Don't Open Till Christmas Page 19

  Which was when she fully appreciated what was happening here. Mark wasn’t seducing her to her room, he was taking her, his every stride revealing his determination and his hunger.

  Whatever moisture was left in her body descended with a rush between her legs. She was dying for him, on fire, ready to take and have and grasp and devour.

  Dropping her onto her bed, he didn’t follow her down immediately. Instead, he tugged his Chicago Bulls sweatshirt off and stood before her, his massive chest making her breath catch in her throat as always.

  “I want to see you,” he said. Reaching for her shirt, he began tugging it up, but it got twisted over the package Noelle had stuck into the front packet. Quickly reaching for it, Noelle yanked it out and prepared to toss it away. But Mark caught her wrist in his hand and wouldn’t let her. “What is that?”

  She swallowed hard. “I…I don’t know.”

  He watched her closely, a cop’s stare that said he knew she was lying. “What is it, Noelle?”

  Nibbling on her bottom lip, she admitted, “I really am not sure. But, uh, last time, that other package you delivered?”

  “Yes?”

  Her voice dropping to a whisper she said, “It was a dirty movie.”

  Mark’s eyes glowed as he stared directly at her, still holding her wrist. “Open it.”

  Again, he wasn’t asking, he wasn’t seducing. He was demanding. Every word he said, every move he made reinforced the delicious strength he usually kept masked. Mark was in an intoxicating, demanding, sexual mood and he wasn’t going to be denied any little thing he wanted.

  He let her go so she could open the package. Holding her breath, she sent up a silent prayer that Sue had given her a nice wallet or, maybe an ice cream scoop, since the thing felt as if it had a thick round handle.

  Tearing off the paper, she stared at her gift. It was not an ice cream scoop.

  Casting a quick glance at Mark, she saw him watching impassively, his only reaction a slight tightening in his jaw. “Does your cousin think you need that?” he asked, a smile of pure self-assurance widening his lips the tiniest bit, “when you’re getting so much…more?”

  Laughing nervously, Noelle clutched the flesh-colored sex toy in her lap, making a quick mental assessment that confirmed Mark’s words. “Up until recently, I wasn’t getting it at all.”

  He nodded.

  “So I d-definitely don’t need this tonight,” she stammered, about to toss the dildo away. She wasn’t throwing it in the trash, because after tonight, she might very well have use for it.

  “Hold on to it.”

  Noelle gasped.

  “And show me the movie she sent you.”

  Her jaw dropping open, she couldn’t prevent a quick glance toward her bedside table. Mark noticed, of course. Opening the drawer, he dug around inside until he retrieved the video case. He barely spared a glance for the lurid photo on the cover, simply popping it open and dropping the tape into his hand. Then he walked over to her TV stand, where she had a small color TV/VCR combo.

  “What are you…”

  “You wanted it wild and daring, didn’t you?” he asked, casting her a challenging look over her shoulder. “Tell me, have you ever done anything like this?”

  Almost mesmerized, she shook her head.

  “But you want to. Don’t you, Noelle?”

  After a split second of hesitation, she nodded, her mouth going dry and her whole body trembling. Because she did. She wanted everything and anything she’d ever dreamed about having, all in one night. With him.

  Mark thrust the tape into the machine and punched the play button, then turned to face her. She didn’t even glance at the TV screen, totally focused on the thick, hungry man walking toward her. His steps were slow. Deliberate. And they never faltered, not even when he reached for his belt, unfastened it, then unbuttoned his jeans, pushing them down to ride low on his hips. The darkened bedroom was suddenly illuminated by the flicker of light from the TV as the movie started, and a soundtrack with a heavy bass beat broke the silence. Reaching for the remote, Noelle turned it down until it became mere background noise. She wanted no distractions, no sounds of pleasure but the ones she and Mark made themselves.

  She didn’t, however, turn off the television.

  Still never breaking their stare, Mark kicked off his shoes, then pushed his jeans all the way down and removed the rest of his clothes. Standing by the bed, just a foot away, he stared down at her, all big, masculine and fully erect, until Noelle wanted to cry at how beautiful he was.

