Xane swallowed hard. His breath seemed to stick in his throat and fail to reach his lungs, which in turn made his muscles convulse. There was no point dwelling on it, or churning over events to see if there was any way things could possibly have worked out differently. He knew Steve didn’t feel the same way. What they’d done together hadn’t engaged him emotionally. It hadn’t confused the hell out of him, or left him reeling and giddy. Connections that ought to have snapped into place and brought them closer simply hadn’t formed. Instead, Steve had fallen hard for Elspeth, which rather left Xane out in the cold as the spare part that nobody wanted.
OK, that wasn’t entirely true. Dani wanted him. And her warm hands did feel good against his shoulders. She worked diligently at the knots with both her thumbs and the heels of her palms. She’d even offered to listen to him snivel about his relationship with Elspeth being over. He wondered what she’d make of Steve’s involvement, and the fact that his grief was over that loss and nothing to do with Elspeth.
‘Relax,’ she insisted. ‘Push all the bad thoughts out instead of trying to internalise them. Let them go.’
He tried but couldn’t seem to master it, until her lips and tongue became part of the act.
An intense shiver rolled through Xane’s body as she traced her tongue along the line of his spine, from his tailbone to his neck.
‘Again,’ he whimpered.
‘Like this.’ The second shiver proved equally intense, forcing him to adjust his position on the mattress. Though, thinking about it, it wasn’t really where she was going that excited him so much as where she started from. Her tongue tickled where it dipped between the uppermost cleft of his buttocks. It was something Steve had done, the first time they’d … performed for Elspeth. It had set him alight then with its dirty promise. But it was pointless to think Dani was going to take him on remotely the same kind of exhilarating journey. She wasn’t going to dip down any further in that direction no matter how hard he projected the idea. She simply wasn’t the sort to initiate that sort of act.
‘I like your bottom,’ she announced, digging her fingernails into both cheeks.
Fuck! Maybe that psychic link was working. Maybe he’d completely misjudged her and she’d surprise him.
‘It’s all springy and firm, and it has these cute little clefts when you tense up. Like that,’ she laughed delighted, and then licked at the dip formed by the tightening of his muscles.
Xane groaned. He couldn’t help it. Nor could he help it when she did it again or in fact each subsequent time. God, if only she’d be bolder and use her tongue to explore the channel between his cheeks. Possibly, tickle him there – with her tongue? Or, hell, even tease a naughty fingertip inside?
His body tightened at the thought.
Instead, disappointingly, her attention strayed back from his bottom to his spine – only this time she leaned close to him, so her breasts brushed against the curve of his backside.
‘Are you sure that you still only want a massage?’
Xane tingled all over. Earlier he hadn’t been aroused; now he very much was. Sadly, most of that arousal was linked to frustration. She wasn’t going to miraculously do what he wanted, and he very much doubted that what he wanted right now featured on her list of things to do – ever.
Oh, sod it! Nothing ventured and all that.
‘You could explore my arse a little more.’
He braced himself for her shock and, what a surprise, she tensed right up.
‘How do you mean, exactly? You mean squeeze you there some more?’
‘Lick me. Kiss me. There’s some flavoured lube in the drawer if you’re worried about the taste.’ He stretched to find it for her, but couldn’t quite reach.
Xane waited, seeing what she would do.
‘Seriously, you want me to kiss your arse?’ Despite the laughter in her voice, he could feel the underlying tension vibrating through her nerves where her body touched his. ‘Is that something you like a lot of?’
‘It’s something I like. I like lots of things.’
‘You like … rimming?’ she asked, hesitating over the word as though uncertain she’d got the right one.
‘As a prelude to other things. How about you?’
‘I don’t know.’ She continued to grin nervously as she reached over to the bedside cabinet, presumably to find the lube, which had him smiling too. ‘I can’t say I’ve ever tried it.’
