by Remy Richard
He fingered one strap while softly stroking the skin underneath with the back of his fingers. The strap was too substantial to just rip it in half, but he could certainly pull the seam where it met the bodice. So he did. The thread made a satisfying ripping sound as it pulled away. He repeated the action on the other side and then slowly pulled the lace down, revealing her breasts.
Holden had to stop for a moment. She was so perfect. Absolutely made for his hands and his mouth and his every fantasy. He lowered his head and softly licked one delicate nipple. Her back immediately bowed and she arched into him, pushing her nipple more firmly into his mouth. Even in this, Sabrina was pushy and trying to tell him what to do. He smiled and brought his hands up to hold her around the upper rib cage, keeping her still while he took his time exploring her. The rest of the lace came off with little fight and he dropped it over the side of the bed.
He managed to pull himself away from her warmth only long enough to yank his shirt off. He kept his jeans on as a barrier between them. The night was young and he had plans for her. Plans that relied on him keeping both of his heads under control. He slid down her body, charting the landmarks that made her so beautiful to him. The slope of her hips, a birthmark on her left side, the way her tummy hollowed out when he drew his fingers around her belly button.
She was wild in his arms, thrashing and arching beneath him as whimpers and imploring noises spilled from her mouth. He propped himself up on an elbow and watched her face as he explored her.
Sabrina bit her lip as he slid his fingers down to where she needed them the most. “Look at me, Sabrina. Open your eyes,” he whispered, while teasing her with light brushes across her lips. For some reason, it was important to him that she see who was giving her so much pleasure. That she knew that it was him holding her and touching her. That she would never forget this night.
He knew that he wouldn’t.
Her eyes fluttered open, and he was pulled into the swirl of color in them like a magnet. He was fascinated with how they could change color with her mood, bluer now than any other color. She smiled up at him, and he couldn’t resist leaning down to give her a soft kiss, breathing in her surprised exhale as his fingers found the place where all of her need centered. Slowly, he slid two thick fingers in and out of her while his thumb stroked her clitoris.
Her own hand slid down her torso until it gripped his wrist right above where he was touching her. As if she needed an anchor. He flexed his fingers inside of her and then curled them, searching for an elusive spot that would bring her the most pleasure. When he found it, her grip on his wrist increased and her entire spine straightened out. It seemed to him that her mind and her body couldn’t quite get on the same page. Her body strained for what it needed, while her mind shied away from what promised to be overwhelming. But he wouldn’t let her retreat. He slid a hand underneath her hips and canted them up to receive the thrusts of his fingers.
The tremors from inside of her alerted him that she was there before her cries did. He concentrated on keeping an even rhythm while her interior muscles pulled greedily at his finger with every retreat. Desperate cries fell from her lips, and he soaked up every one of them.
She was limp as a rag doll when her orgasm finished. In a rush, he stood up to shuck his jeans and roll on a condom. He’d made his own fast trip down to the lobby stores this afternoon. He hadn’t been at all certain that she wanted him, but all of her talk about buying a special piece of lingerie had given him hope. Of course, no amount of fantasizing could have prepared him for the real thing.
He lowered himself to lay on top of her, his hips cradled in hers while he framed her face with his hands and tilted her head for a deep kiss. Even though lust was riding him hard, he couldn’t seem to stop kissing her. There was something honest about it. She could lie to him with no problems most of the time, but when their lips met, he could taste the truth on her.
She pulled her mouth away from his and tried to speak through harsh breaths. “Please, Holden. I—I need…”
He nodded, understanding despite the fact she couldn’t exactly get the words out. “I know what you need, babe. Because I need it to.”
He held her stare as he lifted up on one elbow and positioned himself for the first amazing slide inside. It took all of his concentration not to start thrusting like a wild man and to wait for her to adjust to him. He almost lost his mind in the interim though. She was so tight and already wet from her orgasm. She felt like heaven.
She squeezed him tightly and kept whispering his name over and over as his thrusts picked up speed. Her arms came up and around his neck, sliding over the sweat dampened skin of his back and down to his buttocks to pull him deeper inside of her. He almost lost it then and there.
Close to the breaking point, he tried to recite the periodic table, complete with atomic weights, in his mind—his version of baseball stats. He slid a trembling hand between them and pressed lightly, then more firmly on her clitoris. She jolted and let out a long groan. One thrust, then two and she broke around him.
He felt the beginnings of her orgasm as he surrendered and started his own. Every clench of her softness on his cock pulled more and more from him until he was finally empty. His arms gave out from under him and he only managed to shift to her side with a second to spare without crushing her.
They both lay side by side and tried to catch their breaths. Holden’s brain was both fuzzy and clear at the same time. Such gut wrenching pleasure had made it hard to process anything other than the sensations coursing through him. The lightness of his head, the lack of feeling in his arms, the shivers still running down his spine.
But his brain was clear on one thought: he wanted to do that again with her. As many times as possible. And if it meant holding her hostage for, oh, another ten years or so, then that was what he would do. Although he was hoping that she had enjoyed it enough to want to stay put on her own.
