A Lick of Flame

by Cathryn Fox

  In a familiar move, she pulled her hair forward to hide her scar. Once she had herself covered, her glance raced to the bright lamp. Sean knew exactly what she was thinking, but he wasn’t about to let her hide from him—or herself. Not anymore.

  Not ever again.

  “The light stays on.” When she looked like she was about to protest, he pushed her hair back behind her ear a second time and pitched his voice low. “Cover your face again, and I’ll tie your hands to the bedposts.”

  He felt a tremor move through her. “Sean, what are you doing?”

  “Like I said, I’m going to show you what I see.”

  Her chest rose and fell erratically, her full breasts quivering and beckoning his mouth in the most provocative way.

  “What…what do you see?” she asked.

  “What I see is a beautiful woman, on the inside and out.” He gestured toward the mirror above the bed and felt a rush of tenderness as she followed his gaze. Emotions choked him when he said, “And we’re not leaving here until you see it too.”

  A strange noise sounded deep in her throat as confusion morphed to understanding, but when the boat scraped along the dock as the captain steered them out to sea, her eyes widened in alarm. “But. Sean. Water. Seasick.” Her breathless words came out broken, fractured.

  Her concern for him warmed his insides. She really was sweet and compassionate, seeing him for the man he really was. An invisible fist squeezed his heart when he said, “Then you’d better start distracting me.” With that, he dropped down on top of her, crushing her beneath him.

  Everything inside him reached out to her as her body softened against his. His cock ached to drive into her warmth, but Sean marshaled all his control, determined to go slow and make this good for her. He inched back and lightly brushed his lips over her eyes, her nose, her mouth and the scar on her cheek.

  He settled his hands on either side of her head and hunger consumed him. He took a moment to look at her, loving the way her long hair splayed across the pillow. Her passionate eyes focused on the mirror above, and when he felt her quake, his cock thickened in his pants.

  “Sean…” she said, her skin flushing as her tone caressed him all over. But he also heard something else in her voice, something that had panic invading his stomach. Was she going to push him away again? He wanted her, yes, in ways he’d never wanted another, but he wasn’t going to take her if she didn’t want him too.

  “Yeah, baby. What is it?” He traced the edge of her cheek, his eyes searching her face for answers.

  She shook her head and emotions passed over her eyes as she glanced around the room. “This…”

  “What about it?”

  “I can’t believe you’d actually do this for me.”

  “This is the way it should have been last night, Madison. Not some hurried fuck on the rooftop.”

  “But last night on the roof told me so much about you.”

  He grimaced. “What, that I’m an inconsiderate asshole?”

  She frowned, and seemed upset with herself when she said, “I should have trusted my gut. It’s never let me down before. And I know what you are, Sean. Underneath that heroic firefighter suit, I know what you are.”

  His stomach clenched. He knew women thought of him as a playboy, a guy who could simply fulfill a fantasy. But Madison was different. He was sure of it. “What are you talking about?”

  Instead of answering, she gave him a hard shove, and his heart fell into his stomach. He rolled off her body and landed on the mattress beside her. Once she was free of his hold, she climbed from the bed, her back to him.

  Sean swallowed. “Madison, please.”

  Madison turned to face him, and reached for the top button of her blouse. “Please what?”

  “Don’t—”

  “Don’t what?”

  When she undid the top button, then moved her fingers to the next one, Sean’s mind stalled. “Wait, what are you doing?”

  The boat swayed and so did Madison’s hips, a sexy move that had his blood rushing south. “Distracting you,” she murmured, a sexy gleam in her eyes.

  “Ohmygod.”

  She chuckled. “Now look who’s praying.”

  Sean gave a painful groan.

  “And, Sean,” she continued, “you’re anything but an asshole. That night on the roof taught me a lot about myself and it also showed me how much you wanted me, how desperate you were to be inside me. Now how could I be upset about that?”

