by Desiree Holt
At first Matt seemed to enjoy it, almost as if he wanted her to know what a catch he was. But before long, Reenie saw his body stiffen as women approached, his attitude toward them growing less and less receptive. He reached across the table at one point and took one of her hands in his, a silent signal that caused more than a few frowns.
“You told me you’re not a player,” she teased after a long-legged blonde tried to press a particularly hot kiss to his mouth. “Doesn’t look that way to me.”
He shrugged. “No big deal. I’ve lived here all my life and know a lot of people.” But he didn’t look at her when he said it, and there was no mistaking his discomfort.
“Uh huh.” She shook her head. He could make excuses but none of the women who’d stopped at their table acted like casual friends. No matter how incredibly sexy Matt Stark was, she had no intention of being another name on what was obviously a very long list.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the men going by ogling you,” he told her.
“Ogling?” She grinned. “Who even uses that word anymore?”
“I do. I’m an old-fashioned kind of guy.”
“Oh, yeah. Right.” She forked a bite of enchilada into her mouth. She had noticed one or two men giving her more than a passing glance. Her ego needed it after all the women fawning over Matt.
“And that’s what they were doing,” he insisted. “So don’t go throwing stones at me.”
“At least they weren’t undressing me with their eyes and looking like they wanted to strip me naked. Or giving me seductive caresses or trying to kiss me.”
“Okay. Good point.” Then he grinned, a curving of his mouth that got to her like nothing else. She had to clench her jaw against its power. “Maybe all those predatory women could have asked me for a description of your unclothed body,” she suggested with a hint of sarcasm.
“Predatory?” He laughed. “You do have a way with words.”
“I’d be very happy to provide one, you know. Although I get the feeling with most of them it wouldn’t have been necessary.”
“Maybe next time you can take pictures,” he teased.
“There won’t be any next time.” She glared at him. “I don’t think this is a good place to get totally naked,” she told him, “but maybe you’d just feel more comfortable with your fan club if you just took off your shirt.”
He took another swallow of beer. “You have a really smart mouth, you know that?”
She laughed. “Goes with my smart brain.”
He leaned forward. “How about this. I’ll take off my shirt if you’ll take off yours.”
Reenie felt the heat creep up her cheeks. “I thought you didn’t want men flocking around me. That would definitely draw attention.”
“Good point.” He laughed. “Okay. Nobody gets naked.” He paused. “Here.”
“Ever,” she insisted.
“Well, maybe not now but at some point,” he drawled. “I promise you.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she warned.
Matt just laughed that low, smoky sound and drained the last of his beer.
She could hardly remember what else they talked about. She knew she’d given him more information about herself than she’d intended to. For his part, he talked a lot about Stark Ranch, about how close he and Amy were, about their activities in the community. But while he poked and prodded at her for more personal information, he gave up little about himself. That figured.
For dessert he ordered the traditional Mexican flan, insisting no meal was complete without it. She felt his eyes on her behind those dark glasses, watching every spoonful she put into her mouth as if observing some erotic ritual. Regardless of how irritating she found him and the whole situation, how insufferably male he was, she couldn’t seem to put a lid on the physical desire that exploded inside her just from being near him. And that pissed her off more than anything.
Finally the meal was over and Reenie didn’t know if she was glad or regretful. When Matt pulled up in front of her townhouse he insisted on getting out and walking her to the door, despite her protests.
“This is totally not necessary,” she protested, digging into her purse for her keys.
“My mother would be horrified if I didn’t act like a gentleman,” he told her.
“And you’re always a gentleman, right?” He shook his head, knowing she was referring to the previous night as well as that afternoon.
“I sure try to be. Am I forgiven yet, Reenie Davenport?” he asked. “Have I done penance for my unforgivable sin?”
How could you be mad at a man like this? It was impossible. She needed to get inside immediately and take a cold shower. Wash him out of her system and chill her galloping hormones.
“That was a very acceptable apology. I enjoyed lunch. Your conscience is now clear.”
“Are you brushing me off?” he asked.
“Just letting you know you’re absolved of…whatever you need to be absolved of.”
“And now I should run home and not bother you anymore.” He moved closer each time he spoke until he was totally in her space.
“You said it, not me.” She was struggling to ignore the sizzle and snap of the air between them. But when she opened the door and turned to say goodbye she knew she was in trouble.
“What if I don’t want to run off? What if I want this?”
Move, feet. Hurry inside.
But he was right there, reaching behind her to grab the doorknob and cage her with his arms. Something hummed deep inside her. And then his mouth came down on hers, soft at first like an angel’s kiss, his breath against her skin like a summer breeze, and all rational thought fled.
She was frozen in place, transfixed by his scent, by the aura of power and the overwhelming sense of sexuality. So she just stood there, immobilized, while his tongue played over her lips, tracing the seam, licking at the corner. Maybe if the kiss had been a full-tilt assault to begin with she could have shoved him away and escaped inside. But instead he was reeling her in on an erotic thread.
