Forbidden Fling (Wildwood Book 1)

by Skye Jordan

  He pressed his other hand over her head on the jamb and lowered his gaze to her mouth. Using the hand at her neck, he pulled her to him, and, without moving an inch, he brought her within reach to nip and lick at her lips. And the slow, wet slide of his tongue along her lip as his eyes held hers felt wildly intimate and heavily laden with the symbolism of ownership.

  Which didn’t fit him at all.

  Then again, maybe she just didn’t know him as well as she thought she did.

  He lowered the hand on the frame and followed the path of his tongue with his fingers. Lord, he was so sultry and sensual and sexy. She was already pounding for him again.

  “Can you stay tonight?” His question came whisper soft. But he didn’t wait for an answer before he added pressure to her lower lip and drew her mouth open, then slipped his finger inside, and said, “Suck me.”

  And another shock of heat cracked through her body.

  She closed her lips around his finger, stroked it with her tongue. He tasted salty and musky, and the fire in his eyes created the same heat between her legs. When she pulled his finger free, he cupped her face, his grip firm. “Can you stay so I can have you all night? And wake you with my mouth?”

  Her belly fluttered. Confusion clouded her mind. She couldn’t tell if he was sending mixed messages or if she was just receiving them that way. Either way, they kicked off a deeply ingrained self-preservation response.

  “Your neighbors shouldn’t see me here. No telling who knows who, you know?”

  She tried to keep it light, but the spark in his eyes dimmed and something in that look shot her mind back to that day of the walk-through. That look reminded her that no matter how good the sex was between them, no matter how much they liked each other or even respected each other, there were other forces at work. And as long as the bar was between them, they would be, essentially, enemies.

  “Ethan,” she started, a chill stealing over her gut in fear of his answer, “what if . . . what’s going to happen if I decide to renovate the bar?”

  His expression changed again. She couldn’t say how, exactly. Just a nuance she couldn’t label, but one that didn’t alleviate her concerns.

  He pushed back, taking a lazy stance a foot away. And as he stared at her, thoughts and emotions passed through his eyes that seemed to thicken the air between them.

  Then he turned away and sauntered toward his bed. The move created a physical shift in Delaney’s body. One that didn’t feel good, but one she knew they both needed. They were getting in way over their heads.

  She waited to see if he still wanted her or if reality would crush their little fantasy world. And in those moments, Delaney realized that going forward in the renovation without Ethan’s affections to look forward to disappointed her in a way she hadn’t experienced since she’d left Wildwood a decade ago. And that was a serious warning sign, because she didn’t let herself get close enough to anyone to be disappointed.

  Her logical side was battling to leave while her emotional side was mired in concrete. Before she’d built up enough rationalization to overcome her desire, he planted his hand on a post of the footboard, turned, and met her eyes with a new guard protecting his own. He heaved a troubled breath. “Let’s just deal with that if it happens.”

  Now she felt guilty. Guilty for all the trouble she’d brought into his life by coming back to town. “I’m really not trying to—”

  “Don’t apologize for taking care of yourself,” he said softly, his gaze thoughtful and serious. “Or for taking care of your family. That’s what you should do. That’s how families should act. No one’s family is perfect, but at the end of the day, they’re still your family. And I agree that family members should stand beside each other. But I’ve also learned something about family from you.”

  She leaned her shoulder on the doorjamb. “Well, that can’t be good.”

  “It’s very good. Good for me anyway. You’ve taught me that there’s a difference between family loyalty and abuse.”

  She nodded, thinking of Avery and Chloe and her father. “Sometimes there’s a very fine line between the two.”

  “Would you be angry with someone doing the same thing?”

  “Taking care of their family?” Her gaze lifted to him again. “No. Never.”

  His shoulders rose in slight shrug. “Neither would I.”

  This. This was why he’d slipped past her barriers so quickly. This was why he stoked strange emotions in her chest.

  He was different. So very different. Open-minded, nonjudgmental, and accepting.

