Swagger

by Liz Lincoln

  His hand slid farther down her body, the touch still light and teasing, but edging into a region where it became more sexual. She sucked in a gasp and arched up toward him.

  “Keep moving that direction, I don’t think it’s gonna tickle much longer.” Not that that was a bad thing.

  He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Oh no? It doesn’t tickle when I do this?” His fingers slid over her mound, then down so he cupped her. His big hand engulfed her, his middle finger curving in and sliding the tiniest bit into her.

  “No, tickle isn’t the word I would use right now.” She could barely catch her breath to use any words.

  He moved his hand in a circle, his palm pressing her clit, his finger gently stroking inside.

  His gaze was intense on her face, staring into her like he was trying to read her deepest thoughts. Part of her wanted to pull away and hide, but a much larger part wanted to open everything up to him. Spill all the secrets of her soul. Not that she really had deep, dark secrets, but she wanted this man to know everything about her.

  His finger slipped deeper inside her. “I want to watch you come.” He dipped his head to brush his lips over hers, then pulled back again to watch her face. “You’re so fucking hot when you do.”

  Damn, he was good at the sexy-talk thing. “I’d be okay with that,” she said breathlessly. She pulled her thighs wider, giving him better access.

  She lay on her back, he on his side next to her. She hooked her leg over his to hold herself open, and his cock bumped her hip.

  “We should take care of that too.” She loved the idea of sucking him off, of giving him that sole-focus pleasure until he shot down her throat. But she also wanted him inside her again, not just his finger. One more time, she wanted that connection that could only come from joining with another person.

  “Oh, we’ll definitely get to that. But first things first.”

  He bent to kiss her, and this time she grabbed the back of his neck to hold him there for a much deeper kiss. Morning breath be damned. She needed to taste this man.

  Their kiss was slow and lazy, perfect for the morning. By contrast, his hand was already moving rapidly, working her quickly up the slope of arousal. She wasn’t going to take long.

  Marcus pulled back just enough to ask, “Is this good?” His lips brushed hers with each word.

  “So good,” she exhaled. “So close.”

  He pressed another firm kiss to her lips, then pulled back and resumed watching her face. “I want to see your expression as you go.”

  She nodded, then opened her eyes. Her gaze slammed into his, and the intense focus there startled her. No man had ever looked at her like that, like he not only wanted her, but worshiped her.

  Moving on their own, her fingers came up to grip his shoulder. His muscles bunched and flexed under her as he moved his hand inside her.

  “That’s it, baby. Take what you need.”

  This was going to be monster. She felt wild, and so—

  Her ring tone once again split through the sounds in her room, the sounds of sex.

  “No,” she whimpered.

  Marcus dropped his head. “We could ignore it,” he said, but his tone implied he knew she wouldn’t.

  “It could be the vet again,” she said, voicing what he was likely thinking too.

  His hand stilled inside her but didn’t withdraw yet. “Yeah. They clearly don’t want us to get laid this morning.”

  Bree rolled to the side, forcing Marcus to remove his hand. She was decidedly against that.

  She didn’t recognize the number on her screen, but it could be someone calling from a different extension at the vet. “Hello?”

  “Yeah, this is Mike, at River Auto. We’ve got your car ready for you.”

  Dammit, she should’ve let it go to voicemail. It would be good to have her car back, but this was not something that couldn’t have waited twenty minutes. Too late now.

  “Great, thanks. I’ll come get it later this morning.”

  “We’ll be here,” Mike said.

  Bree disconnected the call, quickly checked the time, then flopped onto her back with a groan. She dropped her phone onto the bed next to her, then yanked the pillow over her face and screamed into it. She took five seconds to indulge the childish impulse to let out all her frustration. Frustration about Diablo, about her car, about her now-astronomical credit card balance, and about getting interrupted not once but twice trying to have sex with Marcus.

  “You okay?” One corner of the pillow lifted.

