All You Need, Page 27

  entirely in shades of blue from sapphire to a pearly gray, was enormous with a king-sized bed on a platform in the center of the space. Off to the left was a large sitting area that led to a private balcony. I had a few dressers and built-in bookshelves but no closet—instead I’d opted for a walk-in dressing room, accessible behind the sitting area. My master bathroom didn’t even have a door, but with long walls blocking the entire thing from view of the bedroom, it afforded me complete privacy and the openness I needed.

  But as soon as we entered my bedroom, I had a sudden bout of shyness.

  Axl sensed it. I heard the zipper on his coat and then the rustle of cloth as he tossed it aside. Then thud, thud as his boots hit the floor. I hoped he didn’t get completely naked, because I’d wanted to peel some of his clothes off.

  Then that warm mouth was on the side of my neck and his hands were curled around my biceps. “Show me your bedroom.”

  “Okay.” My face was still flushed from kissing him and my mouth seemed extra dry. He kept his hands on my arms as I walked to the sitting area, composed of a love seat and a wingback chair on one side of a wood coffee table with a barrel-shaped tufted velvet chair opposite it. “So this is the sitting area.”

  “Nice. What’s through there?”

  “Master bathroom.”

  “Show me.”

  The long wall on the left opened up into the main space. A gigantic walk-in shower, a corner garden tub, a double vanity and—

  “Is that a sauna?” Axl asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I recognize that it’s a top-of-the-line model made in Sweden. How do you like it?”

  “I’ve never used it.”

  He turned me around. “Why not?”

  “Claustrophobia, remember? I know it’s a waste, but I’m afraid the door would get stuck if I was here by myself, and that’d be the worst way to die—”

  He briefly pressed his lips to mine. “You trust me if you’re about to get naked with me, right?”

  “Yes.”

  Another kiss, longer, more seductive. “Don’t. Move.”

  When Axl opened the sauna door and disappeared inside, the scent of cedar drifted out. Pipes started clanking inside the walls and I heard the hiss of water. Then he stepped out, shut the door and grabbed two towels from the top of the cabinet, hanging them on the warmer outside. “Now. Where were we?”

  “You were about to take off your shirt.”

  He did that “I’m so sexy I can reach behind my head and whip off my shirt with one hand” move that was so freaking hot that I would’ve jumped him if I’d had any breath left in my lungs, but . . . nope.

  Seeing Axl Hammerquist shirtless? Pretty much rendered me breathless and speechless.

  Seeing Axl Hammerquist shirtless in my bathroom pretty much made my life complete.

  I think I whispered, “Seriously?” when I finally picked my jaw up off the tile.

  “What?”

  I managed to tear my eyes away from the ripped and muscled chest on display. “How am I supposed to compete with that?”

  His brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

  “Omigod, Axl. You are this perfect masculine specimen that could be featured in an anatomy textbook for what the ultimate male upper body is supposed to look like—”

  “So you are impressed?”

  “Yes.”

  “And just think . . . I haven’t even taken off my pants yet.”

  I looked up at him. “Cocky much?”

  He laughed. “We are getting off track. Come here.”

  As soon as we were within kissing distance, he kissed me, but he didn’t let me touch him. He rekindled the fire between us and with every breath I felt the anticipation and desire build again.

  He faced me toward the sauna and said, “Lift your arms.” As soon as I did, he removed my shirt.

  I closed my eyes as his hands roamed all over my back, from the waistband of my sweats to the band of my bra. Up my spine, across my shoulders and down my arms, his breath was fast and hot in my ear when he pulled me back against his naked chest.

  Then his big hands spanned my hips, moving up to circle my ribs and finally higher to cup my breasts. He lazily stroked the lace edge of my bra with the tips of his fingers and then popped the clasp so there was no fabric barrier between my skin and his.

  A rough sound rumbled from him when he turned me around. I let my head fall back as he lowered his mouth to mine, loving the brush of his lips and the ends of his hair across my skin. Loving the rougher squeeze of his hands.

  “Annika,” he said, kissing a path up my throat.

  “Mmm?”

