“Will you tell me what it is? In detail?”
His throat bobbed with deep laughter.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” His teeth stabbed his lip briefly, which was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. “You like when I talk dirty, Rachel?”
She nodded. “It makes me feel wanted.” And not like she was rigid or lousy in bed. As he’d proven to her twice, wait…three times, she did fine in his bed. Well, on the couch. The chair, the airplane bed…They hadn’t been together in a bed on land yet.
“I want you, sweetheart.” He offered his hand. “Let me show you how much.”
Pants open but still hanging on his hips, he led her to the en suite. Tag pulled open the sliding glass door on the shower.
“It involves us in here,” he rumbled. “And you sitting on that bench.”
The seat at the back of the shower was the perfect height for…oh. Oh, my. Putting a hand to her cheek, she felt the heat there. Could she actually do it?
“I expect you to instruct me,” she whispered, unfamiliar words tumbling from her mouth. “I want this to be good for you.”
“As you wish.” His smile twitched like he was trying to keep from grinning from ear to ear. More evidence he wanted her. Who knew how empowering that could feel?
They stripped, taking their time pulling off remaining articles of clothing. She felt Tag’s heated gaze on her body like a touch when he turned on the water and tested it with one hand. Steam billowed out, drenching the room in moisture and heat.
“Ready?”
As she’d ever be. She wanted to do this. She needed to do this. She was tired of believing what Shaun had told her. This was another way to prove to herself she was great in bed. Great in the shower, she thought with a self-satisfied twist of her lips.
“Get wet,” Tag instructed, the command enthralling on its own. She climbed in and stuck her head beneath the spray, hot water loosening her muscles and easing her nerves.
He followed her in and stood behind her, dominating the small space, parts of him brushing parts of her. He unwrapped a bar of soap, lathered it between his palms, and began smoothing rhythmic circles over her back with his hands. Every inch of her being tended to with smooth but firm pressure. He moved to each butt cheek, cupping them as he dropped kisses on her shoulder. Next, he coasted around to her stomach and over her breasts.
“Tag,” came her whisper of delight when those fingers soaped her nipples.
“Turn around.” He moved his hands to her hips and assisted her. She slid under his soapy palms. “Do me.”
She started at his chest, moving in sensual circles over each rounded pectoral muscle and up over his collarbone. Then down to his stomach and over the hard-on jutting impressively between his legs. His breaths had escalated the closer her hand came, expanding his chest, but he didn’t tell her to touch him. He did continue soaping her breasts, then moving one hand between her legs and gently swiping his fingers there.
She jerked in pleasure as he touched her, taking the lead and wrapping her hand around his shaft to give him a sudsy stroke. Then another. He was thick and long, and she wanted him so badly, she could hardly think.
“Now what?” The water temperature was perfect—hot but not too hot. “Tell me, Tag.”
Rather than answer, he took his time rubbing his hands under the spray to clean the soap from his body, then did the same with her. He slid big, firm palms over her skin, and by the time he’d finished, every inch of her was turned on and ready to go.
Once they were suds-free, he gripped his cock and instructed with a chin lift, “Sit.”
She lowered to the bench and, oh what a sight he was. One powerful hand wrapped around several inches of burgeoning manhood, stroking once more as he came to stand in front of her.
“Lick your lips,” he said.
She darted her tongue out, seductively swiping it over her top lip as she moved her eyes from his cock to his face. With great effort, he swallowed.
“Do you want to suck me off?”
“Yes.” Liquid heat pooled between her thighs as her nipples peaked.
He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face gently. Big as a mountain, he looked down at her, water dotting his body, his wet hair tangled and resting on his shoulders. He was a fantasy in the flesh.
“I want to watch you take me into your mouth, Rachel. After, I’ll tell you what comes next.”
She nodded and the first hint of his good humor broke through when he smiled. She was safe with him. What they were about to do was going to be as fun as everything else they’d tried. She knew it in her gut.
