Melting the Ice Queen ✔️

~19~

Was that it?

Was that, in twenty-five words or less, the fanged and poisonous dragon that'd kept him from getting too close to Alicia this whole time? Something as simple—and ridiculous—as that?

The belief was real, though. He could see the living proof of it in her troubled eyes as she awaited his judgment. He wanted to laugh, it was so crazy, but that wouldn't give her the reassurance she needed. So he focused instead on finding the zipper at the back of her sexy black dress and sliding it down. Only when he'd slid the silk off her shoulders and to the floor, revealing all her glorious brown skin and the bounty still hidden by a black strapless bra and lacy black panties, did he speak again.

"Who, baby?" He traced lazy circles with his fingers, running them between her shoulder blades, down her back and up her sides, enjoying the curves of her wide hips as they narrowed to her waist. "Who leaves?"

"My father left. He went to the bar for a drink one day and never came back."

"What made him leave?" He pressed this whispered question directly into her ear because it was too absurd to say aloud. Anyone who voluntarily left Alicia was clearly insane, and that was the end of the matter as far as he was concerned.

"I think I had something to do with it," she confessed. "I know it's silly, but I loved him and I drove him crazy because I was a handful—"

"Shh." He'd meant to let her get it all out, but it was so patently illogical on so many levels that the lawyer in him just couldn't take it. "So, I remind you of him? Is that it? I'm just like him?"

This caught her by surprise. "Of course not. You're nothing like—"

"Exactly."

She blinked.

"Wasn't your father a raging alcoholic? Wasn't he divorced three times? Isn't it possible that he was the problem, rather than you?"

She almost smiled. "Of course, Johnnie Cochran. When you say it like that—"

"Good girl." Now she was starting to understand. "Can I tell you what I love about you?"

Alicia stilled. Maybe she couldn't believe there was anything lovable about her, and for that he hated her father for the damage he'd done.

"I love this." He tapped her temple, behind which sat her clever brain. "I love this." Smoothing her plump lower lip with his thumb, he stole another quick kiss and then ran his tongue down the smooth column of her neck while she moaned and tipped her head back for him.

"I love these." Unhooking her bra, he let her breasts bounce free. They were full and heavy with desire, just the way he liked them, her nipples jutting and dark—perfect blackberries waiting for his mouth to suck, and suck hard.

Squeezing them together, he traced one areola with his tongue, then the other, driving her higher until with a hoarse cry, she grabbed his head and pulled him closer. Was that a request? He sucked each one in turn, popping them out of his mouth after just enough of a scrape with his teeth to make her gasp his name.

"I love this." He palmed her ass, grinding his erection—God, he was dying here—against that sweet spot between her legs. Were her panties still on? Time to change that. Taking all the time in the world, he slid the lace down those shapely legs and helped her step out of them. Then, while he was stooped over, he rubbed his face against that black triangle of springy curls, enjoying her helpless arch against him. "I really love this," he murmured.

The delicious musk coming from that slick cleft made him run headlong into his limit. He had to get inside her. Just as soon as he told her this last thing.

"You know what else I love?"

"No." She shook her head, those crystal tears sparkling in her eyes again.

"I love it that you actually believe your rules and fears and doubts would ever keep me away from you. Or that I'd ever let you go and try to find someone else. You don't really believe that nonsense, do you?"

He stared, unsmiling, into her face, and waited for her to get it.

Comprehension dawned. With one surprised "Oh," she smiled and cried at the same time, letting one perfect tear slide down her cheek.

He licked it away.

Then he swung her off her feet and carried her to the bed.

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