Angela listened to him, but didn’t really hear what he was saying. Her hands were on a mission, to feel every inch of his exposed skin.
The scars mesmerized her. They were sexy and fascinating and they held a story that she’d had no right to hear earlier. She could tell he didn’t like them, but he never retreated from her touch.
She took her time, memorizing the feel of him and saved the best for last.
His face.
“I’ve dreamed of this,” she admitted in a dazed tone, as she ran her fingertips over his jaw and lips then finally, his scar. He stiffened and his breath caught when she touched it.
She knew he didn’t want her pity, but it wasn’t pity that made her lean closer, on tiptoes, to brush her lips against the scar tissue.
Down his chest, she left a trail of kisses, until he gently pulled her back up to him.
Dark eyes filled with lust awaited her when she looked up from beneath lashes heavy with desire.
He captured her chin with his fingers and leaned down to within a breath’s distance from her lips. “What have you dreamed of, Angela?”
“You,” she answered simply before he captured her mouth with his.
His hand cupped her jaw as the other speared into her hair, crushing them together, while he expertly explored her lips with his tongue.
Angela ran her hands around his back and pulled him closer, sucking on his tongue, when she wanted something else in her mouth. The thought made her crave him even more.
She leaned in closer and rubbed her tight nipples against his chest, needing relief from the tension building feverishly in her core.
Need filled her pussy, her lips throbbing against her swollen clit.
Clay maneuvered her back against a wall in the kitchen and she felt his weight against her, his erection pulsing against her midsection.
He moaned into her mouth when she wrapped her fingers around the length of him and stroked him through his pants.
She wanted him inside her—his might, his dominance to quell the desire spiraling through her. It made her weak.
She knew she should stop him, demand he leave immediately, but couldn’t find the strength to pull away. He felt too good. Safe and dangerous wrapped into a sexy-as-sin package.
Her tank top strap was pushed farther down her body and one heavy breast was finally exposed to his fingers and lips.
Angela leaned her head back against the wall as his hungry mouth descended to the pink tip of one of her tingling nipples.
“Do you know how beautiful you are? Do you know how much I want you right now?” he asked as he licked her again, sucking her berry-tipped breast. “I want you so fucking bad, Angela. I want you beneath me. I want to be pumping inside you while you beg for more.”
If he wasn’t careful, she’d come without him even touching her below the waist.
She reluctantly released his hard dick and pulled him back up to stand in front of her, while she stood on tiptoes.
He had to lean his hands against the wall beside her when she ran her fingers against his hard nipples and whispered in his hair, “I want to ride you until morning.”
She ran her tongue on the edge of his ear and pulled his ass closer to her. “I want you inside me. I want to feel nothing else but your touch, I want…” was the last thing she said before she heard the door latch release on the guest room where Mark was sleeping.
Angela scrambled under one of Clay’s arms and pulled her arm away when he tried to grab it.
What in the world had she been thinking? Reality hit her like a tsunami and shame overtook her.
She adjusted her tank top.
Nothing but heartache could come of this and she was smarter than that.
At least she thought she was.
Mark probably heard voices raised, God let that be all he heard, as he made his way to the kitchen. Her standing at the sink, head slightly down, fumbling with a washrag she was trying to get water on didn’t look suspicious at all. Not. At. All.
Clay’s back was to him, exposing his clenched fists, but hiding the huge erection pointing directly at her.
She hoped Mark couldn’t see her own swollen lips and red marks on her collarbone she could see in the reflection of the backsplash.
“Everything okay?” Mark asked.
A growl of, “Fine,” echoed back from both of them.
“Gotta work out your differences,” Mark mused before turning the corner. “Okay…well…good night,” he said as he made his way back to bed. “Just hope you don’t kill each other before you work them out,” he added just loud enough for them to hear.
They both sucked in oxygen, trying to keep themselves under control.
Clay approached her and before he knew it, she had turned, clutching her stomach, backing away from him.
He reached for her. “Angela, I—”
“Don’t touch me, please,” she begged, voice hoarse with emotion.
His arm fell to his side as she turned and practically ran down the hall to her room.
She caught only a glimpse of him standing in the hallway watching her until she closed the door, flicking the lock in place before hanging her head in defeat.
The thin strip of light coming under the door went out, and she heard him go into the guest room and shut the door.
Hours later, she was still affected by her encounter with Clay. She stood in her dark bathroom, splashing cold water on her face, willing her heart to slow down, wanting nothing more than the swollen feeling of her pussy to ease just enough so she could sleep.
She leaned against the cool wall, trying to relax.
But he’s in the next room.
All she could do was close her eyes and remember the only night she had ever been whole in the arms of a man.
The man she loved.
God, if only she could let go of that night…
Chapter Eleven
Ten Years Prior
Angela awoke several hours later, heart racing, a light sheen of sweat coating her body.
