by Kris Pearson
Ollie shook his head, slowly and deliberately. “Ah, but wine, food, privacy. No interruptions. Time to get to know each other properly. Especially after the way we were carrying on at the beach.” He took a deliberate step closer to her and stood his glass on the table again.
“Oliver…” She tilted her head to one side, watching and waiting. Her fingertips buzzed, desperate to be buried in his hair. To be touching his chest, dragging the white fabric aside so she could see what that massive tattoo said. But…
“Mei?” Two vertical lines appeared between his dark brows and he came no closer. “You know I’d never, ever hurt you. But what sort of man would I be if I didn’t follow up on that invitation?”
She gave a little shrug. “Probably didn’t mean it as an invitation?”
Of course she had. She’d practically jumped him, right there on the beach. Wrapped herself around him. Ground her hips against his. Made that stupid comment about coming home to mess up the bed, even though she’d immediately back-tracked and said ‘not yet’.
“Uh-huh.” His gaze never left hers. He took another small step in her direction. “And you weren’t serious when you said we’d need condoms?” His smile dimmed but his gaze intensified. “Because I’m ready to go the moment you say yes. Your decision.”
His eyes were as dark and hot as she’d ever seen them. His tongue slicked over the cushion of his bottom lip and moistened it. It was as though that lick of desire slid right over her clit, because it made her thighs clench together and her breath catch in her throat.
The giveaway flush had spread over his cheekbones again, and his breathing was deeper because the stretchy fabric over the tattoo rose and fell faster and further than it had a few seconds earlier. She wanted to step closer and lay her hand there to feel the evidence for herself. Be able to breathe in even more of his scent – the intoxicating mix of warm salty skin and herbal body-wash and leather.
His shoulders had tensed. His big muscles there bulged and flexed but he made no move to grab her. This was Ollie turned on, the way she’d secretly imagined him for years. So much bigger and taller than her, but still in control. Now it was up to her to decide and to give him permission. This first time anyway. After that, once the ice was truly broken, she might see the polite, well-mannered boy she’d known for so long lose his good manners, his inhibitions, whatever was stopping him from simply grabbing her and taking her on the hot passionate ride his eyes were promising.
Ollie wouldn’t hurt her, wouldn’t insist, wouldn’t take out his frustrations on her the way Kieran had that last couple of times. She’d never been so sure of anything in her life, and that was exactly what made him so enticing.
She set her glass of wine on the table. Swallowed. Looked down at her hand, and the spectacular platinum ring on her finger. The four stones in their angular mount were big enough to do real damage. It was affectionately referred to as ‘Mei’s knuckleduster’ by a couple of her friends, and she didn’t want to hurt him. Slowly she eased it off and laid it on the table beside the white jug of grasses. It rocked gently to and fro on the hard surface, making a small clicking noise with every shudder until it became still.
She raised her gaze to his. Then she gathered up her long hair and turned her back on him, hoping he’d take the hint to unclasp the tourmaline pendant.
*
Ollie held his breath as he reached toward her. He stroked one finger over the downy line of fine hairs in the center of her pale neck until he reached the catch that held her pretty necklace closed. Everything he’d wanted, everything he’d never really expected, had been distilled into this moment. His hands looked huge against her. Dangerously large, and tanned, so much darker than her smooth ivory skin.
How could she trust him so implicitly? He was bigger than Kieran, and Kieran had hurt her. That thought both enraged and warmed him. The rage was aimed totally at the uncaring man who’d treated her with such disrespect. The warmth was all for Mei. He knew he’d do anything to protect her from harm, and somehow she’d sensed it.
He bent and placed a small kiss on the soft skin just above the necklace clasp, feeling both the slight tremble that ran through her and the warm flush of anticipation spreading to every corner of his body. He’d been ready to take her on the beach. Was more than ready now. Desperate, and intensely turned on, yet somehow his iron-hard cock thought it could expand a little further, maybe harden up even a fraction more. It was impossible to stifle the soft groan of desire and appreciation that escaped from his throat as he pressed his lips to her again.
