Your Hand in Mine: A Heartwood Novel

by Brea Viragh

  I happily obliged, my arms around those broad, broad shoulders and squeezing.

  “Have a great night, Shar. Sweet dreams.”

  “Thanks. You too.”

  I leaned back and had a split second to draw air into my lungs before his mouth was on mine.

  Oh. God.

  His tongue retreated and I lunged forward to catch the sensation, latching on and drawing him against me. His hands were in my hair, fisted there, using it as leverage. My one arm went around the back of his neck, the other against the wall for support, balance.

  I didn’t know where the hell I was.

  He deepened the kiss and we both fought for air.

  The angry beeping of the open elevator door shook us both out of the embrace.

  “God, I’m sorry,” I murmured, stumbling out of the tiny box and into the tinier hallway. Were the walls closing in or was it me?

  Fenton was staring at me, through me, his shoulders hunched and his lips pink and plump.

  “I thought you said it would never happen,” I said with a breathless laugh. “You said it wasn’t the right time.”

  “It isn’t,” he answered.

  The husky timbre of his voice spread along my skin and settled until it was part of me on a cellular level.

  The declaration didn’t stop him from stepping clear of the elevator. The arrow pointing down illuminated, leaving us both stranded in the hall. He took one step forward, then another, stalking me. I held my ground.

  “You look like you’re afraid.”

  “Of you?” More like of myself.

  He’d told me no too many times for me to blindly trust that this was real. I wasn’t entirely sure if I had the capacity to resist. It wasn’t in my nature. Especially not when the man of my dreams had his fingers circling my nipples. Dragonfruit fizzies be praised. This was happening.

  “Your room or mine, Shar,” he groaned. “Make a decision. Or I’m taking you in this hallway.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  I ended up pushing Fenton against the door to my room, our lips fastened together.

  “I guess it’s going to be mine,” I said in a rush.

  He was adorable. Tripping over his feet in an attempt to swing it shut behind him. The blood had drained out of my head and arms, straight down to the apex between my legs. By the time I went to work on his throat with my lips and teeth, I was hardly standing.

  “Whoa, Shari—”

  “I can’t wait anymore. I don’t want to.” He’d given me the go and I was taking whatever he offered. End of story.

  This man wanted me.

  His hands got busy and silenced me mid-thought, my brain turning off. Had I actually thought this wouldn’t happen? Had I thought one of us could stop it from happening? This was the one man I couldn’t resist. It didn’t help when he was nibbling down my collarbone in an attempt to gobble me whole.

  “Get on the bed.” The demand ended in a moan when his teeth clamped on my earlobe.

  “Don’t tell me what to do,” Fenton answered. Then he whispered a creative desire he wanted to perform. He told me of all the naughty things he wanted to do to me. I was up for every single one of them, putty in the man’s calloused hands.

  We fell against the bed frame with a giggle before he shushed me. “We don’t want to wake the neighbors and have them call the front desk on us.”

  I had enough balance left to me to swing my dress overhead without falling over, standing in front of him in my bra and thong. “Let them hear.” I reached forward, slid my body over his, eyes rolling back in my head when his mouth fastened on my neck. “I don’t care.”

  “All right. Then you’d better hold on.”

  Before I could process his statement, accompanied by a wicked grin, he had his hand down my underpants.

  Holy…

  I wasn’t one to let an opportunity slip by while I was bogged down in niceties. The pleasantries of courtship and wooing. There was a certain protocol the majority of women followed when pursuing the man they want to marry. Apparently, I didn’t care anymore.

  Fenton was out of breath. His erection pressed against his jeans and drew my attention further. “What do you want from me?” I asked. Grinding my pubis against his.

  One finger clenched against my core. He was sexy as hell when he was half-plowed. “All kinds of terrible things.”

  I nodded, head bobbing. “I think I can handle that.” I pressed myself down on his lap and gave my hips a suggestive grind. “I wasn’t wearing any underwear earlier.”

  “Then where did these come from?” His thumb flicked against the dental-floss sides of my thong.

