The Worst of Me

by Lisa J. Hobman

  He threw his arms up. “There is an agenda. You’re right. You got me, Cat. It’s purely selfish.”

  Her gaze snapped back up to his and her eyes widened, like a woman possessed. “I knew it!” She pointed an accusatory finger in his direction.

  He stepped towards her, hands on his hips, mirroring her defensive stance. “I’m in it for the fun. For the enjoyment of seeing those kids enjoy music in a way that I haven’t been able to in a long fucking time. I’m in it to see their faces light up when they get a song right and they pat each other on the back. I’m in it because I’m going on twenty-nine years old and there is absolutely no sign of me ever becoming a father. And as for Liam, it was music that got me through the crap with my dad so I happen to think it would be good for him. So fucking sue me for wanting to do something good. Sue me for wanting to make a difference to those kids. And the paparazzi? Really? That's what you think I'd do? I hate the fucking paparazzi hounding me, Cat. I can't believe you'd think I'd put those kids through that. I thought you understood why I was here. To get away from them. Jeez.”

  She stared up at him for a few moments, a deep angry frown still creasing her brow, her nostrils still flared and her jaw still working under her skin.

  And he stared back. Waiting for her next move. Still thinking about how damned sexy she looked glaring at him and hating the fact that was the thing in the forefront of his mind.

  She still said nothing.

  “What’s up, Cat? Human got your tongue?” He sniggered at his pun but her face remained fixed. “Look, I swear to you, Cat. I swear on everything I hold dear that I would never invite the press here.” Still nothing. “Oh, sod this.” He took two steps forward and scooped her up, planting his mouth firmly on hers, making her gasp. Taking advantage of the parting of her lips he slipped his tongue inside and her hands came up into his hair where she angrily fisted at the strands escaping from his hairband.

  He carried her to the bottom of the stairs and placed her on the floor so he could rip the T-shirt from his body. Once he was bare-chested he picked her up again, gripping her bottom and kneading at the plump flesh as she wrapped her legs around him and he carried her upstairs.

  “I want you so much, Cat. You just don’t get it.”

  She gasped and pulled away, gazing into his eyes. “But I don’t ... I don’t understand why.”

  “Because you drive me insane. Because you speak your mind. You call me out. You’re not afraid to slap me. You’re fucking sexy as hell and I can’t stop thinking about you. That’s why.”

  He shoved the bedroom door open, stepped into the room, and collapsed back onto the bed with her on top of him, straddling his hips. She bent forward and kissed him with such desperation that she drew the air from his lungs.

  Breathing heavily she straightened up and gazed down at him. “I want you too. Now.” She pulled the long sleeved top from her body to expose her satin-covered, luscious, full breasts. “But I’m scared.”

  He pulled himself up to face her. “Scared?”

  “That I’ll make a total fool of myself.”

  Shaking his head in disbelief he slipped his hands into her hair and pulled her down so her mouth met his.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Catriona

  He nibbled at her bottom lip and swept his tongue along it, sending shivers of delight throughout her whole body. Her heart pounded as anticipation mounted and she smoothed her hands over the taut flesh of his abdomen and chest.

  A tattoo of a dragon climbed his ribcage and wrapped around his muscular bicep, and she traced the tail with her fingertips.

  “You don’t need to be scared, Cat,” he told her in between butterfly-light kisses that made her tingle. “We won’t do anything you don’t want to do. We don’t have to go any further than kissing. It’s all up to you. Your choice.”

  She shook her head, keeping her eyes locked on his pools of blue with their dilated pupils. Her mind was made up. “I want ... I want you to ... ” She swallowed and bit her lip. What did she want him to do? Make love to her? Fuck her? How the hell did she put her desires into words without sounding like a raving cliché?

  “Shall I tell you what I want?” he asked, smoothing his fingers over her flushed cheeks, halting her embarrassment. She nodded and he smiled in response, a sexy half smile that tugged at the corner of his luscious mouth. “I want to undress you, slowly,” he whispered. “And then I want to feast my gaze on those beautiful curves of yours. Tease your nipples with my tongue. And then ... ” he pulled her closer and his mouth hovered over her ear causing her eyelids to flutter closed and a twinge of excitement to throb at the junction of her thighs. “And then I want to slide inside you and feel you envelop me, and I want to touch you until I feel your muscles clench and tighten around me. I want to give you the most amazing sensations of pleasure you’ve ever experienced. And then ... I want to do it all over again.”

  Her chest heaved at his sensual, erotic words. Oh God, yes, she wanted all those things too. She just couldn’t put them quite as articulately as he had.

  She simply breathed the word, “Yes.” It was all she could manage.

  He lifted her from his body and laid her down on the soft duvet then stood. He flicked the buttons of his jeans open so his black, skin tight boxers were just visible and he bent to open the drawer of his bedside table. He placed a small foil packet between his teeth and shoved his jeans down his thighs, stepping out of them and kicking them to one side.

  Her gaze trailed down his magnificent toned body until she reached his boxers. Oh my word. This is really happening. It’s happening right now. The visible bulge made her squeeze her thighs together and her tightened nipples grazed the satin of her bra.

