by Sophia Gray
“Do you like horror movies?” she asked, picking the remote up off the living room table.
Confusion and curiosity mingled on his face. “I’ve been known to enjoy some bloodcurdling screams from time to time.”
“I’m a bit of a fan. There’s a marathon coming on in a few minutes if you want to join me.”
“Will you hold me when the scary parts happen?”
“That’s fair.” She tossed him a grin and the remote before she headed for the shower. She took her time. It wasn’t just that she wanted to be neat and clean for when she finally got naked all over again, but because she wanted him to think about her in the shower. Maybe he wasn’t, but she’d bet a decent amount of her savings he was.
She also chose her loungewear carefully. She didn’t go with the oversize T-shirt and pajama pants that she preferred most evenings. Tonight, she pulled on a dark red satin top that she hadn’t been able to resist buying. At first it looked like a casual button-down business shirt, but when she pulled it on it clung to her breasts, and it would be easy to tell she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. The matching shorts hit her mid-thigh, and would have been demure were it not for the slits that went nearly to her hips.
She gave herself a last look in the mirror, enjoying how rich the color looked against her skin, and then added a short dark satin robe over it to give the illusion of modesty.
“Perfect,” she told her reflection.
When she came out into the living room, he was perched comfortably on one side of the couch. He had tugged his hair into a long braid nearly as thick as her wrist. It swung over one shoulder so he could lay his head against the back of the couch. He was tall enough that his head hung over the back in such a way that he could see her coming down the hallway. His eyes went wide, and his head jerked up.
She walked slowly around the couch and plopped down next to him, rather than on the far side of the couch.
“Comfy?” she asked as she pulled one of the throw pillows closer so she could tuck it beneath her arm and stretch out, putting her legs across his lap.
He gave her a deadpan look. “You’re cute.”
“True,” she shot back.
He smiled and she laughed. The tension broke and he laid his hands over her bare ankles, sitting back once more.
The first movie was one she had seen plenty of times. Her gaze rested on the television as her mind wandered. He didn’t get up, but his hand didn’t venture any farther up her leg either. After their moment at the Deli, she was a little surprised, but happily so. If he wanted her to make the first move, she could provide.
She rested her palms on his shoulders as she swung one leg over his hips, mounting him right there on the couch. He went very, very still beneath her, but it didn’t matter; she could feel his body nearly vibrating with the tightness of a plucked string. His eyes went from their typical sapphire to a dark and stormy blue.
“Cora?” he asked. “Are you sure?”
It surprised her. She had expected him to pounce on her at first opportunity. Now he seemed unsure. “Why not? I want to, Finn. I’ve wanted to this past half a month, and now you are here and I am thinking this is a good idea.”
“I dunno,” he snipped back. “Maybe because you’ve been keeping me at arm’s length since you got here. Sometimes literally.”
Cora shrugged, lifting her weight from him as if to lever herself away. “Well, if you don’t want it…”
It was all he needed. She saw a flurry of emotion flicker across his face, dawning realization followed by frustration, and then finally lust.
“Are you sure?” he asked again. His voice came out as a low hungry growl. It pleased her that he wanted perfect understanding between them.
She closed the scant few inches left between them, pressing the mounds of her breasts to the flatness of his chest. “Oh yes.”
He made a deep sound, and then his mouth crashed against hers. It was both similar and different than the kiss that they had shared beneath the streetlight. This time she was ready for the potent smack of undeniable pleasure that swarmed through her senses. He tasted like sin, and she drank it down. Their mouths slid hungrily over one another, tongues delving wildly between lips until she wondered if she had ever been kissed with such thorough urgency.
He hauled her closer, as if by pulling her against him he could make their clothes melt away. With the heat that rose between them, Cora wouldn’t have been surprised if it actually happened. Her hips thrust forward against his groin, and the satin of her top bunched up, revealing a line of cream-colored skin.
Her fingers danced down the braid that he’d flung over his shoulder. It felt like warm silk against her palm as she undid the locks and let them fall down naturally. “I love your hair,” she whispered, then seized his lower dip between her teeth. He made a guttural sound before slamming their lips together again. Her fingers slid down his bare arms until their hands locked together.
“Off,” he growled between the mating of their mouths. He gripped her nightshirt and ripped it down her back. She heard fabric tearing, the buttons popping off and spilling against the couch. Wildness filled her and bubbled out of her mouth in a heady chuckle as the fabric slithered away.
Hands, hot, rough, and callused, chased down her back, his thumbs moving over the dip of her spine until she shivered.
