“And if not?” Erica glanced at him over the rim of her glass.
“At least we would have tried rather than wonder what-if.”
His thumb traced the bowl of the glass. She imagined its feel over her breast. The calloused surface skimming over her nipple. Damn.
“I don’t want to lose you as a friend.” It would hurt more than anything else.
“I would hope we’re both mature enough to not let that happen. There are friends who’ve had sex, then remained friends when they realized it didn’t work. There are friends who have sex because they’re helping each other out.”
Erica laughed. “I’m not fuck-buddy material.”
“Oh, baby, I know. The things I’d like to do with you go well beyond fucking.”
The words, issued with sultry intent, slithered deep inside her. Heat rushed her and settled between her thighs.
“I think I just might be jealous of the women you’ve been with since I’ve known you.” They did seem to trot in and out of his life with annoying regularity.
“No need. One-night stands. Some not even that.” He shrugged. “No apologies. I’m a healthy male, and I do enjoy sex. And before you think you’re going to go in the one-night-stand category, let me say this. When one can’t have what one wants, one fills the void somehow.”
He certainly knew how to make a woman quiver inside. Erica set her glass on the table to keep her shaking hand from spilling it. “Are you saying you thought of me every time you were with them?”
“Not every time.” Edging closer, he placed his glass next to hers. “I tried my best to not think about what I couldn’t have. But I will admit there were plenty of times thinking about you helped me…over the hump, so to speak. And you?” He leaned her way, cupped her calf, and drew her leg to the cushion. “Did you think of me when you were with Keith?”
“I haven’t been with Keith since about a month after we got married. So no.” They were stretched out now, limb to limb. Erica had barely been aware of them moving. “But if it matters, you were foremost in my fantasies whenever I had sex with myself.”
Now who quivered? Erica felt pretty damn proud of herself for shaking Mike up. She coiled her leg around his, bringing him and that hard cock nearer where she wanted. “Somehow I sense you like the image of me playing with myself.” She smirked.
Mike snickered. “You sense it, huh?” A shift of his hips pressed his erection against her crotch.
“I do.” She started to hike her skirt higher. Mike beat her to it and wadded it to her waist. Only her panties guarded her now. “Would you like a blow-by-blow description?”
“You’re killing me here.”
His forearms held his weight, but they were pressed together body to body. She could feel every beat of her heart against his chest.
“You do realize the image of your hands roaming your body, fingers tweaking your nipples, then diving down to your pussy, pretty much puts me close to coming. And here I envisioned making out with you nice and slow, carrying you to my bed to strip you naked, and taking my time making you come.”
Her pussy clenched at the thought. She slipped one arm around his back, the other over his shoulder to flick her fingers through his hair. “Then you can imagine the thoughts running through my head. I’ve seen much more of your body than you have of mine. Do you know how many times I’ve damned your swim trunks? Do you know how many times I’ve imagined running my fingers and tongue over your chest? Thought of making your nipples hard? Now I can feel what I’ve longed to see pressed hard and hot against me. Jealous of those other women? Hell, yeah. I’ll bet you soap yourself up good in the shower, run your hands over your cock and balls—”
He kissed her hard, cutting off the words, stealing her breath, and blanking her mind of everything except the feel of him. Mike released her lips slowly and pulled back to brush his thumb over her cheek. His gaze traced her features, devastating in its intensity.
“I don’t want to move, Erica.” He kissed the corners of her mouth. “But I don’t want to stay here either. I want you naked in my bed, fulfilling all my fantasies.”
“And mine too.” This time she sealed their lips, twirling her tongue around his while she dug her heels into his ass.
Mike tensed, gasped, and pushed to his knees. A wet spot dampened his cargo shorts. From him or her, it hardly mattered. They were both on the edge.
He crawled from the couch, then grasped her hand and pulled her up next to him. Close to him. “Once I get you there, I don’t want to ever let you go.”
