by AJ Nuest
Oh, dear God. Forget butterflies.
A shiver tightened her body. Her sex clenched, and she rubbed her thighs together as a delicious ache blossomed in her core. The flutters in her belly were more the size of hummingbirds. A flight of frickin’ doves.
“What did you decide, Chuck?” The towel split over his left thigh as he prowled toward the bed. A raised vein popped along the swell of his bicep as he tossed the condoms onto the nightstand.
But at least the draft from all the pivoting and twirling had blown off any confusion about what he needed her to say. “I’ve decided to free myself, Xander.”
And the best part? It was the amazing, generous, intelligent man standing before her who’d shown her how to do that. “I’m never going back inside that house again.”
Reaching up, she released the tuck near his hip and his cock sprang forward at the same speed the towel dropped to his feet.
Jackpot.
She eased a slow breath through her lips. Wow. She’d always assumed the rest of him would be proportionate to his height but, hot damn. Wide base. A gentle arc. Jutting into the air so stiff and long the engorged head nearly grazed the line of dark-blond hair below his belly button.
“Been a while since you’ve seen one?”
Heat crept into her cheeks, and she huffed, peeking at him through her lashes. “Sorry. And yes.” Almost a year, if they were counting. Good news was, for however long he had it in his head they were doing this, she’d just learned a valuable lesson about ignoring whatever God-given gifts came her way.
She skimmed the side with her fingertips—rock hard, flexing and pulsing at her touch.
A muscle jumped in his thigh, and Xander hissed. “Shit, your hands are warm.”
Really? Then wait until he got a load of this.
Cinching him in her palm, she inched forward and circled the swollen rim with a swirl of her tongue. He groaned, shoving his hand into her hair. Her internal muscles clamped down hard, begging to be stretched and filled as she ran the tip around her lips and fed him into her mouth.
The mixture of his salty skin, a hint of amber and pure, red-blooded male exploded across her taste buds as she cradled him on her tongue. She worked a swallow and he fisted his fingers. A shudder wracked his body, and she hummed.
God, he tasted good.
“Jesus, woman.” He eased back and she spread the moisture with her index finger and thumb, giving him a slippery ride as he pumped into her hand. “You are not making this easy.”
Like he could talk. “Remember fifteen minutes ago in the bathroom?” She ran her palm up his inner thigh, cupping and massaging his balls. “Payback’s a bitch.”
“God. Fuck.” He tossed his head back as she squeezed down to the wiry hair at his base. A clear drop beaded at the slit, and she flicked her tongue to catch it, pressing it to the roof of her mouth so his musky flavor would stay ingrained on her senses.
Tugging her hair, he tipped her chin up. A breath snagged in her throat as he brought lips close enough she could’ve counted every thick eyelash lining his lids. “I want you coming so hard around me, you forget your name.”
Oh, shit. Her folds grew slick. Her thighs shook, and she squirmed against the mattress, gyrating her hips.
His other hand curled around her throat, fingertips kneading the back of her neck. “I want to be buried so deep inside you, there’s no room left. But I’m coming in hot, beautiful. Not sure I can guarantee you’ll—”
“I will.” She stopped that nonsense, placing her finger against his mouth.
His jaw firmed, and something she couldn’t quite name sparkled in his eyes. Relief, maybe? Hell, adoration? But it wasn’t like he had anything to worry about.
A growl grated through his chest as she dragged her nail across his bottom lip. God, didn’t he know? Didn’t the man get how all he had to do was enter the room and seduce her with a few choice words and she was teetering near the brink yet again? “Trust me when I say no guarantees necessary. You can do whatever you want to me, Xander. I won’t break.”
He nipped her fingertip with his teeth. “Do you have any idea what kind of perverted images just hit my brain?”
“No.” Arching a brow, she plucked one of the condoms off the nightstand and held it before his eyes. “I guess you’ll just have to show me.”
In one deft move, he swiped her hand out of the way with his chin and his mouth capsized over hers, tumbling them back to the bed with the same force his hand pushed her shoulder.
