by Dawson, Zoe
Without warning, her thoughts veered dangerously toward the area she desperately wanted to avoid. Wondering whether he was as invested as she was. Or was it really her persona as the heir to a fortune, the socialite he was responding to?
It mattered, she realized, because if she allowed this to progress the way he wanted it to, lowering barriers, letting him get close, risking…her heart, the heart she’d for so long tried to protect. But how could she be sure he was the right man? If she gave into this feeling, what was there to stop him from hurting her, devastating her?
That was the moment she realized that he already mattered to her.
It was true, he had gotten under her formidable armor, but she still wasn’t sure if he really saw her or the illusion of Harper the socialite.
While he was working on one of the cuffs, she worked on the other, and finally the shirt was off him.
He grasped each side of her now-loosened dress and pulled, but instead of letting it fall, he set it over the nearest chair.
She was in nothing but her racy red underwear.
“Geezus,” he said softly, his eyes roaming slowly over her. He reached out, snaked his arm around her waist, dragging her against him.
He slid his hand down her flat stomach until he reached the waistband of her undies and rubbed rhythmically against the skin of her lower abdomen, but he didn’t move any lower. It drove her completely crazy. She remembered how it had felt to be taken by him, his mouth, his fingers, that hard, exquisite, mind-blowing release. She wanted him to hurry.
She reached out and cupped him through his slacks and he stilled, then thrust against her with a deep, soft groan, a sound that she wanted to make him do again. She squeezed gently and he thrust again, the heat and hardness against her hand. She wanted no barriers…um…clothes between them. He looked beautiful, moving like that against the panoramic view of the city from her bedroom window.
His chest tightened, all that muscle in purple shadow, delineating the planes of him.
“Caleb, you are the most beautiful man I have ever seen.”
His eyes popped open, then closed, the emotion that had been there getting lost in the heavy thickness as his eyelashes swept down over that heated brown.
She reached for his belt, and he stood there watching her as she released the buckle and drew the zipper down. His dark, relentless eyes held her gaze. She couldn’t look away. She slid her hands over his satiny skin, parting the pants until the material loosened over his hips.
She pushed at them and they dropped to the floor as he toed off his shoes and socks. Stepping out of the pants, he moved them towards the bed. When they reached the edge, she stripped off his underwear. She couldn’t help the long, deep sound of appreciation that purred in her throat. As she rose, she kissed his bruised hip and trailed her lips all the way up his body. She turned him slightly to discover that he’d been right. The bruises were fading. She ran her hand over his hip and he didn’t even flinch. That was wonderful. She didn’t have to worry about causing him pain.
He bent down, his voice deep, sending goose bumps along her skin. “You like manhandling me, princess?” His warm breath blew softly against the tender skin of her neck. “I like the way you do that. I want your hands all over me.” He brushed his chest, just barely, against the tight tips of her nipples. The contact sent little shockwaves of pleasure through her, making her entire body twitch and pulling a soft gasp from her lips. He dropped the softest kisses along the side of her neck.
“Caleb,” she choked out, not certain how much longer she could hold out against his teasing. “I most definitely enjoy manhandling you,” she said as she slid her hands around his waist and he pressed his face into the hollow of her neck.
“Take me where you want me to go, princess.”
His breath was hot against her skin. She had no problem acquiescing to that request. She buried her face in his thick hair. He smelled spicy and deliciously male. She sent her hands roaming over his taut body as his breathing grew ragged.
It was hard not to be restless, to shift her torso, move her hands in an effort to ease the ache that had pervaded her every muscle and pore. Even the way he talked to her heighted her need for him.
She slid her body around his, leaning hard into him as she moved. He groaned. She pressed against his back and his butt, slipping her hands around him to caress his chest. He leaned his head back and she pressed her mouth to his throat, where his heartbeat raced against her lips. Her tongue slipped out and tasted him, and he restlessly moved his head as she opened her mouth over his pulse point and sucked hard, loving the feel of his life pulsing beneath her tongue. His breathing, harsh already, increased in tempo.
She slid her palms along the hard ridges of his body down to his groin, causing his hips to jerk, sending all that male hardness against her hands. She closed around him, sliding along his hard-on, her palm sliding over the tip and he thrust against her.
Just when she was at her own breaking point, he must have reached his limit. He turned, sliding against her, his chest heaving.
He pulled her around, his hands going to the snap of her bra. Cool air caressed her heated nipples and one of his hands, cupped her breast as he dragged her against him, slipping his hand inside her panties, finding her sex, slick and aching.
He groaned against her neck, his mouth a heated brand as he grasped the waistband of her panties and shoved them down. He spun her around, and pushed her back onto the bed and followed her down after stripping off her undies.
Chapter Nine
It had only been five days since he’d had her, but she was lovelier than he’d remembered, and he’d replayed those moments with her over and over while he worked those long, grueling hours. He’d become fairly certain over the course of the time he’d been parted from her that he’d exaggerated and embellished every moment they’d shared.
But her skin was creamy smooth, every inch of it. Her soft moans and gasps told him exactly what he wanted to know. She was ready for him, just as he was more than ready for her.
