. “Oh, my. Good lord, sweetheart. I’m so sorry. I didn’t…I…” His shoulders slumped. He closed his eyes and looked up, away from Tia. “Shit. I’m glad one of us came to our senses.” He hugged Tia close. She heard his heart pounding in his chest, felt the rush of his warm breath against her cheek.
“Barely. I was right there with you.” She tilted up her head and made herself smile at him, searching for something light, some small comment to break the tension. “Do you always growl when you’re turned on?”
“You must bring out the beast in me.” Calm now, his breath no longer hissing between his teeth, Luc leaned close and kissed her on the nose. Dispassionately. As if she were no more than a mere acquaintance…which, Tia guessed, she was. Nothing more.
Luc backed away and stared intently at her face. “Your freckles are all gone. I remember freckles marching across your nose when you were a kid.”
Tia took a deep breath, still rattled from the darkness, the sense of control rushing away. “Thank goodness that’s one of the things I outgrew.” Slipping her arms from around Luc’s waist, Tia turned away from him. She grabbed a pale green blouse out of her suitcase with trembling fingers and shoved a hanger through the sleeves.
She couldn’t look at Luc. Not with passion still simmering in her body, not with that small, niggling fear she’d felt that he might have tried to overpower her.
What the hell had just happened? Had Luc really been out of control? Of course he had, and she’d been right there with him. Only fear had stopped her. Fear of Luc?
He was strong. Stronger than any man she’d ever known, and she knew he burned for her, burned in the same way she did. Tia’s body ached with need. Aroused beyond belief, her sensitive, traitorous pussy wept. Her breasts felt heavy, her nipples pressed painfully against her bra.
She moved over to the closet to hang her blouse, well aware that Luc followed her. He touched her chin lightly and turned her head so that she looked at him.
His eyes were troubled, his expression unreadable. Then he reached out with his other hand and stroked along her left cheek. “Thank goodness you didn’t outgrow this.”
Tia frowned. Her pussy clenched at his gentle caress. Her distended clitoris rubbed painfully