Redeemed Page 12

  Evan smoothed his thumb over her forehead, her cheek, her chin. “You have paint everywhere.” He smiled.

  “So do you.” She imagined she looked just like him.

  “I want to paint the rest of you one of these days.”

  She lifted her brows. Paint me? She knew from the context he meant that literally. Not that he wanted to paint a picture of her. No. He wanted to paint her. Her fingers shook pondering the idea, and she gripped his shirt where she held him.

  He wove his hands through her hair and tugged. “There’s paint in your hair too.”

  She didn’t care. Why is he so worried about the paint all of the sudden?

  He played with the locks for several moments before he let his gaze wander back to hers. “I’m trying to slow down.” He grinned. “It isn’t working.”

  “Well, stop. I don’t want you to.” She bucked toward him, reminding him with her body how firm he was against her belly. She wished she had the balls to release his back, drag her hands to his front, and circle his cock. But she wasn’t that bold yet.

  “You’ll stop me at any time…if you feel uncomfortable?”

  “No.”

  He froze.

  She lifted her gaze to his once more and smiled. “I want you to claim me. Please. I’m burning up inside.” She squirmed against him, the most brazen thing she could do. Even that act brought a flush to her cheeks she could feel deep inside. She released the fistful of T-shirt she held and flattened her palms on his back, grazing toward his ass.

  Evan pushed off from the wall, breaking contact. He took her hand in his and pulled her behind him as he stepped into the hall and then entered the next door on the right.

  His bedroom. She hadn’t been in this room yet. He’d given her only a brief tour of the house, but when he came to that room, he’d only pointed and declared it to be the master bedroom. She’d assumed he hadn’t wanted to make her uncomfortable. At the time she’d been relieved. Now she wanted nothing more than to explore his inner sanctuary.

  She wanted to know everything about him.

  He released her in the center of the room and sauntered toward a door to the left. Running water told her it was the attached bath.

  She spun slowly and soaked in…Evan. Dark colors filled the space. Gray, black, navy. Even his comforter was a deep navy. His bed was unmade. The sheets were the same deep blue to match the bedspread.

  She inhaled long and slow. The house was naturally filled with his scent, but this room was more potent. She didn’t notice he’d returned to her side until he held a cloth up and began to wipe the paint from her face. He took such care, his precision and concentration bringing a lump to her throat.

  If she’d been a different woman in a different time with a different history, she’d have grabbed the cloth, tossed it to the ground, and slammed him against the wall to keep him from stalling.

  But she was who she was, a grown woman not remotely ready for anything quite so bold. Instead she held her breath and watched his eyes flicker over her face. The smeared colors on his own forehead and cheeks were gone, just the faint edge of colors left at his hairline.

  Finally he dropped the wash cloth and cupped her face once more, taking her lips in a kiss that rivalled the last. Firmer. More demanding. He entered her with his tongue as soon as their lips collided.

  She fell into the kiss, concentrating on the feelings it evoked. A tight wire ran from the connection of their mouths to her sex. Her clit jumped to attention, something she’d never experienced in the past.

  She didn’t realize they’d shuffled across the floor until her legs hit the side of the bed.

  Evan’s hands wandered down her frame, his palms spread against her back. His hands were huge splayed open like that. He seemed to encompass her entire back and still his thumbs stroked very close to the edges of her breasts.

  God. She wanted those hands on her. She broke the kiss, sucking air into her lungs.

  “You okay, baby?”

  “Too okay.” She shook her head, trying to gain a small piece of control. She couldn’t think of anything except the need building between her legs.

  Evan tapped her feet apart with one of his and pressed his thigh between her legs.

  She sucked in a deep breath when his warmth snuggled against her pussy. And then she moaned. Her hands trembled where she held his shirt once more. “Evan?”

  “You’re so aroused, baby.” He rubbed her back lower. “Your body is so ripe for my touch.” His hands landed on her ass and he squeezed.

