His finger began moving rhythmically as his thumb rubbed teasingly over her most sensitive spot. It felt so good, the way he worked her, but then she knew it would. This might be their first time together, but Ian knew his way around a woman’s body. He knew exactly where to press and exactly how hard, when to curl and when to flick.
“You’re so tight, baby,” he said breathlessly, running his finger around her entrance, stretching and testing. “You’re going to make me work for this, aren’t you?”
Her reply was a soft moan. As far as she was concerned, she was ready. She had never been more ready to take a man in her life. If he didn’t get to it soon, the anticipation might just kill her.
His mouth trailed a line of teasing nips from her breasts, down along her ribs, onto her abdomen. Each one made her catch her breath, her stomach drawing in convulsively. She couldn’t help it; her body was responding without any explicit command on her part. It seemed to encourage him further, as if eliciting such reactions pleased him.
Well, if he liked the way she reacted to his licks and caresses, he was probably really going to like what would she do when he finally got around to what she really needed – that is, eliminating that awful, hollow ache between her thighs.
His tongue dipped into her navel, his teeth scraped her hips. She undulated beneath him, straining for more of his touch.
When his lips finally began their downward path, she was nearly frantic with need. Her hands clenched at his head, pulled at his hair as her nails raked against his scalp. It was such sweet agony, to be the focus of his attention this way. The fire he’d started deep in her core was raging, threatening to burn everything in its path to ash.
“Ian, please,” she whispered in desperation.
“Soon, baby,” he crooned as his fingers continued to work their magic, kissing his way southward.
Lexi couldn’t breathe. Ian was kissing the soft, aching flesh between her thighs and it was at once the best and worst thing she had ever felt. With a tongue so skilled it should be considered a lethal weapon, he flicked against her, alternating between maddening, arch-inducing vibrator-speed flutters and long, languorous licks.
Half-lidded and heavy, his blue eyes turned as dark as a midnight sky; he groaned as if she was the most delectable treat. When he began to rub himself against her leg and she felt how aroused he was, she knew she was in big, big trouble. Soon, if she had her way, that would be inside her, and she wasn’t sure she would survive it.
She only knew she would die without it.
He managed to slip another finger inside her, simultaneously cursing and praising her tightness. Expertly he stretched and massaged her, turning the sting of each penetration into a fiery kiss of passion. She clenched around him as the pressure built, making him swear.
“Ah, baby, you’re killing me,” he murmured against her, his breath sending spasms across her lower half. “I can’t – I can’t wait much longer...”
Then he began talking, more to himself than her. Through her haze she could barely hear him, his voice sending little vibrations along her sensitive parts, her brain only deciphering his words long seconds after he actually spoke them.
“Have to have you... soon... have to make you ready for me... so tight... I think... yes, now...”
Ian’s fingers penetrated deep, curving and pressing into a spot within her that made colored stars burst behind her eyelids. At the same time, he sucked her into his mouth and tongued her mercilessly. Within seconds she was exploding, breaking into a thousand pieces, with only Ian’s strong hands to hold her down, to keep her from scattering across time and space. She could hear him cursing as she seized uncontrollably, her body curling in on itself through the power of her orgasm.
Chapter Five
Ian ripped his clothes off in record time. He’d never seen a women come so powerfully. She had clamped down on his fingers like a vice, her thighs squeezing around his head and shoulders like her life depended on it. If he hadn’t been holding her down she would have lifted clear off the bed. The mere thought of what it would feel like to be inside of her when that happened had moisture already beading along the top of his shaft, his groin tight and full.
He held her, kissed her through the worst of it, his muscles so taut and tense beneath his skin, as desperate hunger coiled within him like a deadly serpent. Had he not known in his heart that he was incapable of hurting her, he would have been terrified at the power building inside him.
Soon, very soon, he promised himself. Her orgasm would have loosened her, prepared her, but it would still be a struggle. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an effort to re-gather some of his self-control. He refused to lessen any of the passion he’d seen on her face with pain.
She, however, apparently had no intentions of just lying back and waiting for him to gather himself.
Ian grunted in surprise, opening his eyes to find her kneeling beside him, her slim fingers gripping him, her lips still swollen from his kisses, slightly parted and hovering above him. But it was her eyes, glowing amber and dazed with desire, that made his heart stutter in his chest. They looked at him with such longing, such pleading, it nearly undid him.
She licked her lips in anticipation, her hot breath skimming over his ultra-sensitive flesh. He swallowed hard and shook his head. He couldn’t allow her to do this. He couldn’t. He was too close; he would never be able to hold himself back if she put those perfect lips to work on him.
Her face moved closer, the tip of her tongue peeked out, her eyes glued to his. He shook his head again, incapable of speech, mesmerized by the determined look in her eyes, his body on fire with the anticipation of how it would feel to have that sweet, sweet mouth on him.
Fire blazed in her eyes, flames of white hot heat flickering in defiance. She was going to have him, too. He saw it, felt it with everything he had, a sixth sense that encompassed him and told him there would be no stopping her now.