They had already passed the basic level. This need inside him was more than simple, more than physical pleasure. He wanted her to come to the undeniable conclusion that there was something between them that was stronger than her fear.
He had to admit that he was going out of his comfort zone here and he wanted her to feel that, too. He already knew he’d never get enough of this woman. But she wasn’t letting go of her iron control. Patterns were difficult to break, but he’d just have to keep at it so that she understood he wasn’t like every other man from her past. What he wanted her to acknowledge was that he was a man she could trust. Take into her confidence. Lean on.
There were treasures greater than wealth or prestige or status.
If he pushed too hard he could risk everything, but if he didn’t push hard enough, he would lose her behind the walls she’d built.
“Harper—” he began only to be effectively shut up by the fierce way she captured his mouth. Which went ahead and destroyed whatever common sense and logical thought he might still have. She bit into his bottom lip, making him groan, and he helplessly stretched his body along hers as he plunged his tongue into her mouth, giving in to his rampant need to consume her.
She met his thrust with a supple kiss of her own, taunting and teasing him with her tongue, seducing him beyond his ability to resist. She slid her legs wider, settling his dick deeper between her thighs.
She gasped at the direct contact and he groaned at the need to sink into her, but not yet. In the past he would have already been inside, but not with this woman. He wanted to experience her and give her the kind of pleasure she wouldn’t easily forget.
“Caleb,” she whispered softly, shamelessly pressing her breasts against his chest, rubbing against him, breathing him in, tasting his skin. He trembled with the desire to take her, slip inside her and give her what she wanted. He clamped down on his need and with just the tiny thread of self-control he had left, resis
ted her.
“Just a few…” She slipped her hand down between their bodies and closed it over his dick. He saw stars, temporarily losing his focus, making a hard ah sound deep in his throat, groaning at the firm contact. His uncontrollable response was to thrust against her.
He grabbed her plundering hand and huffed. “You are a demanding little princess.” She gave him a provocative smile and he took a breath. “I promise. It’ll be worth waiting for.”
“I’ll try not to be a demanding brat, then,” she said, her voice husky.
“Well, you can try,” he said, getting rewarded with her amused, sultry smile.
He wove his fingers into her soft, hair, keeping her immobilized in exactly the right position, so he could taste those lips, consume that sassy mouth, fully and completely. She responded, on the edge of desperation, and he absorbed her out-of-control response and took it deep inside him, needing a sign that she was responding to him and not just the sex.
“I can’t seem to help being bratty and demanding when it comes to you, Caleb.”
She sank her hands into his hair, lightly scoring his scalp, her face tender and needy, making him shudder in pleasure as she drew her nails down to his neck and urged his tongue more deeply into her mouth.
He grunted with the need to take her, his arms shaking, his body shaking, but instead he pulled his mouth from hers as she protested, trailing it down her neck as her nails trailed gentle fire down his back, sending sizzling sensation through him like an electric shock. His dick jerked hard.
They’d had a short conversation about doing away with the need for condoms, both of them being healthy and clean. He was glad. He wanted no barriers between them. It also gave him hope that if she trusted him in this, she could trust him in other ways.
He continued kissing her until he reached her nipple and sucked the hot tip into his mouth.
She moaned and arched into him as he sucked hard, then more gently, rolling her nipple with flicks of his tongue, then pulling at it with his lips and teeth. He squeezed her other nipple between his fingers. She groaned and moved against him, her hips pressing up, pushing at him, demanding he push back.
It seemed to him that giving and taking the incredible pleasure was something that came easily to them. Something they could allow. Actually, it was as if it was out of their control, the attraction, the chemistry beyond their ability to resist. She pushed at him, and he moved downward, trailing his tongue along the soft skin of her stomach as he continued teasing her nipples with his fingers. He dipped his tongue into her navel, then along the exquisite plane at the top of her inner thigh, breathing in her sweet scent confident she’d be wet and wanting when he finally got to where she wanted him.
He slid his hands along her waist, lifting her hips so he could press his mouth against the moist center of her. She sucked in her breath on a little gasp, then moved beneath him. He fantasized about how wet she would be, the sensation of sinking deeply into her, her accepting him as he slid all the way in, holding him so tightly, so perfectly. He thought he might burst before he got to that part and since he knew his own formidable control, that rocked him further.
His perfect plan was simple in execution. Bring her screaming right to the edge, then shove her over, let her tumble, fall, recover, then drive her over again, even when she thought she couldn’t…then when he climbed up over her body and thrust himself into her, her pulsing pleasure would continue to roll over her wave after wave, and her body would clasp and throb around him in an almost constant roll of aftershocks that would jerk him so hard and fast over the edge he’d see more stars.
Basic. Vital. Mind-blowing. That was what this was.
And yet he wanted so much more.
And he planned to push and push plenty hard. But right now, the only thing he was going to push hard was his tongue. Right into the wet, hot center of her.
He slid his hands down, pushing her legs apart, trailing his tongue along the inside of her thigh, making her gasp and moan. She was twisting now, writhing as he drew closer, and closer still, panting, knowing what was coming. Anticipation was as delicious as the actual sensation, realizing how fantastic, how deeply, insanely pleasurable it was going to be. The anticipation was killing him.
