Page 24

Bella grinned again. 'Then I recommend you take arnica. It's good for bruises.'

His eyes glinted with a deliciously wicked gleam. 'I'll bear it in mind. Although right now I think I'd rather take you.'

She lifted her arms above her head, stretched against him and shot him a smouldering smile. 'Oh, well, in that case I'm all yours.' She batted her eyelids up at him. 'Feel free to do whatever you want with me.'

For a moment he just stared down at her, and then, as if struck with a cattle prod, Will was rolling off her, grabbing a condom from the drawer of the bedside table and ripping it open with his teeth.

Her heart thudding madly, she bent her knees, opened her legs, and then he was sheathing himself, shifting and surging forwards to enter and fill her in one smooth powerful thrust.

Bella let out a rough groan and wrapped her arms around his back and her legs around his waist, and clung on for dear life as he captured her mouth with his.

And then he began to move inside her. Slowly, rhythmically and smoothly, and maddeningly in control.

Which would have been amazing, devastating even, if she'd wanted slow smooth and control.

But she didn't. She wanted fast and frantic and furious.

She writhed against him, but it got her nowhere.

He was the one setting the pace. He was the one in control, as if he somehow needed to prove that this was controllable, and it was driving her nuts.

Desperation clawed at her insides and she dragged her mouth away from his. 'I never did tell you what I really wanted for my birthday, did I?' she said, her voice sounding thick and rough and heavy with desire.

Will went still. 'No,' he muttered, his jaw tight with the effort of holding onto that infernal control of his. 'You didn't.'

'Would you like to know?'

'Now?'

'It's relevant, believe me.'

'Fine.'

She planted a hand on the back of his neck, lifted her head and whispered in his ear. A few short words. Highly descriptive. Highly explicit. Leaving him in no doubt whatsoever about what she wanted from him right now.

She drew back and looked into his eyes and saw that her words had had exactly the effect she'd hoped for. Gone was the infuriatingly rigid control. Gone was any memory of slow and smooth. Instead she saw nothing but raw, naked need in his glittering gaze.

Bella arched an eyebrow, gave him the hint of a suggestive smile, and then with a low growl Will was pulling out of her, flipping her over, gripping her hips and then plunging back inside her so hard, so deep that she nearly climaxed right then and there.

She leant on her elbows and pushed back against him, going completely mindless as he drove into her and hit her g-spot over and over again while trailing kisses up and down her spine.

Her blood pounded in her ears, her heart thundered, and pleasure and heat coiled low in her stomach. Will snaked one arm around her, pressed his hand against her and stroked her clitoris, and her breathing quickened.

He leaned over her, murmuring how good she felt, telling her exactly what she was doing to him, and his voice, so hoarse and rough, scraped over her nerve endings, ratcheting up the delicious tension coiling deep inside her.

And then he was sitting back, taking her with him, pulling her tight against him and slamming into her as deep and as hard as he could, and without warning Bella splintered.

As pleasure exploded though her, shooting through her veins, making her shudder and tremble and whimper, Will wrapped his arms around her, and she heard him groan, felt him tense and pulsate deep inside her as she clenched and squeezed and quivered around him.

She could feel his heart hammering against her back, feel the heat of his body seeping into hers and as her trembling subsided she relaxed against him and tried to keep the wide smile off her face.

But it was hard not to grin when he was stroking her breast, rubbing his thumb over her nipple and kissing his way along her shoulder to her neck.

Feeling deliciously wanton and languid, Bella shuddered and felt him twitch deep inside her in response.

'So that was what I wanted,' she murmured as evenly as she could, eventually easing herself off him and twisting round to kiss him on the mouth. 'Now why don't you tell me what you'd like for your birthday?'

She took care of the condom and pushed him back so that she lay flat on top of him.

With a soft 'Oof' Will landed on the pillows and slid his arms round her.

'My birthday isn't until March,' he said, giving her a faint smile as he ran his fingers lightly up and down her back.

'And I wasn't exactly doing you a favour. '

She tilted her head and determinedly didn't think about how there'd be no more of this come March. 'Then perhaps there's something I could do to apologise for comparing you to a plant.'

A flicker leapt in the depths of his eyes and she felt him stirring against her thigh. 'Well, if you absolutely insist.'

'I do.' She nodded. 'I'm all for equality.'

'What did you have in mind?'

Giving him a wide smile, Bella arched an eyebrow and began to slide her way down his body. 'If you really can't think of anything, I'll be forced to take matters into my own hands.'

She wrapped her fingers around his growing erection and Will blew out a long shuddering breath. 'That's absolutely fine with me.'

So much for attrition, thought Will some time later, his eyes closed as he listened to the soft sound of Bella's breathing.

There he'd been, confident that he was in the driving seat, that he was in control, when she'd whispered what she'd like him to do to her, and all control had vanished. His mind had gone completely blank and all that had remained was the primitive all-consuming need to possess her.

So who, exactly, had worn down whom?

Not that it mattered any more. Over the course of the past couple of hours they'd worn each other down—and out—in a highly satisfactory manner, and he was back to thinking that an affair with Bella was the best idea he'd ever had and thanking God that she'd managed to change his mind.

'I think we should establish some sort of boundaries, don't you?'

Bella's husky voice cut across Will's musings and he opened one eye and glanced down at her, his eyebrows snapping together in a frown.

Hmm. Boundaries. Good point. Slightly strange that it had been brought up by her when he was always the one to dictate the terms of his affairs, generally before they'd even started, but never mind.

Whoever had brought it up was irrelevant.

Establishing boundaries was the priority and he rather thought he'd be interested to see what she came up with.

A novel approach for him, perhaps, but then everything about his dealings with Bella was novel.

'What do you suggest?'

She caught her lip and hmmed. 'A time limit would be good. At the very least.'

Ah, his favourite kind of boundary. 'What were you thinking?'

'Well, I don't know really… How long is the collection on display?'

'A month.'

'Great. Then how about we stop when it does?'

Will twirled a lock of her hair around his finger and watched it change colour in the dim light as he contemplated her proposal.

A month ought to be fine. It was longer than some of his affairs, not as long as others. Perfectly reasonable, and would give him plenty of time to satisfy his craving for her. 'That sounds sensible.'

'Of course, if either of us wants to get out before then, maybe if you get bored or something, then we can stop.'

Will felt his eyebrows shoot up. 'You really think I might get bored?' That didn't seem likely from where he was lying.

She smiled up at him. 'It could happen.'

He rolled her over, his body tightening as he stared down at her and lowered his head. 'Then we'll just have to get inventive, won't we?'