Nice Girls Finish Last

by Natalie Anderson

  ‘This can only be the one night,’ she blurted.

  It had to stay hers to control. It wasn’t about letting him do what he wanted. It was what she wanted—good age-old fun with an expert. She wanted the fantasy. She’d been so damn good for so damn long. Just a few hours for herself couldn’t hurt, could it? Not with Mr Single. Mr Playful. Mr Perfect-for-One-Night.

  He was smiling that irresistible smile and she was so mesmerised she didn’t move as he lifted a hand and traced her jaw, then her mouth, with his index finger. His eyes tracked his action, intently focused and promising. ‘Whatever you want.’

  His simple charm reinforced her belief that this could be light and easy. His simple touch made it impossible for her to deny herself the incredible pleasure of more.

  She met his hot, good-humoured gaze and her long-hidden playfulness broke free. ‘That’s right.’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  SHE’D never known her blood could simmer.

  ‘Something else, isn’t it?’ Seth murmured with a gentle shake of his head. ‘The chemistry.’

  Lena stood with her legs locked so she stayed upright. It was more than anticipation, it was need—several layers deep. She blanked the raw ache buried in her heart. This was physical fulfilment.

  ‘You’re beautiful,’ he muttered, tracing her lips again.

  She mirrored his action, putting her finger on his lips. ‘No lines.’ It wasn’t necessary. This could just be what it was. She didn’t want false words.

  His eyes narrowed but his smile widened. ‘Not lines. Absolute truth. I wanted you the second I saw you laughing in the corridor.’

  Pleasure skidded into her. Okay, she’d let him feed her just that line. It was a good one.

  She watched him draw nearer. This wasn’t going to be an impulsive, unexpected kiss. This time it was going to be premeditated and foreseeable and all of a sudden nerves ate up her anticipation. In the split of a second, she didn’t think she could do it. She swallowed, her brain suddenly crammed with thoughts and doubts and confusion. Was this crazy? Could this really be as easy as it seemed?

  ‘Lena?’ He froze as he registered her tension. Then she saw something like horror on his face. ‘You have done this before, right?’

  Sex? Yes. So quickly? No.

  She gave a slight nod. ‘But I might have forgotten how,’ she mumbled, her blush nothing but embarrassment now.

  He took a couple of breaths, his grin rueful. ‘You know, we don’t have to go for gold if you don’t want to. We can just play for a while and if you say the word, I’ll stop.’

  She didn’t want him to stop but she really appreciated his gentlemanly attitude. ‘No, I want to have a…good time,’ she breathed, trying to be blunt but opting for a euphemism in the end. ‘I’ve been frisky since we kissed and I’m so close but so damn far. But I want to. Really, really want to.’

  His breath was sharp drawn then. She felt him release it in a laugh hot across her forehead.

  ‘Shouldn’t be a problem,’ he muttered, lips skimming her skin. ‘What do you want me to do?’

  ‘Everything,’ she answered, drinking in his masculinity, tired of repressing her feminine desire for it. From the moment she’d opened her eyes this afternoon and seen him gazing right through her, she’d been aching for him to take her apart.

  He gazed down her body and she saw his expression transform from hotly amused to predatory. That was the look she needed—the one where basic drive couldn’t be fully hidden beneath suave charm. She wanted the animal in him, because he totally aroused the animal in her. And if it was all animal, there could be no thought.

  Her breathing quickened. Her blood quickened.

  He smiled, slowly. Then he bent his head and touched his lips to hers. For a second or two he kept it light and gentle, then he seemed to give in to the urge and crushed her. Temptation was riding him as hard as it was her. Thank goodness.

  He slid his arms around her, pulling her close against him, controlling where her body touched his. She let him because where he held her was where she wanted to be and she wanted to feel his strength. So she clung, melding, unable to believe the heat. She kissed him back as she had in the corridor. Hot and hungry and offering so much more than her mouth. The wave of delight rose swiftly and she badly wanted to get to the end—to have everything from him this instant. Except it couldn’t possibly be over in five seconds and if he kept kissing her like that it was going to be. She broke free and took a step back.

  He looked pained. ‘You’re saying the word already?’