“Oh, Finn…” She rolled her hips over his crotch until she could feel the thick press of his need against her. She grabbed the back of his head and brought his mouth to hers for a third time. He was like a wine she couldn’t get enough of. The kiss became more battle than pleasure, a wildness of teeth and tongues that left her frenzied and desperate.
His hand splayed across the lowest part of her back, guiding her movements on top of him until they found a rhythm they both enjoyed. She could feel his length pressing against her cleft through their clothing, and she purred against his lips.
“I thought you didn’t want me.”
“Shut up and touch me,” she growled.
He hefted her up as if she weighed no more than a pillow. She hooked her legs around his hips, locking her ankles around his back. She felt every muscle in his back move as he pushed her against the couch. With more need than thought, she gripped the edge of his tank top and tugged it over his head. His hair made a curtain around the pair of them as he laid his body over hers.
Her back met the cheap fabric of the rental couch. He gave her a slow smile, those glorious eyes glittering in amusement as he laid a kiss on her chin, then another on her neck. A third trailed over her collar. His lips parted and she felt the flick of his tongue across her collarbone. Then she felt the first caress of teeth. It wasn’t a bite, not exactly. He was asking her with his mouth if she wanted something a little…rougher.
“Do it,” she groaned.
His mouth dipped lower, until the sun-kissed color of his lips pressed against the swell of one breast. He kissed the mound of it, slowly licking a perfect circle before his teeth dug in. He went slow, slow and steady until it rode the line between pain and pleasure. Her hips lifted up in approval. When he reached the very limit of her enjoyment, she squeezed his shoulder and he released immediately.
“Ohhh yes,” she gasped. “Do it again.”
He did, going back and forth from one breast to the other until she was purring beneath him. Then his mouth went to her nipple. Everything in the world but the pair of them vanished as he worked the rough tip with his tongue. All she could do was revel in the wet pleasure he offered that sensitive peak. Her legs tightened around his hips and her body arched in response, driving herself against him from below.
“God, Cora,” he groaned huskily, releasing one nipple so he could explore the other.
“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” she asked, writhing her body again.
He groaned in response. He wrapped one ardent hand around her hip to hold her in place. When she tried to move again, he dug his fingers in. “Wait,” he said, more plead than demand.<
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She tilted her head to the side and studied the angular lines of his face. He had closed his eyes and tipped his body away from hers.
She stuck her tongue in her cheek. “Here I thought you were the big tough biker boy”
He opened his eyes to fix her with a blithe look. “Woman.”
“Man,” she shot back.
“Why are you testing my patience?”
She jerked her hip out of his grip and ground her body against his from below. Her ankles tightened around his back so she could dance beneath him. His eyes watched the natural bounce of her chest as she moved. She trailed one hand down her body to cup her mound, gripping it hard enough to make the flesh pucker between her parted digits.
“Because you test mine.”
He made a strangled sound and buried his face against her shoulder and the couch. When he lifted his head his face was rich with masculine desire. “You are too much.”
“Honey,” she whispered back. “I’ve hardly started.”
She let him hold himself above her while she unlinked her ankles. Her mouth began to explore his chest and shoulders with an enthusiasm that could only be called ferocious. It was all tongue and teeth and lips, memorizing the tattoos, the lines, the musculature of him until the arms that held him over her were starting to shake.
“Cora…” He groaned.
“What?”
He looked like he was drowning. “I don’t normally let the woman lead like this.”
“Too bad,” she said, “I only lead.”
“Then tell me what you want, damn it. Let me…let me pleasure you.”
She gave him a long look, sure he was teasing her, but there was something in his gaze, something lost and desperate she couldn’t name. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t going to enjoy this unless he got to pleasure her. Well, that was fascinating.
With alacrity, she laid herself out on the couch and stretched until she filled up the space from one armrest to the other. “Go ahead,” she said, more challenge than anything else. “Explore me.”
He did. His bent his long body over her and slid farther and farther down. The satin curtain of his hair trailed over her bare body as his mouth made a gentle trek across her stomach. He didn’t, as she had assumed he would, go right for the place between her legs. He took his time getting there, drawing little circles with his tongue over every sensitive patch of skin.
“Jesus, Finn,” she muttered as she tried to catch her breath. “Maybe you do know what you’re doing.”
He looked up at her through the obsidian shroud of his hair. “There’s more.”
She sat up and wiggled off the couch. For a moment, he looked dumbstruck as she sauntered away from him and toward her bedroom. His gaze followed her, and when she crooked her finger for him to follow, he vaulted over the couch after her.
She shut the door behind them, and he wrapped his arms around her, gripping the swell of her backside and hauling her close.
