Breathe You In

by Joya Ryan

  “It’s not. But every time I get close to you,” he pushed his body against mine, physically emphasizing his words, “I lose my better judgment.”

  My lower back pressed into the counter as a whole lot of intense male desire stared down at me.

  “If you knew how many times I’ve replayed that night…” His hand ran up the inside of my thigh. The slight scratch of his rough palm made me shiver. “The firelight on your skin…being so deep inside you that I could feel you coming all over me.”

  He dove beneath my dress and cupped the warmth between my legs. I gasped, as much from his touch as from his words.

  “I know you can handle sex, Amy. I know you can handle life. I just don’t know how to handle you.”

  He trailed his finger along the edge of my panties, and I gripped the counter behind me for support.

  “There are so many things I want to do to you.” His mouth hovered over my forehead, down to my ear. “But I never want to scare you.”

  I met his gaze. “Then trust me when I tell you that the only time I’ve been frightened is these last two weeks. Not knowing where we stood or what you’ve been thinking. Wondering if you were done with me.”

  “Done with you?” He nipped my bottom lip and said, with a sexy smirk, “I haven’t even started with you.”

  He seized my mouth in one consuming kiss. His dominating power poured over me like warm caramel, rich and smooth. My whole body was bathed in his presence. Gripping my hips, he lifted me and sat me atop the counter, instantly wedging himself between my thighs, rucking up my skirt.

  I wrapped my arms around him and scooted closer until I felt his hard cock press against my core. The only thing between us was a few layers of fabric—which I was dying to rip away.

  “Fuck, I’ve missed you,” he said, and I wasn’t sure if he realized he’d spoken aloud.

  Something in my chest twisted like an invisible knife between my ribs. Had he really been trying to stay away from me for my own good? The fact that he cared that much both shocked and thrilled me. But his fight was coming to an end. I’d make sure of it, because he brought out feelings in me that I didn’t want to deny.

  Thrusting his tongue between my lips, he toyed with mine in such a delicious dance, it made my head spin until I couldn’t find gravity. And I didn’t care. I could stay in the clouds so long as his mouth was on mine, because my God, the man could kiss. Hard and powerful, consuming and giving. I felt everything he was in the way he kissed me.

  Reaching around, he clutched my ass in both palms and yanked me closer, rubbing that steel rod along my folds. Though we had barriers between us, I still felt every glide of him against me.

  “Oh, yes, Roman.” The zing of pleasure shot from my core to the tips of my ears and toes, tingling everything in its wake.

  He kissed his way down my neck, his five o’clock shadow gently scraping as he went. I wove my fingers in his hair and threw my head back, letting him devour me and loving every rough scratch of his jaw and hot sweep of his tongue.

  “This dress has driven me crazy all night,” he said against my collarbone, his mouth trailing lower.

  He bit the hint of cleavage swelling over the bodice. My dress was classy but due to its décolletage, I’d had to skip a bra, a fact for which I was now very thankful.

  “All through dinner I was thinking about how you’d taste.” Bite. “About how I wanted to eat you.”

  He nipped my other breast and I jumped a little.

  Gripping the neckline of my dress, he yanked it down, ripping the material enough to wedge it beneath my breasts, which were instantly lifted up like a plump offering. I couldn’t finish a breath before he latched on to one aching nipple and took a deep draw.

  Keeping one hand on his head, I balanced on the counter with the other, leaning farther back, silently begging him to take more.

  “You like this, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” I breathed.

  Before Roman, I hadn’t known that my breasts could be such a turn on. He laved at me, worshiping my flesh with his talented mouth, splitting my nerves and leaving me intoxicated with pleasure. He blew over my nipple and I squirmed.

  “So sensitive,” he smiled.

  Goose bumps broke out over my skin and I arched my back farther. “Please…more.”

  He tongued the other breast, taking his time, tasting every inch of flesh, before circling around the tight point and finally biting down hard.

