by Leah Brooke
Releasing her wrists, he reached into the bag he’d dropped next to the sofa. “I told you that I liked sex hot and sweaty. I told you I wanted things from you that would shock you. You said you want it, too. Let’s see how brave you are.”
Naked on his lap, she wiggled, sucking in a breath when his cock hardened even more. “Like what? Tell me.”
He dropped a tube near her legs and spread her thighs again. “I want your ass, but before I can take you there, I need to prepare you.” His lips brushed hers. “It’s gonna take some time. Days. Maybe weeks. Of. Play.” He lifted his head, staring into her eyes while thrusting a finger into her pussy.
Lana gasped, her pussy clenching on the finger he thrust into her. “J.W.!”
The memory of the way it had felt when he touched her there before had her bottom tingling with awareness, a disconcerting sensation that made it impossible to sit still.
J.W. smiled and moved the finger he held in her pussy, holding her wiggling body against his. “I want to know every part of you.” Bending to kiss her again, he nibbled at her lips. “I want to tie you to me every way I can. I want to give you pleasure in every way I can.”
Slipping his finger free, he squirted a generous amount onto his fingers. “You’re gonna love it.”
Trembling, Lana held on to J.W. as he eased her back over his arm. “J.W., I’m scared.”
He bent toward her, his body tense, his eyes watchful. “I know, baby. It’s new. The last time I did this you didn’t know it was coming. This time, I want you to know what to expect.”
The tenderness in his eyes had her reaching for him.
The gentleness in his touch had her arching toward him, craving more.
She smiled at him, squirming against him with renewed hunger. “How can I always want you this way?” It was as if a new world had opened up for her, a world full of intimacy and sensation, and she couldn’t get enough of it.
She couldn’t get enough of him.
He brushed his lips over hers and lifted his head, his eyes filled with affection and indulgence. “Because you trust me, and something inside you knows that we belong together.”
His breath, warm and comforting against her cheek, had her closing her eyes and snuggling against him. “This is about us. About pleasure. Nothing else matters.”
The tube landed softly on the carpet as he slid a hand into her hair. “I’d never do anything to make you uncomfortable or do anything to hurt you.”
His lips touched her ear. “Trust me, baby. Remember how much you liked it before.”
When his hand slid between her thighs again, she stiffened, her bottom clenching in expectation.
She squeezed her eyes closed, too embarrassed to look into his eyes. “Please, just get it over with.”
“Look at me, Lana.”
Biting her lip, she opened her eyes, her breath catching at the possessiveness in his.
Bending so low that his nose almost touched hers, he eyed her steadily, his thumb lightly stroking her clit. “You’re so fucking adorable. I couldn’t stop thinking about you all day.”
Lost in the intensity of his possessive gaze, Lana sucked in a breath at the feel of his lubed finger pressing against her puckered opening.
The slick lube allowed him to push past the tight ring of muscle with ease, the continuous slide of his thumb over her clit making the sensation of being invaded so erotic, she arched into it, taking his finger deeper.
J.W. groaned. “Just the thought of taking your ass has me close to coming in my damned jeans.”
Naked on his lap, she rocked her hips, shocked at the pleasure.
Shocked at the hunger and possessiveness in J.W.’s eyes.
Sharper now, and more intense, the emotion glittering in his eyes had her reaching for him, crying out when he pressed his fingers against her inner walls while moving his thumb faster over her clit.
The heat between her thighs spread quickly, the instinctive attempt to move away from such intense pleasure pressing his finger harder against her anal walls.
“Oh! Oh God! J.W., it’s too much.”
J.W. pulled her closer with a hand at the back of her neck, taking her mouth with his in a hard kiss filled with hunger. “No. It’s not enough. I have a feeling that, with you, it’ll never be enough. Come for me, Lana. Now.” He covered her mouth with his while the finger and thumb of the hand between her thighs worked their magic.
The sizzling sensation in her bottom and clit grew and spread, enveloping her entire body. Crying out when it crested, she fought to free her hands, desperate to grab on to him, but found them hopelessly tangled behind her.
J.W. slowed his kiss, swallowing her moan. Holding his finger deep inside her ass, he slid his thumb over her clit with a slow caress that kept the pleasure rolling through her. Lifting his head, he stared down at her, his body tense against hers. “Christ, I want you.” He slid his finger free and rubbed her bottom as he sat back and gathered her close. Kissing her temple, he worked her shirt free from her wrists. “Come here, baby. I want to feel your arms around my neck.”
Lethargic, Lana lifted her arms willingly, holding him and tucking her face against his neck. “What about you?”
He kissed her hair again, running his hand up and down her back. “What about me, baby?”
She cuddled against him, absorbing his warmth. “You didn’t get any pleasure.”
Lifting his head, he stared down into her eyes with a smile. “Being with you gives me a great deal of pleasure. Come on. Let’s get cleaned up and get ready for bed. You know, we’d be a lot more comfortable in my house instead of in your small apartment.”
“I’m comfortable here.”
He rose with her in his arms. “No. You’re not. I’ll bet you’d be more comfortable living with me.”
“It’s too soon.”
