Temptation

by Hart, Romi

  The words were barely a whisper, and Jordan’s concern that she would hurt Marc slammed into her chest. What was she doing here? And why, even though they barely knew each other, did she hear the first vestiges of pain in his voice at her rejection? “You didn’t do anything wrong, Marc,” she told him with resignation.

  He scoffed. “Let me guess. ‘It’s not you, it’s me.’” He shook his head. “I’m not falling for it, Reesa. Everything changed in a heartbeat. The air in the room went from warm to frigid. I did that, and I wish you’d tell me how so I could avoid it in the future.”

  He stood too close, and she couldn’t gather her thoughts. Taking a half step back, she threw her arms up in exasperation. “I have a celebrity in my apartment, who seems genuine about liking me but can’t be trusted because he’s spent too much time convincing people he’s something else entirely. And no matter how I try to remind myself of that, my body keeps telling me it doesn’t matter, that I’m far too attracted to you to care if you’re going to call me again or not.”

  Marc inhaled sharply at the last, and she watched his inner struggle pass over his face, his hands fist at his side as his eyes heated, turning a deep green. When he spoke, his voice was ragged, sounded almost tortured. “Tell me what to do to reassure you that I’m not here to use you.”

  Reesa shook her head, not trusting her voice. She had no strength to brace against his gravitational pull, and she found herself leaning toward him. Just as she thought she would fall, he caught her in his arms and brought her to him, closing the gap as she let go of her inhibitions. The kiss was almost frantic, filled with a need she’d never possessed before, and he returned the gesture with the same fervor. He tasted of salt and soy sauce and, beneath that, the intimate flavor she already recognized as his from their previous night together.

  Like an addiction, it fueled her, and she draped her arms around his neck, threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck to pull him closer. Her resistance melted, and she pressed her body wantonly against his. To hell with romance and expectations, she thought. For once, she would take Kylie’s advice and live in the moment.

  As the decision was made, her body came to life, every nerve ending sparking with sensation. Marc's lips and tongue plied her mouth, but it touched every inch of her, electrifying her reactions and bringing out a long-buried desire that threatened to spiral out of control and take over. Even now, as she let her tongue dance with his, Reesa knew she was already lost to the passion that flared like a wildfire through her veins, devouring all the oxygen in her blood until she thought she might pass out.

  Marc caught her against him, becoming the aggressor as she lost her footing. Somehow, he held her up as his hands explored her body, cupping her breasts and teasing at the swollen nubs at their peaks. She panted into his mouth as she rubbed against the erection pressed to her belly, making him groan as his cock twitched in response.

  Leaving her mouth, Marc’s lips traced her jaw back to her ear and then down the sensitive skin of her throat to the hollow beneath. She let her head fall back, reveling in the joy of his kisses and the warmth of his hands as he drew her sweater up and touched the bare skin of her sides beneath. Her own fingers trembled, splaying across his chest and then she shoved them under the thin material of his shirt to do what she’d wanted to earlier in the locker room. She teased at the sparse curls on his chest, traced the lines of his muscles.

  Working off instinct like some animal without reasoning ability, she tugged at his shirt impatiently until he let go of her and yanked the material over his head. Reesa reached for him, but rather than continuing the assault with his mouth, he grabbed the hem of her sweater, drawing it over her head, and then he reached around her back and unclasped her bra so her breasts spilled out, heavy and greedy for his touch.

  Marc made a strangled sound and descended on her once again, his kiss more demanding this time, and Reesa didn't resist. In fact, she delighted in the sensation of his teeth nibbling at her lip, his fingers tweaking her pebbled nipples, his hard-on thrusting hard against his jeans.

  Her stomach clenched, and her pussy dripped with need, the hot moisture shocking against the cool material of her panties and leggings. “Marc!” she muttered against his lips. She didn’t know what she begged for, whether it was a moment to catch her breath or a need for him to smother her completely. But in response, he moaned into her mouth, and his hands slid down to cup her rear and push her tighter against his cock.