  He knew all her sides—good and bad. And he still wanted to be with her because he wanted to be with her. Sure, he wanted sex. But he didn’t want it as a notch on his bedpost.

  “And right now, you are my grounding force,” he said, dropping to the side of the bed and leaning back on his elbows. “My reality.” His smile was slow and edged with awe and joy. “Delaney Hart is standing in my bedroom with nothing on under her dress. The only way life could get better is if she took it off.”

  Delaney laughed.

  Ethan’s smile slowly faded as he turned thoughtful again. “I want to watch you undress for me and memorize the sight.”

  Those uncomfortable tugs moved from her stomach to her chest, and fear crowded in like soldiers going to battle. Her mind filled with excuses to leave, but Ethan grinned and started swinging his feet as he waited, like a kid on the playground. The sight was so adorable, her fear dissipated, and what remained was affection and desire.

  There wasn’t much to her sundress, so she started by toeing off her sandals, then moving on to the belt sitting high on her ribs in the A-line style. With her gaze on his, Delaney took hold of the silver buckle centered just below her breasts and unhooked the thin metal. She let the belt fall away, then dropped it to the floor.

  “How long have you lived here?” She took two steps closer to the bed and lifted her hand to the bow of the dress strap on the same shoulder and pulled.

  “About three years.”

  “I saw your renovations in the bathroom.” She did the same with the other strap and stood directly in front of him. Her breasts were all that held the dress up now. “You do good work.”

  “Coming from the historical renovation guru of the West Coast, that’s quite a complime—”

  She gave her dress enough of a tug to pull past her breasts, and it slid to the floor. His last syllable hung on his lips while his eyes scoured her like an intimate touch, over and over again, as if he’d never seen her naked. Like he couldn’t take it all in. He exhaled heavily, and the hunger carved in his features mirrored the craving eating her alive on the inside.

  “Now me.” His voice was so heavy with lust, it sounded completely different. He lifted his gaze from her body to meet her eyes. “Undress me.”

  Delaney grinned. That was an unusual request. She wasn’t sure she’d ever had a man ask—or order—her to undress him. But she liked it. At least she liked it coming from Ethan.

  She lifted one knee to the bed alongside his thigh, expecting his gaze to slide down over her body again, but he kept his eyes on hers as she reached for the last button on his shirt and slipped it open. Delaney was the one to break eye contact to appreciate the view. His chest was wide with light-golden hair across his pecs. His belly was tight with a shallow six-pack.

  Hunger surged. “Mmm. I’ve been thinking about this.”

  She ran her hands over the indentions of his abdomen as she lifted her other knee to the bed, straddling his thighs. Stroked her hands up and over his warm, hard chest and sighed.

  Ethan leaned on one elbow and slipped his hand between her legs, but he only touched her with one finger, a featherlight touch that created a disproportionate amount of need. “I love the way you let me look at you”—he stroked her—“eat you”—pushed inside—“touch you.” He pulled out and drew her wetness around her clit in that incredibly gentle way that made her want to writhe.

  With a moan, she cir
cled his wrist and pulled his hand away. “Sit up.”

  He pulled himself upright, then framed her face with both hands and took her mouth in a searingly sensual kiss. His tongue swirled with hers, and he ate at her mouth like a starved man. Delaney gave back, thrilling with every rush of lust he pumped into her blood. She was beginning to think she’d never felt like this with anyone before. This excited, this connected, this needy. Surely she had, but damn if she could remember who or when.

  She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and forced his hands away from her face to pull the fabric off his arms. Then he surrounded her again and rolled her beneath him.

  Oh, skin on skin. Beautiful. The delicious feel of his full weight. The pressure of his rigid cock. She pushed both hands into his hair just as he broke the kiss to lick and bite his way down her body. But Delaney was suddenly ravenous to have him inside her. Filling her.

  “I can’t undress you like this.”

  She tried to sit up, but he cupped her breasts in both hands, molding and squeezing, brushing his thumbs across her nipples. His tongue licked across one. Then the other. Delaney dropped back against the bed and arched into his mouth. Sensation built and pooled everywhere in her body.

