by Jess Bryant
“What?” She teased, “Beautiful? Hot? Sexy? What’s wrong, Cash? Cat got your tongue?”
He grabbed her wrist and hauled her inside. She let out a little squeal when he knocked the door shut behind her and then pushed her against it. He pinned her in place with his body and took her mouth. Kissing her with everything that he couldn’t say and she responded in kind, pressing right back against him, tangling her tongue with his and whimpering when he pulled back for a breath of air.
“Mine. You look like mine.” He breathed against her jaw as he skated kisses towards her ear.
“I am.” She breathed out on a soft whimper, tangling her hands in his hair and trying to pull his mouth back to hers.
He captured her wrists and pulled her hands away. He pinned them over her head and held her there with one firm grip. He used his other to stroke down her body, cup her breasts and he groaned as she arched into him, as his thumb caressed back and forth over her already hard nipple.
“You’re not wearing a bra.” He groaned, nipping at her lips again.
“Nope.” She licked the spot he’d teased and then him, “Go lower, find out what else I didn’t bother with.”
He sucked in a shuddery breath as he pulled back enough to look at her. Her eyes were dilated, wide and glassy with desire. Her cheeks were flushed a beautiful shade of pink that matched her lipstick, which he’d smeared. Her lips were swollen from his rough kiss but they tipped up into a smile as he did what she wanted and trailed his hand lower, beneath the hem of her dress.
He encountered nothing but smooth, warm skin and he groaned again, “You’re not wearing any panties.”
She smiled in response and shifted her hips as he cupped her. She was wet. So damn wet and ready for him. His mind fractured, fighting between taking her fast and hard right there at that moment or teasing her for coming to him like this with every intention of driving him crazy.
“I don’t know whether to give you what you’re asking for because you were sweet enough to give me easy access to what’s mine.” He slid his finger over her clit, teasing as it swelled beneath his touch and making her gasp before he slid lower, slipping slowly inside of her and pumping once before stopping, “Or punish you for going out in that short skirt without panties where anyone could see what belongs to me with one strong blow of the wind.”
“Either.” She answered breathlessly, her hips arching, her voice breathless, “Give it to me or punish me, I just need you. It’s been too long.”
He kissed her again and she made that tiny, needy sound that threatened his control. It had been too long. After years apart, the past few hours had been torture. He slipped his tongue between her lips and she met him. She twined her tongue against his and when she sucked gently he groaned.
He loved the way she reacted to him. He always had. From the first time he’d touched her and she’d flushed that beautiful pink, he’d been addicted to her. The way she looked, the way she tasted, the way she responded to him, she was built for him.
As their kiss edged out of control, he pumped his fingers against her again causing her entire body to shudder. So damn responsive. He thumbed her swollen bud as he slid deep and curled his fingers, hitting that spot that made her break the kiss to cry out his name and send pride and possessiveness coursing through his veins.
“Cash! Oh God, yes.”
She twisted in his arms, arching into him but her movement pulled at the restraint he’d put on her wrists and he was jerked back to reality. He had her pinned to the wall. Helpless. And he recoiled as the memories shot through him, pulling back, he would have stumbled if she hadn’t reacted so fast and caught him by the shirt, not letting him get too far.
He’d held her pinned to the wall just like those other bastards.
Jemma’s lips pursed, her eyes searching his face and finding what he couldn’t hide. He knew because her entire expression softened. She held tight to his shirt, drawing him back towards her with a shake of her head.
“What’s wrong?” Her eyes darted over his face.
“Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hold you down, I…”
“Cash.” She cut him off with a concerned expression that twisted his guts, “It’s okay.”
“No. It’s not. I didn’t mean to hold you down like that. I’m sorry.” He sucked in a much-needed gulp of air and expelled it shakily, “Let’s go to bed. I want you in my bed where you belong.”
“No.”
“Jem…”
“No. Not this time.” She kept shaking her head, biting her lip as she slid her hands up and around his neck, “You weren’t hurting me. You weren’t holding me against my will. I was right where I wanted to be.”
He closed his eyes, trying to shut out the beautiful image she made, the temptation to touch her too much to resist as he gently cupped her cheek and tried to explain what she already seemed to understand, “I don’t want to scare you.”
“I wasn’t scared. I was turned on.” She turned her head and planted a kiss against his palm, “I still am.”
“You’ve been through so much…”
“And I’m working to get past it. Help me. Get past it with me. I want you. Please.”
He dropped his forehead to hers, “Let’s go to bed and I’ll make you forget anyone else has ever touched you.”
“No. Here. Now. Just like this. Fuck me against the door like I know you want to, Cash.” She tilted her head, pressing light kisses against his jaw, whispering against his mouth, “Fuck me like you love me.”
She kissed him, soft and sweet but it was tinged in a desperation that made him growl deep in his throat. His heart was throbbing in his chest and sweat had begun to dot his forehead and back, making his shirt stick to him. She wanted him like this as badly as he wanted her and he wanted to give her what she needed.
He didn’t know if he could this time, if he could shut out those terrible memories and focus on the present. But he would try, for her, because she was everything to him.
