Rapid Pulse: A Limited Edition Spicy Romance Collection

by Gina Kincade

  "Yep, who wants to take the bus or get a taxi everywhere?"

  "It must be nice."

  I shrugged. I'd never known anything different.

  I waited for another topic of conversation to arise, desperately trying to distract myself from the outline of his abs under his T-shirt or the strong thighs encased in denim. Jeremy who? I was done with all that, there was no way a man who looked this good could screw up sex. He seemed to exude it, making me wet just sitting next to him.

  He gave the driver the address and we left. Traffic wasn't too bad for this time of night and we made it to his place in less than fifteen minutes. The longest fifteen minutes ever when your date smelled like marshmallows and sexy man.

  He came around and opened my door for me. I let my driver know I would call him when I was ready to leave.

  While my body talked big about the fifty ways I could get this man under me, my head was telling me to be careful and take it easy. Usually I listened to my instincts, but it's difficult with a raging libido. He had no doorman, but a decent elevator and the ride was smooth. Each step closer to his place we got, the more I really thought about what I was doing. He was a complete stranger, and who knew what could be inside his apartment? I took a deep breath and stopped before exiting the elevator. He turned around and stood looking at me. His face said he knew exactly what I was thinking.

  "Take your time. I don't have anywhere to be." He held his hand out for me to take. He seemed genuine and sincere. The accent sealed the deal. I stepped out of the elevator, but slid my hand into my pocket, finger over the speed dial to my driver. He'd come running if I called.

  I entered his apartment and was pleasantly surprised. He had a plethora of video equipment and cameras, so I assumed he was into photography. His apartment had western amenities, which meant he made a decent amount of money, and it was spotlessly clean. He either hired someone to clean or he was seriously OCD.

  "So what do you think?" He asked, waiting for me to look around.

  I slipped off my heels and sat on his vast couch. His view was more building than scenery, but I didn't mind. He came over to me after a few moments and sat with a respectable distance between us.

  "I think it's great. It's very clean." I added

  He laughed. "It probably isn't what you're used to."

  I met his gaze. "What am I used to?"

  He gave me a "stop shitting me" look. "You are carrying a real Louis Vuitton bag, your shoes probably cost more than my rent, and you have a driver. You're rich."

  He made it sound like an insult.

  "It's not my fault. I was born with this money."

  "Oh, so you don't spend it."

  I waited for him to finish his tirade against the wealthy before I was about to leave. I stood up to go but he continued.

  "I bet you enjoy spending Daddy's money."

  Wow. I blinked, kind of stunned. I had never met anyone in my life that was angry at me for being rich. Maybe I hung out in the wrong neighborhoods.

  "Please, enlighten me...how can I help being rich? I have a job. I work for every cent in my bank account." Indignant didn't even begin to cover how this was going to play out.

  He lifted his hands and began to count on his fingers. "You could give to the poor." I narrowed my eyes. "You could save it, start your own business...." He trailed off after he finally met my eyes. The look I wore must have scared him. Usually it was reserved especially for Jeremy. I sure hadn't expected to have to bust it out tonight.

  "It's not that you actually deserve a response but...I do give to the poor, I give a lot of money to the less fortunate. I also save money. I work for my family business and my budgeting situation is none of your concern."

  His hotness was not in equal proportion to his aversion to my money. It was definitely time to call it a night.

  "Well, it's been fun."

  He stood and lightly gripped my arm. An electric sizzle danced along the small hairs across my arm where his fingers touched me. Each one was standing on end. His grin and accent together were killers and I forgot my anger for the moment.

  "Wait, where are you going? I'm sorry. I can get carried away sometimes."

  I looked down at his hand touching my arm. It was solid, heavy, and hot. I turned toward him, thinking about a kiss as he guided me back down to the couch. I sat again and waited. Well, we had to have something in common. I glanced around his place, trying to find something I could use to start a real conversation. I found nothing at all in which I could converse with him about.

  "So... why don't you tell me more about yourself," he said. I could do that.