  ‘Oh, no,’ she gasped. ‘I’m just…breathing.’ She wanted it both fast and slow. Total fulfilment. She wanted the entire cake and to eat it all herself. She gazed at him, honestly couldn’t believe he was this hot and that for tonight he was all hers. ‘I don’t want to lose it too quickly.’

  ‘Too quickly? That’s usually something the guy has to worry about.’ He chuckled and took hold of her hand. ‘I thought you wanted to come?’

  ‘I do…but…’ Oh, this was so overwhelming.

  Laughing, he pulled her back into his arms but cradled more than controlled. She could feel the vibrations of his humour.

  ‘Tell you what…’ His sentence drifted and she felt him laugh again, heard it in his voice when he whispered in her ear, ‘Half an hour before I go below your waistline.’

  She jerked—putting her palms on his chest and leaning away to look in his face. Half an hour? No, no, no.

  ‘Oh, it has to be half an hour now,’ he teased. ‘The look on your face.’

  ‘What do you mean, half an hour?’ Instinctively she spread her fingers wider, enjoying the solid feel and the slam of his heart against her palm. ‘What are you going to do? Set your timer or something? You think this is paint by numbers?’

  ‘It’ll slow us down—’ he leaned close again, breathing close to her skin ‘—just enough to send you insane.’

  ‘I already am.’ Shivers of wickedness trammelled down her spine. Pure delight at his playfulness…but half an hour did seem like twenty-nine minutes too long.

  He tilted her face up and looked devilishly into her eyes. ‘This is about what you wanted, right? And if you want to have a good time, you have to leave yourself in my hands.’

  His hands were good. They went lower, stroking down her back, chasing the shivers and electrifying her skin. Skilful fingers stroked round her waist, sliding upwards to smooth over her breasts and brush against her nipples.

  She nearly came then and there, her nerves so tight she compressed her muscles hard to try to control the escalating drive.

  ‘Oh,’ she moaned. Who really was in charge here? And what did it matter? ‘You know, fast will be fine,’ she breathed. ‘I don’t know what I was thinking.’ She framed his face with her hands, laughing more than a little desperately. ‘Just ignore everything I said and let’s get on with it.’

  She rocked against him, unable to stop need driving her now. There was nothing, nothing, but fire between them.

  ‘Never.’ The predatory look sharpened to pure masculine pleasure. ‘Half an hour, Lena. Let’s see how you cope.’

  The smile she saw just before he kissed her told her she was in glorious trouble. Sure enough, less than thirty seconds later she wasn’t coping at all well. His hands stroked and teased—caressing light and then firm. He kissed sweet, then dirty. Every second he pulled her closer and closer still, his hands tickling the back of her neck, tracing down her spine, sliding round her waist to move up to the curve of her breasts. Wildly she moved against him, desperate to feel his touch all over—especially inside. Surely it was half an hour now? It felt as if it had been for ever.

  Through dazed eyes she saw his were sharply focused, burning and determined. His fingers flicked, undoing the first few buttons on her dress, pushing aside the silky fabric. He bent her back, holding her weight easily with one arm while he kissed his way across and seared her skin. She clung to his waist, barely able to stay standing.

&nb
sp; His hands wandered into the open dress, cupping her breasts. He kissed her neck, her collarbone and lower, stealing across her curves; through the lace bra she felt his tongue, the hunger of his hot, wet mouth. Her eyes closed as he muttered his appreciation, and told her what he wanted to do in about twenty minutes or so. He relished her as much as she did him and she liked it. Her breathing deepened as her skin tingled. Her nipples were suddenly so sensitive and with every stroke of his tongue across them they sent teasing rhythmic surges to her womb. Those deep, secret muscles clamped in response, winding higher, hotter. Her fingers curled into his shirt as the sensation sharpened. Her whole body contracted beneath his simple, relentless attention.

  ‘Oh, no.’ She was so taut she couldn’t even scream; it was a squeak.

  ‘Just let it happen,’ he murmured, easily supporting her when in the instant of ecstasy her strength failed.

  She’d never had an orgasm this way, this easily, this sweet and savage. She panted, quickly trying to recover some kind of control, but she soon discovered that that hit of pleasure was merely a precursor. Now her body was frantic for more. She was desperate to be naked. Desperate to be possessed. She ground her pelvis hard against his, wanting to force an end to the void there.