He kissed her back lightly, “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“You tell me if you want to stop.”
She cupped his cheek tenderly, “Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop talking to me or touching me or loving me.”
He nodded and slid his hand back under her short skirt, “I love you so much.”
“Love you too.” She bit her lip and looked up at him from under her lashes, “I’m yours, Cash. I trust you. Now take what you need and give me what I want.”
He broke at the blatant permission. She’d hadn’t asked or begged. She’d demanded. She wanted him to take her right here and now, against the door, as fast and frantic as he’d been about to moments before his subconscious and its dark, twisted memories overwhelmed him. He beat them back and focused on this moment with the woman he loved.
He kissed her hard, forcing his tongue between her lips and earning a surprised mewl. She met him a moment later, opening and tilting her head to give him deeper access. He sucked on her tongue and she scratched him as her fingers sought the bottom of his shirt, pushing it up.
Breaking free of the kiss, he let her go long enough to help her pull it up and over his head. She bit her lip, her eyes glazing again as she looked at him in that way he’d come to crave. She ran her nails down his chest to his pants and he groaned when she went straight for the snap of his jeans.
He knocked her hands away once she had him unbuttoned, “Not yet.”
“But…”
“You want this? I’ll give it to you. But I want something too.” He dropped to his knees and heard her gasp, “I haven’t tasted you yet, haven’t gotten to lick your sweet folds and feel you come apart with my head buried between your thighs. I want to feel you come on my tongue Jem.”
“I… Oh God…” Her voice broke, her head thumping back against the door as he ran his fingers up the back of her legs. “That dirty mouth of yours gets me so hot.”
He chuckled as he followed the path with his mouth, p
lanting kisses against her knee and then up her thigh. She opened up for him with a breathy moan. He could scent her arousal, feel it on her thighs and ran his tongue up the length of her, dragging her knee over his shoulder to open her up to him completely, and then he put his mouth on her.
Heaven. Of course she tasted like heaven. Because that’s what she was, his heaven.
He used one palm against her hip to hold her steady as he loved her with his mouth. The other he brought back into play, sliding his fingers through her folds and then pushing deep at the same time he flicked her swollen clitoris with his tongue. She clenched around him, a needy moan escaping and he knew she was close. He wanted to make her come like this, to know that he made her feel this much, this deep.
Speeding the tempo, he pushed her towards the edge fast. Her sex clenching and her hips arching into him. Words tumbled from her lips, pleas for more, everything, for him to stop, gibberish and love and need all flowing together until he felt her entire body lock in place.
He growled as Jemma screamed his name and the orgasm rushed through her. Her legs trembled and she wrapped her hands in his hair. He didn’t know if she was trying to pull him away or hold him close but he didn’t move. He just kept licking her, slowing his rhythm, easing her through it as her climax waned and she sagged against him.
Pride coursed through him when he finally pulled back enough to look up at her. Her head was back against the door. Her eyes squeezed shut and her mouth open in a pant. Her chest heaved as she sucked in air and he wished right then, at that moment, that he’d gotten her naked so that he could see that beautiful pink flush down the smooth line of her body.
There were so many things he’d never had the chance to do with her. He’d only had her that one time years ago and he’d ruined it only minutes later. Last night he’d taken her over and over in bed, him on top, her on top, fast and slow, rough and gentle. But he’d just gotten his first taste of her and he knew he’d never get enough to satisfy that new addiction.
He wanted to do everything with her… and he would.
Her hands finally eased in his hair, stroking back softly, soothing the sting she’d caused with her tight grip, “Oh… Cash… that was…”
He hid a smile against her thigh, kissing her softly before pulling away, “Can you stand?”
“Mmm.” She nodded, “Come back up here babe.”
He rose to his feet, slightly unsteady himself. As he did, he tugged on her dress, pushing it up and off her beautiful body so he could get a better look at her. And lord she was beautiful, all curves and softness, flaming red hair and flushed pink skin. Her breasts were swollen with desire and that flush went all the way to her hard nipples.
“Here or bed?”
He gave her one more out, thinking if he just swept her up in his arms and carried her to bed she probably wouldn’t fight with him. But he’d said he would give her what she wanted. And from the looks of it, she hadn’t changed her mind. His woman could be damn stubborn when she wanted to be.
“Cash…”
“Okay baby.” He nodded, lowering his mouth to hers and kissing her again.
She didn’t recoil from her taste on his lips and he pushed his tongue against her. She moaned and grasped at him, nails scratching as she wrapped her arms around him and dragged him closer. She sucked her own taste off his tongue and he groaned, pinning her in place with his hips.
He broke the kiss and reached for his pants, pushing them down and out of the way, “Keep your arms around me.”
She nodded slightly and he hauled her up. Her legs automatically wrapped around his waist and he shuddered as he adjusted them. It would be better this way. If she clung to him then she wasn’t helpless, wasn’t pinned. She gripped him so tight because she wanted it.
He could feel her heat and her wetness against him and everything sped up again. He needed inside her. Needed to claim her. Needed to make her his. Again and always.
“Hold on.”