Chuckling, he started down the hallway. “So, it’s too soon for you to live with me but not for me to live with you?”
Her brain was too muddled to argue with logic. “You’re not living with me. You just spend the night.”
“Well, I want you to live with me.”
“I can’t. It’s too new. I’m a mess. I can’t make a decision like that. I’m all screwed up inside. This way, you can leave when you want to.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“We’ll see.”
Chapter Eight
Lying naked in bed with her head pillowed on J.W.’s massive chest, Lana turned to look up at him. “J.W., are you sure you don’t want to make love?”
Watching the late night news, J.W. glanced at her with a smile. “Baby, I always want to make love to you, but I’ve been selfish enough. After the first time, I promised myself that I’d give you a few days to heal and wanted you so much that I took you again.”
“But earlier—”
“I wanted to give you pleasure and start to prepare you to have your ass taken. Now, stop talking about it. I’m getting hard again, and I don’t feel like taking another cold shower.”
Rolling to lie on top of him, Lana smiled and reached for his cock. “I’m not sore at all, but if you want to wait, I can give you pleasure in other ways.”
Gripping her wrist before she could reach her destination, J.W. frowned, his eyes narrowed. “What do you know about that?”
Giggling, Lana pressed her lips to his chest, desperate to be the kind of woman he needed. “Just because I was a virgin doesn’t mean that I don’t know things. People talk. Please let me touch you.”
“No.” J.W. adjusted her on his chest and ran his hands down her back to her bottom. “You’re not doing that. Behave yourself.”
Pouting, she looked up at him through her lashes, surprised and delighted when his eyes narrowed. “You can teach me.”
J.W.’s eyes glittered, his breathing becoming harsher. “Leave it alone, Lana.”
Unafraid of his gruff tone, and spurred by the desire in his eyes and the feel of his cock hardening beneath her, she ran
a fingernail over his jaw. “No.”
His eyes narrowed even more, the satisfaction in them surprising her further. “No? You’re getting awfully brave, aren’t you, baby?”
“Am I?”
Running the tips of his fingers through her hair, he tapped her bottom, somehow making the gesture both arousing and threatening. “It’s been a long time since someone said no to me.”
Lana grinned. “It shows. You’re pretty arrogant.” She traced a pattern on his chest, looking up at him through her lashes again. “I would have thought a man like you would demand that kind of satisfaction, especially after what you said to me before we went to bed the first time.”
He surprised her by rolling her to her back and leaning over her. “Yeah, well, I changed my mind.”
“I thought you said that you liked sex hot, sweaty, and raw.”
“I do.” Holding her face between his hands, J.W. brushed his lips over hers. “You’re not the sophisticated woman I thought you were when I said that.” Sliding his hands beneath her shoulders, he lifted her, threading the fingers of one hand into her hair. “You need something different from me.”
Surprised by that, Lana gripped his shoulders and pressed herself against him. “But what about what you need? I’m not fragile. I want what you want. Why don’t you let me give you what you need?”
Something flashed in his eyes but disappeared before she could decipher it. “You do.” He kissed her hard before rolling off of her, his cock hard against her thigh as he moved. Propping himself on the pillows again, he pulled her back against his chest and kissed her hair. “You give me an enormous amount of pleasure, but right now, I’m more interested in making sure you have what you need.”
Sitting up, Lana reached for her robe and slid from the bed, torn between anger and embarrassment. Gesturing angrily toward the bathroom doorway, and then to the one leading to the hall, she whirled on him. “You think I’m weak because I have to sleep with lights on. The poor little girl is afraid of the dark.”
J.W. stilled, staring at her for several long seconds before using the remote to turn the television off. “If I thought you were a little girl, I wouldn’t have taken you, Lana. I took you because you’re a very desirable woman and something connected between us. I don’t blame you for being scared. It pisses me off that you went through such a thing. If you need to sleep with the lights on, we’ll sleep with the lights on. Have I said a word about it? Have I criticized you for being afraid?”
His calm demeanor angered her even more and made her more determined to push him.
Her heart sank at the fact that she couldn’t seem to shake his cool demeanor. “No, but that doesn’t mean you don’t think it!”
“Don’t presume to know what I’m thinking, Lana.” The steely edge in his tone sent a chill down her spine. “Why don’t you come back to bed and we’ll talk in the morning when you’re not so tired or upset?”
She stamped her foot in frustration, irritated even more than she’d done such a childish thing. Unable to see how he could remain so cool and controlled if his emotions were involved, she pressed a hand to her churning stomach. “Don’t tell me what I’m feeling, J.W. I’m not going to bed with you. Go home.”
To her surprise, he rose and reached for his underwear, donning them and his jeans before grabbing a pillow from the bed. “I’ll be on the sofa. I’m not leaving you alone. Get some sleep.”
Lana stared after him, missing him as soon as he disappeared from sight.
Suddenly, the feeling of loneliness nearly overwhelmed her.
She’d been wrong to attack him.
He hadn’t done a damned thing to deserve it, but his lack of emotion left her feeling cold and shaky.
Dropping to the edge of the mattress, she curled a leg under her and stared at the doorway, feeling as if she’d lost something precious.
