Addiction

by Calista Fox

  “This is beautiful,” Ruby said as she admired the sample. “It’d be breathtaking incorporated into the bridesmaids’ dresses . . .” Her light-brown eyes glassed over and Liv knew Ruby was already envisioning the enhancement to the gowns.

  But she reminded the seamstress, “Uh, wedding’s in less than two weeks, remember?”

  “Not a problem,” Ruby said with a wave of her hand. “Easy fix.”

  “Okay. Well. Chloe said to put it on her account.”

  Ruby whistled under her breath. “Good thing she’s marrying a multimillionaire.”

  “Actually,” Liv said, “she and Sylvia are working for Noah Donovan, designing the spa for his Covington Collection hotel that he’s opening down the coast next year. Chloe’s doing very well for herself and paying for all of these decorations out of her own pocket—hence the reason she’s enlisted the help of friends, so she can keep the bridal consultant’s fee to a minimum.”

  Liv knew Chloe’s life had been extremely tumultuous before she’d come to Bayfront a year ago. Her misfortunes had led Chloe to believe that she’d neither find true love, nor did she want to. But then she’d met John and her childhood dream of a frilly wedding had returned full force. Chloe had emerged from her shell enough to dare to follow that dream. This was the one extravagance she chose to grant herself, and she wanted it to be a memorable day for her fiancé as well.

  Ruby told Liv, “I’ll order another round of supplies and have them delivered as quickly as possible.” Then she whisked a hand in Liv’s general direction and asked, “Do you want to borrow something from the shop?”

  “One of your prom dresses to run my errands in?” Liv joked. “Thanks, but I’ve got it covered. I’ll see you next week for the final fitting.”

  “Lay off those carbs and the sugar until the day after the wedding, Liv.”

  She snickered. “I am not bypassing the cake. Oh, my God! Wait till you see it!” A work of genius unlike anything Liv had ever imagined; it was going to be a travesty to cut into it from a design aspect, but she had no doubt every decadent bite would be worth the calories!

  That made her pause before she walked out of the store. She eyed Ruby and inquired, “You will have a sewing kit in your purse, just in case I burst a seam with all the food and drink?”

  “You wouldn’t be my first bridesmaid to do so.”

  “Figured as much.” She breathed a sigh of relief and left, Nate still tagging along.

  Half a block down, she unlocked the door to Fallon’s beauty shop, crossed the threshold, and disengaged the security alarm. She closed the door behind Nate and set the deadbolt.

  The store faced the square and was tranquility personified with its frosted glass accents, thyme-painted walls with medium-colored wood wainscoting, and shiny hardwood floors. The gorgeous chandeliers she flipped on provided a cozy, golden glow of illumination.

  The shop didn’t open until ten, so Liv had time to go about her business. As she headed toward the hallway that led to the back portion of the building where there was an office, an employee restroom, a workstation, and a storage closet, Liv told Nate, “I promised Chloe I’d pick up the bubbles for the reception that Fallon crafted and bottled as a bridal shower gift.”

  She deposited her purse on the work table and eyed the shelf above that was fully stocked with the slim glass vials and narrow wands.

  “There’s a stepladder here somewhere,” she mumbled.

  “You need those?” Nate’s chin jerked toward the boxes overhead.

  “All five of them.”

  “No problem.” He leaned in close, his hard body sealing to hers as he reached above her and pulled down the first box.

  “Show-off,” she teased.

  He chuckled and the vibration passed from his chest to her back, echoing inside her.

  He retrieved the remaining supplies, stacking them up on the table. “Anything else I can do for you?” he asked in a low murmur, his hands resting on her hips.

  A seductive suggestion lingered in the air between them and Liv was immediately fixated on everything Nate had done to her in Paris, every way he’d made her come, and how she truly hadn’t gotten enough of him—or his brother . . .

  Chapter Five

  Damn it, she was still attempting to sort out her feelings and gauge this situation of Nate and Tristan being in such close proximity for two weeks—along with the fact that she’d be more geographically aligned with them when they returned to England and she decided on a band.

