by Dee J. Adams
Her grin widened. “Hey, look at that. Technically this makes us even. I guess now we can thank each other equally tonight.”
A second ago, he’d been freaked out at the close call and now she had him smiling. Not too many people had that ability. The light changed and Brendan checked the street before crossing. He was done dancing around this subject and the hotel was right in front of them. There was no pain in his knees or palms that would keep him from Casey tonight. “Your place or mine?” he asked.
“Yours,” she said without missing a beat.
Good thing he cleaned up the room earlier. His pulse raced faster as they walked up the pathway. Rope lighting wrapped the surrounding trees and illuminated the historic hotel.
His dick didn’t care that they were still in public and the closer they walked to his room, the harder he got. Brendan punched the button for the elevator and they stared at each other as it ticked down. There was nothing he wanted more than to get this woman to his room, strip her of her clothes and touch every inch of her with his hands and tongue.
The door dinged open and Brendan led Casey inside. He waited until the car started moving before he pinned her against the sidewall.
“Do you have any idea how much I want you?” He hoped he didn’t sound like a crazed stalker, but the hours of talking and innocent touching had his brain at the end of sanity.
“I’m not sure,” she replied. Her skin pebbled under his touch as he stroked her bare shoulder. “But I think it might be almost as much as I want you.”
No words had ever sounded better and Brendan quit stalling. This time when he tipped her chin up, he planted a kiss on her lips that she wouldn’t forget. It didn’t take much coaxing for her to open to him and he slid his tongue inside the warm cavern of her mouth and tasted her for the first time. She tasted like the peppermints their server had brought with the check. She tasted hot, delicious and just like a woman should.
Brendan roamed his hands down Casey’s sides and discovered all those sweet dips and curves for the second time.
She moaned into his mouth, grabbed his shoulders and pushed him against the wall next to them. The kiss hit another level as she straddled his thigh and circled her tongue around his.
Coherent thought scrambled into the abyss as Brendan let her have him. God it was sexy when a woman took control.
All too soon the elevator bell rang and Casey pulled back. She dragged him from the car, but stopped short. “Which way?” Her eyes nearly glowed with heat and lust. Brendan tugged her left and all the way down the hall to his ocean facing room, searching his pockets for his card key to expedite the process. The card slid in on the first try. Pure luck at this point because his brain was about to explode with the possibilities.
He got it open, tugged her in behind him and pinned her against the door before it had a chance to close.
She welcomed his onslaught with her own. Her busy hands ran across his shoulders, down his arms, around his waist and held him tight. Not a chance in hell she didn’t feel how badly he wanted her. He snugged up tight against her lower stomach, loving the way she pressed against him. With every new spot she touched, his blood surged hotter, faster.
Bed.
He needed the damn bed because he wanted her on her back. Wanted to take her dress off one inch at a time and explore every new piece of skin.
“I want to see if I missed any spots with that sunscreen today.” He trailed his lips along her jaw as he pulled her with him to the bed.
“I have tan lines to prove you were very thorough in your application.” Her voice sounded husky. Needy.
The beast inside him roared.
“Not that I don’t believe you,” Brendan whispered before brushing his lips across hers. God damn, her lips were as amazing as they looked. Soft, full, warm and welcoming. “But I’m going to have to take a look for myself.” The desk lamp he’d left on gave him just enough light to appreciate all her smooth skin.
She nodded, chasing his mouth for another kiss before murmuring, “Of course. I completely understand.”
Everything in him rejoiced with her reply. “How about I start at the top and work my way down?” As he spoke, he slowly removed the flimsy shoulder strap holding up her Hawaiian print dress. The rolling ocean waves had seemed almost alive with every move she made. The slinky fabric had been teasing him all night as it draped and shifted over Casey’s curves. It slid beneath his fingers like silk. His lips followed the path of that little scrap of material as it eased down her arm. “So soft,” he whispered against her skin. And he wasn’t talking about the material. God, she smelled like a goddess. Like something heavenly and innocent.
