by Tina Beckett
A shiver went over her, the air rushing from her lungs in an audible sigh.
She wanted him everywhere at once. As soon as he left one place, she missed him. But, then, so did the next place he visited. Until she was a squirming mass of need, her whole body crying out for more.
Her nipples tightened, and instead of recoiling at the thought of his touch they were seething with anticipation.
She moved closer, frustrated at the angles that kept her from pressing fully against him.
As if he’d read her mind, he eased her down onto the wide couch until her head sank into the softness of the overstuffed arm.
Then they were body to body, one of his legs between hers, the hard ridge against her right thigh unmistakable.
She waited for the fear to finally make its way into the pit of her stomach, but his mouth was back at her ear. Whispering this time.
“You okay?”
The words took her by surprise. Made tears spring to her eyes.
Not once had Travis ever asked her that. Not even afterwards.
She nodded, her lips touching his face, then following the same path he’d taken on hers. But before she could complete the trip, he’d captured them with his own, his hand on the side of her neck, thumb stroking her throat as he kissed her.
These kisses were more familiar. The same light brushes she’d experienced at the park.
That wasn’t enough this time. She wanted more. Wanted that same hard kiss he’d given her a few minutes ago. But when she tried to increase the pressure, he pulled back with a soft laugh. “Your husband was a fool.”
She stiffened, coming back to herself all at once. All the reasons why this was a bad idea flooded her. But when she tried to scoot away, he held her in place. She opened her eyes and found him watching her in a way that made her squirm.
He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “I want you, Chloe, but I don’t want you to do something you’re going to regret.”
Regret? The only thing she regretted was that she was going to have to tell him the truth. That he was the one who’d end up with a pile of regrets if this went any further, not her.
“I’m not very …” Her throat closed up, and she had to fight to get the words out. “I can’t…. I don’t want you to be…”
Disappointed.
He cupped her face. “I won’t be. Even if it goes no further than this.”
Surely that wasn’t the truth. But as she continued to look at him, she saw nothing but raw sincerity reflected back at her. How could that be? He was still hard against her leg. His breathing not quite steady. Would he really be okay if she called a halt to it right here?
Something inside her said he would.
She took a deep breath. “I want it to.”
His fingertips brushed her cheek. “You want it to what?”
“Go further than this.”
His eyes darkened. “Are you sure?”
“If you promise not to …” How could she put it into words? She didn’t honestly think he’d make fun of her afterwards, but she didn’t want him to get part way into it and then realize she was so not what he was hoping for. “I want to try. But I don’t know if I can.”
“Chloe, look at me.”
She thought she had been. But she found the center of his pupil and focused.
There was an intensity swirling inside it she hadn’t noticed before.
“The second you start to feel differently, I want you to tell me, and we’ll stop.”
She wouldn’t tell him. She never did.
His fingers tightened on her shoulder. “Promise me.”
And admit she was a failure? Again? She shook her head.
To her surprise, Brad sat up, dragging a hand through his hair and swearing softly under his breath.
She caught his hand before he could get up and walk away. “Please don’t go.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.” Did she really believe that? That the act itself wouldn’t hurt? No. But even if there was some kind of physical discomfort, she knew that he would never wound her deep down inside, where it really mattered.
“Then promise me.”
“I—I … It’s too embarrassing.” She averted her eyes.
“You don’t have to use words. If you don’t like something I’m doing, hold onto me like this …” he gripped her arms “… and push. That’ll be my signal to back off. It’s that easy. And I’ll be okay with it. I promise.”
“Are you sure?”
“Have I ever broken a promise to you?”
“No.”
He leaned down and kissed her lips. “Okay. Your turn. Promise me.”
She waited long seconds before she got up the nerve to say it. “I promise.”
At her words Brad released the tension that had been steadily building in his jaw. He wanted this woman more than he’d ever wanted anyone in his life. And he’d just promised to stop the second she gave his arms a little squeeze. He hoped to hell he actually could. It had taken almost every ounce of his strength to sit up when she’d shaken her head and refused to agree to his terms. But he’d found the willpower then, and he would find it again if it came down to it. But right now all he wanted to do was kiss that beautiful mouth all over again.
The second his lips lingered on hers, a sigh rippled through her chest as if she’d been waiting her whole life for this. The thought inflamed him, made him want to take her in a rush, but he pushed the need aside and instead savored the way she returned his kisses, reveled in the tiny sounds she made when he lifted his head to move somewhere else. How could any man in his right mind call her frigid?
Chloe was anything but.
Instead, there was an untapped innocence about her that he’d never thought he’d find sexy—until now. Virgins need not apply had always been his motto.
He didn’t need the headaches or the complications. But this was something very different. And he found himself wanting to break all his self-made rules to have her.
Just this once.
Chloe wasn’t looking for another husband. And he certainly wasn’t looking for anything lasting either.
