by Regina Cole
“Angry?” Her echo was questioning.
He nodded, keeping his gaze trained directly on her eyes. “I was so angry at the thought of you never seeing the woman I see when I look at you.”
She trembled slightly, and he tightened his grip on her hands to steady her. Her lips parted, her pink tongue darting out to wet them. “And who do you see when you look at me?”
His body warmed, and it had nothing to do with the fire cheerfully casting shadows on Custard’s blanket just in front of the fireplace. “I see a woman who’s strong, who’s capable, and who doesn’t understand how intensely beautiful and desirable she is.”
Her eyelids fluttered closed. “You—see that in me?”
Instead of words, he let his kiss be the answer.
Chapter 21
Stacey didn’t know what was happening. She’d been so mad at him, he’d been such a standoffish prick in the car, but then he’d delivered the most sincerely sweet apology she’d ever heard, and now his mouth was on hers.
His tongue swirled against her lips sweetly, beseeching, and she couldn’t help but part her lips to him. He breached her defenses with such sensuous fervor that she had no way to resist.
She didn’t want to resist.
Leaning into his kiss, she sighed, winding her arms around his neck. He was so warm, so big, so strong as he gently pressed her back into the cushions of the sofa. He teased her tongue, her lips, her teeth, his kiss at once strong and so sweet it made her want to weep. Her blood heated, her body rising to meet him as her skin prickled with fire.
He deepened the kiss, and she opened further, her tongue meeting his as his hands began to roam her body. Finally, she wanted to breathe as his fingers quested across her collarbone to brush the tops of her breasts. She’d dreamed of this for days, had longed for it. In the shower she’d closed her eyes and imagined that they were together, the soap cascading down their bodies, him pressing her against the cold tiles as the hot water rushed over their nakedness. Her nipples peaked, tight and tingling, as the backs of his knuckles brushed over them.
More. She wanted so much more.
He lifted his head, brushing light kisses over her cheeks, her chin, even her nose as she wrinkled it in a smile.
“Stacey,” he whispered against her throat, the sensation sending goose bumps trailing in the wake of his breath, “I have to stop this.”
“No, you don’t,” she whispered back, lifting her hips as his hand brushed the front of her jeans.
“You’re not recovered yet. I can’t take the chance of hurting you. I’ve kicked myself so many times for what we did days ago, I can’t take that chance again.” He nibbled the delicate skin of her neck, and she shuddered.
“The doctor said it was okay.”
He lifted his head, and she almost wept from the loss. “What?”
Now it was her turn to befuddle him. “You heard me. The doctor said it was okay.”
His grin, when it came, was almost wolfish. “That Dr. Colt is my favorite person in the world right now.”
“Mine too.”
He kissed her heartily then, and she clung to him. He ravaged her mouth with all the pent-up hunger she herself had been feeling over the past several days. It had been torture having him so close without indulging the desires he stirred inside her. She had been unbelievably tempted every time he walked by, and it had seemed so unfair that he could be near her without having to struggle through similar feelings.
It seemed life was a bit fair after all.
He kissed his way down her neck, and her head fell to the back of the couch to give him access. More. She wanted him all over her, everywhere. She wanted to kiss him, too, make her way down from where the dark stubble was just beginning to show on his strong jaw to his broad shoulders, kissing and nibbling on his tanned skin. To rip his long-sleeved tee away and reveal every bit of his toned, taut body. To watch how the firelight danced across his muscles and let her itching fingertips bump across the 3-D landscape in front of them.
But her fervid imaginings disappeared as he grasped the hem of her shirt and began to lift.
“No,” she gasped, yanking the hem of her shirt down.
He froze in place, not moving as she scrambled backward.
“What’s wrong?”
Her heartbeat was in triple time, and it was hard to breathe with how quickly it was moving.
“Sorry,” she said, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the hem tighter. “Just . . . let’s move to the bedroom, okay?”
“Stacey, what happened? Talk to me.”