Next came the other strap and he guided Casey’s arms up so he could take his exploration farther. He eased around her back and pushed her long hair aside to trail his lips along her neck. She dropped her head forward and a low purr rumbled from her throat.
“I love that sound.” He spoke as he trailed his lips down the open expanse of her back, stroking his fingertips in little circles along her shoulder blades. Goose bumps rose beneath his touch and he grinned.
“You’re smiling,” she murmured.
“How can you tell?”
“I can feel your lips on my back. You’re smiling.”
Brendan straightened and moved in front of her, the bed at their side. Casey lifted her thick lashed lids and met his gaze. Like this morning, Brendan felt as if he was being pulled under by the riptide. She was taking him down with just that sexy look. Her aqua eyes sparkled even in the dimness of the room.
He cupped her face, brushed his thumb along her cheekbone then leaned in and kissed her. Casey didn’t hold back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, opened her mouth to his questing tongue and nearly sucked the life out of his lungs. She was fire in his arms, alive and warm and totally on board with this whole seduction.
Considering he’d waited all day for this, Brendan had to admit his patience was about gone. He tucked his thumbs into the tight elastic top of her dress and eased it down over her breasts. God, she was beautiful. Pert breasts with dusky pink nipples standing at attention just begging for him to touch, to taste. Brendan kissed her again, just to let her know he was as interested in her mouth as the rest of her, because shit, she had the finest mouth, he’d been dreaming about it all day…dreaming about a lot of things all day.
Brendan cupped her breasts and finally left her lips. He bent and licked one of those sweet peaks into his mouth. She threaded her hands into his hair and moaned as he sucked her. Blood rushed south with the speed of a flash flood. Brendan couldn’t remember the last time he ached for someone this badly. The need to claim her, to sink inside her nearly burned him alive.
He got to his knees as he continued to pull her dress down over her hips. He tasted every new inch of silky skin during his descent.
Just to torture them both a little more, he kept her underwear in place as the dress pooled at her feet in a soft hiss of material. His mouth hovered at the bikini line she’d been so concerned about this morning. Brendan ran his hands along her hips, down her mile long thighs and back up again. Standing topless over him, she was like an Amazon goddess.
“Turn around,” he said softly. “I need to check my work.”
Her heavy lidded eyes flashed with heat and her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. “If you must.” Casey turned and Brendan got a face full of super-fine ass since she had ditched her white bikini bottoms for a crazy-sexy black lace thong. Glory hallelujah.
“Jesus,” he whispered. “You absolutely have the finest ass I have ever seen.” She looked over her shoulder at him, her smile as sexy as the curve of her ass. “And,” he continued, stroking a gentle finger along the tan she told him about. “I see my attention to detail paid off. No burns for you.” Brendan couldn’t stop himself. He’d never really considered himself an ass-kisser. Not in any way, shape or form, but this ass was priceless. Easing the thong down, he followed the path with his lips and tong
ue, stroking the smooth globes with his hands and his mouth.
He was pretty sure he didn’t have a drop of blood left in the head above his shoulders because it all resided in the one below his waist.
Maybe Casey had similar issues because she turned, giving him a flash of her clean-shaven self before getting on her knees on the bed. She motioned him forward.
Brendan didn’t have to think twice about that invitation. But before he got on the bed, Casey set her hands on his jeans and went to work with the button and zipper.
Pop. Hiss.
Done.
With her gorgeous eyes on his she pushed her thumbs into his waistband and took everything down. No slow going for this lady. She knew what she wanted.
Brendan thanked the Good Lord it was him.
Chapter Five
Casey glanced up at Brendan after she got his jeans and boxer briefs down. She’d only ever been with Jeff and had no one else to compare him to. Until now. This was what she’d been missing? Had that been part of Jeff’s issue? Small penis syndrome? Talk about going from one extreme to the other…
“Wow. That…” She struggled for words. “That’s…truly impressive. I think I won the jackpot.”
