Her plan, albeit outlandish, had merit. He could only admire her audacity. Yet, it still didn’t all quite make sense. However he had to allow for gaps in logic due to his rapid pulse and skipping heart. “Didn’t he read the first newspaper article about us?”
She grabbed the base of his erection and began to stroke him slowly, seriously, seductively. “He called to tell me he understood how the papers could turn the most innocent meeting into appearing like something more.”
“He made excuses for you?” Zane shook his head, baffled by the man’s reaction.
“He was going to call and thank you for protecting me from the press.”
As she moved her hand over him and let her thumb trail around the sensitive rim of his cock, he struggled to concentrate on conversation. “No one ever called.”
He sank one finger into her heat and her eyes darkened with passion. When he found her G-spot and focused his pressure there, he watched her struggle to maintain control. But the telltale bounce of the trampoline gave away her heightened state of arousal. Holding still was becoming more and more difficult for her. Good.
Still, she kept circling her fingertip, her palm stroking him to an even greater size. She seemed to know exactly what kind of effect she had on him, offering him a tight smile. “When he actually put out a press release about our engagement, then sent that ring a week later, I was so horrified I had to take drastic measures. That’s when I borrowed the gorilla suit and tried to gain your attention.”
So Toni wasn’t guilty of sabotage at all. Her reasons for being with him were much more personal, much more to his liking. He shouldn’t have doubted her.
And Zane liked her drastic measures; after all, they’d worked out to his benefit. “So you were strictly pursuing me to cause another man to back out of your engagement?”
“That was my initial reasoning. Yes.” In contrast to their nudity and their intimate stroking of one another’s bodies, she spoke almost primly. “But the more I got to know you, the more time I wanted to spend with you.”
“I’m glad.”
“I can see that.” Her nails trailed deliciously along his length. “I’ve been spending too much time on business and now I’m ready to devote more time to pleasure.”
He grinned and spoke teasingly, but he couldn’t keep the husky need from his tone. “A woman after my own heart.”
“Take warning, Grey Masterson, that’s exactly what I’m after—your heart.”
Despite his eagerness to plunge into her, her words gave him a moment of anxiety. First, her calling him by his brother’s name gave him pause. And, second, she’d stated her goal easily, casually, yet with a determination that warned him she would not be deterred. He supposed over the years other women had wanted him to fall in love with them, but he’d always escaped. And this time would be no different. He would take what she offered, give her pleasure in return and then send her on her way before he became any more attached to her.
He hadn’t lied to himself or to her when he admitted that he cared about her. He did. But he needed to move on. She’d admitted to becoming serious about him. And he needed to break away soon to let her down easy. He didn’t want to hurt her. But he didn’t do serious relationships.
And since he no longer believed she was guilty of sabotage, he was free to return to his own life and his old ways. She was not the saboteur. It had been a coincidence that the oil had ruined the ink while she’d distracted Grey in her gorilla suit. And probably just bad luck that the sand had been placed in the oil tanks while they’d been at Club Carnal. Anyone could have found the codes in his secretary’s desk and gotten into the computers to alter the headlines. She’d simply been a stranger who’d come into his life during a crisis. He didn’t have one shred of hard evidence to link her with the sabotage and he wasn’t about to blame her on circumstantial evidence. Her story was too crazy to have been concocted just as a cover. She had to be innocent.
Now that he realized that she probably had nothing to do with the sabotage at the paper, there was no reason to spend more time with her. He would allow himself the distraction of her wonderful company for the afternoon, but tomorrow he would end their time together. The thought saddened him. Her loss would leave a void, one he would deal with tomorrow—and one which he needn’t think about while he could feel her slick heat trapping his finger, her muscles clenching him, spasming ever so slightly while her eyes glazed with desire.
He had no intention of allowing her to slip over the edge. Not yet. Not when he could ease her down and then start all over again. He stopped his fingers from moving, drawing her attention from wherever she’d been. She blinked, taking in the view of the ocean, the gulls soaring and cawing, finally centered on him.
“You felt so good. Why did you stop?” Her tone, sexy and low, scraped over his raw nerves.
Sensing how good the sex between them could be, he wanted to prolong her heightened state of arousal as long as he could hold out. Sweat beaded on his brow but he answered her in a measured tone. “There’s no rush.”
She licked her bottom lip then glanced from his erection to his face. “There’s no reason to wait.”
Slowly he wriggled his index finger against her, but this time he slid his thumb up to find her clit. As he slowly caressed her most sensitive spot, her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. “Waiting, watching you, makes me a happy man.”
“I could make you happier,” she offered, reaching for the condom he’d set out earlier.
He caressed her, using tiny circling strokes of the pad of his thumb. Her breathing grew irregular and she fumbled with the foil packet.
“I need to…need to open…”
The packet slipped from her fingers and floated through the trampoline’s webbing to the decking beneath. Although he had several more condoms, he withdrew his hand from her once again and frowned at the packet, glinting on the deck beneath them.