He turned to Sabrina to tell her as much and found that she was already fast asleep. He smiled, not surprised. He was pretty wrecked himself, and he was almost positive that he’d gotten a little more sleep than she had.
A glance at his computer made him feel guilty. Until he got his work finished, they were all at risk. He had no right reveling in amazing sex when people were counting on him. But there was no way he was going to get anything meaningful accomplished tonight and just the thought of getting up and trying to focus was exhausting.
Sleep was what he needed. Preferably next to the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. Luckily, Sabrina was being very accommodating, slipping an arm over his chest and cuddling close.
Holden smiled contentedly and pulled her even closer, so that they shared one pillow. He let out a large yawn and shuffled his legs until he could pull the covers up without leaning down. He would sleep now and work in the morning. And, God willing, he would be able to finish the algorithm once he had regained his energy.
And then he could start working on an even more difficult problem: how to hold onto Sabrina once there was no more danger.
Chapter Thirteen
A sharp rapping sound catapulted Sabrina from a sweet dream of warmth and lightness to a dark room and the sound of furtive rustling. It took precious moments for her to recognize that she was still in Holden’s room, in his bed, and that it was the middle of the night.
She blindly groped for the sheet and tried to figure out what had awakened her. Another rap on the door came and Holden cursed quietly. She could barely make out his form in the dark room, but his shadowed form and the sound of weight against the floor made her think he was hopping for some reason. The muffled rasp of a zipper made everything clear.
Just like her, Holden was still naked and disoriented. And someone was at the door. The beginning of a knock sounded faintly before Holden opened the door a crack. She could see him squinting against the light from the sitting room as he faced whoever was intruding upon their solitude.
He didn’t seem alarmed, merely a littl
e aggravated, so she assumed that whoever was knocking was friend and not foe. The realization allowed her to calm her racing heart somewhat. It had been years since she had been startled from sleep. She had always been a light sleeper and had never been a cuddle-type person. Tonight everything was upside down though. She had fallen asleep tucked tightly against Holden’s side and completely missed the fact that someone had entered their suite. She was slipping.
Holden spoke quietly to the person at the door, his voice a sexy rumble of indistinct words to her ears. A soft female voice responded. Lila, then. Idly, Sabrina wondered what was so important that she had to wake her brother up in the middle of the night. Lila probably thought nothing of it however. And all of the men around her encouraged her dependence, or co-dependence, or whatever.
Sabrina would have said something to that effect if she wasn’t at such a poor advantage. Naked was never a good way to fight with someone. At least, someone she couldn’t seduce.
She must have let out a little chuckle at the thought, because Holden turned around to look at her. Which made Lila peer over his shoulder to see what had captured his attention. Unsure of the etiquette of getting caught by a younger sibling, Sabrina dredged up a small smile and wiggled her fingers in greeting.
Her smile died when Holden’s lips tightened and he turned back to his sister, pulling the door closer to his body so that she could no longer be seen.
So first he didn’t want his sister to play with her and now he wanted to make sure that the precious angel didn’t realize that he was playing with Sabrina? She was a lot of things, but not a dirty secret. At least not when it didn’t suit her purposes.
With what little light was still coming in through the crack in the doorway, Sabrina began looking for her clothes before realizing that she had come in a garment that wouldn’t aid in her quest to get back to her room with dignity. Plus, it was in tatters on the floor. She tried to block the cheerful feelings from that discovery and maintain her righteous indignation.
Holden only spoke a few more words before shutting the door on Lila and turning back to the bed. Sabrina yanked violently at the top sheet and wound it around herself like a toga as best she could while sitting in the bed.
“If you’ll just poke your head out and give me the all clear, I should go back to my room now,” she said, with as much dignity as she could muster.
Holden paused in the act of unzipping his pants. “Why?” He cast her a teasing smile. “Not embarrassed, are you?”
She cast about for a reason. It wouldn’t do to let him think that her feelings were hurt. “No, but it seems that you are.” Well, there went the keeping cool plan.
“What are you talking about?”
“You couldn’t shut the door fast enough when Lila saw I was in here. I guess you can’t very well tell her not to be my friend when it’s obvious that we just got more than a little friendly,” she sneered, finally succeeding in pulling the sheet completely off of the bed and wrapping it around herself like armor. “I wouldn’t want you to look like a hypocrite, so I’m leaving.”
She walked toward the door, a move that would have looked almost regal if he hadn’t stepped on the trailing edge of her sheet and stopped her. “I never would have thought that ‘drama queen’ would have been on your extensive list of skills, but apparently I was wrong.”
Sabrina gasped and turned back around to face him. He had her pinned with a sardonic glance and a wry twist of his lips. It was hard to keep her focus on outrage when he had his arms crossed over a ridiculously defined chest, but she was giving it her best effort.
