Coming on Strong

by Faye Avalon

  “For pity’s sake, Lexi. Your pants weren’t around your goddamn ankles. And that was bloody years ago.”

  “It took me ages to live it down. But the point is that maybe I did want revenge. Maybe I wanted to teach you a lesson.” She looked up at him with those warm soft eyes. “Except now it doesn’t seem so important. I just want you, James. I always have.”

  Something caught in his chest. He would have staked his reputation on the fact that she wasn’t shitting him around this time. Which meant, he had to shut this down. Right now. “Lexi, I’m a professional escort. You need to know that this is an assignment for me. Nothing else.”

  Brutal, he thought. But sometimes it was the best way to go.

  “I know that.” With no hint of discomfiture, she shifted closer. “I’d just like the chance to draw a line under that part of my life. Being humiliated doesn’t do much for a girl’s confidence.” Lightly, she touched his hand and smiled. “And I still want to get you all worked up and show you what you missed out on.”

  Shit. She was messing with his head, his dick, and everything in between.

  “So let me get this straight. You want us to have sex to put what happened into some kind of box so you can shove it in the nearest cupboard and forget about it?”

  She smiled again. “I wouldn’t put it exactly like that. I simply want to know what you’re like. In the sack.”

  Fuck. What did that mean? He’d never once spared a thought for his performance. About whether his clients had been satisfied with his prowess. He’d simply assumed all was well, especially since most of his assignments included a nice healthy bonus at the end of the evening. But here she was making him spare that thought.

  Just what esteemed levels did he need to aspire to in order to satisfy Lexi’s expectations? She said that she’d wanted him for years. It was entirely possible, given the vagaries of time and the imagination, that she’d exaggerated his abilities. Would he fail to live up to whatever pedestal she’d placed him on?

  Hell. She was unnerving him. Making him question himself. His skills. Somehow the reins had slipped from his grasp, and it was time to take them back. In spite of what Lexi had said, this was an assignment. She’d bought him and his exceptional skills for the evening, so who was he to deny her?

  Never in his working life had he needed to pull out all the stops of his professionalism, had to batten down his feelings about a client, an assignment, and just get the hell on with it. But right then, he did.

  He sucked in a breath. “Let’s take a minute and go back a few steps. If we’re going to do this, I need details.”

  “Details? What sort of details?”

  He shrugged. “Like, if you want to be the dominant partner. Or the submissive.”

  It was her turn to shrug. “I just want to have sex.”

  “Someone has to take the lead.”

  “Okay. You take the lead.”

  “You’re sure?”

  She swallowed. “Yes.”

  His cock jerked. He looked down at her temping cleavage secured in the sexy black dress. “Once we start this, I’m not going to stop.”

  “Who’s asking you to?”

  Before he could change his mind, he took her hand and coaxed her to stand. His blood was positively humming with the thought of finally getting his hands on Lexi. She’d never realize that those years ago when he’d embarrassed her, what he’d been trying to do was protect her. He’d been trying to do the right thing. In spite of who he’d been back then, what he’d done, with Lexi he’d wanted to be more. He’d always wanted to be more.

  He turned her slowly, let his fingers play across her shoulders, felt her tremble beneath his hands. The zipper of her dress slid easily past her shoulder blades, her waist, the small of her back. She wasn’t wearing a bra, something he should have realized with the way her cleavage was exposed so that the top of her breasts spread silkily above the black lace edge of her dress.

  He swallowed, his throat contracting painfully as he caught a tantalizing glimpse of juicy flesh at the base of her spine. He ran his hands down her sides, along the curve of her ass. His cock jerked so hard she turned to look over her shoulder, the look she gave him an acknowledgement of his predicament.

  She turned around, her eyes holding his captive until, saying nothing, she slid the dress from her shoulders and let it fall away to her waist, revealing full, milky breasts with darkened nipples.

  His eyes burned, matching the fire in his veins. Raising his hands, he let the ripe firmness of those breasts fall into his palms. Her warm, plump flesh molded to his skin, and he took a sharp inhale.

  “Do you like my breasts?” she asked softly.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  She smiled and cupped her hands over his. “I never kid a man when his erection is prodding me hard in the stomach.”

  He narrowed his eyes. Shit, but he didn’t like her referring to other men, or their erections.

  She moved her fingers a little, gently kneading his as they molded her breasts. Her eyelids fluttered down. “That feels nice.”

  “We can do better than nice.”

  Her eyes opened slightly. “I’m counting on it.”

  He brought his hands to her hips and slid the dress over those curves, letting it fall to the floor. She wore black, lacy panties with a barely-there crotch. He slid his hands around to her backside, catching the creamy flesh of her ass the same sensuous way he had her breasts.

  Since his groin was throbbing hard, he pulled her toward him and let her feel just how much she was affecting him.

  “I never asked,” she said a little breathily. “If you’re a breast man or an ass man. Right now, I can’t tell.”

  “I’m pretty much an ass and breast man, and everything in between, and above and below, come to that.”

  She laughed and let her head drop back as she held on to his shoulders. Then she looked him straight in the eye. “Can we even things up a bit? You getting naked like me, I mean.”

