Up All Night

by Faye Avalon

  Hell, she’d really upset him. “It was a stupid thing to say. I apologize.” Since she didn’t want to get further into this particular conversation, Beth reached down and stroked him, pleased when he started to harden again. “Do you want to waste time talking, when we could be doing much more interesting things?”

  With deathly calm, he reached down and removed her hand. “Much as I’d like you to continue what you’ve started, right now I want to know why you said what you said, Beth.”

  “I don’t know. It just slipped out. I was trying to be funny.”

  “Well, it backfired. Big time. You made me sound like a hard-nosed fucking machine who didn’t give a damn about the woman underneath me.”

  Bloody hell. More than just upsetting him, she had offended him. When really the only man her words had been aimed at was her ex-husband.

  “That wasn’t my intention. Not at all. I don’t think you’re a hard-nosed fucking machine.” She reached out and touched her fingers to his chest. “You certainly cared about the woman under you tonight.”

  His hand found her breast and he brushed his thumb over her nipple.

  She looked up into his eyes, thankful to glimpse the gleam there. It looked like they were back on track, but just to make sure she pouted. “It was pretty nice.”

  He tweaked her nipple between his thumb and forefinger making, her squeak. “Oww.”

  “Nice? It was pretty nice?”

  She wriggled against him, happily releasing the final sliver of anxiety that she might have messed it all up. “Well, it didn’t actually last too long, as you warned. I need more to base things on before I can give a proper assessment.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  She gave a slow nod. “Yeah.”

  Watching her, he slid the hand that had been toying with her nipple down her ribcage, over her stomach and cupped her mound. He pressed hard, making Beth gasp, as he covered her mouth with his for a long and lingering kiss.

  Then he was on his knees, pushing her legs open to kneel between them. The first brush of his tongue was like a salve over her hot pussy, still recovering from the earlier delicious onslaught of his fingers, mouth, and cock. Beth stretched like a cat as Marco lathed her slit, pushing his tongue deep into her pussy until she felt another orgasm knocking at the edges of her sanity.

  “Oh, damn,” she gasped. “You can do the most amazing things with your tongue.”

  As if to validate her statement, Marco pushed in deeper, adding a small wiggling movement before brushing her clit ever so lightly.

  Beth almost screamed from the intensity of it. She reached down and grabbed at his hair, intending to make him stop before she really did scream and have the neighbors come running. But instead she used her hands to hold him there, spreading her legs wider to aid his sensual attention.

  She felt the orgasm build, but as if he sensed it, Marco released her and sat back on his heels. His mouth glistened with her juices and she felt her face heat as he slowly licked his lips.

  Beth reached up for him and Marco took her forearms. Before she knew what was happening, she was hauled across his lap and her ass was sticking up in the air.

  “What the—”

  His palm came down on one of her ass cheeks and Beth felt the warmth seep into her flesh. She grabbed the edge of the mattress for purchase as he shifted her until her stomach cradled his cock. He used his free hand to brush her hair away from her neck so he could lean down to whisper in her ear. “You’re a bad girl, Beth. And sexy bad girls who make crass comments need to be punished.”

  “Marco.” His name came out on a laugh which was half surprise, half trepidation.

  In response, he pressed his hand harder against her ass. “Nice, huh?” he said through clenched teeth. “Let’s see if we can take this up a few notches from nice.”

  Oh hell. What was she thinking trying to get the better of him by teasing him like she had? Not that she had time to deliberate further because his hand left her backside only to return a second later with a soft slap across her tender flesh.

  She gave a protesting yelp, but the feeling wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Then his hand came down again, slightly harder this time, and her yelp wasn’t simply one of protest. “Ouch. That hurt.”

  “Want me to stop?” He rubbed the spot he’d spanked, slow and steady so that she wanted to moan with the pleasure of it. But she wasn’t sure she was ready for things to go further. She didn’t know how far she’d let him go if she didn’t put a stop to this new and overwhelming sensation right now.