“I am not a drama queen,” she hissed, trying to keep her voice down. “You’re the one who’s trying to—”
“Be a gentleman,” he interrupted, moving closer to tug gently on her elbows. She kept her death grip on her sheet while she waited for him to finish. “I’ll admit, I’m not thrilled about my little sister showing up for the afterglow, but I’m not trying to hide you. Trust me, anyone who’s been within ten feet of me when I’m around you knows that I want you. This did not come as a huge surprise to anyone.”
She humphed and skirted around him to sit on the bed. “Well, it surprised me.”
“Really? I would have thought that you had at least an inkling of what was going to happen when you bought that lingerie.” The mattress depressed when he took the spot beside her. “Have I thanked you for that, by the way? Because I am very, very grateful.”
She nudged the torn piece of lace with her foot. “Well, that’s good because it’s never going to get worn again.”
He took her hand and gently pulled her back, arranging them both so that they sat side by side with their backs against the headboard. He kept her hand in his, but otherwise didn’t touch her. She thought that maybe he could sense just how fragile her hold on her emotions was.
“Talk to me, Sabrina. Tell me what’s going on here,” he said quietly.
“I’m sorry to be such a…” She didn’t finish the sentence, and wisely, he didn’t either. “I’m just so turned around. I know I didn’t have the best life or anything, but I didn’t think it was terrible. But now, I see it through your eyes and it’s just…not what I thought.”
They were both silent for a moment while she gathered her thoughts. She was glad for his hand in hers, a warm, reassuring reminder that he was with her, if only for now.
“I think being here, with you, is making me soft,” she admitted softly.
“Why do you think that?”
She counted off the reasons on her fingers. “Because I’m losing my edge. I mean, I’m making decisions completely against what I normally would do. I’m being helpful. I completely slept through your sister coming into the suite and knocking on the door. I’m…cheerful, damnit!” she raged.
She could tell he was smothering a laugh and gave him an elbow to the sternum for his trouble. He grunted for her and then pulled her close, using his grip on her hand.
“Maybe you’re not losing anything. Maybe you’re finding your place here. With me.”
Her breath caught at the words and the implication. Could it be that simple?
“Plus, if you’re not a con artist any more, do you even need your edge? I can take care of you, Sabrina,” he continued, no doubt thinking that he was comforting her.
“So that’s the deal then.” She pulled away from his touch. “You want to keep me if I agree to change absolutely everything about myself. Thanks for the great deal, but I’ll pass.”
“Don’t put words in my mouth.” There was an edge to Holden’s voice that she had never heard before. A tone that made her sit up and listen. “If you truly liked what you were doing, I’d be all for it. We’d have to find a more legal way for you to do it, but you could still be a con artist for all I care. Maybe you could go into politics. But you don’t seem to be happy. I’m not telling you to change who you are. I’m just offering you choices.”
“What choice is that? To depend on you completely?” She wanted to sound scornful, but her voice just came out tired. To him, her criminal past was something that she needed to be rescued from. But to her it was how she had survived the last ten years. Maybe it didn’t make her happy, but she highly doubted that working in a cubicle would be any more fulfilling.
“No, the choice to do anything you want,” he said, capturing her hand again.
She didn’t pull away from him, there was no point in it. She wanted to be around him, wanted him to touch her. “You don’t know what it’s like to be alone.”
He was silent for almost a minute, and she thought that he wasn’t going to answer her. Finally, he spoke but it wasn’t what she thought he would say.
“You once asked me about why I walk so quietly. It’s because of my father. He was…not a nice guy. In fact, he was a bastard.”
He played with the fingers of her hand, seemingly absorbed in touching every inch of skin and sliding her fingers through his. She recognized the ploy for what it was: a reason to look at s
omething other than her eyes. She’d used it many times.
“I can’t remember the first time he hit my mom. I don’t have a memory seared into my brain of him slapping her or anything. It was just something I always knew. But I clearly remember the first time I got between him and her. I was five and he had the biggest hands I’ve ever seen. Still to this day.”
He flexed his own hands, and Sabrina knew he was looking for similarities. She covered his hand with her own, twining their fingers together and pulling him toward her.
“He knocked the lights out of me. I don’t know why my mom didn’t leave. As bad as my memories are of my father, I don’t really have many of her. She’s just sort of this shadow at the edge of every memory. When I was eight, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. To be honest, I’m not even sure she got treatment. That was when he stopped hitting her though. But he started in on me.”
Sabrina tightened her hand around his, aching for the little boy who had been so alone. Maybe he did know what it was like.
“Luckily, he only hit when he was drunk and when he was drunk he was slow.” He smirked at something, what she didn’t know. “I got good at keeping quiet and out of the way. I have a lot of practice walking softly.”
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
“Why? It’s not your fault.”
“I know. I’m sorry for…not knowing or something.” They both laughed softly. “It feels like something I should have known about you.” And it did. There was no way she could have known, but she wouldn’t have been so quick to accuse him of not understanding. Wouldn’t have brought up such a painful subject. Would have been able to protect him from the memory if only she had known. Somehow it felt like her right to know everything about him.
With the laughter, some of the tension eased out of his body. He leaned more comfortably back against the headboard and put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her into the warmth of his chest. She could feel him playing with the ends of her hair as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