Her smile wavered a bit as she looked into the drawer and a crease formed across her brow. ‘Is this your DIY toolbox? Tape. Clamps.’ She lifted each of the objects before replacing them. ‘Oil. What’s this thing?’ Xane kept this mouth tightly closed. ‘OK, lube.’ She held the bottle aloft in victory at finding it. ‘Should I ask why you own a vibrator?’
‘Is that a trick question?’
Why did anyone own a vibe?
‘I don’t think so.’ She gave her head a tiny shake as if she hoped to shift something into place. ‘You just don’t strike me as the sort of guy who needs extra help getting a woman off.’
Nope, but sometimes he enjoyed other ways of getting himself off.
‘Why don’t you use it on me?’ He looked over his shoulder and met her gaze, just so there was no mistaking what he actually meant. He wasn’t embarrassed; he’d done worse before now than ask a girl to fuck him with a dildo.
However, Dani’s cheeks turned scarlet. ‘Wh-what, actually put it inside you?’ She gaped at him.
Xane sighed. ‘Only if you don’t have a problem with that.’
‘I don’t have a problem. I never said I had a problem. I just never thought you’d be into anything like that.’
‘My arse is as sensitive as the next bloke’s.’
‘I guess.’
She stared at the offending item, which Xane fully admitted was a little intimidating, given that it was rather lifelike in both shape and colouring. He guessed she wasn’t the type to get excited over a cock being stuffed up her boyfriend’s arse. No matter. ‘The original suggestion is fine if you prefer … or fingers.’ He cocked an eyebrow inquisitively.
‘What do you prefer?’
‘That you touch me in whichever way you’re most comfortable with.’ Though it was pretty apparent that she wasn’t comfortable with any of it.
Dani gingerly placed the vibrator back in the drawer as if were an explosive device. She grabbed the lube again and made a big deal out of squirting blobs of it into her palms and all over his arse. Xane grimaced as the cold gel hit his skin. Thankfully, it warmed quickly. Besides, he was more concerned about the deep ridges furrowing her brow. Xane enjoyed a bit of coercion play, but only if he knew his partner was actually consenting. He didn’t want her doing this if it genuinely made her this uncomfortable. That wasn’t going to do either of them any favours.
Hesitantly, she fanned her hands out over his bottom, her fingers spread wide.
‘Dani, you don’t have to.’
‘I want to make you feel good,’ she said, all in a rush. At the same time, her thumbs dug into the grove between his cheeks, and then pulled them apart a little. ‘It’s part of you, like any other part. I’ve touched the rest, why shouldn’t I touch you here as well, if you like it?’
Why indeed? He wasn’t arguing.
Her index finger stroked into the top of the channel, then glided downwards, aided by the slippery lube. ‘I guess it’s sensitive. It’s probably nice. I don’t know.’
He’d have to remedy that.
Her index finger brushed against the pink whorl. Xane’s breath caught in his throat. He held it, while Dani tentatively continued to dance her fingers in that area.
‘What if I hurt you?’
‘You won’t. Just go in a little way to start with.’
He wasn’t sure which of them was holding their breath more.
Xane relaxed his muscles as she feathered her touch over his entrance. He’d done this often enough and with thicker objects than her finger to know he didn’t need too muc
h of a warm-up. It took only minimal pressure for the tip of her finger to dip inside. He groaned, signalling his approval, and then lifted towards her to prompt her to go a little deeper.
‘You’re squeezing me really tight,’ she said.
‘Yeah – imagine what that grasp is like around a cock.’
She made a funny sort of hiccupping sound. ‘You mean when you have anal sex with a woman.’
‘Sure,’ he agreed, not really concentrating on her words because he was so focused on timing the rise and fall of his hips with the thrusts of her fingers. ‘Add another one.’
Yes, he hissed inwardly, when she did exactly as he asked without any preamble. A thrill immediately zapped through his behind and ran straight into his cock. ‘Fuck, that’s good.’ His erection bucked upright in agreement. It had been a while since he’d done this, and his body proved more than a little eager.
