He stepped toward me and his hot gaze swept from the top of my bedroom hair, down his pajama top to my legs, which were stretched out on the couch. Every part of me his eyes touched caught fire. He reached down and grabbed the toes of my socks and pulled them off slowly. He looked deadly serious.
“Get up,” he said in a commanding tone. I obeyed, mesmerized by the wild look in his eyes.
He took the last step toward me, reached out, and caressed the side of my face with the back of his fingers. “If you have a headache or something, you’d better run and lock yourself in your room, ‘cause I’m
way
past crazy, tonight,” he said, without a hint of humor.
I felt my temperature go up a hundred degrees in anticipation of what he would do next.
“Bring it on,” I said in a low, sultry voice.
That was all the encouragement Drew needed. He grabbed the front of the pajama top with both hands and pulled the two sides apart violently. Buttons flew through the air, but before they hit the floor, he invaded the open shirt with full force. His mouth seemed to be everywhere at once, rough and hot—on my lips, my neck, my breasts. I gasped at the shockwave that came with each new sensation.
I was so overwhelmed by his frenzied pace, all I could do was cling to him, and try not to lose my balance. But he held me firmly in his grasp, with no chance of escape—just as I’d always wanted.
He grabbed my bottom, hard, squeezing his fingers into my flesh and pushing me upward at the same time. Grinding himself against me, he kissed me with such force, I stopped breathing. When he finally broke off the kiss, I gasped like a woman who’d been drowning, my eyes still closed.
He shook me gently. “Mia, are you all right?”
“Oh,
don’t stop,
”
I begged.
Still squeezing my backside with one hand, Drew wiggled a finger into one side of my panties. It parted my flesh and slid across the wet, sensitive area that had been crying out for attention. A thrill shivered through my body. When he pressed a finger inside me, I moaned and nearly jumped out of his clutches.
Releasing his hold on me, Drew made eye contact and his savage stare sent a quiver through to all my nerve endings. Without a word, he lifted me off my feet, knelt, and laid me on the floor. Silently, I thanked his sister for the plush area rug, which was to serve as my mattress.
“You won’t be needing these,” Drew murmured as he reached for my panties. I was amazed to see him put his fists around the thin strings on each side, tear them apart, and toss them away carelessly.
He paused and looked down at me, while I lay there waiting in his open pajama top and nothing else. As his eyes traveled the entire length of me, I felt as though I was a buffet and Drew was deciding where to start.
Then, he was on me, devouring me like a starving man. The frantic biting and sucking on my neck, breasts and stomach was like being eaten alive, and I wished his hot mouth could consume me completely.
Each time his teeth grazed my flesh, I jerked involuntarily as a shock of magnificent pain flashed through me.
“Oh!” I cried out every time. It seemed to be the only syllable left after Drew’s startling stimulations.
When he moved downward and his tongue slithered between my thighs, the sensations were too intense. My body tensed, then convulsed under him.
I heard myself let out one last, long “Ooohhh,” as I writhed and shuddered and ground myself into him.
I had barely recovered from my climax as Drew thrust himself into me all at once. I wrapped my arms around him, caressing every part of him I could reach. When I opened my eyes, I saw him watching my face as he slid slowly in and out of me. Then, he stopped.
As usual, I didn’t like waiting and tried to force the issue by using my hands to hold him tightly to me while I pushed my hips upward.
I knew I’d had some effect on him by his sudden sharp intake of air, but he recovered immediately, reached back, and captured my wrists in each of his hands.
But, instead of placing them next to me, as I expected, he pulled them as far above my head as he could and pinned both wrists to the floor with one hand.
I’d never felt so vulnerable. I was completely at his mercy and he was driving me crazy with desire. I needed more of him.
A frustrated whimper escaped my throat. I gave him a pleading look.
When I saw the expression of lust and determination on his face, I knew he would show me no mercy this time. He squeezed my breast and drove into me rapidly several times. My eyes fell closed and I moaned with the intense pleasure. Then he stopped again.
I forced my eyelids open. “
Please…
” I murmured, desperately needing him to move inside me. He smiled at me, but his eyes held a wicked gleam. Fresh heat crept through me under his depraved stare.
He bent his head, and his mouth closed on the base of my neck.
The intense sucking that followed in one particular spot on my tender flesh was an agonizing mixture of pleasure and pain that traveled all the way down to where he rested inside me.
I now knew what it was like to be taken by a vampire. Drew had become the creature in his self-portrait and I was its willing victim.
When he had satisfied himself at my neck, he suddenly released my wrists and began plunging into me again. This time, the tension began deep inside, where he had so thoroughly invaded me.
I dragged my fingernails violently from his shoulders to his thighs and back again.
He groaned in response, then thrust into me harder and faster, punishing me into a hot, sweaty climax with him.
~
I lay on the floor with Drew for long while, completely exhausted. I was amazed by this complicated man lying next to me. I thought of how his love-making reflected the different sides of his personality.