  “The sauna is ready.” He nipped my jawbone. “Are you?”

  My eyes flew open.

  I was ready. My body certainly was. But that wasn’t all we needed. “I forgot to buy—”

  “I brought some.” He nuzzled my temple. “But if you need more time . . .”

  I wasn’t super bold when it came to taking the lead with sex, so my heart beat quadruple time when I grabbed his hand. I said, “Check my readiness for yourself,” and slipped his fingers beneath the elastic band of my sweatpants.

  Axl took it from there.

  Next thing I knew, my sweatpants were off, his pants were gone, he had a condom in his hand and we were in the sauna.

  I had a panicked moment when Axl closed the door.

  Heat billowed around us.

  I couldn’t breathe.

  But it wasn’t dark.

  Axl set my hands on his chest. “Think about this. Touch me any way you want.”

  He maneuvered us backward until he sat on the bench and I stood in front of him. He’d slipped the condom on while I was distracted by his chest. Good thing. Because I totally would’ve been distracted by that bad boy slapping his eight-pack. Holy crap.

  Axl pressed his lips on my sternum between my breasts. “Annika. It’s fucking killing me not to be inside you.”

  I placed a knee on either side of his thighs. I locked my gaze to his as I lowered myself over him.

  When there was no more space between us, he kissed the hell out of me as he began to move.

  The heat, the steam, the slippery glide of our sweat-slicked bodies . . . I felt like I was drowning in him. In this intensity between us. In this intimacy we shared. In this connection I’d never had with another man. And I never wanted to surface from the overwhelming sensations.

  I could get addicted to Axl’s lips and tongue and teeth on my skin.

  Kissing.

  Teasing.

  Licking.

  Biting.

  Sucking.

  Oh, the sucking. The soft bit of pressure he applied to the hollow beneath my ear as he steadily stroked deeper inside me.

  One hand tightly gripping my hair.

  His other big hand clamped on to my hip, his thumb gently caressing and alternately pressing into my hip bone.

  “Annika,” he murmured against my throat, “let me take you there.”

  “I don’t want this to end.” I licked a stream of sweat dripping from his temple. “You feel so good.”

  He groaned. “I cannot last forever.”

  “We can do this again later, right?”

  “As many times as you want,” he panted.

  I squeezed my legs more tightly around his waist, digging my heels into the muscles of his ass as he flexed and released with every upward thrust. “Oh. Yes. Please. Don’t ever, ever, ever stop doing that.”

  He didn’t.

  And I imploded. Exploded. Went supernova. Whatever. Tingling, stinging, throbbing, pulsating—I had it all happening at one time and it was glorious.

  That was when Axl reached that blinding peak.

  His body, corded with hard muscle, went even more rigid beneath me. His steady movements turned frenzied. He kept me imprisoned against his big body as pleasure shuddered through him. Almost as if he was afraid to let me see how strongly this affected him.

  Wrong.


  He and I would have a serious talk about that later.

  When I wasn’t a limp noodle.

  Axl tilted my head back and found my mouth. And the kiss he gave me . . . defied description. It made me a little weepy because I knew this had been more than just sex, or us slaking our mutual lust. I could let the moment go without saying anything, which would be easiest, or I could toss out something flip, which he’d probably appreciate, or I could take a real chance. I swallowed hard.

  “Axl?”

  “Yah?”

  “I like you. The more time I spend with you, the more things I learn to like about you. I don’t want to screw this up.”

  He exhaled and slowly ran his hand up my back in a loving gesture that brought more tears to my eyes. “I couldn’t have said that any better, Annika.” He kissed my temple. “Let’s dry off and crawl into bed for a bit. Then we’ll talk.”

  Twenty-one

  ___

  AXL

  I finally got it.

  Why guys wanted to be with one woman.

  I had found her. Something had just clicked with Annika. A connection. A bridge.

  If I was honest, it had been there from the moment we met.

  It just took a while for the cement to set.

  “Axl.”

  “Hmm?”

  “I really, really, really love your body. Like hard-core love.”

  “You can massage it like this anytime you like.”