  “Ah, yes!” My hips shot out, rubbing against his hard cock. My panties were so damp, I worried I was getting his pants wet.

  There were too many layers between us. But Roman took his time, devouring my breasts until I couldn’t breathe and was on the brink of release, just from his insistent oral torture.

  Taking matters into my own hands, I reached between us and started unfastening his belt. The metallic clanking echoed through the dimly lit kitchen.

  I couldn’t control my hands. The smallest tasks, like removing his pants, became too difficult. So I started clawing at his shirt, the buttons too tricky to unfasten. When the sound of them hitting the floor reached my ears, I realized I was pulling apart the material.

  Roman bit down hard on my nipple and growled, as if liking my forwardness and responding in kind. I ripped farther, not stopping until his shirt was hanging like tattered curtains around his impressive chest.

  “You’re so amazing,” I whispered, my hands moving over his hard chest. His warm, soft skin was like a freshly brewed mocha, and he had the most incredible abs I’d ever seen.

  He rose enough to kiss my lips. My fingers trailed down the defined swells of his stomach muscles. Just the feel of all that strength made me shudder, and damn it if he didn’t notice.

  When I came to the waist of his pants, I reached inside and gripped his erection.

  He hissed.

  “Oh, my God…” Shock came over me.

  He pulled back enough to look at me, a questioning frown marring his face.

  “I just…” I bit my lip and gave him a tentative stroke. “I haven’t gotten to really touch you. You’re…you’re big.”

  He grinned. “And you’re blushing.”

  I knew I must be, but I refused to give into my inexperience. Instead, I stuck to the new, emboldened side of me. Whenever Roman was involved, my instincts came out. I’d just have to trust those, because there was no way I was letting this end here.

  “My purse is over there.” I nodded just behind him, to where I’d hung it earlier. “There’s a condom in it.”

  When he gave me a disbelieving look, I simply shrugged and said, “I’ve had a bit of wishful thinking lately.”

  “Me too.”

  He kissed me softly, then turned and got the condom from my purse. Within a few seconds, he was standing before me once more.

  Just like last time, he opened his pants just enough to roll it on. I knew I wouldn’t get to see more of him right now, even though I was desperate to see all that skin and muscle. He certainly had nothing to be ashamed of in the body department. No, with Roman, it was something else. Like keeping it quick and mostly clothed also kept it casual. Maintaining control over the situation was a driving goal for him. If he stayed mostly clothed, he could adjust quickly.

  It was as if he didn’t like getting too close to something without a barrier. As if he was afraid that if he really let his guard down, felt only the moment, he’d be vulnerable to the world around him. To me.

  But now was not the time to push him. I didn’t want to ruin the moment. So I watched him sheath himself, taking in every detail I could, while I could.

  He stepped between my spread legs. Gripping his cock, he used the head to push my panties aside and position himself at my entrance. I cupped his face and kissed him hard, wiggling my hips so that the crown nudged inside. He groaned against my mouth, and the feel of his need running through him and into me was like a shot of adrenaline.

  I flicked my heels, scraping their sharp edges across his
ass to spur him. He moaned again and thrust hard inside of me.

  My eyes shot open and all the air left my lungs. The sudden fullness of him inside of me burned a bit, but it felt so right. So necessary. If I’d had any doubt before, it was gone now. I needed him. So much. The connection I’d felt was back. Us. Together. We fit.

  He nipped my chin, my jaw, my earlobe. Locking my ankles together, I pushed even harder against him, any distance suddenly unacceptable. I needed more. My bare breasts pressed against his heated chest, and the sensation made me moan. Skin against skin while he was deep within me was the most blessedly wonderful feeling I’d ever had.

  “Don’t leave me,” I whispered between kisses.

  I didn’t think my words were coherent, and didn’t care if I sounded needy. All I cared about was holding on to that moment. Holding on to him. Feeling him against me. In me.

