Say it with Diamonds...this Christmas. Sandra Marton

      It was a perverse way to protect her, but then, he’d always been perverse when it came to Sarah. Hadn’t he lusted after her when she’d been little more than a girl? A lust which had been as obsessive as it was unwanted.

      This moment had been inevitable, Nick conceded as he finished drying himself. The only surprise was that he’d held back as long as he had.

      Nine o’clock saw Sarah once again at Nick’s door, her hands curling into white-knuckled balls as she struggled to find the courage to knock.

      The black teddy fitted her perfectly, the skin-tight mid-section outlining her newly defined waist, the built-in lace bra cut low. More transparent lace inserts covered her hips, making the already high-cut sides seem even higher. But it was the back of the teddy that shocked her, mostly because there wasn’t much of it. A couple of inches of material above her waist and next to nothing below, where it narrowed into a satin thong.

      The door suddenly being wrenched open brought a gasp to her lips. Nick stood there, a dark red towel slung low around his hips, the expression on his face not a particularly happy one.

      But his eyes changed as they swept over her, that white-hot desire she’d always wanted to see making her stomach flip right over.

      ‘I knew you’d look beautiful in that. I didn’t realise just how beautiful. And how damned sexy.’

      He looked pretty damned sexy himself, she thought breathlessly.

      His sudden frown worried her, as did his ragged sigh. ‘You’ve made my life really difficult, Sarah.’

      ‘No more than you’ve made mine,’ she countered. Quite bravely, considering she was quaking inside.

      He shook his head as he took her right hand in his and pulled her into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind them.

      ‘I presume you haven’t changed your mind,’ he said drily as he drew her across the room towards the bed.

      ‘If I had, I wouldn’t be wearing this, would I?’ she threw at him with more feigned boldness whilst her gaze flicked nervously around.

      She noted the bed, its red quilt thrown back, the black satin sheets glowing under the soft light of the red lampshades.

      His suddenly scooping her up into his arms shattered her brave façade.

      ‘You’re trembling,’ he said.

      ‘Am I?’

      ‘Very definitely.’ He sighed for the second time, his eyes shutting for a moment. ‘What am I going to do with you?’

      ‘Make love to me, I hope. All night long, you promised.’

      His eyes flicked open to glower down at her.

      ‘No, Sarah. That’s not what’s going to happen here.’

      Her heart plummeted to the floor.

      ‘What I’m going to do is have sex with you. Don’t mistake it for lovemaking. I never make love. I have sex with women. Of course,’ he added with a sardonic smile as he lowered her gently into the middle of the bed, ‘it will be great sex.’

      Relief—and a rush of excitement—flooded through Sarah as her head and shoulders came to rest against the pile of satin-covered pillows. At this moment, he could call it whatever he liked. Nothing he could say would deter her from seeing this through.

      But for Sarah, it would be lovemaking. For her, this was going to be the night of her life!

      The satin sheets felt cool against her heated skin. Nick’s eyes were cool as well, that white-hot desire she’d spotted earlier now not in evidence.

      ‘Relax,’ he advised as he straightened.

      ‘I … I guess I am a bit nervous,’ she admitted when he joined her on the bed.

      ‘Yes, I can see that.’

      Propping himself up on his side, he ran a teasing fingertip around the edge of the low-cut neckline, making her skin break out into goose-pimples. When he traced the neckline a second time, almost touching one of her nipples, she sucked in, then held her breath.

      ‘Do you have extra-sensitive breasts?’

      His question rattled her. Actually his talking rattled her. None of her previous lovers had talked. They’d simply got on with it.

      Sarah finally let go of her long-held breath. ‘I … I don’t know,’ she said, her head spinning.

      ‘Let’s see, shall we?’

      Sarah held her breath again as he levered the satin straps off her shoulders and peeled them slowly downwards till the lace cups gave up their prizes.

      ‘Mmm. Delicious,’ he said, and bent to lick her right nipple.

      Sarah clenched her teeth hard in her jaw, lest she cry out. But oh, the dizzying pleasure of it.

      When he drew her nipple into his mouth, she could not prevent a moan escaping.

      When he nibbled at it with his teeth, she squirmed and whimpered.

      His head lifted, his eyes glittering now.

      ‘As much as this teddy looks fantastic on you, right at this moment I prefer you without it.’

      Sarah gulped but said nothing as he peeled it down her body and off her feet before tossing it carelessly aside. His eyes were like laser beams, honing in on that private part of her body.

      ‘I love looking at you,’ he rasped, caressing her smooth pubic bone before sliding his fingers through the already damp folds of her sex.

      ‘Oh,’ Sarah choked out, stunned by the sensations that came crashing through her.

      ‘You are so beautiful,’ he crooned as he continued to explore her down there, touching her everywhere. Inside, outside, then inside again. More deeply this time, finding erotic zones she didn’t know she had. She pressed herself urgently against his hand, her head twisting from side to side, her wide eyes pleading with his as her body raced towards a climax.

      ‘It’s OK,’ he said, his voice rough, his eyelids heavy. ‘I want to watch you come.’

      Sexy words, sexy eyes. Pushing her over the edge in a free-fall of pleasure that was wonderfully wanton, till she came to earth with a thud and realised this was not what she’d waited a lifetime to experience: Nick watching her come.

      But no sooner did these rather dismaying thoughts flash through her mind than he was kissing her, not wildly but gently, his mouth sipping softly at hers.

      ‘Don’t be upset,’ he murmured between kisses. ‘You needed that. You were wound too tight. Next time … I’ll be inside you … and it’ll be much better.’

      She blinked up at him when his head rose.

      The corner of his mouth lifted in a quirky smile. ‘You don’t believe me?’

      ‘Oh, no,’ she said truthfully, ‘I believe you.’

      ‘Then what is it?’

      ‘I … I’m sorry, but I thought … before we go any further, what … what about protection? I mean … Oh, you know what I mean,’ she said, annoyed with herself for stuttering and stammering. ‘You’ve been around.’

      His expression carried an element of reproach. ‘Sarah, you don’t honestly think I would risk making you pregnant, do you?’

      ‘Well, actually, you can’t,’ she admitted. ‘Make me pregnant, I mean. I’m on the Pill.’

      ‘I see. But you still want me to use condoms?’

      ‘I’m not a total fool, Nick.’ Even if he thought she was for being here with him.

      ‘You’ve no need to worry. I’ve got that taken care of. Relax. No way