  He reached down and slipped his hands into the waist of her jeans, the gentle contact making her belly flutter and tickle. Before she realised he had unfastened them, he was sliding the denim fabric over her bottom and down her thighs, past her knees to her ankles and off.

  Her stomach knotted and she could feel the dampness of her panties. The realisation made heat rise rapidly from her chest to her cheeks but if he noticed he didn’t acknowledge the fact. Her panties followed the same journey as her jeans, and Nick climbed onto the bed and bent forward to place a kiss just above her pubic bone. She gasped and slipped her hands into his hair as he trailed feather-light kisses up her trembling skin until he reached her breasts. With one hand he reached behind her and a simple flick of his magic fingers dislodged her bra clasp, enabling him to pull the garment from her body and discard it on the floor.

  She was completely bared to him. And just as he had said he would, he sat back on his haunches to gaze at her naked body. One of her hands instinctively covered her sex and the other arm stretched across her breasts.

  “Uh-uh. I want to look at you. You’re so beautiful, Cat. So ... natural.”

  Natural? Was he trying to say she was fat and wobbly? Oh, great.

  As if seeing the cogs of her brain whirring, he smoothed both of his hands from under her breasts, catching and removing her first barricade, and followed the curve of her waist and hips until her second hand naturally relented and fell to her side.

  He sighed. “This is how a woman should look. No artificial beauty. No enhancements. Just soft, feminine sweeps and breasts that mould to the shape of my hand.” As he spoke he cupped her breast, watching her reaction as he rolled his thumb over the peaked pink bud.

  She inhaled sharply as the heat of sexual need radiated from where he touched and spread across her skin bringing each nerve ending to life. His fingers trailed down her stomach and into the hair of her sex. He tugged and stroked at the downy covering and she parted her thighs for him.

  “Just look at you.” He shifted himself, causing the bed to dip under his weight, and his fingers still played gently. His eyes locked on hers once more and he slipped his fingers lower, parting her and slipping into the dampness she had sensed earlier. Another gasp left her body and she arched her back
as he began to circle her most intimate flesh.

  But she tensed as his finger entered her body and he stopped his movement. “It’s okay, Cat. Just relax. Unless you want me to stop. I can stop if—”

  “No. No, don’t stop. I’m just ... I feel ... ”

  “Did Camden never touch you like this?”

  Another rush of blood to her cheeks. “Oh God, I really am pathetic, aren’t I?” She covered her face but he reached up and removed her hand.

  “Cat, look at me.” She complied and he moved to lay beside her. His right hand remained between her thighs and his left propped up his head. “Do you want me to make you come?”

  Breathing heavily she parted her thighs further. “I do.”

  He bent to kiss her mouth again and she reached up to slip her hand around his neck, gripping at his hair and holding on for dear life as his hand began to move again.

  He started slowly, one finger gently coaxing her to relax and open for him as his thumb toyed with the sensitive nub of nerves that only her own hands had touched before. She inhaled through her nose as her whole body began to tense and she moaned into his mouth as his fingers began to move faster.

  She could feel her orgasm building like the swell of surf ready to collide with the sand but she couldn’t let go.

  She just couldn’t.

  He pulled his mouth from hers and gazed down at her. “Let go, Cat. Come for me.”

  His words pushed her over the edge and her body began to contract around his fingers as she cried out incoherently. The most amazing orgasm she had ever experienced crashed over her in waves as his relentless, skilled fingers sent her soaring once more.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Nick

  Seeing her fall apart for him that way, putting her trust in him like that, tugged at something unfamiliar deep within him. He wanted to see her that way over and over. It was a whole new experience for them both. He realised at that moment that he had never really taken the time to intently watch a woman in the throes of orgasm. And it really was quite spectacular to witness and feel. In the past he had either been too drunk or too desperate for his own release that the woman’s pleasure was merely a means to an end. But now, here with Cat, he was seeing sex in a whole new light.

  As she calmed and her eyelids fluttered open, he leaned down to kiss her nose. “Wow. That was ... You really looked stunning.”

  “I’m sorry. I think I got carried away.” She covered her eyes again.

  “That was the whole point, wasn’t it?”

  She moved her hand and a beautiful wide smile spread across her glowing features.

  She reached down and tugged at the fabric of his boxers. “Can you ... maybe take these off?”

  “Only too happy to oblige.” He clambered from the bed and slipped the tight fitting underwear from his body. His erection sprang free and he looked to her for her reaction. Would she bolt? Would she pass out?

  She pulled herself to a sitting position and reached out to trail a finger down the tight skin. Gripping him in her palm she gazed up at him. “I want you,” she breathed.

  He collected the foil packet that had fallen to the bed beside Cat and ripped it open. She watched his hands as he stretched the latex down his length and he watched her with intrigue. Twenty-four years old and taking this first step of sexual awakening with him. The enormity of the situation and of how brave she was being disarmed him. She had given herself fully to him and he would do the same in return. No crazy positions. No trying to impress. He simply wanted to take the gift she was offering and enjoy the experience he was about to share with her.

  She laid back and parted her thighs for him again. Her panting breaths increased in speed and her nostrils flared.