  “Yes. I want you to stop.”

  He massaged the tender spot. “Then say you think you’re sexy.”

  “I think I’m sexy.”

  “Say it again. And mean it.”

  “I think I’m sexy,” she repeated, this time with more feeling.

  He slipped the hand massaging her ass underneath until his fingers toyed with her pussy. The feeling was exquisite. Especially when he pushed in two fingers and found what she imagined was her G-spot.

  She heard her moans fill the air as the orgasm built so hard she didn’t care that she must look wanton and depraved as she writhed against him and thrust her ass in the air to give him better access to her pussy.

  After a few more moments, Beth didn’t think she could stand not to have him inside her again. “Marco, stop. Please.”

  He did, his fingers stilling inside her. She took a couple of breaths to steady herself, then scrambled off him.

  She knelt in front of him and smiled, still trying to steady her breathing. “I want to do something.” She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back until he laid spread out before her, his head almost hanging off the end of her bed.

  He placed a hand underneath his head, anchoring himself so he could watch her. His eyes were dark, slumberous. “What did you have in mind?”

  She scrambled between his legs and placed her hands around his cock. “A little something you might enjoy.” She bent and licked the tip of his cock, licking her lips as she tasted his pre-cum. Tart. Salty. She licked her lips again before wrapping her mouth around the tip and slowly taking him inside her mouth a few inches. She glanced up at his long groan and saw his head fall back over the edge of the bed.

  With her fingers firm around the base of his erection, she took him full into her mouth and began to suck his hard length.

  “Shit, Beth.” The words came out on a husky growl. “Fucking hell.”

  Beth gripped a little harder around the base of his cock and continued to suck him hard, drawing her mouth up his shaft to the very tip before taking him in again, long and slow.

  She loved the way his belly jumped as she moved, the way his breath caught and shuddered.

  So caught up was she in the delight of giving him pleasure, that she was only vaguely aware that he’d hoisted himself up and now grabbed at her hair. “You’d better stop before I lose it,” he warned as he pulled her gently off his shaft. “This time when I’m inside you, I plan on being there for more than five seconds.”

  He shifted her and got off the bed. He retrieved a condom from the pocket of his trousers and returned to her, easing her underneath him.

  “Do you always like to be on top?”

  Marco grinned as he rolled on the condom. “Not always.” He shifted above her, spreading her knees and bending them, then sliding one hand underneath her ass to lift her up toward his cock. With his free hand he positioned himself at her entrance. “Maybe I’ll let you take a turn on top next time. But right now, I need this.”

  He thrust inside her, so hard that Beth gasped, arching her back, her throat as the sensation surged through her and threatened to swamp her. He thrust and retreated, hard and without mercy, over and over, until they were both on the brink again.

  This time Marco’s release came an instant before Beth’s and they both flew into orbit with each other’s name on their lips.

  ****

  He wanted her again. Fuck. He didn’t know wh
ere he found the energy, but he thanked the universe for it. Usually he conked out after the first round of sex, at a stretch he could maybe manage a second, but with Beth he was ravenous, greedy for her.

  He trailed his fingers down over her hip and Beth stretched. “You have to be joking.” Her sleep-heavy comment made him grin. “You surely can’t be ready to go again.”

  But damn it, he was. His cock was already springing to vibrant life and blood roared in his veins. He nuzzled against her, making sure to press his erection toward the soft cushion of her pussy. “What do you think?”

  “You’re insatiable. Don’t you ever sleep?”

  “Plenty of time for sleep when I don’t have you snuggled in beside me. With you it seems I’m happy to stay up all night. In every respect.”

  She gave a throaty laugh, which firmly established his emerging hard-on. He rolled her onto her back. Damn, but the sleepy look in her eyes, the sexy pout of her mouth, and desire threatened to drive him to insanity.

  What the hell was it about her? What made him want her with such unrestrained desire?

