As far as romance went, his passion for more was purely one-sided. There were also logistical pluses. Bradley lived over five hundred miles away from New Jersey, in Ohio—a safe distance from her—a single busy dad with three kids to take care of. Trusting her was important, but we were new. I’d already been burned by Charlotte and I was still learning about Tricia so I was confident, but I wasn’t prepared to take anything for granted.
Waiting for that final intimate act of being inside Tricia again had felt agonizing at times, but I told myself once I had her beneath me, taking it slow would have been worth it. It became my mantra every morning in the shower with my soaped-up dick in my hand—twice.
Tricia had flown to the conference on a later plane than Rhea and me, but had fortunately been booked on the same first-class flight back to New York. After saying goodbye to Bradley, Rhea switched seats with her, and Tricia slept on my shoulder for most of the ride.
The flight back dragged, knowing how desperate I was to get home and have her to myself after the previous days of fantasizing about all the dirty things I longed to do to her. I was delighted when she’d agreed to stay at my place for a few days before returning to New Jersey. The instant glint of lust in her eyes and the salacious smile she gave me when I had suggested we were on the same wavelength.
The end of the conference had marked the beginning of a new chapter for us both, and leaving Denver had come as a welcome relief because those previous few days had passed agonizingly slowly. More than once a heated scene had developed between us where I had almost caved, it was single-mindedness that I hadn’t. Sexual frustration had obviously been good for business as well, because through my aggressive pitching skills and networking, Rhea and I managed to procure three new lucrative accounts for the firm.
Before boarding the plane for Denver, life had felt hectic, and apart from a crazy preparation schedule, I hadn’t envisioned I’d have any visitors for at least a few days after my return.
As such, I’d ignored my usual domestic routines and had left a few unwashed dishes in the sink, an unmade bed of days’ old sheets, a full dirty laundry basket, and a generally well lived-in feel to my place. Before flying home, I’d quickly scrolled through my contacts and found Brenda, the young and homey housekeeper I used on an ad-hoc basis since Juliette had left and life had prevented me from keeping on top of things.
Engaging her worked for me and Brenda’s services had been one of my best judgements in life. The girl had OCD standards of cleanliness in her spotless attention to detail, and most importantly she had killer cooking skills. I’d used her about a dozen times or so when my mom, sisters, or my friends came into town to visit and although I had always refused to have a housekeeper, she was someone I felt comfortable around.
I looked toward Tricia, passed out, her cheek leaning heavily on my shoulder, her upturned face breathing gently across mine, her cherry lips lightly parted, and I swear nothing had ever felt more natural.
Watching her sleep gave me an incredible opportunity to study her beautiful features without the interruption of being distracted by her stunningly soulful eyes. I basked in the privilege of her beauty as she slept innocently, completely unaware I was staring at her.
She would have made an incredible model, even now in her forties, and the temptation to kiss her had felt almost irresistible. Even as she slept, she drew me in until her breaths became my air. So eventually after I’d tortured myself I lost my fight and kissed her.
The weather was cold, wet, and windy when we deplaned and made our way to the driver waiting in the arrivals terminal to whisk us home. Not wanting to waste time, I sent Rhea home in another car and in less than an hour we were in the elevator on the way up to my apartment. Tension grew with every floor. When the car stopped outside my apartment floor, Tricia heaved what had sounded like a sigh of relief. Glancing at her she smirked, and I chuckled.
“At last,” I remarked, my tone low with frustration as I almost dragged her to my door and hastily unlocked it. “After you,” I offered, minding my polished manners, after which I guess I left those at the door. No sooner were we inside than I grabbed her slender wrist and spun her back on herself, her feet retracing the way she’d just entered until her back landed against my outside door.
“Damn, lady, why do you look so surprised?” I asked playfully, my heart thumping erratically because although we’d both known all our moments in the previous five days had led us here, it had felt something else for me to realize there was nothing else to stop us.