She looked toward her closet door that stood wide open. She’d left the light on, as well as the one in the bathroom, but J.W. hadn’t said a word about it.
He’d turned the light on his side of the bed off, but hers still burned.
She looked toward the doorway again, surprised to see that he hadn’t turned off the living room light, even though he would sleep better in the dark.
He’d left it on for her.
Even though her outburst had annoyed him, he’d stayed instead of storming out.
He’d denied his own pleasure while making sure he pleasured her.
J.W. was more than she deserved, and she hadn’t been fair to him.
She owed him an apology and knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep until she’d given it to him.
Her fingers went to the scar on her thigh out of habit. The realization that it didn’t look as bad as she remembered had her rising from the bed and moving closer to the light.
The straight line, about four inches long, wasn’t as puckered and red as she’d remembered it.
She avoided looking at her scars as much as possible but still felt their presence. Frowning, she realized that J.W. had taken to touching them often, and all she felt now was the lingering memory of his touch.
Lifting a hand to her cheek, she turned toward the mirror above her dresser. She wore no makeup, something she hadn’t done since the attack.
J.W. hadn’t reacted to her scar, so she hadn’t even thought about it.
Amused and a little uneasy that she’d been so consumed by thoughts of J.W. that she hadn’t thought about her scars at all, she sucked in a breath and started toward the doorway, rubbing her arms against the chill that went through her.
Although she knew that her bare feet didn’t make a sound on the carpeted hallway, J.W. somehow knew she was there and spoke as soon as she stepped into the living room.
“You okay?” Stretched out on the sofa wearing only jeans, he kept his eyes closed.
“Yeah. Just cold and lonely.”
His eyes opened at that, but he said nothing. His eyes followed her as she crossed to him, his hands going to her waist and easing her down to sit on top of him.
Aware of his cock beneath her, Lana remained perfectly still. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I snapped at you that way.”
His lips twitched. “Probably not.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you probably don’t want to admit that you’re falling for me. You already feel vulnerable because of the attack. You’re also feeling vulnerable because I took your virginity.” Smiling faintly, he ran a hand over her thigh. “And now you’re falling in love with me, and it scares the hell out of you. I’m a patient man, Lana. I’m not going anywhere.”
Stiffening, she tried to sit up, but J.W.’s grip tightened. “You really are arrogant.” The truth in his words hit her hard, the realization of how much she’d already started to lean on him not sitting well. “I can’t just rely on you. I need to take care of myself.”
“You will, but I’m here and a hell of a lot stronger and harder than you are.” Sitting up, he pulled her close, kissing her hair. “I would use every bit of strength I have and every resource at my disposal to take care of you and keep you safe. You don’t have to worry about falling asleep. As a man, it’s my job to secure everything for the night. It doesn’t matter if we’re here or at my house. I don’t want you to have to worry about that.”
Lana curled into him, laying her head on his shoulder. “Why are you so good to me?”
“You’re easy to be good to. Do you think you’re calmed down enough to go to sleep?”
Lifting her head, she smiled up at him, running her fingers through his hair, something she found herself doing every chance she got. “If you’re with me. I sleep better when you’re sleeping next to me.”
“I know.”
Once again amused by his arrogance, she lifted her chin. “If you know, then why did you leave?”
Sliding an arm beneath her knees and one at her back, he held her against him as he rose. “Because you were too upset to sle
ep while I was in there. I decided to wait until you’d calmed down and gone to sleep.”
He made his way down the hall with her in his arms, dropping a kiss on her lips when she looked up at him. “Then I was going to sneak in and hold you against me all night.” Once inside the room, he set her on her feet, staring into her eyes as he brushed her hair back from her face. “It means more to me than you can imagine that I can keep those nightmares at bay.”
Minutes later, naked and in J.W.’s arms, Lana let her eyes drift closed and, listening to the sound of his breathing, gripped his hand. Secure in the knowledge that she was safe, she fell into a deep sleep, smiling at the feel of his warm lips on her hair as he pulled her closer.
“My bed’s bigger.”
Lana smiled again and cuddled closer. “I like mine just fine. It keeps you closer.”
J.W. chuckled at that. “Oh, you’d still be close in my bed. We’d just have more room to move around when we have sex.” He slid a hand up her side, pausing at the outer curve of her breast. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a big man.”
Lifting her head, she slid her leg up his thigh and over his cock. “I noticed.”
Chapter Nine
Pleasantly satisfied from making love to Lana only an hour earlier, J.W. pulled into his driveway, and for the third time in the last two weeks, his foreman, John Hudson, sat on the front porch waiting for him.
Switching his cell phone to the other hand, he turned off the engine and motioned to John that he’d be with him in a minute. “Mom, there’s nothing to talk about.”
“Well, I think it’s wonderful that you’re staying with her at her apartment. I’ve had lunch with her a few times and had coffee with her at her apartment, and each time I see her, I like her more. She’s perfect for you. Henry and Caroline are relieved that she’s not staying alone at night, but they’re a little curious about your relationship.”
So are you.
It explained the early morning call.
John came forward, the anger on his face speaking volumes.