  “I wanted to change it up.” I rubbed my lips against his mouth once before diving down for a kiss. Rewarded for my patience when his arms came around my waist and dragged me closer. My heart plunged desperately down to my abdomen. Ropes of lust tied themselves into knots when he reached higher to unhook my bra. Freeing my hefty double-d’s.

  “I think you’re teasing.”

  “Maybe I am.”

  “I don’t know what you’re doing to me.”

  “I’m seducing you. And if you try to run now, I’ll stop you,” I joked. “You’ll never make it out the door.”

  “I’m not running anywhere.” With his free hand, Fenton moved to the top button of his jeans, flicked it open. His zipper slowly zipped down and the lower half of me pooled with desire.

  In response, I took hold of his shirt and tossed it aside, revealing a hard chest and wide shoulders. Oh yeah, I thought with a groan. Fenton definitely spent a lot of time working out. That, or renovating houses was better than trips to the gym.

  I couldn’t help myself. I bent to latch my mouth onto his nipple.

  “Sweet Mary Mother of—” his exclamation was cut off on a harsh inhalation.

  “Let’s be bad together, Fenton.”

  Somehow his hands had gotten tangled in my hair. He used the hold for leverage, drawing me closer until his tongue lapped against my lips. In one fluid motion, he’d parted my lips. His mouth was nothing but temptation. A sinful, silky temptation. I could have kissed him until the end of eternity if he’d let me.

  God, he made everything inside of me go buck-ass wild.

  He relieved himself of his pants, kicking them to the floor along with the rest of our discarded clothes. His last piece of clothing was cast aside to reveal his erection in its full glory. It’s hard, hard glory.

  I was a mess, my body a labyrinth of aches and desires. A small part of me knew how Fenton felt about me. About relationships in general. He’d made it clear he had no intention of asking me out on a real date, let alone pursuing more permanent avenues.

  I let those misgivings go out the door along with my reason. He’d made the first move. I was the closer.

  The man had a way of surprising me and keeping me on my toes. Not only was I aroused, I was completely disarmed.

  His eyes flared with anticipation, gold flecks bursting to life. Then his hand cupped my breath and I knew there was no more room for negotiation. A breath I hadn’t known I was holding whooshed out like someone had poked a hole in my lungs.

  I wasn’t looking for a fling. I wasn’t looking for another relationship with a guy who didn’t care about me. What I wanted was Fenton, and by god, now that he was in front of me, I was going to have him.

  “You want to be bad?” he muttered against my lips. “Well then. I’ll oblige.”

  “I think you’re the one who wants to be bad.” I shifted until my neck was exposed and his teeth made their way unerringly to my sensitive spot.

  Then he used his considerable strength to swing me onto my back, reversing our positions. I was trapped beneath his body. Had whatever higher powers existed ever made a more perfect place for a person to be?

  “Fenton,” I whispered.

  He recognized the plea and acted on it, lowering his head to my chest and running his mouth over my nipple. His tongue flicked out and sent a wave of sensation crashing
through me.

  “Are you going to take me here? Now?”

  “On second thought…”

  He trailed off, and my heart went cold. Luckily, Fenton wasn’t one to back down once he’d given the go-ahead. Standing, he reached down for my hand and used the momentum to bring me into his arms, my legs locking around his waist. I only had to help a little. If we were going to be punished for our time together, then at least he was going to make it worth it.

  He swung me around until my back pressed firmly against the windows. With his hands on my hips and his eyes filled with triumph, he bent to kiss me again.

  I felt like I was holding a lit sparkler. There was nothing but sizzle and heat, all mixed with danger. Fenton’s skin was flushed and hot against mine. Desperate, I broke the kiss and buried my face in the crook of his shoulder. Screamed when his hand wedged between my thighs.

  My world erupted yet again. The man was a magician. Serious Merlin level magic.

  “But you said—”

  “No buts, Shar. Not now. I’m done trying to hide how I feel. I want you. Let me have you before I come to my senses.”