  All things considered, Liv wasn’t quite prepared for yet another rush of desire through her body. A wave of lust that was as intense and taunting as the sensations she’d experienced when just chatting on the phone with Tristan. As vibrant as when she’d seen them both at the yacht club.

  But the exhilaration trilled through her again. Especially as Nate’s fingertips pressed into her hips in an erotically expressive way. His breath was warm and tantalizing against her neck. The scent of sandalwood from his cologne and his natural heat infiltrated every nook and cranny within her. The feel of his rigid angles conforming to her softer curves was sublime, and all she could think about was him stripping her bare and sliding into her from behind.

  Despite not fully having her feet beneath her with their intimate scenario, she couldn’t stop the instantaneous flashfire.

  She said, “I really do need to get out of these wet clothes.”

  His lips glided along her throat as he told her, “I can certainly assist with that.”

  “I’d be very appreciative.” And there she went, breaking the seal on that can of worms. She simply couldn’t help herself.

  His hands shifted, easing up her back to her shoulders. His fingers curled into the material there and he dragged the sweater down her arms and tossed it onto the wooden work table in front of her. Then he gripped the hem of her tank and pulled it over her head, adding it to the pile.

  “I should get some damp paper towels and clean myself up,” she muttered vaguely as her pulse drummed in her ears, in her veins, between her legs.

  “Why don’t I just lick it off you? I smell cinnamon.”

  “Iced skinny cinnamon dolce latte,” she said on a wisp of breath. “Quite tasty.”

  “Then we shouldn’t let it go to waste.” He turned her to face him.

  Liv gazed up into his grass-green eyes and liked the sexy invitation in them, to hell with all her unanswered questions and theories on celestial orchestrations that shouldn’t be tampered with.

  She said, “It wouldn’t be neighborly of me to get any of my coffee on your shirt. We should probably take it off.”

  “Definitely.”

  Liv worked the buttons and then quickly divested him of the black material that went with his obsidian jeans.

  “You’re very Dark Lord these days,” she teased lightly. “All edgy and mysterious and . . . hot.”

  Her fingernails skated over his cut abs, the grooves rippling under her touch. Her hands eased upward and she splayed her palms across his defined pectoral ledge, her thumbs grazing his small nipples. Back and forth until they pebbled.

  Nate’s head bent to hers and he said, “You turn me on like nothing I’ve ever known before.”

  Her hands skimmed higher, along his corded throat, the veins pulsing against her skin. Her fingers threaded his lush hair and her lips brushed his as she said, “To quote one of my favorite actresses via her character . . . ‘I’m a sure thing.’”

  Liv wanted him. More than Julia Roberts had ever wanted Richard Gere in Pretty Woman.

  Nate’s gaze smoldered as he told her, “I remember exactly how you felt. Beneath me. On top of me . . . Squeezing my cock with your tight pussy until I couldn’t take any more . . .”

  Her soft gasp filled the otherwise quiet room.

  “I get off thinking about you sucking my dick, or screaming my name when I made you come.”

  Excitement shot through Liv. Her nipples puckered and her clit tingled. “I had more orgasms that
night than I could possibly count.”

  “You were so damn wet . . .”

  “I’m wet now,” she whispered, then nipped his bottom lip. “So wet.”

  Nate groaned. “I want to taste you. All of you.”

  His mouth swept over her jaw and slowly down her neck, his tongue teasing her skin as he slowly licked at the coffee. Then his teeth tenderly bit her flesh. A dull throb started in her core, intensifying as Nate’s head lowered and his lips glided over the tops of her breasts. His fingers coiled in the straps of her bra and he eased them down her arms. The flimsy cups of lace collapsed under the weight of her full breasts and Nate tucked the material beneath the mounds just as his mouth closed around one taut peak.

  Liv’s breath caught.

  Nate suckled deep. So fucking deep.

  Her fingers twisted in his hair and a small cry was wrenched from her lips as he paid the same attention to her other nipple. Drawing the hypersensitive bud so far in that the suctioning action sent electrifying vibrations along her spine.