A lock of hair fell across his forehead and into his eyes. Hoping she wouldn’t guess his intentions, he muttered, “If you turn over, you can probably scoop it back up.”
Without hesitation she scooted to the edge of the pillows and leaned over the edge at her waist. She couldn’t reach the condom, of course, but now he had her trapped. It took only a moment to move between her thighs and effectively pin her.
“I can’t reach,” she complained.
“Really?” he murmured, his tone purring with satisfaction. She really had a great ass, toned and feminine and perfectly sized for his palms.
Bottom up in the air, her soft curves enticed him to do some additional exploring. At his touch, her thighs immediately parted and she sighed.
“Ohh. Ahh. You knew…all along that…I couldn’t reach.”
“I couldn’t resist the view from such a delicious angle,” he admitted.
“You realize I’m dangling here? That all the blood is rushing to my head.”
“Let’s see what we can do about that,” he suggested, his savory thoughts turning wicked as pure delight shimmied through his veins.
The taut flesh of her bottom taunted him with a peek at golden curls between her parted thighs. The temptation proved too much for him and he dipped his fingers into her receptive warmth.
Greeted by her soft moan of approval, he explored the soft insides of her thighs, the gentle arch of her back, and everything between. The tiny oohs and aahs in the back of her throat deepened into soft moans of pleasure. Squirming beneath his touch, she lifted her hips provocatively.
Leaning forward, he dipped his head and took several sharp nips at her buttocks. His fingers fluttered in her core, fueling her blaze with a combination of soft caresses and love bites just hard enough to cause her to realize that he held her at his mercy, strung out on the razor’s edge of need, balanced between wanting and satisfaction.
“I think you can reach that condom if you wriggle over the edge just a little more.”
Her arms waved wildly toward the condom still out of reach, her ha
ir in an upside-down halo around her head. “I’ll…fall,” she protested.
“Not a chance,” he assured her, his voice deep with a stinging desire that he could barely contain.
She scooted out farther while he kept one hand on her thighs to steady her and the other continued to delve into her core. As she stretched, her muscles tightened, creating the most interesting sensation around his fingers.
“Got it.” The triumph in her tone was muffled with need. And then she wriggled away from him, denying him the pleasure of touching her.
She turned around until she faced him once again and waved the packet under his nose. Her eyes sparkled with a hint of devilry. “I’m going to enjoy putting this on you.”
She reached for his balls that were already tight with his excitement and so sensitive that just the slightest caress threatened to set him off. He breathed deeply, willing himself to wait, to maintain control.
But as she cupped him and rolled him in her palm, she appeared bent on taunting him. He let her have her moment of fun until he could stand the sweet abuse no longer.
“If you don’t put that condom on soon…there will be no need for it at all,” he warned her.
The blue in her eyes mirrored the sky as she tilted her head to the side in speculation. “I’m betting you can last longer.”
10
TONI HAD LONG SINCE passed the point where she thought before she spoke. Being naked tended to make her lose her inhibitions, and she and Grey had been naked together for hours. With the morning sun rising in the east and creating a fine sheen of perspiration on their warming flesh, the brilliant sky above and the soft bounce of the trampoline beneath them, she spoke with a boldness that made her feel very free, very alive, and more happy than she’d been in many months.
As she toyed with Grey’s softness between her fingers, she appreciated that the man knew how to both give and receive, lead and follow. Ego didn’t rule him. Pleasure did. And stroking the smooth flesh of his erection, watching him fight against squirming, had her on a power trip that inflamed her need to be with him.
She chuckled softly, languidly, flicked her thumb around the wide head of his sex, took satisfaction in his low moan. “I never knew paybacks could be so much fun.”
He spoke between gritted teeth, his tone a purred warning. “You’re going to spoil the fun if you…”
“If I?” she pressed, then bent over and placed the tip of her tongue along his sensitive ridge.
He sucked in air as if his life depended on it. Tiny beads of sweat popped out along his chest. And beneath her tongue, he surged between her lips.
“Enough.” He pulled away with a gasp and breathed deeply for several moments, while she appreciated the clean lines of his body. Built like an athlete in his prime, with long, lean muscles that didn’t bulk up, he reminded her of a fine sculpture that she’d seen in the Eastman Gallery. Nostrils flaring, the pulse in his neck galloping, his eyes bold and wild, he held himself completely motionless, exhibiting the ultimate control.
Locking her gaze to his, ignoring the shimmer of heat nestling in her belly and shooting deeper into her core, she tore open the condom packet. Slowly, gently, she rolled the protection over him, wishing they could be skin to skin, but unwilling to take any additional chances. Judging by the passion simmering through her, she was already risking far more than she’d bargained for.
She’d missed having passion in her life, but not this feeling of perpetual instability, of questioning each phase of what happened next. She felt as if she’d stepped out of a perfectly good airplane at twenty thousand feet. Now free-falling, she wondered if her parachute would open. The ride down might be the most rewarding of her life—if the landing didn’t kill her.
She told herself to be strong. Some risks were worth taking.
She told herself she’d wanted more passion in her life. And now that she was getting it, she would never forgive herself if she backed away.