  She reached for him, wanting to touch his hot skin, but again, he caught her wrist. Sliding his fingers down her arms, he pulled her now-untangled sweatshirt off. She wore nothing underneath, and the cool air in the bedroom instantly brought goosebumps to her flesh. Before she could even react to them, Mark was warming her. She cried out as, in one move, he tossed her shirt away, then bent to cover her tight nipple with his mouth.

  “Oh, yes,” she cried, tangling her fingers in his hair.

  He sucked one breast, then the other, as he pulled her sweatpants and panties down over her hips and bottom, taking her fuzzy socks with them. Noelle kicked the clothes away, wanting absolutely nothing separating their bodies.

  Kissing and licking a path up her throat, he finally kissed her again, his tongue plunging deep. Then he shocked her, dropping his hand between her legs and thrusting two fingers into her drenched body, taking her completely by surprise.

  “You’re dripping,” he growled, drawing his fingers out as he flicked her clit with his thumb.

  “Yes.”

  Part of her expected Mark to climb right on top of her and dive in now, with no further buildup, and she was dying for him to. But he suddenly moved away, just out of reach, and sat down on the bed behind her. When she tried to turn around, he put his hand on her shoulder and held her still, kissing and nipping the nape of her neck. “Don’t turn around.”

  She did as he ordered, remaining upright on the bed as he pushed her toward the end of it, following her. When her feet dangled off the edge and touched the floor, Mark parted his legs around hers and tucked in close behind her, their bodies pressed tight. She felt his huge erection rubbing the small of her back and was unable to resist pressing her bottom a little harder against his groin. This position was, indeed, one she’d fantasized about, though, in her fantasies, they hadn’t been sitting up. They’d been, in fact, kneeling.

  She wriggled again as more heat sluiced through her until she was certain she’d dampened her bedspread.

  “Part your legs for me,” he growled against her shoulder. When she hesitated for a second, he sucked a bit of her skin into his mouth and nibbled it, causing a tiny, delicious flash of dangerous sensation. She shifted her legs a few inches.

  That didn’t seem to satisfy him. Dropping one hand down the front of her body in a long, deliberate stroke that left her breathless, he brushed the side of his hand against her dark curls, but didn’t touch her more intimately. “More. Open wide for me, Noelle.” His tone told her he wouldn’t proceed until she obeyed him.

  Doing as he’d asked, she shifted her legs apart, completely exposing her sex for his exploration, wanting desperately to be explored. Dropping her head back onto his shoulder, she arched toward his hand, craving his touch. Wanting his fingers again.

  He didn’t give them to her. Instead, he murmured. “Now look.”

  At first she thought he meant to look at the movie. Unable to resist, she lifted her head and opened her eyes, almost too numb with erotic pleasure to grasp what she was seeing. It didn’t take long to figure out. She hissed a little as she watched the flickering screen where two men were sharing a busty blonde who moaned in pleasure. “Oh,” she whispered, shocked, surprised, knowing she should be turned off but instead feeling wickedly titillated.

  A threesome hadn’t been one of her fantasies, and it still wasn’t. That was one part of the wild side Noelle had no intention of crossing over to. But there was somet
hing magnetic about seeing what was happening, and she couldn’t tear her gaze away.

  From behind her, Mark continued to stroke her belly and her thighs, watching over her shoulder as the woman in the movie—supposedly a southern belle comforting a couple of Confederate soldiers—was touched, licked and pleasured. And, eventually, driven into by both men at the same time.

  “My God,” she whispered, repelled but fascinated and completely unable to look away.

  At least until Mark whispered, “Interesting. But that wasn’t what I meant. Look in the mirror.”

  Turning her head a little, she glanced toward her closed closet door, and found herself staring into the full-length mirror. Mark was watching her, an expression of avarice and need on his handsome face. Her hungry, glazed-over eyes stared back at her, and below was her completely exposed body, legs spread, all her secrets exposed. Very exposed.

  She tried to move.

