Texas Sizzle

by Lori Wilde

  And all the while his hand worked her over, giving her no rest, no respite.

  “Abel, Abel, take me,” she begged.

  “Not yet. Not by a long shot.”

  “You’re so mean,” she ground out through gritted teeth.

  “Payback’s a witch,” he whispered.

  She supposed he was referring to the way she’d been leaving the curtain slightly ajar when she’d done yoga in the nude, hoping that he was watching her. She smiled. But had she been this relentless?

  Her body tensed, she was on the verge of coming, his magical hand stoking her higher and hotter...

  And then suddenly he just stopped.

  “Wh...” It was the only sound she could push through her constricted throat.

  He pulled his hand from her panties. She could smell her own scent. Feel her body throbbing. She felt robbed, cheated.

  He held her tight against his chest, his heart pounding as fiercely as hers. Amazingly, his erection was harder than before.

  “Arms up,” he instructed.

  She couldn’t have disobeyed him if she’d wanted to. She raised her hands over her head, and he grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and tugged it over her head. At the sight of her bare breasts, a groan slipped from his lips.

  “Poppy,” he murmured. “My sweet Poppy.”

  He was suckling her again. Did he have any idea how much that turned her on? He was a wizard, instinctively knowing just where to touch her and with how much pressure. It was as if he’d been given a map to her body and he’d spent a lifetime studying it.

  “Your turn,” she said when she couldn’t bear the torture anymore and wrestled his wet T-shirt over his head.

  She ran her palms over the planes of his chest, but when she tried to home in on his nipples the way he’d done to her, he put up a hand to block her.

  “No,” he said. “Tonight is all about you. If you touch my nipples, and I won’t last five minutes.”

  “Good to know,” she said.

  “I’m giving away all of my secrets,” he said.

  “So am I,” she whispered. “I’m trusting you not to hurt me.”

  He looked deeply into her eyes. “I won’t betray your trust, Poppy.”

  “You promise?”

  “I swear to it.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down in a kiss. His hands were tugging off her yoga pants, pulling them to the floor. She kicked out of them.

  He encircled her waist with his hands and twirled her across the room, leaving her clothes behind. She wore nothing now except her panties. He still had on his blue jeans.

  She reached for his belt buckle. “Let’s get you out of those.”

  “Oh, no, not yet. C’mere.” He took her hand and led her over to the bed. “Sit.”

  She sat, nerve endings tingling.

  He dropped on his knees in front of her.

  “Abel... what are you doing... I... don’t really like that.”

  “You don’t like oral sex?”

  Oral sex had always made her feel slightly ashamed, and she didn’t know why. Most guys were relieved that she didn’t want them to go there.

  “It makes me feel... embarrassed.”

  “There’s no reason to feel embarrassed. Not with me.”

  “I—”

  “Shh.” He pressed a finger against her lips. “You’re the one who’s so good at relaxing and letting go. Just lie back and enjoy this.”

  She started to protest again, but he was kissing her navel and instant tingles spread downward. He was right. She took a deep breath, leaned back, and just allowed him to do as he wished.

  He spread her legs wide, moving her hips until she was in a froglike position. Lightly, he tickled her inner thighs. The sensation had her squirming against him. She grabbed a couch pillow and pressed it to her lips to keep from groaning as his mouth traveled lower and lower until the tip of his tongue touched her hot clit.

  “Sweet,” he cooed. “So damned sweet.”

  She didn’t know what to say or how to react, but nature took over. Her hips arched upward of their own volition, seeking his mouth.

  He chuckled low and deep. “That’s it.”

  Poppy luxuriated in the moment, in awe that she was here in bed with this man—a man who had the potential to change her entire life. She’d never been one to give a man that much power, but with Abel, she just wanted to let go. He made her believe that anything was possible.

  He dipped his head down to her sex but stopped just short of touching her with his tongue. His breath was hot against her tender flesh, igniting her.