  She was so damn hungry to have him, to touch him. Her eyes shot open. Of course. There was nothing to stop her touching him now. A resurgence of energy poured through her and excitement flared. She spread her hands wide on his arms, then dropped to his waist, slipping underneath the shirt to discover the definition of his body. Eye-poppingly sharp definition.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he growled.

  She smiled slowly, enjoying the power surge as she read the heat in his expression. ‘It’s only half an hour before you get below the waistline. I can access any area any time I want.’ And she was quite happy to torment him, given that was exactly what he was doing to her.

  She chuckled as she moved, her hands zeroing in on the target. He might be happy to skirt around the danger zone, but she was going straight for the kill, unfastening his trousers. He didn’t stop her but his molten eyes sizzled. She drowned in his huge dark pupils, seeing herself in them—her desire reflected.

  She pushed forward, taking her weight again. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked softly. ‘You’re not sure you can cope?’

  She lifted his shirt, he raised his arms and she stripped it from him, totally focused on every inch of skin as it was revealed. She felt liberated, thinking about nothing but the body before her.

  ‘You like?’ He sounded rusty.

  ‘Yeah, I told you earlier,’ she answered. ‘It’s not only men who like to look.’ She ran a feather-light fingertip across his shoulders, felt the faintest quiver beneath her touch. ‘You have an amazing body.’

  He really did. Incredibly fit—he clearly worked out a lot. His muscles were even more sharply defined than the rugby boys’, which meant he had to put some serious hours into the gym. ‘You’ve got what I want.’ His body was everything she wanted. Maintaining eye contact, she moved her hand south into total danger territory. She gulped. ‘Maybe more than what I want.’

  His muscles bunched; she could feel him holding his breath, too.

  ‘You might want to be careful,’ he muttered.

  She sent him a coy look from beneath her lashes, while her hand stroked—anything but coy. Inside she smiled giddily. ‘You said half an hour.’

  He grinned despite his gritted teeth. He even managed to talk through them. ‘Yeah, and then you’re going to be in such trouble.’

  She leaned forward. ‘Oh, I know that now.’ She pressed her open mouth on his hot neck.

  His hands grasped her shoulders so hard she was forced to look back up at him. As soon as she did he swooped. His tongue invaded her mouth in a way that left her in no doubt as to what that other magnificent part of him was going to do the second his inner timer went off. She went boneless against him, welcoming his plundering assault. She couldn’t wait. Her hands swept up and down his hot torso, pausing to push the trousers and boxers from his hips so she could feel his tight butt. She moaned, pulling him against her.

  She let go of every inhibition, every doubt, every thought or care in the world and just felt. She took total pleasure in touching him and in his touch. Absolute freedom from emotional complications—from expectations—there were none.

  ‘Ding, ding, ding.’ He moved fast, stealing the next beat of her heart and the initiative. She was on the floor before she could gasp, while he was above her already. He was kneeling, with his hands on either side of her, and his eyes met hers, flashing the naughtiest smile she’d ever seen.

  He lifted one hand and toyed with the hem of her dress. ‘Time’s up.’

  She pressed her knees hard together—to stop herself from splaying her legs wide. But he knew because the wickedness in his expression sent the mercury soaring. And it seemed he liked a game as much as she.

  ‘You really think you can hold out?’ he asked slyly.

  ‘No.’ She parted her legs. This was too good to waste more time waiting for.

  ‘Mine to do with as I please.’ He chuckled—satisfied—and undid the rest of the buttons with teasing, cavalier fingers.

  ‘No,’ she argued huskily, writhing under his gentle caresses. ‘You’re mine to please me.’

  He inclined his head. ‘Same thing.’ He spread her dress, bent and kissed her, his hands working first to remove her bra and then skimming up her thighs to her knickers. Slowly, too damn slowly, he tugged them down.

  Seth watched her expression as he bared her body. Her eyes were luminous—pale green glittering in the thinnest of rings around huge black pupils. Her lips cherry red from desire, not lipstick. Satisfaction jolted at how urgent her need was. She intended to ravish him. His erection strained harder. He didn’t think he’d ever met a woman so hungry. Deeply, beautifully hungry for pleasure. From him.

