“So are you going to warm me up, Matheson?”
He laughed and lifted himself on one elbow, pushing her back onto the creaky bed. “Oh, I’m about to see what lies beneath those puppies.”
Emma laughed and brushed her hands across his forehead, capturing a loose lock and twisting it around her finger. “I knew these pajamas would drive you mad. That’s why I left my fancy lingerie in the suitcase. I could see right away you were a dog man.”
Erik looked at her face in the dying embers of the fire. Conviction sat in those emerald depths, in the set of her chin. He’d never known she was so stubborn. This Emma was no delicate flower waiting to be tended. This Emma was a woman who asked for what she wanted.
What she wanted was him.
And that was damned sexy.
6
EMMA COULDN’T BELIEVE she’d made the first move.
She’d slept for a good fifteen or twenty minutes while Erik waited on the fire. But when he’d sneaked into bed, she’d felt him...this time. A night ago, at his house, she’d been so unaware and so tired from moving, she hadn’t felt him climb into bed. But tonight, she had a hyperaware thing going on. She’d thought about it for a few minutes, faking sleep.
Her mind kept flipping back to all those times she’d clammed up when he was around, tongue-tied and gauche. A girl who didn’t think she was worthy of a stud like Erik. So many opportunities to talk to him, to flirt even, washed away because she was too afraid to be vulnerable. Even last night, when he’d climbed into his bed naked, she’d acted shy. But she wasn’t that woman anymore, damn it.
She’d grown, gained her wings and thanks to Alexis, she had started asserting herself.
Okay, this was truly the bravest she’d ever been.
But when she’d thought about going back to the real world, without taking the opportunity to be with Erik, she felt disappointed in herself. She knew he wanted her. And she wanted him. So what was the big deal? Fear that their virtually nonexistent relationship might be damaged? Fear that Alexis might get miffed?
No.
None of that was reason enough to pass up what she’d always dreamed about.
Being Erik Matheson’s girl...for at least one night.
So now she lay beneath him, looking up at the sexiest man she’d ever seen—she lifted her hand and caressed his cheek.
“You’re so damn beautiful, Emma,” he said.
She couldn’t see his eyes, but she felt him take her in. Her pulse sped up and her breathing amped. “Kiss me. Please.”
Erik lowered his head and nipped her lower lip with his teeth. It was erotic, making her nipples harden and liquid heat pool inside her. Then ever so softly he traced her bottom lip with his tongue. “Mmm, you taste good, Em.”
“I brushed,” she whispered.
A flash of white teeth and then he lowered his head again. This time he pressed his lips against hers, light as an angel’s kiss.
She moaned and lifted her head.
“Oh no, sweet girl. I want to take my time with you. I want to tease you, drive you crazy, until you beg. Will you beg me, Emma?”
Emma nearly lost her breath. She’d imagined Erik as her lover many times before, but she’d never guessed he’d be so...erotic. He wanted her to beg.
Well, she wanted him to make her beg.
Dropping her head back, she said, “Let’s see what you can do.”
He started unbuttoning the top of her flannel pajamas. “First I want to see you. Then I’ll kiss you.”
A slave to the desire unfurling inside her, she could only nod and watch him as he slowly unbuttoned, pausing at every button to deliver a kiss on her flesh as he peeled back each layer.
“Oh, you wanted to make it harder for me,” he said, fingering her nipple through the lace of her bra. Emma inhaled audibly. “That’s okay, sweetheart. I love a challenge.”
Then he bent and sucked her nipple into the wet heat of his mouth.
“Ah,” Emma said, arching toward him.
The devil laughed, nipping her with his teeth before releasing the rosy nipple.
Once the pajama top lay open, he reached for the drawstring of her pants. Tugging them, he gave but one command. “Lift.”
