by V. K. Sykes
And, God, he tasted good. The lingering memory of the brandy he drank in the bar, flavored with heat and sex, and erotic as hell.
She whimpered a protest when he broke the kiss, but what followed was even better. His tongue trailed over the slope of her breast, teasing her. She arched her back, trying to force him to fasten on her nipple. He laughed softly, the sound vibrating over her skin, but then he gave her what she wanted. He sucked each tingling point in turn. First one, then the other, feasting at one breast while his hand toyed with the other.
Torrey cradled his head, no longer even bothering to repress her full-throated moans. It felt so wonderful, she knew she could come any second. She spread her legs even wider, rubbing her sex against the broad head of his erection. God, she wanted him to go down on her, to feel his skillful tongue part her folds and take her clit in the hottest kiss of all. But not every guy liked to do that, and she didn’t know Julian well enough to ask.
As if he heard her thoughts, he trailed a string of fiery kisses down her quivering stomach. She almost sobbed with relief when he spread her with his fingers, exposing her slick flesh to his gaze. His glance flicked up, heating as he took in her body spread submissively beneath him, then he returned to the task at hand. Slowly, so slowly that she almost screamed, his mouth came down on her, his tongue probing, gently stabbing into her passage, gliding inside, then out again, over and over. She curled up on her elbows, resisting the urge to push against his mouth to end it quickly, sending her over the edge.
“Oh, Julian…oh, God. Don’t stop. Yes, just like that,” she gasped. Wave after wave of pleasure surged through every limb, every muscle, every nerve, blasting away any lingering inhibitions, pushing her into a realm of pure, limitless sensation.
He must have known the precise and perfect moment to end it for her, to make her crest the last, giant wave. When he finally flicked her clit—just a single long stroke—she cried out her release, gliding over the breaking surf and into a warm, welcoming sea.
* * *
Julian held her, watching Torrey as she writhed under him, her lush, curvy ass filling his palms, crying out his name as she tumbled into her climax. He had to chain down his own skyrocketing lust or else he’d plunge straight into her beautiful wet pussy and explode in seconds. No. This was definitely too good to end so soon.
Slowly he slid alongside her on the cool leather of the sofa. As he kissed his way up her lithe body, she turned onto her side and wrapped her arms around him, crushing her spectacular breasts against his chest. Her mouth found his, and she kissed him with a passion that amazed him. He’d just given her a shattering release, but she wanted more, demanded more—not with the jaded, self-absorbed lust he’d encountered with other women he dated, but with a sweet, feminine intensity that brought all his predatory instincts roaring to the surface.
Torrey wanted him to claim her, and Julian was more than ready to oblige.
She drew his tongue deep into the hot cavern of her mouth, losing herself in the kiss, so obviously loving the hunger that seemed to spiral higher with each caress. He loved the way she tasted—like the finest dark chocolate. Sweet, but with a tangy bite. He devoured her, wishing he could thrust his aching cock between those full, pink lips instead of his tongue.
Lucky him. She must have gotten the silent message, for she broke off the kiss and headed south, trailing her tongue across his pecs until it found his nipple. She gave a quick flick with her hot little tongue, and his muscles jumped, sensation racing across his skin. When she slid the flat of her hand down his belly to reach for his cock, he couldn’t hold back a low groan.
With a delicate, maddening touch, she trailed her satin-smooth fingers from the base to the tip, then grasped gently and stroked down his shaft with a slow, pumping motion. Julian closed his eyes, gritting his teeth against the need to come as she deftly fucked him with her hand. They hadn’t even gotten to the main event, and already Torrey had him jumping out of his skin.
He grabbed her wrist, desperate for her to stop before he climaxed in her hand. “You are so good, baby,” he rasped. “But if you keep that up I’ll never get inside you.”
“Mmm…but wouldn’t you like me to suck you first? To do to you what you did to me?” Her throaty whisper stirred the hairs on his chest, raising prickles on his skin and clearly designed to do to him exactly what it did.