Brendan flashed her a sexy grin and joined her on the bed. Okay, he didn’t so much join her as take her down, laying her on her back as his mouth made love to hers. God his kiss was spectacular. Not too dry, not too wet…the perfect amount of tongue action. His hands stroked over her flesh, making her want him that much more. So much delicious skin to touch, and every smooth inch of it pressed along every inch of her.
“I’m not too sure about that,” he mumbled as he traced kisses along her jaw. “I was the one that hit the jackpot. I didn’t realize that plucking you out of the water was going to lead me—lead us—to this.”
“I didn’t either.” Except that might’ve been a lie. She’d certainly hoped for this, but Brendan surpassed anything her imagination could’ve conjured up. Jeff didn’t come close in comparison. If she’d only known. But she hadn’t, because Jeff had been her first and only. He’d systematically removed her from most of her friends and tried to make himself her whole universe. Why hadn’t she seen it while it was happening? Why had she bought into his negative comments and given in to almost his every whim? To be loved? To be accepted? Well, bullshit to that.
Obviously the universe had a lot more to offer than Jeff. Duh.
“Hey.” Brendan’s sexy whisper brought her gaze to his and she stared into his mesmerizing blue eyes. “Where are you?” He eased some hair off her cheek and she tingled at the sweet gesture.
“Sorry. Right here. Where I want to be.” She stroked her fingers along the smoothness of his square jaw and realized he must have shaved right before their dinner. He smelled so good—like spicy, sexy man—she wanted to inhale him, to keep his scent in her head for the rest of time.
When she moved her fingers toward his hairline to cup his head and bring him closer, he reared back. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” He took her wrist and eased it back on the pillow next to her head, trapping her against cool sheets before giving her what she wanted. His mouth. Then he went one better and covered her with the strength of his hard body. She opened her legs to accommodate his hips and loved the weight of him pressing her down. “You have one seriously sexy mouth,” he said before diving in with another kiss.
Jeff had always said her mouth was too plastic looking. That he loved her in spite of it. She’d purposely toned down any lipstick because she knew Jeff didn’t like when she played up her lips.
Hearing Brendan say those words sent a rare jolt of confidence to her budding self.
Casey vowed that she’d never let a man tell her who she was or what to do for the rest of her life. Starting now, she was going to be in charge of her destiny. In charge of her happiness. She’d let two good years blind her to a man who wanted her under his thumb. She’d come up with one excuse after another to justify his nasty behavior, but no more. No more temper tantrums, no one breaking her things. No man in her face, making her feel small.
With a new sense of freedom—and maybe even pride—Casey surged up and took Brendan to his back. He probably could’ve stopped her if he wanted, but he went with the flow. A little groan vibrated from his chest as she rubbed against his giant erection, causing a sharp intake of air for herself when she connected with her clit.
“That’s it,” he coaxed. “Right there.” He held her hips as he moved beneath her, a series of strokes that rubbed her clit harder and slicked them both up with her arousal.
“Oh, God,” she breathed. He wasn’t even inside her and the friction was unbearable. “You need a condom.” Preferably before she went crazy and impaled herself on him without one. Though she’d been on the pill for years now, the dangers of unprotected sex still mattered. Brendan might be nice and gorgeous, but she didn’t know his bedroom habits and refused to take any chances.
“Yeah. Box. Bedside table.” He pointed with his left hand and she crawled toward the drawer. Brendan’s lips didn’t stay idle and he sucked the nipple that had presented itself while she scrounged one-handed for the condoms. She moaned and stilled, letting him have her while each fresh lick and suck pulled at an invisible string from her clit. She’d never burned like this before. Never needed relief—release—to this driving extent.