  Mark, however, wouldn’t allow it. “Don’t, Noelle. Stay very still.” With his hands firmly on her thighs, holding them open so they could both see the gleam of moisture on her sex in the reflection, he continued. “Tonight is about letting go of everything. No inhibitions, no holding back. You wanted mindless eroticism, and you’re going to get it.”

  MARK DIDN’T THINK he’d ever been more aroused in his life than he was as he gazed into the mirror and watched the last of Noelle’s inhibitions fall away. After just a moment’s hesitation, one last moment of sweet embarrassment, she nodded at him, then dropped her hand to cover his own on her thigh.

  “Touch me,” she pleaded.

  And he would. He planned to. He was going to give her the kind of fantasy night neither one of them had ever thought they’d really have, even if it killed him.

  It just might. Because, heaven help him, as much as he planned to savor every sensuous delight he’d ever dreamed of with Noelle tonight, there was a much more detached, intellectual part of him that watched everything and wondered if he was making a mistake.

  It had seemed like such a simple plan on the drive over here. Noelle had gotten scared and backed off emotionally—he’d figured that much out. The only avenue she’d left open between them was the physical one. She’d said as much Thursday night.

  So he was going to go down that erotic road and drag her down it with him. Then, perhaps, having what she’d said she most wanted, Noelle would realize she wanted more. Like repercussions. Strings. Mornings after. Feelings.

  Him.

  Just as he wanted her. Because if the past few days had proved anything at all, it was that he truly wanted her in his life, and not just in his bed. He greatly feared she’d already taken up residence in his heart, which he’d been sure would never open up to any woman again.

  “I’m melting and burning up and shaking and shivering all at the same time,” she whispered in a voice hoarse with need.

  “Good. Whatever you do, don’t close your eyes.”

  He certainly didn’t intend to. Not when the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen was in his arms, silently begging him to do wicked things with her.

  He knew just where to start. Remaining tucked up behind her, with his cock throbbing against the delectable cheeks of her ass, he reached to the side of the bed, where Noelle had dropped her present.

  “Mark? What are you doing?” she asked, peering at his reflection, obviously unable to see in the shadowy light.

  Not answering, he tore open the wrapping covering the sex toy, the crinkle of plastic competing with their heavy breathing and the sultry music oozing from the TV speakers.

  When he looked at her reflection, he realized she’d heard the rustlings and correctly interpreted what he’d done. Her breaths were shallow, her mouth trembling with anticipation, and, perhaps, a bit of nervousness.

  Moving his hand back to her leg, he flicked the switch on the side of the rubbery sex toy and let it begin to hum against her skin. Noelle flinched in surprise. “It vibrates.”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  He moved the thing a few inches down her leg, letting her grow accustomed to the sensation, and to the idea. Feeling some of the tension ease from her body as she settled back against him, Mark brought the phallus up to the tuft of dark curls between her thighs. Running it lightly over them, he heard her hiss and knew exactly when she’d felt the vibration on her pretty pink clit.

  Mark knew she wanted more, that she was dying for more. Knowing, however, that the greatest release came after the slowest buildup, he moved the toy away, tracing a light, delicate line along the seam where her thigh met her pelvis.

  Needing to touch her, he filled his other hand with her breast, tweaking her nipple, rolling it between his fingers until she squirmed. Kissing her neck, he breathed into her ear, then began moving the dildo again, this time right up the creamy crevice between her swollen lips.

  “Oooh,” she whispered, still watching every move he made in the mirror. Her senses were overwhelming her, he knew. The sounds from the television, the hum of the device, and their own raging pulses filled his head, too. The feel of him cupping her, stroking her, teasing her with the sex toy…it was all driving her wild. When he inhaled, he caught the scent of their passion. And all the while they watched. Everything. It only remained to taste, and before the night was out, they would be doing that, too, he had no doubt.

  Noelle was shifting now, tilting her hips, so Mark turned up the intensity, setting the vibration a little faster. Giving her a lazy smile, he murmured, “I never imagined how much I’d want to see something other than me going into your sweet body.”