Maybe he was as untouched as Chloe was, in some ways. And that thought made him tighten all over again.
Her hands on his shoulders pulled him back to her, until they were breast to chest. He eased away just long enough to recline beside her again, then wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck and breathing her scent deep into his lungs. When her head shifted slightly once or twice, he leaned back and frowned, then realized her ponytail was pressing against the cushions.
That couldn’t be comfortable. “Let me get that.”
He tilted her head to the side, finding the elastic and sliding the loops—one at a time—over the length of hair. His fingers pushed into the thick, glossy strands and set them free. “Better?”
“Yes.” She licked her lips. “Do you want to go into the bedroom?”
He did. Wanted to see her sprawled on that huge bed for a reason other than sleep, wanted to watch as she straddled him and took him deep inside. But something made him hesitate. That refusal to promise to make him stop.
Had she done that before? Let Travis do things she didn’t want to do without attempting to stop him?
He nuzzled her cheek, his decision made. “Let’s stay here for a while.”
He was going to make this all about Chloe. Show her that all men were not created equal. Some really did care about their partner’s enjoyment. Show her how much it enhanced his own pleasure to know she was responding to his touch. To his murmured words.
He could wait. For ever, if necessary. But he had a feeling Chloe had already been kept waiting far too long.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
IT BURNED.
His touch. His lips. His body—even through his clothes. And Chloe was slowly going up in flames.
She’d never gotten this far before without tensing, without dreading what s
he knew was coming next. But Brad’s fingers had edged beneath the hem of her shirt with care, sliding over the bare skin of her stomach until she found herself arching toward him rather than cringing away inside. He’d spent what had seemed like hours just getting to this point. As if there were nowhere else he’d rather be.
Lips touched her. Skated over her collarbone just as his hand covered her left breast, using the barest amount of friction. She pushed into his palm, asking silently for more. He responded with an equal amount of pressure in return.
He was right. She didn’t need words.
And neither did he, evidently. His actions spoke volumes.
He cared about how she felt. About what she wanted. Something about that was freeing. Made her realize that Travis had been all wrong about her. She was able to respond. Just not to him.
Chloe pulled in a deep breath to increase the contact, wanting something but not sure what it was. When he kissed the corner of her mouth and stayed there while he trapped her nipple between his fingertips, a whimper erupted from her throat.
That’s what she’d wanted. He’d known.
His breath released on a shaky note. “You’re driving me crazy, you know.”
She was driving him crazy? He didn’t know the half of it. She was so far over the edge she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to make it back in one piece.
Turning her head, she captured his mouth, letting him know the feeling was mutual. He deepened the kiss, his tongue finding hers and coaxing it to follow his, until she found herself where she’d never thought she’d be. He tasted of wine and all things male, and she slid her tongue in a little bit further. He rewarded her by stroking the pad of his thumb across her imprisoned nipple.
The pleasure intensified, along with her desire to take things to the next level. She’d never craved the male and female joining the way she did now. It reminded her of the expectations she’d had when she’d been young and naïve. Before they’d been shattered by reality.
But Brad was making her hope all over again.
Even through her bra the pleasure had been intense, but the second he pushed the fabric aside and the contact was flesh against flesh, she grabbed hold of his arms, hanging on for dear life.
Brad froze, and she wasn’t sure what was wrong for a second then remembered their signal. He really would stop.
The second she asked.
Instead of pushing him away, she pulled him closer, her arms going around his back, one hand brave enough to slide over the curve of his butt and press her thigh against the bulge of flesh.
“Slow, Chloe.”
His words said one thing but his body said something else. She hadn’t had to touch him to get him hard. In fact, it seemed to be the other way around. The more he stroked and kissed her, the more aroused he seemed to get.
And suddenly she didn’t want slow.
To illustrate that point, she allowed her hand to trail around to the front of his body, her fingers tracing his length, only to have him stop her.
Heat crawled up her face as remembered humiliation curled around her throat, strangling her. She never seemed to get it right.
“What’s wrong?” His whispered words just made it worse.
“I don’t know what you want.”
“Don’t you? I want you.”
The words were simple enough, but if he did, why didn’t he want her to …?
“If you touch me, Chloe. I’m done for.” He paused. “Just let me love you.”
The pained smile told her exactly what he meant, and it had nothing to do with her being inept but the opposite. He wanted her so badly that one wrong move on her part could make him come unglued.
For the next fifteen minutes he proceeded to show her with his lips, with his tongue what she’d never realized she’d been missing out on over the years. By the time his fingers finally tunneled beneath the elastic waistband of her scrubs, and then beneath that of her panties, she was shaking with anticipation. Would he rip them off her and take her in a rush?
She wanted him to. Badly.
