by Virna DePaul
“How are you feeling?” he asked, and she heard the chuckle in his voice. He was teasing her for getting drunk.
“I’m fine, thanks.” She felt a little woozy, in reality, but the pleasure of his arms around her negated any hangover she might have suffered. Nothing was more important than being with him. It was a dream come true. How many nights had she spent longing for a moment like this one? She closed her eyes, determined to take it in.
“You were feeling rather…amorous last night,” he murmured. His breath ruffled her hair.
She pressed her face to his chest, her skin on fire at the memory. “You don’t have to rub it in,” she muttered.
“I’m only teasing you, love. Believe me, it wasn’t easy saying no. It took every damn bit of strength I had.”
She dared look at him. He wasn’t smiling. “Really?”
“Really. I called on all the angels and saints to help me. It was a close call.”
She propped herself up, fascinated. “You wouldn’t do anything because I’d been drinking?”
“Of course not. What kind of man do you think I am?”
A unicorn, she thought wryly. “It’s not that common, is all.”
“My mam and dad raised us better than that,” he said. “And they’d come back down and beat me black and blue if I ever took advantage of a woman. I’m sure of it.”
She wished she could tell him how much his words meant to her, but there was no way to make sense of what she was feeling. He might laugh at her, or think she was overthinking it. Only a woman could understand how much it meant to feel safe and protected like that.
Instead of trying to put it into words, Erica kissed him. He hesitated only for a split second, then plunged his hands into her hair and crushed his lips to hers. She reveled in his touch, the feel of his body under hers. She let loose, letting go of everything she’d felt for so long. All the times she’d longed to touch him, all the nights she’d dreamed of being in his arms. Imagining what his lips tasted like.
With a grunt, he rolled over, still kissing her. So he wanted to be in control. Erica had no problem with that, and handed herself over gladly.
“I need to taste you, and not your mouth,” he whispered in a ragged growl. She was shocked, yet instantly twice as wet as his kiss had already made her. She wondered who in their right mind would say no to something like that.
She bit her lip, which obviously drove him crazy, and nodded. He kissed his way down her body, pushing up the t-shirt he’d given her to wear. His lips grazed her skin, and she shivered as he went lower and lower. She arched her back when he reached the place where her thighs met, and he made short work of nearly ripping off her panties.
She barely had time to register shock before his tongue was on her. He lapped at her swollen lips, driving her insane. “Oh! My! God!” she gasped, stuffing her fist in her mouth to quiet herself, feeling like she would explode before he’d even gone deeper. “Oh that is so good…” Erica whispered, gripping Riley’s head even tighter than she had before, grinding herself into his face. “Please, more, please,” she begged, and he groaned in response. The vibration from his groaning made her even more excited. She was almost in pain at that point from the extreme arousal.
Riley smiled up at her, an evil grin, his green eyes flashing. She knew he was loving how crazy he made her, and wondered if it wasn’t payback for driving him crazy the night before. “You taste so good,” he said. “I want more of you.” His tongue went deeper, then, sliding between her lips, lapping at her folds.
She practically exploded, hips shooting off the bed. He kept going and going, licking and sucking on her as she writhed and moaned. The more she moved her hips, the harder and faster his tongue moved.
“Riley…oh, God! Yes!” she whispered raggedly, as she came harder than she’d ever come in her life. She thought she might pass out from the intensity—it was better than in the shower, better than on the phone, better than anything she’d ever felt. He held on tight to her thighs, which threatened to crush his head from the force of her orgasm, and let her ride it out until she lay there whimpering and gasping for breath, shivering every so often.
He gently kissed her between her legs, one more time, before moving over her again. She wrapped her legs around his waist instinctively, wanting to draw him inside her.
“That was incredible,” she murmured in his ear. “Thank you.” He held her, kissing her forehead, her nose, her cheeks. Her mouth. She opened her eyes to find him smiling the sexy smile that had first attracted her to him. She knew they weren’t finished yet, and her body responded eagerly.
“I want you,” Riley whispered, his voice cracking with need. He thrust his hips against her and she groaned as his length skewered her hip. He was hot, throbbing. “I want you so much, it’s killing me.”
She ran her hands up his strong arms and shoulders, then wrapped her arms around his neck. Their foreheads touched, and Erica could feel his hot breath mingling with her own. She couldn’t believe her fantasy was coming true. Her heart was about to burst from pure joy.
“I need you inside me,” she whispered back.
Everything she’d been wanting to say and do in a year’s worth of fantasies was suddenly real. She could hardly believe the words coming from her, how completely brazen she sounded. All the while, she felt more vulnerable than she’d ever felt in her life—somehow, she trusted him. Maybe because he hadn’t taken advantage when he could have.
She rolled over on top of him, wanting to make it last forever. He still wore his shorts, his hard length obviously outlined against the cotton. Erica started rocking her hips against him, loving the sensation while also reveling in the sight of a gorgeous man stretched out beneath her. He was totally at her mercy, and his sighs and groans only excited her more.
They kept that up, Erica riding him and holding him down, until he begged her to stop. “I can’t go on much more like that,” he muttered through clenched teeth. She grinned triumphantly.
