by Sandra Owens
There was passion in his kiss, but something else, too. It seemed as if he wanted to make sure she would never want another man after him, and she wasn’t sure she ever would. The weight of his big body on hers, the prickle of the dusting of hair on his chest over her skin, and the way he possessed her mouth sent heat spiraling through her, making her blood flow hot through her veins.
She thought she might climb out of her skin when he moved down her body to a breast, latching his mouth around her nipple and swirling his hot tongue around the tip. He nipped it, the gentle clamp of his teeth sending waves of pleasure through her. At her moan, she felt his lips smile against her skin. He should be pleased with himself. No other man had taken the time to worship her body the way he was doing, and if he wanted to feel a little male satisfaction, he was entitled to.
Her right breast was next on his agenda, and he repeated the nipping and licking, sending an aching need for him to her very core. Unable to keep still, she writhed under him, and feeling his erection bump against her thigh, she squeezed her legs together, capturing him between them.
“Please,” she begged.
“All in good time.” He lifted his face and blew on her damp nipple, raising goose bumps and sending more shivers through her.
He took his leisurely time kissing a path down her stomach, until she was uncontrollably squirming in anticipation of him reaching his final goal. And when he did, oh God, when he did, and his magical tongue touched her there, she grabbed the top of his head, holding on for dear life. He sucked on her, lapped her with his tongue, and teased her with his teeth, and when the tidal wave hit, she thought her entire body would have lifted off the bed if he hadn’t been holding her down. She screamed his name.
“You’re so damn wet for me,” he said, his voice raspy as he lifted onto his knees and stared down at her with raw hunger in his eyes.
“Only for you,” she whispered, and it was true. Something had changed between them in his bed tonight, and if he was the only man to ever touch her again, she would die happy.
“Damn straight.” He reached over to his nightstand and opened the drawer, never breaking eye contact with her.
“Wouldn’t you like me to return the favor? I mean”—her cheeks heated, and she didn’t doubt her face was turning bright red—“wouldn’t you like me to . . .”
“To go down on me?” he finished when she stumbled over the words, and she nodded. He grinned. “You’re so damn cute when you’re embarrassed, Grasshopper, but to answer you, hell yes. Not yet, though. I’m on the edge as it is. Later, you can have at me.”
“Okay.” It wasn’t something she’d particularly enjoyed doing in the past, but with Alex? Oh yeah, she was sure it would be different with him. She watched him as he tore open a condom package with his teeth, watched him roll it on, and finally got lost in his eyes, now black and burning with desire, as he lowered his magnificent body over hers.
“Are you ready for me, Mad?” Not waiting for an answer, he slid his hand down, easing his finger inside her. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “You’re dripping for me, baby.”
After he eased inside her, she wrapped her legs around his thighs, and then he made love to her so beautifully that tears came to her eyes. He stroked her with his hands, finding all her sensual places, and as he loved her, he put his mouth next to her ear and whispered dirty words to her, telling her all the things he was going to do to her before the night was over.
Each stroke, each touch, each filthy word, each time he thrust into her, then pulled out, only to do it again, sent her to a place she’d never been before, and she responded by sinking her teeth into his shoulder.
“Hell, yes,” he said. “Show me how much you want me.”
Desperate need swelled inside her until she could no longer contain it, and she arched up, meeting him thrust for thrust. She moaned, and he answered with a growl from deep in his throat, and then he took her to the heavens.
When she clenched her muscles around him, he lifted to his arms, watching with a savage intensity as she fell apart. Eyes as black as midnight held hers prisoner as his own release overtook him. His breaths were hard and fast, the cords on his neck thick and ropey as he strained, his hands digging into her hips. She’d never seen anything hotter than Alex when he looked like he might shatter. He ground his hips into hers in one final stroke, shouted something incomprehensible, and then fell against her.
After they’d both caught their breath and she could talk again, she said, “That was so burning hot, I think we did set the bed on fire.”
He chuckled against her neck, where his face was buried. “Then we’ll just have to go down in flames because I can’t move.”
“What’s wrong, Grandfather? Can’t keep up with Grasshopper?” She loved the feel of his warm breath on her skin.
“Shut your mouth, girl.” Getting some of his strength back, Alex rolled off her, somehow managing to get his legs under him to go to the bathroom and dispose of the condom. Back in bed, he tucked Madison next to him. Still reeling from making love to her, he tried to remember if he’d ever had white spots dancing in his vision when he’d climaxed. He couldn’t remember that ever happening before.
“How soon can you be ready to do that again?”
He lifted his head, looking down at her. “Is that a challenge?”
“Consider the gauntlet thrown down.”
Her grin and the mischief sparkling in her eyes twisted something inside him, and he wondered if it was the beginning of love. That he felt something special for her, he’d accepted, but if it was turning to love, the timing couldn’t be worse. He was feeling too good to worry, though, about what may or may not happen tomorrow or the next day.
“Still waiting,” she said. “Maybe I can help you answer my question.”