  A squeak escaped her lips and she ground herself against him harder, needing the pressure. Feelings she’d never experienced came to the surface. “I’ve never…”

  “I know. Just let go. Feel. It’s going to be so good.” He reached between her legs from behind as he spoke and stroked his fingers across her sex.

  She nearly jumped. “Oh God.” Her vision blurred. She tipped her head back, seemingly unable to hold it upright any longer. All she knew was the feel of his fingers stroking through her slit and she wanted the jeans gone.

  So this is what mating feels like…

  Evan’s fingers left her crotch and he pushed her shirt up with both hands until he met her armpits. “I’m going to undress you, okay?”

  God. Okay? Fuck no. Not just okay. I insist.

  He must have read something in her face because he gave a slow grin and then pulled her T-shirt over her head.

  Welcome cool air hit her heated skin as he leaned away from her to soak her in with his eyes. “So gorgeous.” He smoothed his fingers over her bare skin, starting at her belly and working his way upward. He skipped her chest, still covered by her sensible bra, and traced a line along the top swell of her aching breasts. The bra seemed two sizes too small and her nipples flattened tight against the cups.

  Evan reached behind and expertly popped her loose.

  She sucked in a breath and bit her lower lip as he revealed her to his gaze. The release of pressure forced her to exhale slowly between her teeth, leaving her breasts heavy.

  Reverently, Evan circled her waist with both hands. His gaze never left her nipples as he watched her chest rise and fall.

  She watched his face. Would he find her attractive? Intellectually she knew she was not the ugly creature her ex had insisted she was. Therapy had straightened out her body image drastically in the last months. However, nothing could stop her from worrying about his reaction.

  Gentle fingers caressed her globes as they seemed to grow under his touch. “So fucking sexy, Ashley.” He circled her nipples simultaneously, making her arch into his touch.

  She released her bottom lip, feeling the sting where her teeth had gripped.

  She couldn’t help but watch her nipples pucker and she silently pleaded with Evan to touch them directly.

  Instead he weighed both breasts in his hands while she held her breath.

  Suddenly he didn’t just touch the tips, he pinched them, and at the same time he lifted his thigh to press into her pussy.

  Ashley screamed. She still had her jeans on and she squealed like a woman in the throes of sex. An elusive something pulsed in her sex, demanding exit.

  She flushed with embarrassment when she was able to see into Evan’s dark brown eyes once more. Her face and chest heated to a new high.

  His deep gaze darkened as he stared at her. “I’ve got you,” he mumbled. “So fucking responsive…” He continued to toy with her nipples, pinching and releasing, soothing and repeating.

  When she didn’t think she could breathe anymore, he lowered his fingers to her jeans and released the button. “Look at me.”

  She let her hazy gaze settle on his again.

  “You okay?”

  She nodded.

  “I want to see all of you. May I?”

  She nodded again and bit her bottom lip between her teeth once more.

  Not releasing her gaze, Evan lowered her zipper painstakingly slowly. He let the pressure of his thigh ease until h
e removed it.

  Ashley held her breath. She was more aroused now than while he’d been pressed against her. She needed more, not less. Her body had its own agenda and demanded release.

  Her legs shook as Evan kneeled in front of her. He pulled off her shoes and socks, lowered her jeans with her panties, and then tugged them off first one leg and then the other.

  Naked now, she had a surge of self-consciousness. Her gaze shot in every direction. “You’re still dressed.” She crossed her arms and drew her legs together.

  Evan pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground. “Better?”

  She couldn’t respond. His chest was a giant expanse of muscle and tanned skin. She had the urge to lick across his nipples. So hard, his pecs flexed as she watched.

  Evan lifted her around the waist and set her down several feet back on the bed. “Just relax. Nothing is going to happen that you don’t beg for.” He climbed up at her feet where her legs were bent, her knees together, her heels digging into the mattress.

  Beg?

  She would never beg. What did he mean?

  She narrowed her gaze and he chuckled. “You will.” Had he read her mind?

