Beauty and The Best (Once-Upon-A-Time Romance) (36 page)

It could have been an hour that they stared at each other; it could have been a lifetime. He’d never know. But it was as if they stood on a precipice, wind howling around them, a band of angry thieves rushing toward them, then—

Jolie lowered the drop cloth.

Chapter Thirty-One

She was beautiful. But then he’d known she would be physically because she was in every other way. “Jolie, are you sure?”

“
I’m in l—I’m sure, Todd. The question is, are you?”

A gift. He’d been given a gift.

For the second time in his life.

He turned around on the sofa, his hip next to hers, and stretched out beside her, his eyes never leaving hers. He slid one hand beneath her to caress the soft skin at her waist; his other hand found her cheek, his thumb brushing the corner of her mouth. Her breath caught just as he leaned in to kiss her eyes closed. “I’m sure,” he whispered against her lashes.

That was all it took.

Her arm went around his neck and he pressed her to him, her breasts crushed against his chest, their lips finding each other. Tongues meeting, stroking, Jolie groaned, the sound reverberating along his nerves and suddenly he couldn’t get enough of her mouth. He couldn’t get enough of her. It was as if a dam had burst. All this long-denied feeling, the desire for her, came pouring out of him, and he wanted to wrap her in a cocoon of aching need and want.

He threaded his fingers through her hair, fanning it over them, feeling the soft strands on his arms, imagining it raining down on his chest. He fisted some of it, tugging her head back, allowing him to trail kisses from her mouth over her jaw and down the long, graceful line of her neck. Her pulse fluttered against his lips; he could feel her shallow breathing as her breasts rose against his chest, and he wished he’d had the forethought to rip off his stupid t-shirt.

He cupped her, grazing the nipple with his thumb, desire tightening his balls as it pebbled for him. Her head fell back more, this time through no effort on his part, and he traced her collarbone with his tongue, kissing the soft hollow at the center. Her skin smelled of lavender, a soft sheen gliding against his cheek as his lips sought her.

“
Jolie… ” He breathed in her scent, kissing every inch of her breast, mouthing the soft flesh down to the nipple. Rock hard, it perked upwards as if begging for his attention. He groaned, taking it into his mouth, and Jolie called out his name.

Desire licked through him as he circled her nipple with his tongue. She speared her hands through his hair, holding him close and he sucked, each of her breaths pulsing her further into his mouth.

“
Your breasts are spectacular,” he murmured against them.

“
And by the way, they’re real.”

The line from a
Seinfeld
episode made him laugh. He pulled back. “God, Jolie, there’s no one like you.”

“
I certainly hope not, because you might mistake her for me.”

“
Never, Jolie. No one can ever be you.”

***

Todd’s eyes were the dark forest green she remembered from the last time he’d kissed her. His golden hair, tousled—by
her
fingers this time—fell forward, framing his eyes, making them seem like the only thing in the room, and Jolie sank into their depths.

He wanted her.

She was almost afraid to believe it. But when she glanced down to see his tanned fingers against her breast, her nipple moist from the warmth of his mouth, the rise and fall of his chest, she believed.

And she
wanted
. She
needed
.

She desired.

And was desired.

It gave her courage. It gave her validity.

And it gave her the right to want him.

“
I need to feel your skin.” She tugged on his shirt. Wanted to feel it against her, around her…
in
her.

Time had no meaning. One minute there was a shirt between them and the next, it was all smooth, golden bronze skin lightly dusted with more golden hair, and Todd was kissing her again.

The kiss claimed her. It wasn’t sexual in any foreplay way, but a “you are mine and there’s no one else here between us” thing and it was her undoing.

She ended up beneath him and they pulled and tugged the drop cloth from between them, all the while somehow keeping their lips and bodies in constant contact. Somehow Todd shed his shorts and, dear Lord, the man
did
go commando.

His fingers skimmed down her body from the sides of her breasts, around to her tush to dance along the band of her thong. “You’ve got a thong on.”

“
Yes.” Way to state the obvious, both of them.

“
Do you know how sexy that is?” His breathing kicked up more notches than she even knew there were.

“
Why don’t you show me?” Naughty Girl left residual effects, apparently.

But Todd didn’t seem to mind. He growled and her insides got all quivery, then his very big, very hard, thrusting bit of evidence pulsed against her thigh and her melting insides flowed out between her legs. She had no defenses left against him, against this feeling—yes, this
love
—she had for him.

“
Oh, God, Jolie.” He stopped.

Stopped
?

“
What?” He
stopped
? Her mind was trying to process this series of events while her eyes searched his.

“
Protection. I don’t have any.”

Well, there was a mood-kill.

“
Um.” Gosh, she’d never thought about that in any of her imaginings. “Well, I haven’t been with anyone in—” she did some quick mental calculations—“six years, and even then we used, um, protection. And I’m on the pill.”

“
You are?”

She nodded. “Feminine reasons.”

He smiled. “Well, that’s good, I guess. For this. Now.” He swept some hair from her face. “I haven’t been with anyone but Trista since I met her, so I should be fine.” His eyes brushed over her lips again. “Should we, that is, do we risk it?”

Interesting how her pitiful dating life actually came in handy. As for the risk… no way was she stopping now. This might be her one and only shot at something that constituted happy in her life. “Yes. We do.”

“
Oh, God, Jolie. What have I done to deserve this? You?”