When she reached for his dick, wrapping her soft hands around it, he rested his head back on the pillow, fully willing to put himself in her hands, so to speak. What was it about this woman that had snared him from the beginning? He’d asked himself that question a thousand times but still didn’t have an answer. Arousal stirred as her hand stroked him, and he watched her face, smiling at her intense concentration and the pink tongue stuck out the side of her lips.
At the moment she began to lower her mouth, his phone buzzed with the tone set for Nate. Madison jerked her head up, her hand stilling at the sound. Damn his brother, anyway. Dude had the worst timing. He’d ignore the call, except that Nate knew Madison was here with him and wouldn’t be calling unless it was urgent.
“Do you need to answer that?” she asked.
“’Fraid so. It’s Nate.” He grabbed his phone from the nightstand. “This better be good.”
“Court just left to take Lauren home. He said to tell you that he’s not staying, so if you’re worried about her being by herself, then you’d better get your ass to the bookstore.”
“Did you notice him acting weird around her?”
“I got the impression he doesn’t like her. Why, is there something I should know?”
“Not sure.”
“I’ve done my duty. Don’t bring those two here again.”
Alex chuckled when Nate hung up on him.
“What’s going on?” Madison asked as soon as he hung up.
He pulled her against him. “Court’s taking Lauren home.”
“Is he staying?”
“Apparently not.” She scrambled off the bed. “Where you going?”
“To get my phone.”
His gaze followed her as she left the bedroom. “Beautiful ass, Grasshopper.”
At the door, she glanced over her shoulder, a grin on her face. “All yours, Grandfather.”
“I’m not old enough to be your grandfather,” he yelled as she disappeared down the hall.
When she returned, her phone was to her ear, and a frown was on her face. “This is Madison. Call me.” She picked her blouse up from the floor. “She’s not answering. I need to go home.”
“No pro
blem. We’ll just move our next play session to your bed.”
She walked straight to him, put her hands around his neck, and pulled him to her, kissing him hard. “Thank you for understanding I need to go.”
“You mean we need to go.”
Thirty minutes later, he parked on the street in front of High Tea and Black Cat Books. Court stood outside the door, leaning against the wall. He walked over, and Alex rolled down the window.
“She’s all yours. Stop making me responsible for her, bro.” Court glanced at Madison. “Nothing personal, but your roommate pushes all my buttons.” He stepped back. “You kids have fun.”
Alex lifted his hand in a wave as his brother headed across the street to his car. He wondered exactly which buttons Lauren pushed. There had to be more to it than he was seeing. It wasn’t like his brother to have such a strong reaction to a woman, especially one he’d just met.
“I think that’s Nelson’s car,” Madison said when a black BMW parked in front of them.
Alex whistled. The car was a BMW i8, price tag over a hundred grand. “What does he do for a living?”
“He’s a model. Lauren’s been seeing him for a few weeks now.”
The man got out, and when he reached the door, Lauren opened it, grabbed his hand, and pulled him inside. Alex glanced across the street to see his brother standing at his car, staring hard at the turquoise door of the bookstore. A few seconds later, Court got in his car, burning rubber as he sped away. Yeah, the lady was pushing his buttons all right.
Alex chuckled as he exited his BMW, an X6 model, half the price of the i8. It was fun seeing someone finally twisting Court’s boxers in a knot, and he planned to take full advantage of the knowledge to ruthlessly torment his brother.
“She must have called Nelson on her way home,” Madison said as they walked up the stairs.
If Lauren had called him to come over while returning home in Court’s car with his brother listening, then that was plain mean. Or she’d wanted Court to know she had a boyfriend. Either way, it wasn’t a cool thing to do. When he and Madison entered her apartment, Lauren and her boyfriend weren’t around.
“Wish we’d known he was going to be here,” Alex said. “We would still be in my bed where I’d be doing naughty things to you.”
“What? You don’t think my bed’s naughty worthy?” She took off down the hall, laughing as he chased her.
“Gotcha!” He pulled Madison to him, nuzzling her neck. “Take me to your bed, woman. Let’s see just how naughty we can get on it.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Madison rolled over, reaching for Alex. She opened her eyes when she realized he wasn’t there. The sheet was still warm from his body, and she assumed he’d gone to the bathroom. When he didn’t return after a few minutes, she glanced at the clock to see it was four in the morning. Had he left?
She switched on the lamp as she got out of bed. His shirt and shoes were on the chair where he’d left them, but his jeans were missing. The bathroom was empty, and she slipped on her robe before going to the bedroom door and peeking out. The hallway was dark, and she didn’t hear any noises. Where was he?
A search of the apartment turned up nothing, and now puzzled, she headed downstairs. Maybe he’d gone for an early run? Would he have done that barefoot, though? Doubtful. The deadbolts were still secure, so he hadn’t gone out, but then she noticed the door leading into the bookstore was open. She walked in and opened her mouth to call for Alex when a hand covered her mouth, and she was pulled against a male body. With her heart pounding in fear, she tried to bite the fingers of the man holding her.
“Shhh,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s me.”
Alex? What the hell was going on? She pressed her hand over her chest, against her hammering heart.
“Stay quiet,” he whispered, dropping his hand from her mouth.
Something furry brushed against her legs, and she almost screamed before she realized it was Hemingway.
“Shit,” Alex hissed.