  “Lie back.” Evan gently eased her onto his cool sheets. Her head landed on his pillow, the soft fall incongruent with the tight ball in her belly.

  She stared at his chest and then let her gaze lower to his jeans. His cock bulged so full; the button on his jeans threatened to pop. She wanted to see him completely naked as he was seeing her, but she also feared the size of him behind that denim. If she wasn’t mistaken, he would be far larger than the only man who had ever taken her.

  Evan started his soothing strokes again, his fingers dancing across her skin, down her arms, across her belly, around her breasts. So erogenous. She’d never known. Damon hadn’t paid any attention to her chest except to complain about how small she was.

  Evan brought her back to the present when he tapped her nipples. “So pink. I love how they respond to my touch.”

  She moaned. Wetness leaked between her rigid legs. She gripped the sheets on both sides with her fists. She didn’t know quite what she wanted him to do, but she was wound up like a top, her body threatening to spin out of control and leave her with vertigo.

  Evan dragged his fingers down her body until he reached her thighs. “Open for me, Ash. Let me see you.”

  Her legs quivered. The idea of him staring at her pussy with the same intensity as he had the rest of her was daunting. Too much. She glanced at the window. The curtains weren’t open far so the room wasn’t bright, but they weren’t closed all the way either. A few inches allowed plenty of light into the room. He wouldn’t miss an inch of her with his piercing gaze.

  He didn’t say anything else. Instead he seemed to sense her hesitation. She didn’t have her legs squeezed together. They were open a few inches, but her bent knees were rigid to the point of aching.

  Evan knew how to play her though. He was the master of her body. He grazed his fingers up and down her thighs, first the top and then underneath, and then he teased the skin between them until she gasped and her knees fell open on their own.

  “That’s it, baby. Relax.”

  He kept saying that, but she was unable to comply. Her stomach tightened into a ball.

  Evan pressed her thighs wider and upward, forcing her knees to bend more as she exposed her most private parts to his gaze. Before touching anything directly, he pulled her lower lips apart and breathed in deeply until his eyes fluttered. “God, Ashley. You are so aroused.” He glanced back down at her pussy. “So wet. Are you always this wet?”

  She didn’t move. She gripped the sheets with her fists and pleaded with her mind for him to fucking claim her already.

  He stroked one finger through her folds and she shot off the mattress, gasping, her heels digging into the bed to lift her torso.

  She tried to swallow as she lowered herself back down, but her mouth was too dry. OhmyGod.

  “Oh, baby. You are the sexiest creature alive.” He did it again and her belly hollowed, but she didn’t lift as high this time.

  She watched as he adjusted his cock with one hand. “I’m going to come in my jeans.” He let his gaze settle over hers. The deep brown of his eyes was almost black now.

  When he stroked through her folds a third time, he chuckled. “So squirmy.” He settled his other hand on her belly above her clit and pulled the skin back.

  She could feel the moment air wafted across the nub and she flinched.

  Evan gathered her moisture with two fingers and swirled them up to circle her exposed clit. “Like a little pearl…” He kept circling, not touching her where she needed it most. “What do you need, Ash?”

  Her eyes widened. Was he kidding? No way could she talk right then.

  “I could stroke it, pinch it, lick it…”

  Oh, yes. One of those things. Hell, all of them.

  He smiled, his gaze jerking between her clit and her eyes. “I can’t decide. I want to watch your clit as it responds to my touch, but I want to see the green of your eyes deepen to a deep ocean color also.”

  He swirled, circled, played with the surface of her pussy until she trembled with need. “Please,” she finally pleaded.

  “Please what, Ash?”

  “Please claim me, already, Evan.” The words were chopped, deep, glottal. She didn’t recognize her voice.

  “No way. Not yet.”

  Was he serious? She’d never wanted anything so bad in her life. She couldn’t imagine how or why she’d gone this long putting off this inevitable experience. The entrance to her pussy pulsed with the craving to be filled. She squeezed against nothing, grasping only at the walls of her channel.