  Poppy arched her hips, trying to bring his mouth and her clit into contact, but he read her like a map and moved with her, keeping his mouth just out of her reach.

  “Beast,” she hissed.

  He chuckled.

  “You’ve got a cold heart.”

  “Hang on, sunshine. We’ll get there.”

  She liked the way he called her sunshine. A warm endearment. But she didn’t want to hang on. She wanted him to make love to her with his mouth right now. Her brain was glazed with lust, her body worked to a fevered pitch.

  Gently he spread her thighs wider and moved his body around so that he could kneel between her legs. “You are so beautiful.”

  The head of his penis throbbed against her inner thigh as he leaned forward. Poppy’s excitement escalated. She couldn’t stand this. She’d never felt such desperate pressure.

  His big fingers caressed her gently as his tongue explored her silky folds. Her eyes slid closed, savoring what he was doing.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”

  His teeth tenderly captured her clit.

  Never, in all her life, had she experienced this kind of pleasure. It was ecstasy. He seemed to know exactly what she wanted, what she needed from him. Knew it even better than she did. He reveled in her and she had never felt so cherished. It was dangerous territory, these sweet feelings. But she couldn’t stop them. They were part and parcel of what was going on.

  All her senses were altered—sound, sight, taste, smell, touch. She existed in an uncharted but delicious land. Total awareness. Barbed strands of fevered sensation pricked her throbbing sex. Her inner muscles contracted, wanting him.

  “You are the hottest woman in the world,” he breathed.

  She scaled the mountain of arousal, pushed upward by his tongue. She hovered on the brink of orgasm, but he would not let her fall over. A steady strumming vibration began deep in her throat and it emerged as a wild moan.

  “Please,” she begged. “Please.”

  “Ask me,” he whispered.

  “Please, please, please make me come.”

  He gave her everything then, his tongue, his fingers, his lips. She let go and just allowed him to take her over. He seemed to be everywhere—over her, around her, inside of her, outside of her. He was unbelievable.

  “Almost,” she gasped. “Almost there.”

  Then it was washing over her in a sudden wave, big and full. She rode the crest, surfing it to the shore.

  And when the wave had trickled away, he pulled her into the crook of his arm and held her tightly for a very long time.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I never imagined you could be such a bad boy,” Poppy said sometime later, moving from his arms to straddle him.

  “And that turns you on?” Abel reached up and spanned her waist with both hands, trapping her between his thighs. Disappointment warred with his desire for her. Of course, she liked bad boys. She’d been with Barksdale, hadn’t she?

  Well, you’re not exactly a choirboy, Black. You’re breaking all the rules here.

  Yeah, and he wasn’t one bit proud of himself, but dammit, there were just some things beyond a man’s control. An overpowering urge to join his body with Poppy St. John’s was one of them.

  She loomed over him, confident in her sexuality, her eyes glistening in the muted candlelight, fully accustomed to getting wh
at she wanted.

  She leaned down to rest her forehead against his and peered into his eyes. “Do you watch me every night?”

  He licked his lips and spoke the truth. “Yes.”

  “Do you touch yourself when you watch me?”

  “Umm, sometimes,” he admitted.

  She moved, hooking her legs around his. Her bottom pressed against his thighs. She might look cool and in control, but he felt her tremble. Knew she was as excited as he.

  Her fingers lightly tickled his abdomen. “Do you come when you watch me?”

  He’d been assigned to watch her, but it had gone far beyond the job. As he’d watched, he’d fantasized about a moment just like this one, but in all honesty, he’d never really dreamed it could happen. A naked Poppy straddling his body, the sweet smell of her invading his nostrils, turning his mind into a pile of mush.

  His hands traveled from her waist to her shoulders. Her lean arms were simultaneously muscular yet soft, a delightful contrast.