His eyes were closed, his face turned toward the wall. She took his chin in her hand and turned his face to hers. “Look at me,” she whispered. See me. Be here with me, please, her heart begged. She needed to know he was fully with her, not thinking of anybody else. Just her. She wanted to feel connected to him, all the way.
So he looked deeply into her eyes as her hips slowed down. Eventually, they both went still. Just looking at each other. She kissed him again, pressing her body to his. His hands dug into her butt, kneading her. She gasped, raising her head and throwing it back. He latched onto her throat, then worked his way down to her breasts. Her arms trembled as she held herself up so he could lick every inch of her. It was a struggle to control the moans bubbling up inside her, but she kept quiet for both their sakes.
“On your hands and knees,” he whispered, lifting her from him. At the sound of his commanding tone, a shiver went through her body. She did as she was asked, gladly going along with him. It was totally unlike her—she would never normally be so bold with a first-time lover, but hadn’t he already made her push past her boundaries? She loved every second of it. It was like Riley unlocked a new side of her that had always been there—nasty, brazen, wanton. She had always been a boring girl when it came to sex, and she knew now it was because she’d never felt this intense passion before. She had never felt so swept away, so eager to try new things.
As she got on her hands and knees, she heard him behind her, removing his shorts and, given the crinkling of foil, finding a condom and rolling it on. She whimpered, rolling her hips to tell her how impatient she was, and finally, he positioned himself behind her. She felt pressure at her entrance, and shivered again at what it promised.
“Are you okay?” he asked, and she heard the sincerity in his voice.
Her heart opened to him, and she answered him in total honesty.
“Fuck me,” she groaned. “Please, Riley.”
He groaned, “It will be my absolute pleasure,” before taking her by the hips
and driving himself forward. She gasped from the force, then moaned through clenched teeth as he filled her. He was inside her. Finally, inside her. She was sure it had to be a dream, but then, dreams had never felt so good.
He started moving, slowly at first. “I’ve wanted this so much,” he muttered as he pumped his hot length in and out of her.
“Yes…yes…yes, baby,” she urged him on, whispering approval with each sharp, deep thrust. She was rewarded with another thrust, even harder this time. “Yes, that’s it. Deeper…harder…more…” She knew he loved it, as he groaned each time she muttered encouragement.
“Say it again,” he grunted, laying the flat of his hand against her ass cheek. She gasped, then groaned as the pleasure intensified.
“I want it deeper!” she panted. Another hard thrust. Another spank. She felt the thrill all through her.
She pushed back against him, matching him thrust for thrust. Rearing up on just her knees, she reached behind herself, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck. She needed all of him, not just his thrusting length but his hands and his mouth, as well. Her need was all-consuming, burning her from the inside out. She pulled him to her for a deep, desperate kiss.
His hands left her hips and cupped her breasts, kneading them as they rode each other. She moaned into his mouth as the tension in her core grew tighter, tighter, threatening to burst at any second.
He broke their kiss, and she whispered his name again and again as she bucked back against him, nearing the finish. One of his hands reached up to her hair and pulled, tilting her head to bare her throat to his mouth. She gasped and moaned and practically spoke in tongues, passion sweeping through her, leaving her begging for more.
“Oh, my God, love…you taste so good…you feel so good around me…” he whispered in her ear, before biting the lobe.
Erica shivered, still pulsing her hips so he moved in and out of her. One of his hands moved down her belly until it cupped her mound. His fingers found her clit and stroked it in time with her thrusts, and then it was all too much—his thickness moving in and out of her, his mouth sucking on her neck, the stroking of his nimble fingers on her pulsing button.
She was completely lost, sheer pleasure coursing all through her body, lighting her on fire from the inside out. He started thrusting faster, faster, his own explosion on its way. Erica reached the brink. “Oh—oh, God—Riley! Yes!” She broke through to the other side, gasping, trembling, fighting to control the screams she wanted to let loose.
Seconds later, she heard him groan against her shoulder as his release overtook him. He held her close to him, shaking a little as he finished.
She couldn’t believe it. Even as her insides quivered, she couldn’t believe they’d done it and that it had been so unbearably good. Better than she’d ever dreamed.
She tried to lower herself to the bed as gracefully as she could, then froze in panic. What now? In darkness, in the middle of the night, it was one thing to lose oneself in passion. In broad daylight, on the other hand? At his place, without a car? Would he want her to leave?
She didn’t need to be so worried, as it turned out. Once he opened his eyes and stretched out on his back, Riley reached for her. She went to him eagerly, relieved, resting her head on his chest. She listened to his strong, rapid heartbeat. It slowed as his chest rose and fell, matching the beat of Erica’s heart as she relaxed. She’d never been so happy.
Chapter Eleven
Erica drifted back to sleep, but he didn’t. He was wide awake.
It felt like he’d wanted Erica forever, and yet after having had her, he was stunned at how good it had been. How raunchy and passionate, yet tender and sweet at the same time. He had assumed they’d be a little clumsy with each other at first, until it became too hot to control themselves. It had been anything but clumsy. It had felt right, like they were supposed to be together that way.