  "Well, I work for an accounting firm here in Seoul, but only temporarily until I'm transferred back to New York. What about you?"

  He gestured to the room.

  "I'm a freelance photojournalist from Sydney covering a summit between Australia and Korea."

  He said Australia like 'Australiar.' It was nice. Besides being completely distracted by his general gorgeousness, his voice and accent made me wonder what he would sound like talking dirty in my ear as he made me come.

  "Ok, you've got to stop staring at me. You're going to make me blush," he said.

  I looked down at my lap. "Sorry."

  We sat in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable, just weighty. I was about five seconds from launching myself at him when he came up with another topic of conversation. "Do you like your job?"

  I tried not to groan. I was purposefully trying not to think about Jeremy and his nimble fingers. "I love it, some of my colleagues I could live without, but otherwise it's great."

  He smiled and reached to grab my hand in his, just holding it.

  "Well, I sort of work with one of my exes. He isn't over our relationship. It's pretty awkward and kind of pathetic. I tell him practically every single day I won't marry him and have 3.5 babies." I shook my head. I didn't want to talk about Jeremy.

  "Anyway, I don't want to talk about him, or anything else." I met his gaze so he understood my meaning. I gave him my best 'come and get it grin' and he figured it out rather quickly. He unlaced his fingers from mine and cupped my cheek, tilting it gently for a kiss. He was warm and soft with beautiful lush lips. When his skin touched mine my body gave in. I quickly hiked up my dress and straddled his lap.

  "Woah. Well, you're friendly," he said, running his hands up the outside of my bare thighs.

  "I want you." I leaned in and kissed him again, softly, teasing his lips with my teeth.

  "You don't need to tell me twice, love." His accent continued to stoke the fire that had ignited in my core the moment I laid eyes on him.

  Finally he took control of the kiss, clutching my face in his big hands and delving his tongue between my lips. He tasted like amaretto sour and it was pleasant mixing with the taste of my 'sex on the beach.' I melted into his body, naturally opening myself wider to him. His erection pressed directly against me through his jeans.

  I broke the kiss and reached around to unzip my dress. Once he realized what I was doing he finished it for me and whisked it off my head. This is why a girl needs fabulous underwear. His gaze travelled over the barely-there scraps of lace that covered my body. Once he was focused on my face again he gripped my bra straps and drew them down my shoulders, planting a kiss on my skin where they had previously sat.

  A fog started in my brain. I wanted him so much, but the moment he reached down and touched my core I thought of Jeremy and cursed, breaking away from him.

  "Sorry, am I moving too fast?"

  His lips were pink and swollen from my mouth, eyes heavy lidded. Our breaths mingled together.

  Jeremy would not ruin this.

  I pressed my mouth against his again, grinding myself into his hand. He reached around and gripped my ass with the other. I started to relax more until he slid a finger inside my panties and the soft press of his digit against my clit brought Jeremy to my mind again.

  I pulled away from his mouth again and dropped my head onto h
is shoulder, groaning out loud. He pulled his hand from my panties and drew it up the bare skin of my back. I exhaled hard and carefully withdrew from his arms.

  I hung my head and stood, libido finally crushed for the night. The simple thought of Jeremy's hand where Steve's hands had been stopped all forward momentum. I climbed off his lap and grabbed my dress. "I gotta go."

  He wrinkled his forehead and stared at me, confusion clear on his face.

  "I'm sorry. We just..." I wracked my brain for an excuse. "Barely know each other. I need to get to know you and the alcohol caused me to get away from myself."

  He pulled me back down beside him, the smooth fabric slipping through my fingers and back to the floor. The heat of his body leached into mine wherever our skin touched. "Well, talk to me. Get to know me. I may be opinionated but I'm not a bad guy."

  "I never said you were a bad guy. I'm just...I've just..." I blew out a heavy breath. "I've just had a lot of guy issues lately."

  He wrapped a finger through my hair, curling it around. "Oh? Was that the reason for the ad then?"

  "Yeah, the guy I mentioned earlier. He just gets worse every day. Acting like a leach, on me all the time. It seems every day he has a new comment about my behavior or a new reason to stalk me around the office."