“I never thought we’d make it this far without jumping on one another,” Tricia replied, threading her fingers through my thick brown hair and staring adoringly up into my eyes. “I’m impressed with your restraint, Mr. Wild,” she said, in a low seductive tone. When she lowered her eyes and gazed up through her lashes pretending to be bashful, I was done.
“Not against the door,” I mumbled, placing my lips on her cheek. Tricia’s breath hitched and quickly became a soft breathy chuckle.
“Why the hell not?”
The previous times we’d been together had been mostly rough, uncoordinated, and desperate. I refused to allow us to lose control like that after all the denial and anticipation we’d gone through to get things right between us.
An ache in my groin made my cock twitch in protest as my mouth slid down to her neck and grazed over her pulse point. When I felt how fast and strong her heartbeat was against my lips, I smiled against her skin with satisfaction because every beat matched mine.
Dipping my knees, I slid my arms up her ribs, and lifted her up onto my body. Silently she wrapped her long jean-clad legs around my waist. One hand slid under her ass to keep her in place and I kissed her—hard. Pushing my head closer to hers, Tricia deepened the kiss, her breathing short and fast. As I my feet began to move, I staggered blindly toward my bedroom, without ever leaving her mouth.
Reaching the bed, I lowered her feet slowly to the floor, broke the kiss, and placed my hands either side of her head.
“James,” she said on a breath, as her serious eyes ticked over my face, like she was searching for words to say.
“Shh,” I whispered in a barely-there voice close to her ear. I felt its effect ripple down her back when she shivered and obeyed my wish. My heart swelled in my chest and I took a deep breath as I accepted the blistering connection we’d made. It stole my breath when I saw her eyes grow heavy with lust. Her shoulders suddenly dropped and I knew I had all of her right there in the palms of my hands. Mind, body, and soul, not just her body. We had passed the point of hooking up. Smiling at that thought, I shook my head because the connection we shared had felt spiritual.
“Slow, we’re doing this slowly, just this once… for me… for us, because we’ve wasted so much time.”
Tricia swallowed roughly, her desperate gaze of desire enhanced by her slightly parted lips. Her tongue poked out and licked them without her eyes ever leaving mine.
Instantly the magnetic pull drew my head toward her. My lips quickly brushed hers then her nose before I pulled back and stared into her eyes again. My heart skipped a beat when I took in how intently she looked back, how incredibly silent she was, and most of all how willingly she allowed me to master the scene. Giving up control hadn’t come easy to Tricia before.
“I want to remember… us to remember, every single second of what we’re about to do. I’m not going to fuck you, Tricia, I’m going to consume and devour you. Inch by delicious fucking inch, I’m going to set your body on fire, brand you, make your body burn and own all of you. I’m not just here for your body. I want you to crave every inch of me in return because this connection we share is much more than sex.”
Nodding, her eyes stayed locked steadfast to mine. It was the first time I’d witnessed her looking meek and unsure. Taking a deep breath she exhaled and whispered, “You’re right it is, and it scares me.”
“Don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you, baby. I’m going to teach you how it feel
s to let yourself go and have a man who isn’t afraid to show how you’re supposed to be loved.” I hadn’t intended on using the L-word but it came out anyway, and when it did, it felt perfectly timed.
“I… James, I…uh…”
Feeling her body stiffen, her eyes looked wide in shock. I watched her slide close to a meltdown; her breathing became shallow and labored in panic. It became clear she was struggling with my truthful, yet unintentional disclosure. I couldn’t take it back, I’d have been lying and minimalizing what my feelings toward her were if I had, and I knew I’d spoken the truth with a level of certainty far beyond anything I’d ever felt for Juliette.
It had taken all of my life to feel as I did about someone, and the longest time to finally admit to our feelings. That was a point I had considered and had I not walked away and challenged what we felt back then like I cared, perhaps we’d have gotten together sooner.
One thing I was almost certain of was that there was a mental block from a past experience and from my own difficult experience; I knew she was avoiding whatever that was. Without knowing what it was I felt it had prevented her from being all that she should have been in her personal life.
