by Liz Crowe
She kept shaking, so he folded her into his arms, determined not to freak her out. This was an odd sensation to be sure. But one he wanted to explore. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s going to be fine.” He brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. “Let me be in control. You’ll like it, I swear.” She nodded. He stepped back and slipped his belt loose from the loops, never taking his eyes from hers. The lust spiraled through his brain, nearly blinding him, but he held on. “On your knees.” He kept his voice soft. “Now.” He slapped his palm with the leather.
She did as she was told. He brought a chair around to face her. “Put your elbows here on the seat and give me your wrists.”
“Jack.” Her voice was breathy. “I don’t know…”
He knelt beside her and threaded his fingers in her hair.
“But I do know, Sara. I won’t hurt you. I swear it. I am, however, going to rock your world in ways you’ve only imagined until now.” He tilted her head back, holding tight and kissed her, hard, then broke away. “Give me your wrists.” Taking a deep breath, she propped her elbows on the chair seat, shivering when he fastened the soft leather around them, binding her without really fastening anything to gauge her response. “Tell me a word. Any word. As long as I know it. You say that word and I stop whatever I’m doing.”
She whimpered and shifted her knees. He hesitated, but then crouched behind her and ran his hands down her bare shoulders, her back and to her narrow waist. His hand grazed her ass, the smooth creamy skin tempting him, begging for his handprint.
The loud smack of flesh on flesh made him tingle and her cry out. He clutched her hair again leaning in close. “A word, baby. Any word. Tell me now.”
“Emerson,” she whispered and moaned as he pressed against her. He lowered his lips to her shoulder and ran his tongue up her delicious neck.
“Emerson it is.” He bit down just hard enough to make her flinch then groan as he sucked on her skin. His hand connected with her ass once more, but not too hard. Just enough. Then again, finding a virgin expanse of flesh to tantalize. Then once more, making her squirm against him. He held her close with his other arm, still tasting her neck and shoulders, loving the salty essence of her sweat and the smell of her arousal that grew with every smack.
He pressed her down over the chair, forcing her bound arms forward, exposing her bare ass. Groaning at the sight of her angry red skin, he ran both hands down her hips and ground his still covered cock into the delectable cleft of her ass. She tilted her hips, and sighed. He reached around and pinched one nipple, then the other, not too gently, waiting to see how she reacted before moving further.
“Oh hell yes, I knew you’d like this. How did I know, hmmm?” He leaned over her, using his fingers like clamps, pinching and relishing her moans.
“Oh God, Jack, please.” Her voice was muffled against her arm. He let go of her and reached around to touch her sex.
“Please what, baby?” He licked his way down her spine, sucking in deep breaths of her. “Remember, Sara, you can’t come. Not until I tell you.” He put his entire hand over her mound, feeling the heat and wet there. He heard a moan but bit down on his tongue when he realized it came from him. “I know you want to. But if you’ll wait, when you do come it will be…perfect.”
She wiggled under his hand. His breath came in short gasps, his balls tightened, readying his body for release. He pressed in with one finger, slipped inside her and felt her pulse all around him.
“Please…” Her voice pleased him. “I need…” She sucked in a deep breath.
He withdrew the finger, brought it to her lips so she could taste herself. She sucked hard, making his hips jerk as his body reacted before his brain could re-establish control.
He’d forgotten how difficult this was. How challenging to please someone again and again, before being pleased. He drew back, brought his lips to her upturned ass and lapped at the beautiful pink of her pussy. As he slid two fingers into her, she groaned and he could sense how close to the edge she was. “Come, Sara, come now.” He reared up, unzipped his jeans and grabbed himself. It only took a few strokes.
“Jack! Yes! Please, oh God… Jack.” Her voice, her lips forming the sounds of his name as her body bucked and pulsed around his fingers, made the room narrow to a black space where he stood, poised on the edge of a cliff, one well-shod foot ready to make a leap.