  He would need lube. She twisted her head from side to side, straining to see if he had some ready. She hated to ask. Surely he knew. Damon had always said his cock ached inside her dry cunt because she was so frigid.

  She froze and glanced back down at the spread of her legs. She was wet… Very wet. She didn’t remember ever being this wet. Clearly not frigid. No. That had been her body’s response only to Damon. Perhaps Evan wouldn’t need anything at all to ease into her. She hoped he would go slow. Suddenly she feared the moment he entered her for the first time, stretching her wide and scraping against her insides.

  She had to ask. It would ease her fears if he used a lubricant. It would ease the possible burning inside her. She blurted out the words. “I think you’ll need to take your pants off and do you have any lube?”

  He stopped and looked at her face, his fingers poised at her entrance. “I’m not ready to take my pants off and why the hell would I need lube? You’re so wet, I’ll have trouble staying inside you.”

  She pinched her lips together and closed her eyes. Maybe he was right. And then he slid a finger deep inside her. She moaned loud.

  He curled that finger and brushed it over the top of her channel as he pulled out. The next time he pressed in, he moaned. “God, Ash. You are so wet. What did that bastard do to you?”

  She didn’t answer. She doubted he really wanted to hear it anyway.

  He added a second finger to the first and entered her as far as his hand would allow, scissoring inside her until she felt the pressure building to a crescendo. His palm planted firmly against her pussy, bumping so close to her clit but not quite touching the very nub that demanded attention.

  “I want you to come, Ash.” He finally stroked her clit with the fingers of his other hand as he spoke. “I want to see you come apart at my touch. Will you give that to me?”

  She gritted her teeth. She’d never had an orgasm. Didn’t even know how. Would he be disappointed? “I can’t.”

  “Oh, baby, you can. Lots of times.” He pulled his hand out and added a third finger. So tight. He stretched her.

  She bucked into his touch. The ache she felt inside, the ball of nerves that threatened to explode, that was what he meant.

  He flicked a finger over her clit i
n rapid succession.

  She dug her heels harder into the bed. Oh God.

  Her head rolled back and forth as she concentrated on his touch. Her brain turned to mush, unable to think about anything but his fingers tormenting her body. Suddenly he pushed deeper and pinched her clit with his other hand at the same time.

  She screamed. Her entire body seemed involved in the noise. Her clit throbbed as it pulsed. She fell off the edge of a cliff into a deep gorge below, falling, falling, falling, until finally she floated gently back and forth toward the ground. The orgasm consumed her, swallowing her whole. Even the tactile sense of the sheets beneath her disappeared as she centered all her attention on the fingers stroking inside her and the pinching pressure on her clit.

  He slowed as she settled back to earth, easing his pressure until he released her inside and out. He continued to soothe her lower lips with his touch as she flinched, still not completely separated from the orgasm.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Evan watched his mate’s face as she floated back to earth. The moment her eyes connected with his and realization dawned on her, she blushed a deep red. “Oh…” She glanced around. “You… I…” He watched her throat as she swallowed embarrassment.

  “You were so beautiful. Have you never had an orgasm before?” He wanted to suck those words back the moment they left his lips. She hadn’t. That was clear.

  She tried to draw her knees together, but he stayed between her legs. The last thing he wanted was for her to shut herself off from him. “I’m sorry.” He soothed her thighs with both hands, trying to relax her stiff legs. “Thank you. That was a gift I will never forget.”

  “I don’t know what you did with your magic fingers, but…” She smiled, a coy grin that included tipping her head to one side. Her embarrassment fled; or she chased it off. “I don’t think whatever that was will consummate the claiming.”

  Evan released a breath he hadn’t known he held. He still knelt between her legs, but he released her to pop the button on his jeans and wiggle out of them, taking his underwear with them. It was probably awkward. He felt like a gangly teenager eager to have sex for the first time. He somehow managed to discreetly reach into the pocket and pull out a condom, which he set on the bed next to him without her noticing.