  Reesa threw her head back and cried out wordlessly, her arousal so intense it was agonizing. Pushing at his shoulders and clawing him forward at the same time, she breathed, “Let’s go to the bedroom.”

  Marc gazed down at her, his eyes hooded and cloudy with desire, and then he searched the room until his gaze landed on her closed bedroom door. She could feel his rapid heartbeat against her chest as he lifted her, forcing her to wrap her legs around him, and started toward their destination. Her position had him firmly settled against her, and she couldn’t help but rub herself along his hard shaft. He grunted and smacked her ass before opening the door.

  “Patience, Reesa. I don’t want this to end too fast,” he growled at her, his mouth to her ear and his breath tickling down the back of her neck under her hair.

  But she had no patience, wanted to feel his throbbing length inside her, sooner than later, and she boldly shifted to stroke him with her body again. Marc all but tossed her on the bed, looming over her as he fell on top of her. His skin glistened with a fine sheen of sweat, and she licked her lips, wondering what he tasted like.

  Before she could make a move, Marc buried his face in her breasts, laving at them and nipping at her buds until she arched her back, desperate for him to continue. Instead, he moved down to her flat stomach, lingering over her navel as he traced a circle around it with his tongue. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak, and then the waist of her leggings was in his mouth as he drew them down, along with her panties. His teeth scraped over her legs in his efforts, and she whimpered at the blissful chills they caused as they heated her core, causing blood to rush to the folds between her thighs.

  He slid back up her body, stopping as he found that juncture, and he pushed at the flesh on her inner thighs, forcing her to spread her legs. When his tongue flicked out along her moist lips, she shouted and writhed, a boiling pressure building and aching in her pussy, but he didn’t stop. He did it again, and then he sucked her clit into his mouth, causing an eruption inside and behind her eyelids as she squeezed them shut. The orgasm overtook her like a tidal wave, stealing her breath and balance, and she didn’t know anything but the incredible pleasure as he teased and tormented.

  Finally, he had mercy on her, raising his head to meet her eyes over the flat plane of her stomach, between the swell of her breasts. His mouth glistened, and his eyes shone with triumph and need. She reached for him, wanting him inside her more than ever as her body quaked, begging for more. He shed his jeans quickly, and she gulped at the sight of his cock, thick and standing tall against his lower abdomen. He was perfect, large and ready, and she bent her knees, spreading wide in invitation for him to settle himself between her thighs.

  Crawling up her body, his skin slid easily over hers, their sweat mingling to remove any friction, and he kissed her enticingly, the languorous motions of his tongue belying his obvious eagerness to burying himself inside her. If she had to plead…

  But then his tip slid along her folds, and she shuddered at the contact, the anticipation eating her alive. “You’re so wet,” he spoke against her lips.

  “And you’re hard and ready,” she countered, wrapping her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist. She dug her heels into his hips, urging him forward. “Stop teasing already.”

  Her words triggered something primal in him, and Marc let out a low, rumbling growl as he thrust into her, deep and hard. Reesa gasped, his size almost too much, and she trembled as she adjusted to how he stretched her. It was delicious, and as
he began to piston in and out of her with a carefully controlled rhythm, she lifted her hips to meet each thrust of his cock. Marc squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth, goosebumps raising on his skin as she drew her hands up and down his back, dragged her nails over his shoulders. Then, his eyes opened, his gaze capturing hers as he moved faster, shoved deeper, and their bodies joined to the deepest point.

  The pressure built again, threatening to throw her over a cliff in a freefall to crashing waves below, and Reesa fought the desire to let it go. She wanted more, wanted to embrace an eruption the likes of which she’d never felt. If she only got one chance at this, she would milk it for everything she could.