Her eyes popped open and she was disoriented for a second before she remembered where she was and who was next to her. His body was bathed in nothing but moonlight.
She took several steadying breathes to calm her nerves, but she couldn’t figure out why her body thrummed with adrenaline.
Clay released a muffled groan beside her.
She bolted up next to him, letting the covers fall away from her breasts, and she watched as he clenched and unclenched his fists. His body went rigid with some kind of nightmare.
Angie shuddered to think of what haunted his dreams that even she shied away from them in her sleep.
“Clay?” she called his name softly to rouse him from his dream. His muscles twitched, trying to evade the phantoms chasing him, but he remained unconscious.
Angela grabbed his arm and shook him roughly and said louder, “Wake up, Clay—it’s a bad dream and you need to wake up.”
He thrashed and twisted, along with her heart.
She threw the covers off completely, straddling his body. His body responded to hers immediately, his erection growing beneath her.
She rubbed her hot wetness against him and his cock, hard and ready for her, sprang to life. His breathing stayed elevated but she hoped it was for a different reason this time.
Angela held his face still. “It’s a bad dream. Only a bad dream,” she whispered close to his mouth. “Please wake up.” She nibbled on his bottom lip, coaxing him with her body to find her in his fear. “I promise, tonight the real world is better than whatever you’re dreaming about.”
She captured his mouth in the sweetest of kisses, trying to send him all of her calming feelings. She didn’t want to see him upset. He deserved better than that.
Still in a fog he held her waist, rubbing his dick up and down her sensitive
cleft.
He returned the passionate kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth.
A quiet moan of desire escaped her lips when Clay rolled her over and placed himself between her legs.
“Thank you,” Clay said as he finally stared into her eyes and sank deep inside her with one fluid push.
Angela dug her fingernails into his thick shoulder muscles as she found her voice. “What are you thanking me for?” she fought to say between heavenly strokes.
Her back came off the bed and Clay found her pert nipples waiting to be sucked as his tongue darted out and flicked across one of the tight buds.
She gasped when he moved inside her again. A staccato rhythm pushing her toward another climax that she could feel tingling at the top of her head.
“For waking me,” Clay finally answered as he grabbed her hips and tugged her with him as he knelt in front of her on the bed.
Her backside came to rest on his thighs and he placed her small feet on his shoulders. He palmed her breast, pinching her nipples as he placed the thumb of his other hand on her clit. She was so turned on that it stuck out from its protective hood—he found it easily and never stopped fucking her.
All she could remember to do was breathe. At times she had to remind herself to do even that. “You’re welcome…” she managed barely above a whisper, as her thoughts revolved around him and his expert distraction.
Her breathing came faster and faster as she felt her orgasm spiraling through her body. Just a few thrusts away from clamping down on the wonderful invasion of her body. “Oh, Clay, I need you.” After another breath she added, “I’ve needed this for so long.”
Clay increased his rhythm, fucking her as hard and as deep as he thought she could handle. Her back came off the bed again and she groaned as he ordered, “Squeeze all the muscles in your lower body.”
She complied, panting, reflexively thrusting her hips as best she could as Clay shoved her legs back on the bed, leaning over her body.
Angela wrapped her hands around his neck, bringing his face close to hers. She could feel his hot breath on her mouth as he said, “I want to see you come with me inside you. I want to see your face as I sink into you over and over. To feel your nipples get harder beneath my hand. Come for me.” He squeezed her nipples in turn as Angela brought his mouth down to hers.
She sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and then ran her tongue across it.
Clay thrust again, aiming himself upward so that on each stroke he hit that sweet spot deep inside.
Angela held her breath and closed her eyes, but Clay growled, “Look at me.”
She forced her eyelids open as she wetted her lips with her tongue. She tightened her grasp on his dick by squeezing the muscles surrounding him and held his face close to hers with two fistfuls of hair.
“Good God, Angie,” Clay rasped against her mouth as he barely retained control over his own orgasm.
She kissed him passionately. “I’m a fast learner. Perhaps you forgot that.”
She dug her heels into the bed, thrusting her hips upward on every movement he made. Easily matching his enthusiasm if not his level of experience.
Sparkles of warmth ignited where they were intertwined and exploded throughout her body a moment later. She screamed something about heaven she was sure he couldn’t discern as she held her hips off the bed with sheer will power for a moment longer as Clay buried himself inside her convulsing heat.
“Angie…so sweet,” he proclaimed as he spilled his seed inside her.
They both sank back onto the mattress as they broke eye contact and their breathing came out in rapid pants. Gulping in air as fast as they could, both parties shaking as the orgasm they shared still wreaked havoc on their bodies.
Angela tingled all over. Not knowing how her body contained the sensations she just experienced. She had gotten off before, by her own hand, sure. Quite a few times imagining what this would feel like. What it would be like to have Clay inside her.
She wanted more of him already and scraped her teeth across his bare shoulder.