The only answer he could manage was a strangled growl. He cracked his eyes open in time to catch her fleeting grin as she wriggled her way down his body. An electrifying moment later, she closed that luscious mouth of hers over the head of his cock. He pulled himself up on his elbows to watch her, spreading his legs so she could rest comfortably between them.
And then her wet, silky tongue was on him. Flicking it over his engorged head, she danced light strokes across the tip and around the rim. She gripped the base of his shaft with her left hand, easing her other down to caress his balls. He ached to shoot now, but her tight grip kept him back. He could hardly pull in his breath as she worked his cock, sexy and searing hot as she devoted all her energy to pleasing him.
And pleasing herself, if his lust-addled senses were still operating correctly. Her face flushed with desire as she worked him over. Torrey was the kind of woman a man dreamed about—sexy, enthusiastic, and endearingly vulnerable. A woman who took as much pleasure from giving as she did from receiving.
He collapsed on the cool leather cushions, the blood pounding hotly through his veins. For a long, teasing moment her tongue coasted in a wet glide across the bottom of his shaft. Then she took him deep in her throat, inch by inch until her lips neared the base. Julian almost lost control, driven insane by the sight and feel of Torrey working her mouth up and down on his aching cock. She looked so beautiful, with her dark hair a glorious, sexy mess around her slender shoulders and full breasts, and her mouth glistening moist and pink as she took him all the way in.
He let out a low groan, desperate now for release.
Torrey got the message. She massaged his balls one more time then released her grip on his shaft. He erupted, flooding her mouth, arching his back as shudders raced through his body. She milked his cock, sucking him until not a drop could possibly remain. Then they both collapsed in a hot, sweaty tangle—completely and totally spent.
* * *
Torrey sprawled across Julian’s body, her head resting on his muscular chest. If his panting breaths and rapid heartbeat were any indication, she’d just given him a hell of an orgasm.
She nestled closer, relishing the feel of her hips cradled between his hard thighs. His arms encircled her protectively as he gently stroked down her spine. She had never been this content, this sexually satisfied. Julian had brought her to a mind-blowing orgasm, and she was thrilled she’d been able to return the favor. Even more amazing, she’d enjoyed every second of it. Torrey had always been happy to oblige a lover with oral sex, even though it didn’t do that much for her. But it had been different with Julian—she had loved making him come, and she couldn’t wait to do it again.
She combed her fingers through the wiry hairs on his chest as he trailed his hand down her back to squeeze her bottom. It seemed strange, but she felt so secure in his arms, so confident. And confidence hadn’t been her long suit, not for a long time. She should be fretting about the golf game she had to play for Julian and the other OTE partners, and if she had a shred of common sense she would be. With so much riding on one game it was more than possible she might succumb to a bad case of the yips. But she felt calm, even happy, as if she hadn’t a care in the world. Great sex might have something to do with that, but she suspected her confession to Julian—and his sympathetic response—was really the reason she felt finally free of the remnants of grief and anxiety that had dogged her for months.
He stirred beneath her. “You seem a little far away. Are you falling asleep?” he murmured as he gently tickled her ribs.
She shivered and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Oh, no. I’m right h
ere with you, don’t worry about that.”
“Good. I don’t want you going anywhere. Stay with me for as long as you can.”
Her heart squeezed with a bittersweet rush of longing. God, he couldn’t possibly know how good his words sounded to her. How much she wished she could stay right here, in his embrace, for a very long time. It was beginning to scare her, how much she wanted to be with him.
He tilted her chin up and stroked a finger across her mouth. Obediently, she parted her lips to his probing tongue. Her body, caught in a sexual languor, responded to the deep kiss as if an electric current had jolted through her. She threw a leg over his hip as he pulled her into a tight embrace. The friction of his thigh against her mound made her inner muscles tighten in anticipation.
Without breaking the full-contact kiss, Julian reached down between her thighs and teased a finger over her slick flesh. She squirmed, whimpering into his mouth as he pushed first one, then two fingers inside. Immediately she contracted around him, bringing herself to the brink of orgasm.