  “No.” Her frown made him laugh, as much as it was possible to laugh right then seeing as he had a hard-on the size of Saturn. “You wanted me to take the lead, remember? Which means we do this my way.”

  Before she could respond, he hoisted her up into his arms, her legs wide around him. She gasped as he ground his cock against her, and swore he could feel her heat through his pants and that strip of fabric covering her crotch.

  She clung to him, her breath coming out on a long exhale when he lowered them both to the sofa. She lay against the cushions, her hands sliding into his unbuttoned shirt and spreading over his heated chest.

  “Don’t you want to go to my bedroom?”

  “Not yet.” He caught her wrists and eased her hands away. Keeping hold of her arms he brought his mouth within inches of hers. “Tonight, I’m going to kiss every inch of you, Lex. You’re going to let me.”

  She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, smiled a little, and nodded.

  “Know what else?” He waited until she shook her head, then he grinned. “I’m going to make sure you get your money’s worth.”

  Chapter Two

  His words lashed at her like icy water, and where seconds before Lexi had been burning up with the possibilities James presented, now shivers of reality ran the length of her and poured cold water on her stupid hopes.

  So he was going to make sure she got her money’s worth, was he? Well, she shouldn’t really be surprised or disappointed by his words. They were the truth of the situation after all. What had she expected? That he would realize that he wanted her after all these years? Proclaim his undying devotion? Tell her he’d made a mistake by rejecting her that night and that she was everything he ever wanted in a woman?

  Stupid, stupid Lexi.

  She couldn’t blame him for jolting her back from her dreamy state and her ridiculous hopes. She couldn’t even accuse him of leading her on. He’d done nothing but be truthful with her, assuring her that it was only for a night, that he
was a professional and that for him she was just another assignment.

  And shouldn’t she be satisfied with that? It was exactly what she wanted, too, wasn’t it?

  There was absolutely nothing to be gained from harboring stupid thoughts of it being more, of it meaning more. To either of them.

  If she was still harboring the dreams of the teenager she’d been, when she loved him from the first moment she’d set eyes on him, it was her own damn fault. He’d been a devil-may-care youth who had pushed boundaries. He’d been exciting and different, the quintessential bad boy, and her foolish teenage heart had fallen hard and fast.

  It seemed nothing much had changed, at least in her own head, her own heart. She’d believed that the old James would never have refused a woman offering sex to him on a plate, but in truth, he had. He had refused her. They’d been seconds away from doing it and he’d changed his mind. The jerk.

  The new James wasn’t any different. He might look it, with his sophisticated aura, his designer clothes, and polished style, but he was still a jerk.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, when she turned her head away as he tried to kiss her.

  “I’m thinking this isn’t the good idea I originally thought it was.”

  “Making out on your sofa? Believe me, Lexi, in a couple of minutes you won’t care where the hell we are. You’ll be too busy enjoying a climax that—”

  She pushed him back. “Get off me.”

  When he did, she scrambled up to sitting. Beside her, he trailed a finger down her bared thigh. “Is this your thing?” he asked lazily, his touch lighting up places that she tried so hard to shut down. “You want to role play? Pretend I’m forcing you? I’m not sure that’s—”

  “I’m not role playing, you idiot. And being forced is most definitely not my thing. For heaven’s sake, what’s wrong with you?”

  He drew his hand away, and leaned back against the sofa. “You’re about to tell me that.”

  She felt woefully under-dressed for conversation, but she placed her arms over her chest. “Why do you have to keep harping on about me paying for you? Do you do that with all your clients? Wait until you’re into it and then remind them they’ve bought your services?”

  “No. It’s not usually an issue.”

  “And it is now?”

  “Fucking sure it’s an issue. I don’t want you thinking this is something more than it is.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You said you’d wanted me. You always had.”

  She frowned, trying to remember if she’d actually said that out loud. God. She had. “It’s a figure of speech.”

  “No, it isn’t. I humiliated you, Lexi, and I’m sorry for it. But if all this is supposed to make that right, it’s not going to work. What’s done is done. It’s history.”

  She rubbed her shivery arms. “I wish I’d thought of that nugget of inspirational twaddle.”

  “Old ones are the best.”

  She ignored that. “What’s wrong with wanting to draw a line under something that happened to me? Yes, you humiliated me, you embarrassed me. But do you know the really ridiculous thing that came out of all that?”

  “No.”

  She sighed, turned to face him. “I still wanted you. When you went to the Middle East I prayed so hard that you’d be safe. That you’d come back and tell me that you’d thought of me, thought of us, and that we could pick up where we left off.”

  Something soft moved into his dark eyes, but whatever it was disappeared so quickly that Lexi thought she’d imagined it. He reached out, touched his fingers to her cheek. “You were too young. Too innocent and sweet.”

  “How did you know that? For all you knew I’d slept with any number of guys.”

  He smiled, but not unkindly. It irritated the hell out of her.

  “Except we both know you didn’t.”

  She moved away from his touch. “Well, I have now. I’m no innocent virgin.”

  “Do you think that by us having sex anything’s going to change? That what happened, or didn’t happen, between us, is going to be sugarcoated in your memory?”