How could she? How could she possibly tell him that she was embarrassed to let him see her in the light? That, despite the fact that he’d been so kind and wonderful and sexy as fucking hell to her, that she was terrified he would be disgusted at her body?
She couldn’t ruin this. Not by telling him the truth about her fears and not by letting him see.
“We can stay here,” she said, glancing around the room. “But the lights have to be off.”
Rob wasn’t a man. He was an angel. He closed his eyes for a moment, but he didn’t say a word. Just rose and crossed to the lamp at the end of the couch and switched it off.
Stacey looked around the room. Light from the hallway was spilling through the doorway. The firelight was flickering across the floor. It wasn’t pitch-black in there like she wanted it to be.
“Is that better?”
Better? Yes. Enough? She bit her lip.
“It’s fine, but can you turn off the hall light when you go get a condom?”
Rob frowned. It wasn’t dark enough to hide his reaction from her, and that was exactly the thing she was afraid of.
She shook her head. No, this was all wrong. She was all wrong. How could she still be doing this? Rob was too good for her.
“I’m sorry. I—I’m sorry.” She stood and began to limp past him out of the room, but he caught her arm.
“Don’t go,” he said, pulling her into his arms. She fought his grip for a hot second, but then melted into him. How could she not? He was breathing against her hair, his broad, warm hands rubbing her back.
“Don’t run away from me, Stacey.”
She closed her eyes and buried her face in his strong chest. He’d taken such good care of her. All she wanted was to be the kind of girl who deserved someone like Rob. But for now, all she could do was pretend. Was that enough?
“Let’s go to the bedroom,” he said, lacing his fingers through hers. He shifted his hips forward, and she caught her lip between her teeth as his erection pressed against her belly. “You’re beautiful, and I want you.”
She wanted him, too, so she led him to the comforting darkness of the bedroom.
* * *
He wasn’t stupid. It was patently obvious why she wanted the lights off.
She was embarrassed. He understood her reluctance. After all, she hadn’t come to the gym because she was super-happy about how she looked. This whole relationship—well, situation—wasn’t exactly normal. She didn’t know how to react. Despite the fact that he’d done everything he could think of to make sure she was happy and comfortable with him, she still had some walls up.
That was okay. He could tear them down, brick by brick. He was patient.
When the bedroom door clicked shut behind them, Rob reached over and flipped the light switch on.
“What are you doing?” Stacey turned and looked at him.
“Just give me a second,” he said, moving to the bedside table. He slid the drawer open and removed a condom and some water-based lubricant. She sank down on the edge of the bed as he reached for the hem of his shirt.
She stayed quiet as he pulled off his shirt. His skin prickled with the cool air of his bedroom. Then his hands went to his belt.
Her nostrils flared and she shifted her weight, moving her hands beneath the crooks of her knees. She wet her lips slowly as he drew the end of the belt through the metal buckle.
Rob moved slowly, deli
berately. He wanted her to take this in, memorize his every movement. He wanted her gazes, her reactions, hell, he wanted her to help. And eventually, he wanted her to do this for him. He’d witness her confident striptease one day. It was inevitable in his mind. No matter what happened between them, whether or not this was a few weeks of heaven or something more long lasting, it was a goal of his that Stacey gain the confidence to let him see her nude.
And Rob always reached his goals.
The jeans fell away, and he laid them in a neatly folded square on the foot of the bed. His socks followed. When he stood in front of her with nothing but his form-fitting black Calvins on, he was pleased to note that her gaze was glued firmly to the front of his briefs. He gave a half smile.
“Like what you see?”
“Yes,” she said, her cheeks coloring, but she didn’t look away. His cock hardened further under her perusal, straining the elastic. His body grew warm, his need to strip her down and touch her growing apace with his erection. But he wasn’t quite finished.
“Want to see more?”
She nodded, her white teeth catching her lower lip.