  “Ethan.” She lifted his mouth from her breast. “I need you inside me.”

  “God, you’re demanding. Nightstand. Condom.”

  She reached for the nightstand, but it was too far away, so she rolled to her side and pulled open the drawer. By the time she found the condom, Ethan had ditched the rest of his clothes and was kissing his way down her back with his rigid cock pressed against her ass.

  He slid lower, bit her waist, and she flinched and laughed. “I can’t put this on you unless you let me roll over.”

  Instead of moving off her, Ethan snatched the condom from her fingers. “I’ll take care of that. And I’ll also take care of you.” He ripped the package, and his hands disappeared as he put on the condom. Then he stroked warm fingers down her arms and covered her hands with his, pressing them to the rail of the footboard. With Ethan’s chest at her back, his cock nestled at the low curve of her spine, he murmured at her ear. “Let me take care of you the rest of the night.”

  She glanced over her shoulder and found him right there. He kissed her. And by the time he’d used that mouth on her for twenty seconds, she was ready for anything he was willing to give her, so she curled her fingers around the wood.

  He stroked the backs of her thighs and lifted his weight off her, but stayed right there. “Pull your knees under you. Now spread your legs.”

  The orders did strange things to her nerves. The position both thrilled and unnerved. Cool air touched her wet sex, shooting tingles over her swollen, sensitive skin. Then Ethan’s fingers were there, stroking, and Delaney sighed, closed her eyes, and dropped her head forward against his comforter. He slid one finger deep, then two. Delaney arched her back, lifting her ass, and hummed a plea for more.

  Then the smooth, wide head of his cock spread her in a new way. Pushing, stretching, taking her breath as Ethan plunged, then pulled back. He breeched her over and over until she coated him.

  “Mmm, you’re all tight and juicy for me.” His chest pressed her back, and his teeth grazed her ear. “You make me so hard.”

  He gripped her hips and pulled her back to meet his shallow thrusts, driving a little deeper, a little deeper, a little deeper. Delaney’s throat thickened with the thrill of his tight fit, the new stretch, the fresh friction.

  She didn’t understand how it could just keep getting better. And when she picked up the rhythm, driving her pelvis back and into him, Ethan eased off the thrusts, letting Delaney set the pace while his hands roamed. One hand moved around to her mound, creating a pillowlike pressure for her clit. The other cupped her breast, his fingers fanning over her nipple.

  “You feel like heaven.” His rough voice whispered down her neck, his tongue followed, then his teeth, all while his hands stimulated her hot spots and his cock tapped that place inside her that made her wild.

  “Jesus . . . ,” she breathed, unable to believe what he could make her body do.

  “Punch it, baby.” The arm around her hips gave a tug, drawing her into his cock harder, and her pleasure multiplied.

  “Holy shit . . .”

  “Hard and fast,” he coached at her ear, pumping his hips to her rhythm. “The harder, the faster, the better.”

  He was right. And the harder and faster she pumped, the harder and faster he thrust.

  The orgasm came roaring at her, a huge wave of pleasure rising slow, thick, and hot. The wave rolled and gathered momentum and force but didn’t break, leaving Delaney suspended in an excruciating kind of pleasure that immobilized her body and shut down her mind.

  Ethan took over, digging his fingers into her hips and hauling her back against him. Delaney’s hair fell over her face. Her mouth dropped open, but her breath had caught and sounds ebbed only when Ethan pounded them out of her.

  His sweaty hands slipped, and he lost his grip.

  “Oh, God.” She dropped her head forward, gritted her teeth, and dug her nails into the footboard as he repositioned his hands. Her entire body filled and swirled with sensation. “Don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t sto—”

  He found his grip and thrust again.

  Everything coalesced, and the orgasm came to a swift sharp peak. A cry rose from her throat only to be cut off by convulsions of intense, decadent pleasure sweeping through her body. Her mind blanked to everything but the ecstasy.