His foot kicked against hers, and a hysterical giggle bubbled up. She slapped her hand over her mouth. Once she was sure she wasn’t going to laugh, she lifted onto her toes and whispered in his ear, “It’s my cat.”
Because of the streetlights shining through the windows, she was able to see him nod. He put his finger to his lips, telling her again to stay quiet, and then he took her hand, leading her down a row of bookcases. They were both barefoot, and she padded silently behind him. Hemingway brushed against her leg as he trailed alongside her, and nervous laughter threatened again. If she were an author, she’d write a scene where the hero and heroine crept through the night with their faithful sleuth cat, and the only one clueless about what was happening was the heroine.
When they reached the end of the bookcases, Alex stopped and again put his finger to his lips. He leaned his head around the shelf, then a few seconds later, pulled her in front of him. They had a perfect view of the bookstore’s office, and she gasped at seeing the light from a flashlight as someone rifled through the desk.
“What the—”
“Shhh,” Alex said, his mouth next to her ear.
“Who?” she asked in a whisper.
“Lauren’s boyfriend.”
Why would Nelson be nosing around their office? She stepped forward, intending to ask him what the hell he was doing, but Alex pulled her back.
“Easy, Grasshopper. We don’t want him to know we’re on to him.”
She supposed he had a point, but what could Nelson possibly be interested in? It wasn’t like the bookstore had a ton of money coming in, so there was nothing to steal. He opened a folder, took out his phone, and snapped a few pictures. They were too far away to even get a hint of which file he found so interesting, and it was killing her not to march into the office and confront the man she no longer liked.
As if he understood, Alex gave her a squeeze. “We’ll figure it out.”
Hemingway hopped onto a shelf, knocking a book to the floor. Nelson froze, clicking off the flashlight. Alex picked up the cat and tossed him toward the office. Hemingway let out an affronted yowl.
“Damn cat,” Nelson said, turning the flashlight back on, putting the folder back into the drawer.
Alex grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
They hightailed it back to her bedroom, and after the door was closed, Alex held up his hand to stop her from talking. In the silence, she heard a floorboard creak, then Lauren’s bedroom door open and close.
When Alex pointed to the bed, she climbed in. He turned off the lamp she’d left on and crawled in beside her. “What do you know about him?”
Taking her cue from him, she kept her voice quiet. “No more than I already told you.” They were nose to nose. She shivered, feeling as if a goose had run over her grave. From how many directions did she have to watch for attacks against her, Lauren, and the bookstore? She was a simple girl with a simple dream. Own a bookstore, do her best to make that work, and live happily ever after. The universe was conspiring against her.
She wanted Nelson out of her apartment. “What do you think he was taking pictures of?” Alex wrapped his arms around her, and it was the one place she felt safe. Please let her heart be right.
“I don’t know,” he said, “but I saw the general area where he put the file back. Tomorrow we’ll see if anything stands out.”
“What should I tell Lauren? I need to warn her.”
“Don’t say anything until we figure out what he’s up to. Turn over.” After she did, he said, “Try to go to sleep, Grasshopper.” He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her back to his chest.
She snuggled against him. Thank God he’d been here tonight, otherwise she never would have known Nelson was snooping in the files. Although she didn’t think she could sleep, it was nice being held by a big, warm body . . . specifically, Alex’s body. They’d made love earlier, when they’d first gotten into her bed. He’d told her he wanted to love her slow and easy, and he’d pro
ceeded to do just that. It had been beautiful, the way he’d worshiped every inch of her.
Although she was sure she was losing her heart to him, she still hadn’t quite figured him out. He gave the impression that he was a bad boy, and he did seem to be at times, yet she was getting glimpses of a man who was honorable and cared deeply about those who meant something to him.
He buried his nose into her hair, and a few minutes later his breathing slipped into that of sleep. She tried to blank her mind, but it was impossible. There were too many questions about Nelson floating around and, frustrated, she thought about Alex instead. Or tried to. What she wanted to do was confront Nelson, and then kick him out of both the apartment and Lauren’s life. That she’d misjudged him, thinking he was a great guy, she tried not to think about. It was too close to her questions about Alex. Who was he? Could she trust him?
When sunshine peeked around the edges of the curtains, she gave up trying to sleep. Alex had an arm thrown over her waist and one of his legs between hers, and she took a few minutes to enjoy the feeling of having his body wrapped around hers. She could learn to like having him in her bed every night. He had to be a good man. He just had to be. She inched her way out of his hold until she was able to slide over the edge of the mattress without waking him.
After a quick shower, she dressed and then tiptoed out of the bedroom, closing the door behind her. In the kitchen, she started a pot of coffee, which she desperately needed. As soon as it was ready, she poured a cup. Although she wasn’t normally a breakfast person, she decided to make omelets, bacon, and toast for her and Alex.
Once the bacon was cooked and on the warmer, and everything she needed for the omelet was ready, she turned to go wake up Alex and let out a yelp at seeing Nelson leaning against the wall, watching her. How long had he been there?
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” He smiled.
That deceivingly sweet smile made it hard to think of him as the same man she’d seen sneaking around in the office only hours earlier.