  He continued toying with my hair, sliding it around his fingers, the strands shining in the overhead lighting. "Why don't you just change offices then?"

  I smiled, chuckled. "I'm not here because I want to be. My father sent me here. I just messed around with Jeremy out of convenience."

  "Wow, that's harsh."

  "It's the truth."

  His hand was warm as he trailed it down my face, to my neck, then finally to the curve of my breast, causing goose bumps in its wake. My body reacted of its own volition, but Jeremy still dominated my brain.

  "There are other things I can do to get your head in the game." He gave me a prurient grin as his hand trailed down over my belly to cup my sex. I should have been writhing against his hand, instead I felt Jeremy's there.

  I sighed deeply. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired, I guess."

  He didn't look like he bought it. I quickly dressed, grabbed my bag, pecked him on the cheek, and dashed out the door.

  Chapter Five

  I wanted to kill that bastard for this. Steve was drop-dead gorgeous and I was about to finally get something that wasn't Jeremy, yet he had to interrupt that as well. Just the mere thought of the man made me feel that deep burn of guilt, as if I betrayed him. Why in the world couldn't I just get laid by a man that wasn't Jeremy? I texted my driver while I waited on the curb. A bottle of wine to drown myself in was exactly what I needed.

  Soon the driver pulled up and I was home in no time. Once inside I went straight to my wine fridge, pulled out the bottle with the highest alcohol content, and chugged half of it.

  There was nothing left for me if my body couldn't react to anyone but Jeremy. I was doomed to spend the rest of my life as "the little wife" bearing children and satisfying my husband.

  That was my mother, but that wasn't me. No, I was nothing like her. I didn't need a man to be satisfied. Why does everyone always assume that? Sure, I enjoyed sex and the little things men did to make my life more convenient, but I didn't need one to be happy, and I certainly didn't need one to save me.

  I plopped on my couch and took off the dress. It felt itchy against my skin after my body had felt so alive under Steve's lips. I grabbed my computer and opened Skype to call Jeremy. If my body wanted him, then my body would have him, and then I would kick him to the curb once and for all.

  His face popped up, his hair disheveled. He'd been sleeping. "Tony? How was your date?"

  "Fuck you. Get over here."

  "Do you realize you're in your underwear?" He asked through a yawn.

  "Why do you think I'm in my underwear? I'm waiting for you." He blinked a few times, and then hung up. Considering this building belonged to my father and everyone at the firm lived in it, it only took a few minutes for him to show up at my door. When he knocked, I called out for him to come in. I sat on the couch, laptop still sitting on my legs, wine bottle propped against my hip bone, long desensitized to the cold.

  "Are you drunk?"

  I just stared at him in his T-shirt, shorts, and flip flops. He was still sexy and I still wanted him. I rolled my eyes at the concept.

  "Not yet. Want some?"

  "You woke me up, so I could drink with you?" He crossed his arms against his chest, causing the shirt to tighten around his biceps and belly.

  "No, I woke you up, so you could fuck me. Duh."

  "We discussed this Tonya, it's over."

  "Then what was that in the conference room?"

  He had the nerve to grin. The bastard.

  "I really hate you."

  "You really hate me? That's incentive to bring out my sensitive parts in your presence."

  "Sit down. It's hurting my neck to have to look up at you."

  He stepped over my heels and dress to sit by my feet on the couch. Once upon a time he would have grabbed them and massaged them until I was a puddle of bliss, but not anymore. We weren't like that anymore. I was so angry about this evening that I contemplated throwing the bottle of wine at him, too bad it wasn't empty. I lifted it and took a long drag before putting it back on the table. I placed the laptop next to it.

  "If it's over, why are you here?"

  He looked down at his hands then back at me. "I wanted to make sure you were all right after your date."

  I pursed my lips in annoyance. "I didn't have a date."

  "But...I saw you leave."

  I took a deep breath. How could I word it so I inflicted as much pain as possible?