Emma did as she was bid, raising her hips so that he could pull the flannel pants from her body. Languidly he tossed them toward the foot of the bed. Running a hand down one leg and back up the other, he boldly traced a finger through the damp lace at the juncture of her legs. “Oh, good girl. You’re already so wet. Do you know what that does to me? Oh, I think you do, baby.”
She reached for him, drunk with passion. She needed to touch him. Use her mouth on him. Something. Anything.
“No, no. There will be time for that later. Right now, I have a mission. You remember what that was?” he asked.
Emma nodded.
“What?”
“You’re going to make me beg,” she whispered.
“Mmm-hmm,” he said, lifting himself up and settling his body onto hers. His erection pressed against her thigh, a portent of what would come.
Then he started kissing her jaw, nibbling a little path down her neck, across her collarbone and back up to her lips.
Emma panted, no other way to put it. Liquid heat soaked her, and her lower pelvis ached to be filled. She could feel how wet she was, soaking her panties with slickness, permeating the air with the smell of arousal. She opened her mouth to say “please,” but then remembered. She wanted the torture Erik seemed intent on providing.
Finally, he caressed her jaw, tugging it lower, opening her mouth to him. Then he pressed his lips to her, tenderness gone, as he plundered her mouth. She met him eagerly, kissing him back, tangling her tongue wildly with his. Her heart galloped and she felt nearly frenzied. She’d never felt this way. Never so out of control.
Instinctively she raised her hips, opening her legs. Erik took the hint and slid so he fit between them. Then he rocked his hips, allowing the rigid length to slide against her slick heat, driving her crazy.
One hand twined in her hair as he continued the onslaught on her mouth, his tongue parrying against hers, leaving her nearly sobbing for release. She’d never felt so out of control, so caught up in desire. Finally, he lifted his head and made his way down to her neck. His beard prickled her skin and it should have irritated, but instead it was another sensation vaulting her toward what she craved.
With one flick of his hand, he released the front clasp of her bra and cupped her breast.
“Ah, so, so pretty, Emma. Like small rosebuds,” he said, capturing one peak with his teeth, biting softly before sucking her into the heat of his mouth.
“Oh, oh, yes, pl—” Emma groaned.
He lifted his head and quirked an eyebrow. She bit down on her tongue, making him laugh. “Close. Very, very close.”
And then he bent his head again, giving equal attention to the other breast. Emma squirmed against him, enjoying the feel of his hardness sliding against her sensitive flesh. He did amazing things with his mouth. She’d never been so stimulated by her breasts.
His hand traveled down to her hip, stroking, squeezing, pleasuring her. And then his mouth was on hers again, and she knew by the way he kissed her that his control was on a short leash.
Their breaths mingled, soft pants of urgency.
Erik slid down the length of her body, bestowing a kiss on each tip of her breast before using his scruffy beard to tantalize her belly. He dropped little kisses down to her navel before slithering so he knelt between her legs.
Rising, he pulled his T-shirt off, revealing a chiseled torso. He had a fine sprinkling of hair across his chest that converged into a darker Y between his pecs. The screeching-eagle tattoo swooped down from the left side of his chest, lending a roguishness to him. His wai
st was trim and stomach tight enough to show the hint of a six-pack. Emma had never been with a man so manly. He was like a lumberjack or a Viking...or just a superhot firefighter.
Lifting herself on one elbow, she reached out and traced a finger down his stomach, enjoying the way his flesh contracted. She hooked a finger in his boxers, which were tented from the large erection straining against the cotton. “My turn?”
“No.” He smiled, capturing her hand and bending to bestow an almost courtly kiss on her wrist. “You haven’t begged yet. So—” he pushed her back onto the subpar pillow “—I need to step up my game.”
* * *
ERIK LOOKED AT Emma still tangled in her pajama top, lacy bra parted to reveal her perfect pink-tipped breasts, and felt something weird in his chest.
Yeah, he was hard as a baseball bat for her and had nothing more on his mind than making her scream his name, but still something struck him. As if the moment was somehow more than what it was.
So strange.