He thumbed her chin in silent request and she placed a soft kiss on the plump head of his penis before opening her mouth and taking the tip onto her tongue.
A sharp exhalation came from Tag, who immediately dropped his hand onto her head. His fingers flexed in her wet hair, but he didn’t force her. He stood so still that his thigh where her hand rested felt as rigid as rebar. A lot like the part of him in her mouth.
His cock was velvety smooth when she tested the underside of his length with her tongue. He let out a guttural sound of pleasure. A zing of excitement went through her as she gripped his other leg. She was so good at this. More importantly, she was enjoying herself.
His hand gripped her hair firmly and he drew out of her mouth. She sat back to look up at him and saw he was barely harnessed. His chest lifted and dropped with each ragged breath he drew, his mouth dropped open, water dripping from his hair and beard.
Between clenched teeth he asked, “How was that for you?”
Her confidence abruptly ebbed. Was it not good for him? Maybe the lust-blown look she thought she saw was disappointment. Or…anger? For her, the experience had been phenomenal, but she didn’t know how he felt. She’d only been guessing.
“Tell me the truth,” he demanded.
Earnestly, she shook her head and then looked right at his penis, which bobbed in front of her, slick and inviting. She moved her eyes back to his face. “I don’t want to stop until you come.”
His eyes closed. “Do you have any idea how hard it’s going to be for me to last longer than twenty seconds?”
She frowned. Was that…bad?
“Your mouth is…God, Rachel. You make me feel like some inept idiot when I’m with you.” He slammed a fist into the shower knob, shutting off the water, and helped her stand.
“Mind if we take this to the bedroom?” He stroked her cheek as he brought her against his body. Between them a steamy buzz of electricity shocked the air.
“Only if I can finish you off in there,” she purred.
“I insist.” A muscle in his jaw ticked as he bit down.
She grinned, pleased. Mostly with herself.
* * *
He was having an out-of-body experience, his head thoroughly disconnected from his neck. Rachel’s warm, luscious body was draped over him, one hand around his dick and the other locked around his leg. Her mouth was doing the most unimaginably sinful things.
And this was far from his first blow job.
But what she was doing—the swirl thing…
“Ah! Jesus.” She did it again and he knifed up, hand wrapping firmly around one of her ass cheeks and squeezing the plump flesh.
She let him go, licking her damp lips, and he nearly came right then and there. “What’d I do wrong?”
Sweat beading his temple, he managed a stuttering laugh. “Wrong is not the word, honey. You’re doing things so right I’m pretty sure I’m experiencing life in a way I never have before.”
“What do you like the best?”
Heat shot to his face as she held his gaze. Tag was about as far from shy as London to Tokyo, but she’d unraveled him with her mouth, giving him everything he needed and wanted—the very thing he’d dreamed of—with no thought about her own pleasure.
“The swirling thing.”
“You mean this?” She darted her tongue out and drew a torturous circle around the m
oist head. His hips bucked.
“Yeah.” His voice was a puny wheeze.
“Let me taste how much you like it, Tag.” She smiled, triumphant, then closed her mouth over him and began again.
Damn, he liked her like this.
He didn’t lie back down, holding on to her rump with one hand while his other fisted the comforter. He had to find a way to ground himself while his brain cells incinerated to ash. Rachel’s head bobbed, taking him deeper, then shallow, swirling her tongue and suctioning him with her exquisite mouth.
He lost his last shred of control on a shout. Her name on his lips, he pumped his hips helplessly. She swallowed every last drop as he spilled into her mouth, her hand gentle around his shaft, her soft blond hair tickling his thighs. His mind exploded like the cosmos as his eyes shut of their own volition. Finally he collapsed, his fist still tight around the bedding, his hand clamping her bare butt.