  He tested her readiness by slipping a finger inside her soft folds and was unable to stop the grin when he found her hot, wet, and so damn ready for him his cock jerked with enthusiasm.

  “Don’t you have to get back to lock up the bar?”

  “Not tonight.” From the heat of her pussy and the sultry look in her eyes, he wondered if she was as glad as he was that he didn’t. “Ethan’s staying over. He’ll lock up.”

  “Has he done that before?”

  He noticed the question in her eyes and knew it wasn’t academic interest that prompted her enquiry. “A few times.”

  “So you could stay over at a woman’s house?”

  Shit. Was this the sort of conversation they should be having when he had his fingers inside her? “Not always.”

  “And you thought you’d stay over with me?”

  “Yeah. That’s what I thought. It’s what I want.”

  He watched her eyes narrow slightly and that sexy pout intensified, but then she smiled. “Good. That’s what I want, too.”

  He held her gaze as he drove deep inside her. Relief mingled with desire. For a second there he’d thought he’d ruined it. The look in her eyes had been filled with distrust—her ex’s doing, he imagined—and in that moment he knew he never wanted to lie to her. He wanted no secrets between them.

  But later, as he lay beside a sleeping Beth, he wondered if it could be that simple. Life was rarely that easy and he’d seen his older siblings wear themselves out trying to salvage the remains of their marriages long after the rot had set in. Sometimes it was easier to simply go with the flow, take your pleasures when they fell in your lap, and never get close enough for a woman to be able to tie you in knots. Never let down your defences, so that before you knew it you were sucked into a relationship. Then not long after that there’d be talk of moving in together, getting engaged, and—heaven forbid—marriage. It worked for some people. His parents. His grandparents. Maybe even Ethan and Amber. But it was too much of a fucking risk. If he needed proof that long term commitment didn’t work, he need look no further than his siblings’ track record. The current generation Zutini didn’t make it long term.

  Which was the reason he’d set a limit on his love life. One calendar month and he walked. Until that time he enjoyed his women, made sure they had a good time, that their needs were met, but he never led them to believe he was a forever after sort of deal.

  But as he looked down at Beth’s pretty face with her ripe mouth, peachy complexion, and lush dark lashes, he knew that ending things with her would be hard. Already she held him spellbound. He wanted to know more about her, wanted her naked body next to him every chance he got.

  Which was okay, seeing as their month had barely started. He just had to keep the end goal in mind and know that in little over three weeks, he’d be moving on.

  Shit. Now he really did sound like that hard-nosed fucking machine who didn’t care about the women underneath him. A man who, using Beth’s terminology, could be fucking a sack of potatoes.

  But he wasn’t that man, damn it. He cared about his women. He always had. At least for the short time the affairs lasted.

  He cared about Beth. He would until the time came to end it with her. Except that niggling little voice wouldn’t let him off the hook, the one that told him this time it wouldn’t be so straightforward. That saying goodbye to Beth would be the hardest break-up of all.

  Chapter Seven

  Beth clipped the mastiff’s lead, and together she and Roscoe trotted out for their afternoon walk. The day was brisk but the sun had made an appearance and as they walked down the lane away from the Center, she glanced down at the dog. “Good day, huh?”

  Both Roscoe’s tail and his ears pricked up as he looked adoringly up at Beth.

  “Yeah. You think it’s a good day, too, don’t you beautiful boy?”

  The dog did what Beth had come to call his happy dance, his back paws doing a little hop as his rear end shimmied. It made her smile as it always did. Everything about the animal warmed her, and he’d captured a special place in her heart.

  He wasn’t the only one, Beth mused, as a certain chocolate-eyed hunk of manhood had also taken up space there. She hadn’t thought it was possible to let herself be swept up by a man again, having thought her time with James had stymied that. Yet here she was falling for him.

  She stopped in her tracks and the dog tugged a little on his lead, eager to continue his walkies. But Beth needed a minute to take a breath and consider what she felt. Was she falling for Marco? Or was it just really good sex?