He could be painstakingly gentle, passionate, rough, controlling, protective, separately or simultaneously. Lying there with my hand resting comfortably on my husband, I felt a sense of intimacy I had never known with another human being.
Drew finally felt safe enough with me…with us…to let loose the impulses he’d been so afraid of for so long. I was the person who’d made him feel that safe, and I knew it was because of my love for him. And his love for me.
Everything I’d imagined in my future had involved pretense and distance from people, but instead, I’d found someone who appreciated every bit of who I was, without the lies and regardless of my achievements or failings.
For some reason, I remembered the cows I had seen at the Chesney’s farm, and was sure that, finally, I understood what it meant to be content.
Other emotions came and went with daily occurrences and moods, but I was certain now, contentment was the knowledge that you were exactly where you were supposed to be. Even if we had simply sat on the couch watching movies all night, there was no party in the world more inviting to me than a night alone with Drew.
When I had regained my strength, I lifted my hand from his shoulder and ran my index finger down the side of his face. He opened his eyes, took my hand and gave it a tender kiss.
I couldn’t resist commenting on what had happened. “So you
were
still holding out on me.”
He didn’t reply. He just kept staring at me.
“What are you thinking?” I finally asked.
“I’m wondering how you can be more beautiful now than you were the first day you came through my door.”
My heart squeezed.
“
I
wonder how you could be the same guy who wouldn’t even shake my hand when we first met.”
He smiled and raised his eyebrows mischievously. “I guess I’m shaking a lot more than that now.” He propped himself up on one elbow. “It looks great!” he said enthusiastically as he caressed the base of my neck with one finger.
“Did you really give me a hickey?”
“Not just any hickey,” he answered unabashedly. “I branded you. It’s in the shape of a ‘D.’”
“You’ve got to be kidding! People can’t make them into whatever shape they want.”
“Apparently, I can.”
When I looked doubtfully at him, he glanced around, and grabbed my purse from next to the couch, where I often dropped it as I came in.
“Don’t you have a mirror in there?”
I took a compact from my handbag and opened it, adjusting the mirror until I could see the small dark spot on my neck. Instead of having a round or irregular shape, it had a straight side and a rounded side—like a capital “D.”
I shook my head. “I don’t believe it! I think you’ve invented a new kind of artistry. Maybe you could open a place next to the tattoo parlor where people could come, and you could suck whatever shape they request onto their bodies.”
“Or, I could have a booth next to the face painters at the carnival. I could do all the usual stuff—butterflies, unicorns, smiley faces…”
I laughed and buried my head in his shoulder. “You’re a psycho.”
“Mia
like
crazy,” Drew answered confidently.
After several minutes of silence, he was peering into my soul again. “Mia, can you tell me the complete and honest truth about something?”
My stomach lurched. Was this the moment I’d have to reveal the secrets I was keeping? “Um…okay.”
“Were you
really
never afraid of me, even when you first found out I was a convicted rapist?”
“No,” I answered honestly.
“Why not?”
“Because I could never see it. My head understood what the facts were supposed to be, but my gut—or maybe my heart—wouldn’t buy it,” I said. “Sometimes, I did worry I was deluding myself about you because I was in love with you, but I was never afraid of you.”
“That’s, like…a miracle,” he said.
“Maybe Josh Samuels is some kind of matchmaking angel.”
“Yeah, right. What did you say to him when he asked you out, anyway?”
“Well, I think I said, ‘I’m not interested in getting involved in a relationship right now.’ That’s what I usually said to men.”
“And then, you flew over here and married me!” Drew pointed out with glee. “Does he know?”
“I don’t think so.”
The mischievous twinkle was back in Drew’s eyes. “Let’s call him right now and tell him.”
“You’re a horrible, cruel man and I’m shocked that a nice girl like me agreed to marry you.” I reached behind him and smacked him on the bottom.
“
You’re
shocked?” He snaked his arms around me and rolled me over on top of him.
Just then, I became aware of the television a few feet away. I heard the countdown begin, “Ten, nine, eight, seven…” When it reached “one,” I gazed into his eyes and said, “Happy New Year, Drew.” Then I leaned down, laced my fingers through his, and gave him a slow, deep kiss.
Chapter Twenty
I awoke in bed the next morning, unable to remember how I got there. Drew was already up and making breakfast, so I showered and dressed. When I was ready, I went into the kitchen to see if I could help. Drew let me boil the water for my tea.
Once we were seated at the table, I asked, “How did I get to bed last night?”
“You were out like a light, so I carried you. I might need a chiropractor appointment,” he teased. “You must have sapped all my strength last night because you seemed a lot heavier than I remembered.”
Although I knew I had only gained four or five pounds since he had picked me up last—mostly from his cooking—his teasing reminded me I was going to keep getting heavier, and I’d better at least
start
confessing my secrets today.