But he didn’t. Instead, his fingers found her. She wasn’t even horrified to realize she was slick. All she felt was wonder when he lazily explored every inch of her, moistening his fingers and sliding them over the most sensitive spot on her body.
The world stopped turning as the focus narrowed, zooming in over and over again until everything centered over that one point in the universe. His thumb continued to stroke over her while his middle finger slid inside her without the slightest hint of resistance.
Amazing.
That word was a blip on a radar screen that appeared for less than a second before it was joined by other, crazier words, all heading for the center. Want. Need. Take.
Between the rhythmic stroking, both inside and outside her body, the fire that had been growing steadily higher suddenly flared out of control.
Things melded into a single point of focus: Brad’s ragged breathing at her ear, the rise and fall of her hips as she asked for—then demanded—more from him, the way he increased the tempo and pressure in response.
She strained upwards as everything came together at once. And the inferno suddenly reached for her and consumed her alive.
Some distant part of her consciousness heard his murmured “It’s okay. I’ve got you. I’ve got you” as she came undone all around him.
Several seconds went by before those blue eyes focused on him again, and she drew a deep shuddery breath and let it out again. “Whew. I, uh … I’m not sure I’ve … Is it always like this?”
As hard as it was for him to concentrate on her words right now, he leaned down to nuzzle the bottom of her chin and tried. “Always like what?”
“I’ve never done that with a man.”
His head came back up. That? Since she was married he was pretty sure she’d had sex before, unless Travis was crazier than he’d thought. So that meant … “You’ve never had an orgasm with a man?”
Her cheeks flamed, and she shook her head.
He swore under his breath. She’d said Travis had cheated, that he’d called her frigid, but surely he’d tried to warm her up before he’d entered her. If not … Sudden anger flared in his chest. That was his signal to stop right here.
“I think you’ve had enough for one night.” He forced a smile to take the sting out of the words, thankful they both still had their clothes on.
“No! I mean, what about you?” Her thigh brushed against his still aching flesh, causing him to grit his teeth. “You haven’t …”
“No.” And it looked like tonight was going to be a very long night.
“Please, Brad. I want to. I need to.” Her throat moved. “Just to know once and for all.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant, but he was going to have to move away from her. Soon. “Know what?”
“If there really is something wrong with me.”
He said I was frigid.
His fingers tightened their hold on her. Travis Maroni deserved to have a couple of important items lopped off.
He smoothed the hair back from her face and kissed her mouth. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. I think we just proved that.”
“But you don’t want to finish it.”
If she only knew. “I do want to.” He nudged his flesh against her to prove his point. “I’m just not geared towards …” He had been about to say “being gentle” and then hesitated. The women he’d been with were as sexually aggressive as he was, for the most part. He’d never felt the need for anything else.
But having this conversation was doing crazy things to his body—he found himself wanting what he’d never wanted before. And it was contrary to what his body was clamoring for him to do: bury himself inside her as hard and as fast as he could, and to hell with the consequences.
She leaned up and kissed his chin, her fingers touching his face. “Then take me to bed. Please.”
He was damned if he did … and damned if he didn’t. Beca
use if he refused, she’d see that as proof that Travis was right. But if he carried her off, there was no guarantee he was going to be able to hold off long enough to prove her biggest fear was baseless.
“Please.”
That whispered plea was his undoing. He rose to his feet and scooped her up, pausing to place a long, hard kiss on her lips. Her response was instantaneous, her arms going around his neck, opening to let him in.
You’re going to live to regret this, Davis.
Since when had that ever stopped him? Striding to his bedroom, bypassing the switch to the overhead light, he laid her down on the bed and then flicked on the bedside lamp. He sat down beside her and helped her take off her shirt and then shimmy out of her scrubs, leaving her panties and bra in place.
“You’re sure?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He slid his fingers into her hair and kissed her again, then stood, staring at her as he unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged out of it. Her lips were still soft and swollen from his earlier kisses, her clothing askew, hair wild and untamed as it spilled over his pillow.
His pillow. All the thoughts that had spun through his head the night of her wedding came back as if it had been only yesterday.
She blinked up at him, her gaze sliding over his chest, before moving to where his fingers were undoing the buckle to his belt.
“If you don’t like something, same rules apply,” he said. “I want to know.”
He shoved down his pants and his briefs, then kicked them to the side, watching as she assessed him, heard the quick huff of air as she breathed.
“What?” he asked.
Her eyes came up to meet his, and he saw the first hint of panic. “You’re bigger than he is.”
And exactly why did he get the feeling that was a bad thing?
Obviously, not only had Travis not waited for her fulfillment before taking his own, he’d evidently hurt her as well.
He moved to the end table and took out a packet, throwing it on the bed. “It’ll be okay, Chloe. Trust me.”
“I do.” She lay back. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
He smiled and hooked his fingers beneath her panties and yanked them down her legs. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
