Intimate Fear

by D. C. Stone

  He leaned forward and she went with it until they fell back on the bed. She wrapped her thighs around his slender hips and gasped. The coolness of his boxers was such a contrast against her core. She was too hot, too sensitive, as if she would combust any moment. Threads of what hovered, some implausible release in sight, thinned, verged on snapping. He never released her mouth, though, and instead dove deeper, his tongue wrapping around hers in such a sure move, she wondered if his confidence ever shook. If she wasn’t careful, this man could own her, body, soul, and heart.

  The thought gave her a momentary spark of panic and she tore her mouth away. Not breaking the full speed ahead, his lips moved to her neck and suckled, nipped with love bites. The small bout of pain, combined with his body engulfing her, threaded her strings of control even more.

  “God,” she gasped without control, “please tell me you plan to finish this. Dwayne, please.” She tightened her legs and pressed her heels into his ass, forcing him closer. He growled and lifted his torso from hers. Thinking he was pulling away, she cried out and palmed his head, arched her back, and thrust her breasts toward his face. “No!”

  “Christ, Brooke.” With a helpless sound, he took the offered nipple into his hot mouth and sucked—hard.

  “Ahhhh,” she screamed as the straining peak lapped up the pleasure. Unabashed, she rolled her hips beneath him, taking the delicious thrill of indulgence each pass of her hips against his erection provided. She needed this release, refused to stand by and wait while he took his sweet time or second-guessed what they were doing. She wanted him…and nothing was going to stop her from taking what they both needed.

  * * * *

  Slow down…slow down…slow down.

  Like a mantra, Dwayne kept chanting the words in his head. He would have said them aloud, but Brooke’s tempting breasts filled his mouth. God, the sounds she made, the scent of her, and the taste of her drove him insane. He could barely see or think straight, much less pull his thoughts away from the finish line of falling between her sweet thighs…where no barriers existed.

  While the endgame ruled his mind, a little voice nagged in the back, trying to push through. Savor this. Keep it slow. Take your time. Who knows if you’ll get it again?

  God, he wanted to. She was like a fine brandy to be sipped with patience, not some wine cooler in the hands of a teenage cheerleader. He had waited too damn long for either of them to rush through this.

  With a control he didn’t know he had, he lifted and took both her hands. He whipped them over her head and pinned her to the bed. She blinked up at him, then glared. A carnal look passed through her eyes, the storm at sea showing the desire and frustration. He knew what she needed, and damn if he wanted to give it to her.

  “What!” she exclaimed, exasperation lining her face. If it was any other time, in any other situation, he might have laughed. Chuckling at her growing impatience was something he had no doubt wouldn’t go over too well in the moment.

  “Sweetheart,” he murmured. The earlier edge he felt had softened at the first taste of her. A beast no longer drove his actions, and instead the man who had grown to care for this woman rose to the surface.

  “Please!” Her eyes watered and damn if the sight didn’t break his heart. She shook her wrists against his hold and a small sob tore from her chest. She clamped her jaw together and the muscles in her cheek bunched. What the hell? She tried so hard to hold it together and didn’t understand what her body called for. Or, she didn’t know how to ask for it.

  “Shhhh,” he crooned, dropping his head to brush his lips against hers. “You need something, don’t you?” He trailed his mouth along her jaw, pressing reassuring caresses against the pulsing muscle until he felt her relax. Her body shook against his, and small animal sounds escaped from her chest.

  “Please.” This time the word came out softer, more like a plea.

  He held her hands with one of his, banding her wrists together. With the other, he palmed beneath her chin and tilted up. The muscles of her neck strained and her back followed the movement, bowing under his ministrations. He placed openmouthed kisses along her neck and savored each taste of this wonderful, strong, sensual woman.

  Moving lower, he took each peak into his mouth, laving and worshiping each breast until she was writhing, this time in need rather than demand. The sounds escaping her were from a woman who was with him: little gasps as he tugged on a nipple, small sighs of pleasure as he tasted the curves of her breasts.

  Continuing his pursuit, he released her wrists and moved lower, stopping to dip his tongue inside her naval. She stretched like a cat while he licked his way across her body. Her palms landed on the back of his head, and he didn’t fight it, simply let her guide him. She hung on for life, it seemed, but allowed him to take the lead in his sensual pursuit. He reached her hips, pushed her legs apart, and set his mouth at the top of her inner thigh, then sucked.