Cool air hit him as she released him from her mouth. She crawled up his chest, her breasts brushing his torso and he groaned in abject ecstasy. She mumbled to him, but her words were lost behind the pounding of his heartbeat and the rush of blood roaring against his eardrums.
“Hmm?” he managed, and she was lucky he’d said that much.
She peeled her body off his to lie next to him on the bed. “I asked if I was as good as the me in your fantasy.”
“No.” He opened his eyes to see a flash of hurt in hers. Then he grinned—a lopsided, half-assed grin all he could manage. “You are a million times better.”
She looked down, almost shyly, the most endearing expression he’d seen her wear. How this girl could be laying him open one second and shy the next was a hell of a feat.
“I need to know if you’ll forgive me,” he murmured, losing the battle with his eyelids as they shut again.
“For?” came her voice, almost at a distance.
“For resting here a minute before I return the favor.”
Silky laughter poured over him and she kissed the corner of his mouth.
“Now that’s a compliment,” she whispered.
Chapter 15
Tag had more than made up for his brief catnap after she’d rendered him temporarily out of service. She’d never rendered a man helpless before, especially not with her sexual prowess, so watching the big guy melt into sleep after she’d had her mouth on him was the most rewarding experience of her sexual history.
Boo-freaking-yah.
She’d crawled out of bed and slipped into one of the room’s thick white robes before getting a bottle of Perrier out of the fridge and taking it to their room’s balcony. Halfway through drinking it, Tag came outside behind her, took the bottle from her hand, and lifted her into his arms. He was still naked, long hair damp and wavy, and since he was carrying her, really had reminded her of Tarzan. Which was not a bad thing. Not at all.
He’d laid her on the bed and kissed her breasts, languid strokes of his tongue over her sensitized nipples while she’d dug her fingers into his blond-brown strands. Then he’d worked his fingers between her legs and found the spot that made her squirm before replacing his fingers with his tongue. She’d never known before him how good it could feel to have a man’s mouth between her legs.
After, he’d pulled her close and tucked her back to his front while she caught her breath, suffering from tiny aftershocks of pleasure shaking her to the core.
“Hope you’ll forgive me,” she’d managed, her eyes heavy from her last powerful orgasm.
“For?” he’d asked.
“Disappointing you. I just want to fall asleep and make love to you in the morning.”
“Make love. I like that.” His deep chuckle had made her smile. “Dimples. I don’t think you could possibly disappoint me.”
She’d liked it too. As much as she’d been tempted to slot Tag into the fun-for-now column, she couldn’t help noticing that every time he interacted with her, he hinted that he wasn’t going anywhere.
She was still grinning like an idiot the next day when she walked with him to the pool bar at the Crane Makai. He’d taken her to a surfing lesson that morning as promised. Mostly, she’d practiced paddling on the sand and then paddling in the water. Popping up on the board was difficult for her. Tag had done it with relatively little effort.
He was irritatingly good at everything he did. It was unfair.
Of all things, her toes hurt, having used the muscles in her feet the most to keep her balanced. She’d managed to push upright, but into more of a hunch than a stand. She’d tumbled into the waves several times. Tag pulled her to the surface and praised her on her attempts and then delivered wet, salty kisses to her lips.
Yeah. She liked surfing.
She was beginning to wonder how she’d return to life after Hawaii, as this was the most pleasant daydream of her life. Since she’d met him, she was living in a fantasyland in every imaginable way.
Queen bartender Karina greeted Rachel pleasantly enough when Tag introduced them. He pointed out where he’d be hanging out with his laptop and notebook—a chair on the far side of the pool.
“You need me, Dimples, you just yell,” he told her, and then right in front of Karina, planted a kiss on Rachel’s lips before walking to his seat.
“How long have you been dating?” Karina asked after a brief instruction on the cash register. As luck would have it, it was the same brand they had at Andromeda, so there wasn’t much of a learning curve.
“Oh. Um. I don’t know. We’re friends. Neighbors, sort of,” she said. “Or, that’s how we started. Things develop sometimes.”