At that moment he saw her, Jenna, the woman he’d believed he’d loved in law school. The one who’d taught him what it meant to please another person, right before she fucked both his housemates and laughed in his face when he’d tried to propose. His head ached with the long-suppressed memory.
Jack pulled away, sitting back on his heels and staring at Sara’s pink skin, her ass, and the slick fluid coating her thighs. She did love this. He’d known it somehow.
Sara squirmed under his gaze. He took a breath. He couldn’t do this. Not to her. It was not a road he would travel, not again.
“Baby, I’m sorry.” He helped her up, unwrapped her wrists and pulled her in for a gentle kiss. She wrapped herself around him, fisted her hands in his hair, returning the kiss so hard and fast he got dizzy from it combined with the quick way his body had climaxed. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair, as he held her close, his brain on fire and his body not far behind.
Sara’s skin burned, starting at the sting of her ass and ending with the blaze in her brain. How in God’s name had he done that to her – made her give in and be so turned on at the same time? She couldn’t stop shivering. He held her until she calmed, whispering, “I’m sorrys” the whole time. She finally looked up at him. His face was a mask of agony and frustration. Frowning, she pushed away from the comforting strength of his chest.
“What’s with the sorry? That was, um, pretty incredible.” Her ears got hot. “I mean, I…I’ve never….” She had never, ever been handled like that. Then again, she’d never felt the earth move under her feet thanks to an orgasm. She couldn’t understand why he seemed so upset.
Maybe she shouldn’t have let him. He was obviously unhappy with the whole thing. Maybe she should be, too, but the thought that they could do this and more together made her bite her lip to keep from begging him to take her home, to play with her more, to possess her like he seemed to want.
She stared at him, amazed at her body’s reaction to this guy who had stolen perfectly good clients right out from under her nose then ordered her around like, like…
Oh hell, and you’d let him hadn’t you? Yes, you did. Jesus. And you’d do it again, too, if he wanted it.
She wiped herself off with a napkin, found her clothes and tugged them back on in silence, determined to rebuff him, reject his little power play. But she found herself wanting more, needing something to reassure her. She held back tears, unwilling to let on how much he’d affected her. As she stared, his eyes darkened to a deeper sapphire.
Struck by their intensity, she realized she hadn’t really seen them in the hot office hallway last week. They were one of his sexiest assets and he used them well.
She stood, arms crossed, her body still twitching with residual pleasure. He sighed and ran a hand over his eyes. “Sit.” He pointed to a chair.
She raised an eyebrow. “Sorry, no. Playtime is over.” She started to pick up the discarded strawberry tops and put them on the tray. He gripped her arm, the look on his face causing her to sink into the chair, protests dying on her lips. He sat across from her, gripping her hands.
“I didn’t mean to…” He stopped and looked down at the floor. “I hope I didn’t hurt you.” She stared at him. “It won’t happen again.” Before she could protest, he stood, grabbed the tray and started back toward the house. She closed her eyes against the rush of emotion coursing through her.
“You are amazing.” The rough sound of his voice made her uneasy. He’d stopped in the doorway and turned, balancing the tray on one hand. His eyes traveled the length of her, making her shivery all over again.
“You’v
e turned me into something I didn’t know I was, Jack. Someone who would play food sex with you in a house where I’m supposed to working. Who’d take all that… that…” She brushed her hair back, sat up more fully and tried to collect her thoughts.
“Six ninety-five,” he said with a clenched jaw.
“What?”
“That will sell this thing, babe. Six ninety-five.”
My God. He’d been rocking her world and thinking about what would sell the house?
“Sure, okay, but tell that to my sellers,” she declared, snapping back to reality. If he didn’t want to acknowledge the earth-shattering way he controlled her out in the open in someone else’s house, the incredible connection they’d shared, so be it. She could play that game.
“Sorry, Sara, I have clients at six-thirty tonight. Gotta dash,” he said as he exited the porch.