What was he saying? Erica braced her hands on his chest and tried to push away. One arm kept her in place. He smoothed the frown between her eyebrows.
“Don’t overthink it, sweetheart. Let me have my moment of presumed glory.” He gave her backside a light swat that set fire to everything down below, then stepped away. “Lights and phones off. Bathroom run—”
“No cold shower to take the edge off, hot stuff.” She landed a swat of her own and headed for the bathroom. “I want you as close to coming as me.” She shot him a glance over her shoulder. “So we can do it all over again nice and slow.”
“Oh, baby. You do know how to turn a man on.” He raced up behind her, wedged his erection against her back, palmed her breast in one hand and her crotch in the other.
Erica playfully slapped his hands away and ducked his reach. “At this rate, we’ll never make it to the bed. Now get the lights and phones off.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He dashed off to do so. “You want me to take care of your phone too?” he called out.
“Either that or put it on vibrate so I can use it now. You’re taking much too long.”
A pained groan reached her. Erica smothered a giggle.
“You better be naked and in bed by the time I get there,” he said.
“You better be naked when you get to the bedroom door,” she replied. “And pause a little so I can get a good look.”
“No hiding under the covers for you either.”
Erica winced. He was asking a lot. Her bravado faltered, replaced by awkwardness. She stood on the threshold of Mike’s bedroom, second-guessing the byplay that had gotten her to this point. How many times had she passed this door, peeking in and wondering what it would be like to be tangled under that sage green comforter with him? To roll around in his big bed, only to curl up in the center and drift off to sleep in his arms? To wake up to his smile, in his arms.
“You’re not naked.” He hugged her from behind.
“Neither are you.”
“I got shy.”
She wrapped her arms over his. “Oh please, there’s not a shy bone in your body.”
“And yet here I am, still dressed.”
Because he knew she’d be hesitant. He was letting her lead, taking his cues from her, and no matter how badly he wanted her, Erica knew a simple no from her would be enough for him to back off. The things that did to her heart.
“Oops. I forgot to turn off a light.” Mike flicked off the overhead light. All that remained was the soft glow of the digital clock on the nightstand. “Better?” He brushed her hair away from her temple.
She wasn’t sure, couldn’t answer.
“I want you in my bed, Erica. In my arms. That’s all. Sex doesn’t have to happen.”
“Yes, it does.” That much she knew. “I want you so bad I can hardly stand it. I’m just so scared. I’ve made mistakes.”
“Haven’t we all? As long as we’ve learned from them.” Taking her hand, he stepped toward the bed. “Come on. We’ll pretend we’re virgins on our wedding night and strip under the covers. We can go crazy ripping our clothes off each other another time.”
“I don’t know. I was pretty bold the night I lost my virginity.” Eighteen and ready to take on the world.
“I’m intrigued.”
She caught his wide grin in the dim light.
“Did you lay some moves on him? Take control? Have your way with him until he begged for mercy?�
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Erica laughed. “I’ll never tell.”
“But will you show me?” He tumbled onto the bed, taking her with him. “I love a woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to take it. Much hotter than one who lies there, expecting it to be all about her. Although, port in a storm and all that.”
She pushed up on her forearms and stared down at him. “Really? You’d let me?”
“Let you? Baby, I’m craving every second. Just”—he draped his arm over his forehead—“be gentle.”
Erica giggled. “Now where’s the fun in that?” She sat astride him and traced her fingers along his pecs.
Mike caught her wrists in a loose hold. “Just remember, sweetheart. What goes around comes around.”
“I can hardly wait. I like coming.”
Hard chuckles shook the bed. Mike grabbed her hips and scooted them up the bed. Once in place, he folded his arms beneath the pillow under his head. “Take me, baby. Show me what it’s like to have a real woman.”
“Oh, the power.”
“With great power comes—”
Erica pinched his nipples hard. His groaned gasp sent ripples of delight through her. “No quoting superheroes tonight. And if those hands come out from under that pillow, I will have to bind them.”