  He gave me what I wanted and stayed. Didn’t withdraw. Didn’t retreat and return. He remained buried, right where he was, and stirred me. Hitting that spot inside over and over, while his pelvis rubbed over my aching clit. It was amazing. Inside and out, touching, feeling, seeing everything I was.

  He gripped behind my knees and pulled, sending himself another inch deeper, and that was all it took for my body to fly over the edge into the abyss. I hugged him close as my core, my skin, my soul, burned up and shattered. Over and over, I came undone around him. And like a spindle winding silk, he wrapped me up and caught me.

  “I feel you, sweetheart.” His voice held a hint of amazement, like he didn’t want to leave either, even for the short time it would take to thrust back and forth. Instead, he remained right there, barely pumping his hips, staying deep, staying connected.

  “You’re incredible,” he rasped.

  If possible, I felt him grow even harder. His skin flushed a degree hotter against mine, and he pulled back enough to look me in the eyes. Cupping my face, he stared at me. Being consumed by those dark eyes was like being lost in midnight. And that’s where we stayed, stranded together somewhere beyond reality, as his release took over.

  It was so powerful I felt it, even through the latex barrier. Looking into my eyes, he came, and I was helpless not to follow. Never had I felt more vulnerable, and more understood, than right then.

  “You’re everything,” I muttered, hoping that my words were too quiet for him to hear.

  Roman Reese was, in a word, everything.

  And I had no idea how to handle the truth of that.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A soft kiss fluttered along my forehead, and I opened my eyes to find Roman hovering over me.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  I stretched and smiled¸ the softness of the sheets against my skin making it difficult to want to move.

  “This is a vision I could get used to seeing.” He smiled, staring at my breasts.

  I looked down to find that the sheet had fallen enough to expose my nipples. My hard nipples. My desperate-for-Roman’s-touch nipples.

  Roman sat at the edge of the bed, looking as handsome and sexy as ever in his suit. I grabbed the sheet and pulled it over myself as I sat up to face him. He pretended to pout, which made me smile like a moron.

  “Thank you for letting me spend the night,” I said.

  He tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “Thank you for staying.”

  “I guess it wasn’t so bad,” I teased.

  “Oh, really?” His hand trailed from my ear down my neck to my side. “You survived alright?”

  I gave an exaggerated huff. “Barely.”

  He pinched my side, tickling me, and a throaty laugh escaped my lips.

  “You’re such a mouthy tease.” Roman smiled and kept tickling.

  “I’m sorry!” I laughed, squirming and kicking. The blankets were just for show at this point.

  “What was that, Miss Underwood? I didn’t hear you?” He tickled again, and I thrashed harder.

  “I-I’m sorry!” I hollered, water spilling from my eyes from laughing so hard.

  His wicked fingers ceased their torment, and I flopped on my back. With a hand on either side of my head, he leaned over and kissed me.

  “Seriously, having you naked in my bed is about the hottest damn thing I’ve ever seen.”

  I tugged a little on his Windsor knot, my heartbeat still a bit hectic.

  “But it doesn’t look like you’re coming back to bed,” I said. It was my turn to pout, only mine was very real.

  “Unfortunately, no. I have to go in early this morning.” He kissed me again and against my lips said, “But you take as long as you’d like.”

  “Thanks.”

  He rose, a little reluctantly, and that made me feel good. I couldn’t beg him to stay, though I desperately wanted to. He was an important man and I had a job to get to as well, but still, a day in bed with Roman would be a day well spent.

  “I’ll call you later,” he said, walking toward the door.

  I smiled, because after last night, I actually believed he would. Maybe the ignoring me thing was finally over.

  I watched him walk out, and the room was suddenly cooler, empty. I already missed him.

  My addiction to the governor was getting worse.

  Clutching a paper bag in my hand, I was winding through the hallway of the state capitol toward Roman’s office when, coming around a corner, I collided with another body.

  “Ow!” I yelped as I ran right into—“Warren?”

  He stepped back, a glare firmly in place.