There! She found it. She pulled a strip from the box and used her teeth to rip the top one open, but she hesitated once she had it in her hand. Though Brendan knew her recent single status, she didn’t want him to think that she had blinders on. And dammit, maybe now was the perfect time to assert her new confidence, even if she snuck into it backward.
“Just so you know, I’m healthy. I had a physical a couple of months ago, so…all clean.” Okay. Awkward.
Brendan gave her a soft smile. “It’s all right. I’m clean too. To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve done this.”
That struck Casey as total bullshit and she narrowed her eyes. “Why? I mean, you’re single, cute, fun. You work for a rock star. I’d think you’d have your pick of women and then some.”
“Yeah, I discovered that whole rock-n-roll scene really wasn’t my scene. I’m not much for having a different girl in every port. It’s a little too sleazy for me.”
A man with scruples too. He was too good to be true.
“What about having a girl in this port?” she asked mainly because she wanted to bring the fun back.
In response, Brendan rolled them and put her beneath him where she enjoyed all that heavenly masculine pressure pressing her into the bed. “I think I’ll always remember this port. And this night.” He kissed her, his lips gliding over hers, his tongue sneaking out to lick a path across her bottom lip. “And this girl.”
Casey moaned as she opened her mouth to him. She stabbed her hands on either side of his head to hold his hair back as they kissed. Her fingers brushed over his ear and…
Whoa! What…?
Brendan yanked back, breathing hard.
“Hey, what? What’s wrong?” Now it was her turn to ask. Except she thought she knew. Something was wrong with his ear. She hadn’t even noticed until just now when she felt it. “Brendan?” He sat back on his heels in the middle of the bed. Moonlight illuminated his wide eyes. “Bren. It’s okay.” She mirrored his pose so that they sat across from each other, both breathing hard, both slick and a strip of condoms lying between them.
For a guy who seemed so full of confidence until now, he looked totally unsure.
“You want to talk about it?” she asked.
“Not if I don’t have to,” he said, his gaze never leaving hers, his voice resolute.
“Okay.” She had secrets, too, so she couldn’t hold it against him. “That’s okay. Did I hurt you? Is that the—”
“No.” He didn’t shout the word, but the finality was there.
As was her curiosity. “Can I see it?”
For a second she th
ought he might say no. For a fleeting moment she thought he might call an end to this whole night and that would crush her. To her surprise, he pulled his hair over his ear and gave her a better view. The bottom two-thirds of his ear looked as if it had been sheared right off.
“That looks like it hurt.” She didn’t give him pity because he wouldn’t want that. She checked the other ear and noticed multiple stud piercings. “On the bright side, you’re saving money on piercings.”
Casey’s reaction wasn’t what Brendan anticipated. He didn’t see revulsion, or pity. Just curiosity. Then a joke. One that actually made him smile and that was the last thing he’d expected.
“My sister said the same thing,” he admitted, letting a smile creep on his face. She grinned back at him and something shifted inside him. He hadn’t planned for tonight, hadn’t planned to like this girl as much as he did. She was real. It was the only way to describe her. Well, along with beautiful and fun.
She watched him, didn’t seem fixated on his ear the way some people did when they noticed. He felt a little obligated to give her something for that alone. “It did hurt. A lot. Bled a lot too.” He’d never forget the warm stickiness of his blood dripping down his neck to pool on his shoulder then trail down his shirt. The relentless throbbing that drummed in his head for hours after the scumball had sliced his ear.
She waited for more, but he didn’t know where to start or how to tell her. No one wanted to be a victim. No one wanted to admit to being helpless and unable to defend themselves. “I think it just adds to your mystery.” She scooted closer, wrapped herself around him as he sat on his calves.
The turn of events had taken the steam out of his hard-on. Literally. But now with Casey rubbing up against him, her breasts teasing his chest, the blood was beginning to flow south again.
“I don’t mind mystery.” She kissed him softly, stroked her hands up his chest, down his arms and around to his back, staying clear of his ear. The fact that she gave him that space made his heart open up a little more.