  My body stiffened and we fell against the window breathless. It was insane. We rolled in a tangle of limbs until his rear was balanced on the sill above the air conditioner. I reached for him again, a throaty cry hazing the back of his throat. His hips surged forward and I used his own movement, along with my heels, to drag his jeans down from his rear.

  All through the evening, I’d had visions. Erotic visions of Fenton taking me in any way in any place. Against the door. On top of the bed. In the shower. I wanted the pleasure to last as long as possible. And know that Fenton was as lost as I was.

  My chest ached, and heat coiled through my extremities.

  I bumped into the wall when we lost our balance, the near-fatality coming to an end on a high-pitched giggle. I didn’t care where we ended up. There was power in the surprise. A wild lash of it that took hold of me and refused to let go. There was more to have, more to take. A mad world of touch and sight and taste. The feel of his muscles quivering as he held me. The pump of his heart against mine and the sweat in his pores.

  His tongue trailed a line down my neck and brought a tingle along my skin. To the point where I wanted to jump, squeal. Dance a jig.

  He used the window ledge for leverage and lowered me, clamping his hands around my wrist to yank my arms high and pin them against the window. His grip tightened until his fingers bit down, eliciting a moan.

  “I have to slow down,” he muttered, staring down at me.

  I arched my back and pressed my ample chest to his. “Don’t.”

  “Do you want this to be over before it starts? I have a plan for you and it takes time. I want to take my time.” His words exposed his need, the one he kept hidden from me.

  “Yes.” The word tore out of me.

  I watched him run that fabulous tongue over his lower lip. My stomach tightened in response. Tightened until the pressure was outstanding and I couldn’t breathe again. Then he lowered his head to my mouth and I was done. The contact was soft, hot. He was a drug I couldn’t quit, sliding his mouth down over the hollow of my throat and feeling the way our pulses hammered in unison. His path trailed lower, lower, lower. Down to my breasts where he took a nipple between his teeth. Tugging in a way designed to have me trembling.

  “God, you are good,” I moaned. “Too good.”

  “Just good enough.”

  I gave myself over to the pleasure. The sheer bliss of having a man savor me. Take what I offered without question. This wasn’t turning out the way I’d assumed once I reconciled my mind of a night of pleasure.

  His body was hard against mine and open to whatever exploration I chose. While he lavished attention on first one nipple, then the other, I went to work on him. Questing hands sought his abdomen and I wondered, for the umpteenth time, how many laps this man did in the pool to get a core like this.

  Light from the window poured in and I glanced down to see him watching me. What a view. My heart leaped from the intensity on his face. Love and desire warred inside of me, roaring through my bloodstream in an endless race.

  This man was mine. Whatever else happened between us, he was the one for me. My hands fell on his erection and used it to draw him closer. Our mouths met in a single deep kiss that had my heart doing backflips inside of my ribcage.

  When his breath hitched on a quick, catchy gasp, I wanted to melt into the floor. “I want you,” I demanded.

  Fenton pressed closer when I brought my hips against him. When I reached behind to squeeze his buns, cock jiggling against my pubis.

  Approval hummed as I continued to explore him. Top to bottom and every inch in between. I scraped my nails along his stomach and watched his eyes roll back in his head. Time to bring out the claws.

  Fenton moaned at the pleasure.

  “Shari.” My name as a burst of exhaled air. “I want you. I do.” He lowered his mouth to mine again, lips curving under mine. “Right now.”

  I had enough wherewithal left, the tiniest sliver of sanity, to point to my purse on the nightstand. “I have a condom in my wallet. Go grab it.”

  He went on his way with a nip. Moments later he swaggered forward with an aluminum square between his overly large fingers. “These damn things. I can’t get it open.”

  And I was about half a second from flying across the room to help. The satisfying snick of a wrapper opening.

  Fenton glanced up with a rueful smile. “You’re always fucking prepared. That’s why I hired you.”

  I pretended to fan myself. “It’s always been a fantasy of mine to sleep with my boss.”

  “Why haven’t you?”

