Cara felt herself warm all over at his words, and she had to concentrate in order to remember what she was doing. Good grief, she thought as she turned again and reached for two bowls in which to empty the bags of popcorn, I'm as light-headed as a schoolgirl on her first date! She got them down, but Rick was not apparently inclined to let her go. When she turned back once more, he took the bowls from her and kissed her soundly. She told herself she was using him as an anchor so she wouldn't fall when her arms went round his neck and held him closer, but she knew it was a bold-faced lie, because she also used them to pull him in so she could deepen the kiss and feel more of him.
"We..." she struggled to find words to break the spell. Closing her eyes and dropping her arms, she tried again. "Aren't we going to watch the movie?"
Rick inhaled deeply, and released her slowly, but shooed her away when she tried to get the bowls.
"Go set it up! I'll do the food!" And as she walked away, he added, "Want butter?"
"Yes, thanks!" She might as well live dangerously with the butter, since she was well beyond the danger mark in this relationship with her professor, she argued with herself as she set the DVD into the slot. And she might as well go for broke she added recklessly, as she dimmed the lights.
"Here we are then!" Rick's voice sounded above her left ear as she sat down.
He sat next to her, placing her bowl next to her on the little table, and his own on the center table in front of them. He picked up the remote control and pressed "Play", and then settled back, making no bones about draping his arm across her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. He stretched his legs out in front of him, and let her pull her feet up under her.
"This is comfy!" she said, and he could hear the nervous tension in her voice, though she made no attempt to remove his hand or move away.
When she reached for her popcorn, he got it and settled it on her lap.
"Ready?" he asked her, and when she nodded, he turned the volume up and settled his back against the seat. The familiar music began and he could hear her humming it as the movie began. He found he couldn't keep his eyes on the screen, but kept looking down into her face to watch her expressions, which ranged from amusement to annoyance to derision. He marveled at the fluidity of her features, at her relaxed pose, at her total absorption in the events unfolding before her eyes. To look at her, one would never know she had seen it before, and yet there was a knowing about her that made her comments amusing.
Rick found his lust for Cara growing as he sat there, his arm around her shoulder, his eyes on her face. He hardly knew where they were in the movie from moment to moment, and his popcorn remained untouched. He really wanted to take it slow with her, but his body was crying out for more than a taste of her mouth. Where her body rested lightly against his, he burned, and every time she moved, the flame grew hotter. He found his hands tightening on her shoulders, and by the time Elizabeth was refusing Darcy's first proposal of marriage, their faces wet with rain, Darcy's eyes full of heat and passion, he was as wound up as the pair on the screen.
He watched her face as the couple stared heatedly at each other, and the look of longing stunned him. What he wouldn't give for her to look at HIM that way! He moved, putting his other arm around her and hugging her, wanting to start something he had said he wouldn't. He tilted her head, though, and stared into her eyes, before taking her slightly parted lips between his own, and starting a seduction of her senses that took them well beyond any hope of ignoring the heat between them. By the time she had her arms around his neck, demanding as she gave searing kisses, Elizabeth and Darcy had long spoken their love and sealed it with kisses as well.
"Bella," he whispered, amusement and lust warring in his tone, "we need to make a plan. We can't go on like this, and I'll be damned if I let you go!"
Cara stirred in his arms. By now, she was half lying on the couch, her bottom on his lap. She was trembling uncontrollably, her desire for him more pressing and compelling than anything she had ever felt, her ability to control it shot to hell. She was grateful that he seemed to be able to control his own, or she knew where this foreplay would end.
"Why do you call me 'Bella'?" she asked, out of the blue, surprising herself and, she suspected, him.
"It's your name, beautiful!" he said, feathering kisses across her forehead and eyes.
"My name is Carabella," she answered amusedly.
"A mouthful," he said, "like the rest of you!"
Before she could speak again, he stopped her by the simple introduction of his tongue between her kiss-swollen lips. Cara felt every nerve in her body, like pinpoints of light, as his hand smoothed over her thighs, and as he pressed himself against her backside.
"So, you don't like mouthfuls, then?" she wondered hoarsely, between hot kisses.
A hand reached down to fondle the swell of her breast under the T-shirt.
"I'd love a mouthful of this," he answered her, and lowered his head to take it, through the cloth of her top.
Cara could not restrain the moan that flew from her. He suckled her nipple through the shirt, and when he felt her shudder, he moved it up and so exposed the thin bra she wore, wet through from his mouth. She watched his eyes darken as he stared at her, and when he renewed the assault, she groaned harshly and arched into his mouth. His teeth scraped searingly over the hard point, and his tongue swept in behind to soothe the burning flesh.
"God, I could eat you up!" he confessed, shifting his own body, and moving her so her other breast was exposed to his gaze and his hungry mouth.
Cara felt his mouth renew the assault on the other breast, while his shaking hand squeezed and rubbed the well-tended first one. She was helpless against his ministrations, wanting him so fiercely now that it was all she could manage to keep herself from begging him to take more. Her age, their situation as student and teacher -- nothing seemed to matter but this one moment, this one deep, dark need. When she felt his hand slide down over her belly to the waistband of her jeans, she rejoiced silently, even as she held herself still, waiting for the invasion that would make her mindless.
"You're killing me, you know," she murmured huskily, when he let his hand just sit under the button of her jeans, not moving it, torturing her belly and that little spot that screamed for his touch now.
She felt his smile against her mouth but he let his hand just sit, while he devoured her everywhere else. She found she could barely hang on to him, her arms felt so heavy. She let him have her tongue, arched for him so he could better reach the tender swell of her breasts and the curve of her neck. And all the while she could feel him press his erection against her, tormenting her as she ground herself against him. Finally, his trembling fingers pulled the button of her jeans and he slid his hand under both jeans and panties to tease the now wet slit. She could smell her arousal as he fondled her lightly there, not touching her clit, not even venturing too far between those wet lips, just spreading them and making her squirm and writhe and try to get him to do more.
"If I do what your hips keep telling me to do, we'll both be in very deep trouble, Bella!" he whispered.
"My hips don't lie!" she quipped, and felt his answering chuckle roll over her.
"No belly dancing, either, you temptress! My poor hormones can't stand any more!"
"Fortunately for you, I'm no Shakira!" she said, sliding her lips over the hard jut of his chin, letting her tongue leave a trail of heat in its wake.
Pulling his head down for another kiss, she opened her legs, and felt the jeans press his fingers further into her slit. She moaned, and Rick rewarded her by pushing in further, finally touching the hardening nub, she swore it caught fire when he touched it, and he drove her crazy with his light taps and circles.
"Rick..." She was begging him to touch her, but she couldn't seem to find an ounce of shame or embarrassment.
"Bella, if you don't want me to stay all night, I need to leave now!" His voice was tortured, as he rested his forehead against hers, stilling his teasing hand and sliding it out of her underwear. He hugged her, and she could feel the fine trembling that he was trying to control.