  He tongued her nipple as one hand slipped between her slightly parted legs. His fingers pressed to her mound, dipping into her despite her white capris and French-cut panties. He rubbed insistently while still toying with the tight little pearl against his tongue.

  “Nate,” she said in a provocative whimper. “Oh, God . . .”

  He suckled again and it was all Liv could do not to call out his name from the flood of euphoria he elicited.

  His hand at her apex shifted. He deftly released the button at her waist and then whisked the zipper down its track. His long fingers slipped underneath the lace of her panties and he stroked her dewy folds with just the right pressure, at just the right tempo.

  “Yes,” she whispered. Dying for more—so much more—and knowing instinctively, and from past experience, that he would give her everything she longed for.

  He eased two fingers inside her and the heel of his hand stimulated her clit as he aggressively massaged her inner walls.

  “Nate,” she said on a sigh. Her head fell back, her eyelids closing.

  He pushed deep into her, finding that perfect spot that he caressed as she barreled toward climax.

  His other hand cupped her breast, his sweeping thumb keeping her nipple as hard as the one his mouth pleasured.

  Liv hadn’t felt this sort of blazing arousal in longer than she could remember—or maybe she actually could pinpoint it. Five years ago, with this man. And his stepbrother.

  Yet Nate seemed to possess even more talent, more determination, than when she’d last been with him.

  And with that resolute technique of his . . . Liv lost it completely.

  “Oh, God! Nate!” She shattered.

  “Liv,” he said in a gruff tone. “Fuck, you make me hot.”

  Her body hummed like a live wire as he gripped her waist and hoisted her onto the table, atop his discarded shirt. He quickly removed her capris, underwear, and bejeweled sandals. Then he spread her legs wide, bent down, and swiped his tongue along her damp flesh, caressing her folds as anticipation mounted within her.

  He was going to make her come again. In a heartbeat.

  Liv flattened a palm against the workstation to stabilize herself; the other she tangled in Nate’s hair. Her hips lifted as she pressed herself against his mouth, silently demanding more.

  Nate’s tongue fluttered over her clit in light butterfly strokes, teasing her, amping up her excitement.

  Then he got serious. He slid his hands under her ass to keep her hips raised. His lips tugged on her folds, then his tongue flitted along the knot of nerves again. He alternated the ministrations and her breathing escalated. He suckled the sensitive bead, making her pant and moan.

  His tongue dipped into her and stroked, then quickly fluttered againt her clit once more.

  “Oh, God!” Liv’s nerve endings ignited and she cried out as another orgasm erupted deep within her.

  Nate nipped at her inner thighs while the flames consumed her. Her flesh quivered and her breaths were staccato beats as he kept her highly aroused . . . and desperate for him.

  “Fuck me,” she quietly commanded, needing to feel him inside her, hungrily craving another powerful release.

  Nate stepped back. His green irises burned with desire and his own desperate need. His jaw was set and his chest heaved as rapidly as hers did. It was obvious to her that he got a rush out of making her come.

  He pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and extracted a condom, then dropped the wallet on the table. His gaze still locked with hers, he unfastened his pants as she slipped to her feet. She knelt before him and took over, lowering his fly and carefully peeling away his black boxer briefs, the material bunching mid-thigh.

  Tearing her gaze from his, she admired his full, thick shaft. Her excitement ratcheted several degrees. Her fingers coiled around his wide base and her head lowered to him. She licked one side of his cock, from root to tip.

  Nate drew in a sharp breath.

  Her tongue swept over his cockhead, teasing the small indentation at the tip before gliding along the groove. His hand combed through her hair, whisking the strands away from her face so he could watch her.

  “Suck my dick,” he said in a low, rumbling voice. “You are so fucking good at it.”

  She licked the other side, making his hips jerk.

  “Liv,” he demanded in a strained tone.

  She peered up at him under thick lashes and the corner of her mouth twitched as she fought the grin. He was magnificently built and sexy as hell. And she had him rock hard and pleading with her. A wicked thrill raced through her as she thought about getting him hotter, working him up until he reached the boiling point and had to have her.