  With a wicked smile of her own, she covered his hand and guided the rubber toy lower, until its tip slid into her. He considered teasing her with it, but his own need was building. He didn’t know how much more he was going to be able to take of this erotic playing. Seeing the thing disappear into her wet channel was going to make him want to plunge into her himself. But he couldn’t resist doing it, sliding it slowly into her body, watching her reaction as it filled her. Her lips parted as she whimpered, and her hips tilted toward his hand until he could feel her moisture.

  “Good?” he growled into her ear as he slowly moved the dildo in and out, watching the pleasure wash over her face.

  She nodded, then admitted, “But not as good as you.”

  That was all he needed to hear. Mark tossed the thing to the bed, tugging her around to face him. He cupped her face in both hands, his fingers tangling in her hair, and covered her lips with his. Exploring the inner recesses of her mouth with his tongue, he began to slide back on the bed, bringing Noelle with him toward the headboard. Never breaking the connection of their lips, he rolled them both over until she was flat on her back beneath him.

  She stared up at him, unblinking, unsmiling. “I want you, Mark,” she whispered.

  And he was absolutely dying for her.

  He only wondered if Noelle was even aware of the sweet longing in her tone. There were no wild, raw demands. She didn’t lose her inhibitions and beg for the utmost carnality. No, she simply whispered for him, which, without a doubt, inflamed him more than her wild demands or begging ever had.

  Reaching for the condom he’d dropped on the bedside table, he sheathed himself, watching her watch him. When he moved over her, she closed her eyes and arched her head back into the pillow, her legs instinctively parting in warm, sultry welcome. Kissing her jaw and her cheek, he began to slide into her, slowly, losing himself in the pleasure of her body.

  “You are so beautiful,” he whispered, studying her face as she reacted to his possession. Her eyes remained closed, but her mouth parted on a tiny, helpless gasp. The pulse in her throat fluttered visibly and a warm pink glow washed up through her cheeks.

  Sliding her arms up to encircle his neck, Noelle clenched him deep inside. Mark groaned, unable to remain still, needing to move, to empty her and fill her over and over again until she conceded—at least in her own mind—that this was no longer about sex. This was lovemaking.

&n
bsp; Which is exactly what he did. With tender kisses, gentle touches, and gazes meant to silently tell her how much she meant to him, he possessed her for as long as his body could manage. Deep, slow thrusts followed by pauses to whisper and caress, to moan and to sigh, drew their interlude out long into the night. Until finally, when the unrelenting waves of pleasure caught him and carried him toward completion, he brought them both to shuddering climaxes, then fell asleep, still wrapped in her arms.

  WHEN NOELLE WOKE UP the following morning, it was to an empty bed. She lay in the tangled sheets for a moment, just to make sure she hadn’t dreamed the amazing night she’d shared with Mark. The indentation on her other pillow, and her naked body, told her she hadn’t. So did the delicious soreness between her thighs.

  Figuring Mark was in the bathroom, she curled beneath the covers to ward off the chilly morning and thought about everything that had happened in the last twelve hours. Though alone, she couldn’t help blushing over some of the wild things they’d done together. But on deeper reflection, she realized she wasn’t truly embarrassed.

  Part of her wondered how she’d face him, knowing he had to be thinking of the incredible intimacy they’d shared. What prevented her from feeling that way was the memory of the sweet tenderness with which Mark had made love to her for the rest of the night. It had been incredibly passionate, but also deeply emotional and intimate. A contrast to the eroticism they’d experienced at first.

  What an unusual man he was.

  Wondering if he’d gotten in the shower, and considering joining him, she rolled over and glanced toward the bathroom door. It stood open, and the light was off.

  “Breakfast,” she mumbled, figuring he was in the kitchen. Then she spied the piece of paper on her bedside table, and knew she was wrong. Mark wasn’t in the kitchen. He wasn’t in the apartment at all.

  She’d never been the recipient of a “morning-after” note and her heart thudded in her chest as she stared at it. Sitting up in the bed, she let the covers drop to her lap, her wild hair dropping over her naked breasts as she picked it up and read the words from her lover.