Like they’d always been meant for one another.
He’d wanted her desperately, but the thing was, he still felt desperate. Not just to have her again, but to keep her. And that was making him feel decidedly vulnerable.
Erica was a great girl—one of the best, easily. Smart, beautiful, with a wicked sense of humor and the ability to roll with the punches. She could hold her own against him and his brothers, which wasn’t a small feat. She was adorable, too, quirky and off-kilter. Perfect, in other words.
That was what bothered him most, he realized. She was perfect, when he was anything but. Would he disappoint her? It was more pressure than he felt comfortable with, and he didn’t know how to take it. He laid there for a long time, thinking things over, wondering if he was making a mistake by letting such a perfect woman get too close to him.
She looked like an angel when she slept. The early-morning sun didn’t hurt as it filtered through the blinds and created a sort of halo effect around her head. She breathed softly, evenly, totally different from the nearly raving fiend she’d been only an hour earlier while pushing her ass back, pushing him in and pulling him out of her. He longed to reach out and touch her, but he held himself back. He would only wake her, and he didn’t want to disturb her when she was so peaceful.
Every curve of her face was like poetry, one flowing seamlessly into the other. He was almost awed by her beauty, the way a person feels awe when they look at something truly inspiring. He remembered going on a road trip not long after arriving in America, driving hours north to Humboldt County to see the redwoods in person. He’d been dumbstruck by their magnitude, absolutely stunned. He felt something similar to that while watching Erica sleep.
She stirred after a while, rousing slowly. He watched as her eyes opened, their hazel depths focusing on him. She smiled slowly, sleepily.
“Hey there,” she whispered, reaching for him. He took her hand, kissing her fingertips.
“Hey, yourself.”
They held hands, facing each other. He had never felt so totally open, so vulnerable. It still scared him, since he’d never known anything like it, but part of him already knew how precious the feelings were.
“You all right?” he asked. “Are you hungry?”
“Eh, not really hungry. But all right, for sure.” She grinned.
“Not disappointed?”
She frowned. “Uh, were you here when I was here? Because if so, I can’t imagine why you’d ask such a question. Wasn’t it obvious that I enjoyed myself?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, but then again, when you’ve been waiting for something for a long while, it can seem a little…anti-climactic when you finally get it. Right? Haven’t you ever felt that way?”
She seemed to seriously consider his words. “Once, when I was a kid. I wanted a doll for Christmas, a very specific Barbie. I was obsessed with having her. I used to talk about her every day, to make sure my parents knew I wanted her. Not any other doll. Her, specifically.”
“I guess you got her, then?”
“I did.” She snickered. “And after that first moment of excitement, when I unwrapped her box, I realized she was just another doll. There was nothing all that special about her. I had lots of dolls. She was just one more.”
“Was I just one more?” he teased.
Her cheeks turned red. “There haven’t been that many, if that’s what you’re asking. Definitely not as many dolls as I owned!” She laughed, putting a hand over her mouth. “I think I had, like, three dozen!” They both laughed and she shushed him, afraid Sean might have come home already.
“I’m glad I wasn’t number thirty-seven,” he whispered, and she giggled.
“More like number three. And to address your question again, no. I’m not disappointed at all. Quite the opposite.” She snuggled against him, and he was more relieved than he felt comfortable admitting to myself.
“So what are we going to do about your brothers?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know it’s not the best idea for them to know we slept together. I don’t want to cause any troubl
e for you.”
“You could never be trouble for me,” he lied.
“Don’t be like that. I know I could.”
He sighed. “My brothers will have concerns, mostly Quinn and Brady. What we’ve built is important to us, and one of our rules from the beginning has been to keep our hands off the staff. I’m the first one to break it, unless they’re all much better liars than I think they are.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Things could get ugly if we don’t work out. Or they could work out, and it might affect the way you do your job—or the way I do mine. They probably worry we’ll end up snogging in the pantry when there were thirsty customers looking for a drink.”
She giggled. “Sorry, sometimes I can’t help laughing at some of your words. But I’m not laughing at you. I see your point.” She drummed her fingers against his chest. “What can we do, then? I guess it would be best to keep it quiet and casual, huh?”
He watched her carefully to see if she meant it. She appeared to. “That’s all right with you, then?”
“I’m not asking for an engagement ring, Riley.” She smirked. “And I’m a grown up. I understand how things need to be. Besides, I like my job. It’s fun working for you guys.”
“So, what? We’ll stay away from each other?” He hated the idea.
She seemed to hate it, too. “Do you think I could stay away from you now?” she asked, grinning. One of her legs wrapped around one of his, and he stirred.
“No more than I could stay away from you,” he admitted.
“So we’ll be careful. We’ll keep it to my place. Or, you know…anywhere else we can manage.”
“I like the way you think,” he murmured, rolling her onto her back. She sighed, her hands running up and down his arms, then over his shoulders and the back of his neck as she pulled him to her for a long, searching kiss. She whimpered in the back of her throat when their tongues touched.