“Hurry.”
“No way in hell,” he whispered against her skin. “I’ve waited years for this – for you – and I’m going to take every tiny piece of enjoyment I can, and make sure you enjoy it even more than me.” Another soft kiss.
This time a small exhalation from Mei. “So good.”
“And going to feel even better.” He smoothed his cheek across her neck, careful he was moving in the direction that would keep his beard growth flat so his scruff wouldn’t scratch her. He breathed in the scent of her hair and buried his face deeper in the black silk, nudging her fingers out of the way.
“But only while we’re here,” Mei said, reaching for his free hand and curling it so it cradled one of her breasts.
His cock jumped and he groaned. He’d yearned to touch those breasts when they were tiny teenage points, barely budding. Now they’d swelled into the luscious curves that had grabbed his attention so completely when she’d first appeared from behind Anna’s truck door that morning. He swallowed. His mouth literally watered to taste her. If this was all he could get from her, he’d take it. And if his patience and persistence brought more, he’d take that too. “While we’re here,” he repeated, hoping it was a lie.
If she was wearing a bra it was something fine and soft and smooth because his thumb easily found her nipple, brushing to and fro across the hard peak and making her drag in another fast breath.
He closed his eyes, the better to appreciate everything he could smell and hear and touch. “All the years I’ve thought of this,” he murmured, sliding his other arm around her waist and leaning in to press himself against her back and the firm mounds of her butt. “Close to fifteen. Half my life.”
“I can feel which piece is doing the most thinking,” Mei said, wriggling to and fro against him so the seam of her jeans added to the abrasion of his zipper.
He bit her neck. “You want me to come in my pants like a damn teenager?” he teased. “You want me to lose it before I even get you naked?”
She moved in his arms and he opened his eyes to find her looking up at him over her shoulder. Full of mischief and challenge.
“No,” she said. “But I like knowing I could maybe make you do it.”
“No ‘maybe’ about it.” He raised his other hand from her waist so he cradled both breasts. “You’ve spoilt me for other women.” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “Each time I met someone pretty or interesting they had to live up to you – and they never did.”
She squirmed around and faced him, obviously shocked. “Oliver, that’s a lovely thing to say, but you mustn’t think like that. This…” she shook her hair back over her shoulders. “Can only be a little fling. I have family obligations. My mother is so sick I dare not upset her, so this has to stay our secret. There are things…” She reached up and touched his face. “Enough that we can get each other out of our brains, maybe. But not more.”
Ollie’s fought to keep his expression from giving his true feelings away. He kissed her brow. “I might be such a great lay you’ll never get me out of your brain.”
“Rich boy is very sure of himself,” she teased in return.
“Rich boy might be rich enough he doesn’t need Chinese blood?”
She caressed the side of his face again. “Hard one to overcome,” she murmured. “We’ll see. A couple of days to enjoy you and then I’m rostered to Buenos Aires anyway.”
Ollie pulled her closer an
d Mei tilted her face up to his. Exotic eyes, full pretty lips, and those damn bruises just visible through her careful make-up. “Kiss them better,” he said, grazing gently over that cheekbone. And either he or she moved because seconds later he was taking her hot sweet mouth, and what started out soft and tender soon turned desperate and passionate and all-consuming.
Mei pushed up on tiptoe and Ollie lifted her, one hand scooping around each gorgeous butt-cheek until she was wrapped around his hips at just the right height to have his eager cock on a knife edge again. And when he pressed against her and she wriggled for even better contact, he closed his eyes, totally lost in the woman he’d thought about for so long. Then he staggered blindly across the big living space, all his attention on her and her sweet taste and enticing scent.
Somehow he arrived in the bedroom they’d set up together and lowered her onto the big bed, following her down and holding her there with his hips while his elbows took the rest of his weight.