She followed him back into the house, feeling like a complete idiot, furious at him for ruining the moment and nearly blind with humiliation for letting it happen again.
“Sure. So, I guess I’ll see you around.” She glared at his retreating back. “I mean, next time you need to get off on a Sunday, that is.”
He’d reached the kitchen by then, put the tray on the counter, and was throwing everything back in the grocery bag. She stared at him as he worked. Her body had cooled as her brain came to a slow boil.
He turned around to face her as she leaned against the counter trying to control the quaking in her knees. In one short stride, he reached her and took her face in his hands lowering his lips to hers. The gentle nature of his kiss took her by surprise, chilling the rising heat of her anger. His tongue explored, his lips caressed. Finally, he drew back to look deep into her eyes. He grasped her upper arms and stared into her eyes as if trying to come up with the right words.
“Sara, that was amazing.” He kissed her again, lightly. “You are amazing. I’m sorry to rush, but I’ll see you soon, I promise you that.” He touched her nose. She wondered if he would wash off the smell of her body before meeting his clients. He grinned that million-dollar grin he was famous for, brought his finger to his lips, and gave it a light flick with his tongue.
“I’ve gotta show five condos to a newly married couple for the next two hours and they won’t know where the sex smell is coming from – me, or them.” She stared at him from across the kitchen as he finished tidying up and put the tray back where he found it earlier. He grabbed the grocery bag and hooked his arm out in invitation for her to join him on his way out the door.
“See you, Jack,” she said breezily. “Go on, I should close up here.”
It took some effort to turn away from him. Sara’s chest tightened when she realized he was actually going to leave without saying anything else to her.
Jesus, the man was as bad as everyone said.
Yeah, well what does that make you, Sara?
She glanced at herself in the hallway mirror. Her hair was a mess, her face red, and her linen shirt hopelessly wrinkled. Holding back tears at her own stupidity, unwilling to register her sense of extreme physical satisfaction, she slammed the house door shut behind her.
Once in the car, Jack opened all of the windows and cranked up the radio, letting the Stones drown his agony for the ride home.
Fucking-A. That woman is going to mess you up, Gordon. That is guaranteed.
What he didn’t know, for the first time in a long time, was what to do next. Or why.
Jack had sincerely hoped that the days away from Sara would have cooled his ardor. Not that he hadn’t anticipated a long trip to fun-town with her that afternoon – and had planned and packed accordingly. But he couldn’t get the vision of her standing in the doorway of that fucked-up house out of his head now. He hadn’t seen a woman look that good in, well, ever. And since he knew full well what her body was capable of – he took a deep breath.
He loved how possessive she got about her listing. It occurred to him that perhaps one of the reasons she held such incredible appeal for him was exactly that – her extreme professionalism. She wasn’t doing this job for some extra money while her spouse made the real dough. She supported herself, and was doing a kick ass job at it.
Jack shook his head and cranked the music louder before flooring it, letting the powerful car ignite his senses in hopes of clearing his head. He realized that he’d reverted to discussing the property as a reflex. How many times had he walked into his own friend’s houses to play poker or pick them up for golf and automatically start to catalog the problems with the place in his head? He hadn’t built his bank account balance on one-hundred-percent commission for nothing. And frankly, it helped him stay in control, to keep his body from doing what it wanted before he left, which was to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her until she begged him for more.
The Stones switched over to classic Clapton. He clenched his jaw. With his level of experience, orgasms for his sex partners were a given. But boredom had set in with the usual manipulations and necessary effort. It had become… what? Mundane? Routine? Well, lucky for him, fate had plopped this female in his path to break that up. She brought out that other side of him. Because she needed that from him. She required him to be that guy who taught her how amazing sex could be, if she’d just let go of her tightly held control over herself.