  “Get back in this bed, Madison,” he demanded, his voice rough from need and desire. “Right now.”

  She pouted her beautiful, full lips. “But you told me I needed to distract you.”

  He scrubbed his chin. “Distract, not tease.”

  Warm intimacy arced between them as she peeled the rest of her buttons open and slipped out of her blouse. Continuing her striptease act, her hands went to her bra. After she unhooked it and released her gorgeous breasts, she ran her fingers over her creamy skin until she reached her pants. She gave an extra wiggle of her hips, taunting his libido, as she shimmied out of her work clothes. Her eyes gleamed as she stood there in nothing but her lace panties, a naughty look turning up the corners of her mouth.

  “What?” he asked, as he took in the gorgeous woman hovering over him.

  “Speaking of your bed…”

  “What about it?”

  “It’s rocking.”

  Sean shook his head. “Baby, if you think this is rocking, then you’re in for one hell of a ride.”

  With that, he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her back down with him. She let loose a little yelp but he smothered it with a kiss.

  She kissed him back, so deep and sensuous that it shut down his mind. His cock, however, was quick to take over where rational thought failed.

  Madison writhed beneath him, the scent of her arousal saturating the room as her body massaged his dick. As he thickened to the point of pain, he knew he needed to get out of his pants before he injured something vital.

  Madison must have sensed his discomfort. “You’re overdressed,” she murmured, and rolled on top of him. In a provocative move that flooded him with sexual heat, she pressed her lips to his chest, going lower and lower until she reached his pants. Her tongue skimmed his oblique muscles as she took her time to release his button and pull down his zipper. Unable to take her slow seduction, Sean reached down and tore the rest of his clothes off in record time. Once he was naked, Madison settled herself between his legs, but he knew if she dared to put her mouth to his cock, he’d go off like a supernova.

  Before he could stop her, she sheathed his cock with her hot mouth, her wet tongue circling his crown and drinking in his precome.

  “Fuck…”

  She sucked him in deeper, and pleasure swamped him. Tension mounted, and when she made a sexy bedroom noise, he feared he was past the point of no return. Feeling edgy and completely out of control, he grabbed her shoulder and hauled her up. “You keep that up and you’re going to make me come.”

  She blinked innocent eyes at him. “But I want to make you come.”

  He let loose an agonized breath and could hear the impatience in his voice when he said, “I was determined to go slow, sweetheart. But you have this thing about playing with fire.”

  “I guess that’s pretty naughty of me.”

  Sean kissed her hard, knowing exactly what she was doing. “Yeah, baby, and you know naughty girls need to be punished.” Lust exploded inside him as he flipped her over and pinned her beneath him. “I think maybe a tongue lashing is in order.”

  Sean slid down her body, kissing the hollow of her throat until his mouth was aligned with her gorgeous breasts. He kneaded her full mounds then traced his hands along her contours while he swiped his tongue across her sensitized nipples. She arched into him and tossed her head from side to side as she moaned out loud.

  “So good,” she murmured. Her hands went to his arms and she palmed his muscles as he savored the honeyed taste of
her skin. Slowly, methodically, he caressed her nipples with the tip of his tongue then greedily pulled them into his mouth, licking and nibbling until she cried out for more.

  As her body hummed beneath his, he caressed lower and filled his lungs with her arousing scent. When he reached the apex of her legs, he gripped her hips and spread her legs wide, then leaned back to take a long look at her. Her damp hairs glistened beneath the light and Sean groaned, loving the way she was offering herself up to him.

  “Touch yourself for me, sweetheart.”

  Her eyes widened, a telltale sign that she’d never been so bold before. But that moment of alarm was quickly replaced by hunger. She slid her hands over her breasts, her stomach, until she reached her wet cunt. She lightly inched her lips open.

  “Do you do this when you’re alone?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she murmured.

  “Do you think of me when you touch yourself?”

  She nodded, her eyes glazing with need.