  "I met him at Monkey Beach and after we eye-fucked each other from across the room, we left. He was hot, I mean, hotter than any guy I've ever seen, in person and celebrity." I knew that I was being a brat. Although the little voice in my head was telling me I was being worse than a brat, I was being a bitch—but for some reason I couldn't stop the words spilling out.

  "When he slid his hands into my panties I was so wet for him, there was nothing I wouldn't have done to get him inside me." I swallowed the memory, the shame I felt of having his hands on my and only wanting Jeremy. He would pay for that.

  I watched his reaction. He turned his body sideways to face me, eyes blazing.

  "Did he hurt you?"

  I snorted, "With his godlike sex appeal? No."

  "Then why did you leave?"

  The truth would give him power over me. I lied. "I just did."

  "No way, I know that tone. Why did you leave Mr. Godlike Sex Appeal?"

  "I said: I don't want to talk about it." I sat up and the room blurred at the edges from moving too quickly. I stood up to stand in front of him. He just watched me, his face unreadable. I know I am soft in some places but when I buy underwear I make sure I look good in them. He was doing a fine job hiding his reaction. I glanced at his lap—for the most part.

  "Have you had a hard-on since you walked in here?"

  He fixed his face into a business-like countenance I knew all too well and shook his head.

  "No?" I asked as I draped a leg beside one of his hips. He stared ahead, stone-faced.

  "Are you sure?" I brought the other leg up to the other side, straddling his lap.

  He cleared his throat.

  "I've had a hard-on since you called me."

  I sat down, weight exactly where it should be, and hung my arms around his neck.

  "Are you going to ask me to get off?"

  He finally looked at me, really looked me and grasped my waist, pulling me down for a soft kiss. I wasn't in the mood for soft.

  Chapter Six

  The heat of her body directly against my cock was causing my brain to malfunction. I was done with this, with her. Yet...here she was and I didn't want to let her go. I drew her down for a kiss, but she wouldn't have it, instead biting my bottom lip hard. I jumped, pulling b
ack.

  "I don't want a bedtime story. I want you to fuck me." Her voice was dark and husky.

  I thought for a moment about why I shouldn't do exactly what she asked, and couldn't come up with a good enough reason. Mean, angry, hatred-filled sex wasn't a horrible thing. The scraps of lace covering her body left nothing to the imagination and she felt amazing in my arms, all gentle curves and heat. Before I could move to take her bra off she reached down and lifted my shirt over my head.

  "You're not moving fast enough," she complained.

  She climbed off my lap and headed into her bedroom. I followed. It was the only option.

  I slipped my shoes off in the doorway and watched her ass as she crawled onto the bed on her hands and knees. That underwear hid absolutely nothing. The bed dipped under my weight as I placed my knees into the memory foam. She lay on her back in the center of the bed. Her bra was now on the floor. I gripped her panties in my hands and slid them down her legs, tossing them away.

  Damn, she was beautiful. She'd always been beautiful, but she never realized it. I told her every single day we were together. I swallowed, memories threatening to overwhelm me. I wanted her more than my own breath, and for some reason she couldn't see that, or didn't want to.

  I rolled over and took off my shorts, now naked and hard, just for her. I crawled back up to her on the vast bed as she lay there, legs splayed open to my view, touching herself.

  "You were taking too long."

  I smiled, "To take my clothes off?"

  She shrugged like it didn't matter, biting her lip as she circled her clit with her finger. The moisture glistened on her skin, the skin I wanted to taste. I dipped my head between her legs, licking her center, bottom to top. She grasped my hair in her hand and arched her back as I found the perfect spot. She tasted as sweet as I remembered. I knew exactly the way she liked it. I trailed my tongue down through the folds, causing her to grip my hair harder. I didn't mind, it was hot.

  She seeped into my mouth. The more she squirmed around as I licked her, the harder I got. Once my hips starting grinding into the bed on their own accord, I released her. A blissful look came over her face and I loved how her body was open and exposed to me. I was going to make sure she remembered this for a long time. I had no idea what happened on her date, but she was here with me now and not him, and that said something, even if she didn't want to admit it.