God, his heat. Filled with his fresh, clean scent and seeping into her skin through the blankets. She wound her arms around his shoulders, threaded her fingers in his hair. The comforting weight of his chest and hips pinning her to the mattress were better than any home she’d ever known.
Two seconds in, and the man was everywhere. A blissful sensory overload as his tongue drove past her lips, fingers clasping her chin and his forearm braced beside her ear.
She sighed, opening wide for him as he angled her head for better access. Matching each hungry stroke, she raked her nails down his back. His chest-vibrating groan filled her mouth as she spread her thighs and he sank between her legs.
He inched back and plowed against her, pushing her higher up the pillows. Hard. She bit her bottom lip, writhing as he rocked into her. Every inch of him was so damn hard.
His second driving thrust and sparks detonated up her inner thighs. She squirmed, bucking her hips as he eased off.
“Not enough.” The bed dipped near her thigh as he kneed the mattress. Muscle flexed under her palms, and he shoved with his arms, towering over her as he tore the blankets away from her body.
The cool air pebbled her skin, chased by a full-body flush as his hooded gaze scorched her from collarbone to the mound of damp curls between her thighs.
“I must’ve imagined what you’d look like naked underneath me every day since we met.” He fisted his erection and she slapped her hand over the penetrating throb that nudged her higher. “But I didn’t even come close.” Stroking up, he urged her legs wider with a press of his knees. “Move your hand. I want to see how wet you are.”
A deep tremor rippled, and she tossed her head back, fingers curling against the building surge. Dammit, he had her wound so tight, she was about to get off and he hadn’t even been inside her.
Fumbling with the foil on the condom, she ripped open the packet and dotted the disc on her tongue. But she wanted him with her. For them to climax together their first time.
Another pump of his hand, and he shuddered, chest lifting as he pulled a slow, measured breath. “Woman, you are downright evil.”
And this was a shocker? Maybe the man should take another glance at her résumé. She fitted the condom between her lips and the front of her teeth. God knew, there were plenty of words to describe her skill set, but innocent wasn’t one of them.
His thighs tensed as she slid her palms up either side, gripped his tight ass and pulled to sitting. Squeezing his eyes shut, he muttered a string of obscenities as she sucked him past her lips, using her teeth to gently work the condom over the rim of his shaft.
A furious rub of her tongue, and he seized her hand, fingers seated between hers, directing each glide as she eased the latex down until he was fully gloved.
He fell forward and her head landed on the pillows with a feather-dampening bounce. Bracing one of his hands over her left shoulder, he dragged a slow ride through her folds and every muscle in her body contracted. A stimulating circle of her clit with the bulbous tip, and she arched off the mattress to increase the pressure.
Arousal slammed into her limbs, and she rolled her face side to side, fisting the sheets as he painstakingly guided himself down to her entrance and then stopped.
“Xander…” She panted, thighs tense, holding tight against the urgency to push against him so he could ease the non-stop ache. “Please. God, don’t stop.”
He snaked one arm under her hips. Their stomachs met and pleasure-pain unfur
led with each beat of her heart.
Sinking inch by hard inch, he kissed and nipped her lips, the line of her chin and throat as he gradually lowered them to the bed.
“Don’t ever beg me for anything.” His mouth brushed her ear, a soft caress in direct contrast to the way he stretched and filled her. “Whatever you need from me, the answer will always be yes.”
The man was too much. Her internal muscles throbbed as he ground against her, swiveling his hips. Catching her hands, he laced their fingers together and brought them over her head.
Her breath caught as he eased back and rammed home, hitting the high sweet spot that sharpened her need and made her body soar.
With his second driving thrust, she wriggled along his length. A whimper eked from her throat as he held steady, his lips coaxing and teasing, tongue flicking as he swayed, brushing that same sweet spot inside her again and again.
Tremors ricocheted low in her belly, and he twitched. His moan heated her neck, and he forced himself deeper, adding the perfect pressure to her clit.