Hooking his thumb beneath the waistband of his briefs, he began to drag them downward, revealing the base of his cock, nestled in neatly trimmed hair. She made a half-strangled sound deep in her throat, her hips twisting a little. The devil sitting on his shoulder urged him on, and he pulled the waistband a little lower, just enough to give her a glimpse of his turgid shaft.
Her eyes were bluer now, as if the desire he was stoking inside her was affecting her in ways she couldn’t control. It was only fair. She’d been driving him crazy with lust for days now, by doing nothing other than being herself. Now it was his turn.
“Wait here,” he said, then turned and walked across the room. He reached for the light switch, but glanced over his shoulder before he hit it.
She was staring at his ass as if he were a steak and she was a starving woman.
Oh well. Memorable lessons were sometimes painful.
The room was plunged into darkness as soon as he flipped the switch.
He waited there, one heartbeat, two.
“Your timing sucks balls,” Stacey said, her voice a bit husky.
“Hmm, it might,” he agreed, shucking his briefs and tossing them aside. “But the question is, did you change your mind? Want me to turn the light back on?”
“Yes . . .” she said, the word trailing off. He waited. She sighed. “No.”
He was patient. He could wait. It would happen.
“Then close your eyes and feel instead.”
He knelt on the bed beside her, pushing her back onto the plush comforter. She went willingly, her arms reaching up and playing across his shoulders and back.
Her touch felt so good. She was so good. Stacey, soft, willing, eager, and beautiful. If only he could help her see herself the way he did.
He kissed her, and together they rolled toward the center of the bed, Stacey lying halfway on top of him. She tried to lift herself away while maintaining the kiss, but he stopped her. She had to get out of her own way. It was the only way they would both enjoy this the way it should be enjoyed.
His hands wandered beneath her top, and she sighed in surrender. Her skin was so hot, so soft. Her bra’s catch fell away beneath his fingers, and their kiss stopped long enough for the offending garments to be tossed away.
Rob rose onto his knees and felt his way down her body. From her beautiful breasts down to her waist, which flared to her generous hips. Every bit of her skin was precious, delicious, and made him hunger for her. She fit against him, her height, her softness, all of it designed to perfectly contrast and complement him.
When he wasn’t out of his mind with lust, he’d have to examine the idea, but for now, it was more complex than he could manage. All he could think about was removing the last barriers between them and feeling her body against his.
His fingers delved beneath her waistband, and she lifted her hips for him. Her pants and underwear slid down her legs, and he tossed them aside, all the while thinking about the way her skin felt. His hands couldn’t get enough of her. His mouth following soon after, he rained his kisses over every patch of available skin.
She tried to pull away when he kissed the fleshy part of her hip. The soft rise of her belly. The sweetly dimpled patch on her outer thigh. He wasn’t having any of it. Why couldn’t she see that every square centimeter of her was beautiful to him?
“Rob,” she said as he pressed his lips to her inner thigh.
“Yes?” He blew a breath over her labia, gratified as she shivered.
“I want to kiss you and explore you the way you’ve done to me. Can you lie back for me? Please, Rob?”
His cock jumped at the way his name sounded when she said it that way. Pleading, sweet, beseeching.
How could he possibly deny her?
With one last kiss to the sweet lips that hid her most precious place from him, he moved away to lie back onto the pillows.
If Stacey wanted to explore his body, who was he to stop her?
Chapter 22
Stacey felt bold as the darkness surrounded her, cloaked her, as she crept up Rob’s body to settle between his legs.
He lay there at her mercy, a beautiful, sculpted piece of humanity, hers to explore, hers to kiss, lick, touch, and possess.
Even if it was just for this moment, she intended to enjoy every last inch of him.
It had been so hard to lose the sight of him. When he’d killed the lights, she’d had to bite her tongue to stop herself from asking that he turn them back on. She wanted to see him—and who wouldn’t? He was incredible. Sculpted, toned, he was everything that a guy who owned a gym should be. But that was the problem. He was everything Stacey wasn’t.