With one hard thrust he buried himself inside her and a cry escaped her lips. He muttered her name as well. There was nothing to compare it to, being with Jemma like this, it wasn’t just coming home. It was his soul, complete. He grappled for control as her body squeezed him and he pulled back and slammed into her again.
“Yes! More. Harder.”
He couldn’t stop after that. She wanted it and he was helpless to give it to her. Hard, fast, he pulled out and pushed back in deep. His fingers on her thighs tightened, holding her up, holding her open as he slammed them into the door. The only sound in the room was their heavy breathing and the bang of the door when their weight rammed into it.
Twisting one hand in her hair, he dragged her mouth back to his and swallowed her cries. She bit him and he groaned. He bit her in response and then forced his tongue into her mouth again, flicking in and out at the same rhythm as his body pounded into hers.
He wasn’t hurting her. She liked this. Loved it. Hard and fast and dirty, they came together in every way. And there was nothing wrong about it because they both wanted it.
He broke the kiss with a growl, “Never get enough of you. Come for me again baby.”
She leaned her head against his shoulder, kissing across his collarbone. Her tongue flicked out, tasting the sweat that poured off of him as he worked his body into hers. When her teeth dug into his flesh and she bit him, hard, he cried out and lost it.
His control shattered and he bucked against her harder, faster. He came in a wild torrent, chanting her name and through the rush of his own climax he felt her body tighten around him as he triggered her orgasm. She went just as wild, rocking into him, grinding her hips, dragging it all out until they both collapsed together, panting, hearts racing, clutching at each other.
He had no idea how long they stood there like that. Eventually, he felt her legs tremble around him and shifted them so he could pull out. Jemma made a small whimpering sound of disapproval and he smiled, kissing her temple as he rearranged her in his arms so he could carry her more easily. He loved that she was small enough he could pick her up and tote her around though of course she grumbled about it when he kicked his pants off and started for the bedroom.
“I can walk.”
“No. You can’t. Because I can’t let you go right now.” He brushed his lips across her cheek and her nose and she gave a contented hum before wrapping her arms around his neck.
He grinned and carried her to his bedroom in silence. He lowered her to his bed and then followed her in, pulling the blankets over them as she rolled over and curled against his side.
“Wasn’t so bad now was it?” She smiled against his chest and he chuckled.
“Not so bad at all.”
She fell silent and he thought for a moment that she was asleep. He stroked his fingers up and down her back in a slow pattern. Soft, he wasn’t sure he would ever get used to how damn soft she was.
So small and delicate but also so strong. She’d known what she wanted, again, and demanded it from him. She was a determined little thing, which was one of the things he loved about her. She wouldn’t let him get away with the same bullshit he’d pulled when they were kids. She’d fight for him, fight with him if need be, but he wasn’t exactly putting up a fight this time.
He wanted her. Wanted to keep her. Wanted her in his life. Hell, she was his life.
“Cash?”
He blinked, surprised to hear her voice and recognizing it wasn’t sleep-filled, “Hmm?”
“Colt’s not here right?”
He laughed, “No. He’s not. I wouldn’t have fucked you in the entryway if he was, babe.”
“Good.” She nuzzled closer and he could feel her smile, “I haven’t had a chance to buy him those headphones yet and I think he might need them tonight.”
“Mmm, not done with me yet?”
“Not even close.” She nipped at his pec and giggled when he flinched, “I told Sky I was spending the night with you. I hope that was okay.”
“Of c
ourse, you’re always welcome here. I’d have you here every night if it was up to me.”
“I know, it all just seems so…”
“Fast.” He finished for her, “I know, but it doesn’t change how we feel about each other.”
“I know just… give me some time and we’ll figure out living arrangements okay?”
“Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”
Jemma sighed and snuggled closer, her hand on his chest tracing the tattoo of her name. He smiled softly and settled into the comfort of the moment. He liked that she wasn’t freaked out by the fact that he’d permanently imprinted her into his chest when he’d thought she was lost to him forever. What he’d tried to explain to her was that the tattoo was only a visible reminder of what he already knew, she was imprinted on his heart and his very soul.
After a long time where he almost fell asleep himself, her soft voice broke into the dark room, “You seemed really worried about Colt earlier. Did you ever find out where he went?”
He frowned, “Not exactly. He showed back up, said it was no big deal and that I needed to stop worrying so much.”
“Of course you worry about him. That’s what you do. It’s who you are.” She traced the letters of her name again, “You worry about your family.”
“No. I worry about the people I love. I wouldn’t extend that to my entire family.”
She hummed what he thought must be agreement but didn’t say anything else for a long moment. He could feel a sudden tension tighten her body though. He was that in tune with her. A flexing of her muscles beneath his hands, he would have thought it was nothing if she’d shifted but she was barely even breathing.
“What is it, Jem?”
She blew out a breath, “I… I don’t know how to say this, or even if I should, but I heard something today that I want to ask you about.”
“So ask.” He shifted her over on the bed so that he could look at her, saw the wariness in her gaze and frowned, “I told you that you can ask me anything.”
Jemma worried her bottom lip for a moment, her eyes never leaving his. He felt like she was looking for something in his gaze but he didn’t know what it was. He reached for her, stroking her hair back off her face.