  Poppy herself was a compilation of contrasts. At once disciplined enough to run her own business, but free-flowing enough for surfing. She was unfettered and yet at the same time one of the most grounded women he’d ever known. She was comfortable in her own skin and yet at the oddest moments exhibited a vulnerability like when she was unsure of herself on the wagon train. She was childlike and yet mature, sharp-tongued and gentle, soft and firm. She was his dream and his demon.

  And hot.

  So damned hot.

  He shouldn’t want her, but he did. He shouldn’t need her—but he did.

  She tossed her hair and he felt it like a punch to his gut. Everything she did, every move she made affected him on a visceral level. Her smile got him hard. Her touch gave him goose bumps. Her laugh made his knees weak.

  She made him feel... well, that was just it, wasn’t it? She made him feel.

  Abel hadn’t realized how long he’d been emotionally numb. Blunted by the demands of his job and his desire to succeed. Whether he was irritated or delighted, worried or turned-on, whenever he was around Poppy, he felt those emotions he’d kept smothered for so long.

  His skin tingled and he was acutely aware of everything. The way the candlelight threw shadows across her face and illuminated her in a soft glow. Angels couldn’t look this pretty, tousled and tossed. He smiled, remembering how responsive she’d been when he pressed his mouth to her most intimate part.

  She’d turned him inside out and upside down. She’d opened the floodgates of emotions and everything had come pouring out. This woman who some might see as little more than ordinary, was the most extraordinary thing that had ever happened to him. He saw now what Kirsten had meant when she’d broken up with him. He felt as if he’d been sleepwalking through life until this moment—until Poppy.

  Why hadn’t anyone warned him he could feel this way? He hadn’t thought to protect against it, because until now, he’d never felt it—this kind of love.

  Every thought that rose in his mind was “we” or “us.” He couldn’t picture his life without her and that was alarming, mostly because he’d been lying to her. Yes, it was part of his job, but he hated it. He had to tell her the truth, even if it meant violating a direct order from his captain.

  She was like a daisy, all bright and hearty, but that was on the outside. On the inside, he knew she’d been hurt, kept those hurts buried, but felt them nonetheless. She didn’t want anyone to see her vulnerabilities, so she kept things light, pretended she didn’t care. But he knew she cared. It was in the way she looked at him, the way she touched him, the way she opened her heart up to him even though she knew she might get hurt again. And here he was with the ability to crush that heart.

  Dammit. Why had this happened? Why had he met her under these circumstances? Why couldn’t they have met in an ordinary way?

  She thinks you did meet in an ordinary way. She thinks you’re just her neighbor.

  “Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked.

  A lump formed in his throat. He had to tell her the truth. But how to start?

  “Sunshine...”

  “Is that your nickname for me? Are you being sappy, Abel Black?”

  “I suppose I am.” He smiled.

  “And here I thought you weren’t the sappy type.”

  “You make me want to be sappy.”

  “Don’t try to blame this on me.” She laughed, her blond hair tumbling about her shoulders in wild disarray. “You’re sappy to the core.”

  “I’m not.”

  “You called me sunshine.”

  “Because you have such a sunny disposition.”

  “That’s sappy.”

  “And you love it.”

  She grinned. “Sap.”

  “Sunshine.”

  “I remember you promised me hard, hot sex.”

  “Ah,” he said. “I suppose I did.”

  “C’mon. Let’s take a shower.”

  “Together?”

  She reached for his hand. “Yes, together. What? You’ve never showered with a woman before?”

  Honestly, no. But that wasn’t why he hesitated. He was thinking about how to break the news.

  “Let’s go.” She tugged on his arm.

  “Showering together? And you’re calling me a sap.”

  “Showering together isn’t sappy, it’s sexy. There’s a big difference.”

  “You’re going to have to illustrate the point for me because I’m not seeing the difference.”

  “Oh, have no fear. Poppy’s here.” She giggled and drew him off the bed, her bare little rump dancing as she yanked on his arm.