  She let him move it away from her face and set it aside. She looked up at him with a pathetic attempt at a smile. “Just letting out all the various stresses. And add being intensely horny to the list, because I just checked the time, and if I don’t get moving now, I’m going to be late for class.”

  He turned her phone toward him, then looked back at her. “You need more than two hours to get ready?”

  “No, but my car is ready. I’d like to pick that up before class if I can.”

  He gave a sigh that echoed her frustration. “Then I guess we better get dressed.”

  Chapter 13

  Marcus tapped his fingers on the reception counter at the vet’s office, trying not to get impatient as he waited for someone to come help him. But he was in a little bit of a hurry. He needed to meet with his physical therapist in twenty minutes, and it took fifteen to get to the stadium from here. Still, this was important.

  The door behind the desk swung open, and a white woman with hot pink hair and cat-eye glasses with rhinestones came out, cuddling an enormous cat to her chest. Seriously, the thing had to be thirty pounds. Marcus hadn’t realized cats could even get that big. Hell, he thought Diablo was about the max; he’d weighed in at twenty-two pounds last night.

  “I’ll be right with you,” the young woman said.

  Marcus recognized her from the previous night. Her hair was hard to forget, though he didn’t remember her name. “No problem.”

  He spread both hands wide on the counter so he wouldn’t drum his fingers. He felt good. Really good. Last night had been nothing short of incredible. He and Bree hadn’t had time to discuss what happened next, but even if she stuck to it being a one-time thing until the semester was over, he could live with that.

  Though knowing how good they were together and not being able to have her might possibly kill him.

  Class that morning had been wonderful torture. She’d stood up there talking about some kind of mechanics, though all he knew was she didn’t mean the kind in his car. He likely needed another tutoring session, which would again be torturous. All he’d been able to think about today as he watched her at the front of the room was how amazing she felt against his body.

  And how completely at home he felt holding her in his arms. It was a new experience for him, and he liked it.

  The pink-haired woman returned, animal free, and stepped behind the desk. “Hi, Mr. James. How can I help you?”

  Diablo was under Bree’s name, and he was pretty sure neither of them had mentioned his last name the previous night. This woman must be a Dragons fan.

  Marcus leaned forward on the counter, balancing on his elbows. “I need to pay the bill for Diablo Novak’s care.”

  The woman’s mouth turned up in a smile, but her eyebrows creased in a frown. “Ms. Novak gave us a credit card for that last night. It’s taken care of.”

  “I know she did.” Marcus had thought a lot about this. He wanted to do something to ease Bree’s stress. He hated the look on her face when her anxiety started creeping in. He couldn’t make her advisor be less of an asshole and he couldn’t fix her cat, but he could do this.

  “But her birthday is coming up, and I thought I’d do something nice for my girlfriend.” He gave the receptionist his best conspiratorial smile. Sure, girlfriend was stretching the truth a bit, but he couldn’t exactly say he wanted to do something for his physics instructor whom he’d slept with.

  The receptionist�
��s smile softened. “That’s so sweet.”

  Marcus pulled out his wallet and handed over his credit card. “Can you refund the charge back to Bree’s account, and put it on mine?”

  “Sure. We can do that.”

  “Thanks. I appreciate it.” He’d have to find a way to tell her. Some people could get funny about money, and he didn’t know if Bree was one of them. But it was the only thing he could think to do to help.

  A few minutes later, the receptionist handed him a receipt indicating the refund and a second one for his payment. She gave him the pen so he could sign the credit slip.

  “You can go ahead and charge my card for any other expenses. From what she said, it sounded like he’ll have to stay again tonight.” He slid the receipts into his pocket.

  “Will do. You have a good day, Mr. James.”

  “You a Dragons fan?” he asked.

  Her cheeks turned pink, though nowhere near as bright as her hair. “Yeah, I was raised in a football family.”

  “You have a piece of paper?”