  “I think of you too,” he admitted, turning his attention back to her pussy.

  She rubbed her clit, gently at first, then picking up the pace as she chased an orgasm.

  Sean drew a ragged breath, her actions fuelling his hunger. Needing to taste her more than he needed to breathe, he dipped his head, and his mouth joined her fingers. He pushed his tongue inside her, and her entire body shook beneath his invading mouth.

  Wanting to take full possession of her pleasure, he removed her hands and pressed the pad of his thumb to her clit. As he stroked her softness, caressing her sensitive bud until it swelled, she began breathing harder. Her hips began moving, her cunt gyrating against his mouth, and he could tell she was so close.

  “You’re so hot, baby.”

  “You make me this way.”

  He glanced up at her, and loved the way she was watching him in the mirror, loved the way she was suddenly feeling so comfortable in her own skin.

  “Do you like that, baby? Do you like watching?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, and there was something deeply intimate in her tone as she raked through his hair to guide his mouth back to her pussy. “Don’t stop.”

  Chuckling at her boldness, Sean licked her wet cunt and inserted a finger. She gave an erotic whimper when he pushed deep, and it took every ounce of restraint he had not to drive his cock into her.

  He stole a glance at her and noted the intense pleasure on her face. He gave a low growl of satisfaction knowing he was the one who put it there. “Tell me what you see, sweetheart?”

  He swirled his fingers through her slick heat and her body practically convulsed as their eyes met.

  “I see the most amazing man in the world.”

  “What else do you see?”

  Her gaze shifted to the mirror. “I see a very lucky woman to have a man like you between her legs.”

  He smiled and toyed with her clit. “You’re desirable, Madison, and you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. Inside and out.”

  Desire grew in her eyes. “You make me feel beautiful.”

  Her whisper covered him like a blanket and had his heart hammering. “Good. Now I want you to see how incredible you look when you come for me.”

  Madison swallowed, and before he could bury his face back in her pussy and push her over the precipice, she gripped his shoulders. Sean had never heard such desperation in her voice when she said, “I want you inside me, Sean.”

  The emotions on her face became his undoing. “Madison,” he breathed, barely able to think straight.

  “Sean, please. I need you to make love to me.”

  “Yeah, baby. I need that too.”

  He quickly grabbed a condom form his jeans, rolled it on then slid along her body. She widened her legs as he positioned his pulsing erection at her silky entrance. He smoothed her damp hair from her forehead and when he saw the want in her eyes, he took a labored breath and worked to get himself under control.

  But when Madison bucked forward, as if she wanted him to lose it, his dick dipped inside her wet cunt. Their eyes met and held as warmth streaked through him and they exchanged a silent message of longing, one that was so far reaching there was no coming back from it. Emotions raced through him and he knew this joining was about more than sex. Madison knew it too.

  He pushed deep and his heart hammered as he sank into her warm, wet heat. As her body opened for him, she wrapped her legs around him and together they established a rhythm.

  He stayed inside, never wanting the moment to end, but she was so hot and tight, and his hunger for her was so carnal, it was pure agony to hang on.

  “I love the way your cock fills me,” she whispered, and put her hands on the side of his head to guide his mouth to hers.

  He closed his eyes and slammed into her with such force he feared he was going to break the bed. “Christ, girl, do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”

  Madison whimpered with pleasure as her sex muscles tightened. Her pussy gripped his cock so hard there was nothing he could do to hang on. As her warm cream coated his dick, he let loose a groan and shuddered in surrender.

  “Jesus, Madison,” he murmured when his cock finally stopped spasming. “You’re amazing.”

  “You’re not so bad yourself.”

  He kissed her long and hard, and as he pushed his tongue inside to join hers, a deep contentment settled in his bones. He rolled beside her, removed his condom and pulled her close, never having been so physically or emotionally fulfilled in his life.