Xane pushed up onto all fours so he could wrap a hand around his shaft. He snatched a glance at Dani too. A golden glow seemed to ignite inside her irises at the sight of his erection. She reached out to touch him immediately, covering his hand with hers.
‘Don’t stop,’ he urged.
‘I’m not going to. I’ll do what you want for as long as you want me to do it.’
Xane licked his lips. Dare he believe in that? He rarely banked on for ever, because he knew from experience that nothing ever lasted that long. Maybe if he took a chance and believed in what he had this time, with Dani, it might work out. Normally women fled when they realised there was more to him than his stage persona.
Xane pushed Dani’s hand away from his cock, hoping that would let her know where he wanted her to concentrate.
Finesse didn’t play a very big part in the following few minutes. He pumped quickly, selfishly sought release. The excitement of her touch coupled with his own practised masturbation drove him to a swift climax. ‘Oh, yeah. That’s good. That’s good.’ He came hard, making a mess of his hand and the bedding.
Dani nuzzled against his back until, wrung out, he rolled over to enjoy a rather glorious stretch. ‘Well, thank you.’ He tugged her down on top of him in order to claim a deep kiss.
‘Happy?’ she asked, carefully avoiding touching anything with her fingertips.
Dammit, she was sweet. He nodded. ‘But you’re not.’ She wasn’t frowning but her expression did seem guarded somehow. ‘What’s up?’
She shrugged her shoulders.
‘Dani?’
‘Have you done that a lot?’
‘I have sex a lot,’ he replied, laughing away her concerns. Why this should bother her afterwards, when other things hadn’t, he wasn’t sure. He leaned close to her ear and whispered, ‘Should I fuck you in the arse next time, so you can see what it’s like? Will that seem more normal to you?’
‘No,’ she replied firmly. ‘I don’t think I’d like that.’
Xane held her gaze, trying to read the level of the truth in her words. She did genuinely seem to mean no. OK, time to back away from that suggestion. ‘Wanna take a shower with me?’
Her unease cleared. ‘You bet.’
Dani virtually bounced out of bed, which perhaps betrayed how twitchy she remained, but also treated him to the sight of her gloriously naked. It seemed that, for once, she wasn’t trying to hide those scars of hers. He watched her walk ahead of him to the bathroom, her heart-shaped bottom swaying, enticing him to follow. Thinking about it now, and seeing those marks by daylight, they weren’t hideous; they’d been made with care and might even be considered artistic. They formed a band, almost like a girdle around her hips and lower back. Only his suspicions about how they’d come into being stopped him from openly admiring the skill involved in making them so neat. The fact Dani took such pains to hide them told him they weren’t her choice of body art, unlike the many tattoos that graced his skin. They made him wish he really could have been there for her in person while she’d been going through whatever crap it was that had produced those cuts.
Chapter 25
Preoccupied with thoughts of what she’d just done, Dani stepped under the shower-head on autopilot. She didn’t quite know what to think about it and was still prodding around the edges of her feelings on the subject, trying to ascertain whether there was an element of fear or hurt involved. Finding out that Xane liked to indulge in anal play was hardly ground-breaking news; most of the guys she’d met seemed to have some sort of lurid fascination with it. The bit that made her twitchy was that normally those fantasies involved the guy having the girl – which, yeah, Xane had just suggested – but that wasn’t what they’d just done.
She’d put her fingers inside him. Did the fact that he liked that signify something, or simply demonstrate that he was comfortable with his body and knew what he liked?
She couldn’t bear it if he said he liked men.
She couldn’t deal with that. Wouldn’t go through what her mum had been through. She couldn’t face feeling so churned up again.
‘Your dad’s gone, Dani … You’re not his priority any more … He’s left … He no longer loves us … He has a boyfriend now … Hates women … Isn’t natural … He only loves men … He fucks men, Dani. And they fuck him too.
Xane owned a vibrator, a lifelike, very large vibrator, and readily admitted he liked anal sex.