Karina harrumphed, her dark eyes rolling as she wiped down the surface of the bar. Rachel watched her for a moment before deciding she wasn’t going to avoid the question bouncing around like a pink, winged elephant.
“You look at him like either you’ve dated him before or you want to. Which one is it?”
The bar towel stopped mid-swipe, and Karina’s eyes bulged. Rachel had shocked her. Tag’s ability to make bold statements had rubbed off on her. She stood waiting for an answer, not the least bit apologetic for asking.
“It’s okay,” Rachel told the other woman. “I’m not jealous. I noticed the way you look at him. I can tell it’s one of the two.”
Cheeks ruddy, Karina managed a smile of reproach. “I—we’ve never dated. I’m attracted to him. I mean how could you not be?” she mumbled.
Rachel gave a nod of agreement, remembering how she’d been confounded at her attraction to him. He was the exact opposite of what she thought was her type.
“He never saw me the same way,” Karina continued. “Not the way he looks at you. He’s got a puppy love thing going.”
Puppy love. Things between Tag and Rachel were nowhere near that innocent, but Rachel wasn’t about to expound.
They got to work, her and Karina for the first hour; then the same male bartender she’d met previously—Craig—stepped behind the bar to help. He was even more excited to hear Rachel wasn’t accepting tips since it meant he and Karina would split the cash fifty-fifty.
A few hours in, Rachel had hit her rhythm and there was no need to ask where anything was or how the flow of the bar worked.
But that didn’t mean it was easy.
She had plenty of suggestions on how to improve things after being back here for one evening. The crowd thinned around ten o’clock, and Rachel did her share of the closing duties. She found Tag right where he said he’d be, and somehow he’d looked up as if he felt her watching him.
His smile was small, but one reserved for her. She held up both hands to show she’d be done in ten minutes.
He gave her the thumbs-up and a wink that made her stomach clench.
* * *
Watching Rachel in action—and not only when he was getting some action—Tag was becoming increasingly aware this thing between them wasn’t going to end when they arrived home to Chi-town.
There was no way he was done with her, and given her reactions, he had a
good idea she wasn’t done with him either.
She was fun to shower with. Fun to have sex with. Fun to talk with over dinner, to watch as she fell in the water and tried, tried, and tried again to surf. He didn’t care if she was ever good at it; he cared that she was willing to try.
She didn’t give up easily, she was a fast learner, and as he’d observed tonight watching her run the bar, she was damn good at her job.
Marketing required different skills than bartending, and yet she was adept at both. Behind the bar she was friendly and fast, and he could tell every time he’d glanced up at her that she was assessing the most efficient way things should be done.
Yet she didn’t run roughshod over Karina, even though during his observations, he’d noticed Rachel debating whether or not to move a bottle of liquor to a lower shelf. Instead, she’d stood on her toes and put it back on the high shelf where it’d gone.
He’d been counting down the hours until she was off work, unsure when the crowd would die down and give her an excuse to make a break for it, and not for reasons anyone would have guessed. Not to take her into bed.
Well, not right away.
He watched her drying a stemmed glass and reaching to hang it overhead, her tiny T-shirt lifting to bare a slice of skin at the waistband of her shorts. She pushed the back of her hand to move hair that’d fallen over her eye and caught him looking. He only smiled.
She cared about his bar issues like they were her own, and he couldn’t get over the idea of a woman sleeping with him and working with him seamlessly.
Tag’s phone vibrated on the seat of the lounger where he sat, laptop open on his legs.
His brother Reese. It was the middle of the night in Chicago.
“Hey, bro,” Tag answered. “You’re up late.”
“Sleeping is overrated. How’s Oahu?”
“Tropical.”
Reese blew out a brief laugh. Since he’d attained his life goal of CEO and met Merina, he was in the process of becoming the man Tag had always known he could be.
The Billionaire Next Door Page 16