  “Still looking down when you walk?” He shook his head, not bothering to say the rest.

  He had recited this bit of “constructive criticism,” as he called it, at least a dozen times in the years we’d dated. But instead of nodding and complying like I would have when I was younger, I squared my shoulders and prepared to walk around him without sparing him a word.

  “Here to see your boyfriend?” he snapped, then puffed out his chest. My pulse quickened a bit, but I focused on maintaining a steady presence.

  “That’s none of your business, Warren,” I said coolly, happy that Bill’s interview training was paying off.

  Warren was obviously upset about something and ready to spit fire. I had enough experience with his temper to know that I wanted no part in that. Simply walking away, I left him to mutter whatever unflattering thing he was saying under his breath. It felt good.

  When I got to Roman’s office, the door was open and he and Bill were talking. I peeked in.

  “Amy?” Roman said.

  “Hi. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I can go.”

  “No, come in.” Roman seemed a little upset, and so did Bill. Something was going on with the men under this roof today.

  “What’s that?” Bill nodded at the paper bag in my hand.

  “I made Roman a lunch.” I’d shredded a left over pork chop from last night’s dinner and made it into a sandwich.

  I glanced at Roman and a smile split his face. Bill, however, looked confused.

  “I’ve never seen you guys eat lunch around here,” I offered.

  This morning, after I had gotten out of Roman’s bed and dressed, it had occurred to me that maybe bringing him something would be nice. I didn’t know what he typically did with his afternoons, or if he even had time to eat. But the way Bill was glaring made me feel like an idiot for thinking such a thing.

  “Thank you, sweetheart,” Roman said. He kissed my forehead and took the bag, putting it on his desk. Then he looked at Bill. “We’ll discuss this more later.”

  Bill leered at me for some reason, then returned his attention to Roman. “Don’t let things that aren’t important affect your campaign,” Bill snapped, then stomped out.

  Roman shut the door behind him and returned to me.

  “What was that about?” I asked.

  “Politics.” There was a good deal of annoyance in his voice.

  “I saw—well, ran into—Warren in the hallway,” I admitted.

  “He jus
t left,” Roman said and walked behind his desk. “He came to get my support in his bid for his mother’s seat.”

  My mouth dropped open. I’d known Warren was running, but had had no idea he would ask Roman for support.

  “Are you going to support him?”

  “Most likely.”

  My heart did a summersault, and I felt instantly sick. “But he’s…awful.”

  Not to mention, I’d seen how Roman looked up to Ken Stanton, Warren’s competition.

  “I’m aware,” Roman said. “But believe it or not, this isn’t about you. I can’t base my decisions on what my girlfriend thinks.”

  That summersault came to a dead halt, and for a moment I thought my heart had actually burst. Gone was the carefree Roman of this morning, who smiled and was sweet. Instead, I got a hard look that chilled my skin so fast, the violent shiver made me sway on my feet.

  “I just came to drop that off,” I said, motioning to the stupid sack lunch and feeling very much like a child. “Have a good day,” I managed and turned to leave.

  I had a feeling that Roman wasn’t going to call today after all.

  “So I was thinking,” I said, balancing my cell between my shoulder and ear while filling the coffeepot. It was a double-caffeinated kind of morning. “I could fly in on the sixteenth, then spend a couple days with you and Dad.”

  “I don’t know,” my mother said. “The airport is quite a ways away, and your father doesn’t like the drive.”

  The airport was an hour’s drive, but like every year I went home for Lauren’s anniversary, I didn’t think the drive was the reason that my parents weren’t thrilled to see me.

  “Shit,” I whispered when I spilled coffee grounds all over the front of me. Now I’d need to change before work, and at this rate, if I didn’t hustle, I’d miss my bus.

  “I can rent a car and drive myself from the airport to your place. I’d like to be there, Mom. Go to her grave with you guys.”

  “I just don’t know,” she said. “I thought you were working anyway.”