With his other hand—the one massaging her bottom—he nudged her up so he could reach her breasts. His mouth, hot and wet from their kiss, fastened on her nipple, and he began to suck even as he stroked her drenched pussy. Torrey gasped and clutched at his shoulders as his fingers stretched her, opening her wide for his cock. When he withdrew his slick fingers and rubbed them over her needy clit, she cried out as tiny spasms rippled out from her core.
“Please, Julian,” she panted. “You better do something soon, because I can’t take much more of this.”
He gave a husky laugh and rolled her off him and onto the sofa. Without a word, he slid his arms around her and stood, picking her up in one smooth motion.
Torrey almost came on the spot. Yes, it was ridiculously sexist and retro on her part, but she loved that he could carry her so easily. She loved feeling like a helpless female—at least for tonight, anyway. Julian was all-man—big, strong and protective, and she could almost believe that with him, she was totally safe and secure.
In a few quick steps he had her in the bedroom, letting her down on the plush, king-size bed with her head resting on a huge pile of soft cushions. She relaxed, enjoying the sensation of the cool silky bedspread on her bare skin as Julian padded into the ensuite bathroom. In seconds he returned, ripping open the foil packet of a condom. Pressing the rolled latex against his now fully erect, impressive shaft—really, the man was amazing—he sheathed himself in one long stroke.
He stood for a second, looking down at her, his eyes dark with passion and his features grown hard with hunger. No man had ever looked at her with such intensity. Excitement, mingled with an odd little surge of apprehension, weakened her limbs. Then he was on her, his body as hot as the desert sun, claiming her mouth in a wild rush. She opened her legs wide, and he pressed the head of his cock against her opening. He pushed in slowly, easily, and then he was in her all the way, one smooth, sinking thrust, so deep, filling her so completely that she cried out against his mouth. As he slowly flexed his hips, going even deeper, she wrapped her legs around his ass, desperate to feed the torrent of pleasure that rippled through her body in luxurious waves.
Julian broke the kiss and came up on his arms. The change in angle brought each stroke of his pelvis in contact with her throbbing clit. She clutched his biceps, her fingers digging into muscles as smooth as stone but burning her fingertips with a scorching heat. She pulled him tightly into her as he stroked, leisurely at first, but then faster, wilder as her interior muscles began to clench around him. The musky scent of his body, the slippery glide of his erection in her slick flesh as he filled her, made her crazy. She bit back a sob of passion, her spine arching as he drove her to the edge of her climax.
Torrey let her head drop back onto the pillows, giving everything up to him. He watched her through slitted eyes of dark heat, his face pulled tight with a feral sensuality. This was a Julian she hadn’t seen before, and she loved it. She loved his hard, tanned body poised above her, she loved the feel of his cock pumping into her, she loved the sensation that, for once, she didn’t need to be in control.
“God, Torrey, you’re so hot,” he growled, his muscles bunching underneath her hands. “I want to fuck you all night, but—”
He groaned and closed his eyes as he started to come.
Her own climax built to the breaking point, exquisite heat welling up inside her. Julian’s face contorted as she spasmed around him. With a final thrust, he threw them both over the edge. Her orgasm rocked her, an ecstasy of release that sent shivers racing along her nerves.
Arching his back, Julian gave one final, powerful thrust and poured out his release. Torrey curled herself around, cradling him with her body and silently, foolishly wishing that this night would never end.
Chapter 8
Here we go, Julian thought as Josh sauntered into the restaurant for breakfast, obviously ready to rag on the rest of them for losing the bet.
“All hail the conquering hero,” Brendan grumbled, reluctantly making room for Josh at their table by the window.
Josh couldn’t stop smirking. “You guys never had any doubt, did you? Krista played it cool a little longer than I thought she would, though. For a while there I was starting to wonder if I was losing my touch.”
“Josh, that bet isn’t something any of us should be gloating about,” Julian said, his tone sharper than he`d intended. “We treat these women with respect, remember? Stupid bet or not.”
Josh frowned. “Touchy, are we? Admit it—you’re just pissed that you didn`t score yourself.”