  He followed. He loved to go where she led. She took him to places he’d never been before. She stretched him in ways he’d never considered. Stretched him so much in fact, he feared he could never return to the shape and form he’d been before. How did you go back to your old mindset once your eyes had been opened?

  Once they were in the darkened bathroom, she pulled matches from a drawer and lit a plethora of candles scattered around the bathroom. The woman certainly knew how to set a scene.

  She danced him over to the shower, then opened the clear glass door and stepped inside, taking him with her. Impishly, she kissed his arm as she simultaneously reached around to turn on the shower. She jumped and squealed as the cold water hit their skin and he maneuvered past her to turn up the heat. The water temperature evened out.

  “Poppy—” He started to tell her that there was something they needed to talk about after their shower was over. Something he needed to tell her before things went any further. But her arms were around his neck and she was pulling his head down for a kiss and he was a goner.

  His dick took his brain hostage.

  He kissed her back, fiercely. Mine, he thought. My woman.

  Usually, he was not the possessive type, but with Poppy—well, with Poppy there was no “usually.” Everything was different with her and he loved it.

  She moved her lips from his mouth and nibbled down the length of his chin to his throat.

  Abel braced himself with both arms against either wall of the shower as she slipped lower and lower and lower...

  Her mouth touched the head of his erection as water splashed against his chest. His mind whirled. He wanted to tell her to stop, because what she was doing was making a muddle of his head, but what she was doing felt too good, too fine.

  He held his breath and then let it out in a long hiss of air as she worked him over with that hot tongue of hers. Glory. Pure glory.

  How come he’d never showered with a woman before? It was incredible. She was incredible.

  “Poppy.” He groaned.

  While her mouth was occupied with his shaft, her hands drifted around to cup his buttocks. Her fingers sank into his flesh, kneading his muscles.

  The pleasure! Such unbelievable pleasure.

  He felt her everywhere. On his skin, in his heart, inside his brain. Her frisky tongue flicked him in ways he’d never been
flicked. She was a goddess, his Poppy.

  His Poppy.

  He had to shake that thought. She couldn’t be his.

  Not yet. Maybe not ever. Once she learned he’d been betraying her...

  “Poppy,” he murmured and reached for her, trying to break her from what she was doing so that they could talk. They had to have this talk.

  But she mistook his actions and quickened her pace. Increasing suction, doing more wild things to him. His mind went blank. He could not think. Could not do anything except submit. Whatever she wanted, he would give to her. Sun, moon, stars, it didn’t matter. He would get it for her, whatever she wanted.

  He felt the rumbling of his orgasm surge up through his shaft and just when he thought it was a foregone conclusion, she stopped.

  “Argh!” The strangled cry shot from his throat as a sharp ache tightened around his member.

  “Now,” she said. “I want you inside me.”

  “Wha...?” His mind was gone. A complete sieve.

  He wasn’t even thinking of condoms, but she reached outside the shower and suddenly she had one, and then she was rolling it on him with her tongue. When she was done, she got to her feet.

  Abel pulled her to him and kissed her so hard and long she was gasping. Then he grabbed her around the waist and turned her toward the wall.

  “Brace yourself,” he said.

  She leaned forward, both palms placed against the wall under the showerhead, her gorgeous butt even with his cock. She twitched her fanny, tempting him, bewitching him. “Come and get me.”

  He didn’t stand a chance. The sight of her sexy back stretching out underneath the water spray was his utter undoing.

  Droplets rolled down the small of her back and came to rest on her rump, bathing her in a glistening light. He tightened his grip on her waist with both hands. She was slick and wet, and he was mindless. He plunged in, crazed as crazy could be. Pushed himself in to the hilt.

  “So good,” she moaned. “Abel, it feels so good to have you up inside me this way. Give it to me. Make me scream.”

  He let loose, pumping and pounding against her lush backside, her sweet ass.

  She reached between her legs to find and cup his balls and he lost all the air in his lungs.