He moved his mouth back and forth, teasing, tasting. His teeth nipped gently at her lower lip, nibbling the edge of it. Her eyes drifted closed, giving in to the seductive touch. This—this—was what had lingered in the back of her mind every time she’d seen him all those years ago. A fantasy she’d never really allowed herself to think about. When she opened her mouth in automatic reflex his tongue invaded like a guided missile, exploring like he was discovering a new world. When he touched his tongue to hers, heat shocked her system, rushing through her veins, firing her nerve endings, drumming insistently in her hardening nipples and her throbbing cunt. Her legs turned to jelly and she grabbed Matt’s upper arms to steady herself.
Everything inside her burst into flame. Every inch of her skin felt sensitized, as if the nerves were too close to the surface. Her breasts turned heavy and achy, all of her erogenous zones throbbed insistently and a hunger she hadn’t even known she had rose up like a rabid wolf and bit her. Desire, raw and powerful, gripped her, wiping everything away except this man and his touch and its effect on her.
Somehow his mouth never left hers as he backed her inside the townhouse and closed the door behind them, his tongue still doing its wicked dance. One muscular arm banded around her, pulling her close to him so she felt everything from his hard, flat abs to the swelling thickness of his cock. So many sensations swamped her she was sure she would have fallen if he hadn’t been holding her so tightly.
She finally pried her eyes open, only to find herself looking into those nearly onyx eyes with heat dancing in them, golden flames that told her he was as aroused as she was. Somehow he’d ditched the sunglasses along with his Stetson and the power of his gaze penetrated clear to the bottoms of her feet.
Holy shit!
How was this happening? One minute they were eating lunch and the next he was kissing her like it was his only mission in life. And she was letting him. And kissing him back. Wanti
ng to get naked with him. Reenie struggled to pull the tattered edges of her mind together, but it seemed to have vacated her body. Some little warning bell was telling her to pull back, pull away, kick Matt Stark out of the house, but her body was ignoring it all. Instead it was screaming more, more, more!
And what was up with that? She wasn’t even sure she liked him, never mind… Never mind what? She was desperately scrambling for some sanity in a situation that had stolen it all away. Matt’s hand, his mouth, his body were destroying her. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.
Sweeping her up in his arms, he headed for the stairs.
“Bedroom?” he asked, his face still so close she was drowning in his eyes.
“Matt…” The protest sounded weak even to her.
With his mouth on hers, he said, “I’m not going to fuck you on the couch like some after-hours quickie. Believe it or not, I have more class than that. And trust me, Reenie, Davenport. I’m going to fuck you within an inch of your life. So, bedroom?”
“On the right,” she managed in a feeble voice, her body trembling with an unexpected explosion of need.
And then he was striding into her bedroom—thank God she’d tidied it and made the bed—and standing her on her feet.
“Just so you know, I’m not giving you a chance to change your mind.” His hands roamed up and down her back as he talked. “I know what you’ll do. And I want you too badly to give you that choice.”
He slipped his hands beneath the soft material of the sweater and slid them up along her rib cage until he found her breasts and took their weight in his palm. His mouth was touching hers again, as if lifting it away now might break the link between them. His hands were like individual flames searing her even through the thin satin of her bra. When his thumbs grazed her nipples, electricity shot through her and suddenly her panties were soaked with her arousal. Reenie didn’t think she’d ever wanted a man as badly as she wanted this one.
“I took one look at you,” he murmured, “and I was dead meat. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a woman this much. Let me look at you. I have to see you.”
His eyes were those of a predator, devouring her everywhere they looked. Her head was spinning, disconnected from her body, leaving her wrapped in a cloud of intense sensations. Every place his gaze landed she felt zapped by electricity, a lightning bolt that shot straight to her core.
And God help her, that was what she wanted too. That and a lot more.
Matt moved enough to ease the sweater over her head and then tossed it aside, eyes glued to the ivory skin he’d exposed. Almost reverently, he ran one fingertip across the upper swell of her breasts and up to touch the hollow of her throat where her pulse beat wildly. The fierce throbbing told him she was as aroused as he was. When he reached behind her to unclasp the bra, her breasts sprang free and his head dipped almost automatically so he could close his lips around one nipple. It peaked and hardened in his mouth.
Heaven.
Not in his wildest, most erotic dreams could he have imagined that making love to Reenie Davenport would ever be like this.
He sucked on it, pulling and licking and nibbling as if it was the last morsel he’d ever taste. He loved feeling the pebbled surface on his tongue, loved the heat of the silken flesh in his palm. When he moved to the other breast a low moan vibrated in her throat, echoing in his own body and sending shards of electric heat to his balls. Jesus. This woman turned his body upside down like no other woman ever had.
He had to force himself to go slowly, to ease her slacks and panties down her hips and legs, lifting each foot out of the pooled material and brushing it away. His hands caressed the velvet surface of her slim thighs and toned calves, touching, smoothing, pausing to place kisses here, there. Kneeling between her legs, he brushed his fingers over the soft nest of curls at the top of her sex before gently opening the lips of her cunt. Leaning forward, he inhaled her scent then touched her clit with the tip of his tongue.