He pushed himself above her with shaky arms as she ran her hands down his back.
She smiled up at him flawlessly, completely content as she grabbed his ass, squeezed and said, “Hi!”
He flopped over on his back, laughing heartily.
She stretched like a lazy cat, flipping onto her stomach. She folded her hands under her pillow, facing him with a warm grin lighting her face.
He looked over at her skin that was still quite flushed from their lovemaking and turned on his side to run his hands over her body. He was so handsome, so beautiful to her. She wondered how she was ever going to be able to walk away.
Angela saw the flash of something cross his eyes as his eyebrows pulled down into a bit of a scowl. Thinking he was remembering his dream, she asked, “What were you dreaming about when I woke you? What do you see when you sleep?”
He closed his eyes, shook his head and tried to change the subject instead.
“How is it you always know when I need you? You knew it when we were kids and you knew it tonight. How is that?” he asked as he opened his eyes to stare over at her again.
Angela tried to smooth the worry from his face and answered, “I can just feel you somehow. Normally only when you are really sad or…on edge.” She didn’t want to say afraid, because she didn’t want him to be scared, nor did she want to picture him in any scenario that he should be afraid of.
“But how do you do it?” he asked again.
She tucked her hand back underneath herself and shrugged. “I can just feel…your distress if you want to put it that way. I can normally do it with Mark, too. I’m just attuned to you, I guess.”
As soon as she said Mark’s name she wished she could have taken it back. Clay pulled back just a little bit, regret filling his eyes.
He continued running his fingers over her skin, but it felt different to her.
She tended to go silent when she was nervous, but she pushed it aside. She couldn’t let him dismiss her so easily. “Now that your attempt at changing the subject didn’t work, will you tell me what you were dreaming about?”
He looked at her, running his fingertips over her mouth that held what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
“You don’t want to hear about my dreams, Angela,” he stated matter-of-factly. He rolled over and put his feet on the floor as he sat on the edge of the bed, ready to get up.
Angela wasn’t about to let him walk away from her in this state so she sat up and wrapped her arms around him as she sat on her knees behind him.
She got a shock as her sensitive nipples brushed his powerful back and her legs screamed in protest since she’d used them in ways she never had before tonight.
She tried to push her growing need aside and replied, “You have been a part of my life for so long you are a part of me. You hold my heart as no one else has and yes…I want to know what you dream.”
Clay reached up and held on to her arms as her heat surrounded him.
“Damn, you smell good. We don’t have a lot of time, and I don’t want to waste it talking about my fucking nightmares.”
He pulled her around in front of him so she straddled him and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. His dick was ready to be inside her again and they both took a stuttered breath when the crown of his erection touched her swollen wet flesh.
He probably knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer if he tried to side step her questioning again so he ran his hands up and down her back, cupping her backside. “I thankfully don’t remember my dream at the moment and I don’t want to remember it if it was anything like most nights.
“I have seen things that no person should have to witness and done things in the name of freedom that no one should have to remember.” Clay’s eyes glazed over as he said more. “I d
ream of faces that are no more and faceless people that are after me. They are not nice dreams and I say thank you again for waking me.”
He opened his eyes to find her staring at him, loving him whether he wanted to believe it or not. She wouldn’t ever be his forever, but she wanted him nonetheless.
“I wish I could take them from you,” she stated as she ran her hands through his hair.
Clay grabbed Angela’s backside and scooted her closer to his chest as he moved farther back onto the bed. He had great aim for when she relaxed, the tip of his dick pressed firmly against her wet opening.
He pushed into her, making her whimper. “You can at least help me forget for a little while. You can be my therapy for tonight. Want the job?”
Slowly, he spread a row of kisses along her neck and collarbone as she deliberated on his offer, and he was highly convincing as he reached behind her and pulled her farther apart, barely pushing inside her now very wet pussy.
“I’ll take the job, but it will come at a very high price, sir.”
“What price is that?” he managed to get out before she pushed him down on the bed, sinking onto him in the same instant.
Clay groaned through gritted teeth as she rode him as she’d always fantasized about. His balls pulled tight against the base of his dick, his jaw locked down tight, fighting to hold back from coming.
Angela ground herself on his cock that was somehow harder and thicker than it had been just a few minutes ago. She didn’t think guys were suppose to be ready so quickly after satisfying themselves, but Clay sure didn’t have any problems.
“I want it my way,” she explained as she pulled herself almost completely off his shaft, settling back onto him slowly. She felt like a goddess poised above him. Controlling the angle, the speed, the intensity as she took what she wanted and gave him herself in return. “Therapeutic only of course,” she added and then relished every inch of his manhood as she slid over him wetly.
“Your way is fucking fine.”
Clay held her waist, helping her position herself how she wanted to be. “You’re so tiny,” he mumbled, as he watched his dick disappear again and again into her welcoming body.
Final Surrender: The Surrender Series, Book 1 Page 10