  She wasn’t massaging it so much as using my back as her personal canvas as she traced invisible lines, squiggles and circles across the breadth of it. I’d rather have this kind of reverent caress. Massages weren’t anything special for me. The way Annika touched me . . . I didn’t remember that I’d ever been touched that way.

  She pressed a kiss between my shoulder blades. “You are so warm.”

  “We were just in the sauna.”

  “That was awesome, by the way.”

  “Beyond awesome.”

  She stopped drawing figure eights. “Really?”

  I rolled over to bring us face-to-face. “Where’s the doubt coming from?”

  “From the same place every woman’s doubt comes from.” She locked her gaze to mine. “Experience. Or lack thereof.”

  “Or too much?” I said, trying not to sound snappish.

  “Maybe.” She closed her eyes. “I don’t want to do this.”

  So don’t. But I knew this was how she processed and dealt with things. And like it or not, I had to deal with it her way if I wanted to understand her. “Talk to me, Princess.”

  “You are gorgeous, sexy, athletic and built, Axl. I’ve never been with a guy like you. You have the kind of experience where I worry I’ll never be able to keep up, let alone measure up. And it sucks because I like you. A lot. That was before you rocked my world in the sauna. So I’m glad we got to know each other before we hit the sheets, because I think that gives me an advantage—”

  I covered her mouth with mine and kissed her until she slumped back against the mattress. After I ended the kiss, I propped myself on my elbow beside her and draped my leg over hers to keep her in place. “One thing at a time, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m not an expert at anything except hockey. And some days even that is questionable. I never gave a damn if women talked about me being a stud in bed. To be blunt, I used them as much as they used me.” I pushed her hair off her forehead. “You think any of them ever asked me what my favorite candy was when I was eight? You think any of them would’ve had a second date with me if I had picked them up in a piece-of-shit Volvo the first time?”

  Annika laughed.

  “None of them would’ve read me the menu if they thought I couldn’t decipher it. None of them would’ve made me a sandwich that reminded me of home.” I leaned down and kissed her very thoroughly. “Annika, you are gorgeous, sexy, and super hot and I’ve never been with a woman like you. You’re giving, thoughtful, funny and kind and I worry I’ll never measure up.” I rolled on top of her with my knees positioned by her hips and my arms beside her head. “Or do I need to take another stab at proving just how hot and sexy and perfect you are?”

  She let her gaze travel down the front of my naked body to my groin. She licked her lips.

  “Annika,” I growled.

  “What? I’m giving the matter serious consideration.”

  “You do that. I’ll do this.” I planted kisses down the center of her throat.

  “So you missed my bizarre questions, huh?”

  I groaned. Maybe I could distract her. I angled my head and ran the tip of my tongue around her right nipple, until the pink tip grew tight. I’d started to suck when Annika pulled my hair in a half-assed attempt to get me to stop. I looked up at her. “Ask your questions. I’ll answer them, but I’ll be touching you as I do so.”

  “How am I supposed to concentrate?”

  I grinned at her and pulled her nipple deeper into my mouth.

  She made a very soft, very feminine sigh and gentled her hold on my hair. “Last night you said your mother and father never married. Do you have brothers or sisters?”

  I dragged my lips across the underswell of her breast. Her skin was so pale here. So soft. So sweet. “My mother married when I was twelve. She and her husband, Lars, had a daughter two years later.”

  “Do you consider her your sister?”

  “Yes.” I pressed a kiss to each of her delicate ribs. “I don’t know her that well because of our age difference. I finished school at sixteen, started university and traveled Europe playing hockey. Then I came to the U.S., but I do see her when I go home if she’s not off performing.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Birget.” I slid my hand down the curve of Annika’s hip. Her skin was perfectly smooth right here. I wanted to rub my face against—

  “What does she perform?”

  I looked up at her. “You weren’t kidding about the questions.”

  “Axl.” She dragged the tips of her fingers down the side of my face. “I know some things about you, but there is a lot I don’t know. Things that are important. You know my family is important to me, so you had to expect I’d want to know more about yours.”

  I tried not to bristle. Not everyone had a family like hers. Not everyone wanted one. There wasn’t anything wrong with being