N. Walters - Touch of Topaz

What she didn’t seem to realize was she had the inner strength to deal with whatever came her way. If building a business from scratch with her sisters hadn’t taught her that, the turmoil from the past year should have.

John wanted to be the one she leaned on when things got tough. He wanted to be the one she turned to when she was feeling insecure or needed to talk, the one who held her through the night, who was beside her for better or worse.

He already knew she was the one for him. Being with her made him feel as though he’d finally found his place in the world. He’d been content with his life before he’d met her. But when he was around her, he felt happy, as though a missing part of himself had finally been found.

They ate mostly in silence, only making the occasional comment. John felt the weight of the coming morning, knowing he would have to take Topaz back to the apartment she shared with her sister. Sapphire would already be there waiting for Topaz. He knew them well enough to know they’d want to talk about everything that had happened since they’d last seen one another. He had to try to secure his place in her life before they left.

He set his spoon down and stood. Topaz glanced up at him, her gaze widening. He wasn’t sure what she saw when she looked at him, but he knew how he felt—aroused and territorial. “Come with me.” He held out his hand to her and waited.

She wiped her mouth with her napkin and pushed away from the table. Triumph filled him when she took his hand. He led her down the hallway to the bedroom, leaving the messy kitchen behind them. He shut the door and turned to her, determined to make love to her so well she’d never forget this night for as long as she lived.

The intensity surrounding John, the tense set of his shoulders and the muscle twitching in his jaw should have frightened her. Instead, she relished it. He wanted her. And, God help her, she wanted him with a passion that kept growing.

A sense of desperation crept into her. What would happen to them when they returned to their everyday lives? Would John’s job keep him away from her? She knew he’d told her he was mostly involved in security systems now and helping out businesses, but she worried about him. Would he choose to work as a bodyguard again? If she agreed to give them a chance, would she be enough for him?

That was the real question. She wondered if she was enough to hold a man like John’s attention. She frowned, not liking where her thoughts were headed. It wasn’t like her to be so insecure.

“Hey. Where did you go?” John captured her face between his large, warm hands and stared into her eyes. There was worry in his blue gaze.

She shook her head. “Nowhere.” She didn’t want to talk about it. Not now. “Where were we?” She wanted to make love with John once more. For that’s what it was for her—making love.

Topaz had known last summer that John Knight was a very special man, one who could shake up her well-ordered life if she allowed him. He’d gone away for a while, but come back again, this time rocking the foundations of her world.

He’d done what no other man had done before. He’d made her fall in love with him.

She raised her hands, sliding them beneath his shirt and resting them on his chest. The muscle beneath her fingers was rock-hard, his skin supple. She went up on her toes and kissed him, letting her lips slide over his. He was still watching her with concern in his eyes and she didn’t want that. She wanted to see them glaze over with passion. She wanted to love him so long and hard he’d fall in love with her too.

“Topaz.” He said her name, but she shook her head.

“No talking. Not now.” They’d talked this morning and all afternoon. Now all she wanted to do was feel.

She thought for a moment he might object, but he nodded and released her. He took her hand in his and led her to the bed. There was nothing hurried about his actions. He was acting like a man with all the time in the world.

He reached out and carefully removed one of her earrings. A shiver raced down her spine as his fingers grazed the sensitive outer shell. Then he did the other side. He set both earrings on the nightstand and leaned forward, letting his breath warm her ear before catching the lobe between his teeth and gently tugging.

“John,” she groaned. Her neck and arm began to tingle and the shivery sensation went all the way down to her nipples. They puckered, pressing against her bra.

“What?” The puff of breath against her neck had goose bumps running down her arms. “Don’t you like this?” His tongue traced the whorls of her ear, his tongue flicking over the edge. She fought the urge to press her thighs together. Her panties were already damp and her pussy ached for his touch.

She curled her fingers and used her nails to lightly rake his chest. He groaned and caught her hands, tugging them from beneath his shirt. “Not this time. This time I want to take my time and taste every inch of your body. I want to trace every lush curve with my tongue and taste the sweet cream between your thighs.”