“Not even to make you come?” One eyebrow lifted with his smirk.
“You have a mouth, don’t you?”
“Oh my God.” Mike laughed. “What have I gotten myself into?”
“Nothing yet. Me if you’re lucky. Condoms?”
He jerked his head toward the nightstand. “Drawer.”
“A lot?”
“Enough to get the job done.”
“Well, if you consider this work, perhaps…” She swung from his body.
He jerked upright to haul her back. “Don’t be hasty there, sweetheart.”
Erica playfully smacked his arms away and reached for the nightstand. “I can see those hands are going to be a problem. I’m going to have to tie them up. Got any duct tape?”
“Ouch.” He settled down, hands where they belonged.
She tickled her nails down his chest, following the bunny trail to his waistband. “Nice.” Nicer still was the ridge of cock trapped in his shorts, luring her to explore. Erica pressed her palm down the length.
Mike groaned, pushed his hips into her grasp. “One thing you gotta know. My days of multiple orgasms a night are long gone. You’re playing with fire right now.”
“Good to know.” She cupped his balls, then moved away. “Might be your hands aren’t the only thing I need to tie a knot around.”
A breath shuddered through him. Now this was power. It’d been too many years since she’d experienced the heady feeling that went with playing like this. Few men were secure enough to put themselves in such a position. Most felt they had to prove something by taking charge. Erica preferred equality in the bedroom. A pity she hadn’t been woman enough to see she had it. That she’d allowed her perception of society’s rules dictate what was proper. No more.
Mike’s eyes tracked her movements—watched her toss a condom on the bed, her slow striptease by the clock light, her fingers when she reached for the fastenings on his shorts. Despite the lack of full illumination, there was no disguising the hunger in his eyes. Want tugged deep in her belly. Something more squeezed her heart. She shoved the feeling aside, refusing to allow it to distract her.
Kneeling astride his legs, Erica leaned forward, caught the zipper tab in her teeth, and slowly tugged it downward. The scent of him curled into her nostrils. Man. Want. Heat. It churned her own needs, needs that demanded she skip to the main event. Somehow she managed to fight the drive to mate. She wanted to savor every second, give them both something they’d remember until their dying day.
She hooked her fingers in the waistband of the shorts and underwear, made sure Mike saw her lick her lips in anticipation, then wiggled them down his hips. He lifted his ass to help her, pushing his erection closer to her mouth in the process. There were some things a woman just couldn’t resist. A big dick—hard, weeping, and ready for her—was tops on the list. She loved how it sprung free, almost as if it were seeking her. Considering how Mike squirmed, maybe that was the case.
Erica scooted his clothing to his ankles. He was the one to kick them free, but when he tried to spread his legs, she kept them in place with a mere press of her hard nipples to his thighs. She raked her hair away from her face, glanced under her lashes to make sure she had his attention, smiled when she saw his gaze locked on hers, then flicked her tongue up his cock.
Mike’s groan screamed victory for her. How could she not take another lick? He thrust up this time, begging for more. His biceps bulged from his efforts to keep his arms locked in place. She looped her thumb and forefinger around the base of his erection, forcing it upright, then twirled her tongue around the head. A pause, a little suck at the tip to clear the precum.
“Damn, woman. Fuck me.” Dark eyes pleaded with her. Still, she was in command. Nice to know she hadn’t lost her moves.
“Say please.” She kept the order low and sultry. Loved how he quivered beneath her.
“Please.”
Erica reached for the condom but not before rubbing her breasts over his cock and giving the tip one final flash of her tongue.
He whimpered. “You just wait, baby. Your turn’s coming.”
“I do hope so,” she purred, or at least she hoped it came out like a purr and not shaky, because the thought of being at his mercy did such delicious things to her body.
She opened the condom and positioned it over his erection.