“I want you,” he growled.
“Good, because I plan on having you.” She dragged her hands up his back to fist in his hair and tugged until he made a sound and lifted her bodily off the floor. She felt the wild scratch of denim as he carried her to the bed and fell with her to the mattress.
He made quick work of her pajama bottoms, hauling the red fabric down the fullness of her thighs. He banished them to the other side of the room. In moments, she was naked, and he was only halfway there. That didn’t seem at all fair to her.
When she reached for his jeans, he gripped her wrist. “Not yet,” he said, his voice uneven.
“Why not?”
“Because when they come off I will not be able to control myself.”
She ran her tongue over the fullness of her lips “Maybe I want you to lose control. Maybe I want you to be my wild lover.”
“I thought you liked control.”
“I like being in control. Part of that is driving you wild.”
The words made his entire body shiver next to her, and she bent and nipped the curve of his neck as his fingers skimmed heavily over the curve of her hip. “I want you to come first.”
It was the second time he’d alluded to her getting her pleasure first. She wondered what was behind that. Was he the kind of guy who didn’t last long once he got to thrusting? Maybe. But if he really wanted her to get hers first, she certainly wasn’t going to argue.
“How do you want me?”
He told her. She ended up in the center of the bed, lying out on her belly. It wasn’t her favorite position, but she was willing to give him a little in the way of leniency. For a moment, nothing happened; then she felt the bed shift as he straddled the back of her legs, keeping them pinned and closed. She wasn’t entirely sure she approved, but she was curious, and not uncomfortable.
“What exactly are you doing back there, biker boy?”
His fingers brushed down her back so lightly she barely felt them. He did it a second time, and goose bumps formed in the wake of his caress. “You know, you are a lot smaller than you seem,” he said quietly. “I mean, you always seem like you are taking up so much space.”
She turned her head just enough that she could see the outline of his body in the near darkness of her room. “Gee, thanks. You do get second dates from time to time, right?”
He chuckled, but it wasn’t an entirely happy sound. Finn seemed a little distant, and a little distracted. She wondered where his mind was. His weight shifted and his next words were spoken against her recently teased skin. “I need to do this.”
“I need you to be a little more specific about what it is you want.”
“I need to…” He waved his hand around at the corner of her vision. “You know, please you.”
That was the third time he had said something about making sure she was enjoying herself here. She had a thought, crazy enough to be true. “Are you afraid you won’t?”
He didn’t answer her at first, which was answer enough. “I need to make you feel good.”
She understood, and she didn’t. He was clearly afraid she wasn’t going to enjoy this moment. Was it the fact that she had pushed him away for so long? Had his pride taken that much of a hit, or was there more to it than that? She was leaning pretty heavily toward the latter, though she had almost nothing to back it up with.
“Finn, you know I want to be here, right?”
He pressed his forehead against her shoulder. “Say it again.”
She wiggled herself until she could roll over just enough to face him. “Finn,” she said, taking his face between her hands and planting a single kiss on the mouth made fuller by their passionate kisses. “I want to be here. I want this, and I want you. I am not the kind of woman who stays where she isn’t wanted.”
It was as if some great tension had left him. He moved over her, mounting her backside once again, pinning her between him and the mattress. All the talking and thinking serious thoughts had caused him to grow soft, but she could feel the length of him waken as she moved up to match his movements.
His lips were gentler than they had been before now, gliding across the soft skin of her back. Finn kissed and touched until she was shivering all over again. Her hands gripped the bed sheets as he alternated between being gentle and being rough until her mind was spinning.
His mouth went lower, teasing along the firm softness of her curves until his tongue could play along the swell of her backside. Giddy waves of pleasure rippled outward from where he touched. Never had her body felt so awake.
“That’s all well and good, but it isn’t going to finish the job,” she teased.
He didn’t answer out loud. Instead, Cora felt the firm pressure of his hand part her thighs. One callused finger swept along her cleft, reminding her of how deliciously wet she was. She suddenly understood the power of this particular position. With her body pinned between him and the bed, she couldn’t see him. She couldn’t even watch. All she could do was feel as he explored her folds with a singl
e digit.
He, however, could watch her. She opened her legs as far as was comfortable and lifted her back end toward him.
“You are so goddamned beautiful, Cora,” he said as his finger continued its languid caress. “Do you know that?”
She did, but it was lovely to hear it. He said it with such honest reverence that she went pliant as his finger slid home, that first delicious penetration bringing a sound from her throat. Her body went from lax to hyperaware. She felt the sheets bunching beneath her clenching palms, the sweep of his long hair against her skin as he leaned over her body.