Julian just snorted. He had no intention of responding to crap like that.
Josh’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, hell—you have got to be kidding me! I know that look, Jules. You did Torrey the Hottie last night. Didn’t you?”
Julian clenched his teeth. “Like I said, Josh, treat her with respect. That’s a lesson you really need to fucking learn about women in general, if you ask me.”
He had a quick, vivid flash of Torrey, barely awake when he had left his room a few minutes ago. She had looked sexy and sweet, and somehow very vulnerable curled up alone in the king-size bed. The idea of anyone taking advantage of her—including him—made his gut clench.
Michael glanced at Julian, obviously sensing his displeasure. “So boy genius here is going to play golf with Nick Wells,” he said, deflecting the conversation back to Josh. “Try not to embarrass the company too much while you’re over there, okay?”
Josh flipped him the bird, then turned to Brendan. “What about you, Bren? Any luck with Miss Annie?”
Brendan shook his head, a small grin creasing his angular face. “Annie’s a sweet girl, and I think she likes me. She’s damn smart, too, despite that job of hers. She wants to manage a dance company someday, so she’s saving up to go to university to study theater management.”
Josh whistled. “Wow, just thinking about a girl studying theater management gives me a woodie.”
Brendan gave Josh a hard shove, almost knocking him off his chair.
“Knock it off, you two,” Julian ordered. “And give Brendan a break, Josh. Listen, enough about the stupid bet. It’s over, and Josh won. It’s about time we put all our focus on business.”
“Business and golf,” Josh chimed in.
“And the ladies. Right, Josh?” Michael added sarcastically.
“Maybe we could trade,” Josh mused, starting the whole thing up again. “I’m done with Krista. One more night, and she’ll think she can change me. And you know how likely that is to ever happen.”
Julian had to resist the urge to whack Josh upside the head. It was a damned good thing the idiot was so good at his job, because there were days he wanted to kick Josh to the road.
“If you want to be an asshole to Krista, I can’t stop you,” he said coldly. “But now that the bet’s finished, it’s time to let it go. We’ve got a big problem with Apollo. That’s what we need to focus on, not what’s happening with o
ur dicks.”
“Jeez, somebody didn’t get his nap this morning. What’s the problem, boss?” Josh said, looking annoyed.
“If you can’t figure it out, I’m not going to waste my time explaining it to you.” Julian took a couple of mental breaths and went back to business. “Look, while you guys take care of the show, I’m going to spend the morning on the phone. We need to get a handle on whether Colton is blowing smoke about his investors, or if there’s a real fire.”
“Fuck him,” Michael swore. “How can we work with that guy now? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. We can’t let Colton screw us again. Let’s go with the hostile bid and take him out.”
Brendan bolted upright in his chair. “Michael, come on. You know we’d have to pay a big fat premium on their stock price in a straight takeover. Their board would fight us and drive the price up as high as they could. Let’s just get the merger done. Then we can deal with Colton Kerr once we’re in full control.”
As usual, Brendan was right, but Julian couldn’t blame the others for being pissed. “Simmer down, guys,” he said in a firm voice. “Let me see what I can find out. Then we’ll lay out a strategy. I’ll meet you at the course this afternoon. And don’t worry—I’m not about to let Colton screw us again.”
* * *
Torrey had dozed while Julian showered and dressed. She only woke when he nibbled her earlobe. Her eyes had snapped open to find him sitting on the bed beside her, looking wide awake and totally, wonderfully put together. She hadn’t wanted to even think about how she looked at that moment, but he hadn’t appeared the slightest bit concerned. When she’d asked if he had to go so soon, he just shrugged and said “business,” and then invited her to stay in the suite and order breakfast. Before slipping out, he’d cupped her head and given her a long, tender kiss.
After a luxurious shower in the cavernous ensuite bathroom, Torrey wrapped herself in the baby-soft robe she found hanging on the back of the door. The expensive brushed cotton was suffused with that distinctive man-smell she’d savored all night as she snuggled against Julian. It made her long to have his arms around her again.