He shuddered, recalling the intensity of her responses. It collided with his need for distance, which had caused him to spout out such a stupid lie about having to work tonight. He’d experienced a near reflexive urge to move away from her, to protect himself from the feelings he’d repressed for so long. He had even let his real estate brain take over for a minute – anything to distract him from his bizarre impulse to sweep her into his arms and carry her off into the sunset. To be with her, for her, alongside her, all the damn time.
Something in him knew that whatever it was they had could either kill him or make him into something resembling an honest man. The conflict in his head about that threatened him with insanity.
He pulled into his garage beside the SUV he used to cart clients around. Stomping into his kitchen he jumped when his phone buzzed with a text. It was Jason confirming a showing and telling him an offer had come in on a commercial property. Jack threw the phone across the room, noting the satisfactory whomp it made against the far wall before he slumped down on his couch, as sights, sounds, and smells of Sara tumbled around in his head.
Chapter Six
As the sun baked her skin, Sara sighed and closed her eyes, shifting in her lounge chair. The past week’s events ran in a loop behind her eyes, making her wince with a combination of embarrassment and lust.
She’d had an amazing string of successes at work – writing three sales agreements and negotiating two others on her own listings. It proved her longstanding belief that real estate was a series of Karmic events strung together, testing your resolve, and rewarding the tenacious.
On the other hand, her body was on fire since her last encounter with Jack. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, although he’d remained silent ever since their open house encounter. It made her skin crawl with anticipation and nervous energy that she’d channeled into work.
She sighed again and readjusted herself, pissed off and turned on simultaneously at the thought of the man. Damn him, anyway. She didn’t need him, especially not the drama that seemed to accompany him wherever he went.
Sitting still was not something she had ever excelled at, but Blake and Rob had insisted she join them for the long Fourth of July weekend at their place on Lake Michigan. She really was too busy to take this much of a break but went anyway. The fact that her brother and his partner knew her too well made it especially difficult to be around them.
When she would disappear for hours to “sit on the beach” they’d stare, disbelief in their eyes. They’d probably figure it out sooner or later and she wasn’t ready for that particular conversation. So, she avoided them as best she could in a seven hundred square foot lakefront cabin.
S
he drifted off, the sun and sounds of the Lake Michigan summer afternoon lulling her into sleep. Then she heard him, the low growl of his voice insistent and familiar.
“Sara.”
“Hmm…” She crossed her legs.
“Sara, kiss me.” The deep voice was insistent.
“No, I can’t. I don’t want to. You’re…bad.”
“Yes, you can. You do want to. I am bad. And you love it.” The mild lake wind caressed her skin like a lover.
Sara reached her arms up over her head and stretched as her body reacted to the half-waking dream. Squeezing both eyes shut, she imagined his hands as they moved up her legs, to her hips, across her stomach, and to her breasts.
“Sara?”
She shook her head, unwilling to respond even in her own head. He was so incredibly wrong for her. She knew it. Why couldn’t she stop?
“Sara!”
She uncrossed her legs and bent them to allow the wind to cool her.
“Earth to Sara!” She sat up, nearly banging foreheads with her brother.
“Jesus, what?” She frowned at the man who could pass as her twin.
He plopped himself down on the chair and stared at her. She closed her eyes again, determined to ignore him. The last thing she needed right now was an interrogation from her overprotective sibling.
“What is with you, anyway?” He grabbed her cheeks in one strong hand and pinched them, pursing her lips just as he used to do when they were kids.
“Get off me.” She pulled her face away and her eyes filled with alarming tears.
“Nope, sorry, I’m sick of you avoiding me. Since when do you want to sit on the beach by yourself? I mean really?” He pushed her over and she fell onto the sand.
Blake’s gaze bored into her but he patted the chair in front of him. She sat, avoiding any more eye contact, pulled her hair up into a ponytail, and contemplated what in the hell lie she could say that would convince him to leave her alone. Her phone buzzed. Blake sighed and tried to grab the device before she could reach for it.