  But her body betrayed her again, too weak to hold on by a thin thread. She snapped, and spasms of complete ecstasy racked her body as her pussy tightened around him, her walls squeezing and releasing over and over until Marc lost his own control and sheathed himself fully with a scream, spilling into her as his body rocked and shivered on top of her. For one brief moment, they were interlocked, and Reesa thought she could hear his thoughts, feel what he felt. She shared everything with him for just a second, and then she came down from her high, exhausted and spent.

  Her limbs fell heavily at her side, and her head lolled, her eyelids weighing a thousand pounds each. But somehow, the dead weight that was Marc on top of her was light and comforting, like a familiar blanket. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noticed when he rolled off her and covered her with a blanket, but by then, she’d already found the peace of a deep sleep and couldn’t bring herself out of it.

  Chapter 5

  Reesa shot out of bed as her alarm rang, trying to remember falling asleep. She reached for her phone beside the bed, but it wasn’t there. Where was the infernal racket coming from?

  Something shifted beside her, and it all came flooding back. The game, the date. Her nakedness.

  And a very naked Marcus Winters in bed beside her.

  She shifted, turning to find him smiling up at her with his arm cocked behind his head. “Good morning,” he said in a raspy voice full of sleep.

  Something else heavy caught her attention, lower on his body and thrusting against the thin blanket that barely covered him from the hips down. Blushing hard, she focused on his face and tousled hair. “Morning,” she mumbled. She grabbed for the sheet to wrap it around her but thought better of it, realizing she’d be exposing him entirely.

  Even more mortified, she looked away and muttered, “Could you close your eyes for a second?”

  He chuckled. “Come on, Reesa. I’ve already seen everything.” She felt him move, and an arm curled around her waist, teasing at the tender skin just under her breasts. She tried to ignore the way her pussy clenched and responded to the mild touch. “And I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

  Clearing her throat, she gently pushed him away. How could she rectify this situation without everything getting awkward? She couldn’t deal with awkward today. She had to get ready for work. “Marc, last night—“

  “Was worthy of a repeat performance,” he finished for her, sitting up and brushing her hair aside to kiss her shoulder. “You were incredible, and I don’t just mean the sex.”

  At that, she rounded on him, not caring if she was dressed or not. “Knock it off, Marc. You don’t have to turn on the charm in the wee hours of the morning or try to convince me this meant anything. I know guys like you. This was your conquest. I was a challenge because I didn’t fall at your feet, and now, you’ve won, so you’ll go about your merry way. And that’s fine because I’m an adult who made my own decision last night. Just don’t make me regret it by pandering to what you assume are my needs as a woman.”

  "So, rather than letting me tell you what I want or how I feel, you're just going to make assumptions?" Marc fired back at her. It was the first time he'd actually looked angry since she'd met him, and it made her hesitate. He threw the cover aside and stood, crossing his arms over his chest. Reesa trained her gaze on his face, not wanting the incredible sight of the rest of him to break her will. The truth was, if he advanced on her right now, she knew she'd fall into bed with him again. That would just end badly.

  “Listen to me, Reesa. I have kept my word with you from the start. I’ve been a gentleman. I’ve let you make the moves, let you decide where we go, what we do, how close we get. And I’ve hoped that, through all of that, you’d see that I respected you. That you weren’t just some chick I decided to pick up and bone one night. Because that’s not how I think of you, at all.”

  Now, she crossed her arms, ready to go toe to toe with him. “Really, Marc? Then what is it you want from me? Why are you here?” Even as she asked, Jordan’s words ran through her head. He’s never brought anyone to a game. He doesn’t do anything casually.

  “Dammit, Reesa! You’re a smart woman. Can’t you see I really like you? I like you more than I’ve ever cared about any woman, especially one I’ve known for five minutes. Why can’t you accept that?” She didn’t respond, not sure what to believe and definitely having no idea what to say. Marc took a step forward and placed his hands on her cheeks, forcing her to meet his gaze. She saw so much emotion there, but nothing that told her he wanted to run out on her, to cast her aside. “I. Really. Like. You.” He punctuated each word.