  She handed him one. He grabbed a pen from the cup on the counter, and quickly wrote, “Thanks for your help.” And scrawled his name.

  “I really appreciate it.” He handed her the paper.

  She grinned, her cheeks still pink. “Thank you.”

  Marcus headed back out into the cool early afternoon. He was probably going to be a few minutes late for therapy, but he didn’t care. He was in too good a mood to let a scolding from the trainer ruin his day.

  *

  —

  Thursday in class, Bree found it nearly impossible to stay focused on quantum mechanics when Marcus was a mere ten feet away from her. Watching her with those smiling dark eyes. He had a perfectly good excuse to look at her the whole class, but she’d look ridiculous if she delivered the entire lecture to him. Plus, she’d probably do something dumb like say, “I want to ride you until I scream,” instead of explaining the behavior of subatomic particles.

  So she did her best to deliver the lecture to the entire class, her gaze wandering the mostly bored faces without lingering on anyone for too long. But she always came back to Marcus. Surely some other students noticed her random blushing a few times when Marcus had caught her eye and given her an exaggerated wink. He was messing with her, and it was working.

  How was she going to get through another six weeks of this? This was why instructors weren’t supposed to sleep with students.

  They hadn’t found time yesterday to talk about where things went from here. She’d intended for it to be just the one night, and then put things back on hold until the semester was over. She had so much to do in the next month, and no time for even the most basic of flings. Let alone one with a student that she would have to make sure to keep secret.

  But oh God, it had been so good. If she didn’t indulge herself, how was she going to even stay focused while she finished her dissertation? She would spend all her time daydreaming about when she could get Marcus back in bed. So maybe it was best if she did use him for a little stress relief.

  Besides, if she was going to take a postdoc anywhere other than Milwaukee, she would probably start sometime in January. February at the latest. That wouldn’t give her and Marcus much time together. And Tuesday night had shown her that it would take them quite a while to fully explore how good they were together.

  The best sex he ever had.

  She couldn’t quite get over that one. She snuck another glance at Marcus, and he gave her another of his devastating grins with a wink. She tripped over her sentence, paused, and started over. Thank God for lecture notes.

  Somehow she made it through the class without completely giving away what a hormonal wreck she was inside. Students filed out, chatting, some saying goodbye to her as they walked past.

  Marcus took his time gathering up his notebook and jacket. Lingering.

  She didn’t watch him as she too gathered her things, but she was hyperaware of his presence. She could see him in the edge of her vision, and her body seemed to strain toward him.

  Grace, another one of the students, stopped to talk to Marcus. Her body language, with her head tilted to the side and how she kept briefly touching Marcus’ arm, screamed flirtation. Bree dug her nails into her hands to keep from making some kind of territorial gesture, like going over and telling Grace to get her hands off her man. No one in this building could know they’d spent the night together. Bree hadn’t even told Reina about it yet, still unsure if she should. Reina was her best friend, and Bree told her everything. But maybe this was different?

  First she and Marcus needed to figure out what they were doing together. But they couldn’t do that if Grace didn’t leave him the hell alone.

  “You heading out?” Grace asked. “I’ll walk with you.”

  Marcus gave her a regretful smile. “I can’t. I gotta talk to Bree for a few minutes.”

  Grace’s pretty face fell. “Okay. Guess I’ll see you in lab tomorrow.”

  “Absolutely.” Marcus flashed his grin.

  Bree’s stomach felt squishy. Damn, she loved his smile.

  Grace left and Marcus came to the front of the room. Bree remained against the lab table that served as the lecture podium for this classroom. Marcus stood in front of her, not quite touching her, but definitely in her personal space.

  “I want to kiss you so badly right now it’s kind of driving me crazy,” he said in a low voice.

  “I do too.” Bree gripped the edge of the table to keep herself from reaching for him. She lifted her gaze to his, and for a long, electric moment, they studied each other.