“I want to see what your tattoo says,” she panted, hauling at the hem of his tank. Then her hands slowed, sliding up over his skin and down again, kneading the muscles of his back as though she was a cat and he was a velvet cushion. Ollie grunted, savoring the warm pads of her fingertips as they explored, and then the delicious scrape of her nails on the down-strokes. He buried his face against her neck, breathing in the scent of her hair and running his tongue around the edge of her ear. ‘Licking diamonds’ he thought, feverish with anticipation, wanting her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.
He found her mouth again and they sank into another deep kiss. How had he lived so long without her? He’d finally come home after years of wandering lost and lonely in some far forgotten place and then been told he couldn’t stay. The punch in his gut was extreme, but the hope in his heart still had him soaring.
Hands and lips explored as time slid by. Then two pairs of boots hit the floor. Two pairs of jeans were peeled away, along with black boxers and a scrap of violet lace.
Ollie rose on one elbow and looked his fill, then bent and kissed her hip where a big bruise spoiled her perfection. He would have kissed a lot more, except she said, “Take no notice. I hit my knee, too, same time.” She pointed at an angry looking abrasion.
He leaned further back, gaze sliding all over her skin. His stomach curdled, but he had to ask. “Him?”
Mei nodded. “Not any more, though.”
She reached for his rucked-up tank but he beat her to it, standing swiftly, pulling it off, and holding still for her inspection. “Forget the tattoo. It’s nothing,” he insisted.
She pushed herself up onto one elbow, and her attention travelled slowly up his legs, from his big bare feet to balls that felt explosively full. His rock-hard cock pointed straight at the ceiling, and he moved a hand to cover himself.
“Don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “That’d spoil my view.”
He drew a deep breath, waiting for her reaction.
Her gaze shifted up to his chest and shoulders, and she licked one corner of her mouth as she halted her inspection. “Why does it say ‘no escape’?” She rose to her knees on the bed and traced her hands over the dark letters.
He barely stopped himself from reaching out and stroking the little dark triangle where her thighs met, and he hesitated before telling her the truth. What could he possibly say that wouldn’t sound weird or ridiculous? Buying time, he buried his hands in her luxuriant long hair again and pulled her close for another wine-flavored kiss, sliding his tongue between her lips with a groan. Mei sent her tongue wandering too, licking against his, fierce in her passionate reply. The scent of her hair was sweetly mysterious, and the smooth, soft skin of her arms felt like silk as she twined them around him.
Breathless, they finally pulled apart, staring into each other’s eyes.
“Why does it say ‘no escape’?” she asked again.
Ollie shook his head. “Blame Bali,” he said, chest rising and falling as though he’d run miles. “It was after last Christmas. I didn’t see you here over the holiday, and I’d wanted to.” He combed his fingers slowly down through her midnight tresses, smoothing away the tangles his eager hands had put there. “So three of us went to Bali, all looking to forget things and have a good time, and one night we had way too good a time and got totally off our faces in one of the bars. There are plenty of tattoo parlors there, all after the tourist dollar. Or the Indonesian Rupiah.”
She tilted her head to one side and raised a brow. “Yes, Oliver. I know their currency. So…?”
Her hands were still sliding over his skin. Up to his neck, down over his chest again, out to his shoulders where the big letters began and ended. He closed his eyes for a few seconds until her warm, wet lips surrounded one of his nipples and she gave him a sharp little bite.
“So?” she repeated, as he jumped and his eyes flew open again.
“So – ah – Brendan got his last girlfriend’s name down his arm. Wasn’t over her, I guess. That was a mistake for sure. He’s had a big panel of Celtic swirls put over the top to hide it now.” He shook his head again. Mei had turned his brain to mush. “Umm… Simon ended up with ‘Mother’ in sort of medieval letters across his back. When we saw it next day we said he should go there again and get ‘Fucker’ added to match.”
Mei snorted, and pressed her lips together. “And?”
Ollie ran his tongue around his teeth. “I wouldn’t tell them the name I wanted, so the two of them started chanting, ‘no escape, no escape,’ and that’s what my guy did.”