She could give him a whole list, but he didn’t give her the chance before she was swept up in the artistry that was Todd. He touched her, caressed her, kissed her as if she was the only woman in the world and he couldn’t get enough of her.

His knee nudged hers apart.
Not
that they needed further encouragement. But the darned sofa was too narrow, so she lifted one leg along the back of it. Which had its recommendations, as his fingers danced along her inner thigh and her hips rolled against them.

His lips re-sought her breasts and she had a hard time breathing. His fingers traced the piping on her thong and she wanted to rip the darned thing off. For such a flimsy piece of material it sure could get in the way.

She couldn’t hold back the groan when he slipped inside the thong, finding the very heart of her desire. The man had dexterous fingers, which should come as no surprise considering his skill with a paintbrush. Truth to tell, she was beyond considering anything but the scent of him as she buried her face in his neck, the salty taste of his skin akin to ambrosia. She nipped the corded muscle there and it was his turn to groan.

“
Jolie, you feel so good.” The words escaped his mouth as she licked her way up to his ear, twirling her tongue around the outer shell. His fingers circled and stroked, one slipping inside, continuing the circling and stroking, and she ground her hips against him, drawing his earlobe into her mouth.

His guttural moan set her heart pounding. “Todd.” She reached between them to stroke him. He pulsed against her hand and she had her own satisfaction growl happening.
She’d
done this to him. She and the person she was. The one worthy of being dreamt about.

She closed her fingers around him and he groaned again, his fingers stilling in and on her. “Like that?” she asked against his throat.

He nodded, then slowly slid his finger from her, her inner muscles protesting, clenching around him. Then she felt him smile against her as he thrust back in.

Ahhhh.

Her hand mimicked his and soon there was no telling whose heavy breaths were whose, which groans and sighs of pleasure belonged to which of them. They were both there together.

And it felt completely right.

So right it would scare her if she stopped to think about it.

But no way was she stopping. Thankfully, he seemed to be on the same wavelength.

His finger slid out of her to work the thong off and then she was as naked as he was.

Oh, did it feel glorious.

It felt right.

“
Todd, please.” She couldn’t stop the whisper as his erection throbbed against her when he slipped between her thighs.

“
I aim to do just that.” Strained laughter was in his voice.

“
I hope your aim is true,” she joked back.

He pulled back and his eyes blazed into her, serious, ardent. “Very true.”

She couldn’t speak.

What was amazing wasn’t that he’d said it—though that was amazing enough—but what, a month ago, would have sent her screaming from the room, was now so natural, so right, it was like breathing.

She lifted her hips, giving Heart and Body over to Todd.

He nudged her mouth with the tip of his nose and she opened her eyes just as he claimed every part of her with a firm yet gentle filling completion.

“
Todd… it’s never been like this, I’ve never—”

“
I know, Jolie.”

He knew? What did he know?

“
It’s perfect,” he answered her unspoken question. “You’re perfect.”

She could do perfect. But what about love?

Or was she asking too much?

“
I never thought I could care for someone else like this again.” His eyes bored into hers while the rhythm he set put her insides on high alert. “Jolie, you are truly aptly named. Beauty. Both inside and out.” He placed a kiss above her heart and she melted all over again.

Melted literally, as there were tears leaking from her eyes. Todd kissed them softly and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

She considered saying something flippant, like “and away we go,” but she couldn’t. It was the most beautiful experience of her life as his skin stroked hers and their breathing kicked up to almost unbearable levels, their bodies moving in perfect unison.

Slick with sweat—yes, this time she was sweating; for him, she would sweat—and they glided against each other, every tantalizing hair on his chest doing wonderful things to her nerve endings. Murmurs and sighs and groans signaled each new height. Moving together faster, gripping each other tighter, suddenly, it was upon them. The wonderful flash of pleasure, the soaring feeling as if her soul had taken wing, rocketing through the heavens.

And she’d rather be on this trip with him than anyone else in the world.

***

Finally, the world settled around them, sounds came back, the musky smell of lovemaking mixed with the oil paints that would forever remind her of this night and she smiled into his chest.

She’d found a home.

Finally.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“
Good evening, Beautiful.”

There was no better way to wake up than with Todd’s smiling face mere inches from hers. “Evening?” She shook the cobwebs from her brain. “It’s that late?”

Smiling, he bore not a trace of
haunted
in those eyes. “Well, early evening, but close enough. What are you worried for? You don’t have anywhere to be, do you? Though I have heard your boss is a tyrant.”

“
Yeah, a real brute. Likes to take charge, be in control,
on top
of things.”

“
Things? Or you?” Oh, he was right there with her on the teasing and it felt so good.

She shrugged, doing a little come-hither from beneath her come-hither-less eyelashes. “Take your pick.”

“
All right, I will.” He surprised her with a quick tongue attack to the left breast. “I pick this one.”

She threw her head back in sheer ecstasy. “You don’t play fair.”

“
Ah, but who wants to play fair when one can just play?”

Good point.

Which he proved quite nicely over the next hour or so.

***

It was definitely on the long side of evening and heading straight into night when she stirred again. He twirled a piece of her hair through his fingers and she stretched like a cat after a long nap in the afternoon sun.

“
Hi.” He tickled her lips with the ends of her hair.

She shook her head. “Hi yourself.”

“
Hungry?”