Reenie jerked beneath his hands at the contact and clutched at him with her fingers, rocking slightly and moaning again, a delicious sound that echoed through him. Cupping her ass with his hands, he lifted her to the bed, spread her legs wider and stared at the delectable pink flesh glistening between her thighs. Breathing heavily, he gave himself up to the feast waiting for him. Such a mouth-watering taste, sweet like peaches or honey. Such slick, satiny skin, wet with her cream. And her clit, a swollen bundle of nerves that heated beneath the lap of his tongue.
He lapped at her, licking the heated flesh with long, slow strokes. When he closed his mouth over the pink nub of her clit she bucked beneath him, crying out. He pulled on it with his lips, teased it with his teeth, loving the small, sexy sounds she made and the way her hips arched up to meet him.
When he eased two fingers inside her, the hot muscles of her pussy clenched around them. Lust curled deep and hard in his belly and he nipped her clit with his teeth. God, she was so responsive. She was close. He could tell. He desperately wanted to watch her come apart in his arms, but he wanted to be inside her when that happened.
Reluctantly slipping his fingers from the grasp of her body, he stripped off his clothes, taking precious seconds to fish a condom from his slacks and roll it on. Then he moved her farther up on the bed to make room for himself and knelt between her thighs. She was wide open to him and his self-control was totally shredded.
“Reenie, Reenie, Reenie,” he murmured, half out of his mind with need.
Bending her legs back so she was exposed to him even more, he positioned himself at the entrance to her very delectable cunt and with a roll of his hips thrust inside her. Oh, Jesus. She was so wet and tight, her slick flesh like liquid flame wrapping itself around his cock. And he, the master of control, knew he wasn’t going to last half long enough.
Leaning over her at just the right angle so with every stroke he’d rub her hungry clit, he rode her through the gathering heat, through the storm of desire, feeling it rise and watching her face, her eyes, doing his best to hold back as long as he could. She matched his rhythm stroke for stroke, hips thrusting, inner walls tightening around his erection like a hot fist. Her legs wrapped around him, heels digging into the base of his spine as she pulled him closer to her, deeper inside her. Wait, wait, wait, he cautioned himself, gritting his teeth. But when the first shudders ripped through her he gave it up and let himself ride the crest with her and freefall into velvet space.
Despite the effort it took, he kept his eyes on her while the shared orgasm shook them wildly, watching the way her eyes widened, her skin flushed and those tiny little cries kept exploding from her. He emptied himself into the latex reservoir, pumping hard, burying every bit of himself in her, the world spinning out of control.
When the fierce spasms subsided to rippling aftershocks he collapsed forward, trying to catch as much of his weight as he could on his forearms, dragging air into his lungs.
What a clod he was. He’d meant to take his time with her, build it slowly, take her over the edge a time or two before the big bang. To savor the moment. Bring her to every level of pleasure imaginable. Show her he knew how to treat a woman. Which he did. In spades. It was his trademark. And here he’d just done his own version of wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.
Shit, shit, shit.
Some voice deep inside him warned that this woman was different than all the others he’d slept with, all the others he’d spent time with. Different with a capital D. He had no idea why, but it both intrigued and terrified him.
When his heart rate had slowed enough that he was sure it wouldn’t burst out of his chest, he brushed damp strands of hair from her flushed face and placed light kisses on her forehead, her nose, her cheeks.
“Well,” he told her, smiling, when he could draw a full breathe again, “you did tell me to take off my clothes.”
“Um, that was just a…you know.”
“Smart-mouth remark?” He smiled back. “I know that. But aren’t you glad I took it s
eriously?”
Matt brushed his mouth against hers, loving the soft fullness. He tried to pull in the frayed edges of his brain. He couldn’t ever remember a time when sex had shaken him like this had, reached deep down inside him to his very core and yanked out something he didn’t even know was there.
And all he could think was, Now what?
Reenie closed her eyes, waiting for her heart rate to settle and her breathing to even out. What the hell had just happened here? Oh, wait. The naked guy—the one from her long-ago dreams—had shown up in clothes, taken her to lunch and…and…oh my God. Fucked her brains out. She’d done it again, lost herself to an overabundance of charm and heated sexual pull. Well, hell. How stupid could she get?
She maneuvered one arm free and flopped it over her eyes. Maybe if she lay still long enough when she looked again he’d be gone. She counted to ten slowly then opened her eyes.
God. He was still here. His warm body pressed to her, his onyx eyes staring into hers. A tiny smile quirking at the corners of his mouth.
“Are you laughing at me?’ she demanded. “Because if you are, important parts of your anatomy are in serious danger.”
The smile widened. “Laughing? Uh uh. Smiling with pleasure would be more like it.”
“Damn.” She closed her eyes again, but when she peeked he was still there.
“I have to say that’s not a comment I get very often,” he told her.
“And I’ll bet you have plenty of women who praise your performance.” She pushed at him. “Well, I’m not one of them. You took advantage of me. Caught me off guard.”
“Hey.” A puzzled look spread over his face. “I wasn’t the only one getting enjoyment here. I’m surprised your screams didn’t bring the neighbors pounding on your door.”
