Magnificent Folly - Iris Johansen [22]
“What a lovely sound.” He parted her thighs, his hand cupping her womanhood, rubbing, petting, his thumb pressing, toying, rotating. “Again,” he said thickly. “I want to hear it again, Lily.”
Lily’s knees almost gave way as sensation after sensation seared through her. “I don’t … think I can take any more of this.”
“Yes, you can. Just a little more.” He took a step back and whipped the sweatshirt over her head and threw it aside. “I told you I wanted to see you. I brought a flashlight.”
“There’s moonlight.”
“It’s not enough.” He pulled her into the deeper shadows formed by the rocky overhang and reached down to pick up the shiny metal flashlight on the beach blanket. “Now, stand very still, love.”
A brilliant cone of light pierced the darkness. She had been expecting it but still felt a jolt of shock. The circle of light played on her face and then slowly moved down to capture her left breast. “Oh, yes. How beautiful.”
Lily’s heart began to pound harder, and she could feel a burning sensation between her thighs as she stood in the darkness, chained by the golden circle of light. Chained, yes, the precise word. She felt helpless, unable to move except at his command. Her nipples were hardening, pointing with arousal as she felt Andrew’s gaze on her. He was only a hazy shadow behind the light, yet in some crazy way she felt as if he were the light itself.
The beam moved slowly to play over her other breast.
She could hear his breathing quicken in the darkness, and found the knowledge of his arousal incredibly erotic. She took an impulsive step toward him.
“No,” he said sharply. “Not yet.” The light moved down to reveal the tight curls surrounding her womanhood. He took a deep breath, and when he spoke his voice was thick. “I just touched you there. My palm is still tingling from it. Soon I’ll touch you there again.”
She was frozen in place as he gazed at her for a long time. Why didn’t he move? Speak? She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think; she could only stand there caught in a haze of heat and hunger and the hot circle of light.
The light flicked out.
She gave a low cry and flung herself at him. He met her, lifted her, frantically adjusting his clothes, and then they were joined. “Take—” The rest of her words were lost as his mouth covered hers in the same open, frantic joining.
Her legs curled around his hips as they sank to the blanket on the ground.
“I told you it would get better.” Andrew buried his lips in the curve of Lily’s naked shoulder. “Though we still have a long way to go. I can’t seem to slow down. I guess I want you too much.”
“It doesn’t matter. It was beautiful.” Lily’s voice was low as she looked out onto the moon-dappled patchwork of the beach. She suddenly giggled. “Of course, it could be the fact that we weren’t both sopping wet, with a thunderstorm threatening to overwhelm us at any second.”
He went still. He reached over and flicked on the flashlight, his gaze searching her face. “You sounded as young as Cassie just then.”
“Well, I’m not exactly ancient. I do have my moments of youthful exuberance.”
“But you don’t often let them come to the surface. You always have to be so damn sensible and mature.” He paused. “And in control.”
“I am sensible and mature.” She sat up and once again pulled on his sweatshirt. “And anyone independent wants to be in control. I have to leave now.”
“You’re running away again.”
“You’re pushing me. You said you wouldn’t push me.”
He was silent.
“I told you I couldn’t give you what you wanted. You wouldn’t listen to me.”
“You’ll give me what I want. It’s only a question of time.” A hint of desperation threaded his voice. “But what if there’s no time left?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
He didn’t answer for a moment. “Nothing. I guess I’m just impatient. And you’re so damn wary.” He paused. “Talk to me. Tell me about Tait Baldor.”
She froze. “I don’t want to talk about him. You said you’d read the tabloids, so you know all there is to know. It’s all water under the bridge.”
“No, it’s not.