He pushed her back when she tried to rise again. “Later, okay. Right now, I need to taste you.”
Lowering himself, he settled deeper under the covers. He slipped his hands beneath her perfect ass and pushed her up toward the creaking headboard. “Are you too cold?”
She shook her head, pretty emerald eyes wide and riveted to him. He grabbed the abandoned pillow and handed it to her. “Use this.”
Then he turned his attention back to that which drew him like steel to a magnet. He kissed a line across her belly, stopping every so often to nip at the lace. Then he nuzzled the plump flesh that covered her pubic bone, allowing the delicate silk to catch on his beard as he moved his face back and forth, inhaling her unique scent.
He clasped her knees and lifted them, pushing them back so she was more open to him. She still wore the fuzzy socks, which should have looked silly, but there was something erotic in half-dressed Emma spread before him. She squeaked, but her breathing increased and he knew she was turned on. “Hold your knees, baby. I’m going to be too busy to do it myself.”
Emma did as she was told, holding her legs back, socked feet planted on the lumpy mattress. She looked like an offering to him.
Which, of course, she was.
Erik nuzzled her through the silk and lace, groaning when the slick damp fabric yielded the taste of her. Nothing turned a man on more than knowing how wet a woman was for him. Carefully, he used his finger to slide beneath the crotch, stroking the outside fold that was slick and oh-so perfect.
Emma moaned and her head hit the iron of the bed, but she didn’t release her knees. And a second later, he felt her watching him as he licked her through her panties.
Another turn-on. He loved when a girl watched him go down on her.
Slowly he lifted the material, sliding it to one side, revealing what he’d been dying to get to. He’d wanted to make her beg, but he was near to begging himself at the sight and smell of her. He ground his cock against the bed, needing some sensation, some relief.
Then he traced a finger through her slick heat. Heaven.
“Oh, oh...” Emma sighed, her eyes never leaving his as he sucked his finger into his mouth.
It was an erotic move and it made her close her eyes. “Oh, Erik. I want more.”
He watched her as he lowered his mouth toward the prize. Her mouth fell open as she panted and her eyes dilated. He paused right over the tight rosy bud he knew ached for him. And he blew on it.
“Oh, Erik. Oh, you have to...oh...”
He blew again, nearly losing it himself. “You know what you have to do.”
Her eyes widened. “Please.”
“As you wish,” he said then closed his mouth over her clit and sucked.
“Ah,” she said, thrusting her hips forward, rocking against him.
He let up on the pressure and used his tongue to stroke her. She tasted incredible, like turned-on woman, and it drove him mad. He increased the pressure and speed of his tongue and then he felt her tighten.
Her scream was the most satisfying sound he’d heard in forever. Her body shook, thighs closing around his head as she rode her climax out. He didn’t stop the delicious torture. For one thing, he knew she needed more. For another, he was a selfish bastard who couldn’t get enough of Miss Emma Rose’s thighs locked around his ears, her honeyed treasure belonging only to him. To do with as he wished. He slid a finger inside her, nearly sighing at the sweet clenching heat of her. He crooked his finger, rubbing her G-spot as he returned his mouth to pleasuring her.
Again she tightened, and again she screamed as she came apart again, her body twisting, ass grinding into the sheets covered with faded forget-me-nots. He held her firm, preventing her from twisting away. Dampness had flooded her with her release and he relished the reward of his efforts. So he continued moving his finger inside her, sucking her clit lightly.
She came again.
Finally he felt a tug at his ears. “Stop, Erik. Please. I can’t take any more.”
He lifted his head, allowing the lace material to fall back into place. “Good?”
Emma fell back onto the pillows. “Oh, shit.”
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” he said, wiping her slickness from his mouth and sliding up to kiss her. She didn’t shy away from the taste of herself, another mark in her favor. He loved a lusty woman, one who didn’t pull back from adventure...from getting really down and dirty in bed.
