Chapter 57

"Well?" He almost whispered the word, his lips back to within a hair's breadth of hers. "If you don't say anything, I'm going to assume the answer is no, and we'll do our best to forget this ever happened."
As if she could.
She ran the tip of her tongue over her lower lip. Dix's mouth was so close, she stroked his along with hers, and his hands tightened on her.
"Y-yes." She almost whispered the word. Lord, why couldn't she just say it with confidence? There was no doubt she wanted this, no matter what else happened between them, But, at least this time, she was going into something with her eyes wide open and no unrealistic expectations.
His mouth came down on her again, firm this time, with just the right amount of pressure. He used his tongue to trace the seam between her lips, a gentle caress, rimming the outline then back to that seam. The contact was harder, more intrusive until she parted her lips for him and that hot tongue swept inside. Tilting her head back, she welcomed him into that hot, wet cavern, sucking lightly on his tongue then rubbing her own over his. He made it one of the most sensuous caresses she'd ever experienced. She could feel its effect in every cell of her body.
Finally, he broke the kiss and slid his lips across her cheek, tracing a line along her jaw and then sprinkling hot kisses down the side of her neck. Every touch of his mouth, every lick of his tongue, set another cascade of sensation roaring through her body. She had to squeeze her thighs together to contain the wild pulsing in her inner walls.
Dix lifted his head and gave her another of his intense looks, as if he wanted to see clear into the center of her. "I think we need to take this inside."
She nodded her head, beyond words at this point.
As if she weighed nothing more than a feather, he lifted her in his arms and strode toward the cottage. Peyton clung to him, nestling against his rock-hard chest as he opened the door and carried her inside.
"Your room okay?" he asked in a hoarse voice. "It's closer."
"Yes." She wet her lips. "Yes, please."
He set her beside the bed and stood for a moment, looking at her as a thirsty man might look at a cold drink. Then, without uttering a word, he undressed her. The T-shirt first, lifting it over her head and tossing it to the side. He ran the tip of a finger almost reverently over the upper swell of her breasts. Peyton gave a brief thought to the fact that for whatever reason she'd put on a lace bra and matching panties when she'd dressed after her swim. Then her brain shut down completely, and she gave herself over to feeling.
Dix's fingers were rough, the pads calloused, and, when he skimmed them over her skin, shivers skittled down her spine. She was surprised to notice his hands had a slight shake to them when he finally reached behind her to release the clasp, ease the straps down her arms, and drop the garment to the floor. She heard the hiss of his breath as his gaze traveled over her naked breasts. He took her nipples between the thumb and forefinger of each hand, the touch so charged she wondered that sparks didn't fly from her body.
Dix rolled her nipples and squeezed them, the pads of his fingers sensuously abrasive on her sensitive skin. The look in his eyes sent a fresh surge of liquid through her body. Surely by now, she was so wet he could smell her arousal. She had to clench her fists, digging her nails into her palms as he continued to torment the pebbled buds, pulling and tugging even as he squeezed and pinched. Heat flared in his eyes, the intensity of it nearly scorching her.
But what really made her weak in the knees was when he lowered his head and took one of her nipples in his mouth. Ohmigod! The wet heat penetrated right to her very core. He sucked and pulled and grazed his teeth lightly over the pebbled flesh. Peyton reached for his arms, gripping them fiercely to maintain her balance. As rough as his hands were, his mouth was just the opposite, soft and silky. He nipped and bit then soothed with his tongue, each stroke taking her arousal one level higher.
The scent of him surrounded her, a clean male essence that reminded her of the outdoors. She thought she could get drunk just by inhaling it. She leaned into his touch, inhaling the air around them, wanting desperately to touch his bare skin but unwilling to move away from his ministrations.
When he lifted his head and dropped his hands from her body, she gave an involuntary cry of protest. Dix cupped her chin and kissed her within an inch of her life, his scent invading her nostrils and the feel of his lips making every pulse point throb with need.
"You have the most gorgeous nipples," he told her when he broke the kiss. "I could suck them all night long, but I have other things in mind."
His words had barely left his mouth before he slid his hands down her body to the zipper on her shorts. He made quick work of the garment, but he stared at her panties, a tiny scrap of silk and lace, licking his lips. When he dropped to his knees, his head scant inches from her pussy, she began to shake and again had to grip him to steady herself.
He studied her again for a long moment before taking the top of her panties between his teeth and slowly, slowly dragging them down until the elastic rested on her thighs and her pubic curls were exposed.
"A real redhead," he breathed. "Holy fuck!"
"Of course." She tried to be indignant, but she was so turned on, it came out as a soft whisper.
He swiped his tongue across the curls, probing just the tip of her slit with it, over and over, until she was shivering with desire. Hurry, she wanted to say. More, she wanted to tell him.
Fuck me!
Ohmigod. Who was this person inhabiting her body?
Fortunately, he couldn't hear her inner thoughts. He also couldn't be distracted by them because in no way did she want him to stop what he was doing. That tongue! Ohmigod! It was magic, sending shockwaves through her inner walls just by his using it in such a clever way. But she wanted to scream Enough already and tell him to stop teasing and put that educated tongue inside her.
As if she'd spoken the words aloud, he tugged the panties the rest of the way down her legs and helped her step out of them. Then he nudged her thighs apart, spread her labia with his thumbs, and stroked her slit from top to bottom and back with his tongue. He did it again, this time pausing to close his lips over her throbbing clit and suck hard.
"Oh god!" Was that her screaming? And he'd barely done anything to her yet.
Dix looked up and gave her the most erotic smile she had ever seen.
"Jesus, you taste good. I can't wait to get my tongue all the way inside you."
He had barely finished speaking when he rose, picking her up at the same time and placing her on the edge of the bed. Kneeling again, he lifted her legs and set her feet on his shoulders, fully exposing every bit of her pussy to him as well as the bottom curve of her ass. Using his thumbs again to spread wide the lips of her pussy, he rimmed her opening with the tip of his tongue before thrusting it deep inside her.
Every muscle in her body clenched. She tried to push herself down on the contact, but he had positioned her in such a way that he controlled everything. And control he did, driving in and out of her, dragging the tip against her sensitive inner flesh each time he withdrew. The tip of the tongue was like an erotic spear, igniting every nerve it touched.
Faster, she wanted to urge. Harder. More, more, more.
But he seemed determined to take his time, to draw it out as much as possible. Each drag of his tongue lit more nerves, if that was even possible, until every inch of her body seemed focused on her very wet channel and the incredible things he was doing to it. She was ready to scream at him to just do it, do it, do it when he thrust his tongue one more time, took her clit between thumb and forefinger, and squeezed real hard.
That was all it took to trip the switch and send her into orbit. She pushed her feet hard against his shoulders, lifted her buttocks from the bed, and pushed down as hard as she could on his tongue. Spasms rocking her, she shuddered over and over, Dix's tongue working her the entire time, his fingers still playing her clit.
At last, she collapsed, spent, tiny tremors still skating through her, the sound of her raspy breathing loud in her ears.