Knowing this had made me tread cautiously because I had to be sure she was ready for a serious relationship. How she’d reacted to my word slip informed me she wasn’t sure her feelings were on a par with mine. Even if they were, having feelings and quantifying them in a declaration as profound as admitting to loving someone, they implied a degree of trust. Does she trust me? I wasn’t sure.
“It’s okay, baby,” I whispered, sliding my hands over her shoulders, under her jacket, and slipping it off down her arms. “I’m not asking you to tell me you love me, but I guess someone has to start somewhere, and after all this time, and how dizzy you make me feel, I can’t find another explanation or word that fits better.”
Sliding her hands around my waist, they snuck under my suit jacket, one skimming low on my waist, tugging my shirttail out, while the other grabbed a fistful of cotton and gripped it tight. When she had difficulty holding my gaze, I saw how exposed she felt, like she was afraid if she looked too long I’d see her truth.
Knowing she felt uncomfortable while I held her shattered me and my instincts told me someone else had definitely hurt her. A wave of anger washed over me as my need to protect her overtook the passion I felt, but until she trusted me enough to tell me, I knew it would be useless to probe.
Instead I dipped my head, encircled her in my arms, and pulled her closer until she was flush with my body.
“Oh,” she gasped, worry falling away from her pretty eyes and replaced with a spark of desire. Smiling down at her, I kissed her gorgeous mouth and grinned against it when Tricia, not used to being led, stuck her warm wet tongue into my mouth. Desperation fired the flames of passion in that moment and I couldn’t say it was a tender kiss.
My brother’s words came flooding back with a surge of feelings so strong to protect her it took my breath. Breaking the kiss to look at her, Sawyer’s challenge had been more than the prompt I’d taken it for at the time.
Never, in the short but intensive time I’d spend with Juliette, had I ever felt the same intensity of feelings Tricia stirred within me, nor had I ever felt such a clash of heart-tugging emotions each time I had thought about her. What had been missing was the uncontrollable fire that burned within my body whenever Tricia touched me. No other woman had ever made me feel how Tricia did when her skin touched mine.
My hands slid to the button on her jeans and I popped it open, tugged the zipper down gently, and slid my hands inside them to cup her gorgeous firm little ass. I grinned. “Beautiful,” I muttered, leaning forward to kiss her neck.
“My turn. You’ve had your fun, staring me down and creating all this heat that’s almost made my head explode,” she murmured, freeing the rest of my shirt and sliding her fingers around to my belt buckle. Within seconds she had my pants cascading to the floor.
Immediately following this I dropped to my knees, my hands teasing her tight skinny jeans gently over her hips to expose the top of her long silky limbs. It drove her wild when I tugged them down inch by agonizing inch, kissing and licking every tiny part of flesh I exposed at a frustratingly slow pace. As my tongue had left a small wet trail on her thigh, I blew my warm breath on it. “Oh, God, I can’t bear this anymore, enough,” she growled, as her legs wobbled and her fingers curling in my hair yanked it a little tight.
I traced my fingertip up one thigh, stopping short of her pussy. She moaned through a breath and she appeared a little unsteady. I repeated the same move on her other thigh, but I slid it between her legs and rubbed her clit through her soaked lacy thong. “Fuck, James,” she mumbled, her fingers tightening in my hair. I chuckled and pulled my head away.
Standing, I slid my hand back across her thigh and into her tiny pretty lace thong as my mouth found a sweet spot on her neck. Gliding my middle finger down her seam, I sucked hard and released, tapped my finger hard on her clit and became distracted by her luscious arousal. “Fuck, you’re saturated down here, baby,” I muttered, my words bouncing on her skin as I parted her lips and slid through her slick heat to her entrance. “Damn, I can feel how much you like that. Do you want my mouth down here?” I asked, as Tricia’s hands tugged at my boxers, half-heartedly lost in the sensation of how she felt. I watched her head roll back on her neck and her eyes flutter closed. As fast as I’d started to arouse her, I stopped.