And it was the knowing, the wanting, that made it possible for him to take his time when all he wanted was to climb over her and slide back into the one place he’d wanted to be since the moment he’d laid eyes on her.
He wouldn’t be rushed in this. He would take his sweet time. Knowing the reward at the end of this particular rainbow was so worth it. He pressed the throbbing length of his dick into the mattress, giving himself at least a modicum of relief as a means to assuage the ache. Then he focused his attention on her, and only her.
He nudged her legs a bit farther apart, then brushed soft kisses along the inside of each thigh, teasingly close to where she ached for him to go. Her fingers twisted into his hair, playing with it, toying with the ends, sending little jolts of pleasure through him. For once his princess wasn’t manhandling him. She put her trust in him that he would make it good. He pressed a kiss against her soft curls, then slowly, gently drew the tip of his tongue downward. Her fingers gripped his hair tighter until it was just on the edge of painful, but he just didn’t give a damn. He continued to play, teasing her with his tongue until she was twisting beneath him, then finally sliding one finger inside her as he suckled and toyed some more. He pushed her to the edge with long, slippery strokes, both with his finger and his tongue, until she finally couldn’t hold back any longer and went shuddering and moaning over the edge.
He had to press his hips firmly into the mattress to keep his full, aching dick still, gritting his teeth as he slid his thumb over her and kept her vibrating. He fought against the almost uncontrollable urge to rear up and slake his need deep inside her while she was still coming. Instead, panting, he started all over again, kissing softly, teasing gently, even more so now as she was jittery and pulsing. She didn’t push him away and that made him smile. She showed him how ultrasensitive she was at the slightest breath from him by how restlessly she moved against him. He took his time, and she slowly relaxed and began to climb again. When he slid his finger inside her this time, he had to swallow a groan of need, so badly did he want to be there right now. He thrust gently into her, pushing up just enough to hit that other spot inside her, so sensitive, all the while kissing, teasing, tasting, until she cried out as her hips jerked almost violently off the bed. He stayed with her until she was just past the peak, then finally, almost shakily, climbed over her and pulled her legs around his waist, and, lifting his hips completely off the bed, he plunged into her.
She cried out, and he grunted as she took him, held him, moved beneath him, matching him stroke for stroke as she continued to pulsate and shudder around him. He had no alternative, couldn’t stop the climax from steamrolling over him until he was mindless with the release. She clutched him to her, her legs tightening around his lower back as he came with a long, jagged groan. It was as if he couldn’t get deep enough, close enough into her. It was beyond seeking physical pleasure. It was this connection he couldn’t shake. With her.
He lay trembling on top of her now, so thoroughly sated he never wanted to move off her glorious body.
Finally he found the strength to shift off of her, rolling to his side and pulling her with him. He wasn’t sure if she was a cuddler. In the past, he could take it or leave it.
This time it was different. For him, anyway.
She shifted a bit, and he thought she was pulling away, but she was just getting more comfortable against him.
So he rolled to his back and tugged her to his side. She laid her arm across his chest, sliding her leg over his hip possessively. He laughed softly.
She propped her chin on his chest, her fingers rubbing against his ribcage. “What’s funny?” she asked, looking sated and smug.
He ran his hands through her damp hair, pushing the silky wisps back of
f her smooth temples, brushing against her satiny shoulders. He traced over her cheekbone with his fingers, along her creamy jaw, up her chin, rubbing the pad of his thumb across her swollen, thoroughly kissed bottom lip. “Claiming me, princess?”
For the first time, she looked pensive, then she started to pull away, but he held her tightly against him. “Hey, just teasing,” he said to lighten the moment and get her face to change to one of amusement.
She looked up at him again and a shot of hope went through him as she didn’t struggle, but she didn’t relax, either. He cursed himself for reminding her that they’d moved way beyond either the just-sex zone or the cynical zone. He supposed he shouldn’t let it bother him…as it was a bit selfish of him to expect her to give all of herself instantly…Harper would not be hurried.
He supposed she might be lumping him together with every other man she’d slept with, which bothered him even more. He liked her confidence, but he didn’t like her keeping him at arm’s length.
Instinctively reacting to her tentativeness, he lifted his head and tugged hers closer, so he could reach her lips. He planted a soft, slow kiss against her mouth until she finally let go enough to relax against him slightly. “I know you have no reason to trust me,” he murmured against the side of her cheek, keeping her nestled closely, “but my intentions are sincere in this. I’m not snowing you. I wouldn’t, not you, princess.”
She shifted, and nestled her face just below his jaw, kissing his neck then sighing before pulling back just enough to look at him, but not enough, he noticed, so that she separated from him, her silky thigh still resting against his hip.
“That’s exactly what a guy with a hidden agenda would say.”
There was amusement in her tone, and in her eyes, but along with that humor was trepidation, whether or not she wanted him to see it.
“I don’t have a hidden agenda. I don’t have the finesse for that.” He rolled to his side, tipping her to her back, but keeping their legs entwined as he propped his head on his hand. “So, how do I prove to you that I mean what I say?”