She bowed into him and his fingers tightened in hers. He cursed and slid back, pumping into her, over and over as he rode her toward the edge. Pleasure coalesced, and she convulsed beneath him as he growled her name, pulsing inside her.
Tiny sparks flooded her arms and legs as he withdrew and slammed them back together, drawing out her orgasm until he pulsed again and she was pitched headfirst into another wave of ecstasy.
His body went limp on top of hers, and she smacked her hand to her forehead, trying to catch her breath under his dead weight. “Holy crap. That was awesome.”
His laugh was muffled, face-planted against the pillows. He turned his head, and she peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. “God, woman, you’re sexy. And warm. And so fucking soft.”
Pushing up on one elbow, he trapped his bottom lip between his teeth and ran his fingertip across her collarbone, over the dip at the base of her throat to the other side. She shivered and he grinned, shifting to the side so he could trail that same naughty finger down to her nipple and sweep a light circle until the tip beaded to a stiff point.
He licked his lips and a groan rolled up from her stomach as any extra room inside her disappeared.
No way. The guy wasn’t human and there was simply no way.
Mouth parted, he leaned toward her breast.
“Are you serious?” She blocked his maneuver, wedging the heel of her palm against his forehead. “A double-header?”
He met her eyes past her wrist. Shoved with his hips. “That feel serious to you?”
“Oh, dear God.” Delicate, inviting aftershocks trickled into her thighs, and she tossed her hand to the bed with a lifeless thump. “I’ve created a monster.”
His husky chuckle was wicked. The glint in his gaze, pure sin. “And I hate to break it to ya, but we’re shooting for a triple-play.”
Ya-a-ay. Way to stick the baseball analogy.
The teasing rasp of his beard swept her skin as he latched onto her nipple, drawing her deep into his mouth. Her spine rose off the bed, and any arguments she might’ve thought to offer joined hands and skipped right out of her head.
But it was the dark possession in his eyes that made her the drunkest with pleasure. The way his gaze filled with heat as he rose to his knees between her legs, tossed the used condom in the bedside trash and strapped a fresh one in place.
“That first time was for me.” Grabbing her hips, he shoved with both hands and slid her higher up the bed. “This time, it’s all you.”
Uh-oh. He dropped to his elbows between her thighs. She was doomed.
The flat stroke of his warm tongue, and her world stopped spinning. Every touch, every caress of his lips and fingers stayed centered on her, as if he wanted all his attention focused on her responses. So he could learn the best way of urging her from a state of sated gratification to a hard-riding need.
Parted mouth floating up her inner thigh, he nipped that tender stretch of skin as she writhed and twisted, her hands buried in his hair to tug and fist the strands. The dart and jab of his tongue, his murmurs of encouragement washed her in waves, until any hesitation was stripped from her body and she seized his shoulders, urging him from between her legs and flipping him onto his back.
His groan vibrated into her core, rippling outward as she inched down his length. Head back, she braced her hands on his stomach and breathed against the penetrating fit, the pleasing stretch pulsing through her sex and thighs.
His fingers dug into her ass, and another moan left his body, sliding into hers as he moved, setting the rhythm, urging her harder and faster until his hips rose off the bed.
Flutters built, and he thrust deep, lifting her to her knees. He swore and thumbed her clit, pressing higher as he rotated beneath her. A full-body throb triggered her climax, and she spasmed at the same time he pulsed, his orgasm jetting and heating. His name leaving her lips through a shuddering release.
Rocking, shaking and weak, she collapsed onto his chest, fighting to catch her breath as he lowered them to the bed. At this rate, they’d end up hospitalized with dehydration.
Or rather, she would. Sex machines like Xander probably just hit the nearest service station for a replacement battery.
His hand met her back, fingers combing out the tangles in her hair, and she closed her eyes as his heartbeat slowed to a steady, soothing rhythm in her ear.
Rest. For just a little while. She shimmied off of him and tipped to the side, but as soon as he removed the condom, he shoved her right back on top, arms wrapped around her shoulders and his legs tangled through hers.