The more she enjoyed Grey’s company, the higher the stakes became. She could no longer think of their weekend as a fling to relax and have a little fun. Not with the electricity continually arcing between them. Not when she feared being zapped by his magnetism.
His eyes compelled her hands to move over him, sheathing him in protection. And then like a racehorse sprinting from the gate, he shot toward her, his shoulders tumbling her onto her back. The soft mat of the trampoline cushioned her bottom as she rolled. The trampoline’s springs squeaked. Her legs parted or Grey’s knees opened her wider, she didn’t know which. She only knew that he’d plunged into her, filling her with heat, again giving her that part of himself that she craved so much.
She hadn’t counted on the bounce of the trampoline countering his thrusting hips. For his every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. The deeper he drove into her, the higher her hips lifted, bouncing against his pelvis, flesh to flesh, creating the most electrifying friction. Every nerve sizzled and stretched.
Then he changed the angle of penetration, running the hard length of himself against her clit. There was no more teasing. No more subtlety. Just heat. Friction. And sensations that caused every muscle to draw tight in anticipation of release.
With his hands on either side of her head, his face above hers framed by the blue sky, the world seemed too bright, too radiant, too full of sensations to abide.
Closing her eyes, she concentrated on him. His heated breath fanning her ear. His hard chest, with crisp swells of hair, brushing against her responsive breasts. His straining cock rubbing her most sensitive places until her back bowed and her breath came in hot, hard gulps.
“You feel…terrific,” she told him.
“I aim to please.”
“I’d say your aim is a bull’s-eye…just…about…perfect.” She clutched his back, tried not to dig her fingernails into the fluid muscles that corded and bunched with his efforts.
In truth, he was perfect. Perfectly male. A perfect lover, made up of super-coordinated muscle and bone, driven by the expertise of his knowledge and freewheeling passion.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, used the give in the trampoline’s matting to achieve the optimum momentum. When he dipped his head to kiss her, his breath sweetly mixing with hers, their tongues mimicking his seduction, she plunged over the edge, her muscles spasming, clenching around him, taking him with her.
For long, wonderful moments, her senses spun out of control and she anticipated a soft comfy landing. But he reached between their bodies, his fingers finding the center of those sensations, extending the spasms, drawing out the pleasure until her mind went numb. She came again, the next orgasm spilling over her before the last had receded, the gratification so intense, she quivered from the aftershocks.
Startled by the intensity, she opened her eyes to find him staring at her face in joy and wonder. He collapsed on top of her, rolled so she ended up on top.
“Thank you,” he murmured in her ear, his heartbeat fast and furious against hers. “You are one hot lady.”
“You make me hot,” she admitted, wondering when she’d ever felt this sated and relaxed.
She could lie here all day with him as if she hadn’t a care in the world, except how long he’d take to recuperate so they could make love again. Experimentally, she tensed those muscles that held him inside her and found him still hard, wonderfully still ready.
Not one to question such a marvelous gift, now on top, she slowly began to move her hips, upward, then downward. The extra give from the trampoline took a little getting used to, but the padding cushioned her knees and the spring made movement easier. But Grey’s surprised and pleased expression egged her on.
With him under her and on his back, his hands were free to roam over her. He skimmed his fingers over her breasts, allowing his thumbs to settle on her nipples, rekindling the blaze and filling her with more fire. She wanted to make this as good for him as he had for her, but when his hands dipped between her thighs, her hips seemed to increa
se the tempo of their own accord.
She tried to hold back and wait for him, but her body, so sensitized to his touch, refused to cooperate. She lost track of time. She lost track of the ocean waves lapping the seawall and the sun shining down on them. The entire world narrowed to just the two of them. One man and one woman who fit together as if they’d been fashioned by a master sculptor, two pieces of the same whole.
When she climaxed again, she had to swallow back a scream. And, afterward, as they both caught their breaths and finally separated, she felt complete. Sated.
As glistening perspiration dried on her indulged flesh and he removed the condom, she closed her eyes again, thinking herself ready for a nap. However, Grey had other ideas. He tugged her by the hand and she opened her eyes as he helped her down from the trampoline.
“How about a dip in the pool?” he asked.
Before she could even answer, he pulled her in. The cool water on her hot skin invigorated and renewed her energy, but what pleased her more was that he never released her hand. They surfaced together and his gentle kiss touched her deeply.
She’d wanted their time together to keep progressing, and he’d done his best to comply with her wishes, opening up to her in ways she hadn’t expected, in ways both large and small, and stirring emotions in her that gleamed as bright and shiny and promising as a newly minted copper penny. She liked the side of Grey that he allowed her to see but she couldn’t help wondering about the part of himself he had yet to share. His reluctance to talk about himself added to his mystique but the times when he did open up became all the more precious.
They spent the rest of the day swimming, making love and napping. By the time he flew them back to New Orleans in the helicopter, she knew she was in deep trouble. Somehow her search for passion had turned into something more. Something she didn’t want to name. Something that scared her right down to her toes.
Double the Thrill Page 14