  His heart squeezed in his chest. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

  He climbed onto the bed and positioned himself between her thighs, one arm propped on the bed and the other delving into her intimate flesh again. She moaned and closed her eyes but reached out to scratch her nails lightly down his chest, grazing his nipple in the process. So good. So, so good.

  “I need ... to feel you inside me, Nick.” Her bold statement spoken with eyes closed caught him by surprise. She tightened around his fingers again and he decided the best way to take her virginity was when she was enjoying another orgasm.

  “Please, Nick. Please,” she breathed, and reached up to cup her breasts.

  He positioned himself at the opening of her body and as she cried out he thrust forward, growling out his own pleasure at feeling her clamping around his erection.

  Still propped on one arm, he cupped her breast and bent to pull her nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue there as she cried out again. It was a different cry this time and he knew she must have been hurting.

  “Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?” he panted.

  “No, no, it’s okay. Please don’t stop. Don’t stop.”

  He withdrew and thrust into her again, moaning her name. “Catriona, oh fuck. Oh, wow.”

  She lifted her legs and wrapped them around him, causing him to sink deeper still, and he dropped his face into the crook of her neck as he pulled out and slipped back into her tight flesh again. The pleasure radiating through his body was like nothing he had ever experienced. It was real and he was aware of every single clench and every whimper. The pressure deep in his groin began to build and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer so he lifted himself up onto one arm again and slipped his hand between their slick, sweaty bodies and circled her swollen nub once more.

  He gazed down at her beneath him, locked his eyes on hers and smiled. This was a first. This was amazing. Her eyes were half closed but she kept them on him as he thrust once, twice, three more times until the pleasure that was setting every single nerve on end forced him to close his eyes as he cried out his own release as she cried out too.

  He stayed inside her, his forehead on hers for what seemed like an age. Resting both elbows on the bed he leaned and kissed her tenderly.

  “Thank you,” he whispered.

  She scrunched her brow. “For what?”

  “For letting it be me. For trusting me. I know it was a pretty huge step you took, especially in light of our earlier argument. But ... well, you were just ... wow.”

  She didn’t respond. Instead she closed her eyes and tears escaped their corners, trailing down into her hair.

  Panic washed over him. “Hey, hey. What’s wrong? Cat, open your eyes. Please talk to me.” He manoeuvred so he could remove, knot and discard the condom on to the floor and then climbed back onto the bed to pull her naked body against his, wrapping his arms around her.

  She sniffed. “Oh, good grief. See ... pathetic.” She seemed to force a giggle but his concern was genuine.

  He wiped the damp trails from her cheeks with his thumbs. “No, Cat. Not pathetic at all. Did I hurt you? Was it awful? Please just be honest, okay? I’ll never forgive myself if there’s something wrong and you don’t tell me.”

  She opened her eyes and gazed up at him, cupping his face in her palm. “Well, apart from the fact that it hurt like holy hell when you ... you know. But up to that point and a little bit after, actually it was really good.” Her already flushed cheeks took on a brighter hue of pink. “I knew it’d hurt. But I don’t think I expected it to hurt quite so much.”

  He closed his eyes. “Oh God. And now I’ve put you off for life, haven’t I?”

  This time her laugh was more natural. “Not in the slightest. Not one tiny bit. In fact, I think if you have some pain killers I’ll take some and freshen up, maybe we can have a bite to eat and then ... maybe we can try again?” She chewed on the inside of her cheek and cringed as if she expected him to tell her no.

  He frowned briefly but then smiled wide. “Fucking hell, yes.”

  He jumped up from the bed and grabbed a pair of joggers, hopping around the room and pulling them on. Her musical laughter filled the space between them and his face alm
ost ached from the grinning.

  He pointed at her. “Right, sexy. You go get a shower first and I’ll make food. Scrambled eggs? Toast? Coffee?”

  She nodded emphatically and he stopped to take in her natural beauty. Her auburn hair was messed up in the sexiest possible way and it lay in waves on her perfect, pale skin. Her breasts were still bared to him and he was suddenly filled with pride at how relaxed she seemed to be naked in front of him now. He hoped he’d had something to do with that. Her green eyes twinkled in the sunlight shining through the window and a halo of light seemed to fan around her head. Okay, so he was in some kind of post orgasmic euphoria but fuck if she wasn’t absolutely stunning.

  She eyed him with a certain amount of suspicion. “It’s rude to stare, you know?”

  “Sorry? Oh ... oh yes. I just ... you’re ... I mean you ... Erm, food. I’ll shut up and go make food.”

  He almost skipped down the stairs into the kitchen and began hunting through the fridge and cupboards to see what he could concoct that would be edible. Cooking wasn’t something he excelled at, but for Cat he’d work something out.

  Moments later she appeared in the kitchen in one of his T-shirts and he had to stop what he was doing so he could watch her sexy arse as she walked toward the bathroom.

  “A man could be accused of being a terrible cook if you walk around like that.”

  She grinned over her shoulder at him. “How come?”

  “Because I’m so busy watching your arse that I’m sure to burn the scrambled eggs.”

  She winked and walked away, and sure enough, she wiggled her gorgeous backside even more.