CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Brielle stood at the windows of her office staring at the lake below. She had to admit, she loved the view and the spaciousness of the huge room. She could look down into the backyard and see the patio where she shared morning coffee and orange juice with Elie. They’d been together over a month now, and she still had to pinch herself every now and then to believe it was real.
Just the thought of Elie produced a full-body shiver. He enjoyed getting up very early, before the sun rose, to work out. She got up with him, because who wouldn’t want to watch him work out, and she loved working out, too. They trained together. He was unbelievably fast and it brought her skills up quickly. Then they showered together. Most of the time, they had sex in the shower, or he would make love to her on the bed, or the dining room table before she prepared breakfast. He loved omelets. She preferred fruit. She prepared both for them.
Some mornings, he wouldn’t initiate sex and the anticipation always made her body coil tighter and tighter as she cooked for the two of them. He liked touching her and he always did while in the kitchen, which only added fuel to an already burning fire. Just thinking about Elie could make her body ache. He had a way of looking at her that made little flames lick at her skin. She found herself wanting to do anything for him, anything to keep that look of arousal in his eyes and those lines of carnal lust carved into his face when he looked at her.
Sometimes, in the morning when he pretended to be aloof, when he didn’t touch her in the shower, but his cock was hard and he shook his head when she brushed her fingers along his thighs, her heart went wild at that controlled expression. She loved that as much as the one of total arousal. They would take their breakfast out to the patio and sit at the smaller, more intimate two-person table to eat. It was her favorite time. One of anticipation. Those times, he would tell her to wear his favorite robe. The smoke-and-rose one and nothing else.
This morning had been one of those times. The sun hadn’t quite come up yet and it was quiet like it always was just before daybreak. Not dark. Not light. This morning the lake had been relatively peaceful. As she sat there at the table with Elie, she’d felt her body trembling. Waiting. Her entire focus was on Elie. She was aware of every single thing about him. Every movement. The way he brought his coffee cup to his mouth. The bites he took of his omelet. The oblong box sitting close to the coffeepot in the middle of the table. She knew what was in that box.
He watched her eat three of her strawberries and then beckoned her to him. Her nipples peaked and hot blood pounded through her veins. She wasn’t wearing any panties or they would have been soaked. She stood and moved the two steps necessary to take her to him, trying to stay still and not squirm.
Elie smiled and opened her robe, pushing the fabric to the side so it framed her breasts. “You’re so damned beautiful.”
A part of her was thrilled when he gave her those compliments. She needed them. Not because she was vain, but because she was still building confidence that he really wanted her as a woman. There was sincerity in his voice. He gave her that one hundred percent focus when he looked at her, as if he couldn’t tear his gaze away. That added to the excitement building in her.
“Offer your breasts to me, bébé.”
That had been new. Just that morning he was going to Los Angeles with Stefano and two of the Ferraro couples who would be meeting with cousins to go clubbing. Brielle shivered again and touched the curves of her breasts, remembering how she complied, cupping the soft weight of her breasts and lifting them toward his mouth.
It felt so decadent and sexy to be standing outside in the early morning hours in her short, nearly transparent robe offering her breasts to Elie with him fully clothed. Then his mouth was on her right breast and she arched back, wanting to sob his name, wanting to bury her fist in his hair and yank him closer. He used his tongue and teeth ruthlessly, sending fiery darts rushing through her bloodstream in every direction. The clamp closed on her nipple and the fire pulsed through her, a storm of desire that shook her.
“I thought sapphires this time to go with the lake. They’re drops going from small to large and are surrounded by diamonds. When the sun rises, you’ll be able to see how beautifully they shine.”
She could feel the brush of the chain of sapphires against her ribs. It was nearly to her belly, it was so long. It was also heavier than the emerald clamps. Then his mouth on her left breast distracted her and she was arching back again and the sapphire chain swayed madly, the clover clamp pinching down along with the bite of his teeth. Exquisite fire burst through her nipples as the second chain of sapphires dropped to brush along her exposed skin.