“What? No awe, gasp, comment, or feigned fear about my horse—”
Erica choked off the trash talk with her fist around the base of his cock. “Come on. Is it really your ego you want stroked?” She rolled the condom into place with the final word. “Now keep those big blues open, hot stuff. I want you to see what it’s like to be taken by a real woman.”
She crawled up his body, found what her pussy craved, and took it in a slow plunge, aided by the thrust of his hips. Erica rested her cheek against his chest. She listened to his pounding heartbeat while their bodies remained joined, giving him time to gather some measure of control. He was a big man, and she was damn tight. Lack of sex would do that to a woman. Keith’s presence had kept her toy stash to the bare minimum.
“You feel so good inside me, Mike.”
“It feels good to be inside you, sweetheart. Like I’m wrapped in flame. Make us come, baby. Make us come hard.”
That made her smile. He’d left her in charge, rather than try to wrest control from her, and it would have taken little effort for him to roll her beneath him. She pushed herself upright, sitting on her heels. Lifting her arms, she made a big show of combing her hair back before she danced her fingers over her nipples. They were tight and hard, like her clitoris perched in the nest of his pubic hair. She kneaded her breast with one hand. She shoved the other downward and sucked in a sharp breath when her fingers touched her clit.
“That’s it, sweetheart. You’re the woman. I’m the man. You show me what I’ve been missing all this time. I don’t come until you do.” He pushed up, grinding himself as deep as the position allowed.
Fired by his words, Erica closed her eyes and gave herself over to the fantasy become real. She rocked her hips in time with his, loving the fire between them. Climax built fast. She let it roll over her, crying out when Mike drove deep and came with her.
She sagged onto him in the after throes. He draped his arms around her and rolled her to the side. He left long enough to remove the condom, only to return just as hard as he’d been when they’d first begun, and covered for more action. Hot hands roamed her body. Hotter lips sought hers.
Erica giggled. “I thought one time was your limit.”
“Apparently I lied.” His eyes smiled. He kissed her again, and she hooked her calf around his, anchoring them together.
Chapter F
ive
A steady, hard thumping took over Mike’s dream. He and Erica were going at it, loving each other like crazy, pounding the headboard into the wall.
“What the hell?” He felt Erica jerk upright.
Mike snapped awake. A dream, not sex. Three fifteen in the morning, and someone was pounding on the front door. He jumped out of bed and into his shorts. Wrapped in the bedsheet, Erica wasn’t far behind him. He waved her back to the hallway. Whoever was there didn’t need to see her in her near naked state.
“That better not be Keith,” she spat out. “Leave it to him to ruin a good Saturday morning sleep-in.”
And the sweet sex that went with it. “I don’t think he’d be stupid enough to violate his own restraining order.” In theory, Mike believed that, but nothing Keith did ever made sense. Why would this be any different? It’d be like the man to stalk Erica until their divorce was final.
Mike peeked through the living-room window. Not Keith. But his relief was temporary. “It’s CJ.” He flicked on the overhead light. She ducked out of the line of sight as he opened the door.
“What’s wrong?”
CJ shoved inside. “Where’s Erica?”
“Here,” she called from the hallway.
“Your house is on fire.”
She stepped around the corner. “My new rental?”
He shook his head and looked everywhere but at her. “The other. Yours and Keith’s. Chief Stanton and Captain Delaney called me when they couldn’t reach either of you.”
Because their cell phones were off and Mike’s landline unplugged.
“It’s a fast one. They got the call fifteen minutes ago, and—”
“I’ll get dressed.” She dashed off. “Where the hell is Keith?” she shouted back.
“We didn’t get into that. I don’t think they knew at that point. They called me the minute they got the call, and I came right over.” CJ turned to him. “God, Mike, do you think he’d be cruel enough to burn the place down to keep her from having her things?”
“I don’t know what to think.” But he did know he couldn’t stand around. He had a suspected arson to investigate. There was no way this fire was a coincidence. “Take Erica to the house. I need to get dressed, then run by the station for my gear.”
Wrapped in Flame Page 4