Topaz couldn’t speak, could barely blink. She was going to come just listening to him talk about what he wanted to do with her.

He tugged at the hem of her sweater, drawing the turtleneck up and over her head. Then he removed her bracelet and set it alongside her earrings. He traced his thumbs over the curve of her breasts, following the outer lacy edges of her bra. “Your skin is softer than anything I’ve ever touched.”

His fingers trailed up her arms to her shoulders and he caught the straps, slowly easing them down. She swallowed hard as he exposed her breasts to his view. He’d seen them before, several times now, but each time it felt new. The worshipful look in his eyes made her feel like the sexiest woman in the world.

“My turn.” She grabbed his shirt and tugged it up. He took over and dragged the garment over his head, dropping it to the floor.

John rubbed his thumbs over her nipples, causing them to pebble even more. Her skin felt raw, exposed, as if it was pulled too tight over her frame. His fingers slid along the band until he found the hooks at the back. Then her bra was gone and he lowered his head.

She caught her breath as his mouth closed over one puckered nipple, drawing it into his mouth. He lashed his tongue over the tip and she clutched at his head to keep him there. John worked his way over to her other nipple and lavished it with the same attention.

“So sweet,” he murmured. “Let’s get the rest of your clothes off.”

Like a woman in a daze, she allowed John to undress her. Lost in a sensual haze she was flat on her back on the bed before she could catch her breath. John stood next to the bed, towering over her.

He undid the button of his jeans and slowly lowered his zipper. Her mouth went dry and she licked her lips to moisten them. John sucked in a breath and swore. He quickly toed off his boots, and then dragged off his jeans and briefs. Once he was naked, he stretched out next to her on the bed, swallowing up most of the room on the mattress.

His cock nestled against her hip, hot and pulsing and she reached down and caught his shaft in her hand, but he pulled it away. “I want you too much, babe.” He lowered himself over her, his hands on either side of her head, his legs trapping hers. “I want to touch you, to taste all of you.”

She shivered at the intensity of his words. Was it possible theirs could be a relationship that would last? She caught his shoulders and pulled herself up, rubbing her breasts against the hard wall of his chest. “Love me, John.” Desperation tinged her words, but she didn’t care. She was feeling slightly desperate, her body coiled and ready for release, her mind counting down the moments until they had to return to their normal lives and her emotions scattered all over the place.

He kissed her then, stealing her breath with the enormity of his need. His tongue swept in and claimed her mouth. She met him stroke for stroke, angling her head for better access. He tasted like strong black coffee and slightly spicy like the tomato soup they’d eaten. Delicious.

His hands worshiped her body, stroking up and down her arms and torso, tracing her subtle curves. She touched him wherever she could reach, his chest, his shoulders, his back. He was so warm, so alive, muscles rippling beneath the skin wherever she touched.

He tore his mouth from hers and left a trail of hot kisses down her throat. He paused at the sensitive spot where her neck met the curve of her shoulder and bit down carefully. Attention to that particular place was like lighting a match to gasoline and her hips jacked up, pressing hard against his erection. She thrashed her head back and forth on the pillow. She needed John inside her.

“Now, John.” She dug her fingers into his taut butt, trying to pull him farther into the cradle of her hips.

“Not yet.” He was panting hard, his skin growing slick with perspiration. “Need to taste you.”

The next half-hour was nothing more than a blur of erotic sensation for Topaz. John used his hands and mouth on her, missing not an inch of her skin. He stroked her shoulders and arms before ending at her hands, where he proceeded to suck on her fingers one by one. His tongue swirled between them, teasing the sensitive web of flesh at the base. She had never realized just what an erogenous zone her hands were until tonight.

He nibbled on the pads at the base of her thumbs and laved her speeding pulse in her wrist.

Her breasts were stroked and licked and petted until she thought she might go mad. But no matter how much she pleaded with John, he wouldn’t enter her.