  Her gaze devoured his body. Her hands stroked, she propped up on her elbows and licked his nipple, her tongue lashing stronger than he expected. The response in his blood was stronger than he expected, too. He burned, unsure he could stand the pressure of this, the hottest moment of his life. He pushed her back and she moaned when he ran his tongue from her navel to her breast. Yeah, it was his turn to taste.

  Seth was used to women trying to impress him. He knew it was because of his bank balance more than anything, but women fluttered their lashes and pulled their best moves. And he appreciated it, he did. But the woman writhing beneath him now was in no way trying to impress. She was almost out of it with pleasure, her eyes blind with passion.

  ‘Lena,’ he murmured, licking her from breast to breast with slow, teasing strokes, swirling around each taut peak. He liked that it was him rousing her this high, this intensely.

  ‘Mmm.’ She was lost in sensation, unbelievably warm and responsive. Her hips rose, rotating—no longer merely inviting, but demanding. And he was powerless to deny that demand. He couldn’t deny himself. The need to taste her, to satisfy her, overwhelmed him. Yeah, ecstasy was all she wanted—and that was what he wanted, too, right? Nothing could give him greater pleasure this second.

  He grinned as he kissed down her torso. Her breathless cries increased—pace, volume, pitch as he neared her most sensitive part. He thanked the stars her desire had conquered her defences and she’d given in to the electricity between them.

  His focus sharpened as he spread her wide and tongued her soft and then deep. Her thighs shook, her fingers clenched, her screams hoarse. Yeah, he wanted this and more. He gripped her harder. Her uninhibited response was stunning and made him push her beyond it. He kissed deeper, stroked, teased, twisted—everything and anything to make her convulse with ecstasy again and again.

  When he finally rose to all fours, her eyes were closed but she had that smile on her face. He waited expectantly. Saw her shoulders lift just a little, and then it emerged. A couple of chuckles. Low and breathy but powerful enough to drive him crazy.


  ‘You’re incredible,’ he said, sliding his hand up her thigh with a strong, foreign feeling of possessiveness. He wanted to know more. She was an unpredictable enigma. He wanted to unwrap her—wanted to know why she was so hungry, why she’d hesitated, why she’d done this with him and none of the others. Why she was famed for saying no when she clearly loved to say yes.

  But first he wanted the rest of it.

  Lena wriggled, restless for him to finally get that perfect piece of masculinity right into where she was wet and wanting and waiting. She’d had her orgasm—more than one—but it seemed they weren’t enough. The ache inside could only be filled by finishing this off completely. And she wanted to see him finish.

  She reached to hold his face between her palms, brought him down to kiss him. Her body rocked beneath his, begging for him to join with her. Passion overtook her initial tease. Suddenly wild again with need, she grabbed his tight butt and pulled him towards her, rubbing the head of his erection between her legs, and thrust her hips. ‘Condom!’ She screamed her demand before she lost her mind completely.

  Panting, he flung back onto his knees, fingers digging through the mess of material for his pocket and his wallet. Working fast to roll on the protection.

  Impatiently she watched the play of muscles under his gleaming skin as he moved, drinking in the rush of his breath and the pent-up energy in his actions. She moved restlessly. She couldn’t wait any longer. He glanced up and caught her—his eyes dark, fierce, more potent than any drug. Swiftly he arched, covering her body with his. Held fast by his intent gaze, she stilled for that magical moment before it all changed.

  It blazed in his face a split second before he moved. Pleasure, such pure, profound pleasure.

  She gasped, sucking in a deep breath that she held for ever as the incredible feeling of him rippled through her. She shook her head, shivering from the inside out, her body convulsing with excitement. Through her fast-tunnelling vision she saw his hand clenching hard into a fist beside her. His knuckles marble white. She looked back up to his face and read the agony there, the painful determination to hold his control. Pure, power-filled delight bubbled from within, finding release in a breathy laugh. His tension broke and he smiled down at her. She bit her lip as the intensity within her sharpened to overwhelming and emotional. Her eyelids lowered—just enough for some respite from this attraction. He was so gorgeous and so focused on her and making her feel so good, it almost made her cry.