  Her head dipped again and her lips grazed his sac, then she gently massaged his balls with her tongue. His fingers tightened in her plump curls and a strangled sound tore from his throat. Her mouth skimmed along the steel rod she still held in her hand, taunting him further.

  “Fuck,” he murmured. “You’re evil, woman.”

  Now she gave him a soft, triumphant smile. “You know I’m good for the follow-through.”

  “Not too much follow-through,” he warned. “Don’t make me come, sweetheart. Not yet.”

  It was a difficult-to-resist temptation. She’d done it before with Nate and had reveled in the feel of him, the scent of him, the taste of him . . . and the fact that she’d nearly brought him to his knees.

  But she wanted precisely what he wanted.

  She kept a firm grip on him as the tip of her tongue flitted against the indentation once more, evoking a bead of pre-cum. She felt the tremors along Nate’s powerful legs and decided she’d tortured him enough. Her mouth closed around him and she took him deep, sucking hard.

  “Yes,” he ground out. “Like that, Liv.”

  She lifted her head, almost fully relinquishing him, toying with his cockhead with her tongue before drawing him into her mouth again, continuing her suckling. Her hand slid from his base and cupped his balls, lightly rolling them as her head bobbed and she stroked with her mouth.

  “You make me half out of my mind,” he told her. “I need to be inside you. Now.”

  She was as rapt as he was, which made her reluctant to stop when the notion of getting him off like this was so damn intoxicating, keeping her wet and ready for him. But she recalled quite vividly how amazing it felt to have Nate filling and stretching her, pumping heartily. A contrast to Tristan’s slow, scintillating lovemaking. It was no wonder she’d fallen under both their spells in Paris—they were the ultimate combination of insistent roughness and sensuous gentleness.

  At the moment, however, Liv was completely fixated on the rough. She released Nate, stood, and took the little foil packet from him. She ripped it open and rolled the condom down his shaft. All the while, his muscles were rigid and his breathing agitated. Anticipation and lust flashed in his eyes, a hot, raw expression that thrilled her even more.

&nbs
p; Because he knew exactly how she liked it when he fucked her.

  Nate clasped her upper arm and spun her around, pressing her against the beveled ledge of the waist-high table. His wide, chiseled chest covered her back, his body practically curling around her. One of his arms snaked around the front of her and he palmed her breast. His other hand hooked her thigh and lifted her leg just as he thrust into her from behind, pushing the air from her lungs.

  He was huge inside her, throbbing and thick, plunging deep. His hips bucked as he instantly fell into a steady, forceful rhythm that rocked Liv to her core.

  “Yes!” she cried. “Oh, God, yes.”

  His hand squeezed her breast, his strong fingers and warm skin keeping her nipple pebbled tight. The hairs of his arm grazed her other breast, making her tingle.

  “You feel incredible,” he said between clenched teeth. “So goddamn good, Liv.”

  His cock stroked assertively and her inner walls contracted around him, holding him firmly. His mouth wreaked havoc on her neck, biting her, then tonguing the tantalizing stings, then suckling.

  Liv couldn’t catalog the multitude of sensations running rampant. She hadn’t forgotten how wonderful it was to be possessed like this, by Nate. To be taken with such abandon that all thoughts fled her mind, with the exception of the most primal, carnal ones. Thoughts that made her beg for more. The words tumbled from her lips in harsh pants that were laced with throaty moans.

  Nate drove wildly into her, rubbing against her g-spot, stroking it just so, setting her ablaze. The firestorm raged through her and Liv loved how it burned in her veins, consuming her again.

  The erotic sensations burst wide open and she screamed as the climax incinerated her.

  “Oh, fuck, yeah,” Nate said. “Squeeze me tight, baby.”

  She milked his cock as she rode the high from her orgasm. She felt him surge inside her, then tense. A breath later, his body convulsed and Nate called out her name as he exploded.

  More ripples of pleasure kept her soaring as he gently eased her leg down so she was sturdier on her feet. Every inch of her seemed to pulse with radiant life and she marveled over the intensity of the moment, the way Nate so easily, innately, owned her when he was inside her.