Fine, she’d stay. But she still needed an hour, maybe two, before he managed the impossible and got her wound up for round three.
“Tell me you’re beautiful.”
Her heart lurched, but she kept her eyes closed, waiting for the erratic rhythm to subside. “Sh-h-h… Some of us human beings occasionally need this thing called sleep.”
A chuckle rumbled in his chest. “You seem to be keeping up just fine.”
She smiled as a quiet moment passed. His hand met the back of her head, holding her in place as he pressed a kiss to her hair. “It’s only two words, Chuck. Lie to me if you have to.”
The mere thought made her want to weep. All the half-truths between them. The lies of omission and things she’d left unsaid.
Lifting her cheek, she propped her chin on the back of her hand. His sea-green eyes were filled with tenderness, contentment and, hell yeah, even love.
But there was a difference between shutting down the horrible names that had plagued her since forever, and stating she was anything different than the plain old Charlie she’d always been. “How about…you make me feel beautiful.”
And the really cool thing? He smiled as she ran her fingertip over the curve of his full bottom lip.
Damned if it wasn’t true.
Chapter 12
Guilt sucked. And the load currently squatting on Xander’s shoulders had him in such a goddamned chokehold, he practically gagged every time he tried to force a mouthful of water down his throat.
Plucking another folder from the bottom desk drawer in Malcolm’s office, he sighed and checked the name on the tab. Not that he was any stranger to the side effects that particular emotion could inflict. Especially when it came to the curvy blond bombshell taking up real estate in his bed. But at this rate, he would’ve been better off treating his insomnia with a double shot of espresso. Or so he’d been told since he wasn’t about to let a caffeine monkey hitch a ride on his back.
The name on the file didn’t ring any bells, so he flipped back the cover for a peek at the 3x2 photo Malcolm had insisted they all pose for, the background check and data sheet the old coot had made each kid fill out as if they’d been applying for a job.
A grimace twisted his lips over the neat block letters filling the lines, and Xander closed the file and tossed it into the cardboard box with the others he planned to shred.<
br />
No big surprise they’d been booted. Fisting his fingers, he shoved his chin right and then ran his hand over the familiar crack of tendon along the back of his neck, reached down for the next file and glanced toward his open laptop.
The algorithm he’d spent the past few hours writing scrolled up the screen, the encrypted code sporadically processing, line by line.
Good. Just a little longer, and he could initiate an unrestricted search of the FBI database, try to find the tag on that SUV’s plate number. Couldn’t happen fast enough, as far as he was concerned. Nearly forty-eight hours since he’d picked up where he’d left off, and his hands were all but cramped from how he’d been forced to sit on them so damn long.
He thumbed back the bent tab on the file and grunted at the name Casper Addison written in his mentor’s cursive scrawl. Real hi-tech security Malcolm had in place here. Real tough to breach the system on a desk drawer stuffed with files arranged in alphabetical order.
With the way the pompous old fart had walked around as if his shit didn’t stink, at the very least, Xander had assumed he’d need a desk key to get his hands on the information he’d been after. Maybe decrypt a password or three on Malcolm’s home computer just like he had as a kid.
Nope. He opened Adder’s file across the desk. The clunky Notebook centered on the retractable desk shelf had been wiped clean, and the paper trail Malcolm had left behind had appeared at Xander’s fingertips with the simple pull of a handle.
Too bad that was where his luck had run out.
He smacked his lips as the sour taste of failure coated his tongue.
The second he’d located Charlie’s file, he’d known the entire thing had been a dumb idea—check that. Even as he lay in bed with her sprawled across his chest, her hair tangled in his fingers and her heart beating in sync with his, he’d guessed whatever information Malcolm had kept on her would be as outmoded and obsolete as a floppy disc.
But that sure hadn’t stopped him from scouring through the pages, memorizing every last detail. And it hadn’t stopped him from searching for a way to block the constant stream of pathetic excuses that had kept him wide awake, explaining why and what he’d done.