  When Roscoe whined and gave her an imploring look, Beth started walking again. Yet still she couldn’t shake the question that spun around in her head. Damn. How had she allowed it to happen? How could she have let down her defences, even for a moment, so Marco could waltz right in and make himself at home?

  Since it surely wasn’t possible to fall for someone in the short space of time they’d known each other. She determined it was likely the sex addling her brain and emotions. God knew they’d had enough of it this past week. They’d seen each other every night. When Marco could arrange cover at the bar, he’d stay at her place. On the nights he couldn’t get away, she’d stayed at his.

  It was pretty damn perfect.

  Beth stopped while Roscoe explored some shrubbery and found a spot to relieve himself. As she waited, she tried to shrug off the vague disappointment that she wouldn’t see him tonight. He had some sort of formal deal he couldn’t get out of and didn’t want to let Ethan and Amber down.

  She nudged Roscoe along, suffering the flare in her chest that happened every time she thought of Amber. She couldn’t shrug off the conversation when Marco had confessed how special Amber was to him, nor could she ignore the way his eyes had softened.

  He’d said he didn’t have a thing for Ethan’s fiancée, and Beth believed him, she really did. It was just that look in his eyes.

  Bloody James, she thought as they came to the fork in the lane that signalled the way back to the Center. Bloody James and her bloody sister. They were responsible for putting doubt in her head. They had inspired her lack of trust, her ability to imagine infidelity in every corner.

  Her relationship with Marco was good, so why did she have to spoil it by looking for things that likely weren’t there? She had no intention of taking things to another level with him, and she suspected Marco didn’t hold such aspirations either, so why didn’t she simply enjoy their liaison for what it was? He was good company, they had a lot of laughs, and they enjoyed blow the doors off sex.

  She smiled. It always circled back to sex. Probably because she had never actually enjoyed devastatingly fabulous sex before. Not like now. But such thoughts about Marco weren’t doing her comfort levels any good right then, and already her blood was heating and her pussy was throbbing.

  Damn. Even thinking about the man and his talented fing
ers, mouth, and dick brought her body alive. Her heart rate sped up, which had nothing to do with the way Roscoe picked up the pace.

  She needed to stop thinking about Marco. Her shift didn’t finish until six, and it would be a damn long afternoon if she spent it wet and aching.

  Since they were just around the corner from her cottage, Beth looked down at Roscoe. “I just have to call in and grab a biscuit, okay? This walk’s given me an appetite.” Although not the sort of appetite that a biscuit would assuage, but food would have to suffice in the absence of Marco’s skills. “Because you’ve been a very good boy, you get to have a treat, too.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  If she thought she was already wet and aching, the sight of Marco leaning against his car outside her cottage made her rethink. “What are you doing here?”

  He pushed away from the car and walked toward her. “Thought I’d take a drive into the countryside, see if I could pick up a hot woman.”

  Roscoe was currently pulling and tugging at the leash in an effort to get to Marco, but Beth held him back. “Did you find one?”

  His sexy grin intensified as he gave her a once over. “Looks like.” Marco hunkered down to enjoy Roscoe’s frenetic welcome and seconds later the dog rolled onto his back and exposed his stomach for a rub.

  “Looks like you’re a hit.” Watching Marco’s hands get busy didn’t exactly help her escalating libido. She forced her attention away, but the sight of him in an open-necked navy sweatshirt and khaki chinos didn’t improve her comfort levels.

  “Big softie,” Marco crooned as his hands continued to rub hard across the dog’s fur. “Want to play, do you boy?”

  Oh hell, so did she. But she couldn’t keep letting her own lustful needs take control every time he was in kissing distance.

  Marco straightened, looked at her, and shoved his hands in his pockets. “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head, aware she’d been biting her lower lip as she contemplated her own licentious needs. “What are you doing here, Marco?”

  “You already asked me that.” His eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”