hand slid down and seized his cock. “Lie still,” she whispered.
She twisted her hair into a loose spiral behind her neck and seized him in both hands, stroking and pulling with a bold caress that made him gasp and jerk up onto his elbows. A drop of moisture formed on the end of it. She bent down and licked it off.
“God,” he muttered. “What is this, Raine? Are you trying to prove something? Trying to get back at me?”
“No,” she whispered. “I want to give you pleasure.”
The warm brush of her bream against his cock as she spoke was the sweetest caress he'd ever felt, until she put her mouth to him. It was so wet and soft, deliciously tender. Her eager tongue darted and swirled, under, over and all around. Oh, God, he was in for it.
She had lost all her awkwardness. She cupped his ass with one hand, pulling him even closer to her luscious, suckling mouth, and the other cradled his balls, rolling them tenderly around in her fingers. She licked around and over the head of his cock, then up and down the whole length of him until he was slippery and wet; and then accompanied her mouth with her hand, gripping and sliding as she took him in. Her hot mouth clutched and pulled, tongue swirling lazily as if she were savoring something very good to eat, then sucking him into another long, gliding caress.
He'd gotten plenty of blow jobs in his time, and he'd thoroughly enjoyed every one of them, but this was different. This was so tender and intimate, it was almost agonizing.
He couldn't afford to feel so vulnerable. Not in Lazar's house. He slid his fingers into the cascading tresses on either side of her face and stopped her.
She lifted her head. “You don't like it?”
The irony almost made him smile. He tried to speak, but his vocal cords wouldn't connect. He took a deep breath and tried again. “It's incredible. But I'm wide open. I can't take it. We've got to get away from here. Try this wild, sexy stuff once we get to someplace safe.”
Her eyes were soft with perfect understanding. She reached across him and seized a foil packet from the bedstand. She knelt beside him and smoothed the condom over his cock with tender, careful strokes. Still, he waited, afraid to make another wrong move. She seized his hands, lifting them up and pressing them against her breasts. “You can touch me now,” she said shyly. “I've calmed down.”
He touched her as carefully as if she were made of fragile glass. He couldn't afford to mess up again. Raine had to make all the moves this time.
She lay down alongside him and tugged his body on top of hers. “Let's go back to our tropical paradise, Seth “ she whispered.
He poised himself above her so that the whole surface of his body was in light, kissing contact with hers. He let her do it all. She was the one who opened up and adjusted herself, she was the one who reached down and guided his penis into her body. He even waited until she grabbed his ass and pulled him in before he took the plunge.
They wound their arms around each other. At first it was slow and careful and tender, men it melted like a spring flood and rushed them over an endless fall, united body and soul. He finally understood the futility of trying to batter his way towards the fusion that he craved.
They clung to each other for a long time, until Raine began to disentangle herself. She sat up and perched on the edge of the bed. “There's a ship on the horizon “ she said.
“Huh?”
She looked back over her shoulder. “One morning the pirate queen and her sailor stud are making love on the beach. They look up, and there's a full-rigged ship on the horizon. Their idyll is over. You can't run away from the world forever. Sooner or later it always catches up.”
He sat up, chilled by a sudden feeling that something precious was slipping away from him.
She got up. “I need another shower.”
“I'll shower with you.” He reached out for her.
She dodged his hand. 'No, you will not.”
They got ready in absolute silence. She chose some stuff from the armoire, which of course looked great on her. Everything did.
They were dressed and ready. There was no putting it off any longer. Seth took the kit out of his bag and fished out the transmitter. She took it, turning it over in her hands. She started to speak, but he put his finger over her lips, and shook his head.
Raine's lips pinched into a quivering line. She slipped the tiny transmitter into her pants pocket.
He shrugged on his jacket, suddenly thinking of his dream.
Chapter 20
Raine picked at her breakfast, acutely conscious of the clothes on her body. A blue cashmere sweater by Armani. Boots by Prada. It seemed ungracious to complain when the clothes were so beautiful and fit so much better than her own, but they still made her nervous.
Seth sat down across from her and set down his third plate from the breakfast buffet, loaded with a seafood omelet, bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, fried potatoes, sausage and biscuits. He dug in his fork and nodded at her plate. “Eat, Raine,” he said quietly. “Hanging with this crowd really burns those calories.”
“You're the one who makes me burn calories “ she murmured.
Seth's gaze focused over her shoulder. She turned, and saw Victor shaking hands with the museum curator she had talked with at dinner. Sergio. She waved and smiled at him, and he waved back.
Victor got himself a cup of coffee from the urn and came towards them, beaming. “Good morning, my dear. How lovely you look in that color. I trust you both slept well?”
Raine blushed helplessly.
“Well enough.” Seth forked a bite of sausage into his mouth.
“And what is your agenda for the day, Mr. Mackey?” Victor asked.
“Raine and I will be going back to Seattle.”
Victor sipped his coffee, his eyes calculating above the rim of the cup. “Actually, I planned to spend some time with Raine this morning. I'm sure you'll understand. I'm coming back to the city myself this afternoon, so it will be no problem at all to bring her—”
“That's OK,” Seth said. “I can wait. She can go back with me.”
“I hate to think of your valuable time being wasted.”
“No problem,” Seth said. “I've got my laptop. I can amuse myself just fine while you guys have your family bonding experience. If you want, I can design a more up-to-date surveillance system for your guest bedrooms. A lot of the stuff I dismantled last night was pretty passe”
Victor's gaze hardened. “How kind of you to offer, but please don't trouble yourself. Stone Island is for relaxation, not work.”
“Suit yourself.” Seth gave him a cheerful grin.
Victor turned to Raine. “Have you finished your break-fast?”
She pushed away the yogurt and fruit and got up. “Yes,” she said.
Seth's hand shot out and caught her wrist as she passed. He pulled her close and gave her a hard, possessive kiss. She blushed, flustered by the amusement on Victor's face.
'There's a bit of sun today” Victor said. “Shall we go outside and take advantage of it?”
She followed Victor out onto the porch and down the path. They stood side by side at the dock, watching the sun glitter on the water. “You used to be afraid of the water,” Victor remarked. “Remember when I taught you to swim?”
She winced at the memory. “You were ruthless.”