But she refused to think about that anymore for the moment. He was here at her mercy, and she wanted to touch what she’d seen before the lights went out.
Leaning down, she kissed him, only catching the corner of his mouth in the darkness. He smiled into her kiss, and she adjusted her aim.
He opened his mouth when her tongue traced the seam of his lips, and she delved inside. He tasted so good. She deepened the kiss, leaning down and pressing her breasts against his chest. The slight tickle of his hair excited her nipples, hardening their tips. The room was a little cool, and that made the heat of his body even more tantalizing.
As she kissed him, she braced her weight on one hand and let the other run over his shoulder, feeling the play of smooth muscles beneath the skin. He was so strong. He’d lifted her so easily the other night, and she couldn’t pretend that the sensation wasn’t wonderful. He was tall enough to make her feel small, strong enough to make her feel slight, and wonderful enough to make her feel desirable.
What kind of magic was he made of?
She broke the kiss, only to begin her sensuous survey of his body. Starting at his shoulders, she pressed a line of kisses across each of them.
“That’s nice,” he said, and she smiled against his skin.
“You’re nice.” She pressed her lips to the center of his chest, his light sprinkling of hair tickling her nose. She breathed him in. God, he smelled so good.
Her hands played downward, over the abdominals that he helpfully tensed for her, allowing her to bump her fingertips across them. She sank back onto her heels, allowing her hands to wander down over his hips and onto his strong, tensed thighs.
His breathing was harder, more ragged in the darkness. It was nice to hear that he wasn’t unaffected by this. Her own body was wound tight, tensed, throbbing, and ready for him.
Maybe it was time to take matters into her own hands.
Her mind made up, she rose onto her knees and pressed her lips to his toned, ridged belly.
“Stacey,” Rob said on a deep growl as her lips dragged downward, toward the velvet heat of his cock.
“It’s only fair,” she whispered, letting her breath blow by the weeping tip of him. His hips li
fted toward her, and she felt a surge of satisfaction at the involuntary movement.
Now he knew how she felt.
Starting at the base of him, she cupped his sac with one hand while kissing the thick base of his cock. The soft sounds of fabric rustling beside her indicated he was fisting his hands in the sheets. Good. Bolder now, she licked up the thick vein on the underside of his shaft. He was all velvet-covered steel, and as she sucked the broad head of him into her mouth, his hungry gasp made her jump.
“Damn,” he bit out a soft curse as she took him deeper, all the way to the back of her throat. Mouth working, she swept her tongue across the broad, smooth head on the upstroke.
Deep and shallow by turns, she sucked him, her hair falling around them. He threaded his fingers through the hair at her nape, gently tugging as she quickened her rhythm. He tasted good, sweet and earthy, and so very male.
“I’m not going to last much longer,” he groaned as she gagged slightly on a particularly deep draw.
Feeling like a sex goddess, she lifted her head. He reached over to the bedside table and grabbed something. A soft rip sounded, the bed bouncing slightly as he rolled the condom on. When he stilled, Stacey straddled his hips.
“Are you ready?” Rob asked as she positioned herself over him. “God, Stacey.”
She was already sinking down onto his hard cock. She closed her eyes as the delicious, hot, stretching sensation slipped through her. For a moment she stayed still, letting her body adjust to his girth. His hands gripped her hips, and he trembled beneath her, as if stopping himself from thrusting up into her.
Her hands slipped down her body to rest atop his hands, and staring down into the darkness, she began to move.
Rob did not lie still. He lifted her and snaked his hips against her, the twisting and grinding hitting her clit at just the right angle. Gripping his wrists, she rode him, tilting her head back. Her hair fell around them, tickling her back as she gasped.
Harder and deeper, quicker and quicker, her movements became frantic. Rob moved against her, steadying her, hips churning beneath her as skin met skin. Her belly clenched, muscles quivering, as she strained for that peak.