“James,” she admonished, eyes wide, lust clouding the white of her eyes and tinting them a delicate pink.
“Undress for me,” I demanded, turning her around while I sat down on the bed. “I want time to see what I’m getting this time.” A wicked smirk flashed over her face before she took her bottom lip between her teeth. My cock almost broke before we’d begun because I knew from the look she gave me; I was going to be sorry I’d given her a hand in that. Toeing off my shoes, socks, pants, and boxers, I then lay back on my bed and prepared myself for a show.
“Hands behind your head, James, no touching allowed.”
Chapter Eighteen
“From the moment we stepped in here…” She glanced around my bedroom, which was a basic bachelor pad effort: big bed, big dresser, big-assed TV, a couple of nightstands, a desk, and a small upright chair. “I’ve submitted to your every slowpoke demand, but remember this. Tonight, I am merely humoring you, Mr. Wild. I’m in no way submissive to you. I know what I like…” she said seductively.
Crossing her arms and lifting her top slowly over her head, she shook her long hair from side to side before she flicked it over her shoulders. Static electricity made her hair fan wild and land in a ruffled kind of way that made her look even more appealing. “And I know how to get it. I don’t mind being dominated, but there are times when I feel the need to be in control,” she added, sounding every inch the Tricia I had known her to be before.
My eyes dropped to her gorgeous shapely legs, having perused and appreciated the incredible pale and rich green lacy lingerie she wore. That came as a surprise because on every other occasion I’d been with her she hadn’t worn any. Gracefully, she took one strappy shoe off and then the other, slipping her jeans off each pointed foot like she was born to be a stripper. Glancing behind her, she sashayed seductively across the room in her fabulous lingerie and picked up my chair.
Walking back with a sassy smirk on her face, she turned around, placed it down with her back to me, keeping her long legs straight. When she displayed her delicious ass in her thong, I had a sudden desperate urge to sink my teeth into it, but she had placed herself just out of my reach. My dick pulsed twice as if to say, come here.
Sitting astride the chair with her legs wide open, her hands on her knees, I grinned. How could I not, having her with me was everything I had wanted, but had never thought could happen. Tricia sat with her hands over her knees, arms straight, and her upper arms squished her tits farther together, making her cleavage even more appealin
g.
“So, Mr. Wild… is this what you want? You want to touch me here?” she asked, drawing her hands tantalizingly slowly up her legs toward her hips, and staring at me with a mixture of lust and amusement in her eyes. The wetness I had felt between her legs was visible as a dark damp patch on the thong over her pussy and my eyes became transfixed on it, along with a sudden desperate thirst. My mouth was bone-dry and I stared wantonly at the unbelievably stunning woman who I was determined to make mine.
“You’re amazing,” I told her, as my hungry eyes traced the same path as her hands. From her hips she skimmed her slender frame and reached around behind her, unclasping her bra, before her hands flew to the cups and held the bra in place.
“You want to see me?” she goaded.
“Fuck yes,” I replied, my voice hoarse with anticipation and the agony of her slow tease. I gripped my cock and squeezed it several times to quell the ache that had grown more insistent, a reminder it had been ignored. Tricia’s desire shone through when her eyelids drooped seductively and another sinful smile hinted at her own sexy thoughts. She enjoyed making me wait, of being in control, of seeing how she affected me.
Dropping one strap, and then the other, she slowly pulled her bra down her arms and lifted it in the air. She swung it around her head with a grin and dropped it on the floor. Taking my hands from behind my head I applauded in appreciation and sat forward, my forearms resting on my knees.
“I see you’re paying attention,” she said through a chuckle.
“How could I not, you’re fucking gorgeous and you’re driving me crazy, baby,” I murmured with a smile a mile wide. She was the Tricia I’d missed, the woman who’d had me hook, line and sinker since the first time I’d met her. I just hadn’t realized how whipped a man could be when the right woman came along.
Resist You (Unchained Attraction Book 3) Page 15