Her lids fluttered when her tongue licked the bit of moisture there. She tasted it, rolled it in her mouth, testing it as if it was new to her. He watched, enthralled, his heart threatening to slam right through his chest. She swallowed. And then she smiled at him.
He watched as he disappeared into her mouth, felt the persistent, hungry pull as she tried to draw more from him. Her tongue swirled around the sensitive spot just below the crest, her teeth lightly scraping against him. Ian prayed for the strength to hold on, just a little bit longer.
She closed her eyes, looking as if she was enjoying herself every bit as much as he was, which he knew was absolutely impossible. Every stroke, every lick, every suckle sent him higher. Her nails raked against his legs, her palms and fingers swirled and pumped. In those moments, he was completely hers. Surrender had never felt so good.
Every second brought him closer to total annihilation. She was relentless, ever-changing, eager, hungry. As soon as he grew accustomed to her ministrations, she changed, blowing him further and further away from sanity. If there was any consolation at all, it was that she seemed to be losing control almost as quickly as he was. She was greedy, taking him like she loved it, like there was nothing more in this world that she could ask for than to have him in her mouth.
Ian knew he was close; it would be impossible to hold out much longer. She was just too damn good. “Ah, baby, you love it, don’t you?”
She hummed in response, sending vibrations that had him wracking into spasms. He grabbed her head, knowing he had to push her away, knowing it would probably kill him to do so.
And then...time stopped. She looked at him, her amber eyes fierce and possessive. Her teeth raked against him in warning; her right hand cupped him and squeezed as she sucked him deeper into her mouth, her other hand pushing away the arm that would have separated her from him.
Within seconds he cried out, no longer pushing her away but pulling her closer, grabbing on to her head as if she was his lifeline. His hands tangled in her hair, flexing as the glorious patterns she wa
s making with her lips and tongue continued until he was utterly spent. Only then did she release him, triumph in her eyes.
Ian grabbed her and pulled her to him, dropping back on the bed. She was going nowhere, not until he was able to think clearly again. Until then, he needed to hold her, to feel her, because it was the only thing that made sense in this world to him.
What. The. Hell. Ian’s mind was reeling, his body still thrumming from one of the most powerful orgasms he’d ever had. It wasn’t the first time a woman had gone down on him. It wasn’t the first time he’d released in a woman’s mouth. It was, however, the first time he felt like part of his soul had been released as well.
Who was this woman purring against his chest? Who was this quiet, innocent-looking female who had turned him down only hours before, only to transform into a wildcat straight from his fantasies? The way she had responded to him, her total surrender as he brought her to climax, followed closely by her eager but untrained aggression, assuming dominance and taking him better than a pro - it defied logic.
What had him really concerned? He hadn’t even recovered yet and he was already hardening again just thinking about it. A slow, wicked grin spread across his face. He was just getting started.
Ian’s hand slid down her back, his much longer arm easily providing the opportunity to slide past her deliciously rounded backside and stroke her between her thighs. So wet. So hot. Still so incredibly tight. He groaned.
“Warm-up time’s over, baby,” he growled, his voice soft and seductive. She whimpered, but it was a sound of hunger, not of fear.
He was going to have to get a little creative, he decided. If he forced himself into her, he would hurt her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. Rolling her gently onto her back, he placed tender kisses along her arms, her breasts, her hips, before kneeling in front of her.
Taking hold of her ankles, he crossed them and placed her feet against his chest, forcing her to bend at the knees so that she was almost in a reclining Indian-style position. It opened her up to him, while allowing him the luxury of gazing upon her and affording her some control.
He tapped the tops of her feet as she watched him intensely. “Push if you’re uncomfortable, alright?” He had every intention of going slow, of making it as pleasurable as possible, but it would not be easy.
Ian slowly slipped against her entrance. He rocked back and forth, tiny little movements that prepared her for him. Sweat beaded on his brow as she gripped him tightly, her hands on his biceps.
It felt so good. Too good. So good it drove thoughts of everything else from his mind. God help him, he was trying to do the right thing here, but the perspiration dripping into his eyes was proof of just how difficult it was.
He moved back to look at her, his heart aching at her sudden, vehement protest. “So pretty,” he crooned, his voice rough. “Are you ready for me, baby?”
“Yes,” she answered, her voice a low, sensual purr. “I need you, Ian.”
“So much hunger,” he rasped, awed by the way she looked at him when she spoke those simple but devastating words. He aligned his body with hers once again, then gripped her ankles. “Open for me, baby. Take me.”
* * *
This was it. After years and years of dreaming, she would finally know what it felt like to be taken by Ian Callaghan.
Lexi spread her thighs, placing them on either side of his ribs as he came over her. His chest pressed against hers and she felt every delicious inch of his body. She wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her head in his throat, licking against the pulse point beneath his jaw. He tasted every bit as good as he smelled and looked – slightly salty and all male.
When he finally pushed inside her, she bit down on his shoulder. Even with all the preparation, it was an extremely tight fit. He had to work his way in as she struggled to accommodate him. Sweat beaded his brow, and she could tell that he was trying to hold back, afraid of hurting her.