  Reesa started to shake her head, but he held her still. “No, don’t even try to tell me you don’t like me. Don’t tell me you don’t care. You’re not the kind of woman who can separate emotion from sex, not entirely. You wouldn’t have invited me to your private space, wouldn’t have asked me into your bed, if you didn’t at least like me.”

  “I do like you,” she spat, defiantly.

  A victorious smile spread across his face, and for a second, she considered slapping it off. “Thank you! Now, if you can like me, someone you’re so determined to hate, why is it such a stretch to think that I really like you? I’m not the heathen you think I am, Reesa. You know, I’ve never spent time with a woman that I wanted to share anything with. Not my past, not my career, not my friends. That’s saying a lot.”

  She felt her anger draining and hated that it left only fear and questions in its wake. “You can have any woman you want, Marc. Why would you waste your time with me?”

  He looked exasperated, and rather than answer her, he kissed her, hard. Reesa resisted for a moment but then relaxed and opened to him, unable to hold back, especially after tasting the full force of his passion once. His exuberance faded a bit, replaced by tenderness and yearning, and when he pulled away, Reesa realized she clung to his arms. “What was that for?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Do you really need to ask why I want to spend time with you?” He rolled his eyes. “You strike me as a very confident woman, and that kind of question belongs to meek and scared women. Don’t ask me that again, okay?” He chucked her under the chin and winked. “Now, I’m guessing you’re going to be late for work if we don’t get you out of here. What can I do to help you get ready?”

  She gaped at Marc, trying to compute his words into something she could readily comprehend. Had he really just told her he wanted to keep seeing her and that he would help her get ready for work? The last time someone had been around in the mornings, she’d had to tiptoe around, hoping she didn’t disturb his sleep. This man…

  Well, he'd only spent one night with her, but still, he was up and bright-eyed, offering to do what he could to make up for the time they'd spent arguing. "I know," he said before she could answer. "I'll make you breakfast. Will that help?"

  Laughing incredulously, she shrugged. “Sure, though I usually just grab a cereal bar on the way out the door.” He kissed her on the forehead, grabbing his jeans and pulling them on sans the underwear and then heading out to the kitchen. Shrugging again to herself, she padded toward the shower, in a bit of a daze. Wait until she told Kylie about this. And she was definitely going to share most of the details with her best friend this time. She’d never seen Kylie truly turn green with envy, but now, she thoug
ht the girl might actually turn a putrid shade of envy.

  Chapter 6

  Reesa laughed as Marc came up out of the freezing cold water gasping again, the young man who had just hit the target jumping up and down as he giggled in delight. He’d been dunked at least two dozen times, and he never seemed to get used to the icy plunge. And the beautiful part was, they were making a killing for the charity.

  "Alright, Winters, I suppose I can relieve you now." Jordan strolled up to the booth and knocked on the side while Marc wiped water from his eyes and combed his dripping hair back from his face. Reesa had to admit she'd grown fonder of the Aussie over the last few weeks, and she also noticed how Kylie's eyes roamed over his bare chest and strong legs, his body clad only in board shorts. He definitely wasn't an eyesore of any kind, but as Marc hoisted himself out of the tank and strode around the booth, she decided there was no comparison.

  She handed him a towel, and he dried his face and rubbed his hair with it, shaking and dancing as the cool air outside really hit him. Reesa shivered just watching him and hugged herself, even though she was wrapped in a warm sweater. “Cold?” she asked teasingly.

  Marc narrowed his eyes at her and, in a flash, he had her in a bear hug, the chilly droplets of water soaking into her clothes and freezing her blood. She gasped and shoved at him as he rubbed his wet head on her shoulder and neck, squealing. “Get off me!”

  He laughed riotously and let her go, wrapping the towel around his waist and reaching for the duffel bag that held warm, dry clothes. “That’s what you get for making fun of me. I’d like to see you get in that water and handle it with a straight face.”

  “Hell, no!’ She shook her head emphatically. “Besides, I’m not a celebrity. No one’s going to pay to dunk me.”