  Ethan’s grip relaxed. He curled around her, his cheek pressed to her back, his hands stroking her hips where his fingers had been digging in. “You’re amazing,” he murmured between quick breaths, wrapping his arms around her middle. “Everything . . . a man could . . . ever want.”

  Delaney’s sluggish mind registered a blip, but that was all she could manage. And while she lay there with Ethan wrapped around her, still filling her, a yearning she’d never experienced swamped her. The yearning to be loved this completely—not just sexually, but emotionally, mentally, and physically. To be unconditionally loved to the all-encompassing degree their sex had reached.

  And even as the thought formed, Delaney acknowledged the futility of such a desire. She may as well wish for a unicorn. A sharp stab of pain cut through her stomach. The emotional euphoria was long gone, but her body was still drifting down from the clouds. Only now she felt a new hollow spot at the center of her chest.

  She lifted her head and slowly sat up, still panting, covered in sweat and dizzy. Ethan moved with her, equally sweaty and out of breath, but Delaney quickly realized once she’d straightened, he was still hard.

  “Holy shit.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Did you—”

  “Yep.” His grin was ridiculously bright and proud. “I can officially say it takes me about sixty seconds to get hard enough for a second round. At least with you.”

  Delaney’s laughter made her fall forward, but Ethan had a firm hold on her, allowing her to relax into his arms. “I suppose you’d like to use that little gem.”

  His head came up, and he narrowed his eyes. “Little?”

  She started laughing again. “Stop. I’m already having enough trouble breathing.”

  His teeth closed on the skin of her neck with a growl as he pushed up on his knees, lifting his hips into hers. “Let’s give you a damn good reason for that.”

  “Oh my God,” she said, her voice weak. “Ethan, no. I can’t come again. Take care of yourself this round.”

  “I’m taking care of you tonight, remember?” he murmured in her ear, pulling her upright and fully onto his cock. He slid so deep, she pulled in a small gasp of discomfort. The kind of discomfort that pleased as much as it hurt. “Feel that? You’re so relaxed and so wet, it’s going to be even better this time.”

  She turned her head, lips parted to argue exhaustion, but he kissed her quiet. “I’ve got you. Just move with me. I’ll do all the work.”

  The
n he lifted again, using his quads to push and his gluts to thrust. She was so wet, he slid easily, and the slick glide was a luscious turn-on. He started slow, his movements sensual, his hips undulating smoothly, creating a consistent, easy glide of his cock inside her. And while his lips, tongue, and teeth moved over the skin of her neck and shoulders, his hands teased her breasts, her inner thighs, her lower belly. He cupped her ass and drew her cheeks apart, allowing him to penetrate so deep, Delaney’s throat closed. Then he pressed her cheeks together, making him feel even bigger than he already was.

  And true to his word, Ethan did all the work. When Delaney’s thighs shook from exhaustion, he took over and used her weight to deepen penetration, which, Delaney discovered, was where her most intense orgasms originated. And Ethan knew all the tricks to reach her deepest places.

  “Arch your back,” he murmured in her ear. “Wrap your arms around my neck.”

  The position changed the spot where his cock hit on every stroke.

  “God . . .” She drew out the word on a low groan.

  “Perfect.” His husky voice was edged with well-deserved male ego, and his thrusts grew longer, slower, deeper. And harder.

  Delaney closed her fingers around the soft strands of his hair as he so expertly and quickly drove her higher. She shivered hard, and Ethan slowed his rhythm, slowing her climb.

  “Do you know,” he rasped in her ear, “that the feel of you coming around me is heaven on earth? That I get a goddamned high watching you come apart? That there’s nothing more exciting or more satisfying than hearing you say my name when you come?”

  He rocked his hips, moving inside her in a way that made her moan. Lifting one hand to her face, he turned her head toward her shoulder and met her eyes.

  “When you think of me at night while you’re falling asleep,” he murmured in that sexy voice, “I want you to remember this as one of the best nights of your life.” He stroked his tongue into her mouth and circled hers. “When you see me in town,” he whispered, “I want to know you’re wet remembering everything I did to you tonight.”