  They held on to each other as if their lives depended on it as the boat swayed, but as she trailed her fingers over his flesh, he began to harden for her all over again. A wave hit the boat and their bodies rocked together.

  “Sean?”

  “Yeah?”

  “We have a problem.”

  He went up on one elbow, concern coursing through him. “We do?

  “Yeah, your bed’s rocking and you’re not the one doing it.”

  As relief sang through him, Sean shook his head, playing along. “This isn’t good.”

  “Not good at all.”

  “What should we do?”

  Madison nibbled her bottom lip and let her glance go to his thickening cock. “There really is only one thing we can do.”

  “And what might that be?”

  “Let me show you.”

  With that, she climbed on top of him, and he grabbed another condom and rolled it on before he gripped her hips to help guide her down. As her pussy swallowed his cock, she began moving her sensuous body, rocking his bed—and his world—in a way it had never been rocked before.

  Chapter Seven

  “Oh my God. You’ve had sex.” From across the coffee shop table, Haley’s big blue eyes widened as she stared at Madison.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Madison countered and turned her attention to her coffee. After all, she wasn’t one to kiss and tell or to have roof-top, exhibitionist sex or get wild beneath a mirror on a yacht and tell, either.

  Refusing to let the subject drop, and clearly not believing her response, Haley leaned in closer, her glance carefully panning Madison’s face in a prudent appraisal. “And really good sex by the looks of you!”

  Madison grinned at her friend’s accurate assessment and couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Okay, yeah, I kinda did.”

  Haley threw her hands up in the air. “Kinda? Come on, Madison, you don’t just kinda have great sex.”

  Haley stared at Madison for a moment longer, and when Madison refused to give details, Haley’s jaw dropped. “It’s Sean, isn’t it? You’ve had sex with Sean.”

  “Not had. Am still having,” she teased. “He had some errands to run, then we’re meeting up again later. Actually, the only reason he let me out of his sight was because he knew I was meeting you.”

  “And I’m just learning this now?”

  “Shhh,” Madison said, and glanced around the coffee shop. “The whole world doesn’t need to kn
ow.”

  “Maybe not, but I sure as hell do.” She planted one hand on her hip. “Out with it and I want all the details.”

  Madison laughed, knowing her friend wasn’t about to let her off the hook so easily. Besides, she couldn’t stop thinking about Sean and really wanted to talk about him.

  “Fine then,” she whispered, and lowered her voice even more as she filled Haley in on the situation, keeping the more private details to herself. When she finished, Haley sank into her seat and fanned her face. “Wow.”

  “Oh, it was ‘wow’ all right.”

  Haley took a slug of her coffee before saying, “It’s about frigging time, don’t you think?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, you’ve liked him since high school, haven’t you? So it’s really about time you went for it.”

  Madison toyed with her coffee cup as heated memories of last night raced through her mind and elicited a shiver from deep within. “The thing is, I don’t like him anymore, Haley.”

  Haley’s head jerked back with a start. “What?”

  As warmth moved through Madison, she said, “I was already half in love with him before this started.” She let loose a long breath and said, “Now I’m totally and utterly in love.”

  A worried look moved over Haley’s face. “How does he feel? I mean, sex is one thing. Love is something entirely different.”

  While she knew her friend didn’t really believe in love, marriage or happily ever after, Madison thought about the things Sean had said to her, the things he’d done to her—for her. Things like taking her out on the yacht and going against his own best interests to show her how beautiful and desirable she was, how much she meant to him. No man had ever gone to such lengths for her before.

  He made her feel special, cherished, like she was the most important woman in the world. When he first began to seduce her on the yacht, she remembered the troubled look on his face when he thought she was about to flee. Everything in the way he touched her and looked at her confirmed that he wanted her, that her scar hadn’t bothered him and that he’d never been pitying her. And Madison didn’t care what Tara claimed, no man would go to such extremes if he didn’t feel something deeper. She hugged herself and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to wipe the silly smile from her mouth.