Get a grip, Dani. Neither of those things made him gay. Xane, along with Ash Gore and probably the rest of Black Halo, was up there on the A list of international playboys. He was constantly surrounded by beautiful women who threw themselves at him. She’d had personal experience of exactly how literally. Also, Xane was perfectly matter-of-fact about how many women he’d been with. If he was into men, she was sure he’d have been open about that too.
Wouldn’t he?
‘Room in here for me?’ Xane asked, stepping into the glass cubicle behind her, which was a joke, because there was easily enough space for four people his size, and he towered over her when she was without her high heels. His arms encircled her waist and drew her against the heat of his strong body.
She didn’t look at him, frightened her suspicions would show on her face.
Xane snaked one hand upwards to encompass her breasts, the other down between her thighs. ‘Hmm,’ he purred. ‘Some kindly person seems to have left a nymph in my shower. Do you like magic, nymph? I thought I might work some with my magic wand.’
His magic wand seemed to be still recuperating from its recent excitement. It was only when a tingle ran through her skin that she realised he’d brought one of his toys with him.
Dani turned around in his arms, so they were facing, lip to lip. His sheet of dark hair framed his face and clung to his shoulders. Beads of water already sparkled on his skin and mottled the inks of his tattoos. His pale eyes were full of smouldering coals. Considering how he looked – so perfect it made her chest hurt – and how horny being in his presence made her, he’d never need a toy to warm her up.
‘Show me that,’ she demanded.
‘What, this?’
He hadn’t brought the rather too lifelike thing with him, thank God! Instead, he held a much smaller wand; long, slender and almost transparent save for the vaguest hint of blue.
‘You’re not interested in this little thing, are you?’
Wow, he made such an appealing tease. Everything about him was right, his smirk, the exact nature of his poise, the way his look simultaneously communicated ‘come on’ and ‘try me’. It reminded her of the attitude he displayed on stage.
Thick water droplets hung in his eyelashes. Others covered his skin, linked up and formed tiny rivulets that cascaded over his chest and the lean, hard muscles of his abs. Dani reached out to trace one of the twin lines that bordered either side of his groin. He really was the most beautiful man she’d ever laid eyes on, and the fact that he was blond, low down where nobody else saw, got her in the chest every time. Somehow his true nature, his true colouring became a powerful secret between them. Xane wasn’t a monster. He wasn�
�t the demon he portrayed on stage. He was an angel. Her angel, be it a very, very dirty and wicked one.
‘You’re the only thing I need to get excited.’
‘You’re spurning my buzzy stick?’
Dani wiped the water out of her eyes. ‘I didn’t say that.’ She placed her hand over his, and guided the wand up to eye level. It was an inoffensive little thing, not unlike one she had at home and regularly used while fantasising about being in exactly this sort of situation with this man.
‘Do you know you’re supposed to test them against the tip of your nose?’
Ginny had taught her that the night they met.
Dani directed the buzzing tip against her nose, and then to Xane’s.
‘I prefer to test mine other places. Like here, for example.’ He turned the little dial in the base higher, and then, grinning, tested it against one of her nipples, which immediately steepled.
Shocked by how fiercely she’d reacted. Dani rubbed at the offending peak, but that only seemed to exacerbate the tingling sensation, and Xane was far, far from done with her.
‘Or here. This is another favourite spot.’ This time he angled the device downwards and pushed it over the curve of her stomach to the top of her mons. ‘And, definitely, here is the best one.’ He touched it for a split second to her clit.
Dani’s limbs jellified. She’d have fallen if he hadn’t been there to catch her and press her tight against the tiles. The strength and warmth of his body surrounded her, but one hand remained between her thighs, tormenting her with that intoxicating buzz.
‘Turn around. Let’s play a little game.’
‘What sort of game?’ she asked, turning before he answered. Xane moulded himself to her back again. Whereas before he’d been soft, his interest had definitely risen.
Come Undone Page 18