“You wore me out,” she said, brushing another kiss against his lips. “But it’s time for you to beg, Mr. Matheson.”
She pushed him back, rising to her knees, her pajama top still on but parted so her breasts teased him. The air was chilly, so her nipples were hard but her body felt warm enough. She kissed him, twining her arms around him, twisting her fingers in his hair. She kissed him in a way he would never have expected Emma to kiss him—hard, passionately and with wild abandon. Everything about her was so giving...so, so damned sexy.
Drawing back, she traced the ridge of his shoulder. “Are you cold?”
He shook his head. “Not after that. You are so gorgeous. Thank you.”
She didn’t look at him. Instead, she ran her fingers down his chest. “What for?”
“For not letting me talk myself out of this. I’ve never been so hot for someone before. You’re driving me crazy, lady.”
“Mmm,” she said, leaning forward and flicking his nipple with her tongue before nipping him. He drew back with an inaudible hiss. But then he stilled himself as she dropped tiny kisses down his stomach, ringing his belly button, hooking her fingers in the waistband of his boxers.
Quickly she slid them down and his cock wagged out to greet her.
Wrapping a hand around his length, she looked up at him. “Very nice.”
The pressure of her hand was such sweet torture, but her words of approval were an equal turn-on. She moved her hand slowly, teasing him. Then she cupped his balls, giving them a light squeeze. Erik nearly came right then and there.
“And since you had a taste, it’s only fair, right?” she asked, but she didn’t wait for permission. She bent, thrusting her ass deliciously into the air, and licked the tip of his cock.
“Ah,” Erik breathed, reaching immediately for the golden hair that spilled against his thighs. He pulled it to one side so he could watch her mouth work him.
Grasping the shaft, she wrapped her hand around his rigid length and fastened her pretty mouth around the head of his cock. Slowly and confidently, she began to move.
“Oh, sweet mother of...” He couldn’t finish his thought. His entire length was consumed by her and she knew what she was doing, giving pressure, lightening it, releasing her fingers to make a circle lubricated with her saliva, which gave a mind-numbing sensation.
Damned if Miss Emma Rose wasn’t incredi
ble at giving head.
He could feel his orgasm building, balls tightening.
It was as if she knew and she slowed her machinations, the pressure on his shaft lifting. She pulled her mouth from him and looked up. “Good?”
He nodded because he had no words and he didn’t want to ejaculate yet. He wanted to sink inside her. Of course, as close as he was to coming, there wouldn’t be much of an effort given.
Emma leaned forward and ran her tongue over the tip again. “You know what you have to say.”
He almost laughed. But couldn’t. “Please.”
“Good boy,” she said, taking him into her mouth again, wrapping her hand around his length, resuming the steady rhythm that had him thrusting his hips forward. The sensation built again, harder and stronger, and then he couldn’t stop if he tried. He rode the lightning of his orgasm, pumping into her mouth, half horrified at himself, half out of his mind with pleasure.
Emma didn’t stop working him, the torturous pleasure went on and on, making chill bumps ripple over his body. With one last grunt, he emptied himself fully.
She lifted her eyes and unwound her hand from his length. With light suction, she pulled her mouth from him and then scrambled off the bed. He collapsed backward onto the pillows, breathing hard, embarrassed that he couldn’t control himself.
There was just something about Emma that made him lose all focus. All control. This wasn’t supposed to happen, but there was no way he’d ever regret it.
Besides, they had some unfinished business that the box of condoms could help them with.
Emma came back wiping her mouth. He could smell the toothpaste. She paused at the side of the bed. “I don’t swallow.”
He started laughing. “Holy cow, woman. Get your sexy ass back in this bed.”
Emma smiled and climbed into bed. She’d taken off her bra, but left the open pajama shirt on. Snuggling up, she pulled the blankets over them, straightening the tangle of the sheet as she did. Finally, she sank onto his chest. “That was incredible.”
A Wrong Bed Christmas: IgnitedWhere There's Smoke Page 14