  “Boobs don’t really turn me on. I’ve always worked for women.”

  “Mmm. They do for me. Especially yours.” A low growl rumbled in his throat and he crossed the room. His hands were on me. Squeezing. Massaging. The man had wicked hands, I thought.

  “You have amazing breasts. They’re better than I imagined.”

  “You imagined my breasts…very nice.”

  He unrolled the condom until it encased the majority of him. There was something about the sight of a man putting on his raincoat that turned me on. He stood in front of me fully naked. Solid, and toned. One of the sexiest men I’d ever had the pleasure of seeing.

  Then it was all-hands-on-deck. Fenton moved fast, pinning me against the window.

  “Now, Shari,” he demanded. “Right now.”

  He was on me, pushing my thighs aside in preparation, diving deep. Shock vibrated through my body and I trembled on the edge of an immediate orgasm. Well, I’ll be.

  We began to move together. The feeling of being filled was exquisite. His name echoed in my head and caught in my throat and he pressed inside of me until there was no control anymore. No holding back. He pulled out only to push in fully moments later.

  I closed my eyes and ground myself against him. “Harder.”

  “Harder?” The word seemed to surprise him. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’re in kind of an awkward position, there.”

  “I’m not fragile. I’m not breakable.” My hands hooked n his shoulders and I held on for dear life. The way he looked at me had heat stirring to life. Heat so primal it clawed along my spine. Impossible to match.

  “If you insist…”

  Fenton rammed home, moaning in surprise when I met him thrust for thrust. I used my hands to support myself on the sill and gain more leverage. Our chests and stomachs pressed together, his hips digging into my thighs.

  “More,” he growled

  I gave him everything. Lost to myself, lost to everything except our combined groans and squeals, I clenched around him. It was perfect. He took my mouth almost violently and fucked me all the while. It was all I could do not to buck and cry out. My fingernails gouged red lines down his back before I fell apart.

  Oh, Christ, it was the most amazing sensation in the world. A way to lose yourself be
fore rushing back to awareness. It was like having a madman at my front. He rode me through the orgasm, through the last and final crest. He still had my mouth as he jabbed inside a final time before I took him over the edge with me.

  There was no room for thought. Not under these circumstances.

  I felt his pulse through his erection, my muscles tightening and contracting around him. Every nerve flayed and heart open.

  Through it all, a tiny thought speared through into my consciousness. And I wondered how I could keep Fenton here long enough to make love to me again. How I could keep him from coming to his senses.

  When he’d kissed me in the elevator, I should have had the strength to walk away. To push him and tell him no, it wasn’t a good time, he was right. We would have our chance when he wasn’t coming down from a crest of nerves. He’d already made it clear. I’d followed through, since I’d been antsy and churned off. Pissed off by his initial rejection and generally confused by his actions toward me on our business trip.

  Here we were. Naked in bed together. Both out of breath from seriously incredible sex. While Fenton had been drunk. Drunk enough for it to count as drunk. I should have been strong enough to walk away.

  But what kind of woman was that strong? No one in their right mind could resist a half-naked and willing man with no inhibitions. Thank you, dragon fruit fizzies.

  I never claimed to be a saint.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Life didn’t go the way you planned. I knew it better than most, as the vast majority of my waking hours had been spent thinking Doma was the place I’d spend the rest of my life. The gallery became my reason for getting up in the morning. I never expected to be fired. It was an unforeseen slap in the face and, had I been a better person, I might have commiserated with Oscar. We’d been through similar situations that afternoon.

  Just like I never expected to have Fenton—of the no, no, we can’t, I’m not ready Fentons—fall asleep between my breasts. And leave me in the morning. I woke up alone with a cold side of the bed and the worst hangover this side of the Rocky Mountains.

  “Oh, my lord.”

  Wincing, hand to my pounding temple and brain cells dying by the second, I swung my legs over the side of the bed. And experienced a wild swing of vertigo. Nope, standing was out of the question. I flopped back down on the bed and let the pillow cushion my head.