  “No, but it’s going to stop me wondering. You had quite the reputation. I want to know if it was justified. You did me out of that knowledge.”

  He narrowed his eyes, as if he didn’t believe her.

  “I don’t have little hearts in my eyes anymore, James, nor do I want anything more than this one time with you. Haven’t you ever been curious about someone?” About me, she wanted to say, but she’d already opened herself up enough. “Haven’t you ever thought what sex with a particular person would be like?”

  He looked uneasy. “Sure.”

  “Then you know what this is about. Curiosity.”

  “Curiosity.”

  “Yes.” She stood, deciding it was time to finally show him she was no longer the inexperienced little waif he thought she was.

  Since he was still on the sofa, she straddled him and placed her hands on his shoulders. With deliberate ease, she moved against him, rubbing herself against the bulge in his pants.

  His eyes darkened, but he sat back and placed his hands on her hips, anchoring her. She continued to grind against him, pleased when his fingers tightened against her flesh.

  His gaze fell to her breasts, and she thrust them forward. Offering. After one heated glance that clashed with hers, he pulled her forward and brought his mouth to her nipple.

  There was no tentative tasting, no gentle, explorative licking or stroking. He simply took.

  His fingers drove deeper into her hips, keeping her still when she tried to wriggle against the onslaught of his tantalizing mouth against her swollen breasts, the hardened nipples. His mouth, hot and demanding, took her flesh, his tongue stroking her nipple, his teeth grazing against her tender skin.

  Lexi threw her head back, closed her eyes. “Yes.”

  His response was to suck hard, drawing her nipple deep into his mouth while he gave an appreciative male groan.

  God. She nearly came on the spot. The throbbing between her legs was almost painful. She wanted to be naked against him. Wanted him naked against her.

  She looked down to where his mouth claimed her flesh and drove her fingers into his thick black hair. She waited another glorious moment or two, but her need to see him, to feel him, was too strong and she eased his head away. He looked up at her, his mouth wet and full from sampling her breast. His eyes were slumberous, his breathing ragged and shallow.

  It gave her the biggest sense of power. She’d never known such a feeling before. She’d had sex with only two men before, and neither time had she felt this rush of power. Probably because the first time it had been over in seconds and she’d been left with a feeling of “is that it?” The second time had been better, enough that she’d struck up a six-month relationship with the guy. Sex had been good. He’d taught her a lot. They’d done some pretty adventurous stuff.

  But it didn’t come close to making her feel like this.

  “I want you naked.”

  His mouth hiked up at the corner, his grip on her hips hard and tight. “Is that so?”

  “It is.” She slid back a little, pulling the shirt from his shoulders. “I’ve only ever seen your chest before. Nothing else.” During that disastrous night, he’d barely stripped out of his shirt, but she remembered the feel of his hot, muscular chest as she’d slid her hands over it. It had haunted her dreams. “Tonight, I’m going to see everything.”

  He released her long enough for her to help him out of his shirt, and then his hands came back to her hips.

  She reached down, unfastening his waistband. Her eyes locked with his as she slid down his zipper, but even before she got it all the way down, she was on her back beneath him, lying sideways on the sofa.

  He leaned down, kissed her hard and deep. Then he stood. He placed one knee on the sofa, kept the other foot on the floor, trapping her between his thighs.

  He curved his fingers around t
he sides of her low-riding panties. Then with a sexy grin he leaned down and pressed his mouth to the flesh between her navel and the material’s edge. Lightly, he kissed, licked, stroked. By the time he slid his tongue beneath the lacy edge, Lexi was dripping wet.

  Slowly, he drew down the material, taking his time so that he could kiss each exposed part of her.

  “You taste good, Lex. Sweet.”

  She swallowed, but couldn’t say anything. Anticipation caught her throat, making her muscles tense. Her heart beat so fast the room spun a little.

  His hot breath skimmed her bared mound as with one hand he eased the panties down until she lay naked beneath him. “I like it,” he said in a voice like gravel. “It’s really sexy.”

  She’d overheard him talking to a group of his friends once, heard him say that he liked a woman bare. That he liked to stroke, kiss, and drive himself into pink, plump flesh without impediment.

  Lexi had never forgotten.

  He used his knee to open her up, his hot gaze feasting on her intimate flesh. When he looked back up at her, her stomach jumped at the heat in his eyes. He toyed a finger around her heated folds, slipping inside her a meager inch before withdrawing. She arched, jerked.

  “Impatient little thing, aren’t you?”

  She thrust her breasts up in a vain attempt to jerk her hips forward and have him slide deeper. He just smiled that devilish smile and circled the edge of her labia.

  Gyrating her hips, she moaned a little. “Oh God, that feels so good.”

  His jaw muscle jumped, and with his free hand he gripped her thigh and spread her wider. “You’ll want to come pretty soon.”

  “Yes … yes … push deeper. Harder.”

  She’d barely gotten the words out before he slipped a finger inside her, his path eased by her dripping wet channel. He added another, and her eyes flickered closed as intense pleasure swamped her.

  “Like that, do you?”