Even in the throes of passion, her bad boy was a gentleman. She wanted to tell him that it didn’t matter; that she had wanted him so badly for so long that it could never be too fast, too hard, or too much. Not from him.
But she couldn’t. Her breath was stolen completely as he slowly speared her, rendering her incapable of anything but a few mewing little whimpers that managed to escape.
With a final push, he seated himself deeply inside her and stilled, giving her time to adjust. “It’s okay, baby,” he crooned in her ear. “I’ve got you.” He held her like she was precious, like this wasn’t just sex for him, just like she’d dreamed. Except this wasn’t a dream.
The pain quickly subsided, replaced by the incredible fullness of having him inside her. She loosened her grip a little, allowing him to rock gently against her. Pain was replaced by blinding pleasure. Each stroke heated her, burned her, soothed her like nothing else. His kisses were tender, though he never let her forget for one moment that he was in control.
She was more than willing to surrender herself completely.
It was insane. Insane and perfect and better than she had ever imagined it could be. Her only complaint was that it was too good. She wanted to draw it out, make it last forever, but her body had other ideas. Her breathing grew ragged, her heart pounded, her nails dug into his flesh.
She was close, running headlong toward her peak but wanting desperately to take the long, scenic route there. She clenched around him, squeezing, pulling him in deeper, taking her right along with him.
“Protection?” he growled out through clenched teeth.
“Ian,” she cried out in gasping breaths. “I’m on... I can’t...”
She tightened around him so suddenly and with so much force that even she was surprised by it. Her muscles clamped down so tightly that he gasped, his entire body going tense and stiff before she felt the warmth bloom deep within her.
“Ah, baby,” he panted. His extended thrusts became tiny strokes meant only to push into her more deeply. Lexi clung to him, silently coaxing him on, attempting to convey everything she felt without words.
Because there simply were none.
* * *
Spent, Ian collapsed. He was vaguely aware of her kissing his face, stroking his hair. It felt good, so good. She simply held him as his body shook and shuddered above hers, until he finally calmed.
He must have dozed off. When he woke his arms were filled with the most wonderful warm, soft flesh. The feeling of contentment was a new one for him; he had never stayed long enough to experience this before. But then again, he’d never had a woman like this before, either.
It had been stupid – no, make that beyond stupid – to engage in unprotected sex with a woman he’d met on a bus. Yet even now, he could not imagine sheathing himself with her. Yes, it was stupid, but the damage was done. No sense putting one on now, or for the next several times he planned on taking her. Like now.
He nudged her, trying not to think too much about how his heart swelled at the sleepy little smile or the satisfied little moan she gave him. Without a word, she welcomed him, denying him nothing.
Chapter Six
Ian woke up feeling more rested than he had in weeks, but with the unmistakable feeling that something was missing. He glanced around, remembering where he was as all of the memories flooded into him. His cock jerked up sharply, causing him to shake his head. He’d never had trouble with stamina before, but last night he’d surpassed even his own expectations, taking the woman repeatedly, coming harder each time.
Where was she now? He looked around the room, already knowing she wasn’t close. He didn’t have to see her to feel her; his senses seemed to jump into über-mode when she was around. He mentally added that to the list of things he didn’t want to analyze the meaning of just yet.
He listened carefully, but heard nothing within the room or the en suite. A faint hint of vanilla and citrus hung in the air, mixing with the scents of a night filled with incredible sex.
Ian frowned. Waking up alone
was not on his top ten list of things he’d most like to do this morning. He would have much rather preferred some more morning sex, followed by a hot, steamy shower together where he would soap up every inch of that luscious body he’d come to know so intimately, then maybe more sex. After all, he didn’t have to be anywhere until...
Ian looked at the small digital clock on the bedside table and jolted upright. “Shit!” The glowing numbers told him it was 10:45. The viewing was already underway, going till 11:30, to be followed immediately by the Mass. His father was going to skin him alive.
He ran back to the Pub and took the stairs two at a time, grabbing a two-minute cold shower and donning his black suit. No time to shave, he thought, glad that he had chosen to do so right before heading over to the hotel the night before. At least he didn’t look too bad. The dark circles under his eyes had disappeared, leaving him with the satisfied look of a man who had spent a good portion of the last twelve hours making a goddess scream out his name in rapturous pleasure over and over.
His thoughts were consumed with the woman as he made his way to the funeral parlor. Who was she? Why was she in town? And how the hell had she managed to sneak out of the room this morning without him hearing her? One thing was for sure – as soon as his obligations here were met, he was damn sure going to find some answers.
Glad for his SEAL training, he slipped among the shadows into the back as if he’d been there for hours. The funeral home was packed with townspeople, and no one seemed to notice his late arrival. His brothers, however, had the same training he’d had and were more aware than most. He bore their accusatory glances stoically. It was their father he was most worried about.
Brian O’Connell had been a friend of the family’s for as long as he could remember. He and Jack Callaghan had served in the special forces together, and had formed a bond that only those captured and tortured together could ever truly understand. Out of respect for both his father and Brian, Ian forced himself to shove aside thoughts of last night to concentrate on the present.
First and Only: Callaghan Brothers, Book 2 Page 4