The corners of her mouth twitched. “Not really what you wanted?”
He shook his head. “No – it’s fine,” he said huskily. “What I really wanted, I couldn’t have.” He smoothed his thumbs over her feathery eyebrows and held her gaze. Scarcely daring to tell her, he added, “I wanted ‘beautiful wind’.”
Her eyes became practically round. “You wanted my name? You didn’t know my name meant ‘beautiful wind’ until I told you today.”
“Uh-huh. And I couldn’t tell them ‘Meifeng’ because I didn’t know if I’d ever be lucky enough to have you. But in a strange way, you’re my ‘no escape’.”
Mei bit down on her bottom lip as she stared up at him. Then her hands deserted his chest and grasped the hem of her blue top. Ollie’s heart lurched, and he watched as she inched it up over beautiful breasts barely covered by a lacy violet bra that matched the panties lying on the floor. “No escape now, anyway,” she said with a naughty smirk as she dropped it beside them and unhooked her bra.
He reached for the straps and pulled them down her arms.
Ivory-pale breasts. Nipples dark as plums.
No way could he keep his mouth off them as he took her down to the bed again. She writhed and moaned beneath him, running her hands through his hair and holding him close as he sucked and nibbled, finally where he’d craved to be for half his life.
Chapter 9 – And then…
Mei opened her eyes as Ollie released her nipple with a wet pop and levered himself up on his arms. The tattoo changed shape as his muscles hardened and flexed, and his eyes had grown huge and dark again. She could have enjoyed that view forever.
This wasn’t what she’d expected to happen. In fact she’d explicitly forbidden anything of the kind. Made it clear that men were off her menu. That she wouldn’t share the bed with him, even to sleep. That he wouldn’t be acceptable to her family. That there’d be no future.
Yet here she was, only a matter of hours later, not just willing, but fiercely yearning to be with him. He was so male and desirable, so tempting with his beautiful strong body and intense eyes.
Such a turn-on, yet curiously comfortable to be with. After all the years of uneasy history, maybe their time had finally arrived… a few days of heat and passion to quench the attraction that had always flickered somewhere between them.
“You on top?” he suggested, touching a finger to the hard little peak he’d just deserted. “I’m worried I
’ll hurt your hip or your knee this way around.” A sudden grin lit his features. “And I want to be able to see you.”
Mei turned her head and kissed the smooth skin of his inner arm. “No way you’d hurt me, Oliver. But on top is fine because then I get a great view, too.”
He rolled, strong and sure, taking her with him on the big bed so she sat over his hips, snug against his impressive hardness. She wriggled, unable to stay still, loving his surprised expression as she slid on him, slick and hot.
“Geez Mei, wait until I get a condom!” He reached across to her belly button and touched the emerald piercing. “Does this stay in?”
She pushed her hips against him again, slow and deliberate, sliding along his hardness and seeing his eyes half close with pleasure and lust. “I’ll take it out – don’t want to scratch you.” As she leaned forward to kiss him, the tourmaline pendant swung and hit his nose. “Ha! That better go too.”
Ollie reached down for his discarded jeans and searched the pockets as she removed her jewels.
Sitting back on his thighs to give him room, she unclasped the pendant, reached across to the bedside chest, and let its fine chain slip through her fingers in a gleaming cascade. The emerald piercing joined it, and she watched as Ollie held himself and set the condom on his big rosy crown.
“You want to roll it on for me?”
Her body gave an unexpected and most enjoyable clench as she reached down and touched him. Hot as a furnace. Hard and dark, with veins barely concealed under taut, smooth skin. Her fingers trembled as she sheathed him. Then she gave him a couple of long, slow pumps, loving that he’d let her play. And loving even more the soft growl of protest she heard rumbling deep in his throat.
His big hands reached up and spanned her waist, pushing her upright and holding her steady. His dark gaze roved from her face to her hair, from her hair to her breasts.
She took a deep breath, and he slid his hands up to cup them, cradling their weight and squeezing gently.