  “Are you free tonight?” he asked.

  They really should talk about this before they made plans again. Go to her office right now, sit on opposite sides of her desk, and discuss this like adults.

  They should. But…“Just working at home.”

  “I’ll be there at seven.”

  Her heart pounded so hard it was going to break through her ribs. She didn’t want to wait. She wanted to hop up onto the lab table and have him fuck her.

  “Reina will be home tonight. That’s probably not a good idea.” Dammit.

  “Then be at my house at seven. I’ll text you the address.”

  Holy shit, she was going to spend the night at Marcus James’ house.

  No, she couldn’t assume she was spending the night. Maybe they would talk about their situation and agree they needed to wait until December for a second time.

  “It’s a date.”

  “No, it’s not. You can’t date students.” The lines next to his eyes deepened as he grinned at her.

  She couldn’t help smiling back; she did that a lot around him. And she really loved that. “You’re right. Fine, it’s not a date.”

  He leaned in close, one hand bracing on the table next to hers. His breath tickled over her ear as he spoke, quiet and low. “If you’d like, bring a toothbrush.”

  *

  —

  Given he was worth millions, Marcus’ condo was relatively modest. It wasn’t that much bigger than Bree and Reina’s little house, with an open, modern floorplan in a high-rise overlooking Lake Michigan.

  The predominant feature, of course, was the large row of windows giving a perfect view of the lake from the main room, which housed the living room, dining area, and kitchen.

  Marcus took Bree’s coat and hung it on the coat tree next to the door. He turned to her with a hesitant expression.

  “I really want to kiss you right now. Is that okay? I know we haven’t—”

  Bree framed his face with her hands and cut him off with a kiss. No, they hadn’t discussed what they were doing. But she needed to kiss him more than she needed air. It had been a long, frustrating day and he calmed some of the noise in her head. They could talk in a minute.

  Marcus’ tongue swept into her mouth as his arms wrapped around her. He held her close and lifted her onto her tiptoes as he devoured her. Bree slid one arm around
his neck, keeping the other hand on his face. His stubble scratched her palm, making her skin hypersensitive, making her shiver. She liked feeling his jaw work under her hand as he kissed her.

  Finally they drew back, and he held her in a gentle embrace.

  And it was perfect. Exactly what she’d needed for so long. She’d forgotten how nice a simple hug was. She drew her arms into her chest and let him hold her, her face tucked into the crook of his neck.

  “Thank you.” His voice sounded like gravel. “I needed that.”

  “I did too. And I didn’t realize it, but I think I needed this too.” She nuzzled against his shoulder, indicating what she meant.

  “My absolute pleasure.”

  Bree let herself enjoy the moment a little longer. Then, with a regretful sigh, she pulled back to look him in the face. “We probably need to talk about this.” God, she hated this part.

  Marcus looked as if he was in pain. “Yeah. We should.”

  Taking her hand, he led her to the couch. She settled in against one arm.

  “You want something to drink first? I’ve got beer, I think there’s a bottle of white wine around, milk, mango-orange-pineapple juice, and water.” He took a step toward the kitchen.

  “Juice sounds good.” It made her ridiculously warm inside knowing he liked the same random juice combo she did.

  She watched him move around the kitchen, loving that even from across the room she could tell how his muscles bunched and stretched under his gray thermal. He was just ridiculously sexy, there was no getting around that.

  He returned with two glasses of juice, handed her one, and set the other on the coffee table. Then he sat down next to her, angling his body toward her. His arm stretched over the back of the couch, putting his hand only inches from her shoulder.

  “So. Let’s get this awkward, uncomfortable conversation out of the way so we can move on to enjoying ourselves. Whether that means watching TV from opposite ends of the couch or going in my room and getting naked.”

  He really did have a gift for being blunt. “I think I can guess which option you would prefer.” She definitely preferred the second option. But preference wasn’t the only thing she had to consider.