  Brooke cried out, the sound music to his ears, and the grip she held on his head tightened. He released the skin and nuzzled at her thigh, inhaled deep. The musk of her arousal was close.

  “Say my name,” he commanded against her flesh. “Tell me you know who is here with you.” He licked the crease and focused his attention on the muscle attached to her pelvis.

  “Dwayne,” she said, the sound stuttering out like a hummingbird’s wings.

  “Again,” he urged, moving his head closer to her core. Her legs parted wider as if she understood what he was about to do. Sweet mercy in heaven, she was bare. He closed his eyes and forced his body to calm. His cock throbbed against the mattress, eager to get attention, but this moment was his, hers, a time to take things slow.

  Like the parting of a flower, the petals of her sex glistened, spread for him.

  “Dwayne, please…”

  He glanced up and found her head tossed back. Her hands still tangled at the back of his head. She looked like a goddess of lust, passion and carnality evident in the shape of her curves and the slow, sensual movements she made.

  “Look at me, preciosa.”

  She tilted her head and focused, a slow blink telling him she was very much wrapped up in what he was doing. He held her gaze and lowered his head, darted out his tongue, and took his first taste.

  She cried out and he groaned.

  Never. Never had he tasted something sweeter. Control long gone, he dove in and lapped at her, addicted to her taste. He barely registered her throaty cries or the fingers tightening against his head. He licked and sucked on her outer lips, tugged with gentle pulls on the inner ones, and when he concluded in convincing himself he’d depicted her to memory, he focused his attention on her clit, covered his mouth over it, and sucked.

  She shot off the bed with a shout. He held her hips down, raised his hooded gaze up along the length of her body and watched as she exploded around his mouth. Her hands released him to tangle in her hair, and her back bowed to a precarious angle. She called his name repeatedly and the sound had his cock slamming against the mattress, demanding.

  He fisted his hands against her hips, curled his arms over her thighs and continued his onslaught, refusing to let up until he brought her over another glorious peak.

  Rising above her, his chin and mouth were drenched with her juices. He pushed his boxers forcibly over his hips and reached for his wallet. He pulled out the condom and fought to keep his orgasm from shooting off as he wrapped the latex along his erection.

  He turned back to Brooke and found her watching him, arms open and waiting. He fell forward, felt her feet push his boxers down past his knees. He kicked them off, then dove into her mouth with a searing kiss. Her taste, both that of her mouth and from between her thighs, drove him higher. She wound her legs over his hips and as his length passed over her drenched core, he tightened his hands against the bedspread near her head.

  “God, Brooke, I can’t…I can’t wait any longer.”

  In answer, she wordlessly reached between them, took him in her palm, and guide
d it to her entrance. Pushing forward, she lifted her hips and together they found connection. Her head slammed back with a passion-filled cry and he matched the sound. The walls of her sex gripped him so tight he thought his eyes would pop out of his head. She was heaven and hell, heat and a comforting torture in one. Silken honey gripped his cock in a fist.

  He dropped his head to her neck and moved his hips. His focus was not on stamina, nor was it even centered on finesse. He couldn’t help it—he had no control. His body simply took over. There was only one thought he could center on. The bright and glorious release waiting. He needed it just about as much as a starving man needed food.

  He thrust in and out, helpless to the passion engulfing.

  “Kiss me,” she said, wrapping her hands around the sides of his face and dragging him back to her waiting lips. He fell into it, skill level forgotten, broken mouths barely connecting. He mumbled without making sense, losing himself between her thighs again and again.

  “Oh God, Brooke,” he pleaded. A hot ball of pleasure strung tight inside his stomach. His balls quivered with anticipation.

  “Let go,” she answered. “I’ll catch you.”

  His entire body shook, and he dug his toes into the bed for purchase. He clenched and released his hands until he could no longer stand it. He palmed her ass, canted her hips, and pounded his way to the hovering orgasm. Distantly he knew this was going to be it for him, one release he’d never experienced before, one he doubted he would ever get again.

  He lifted his head from her mouth, mere inches separating them, and stared into her turbulent blue gaze. She pressed a soft kiss against his lips and that was all he needed.

  Time stopped, the second hands of clocks paused, the world ceased breathing, and the air around them stood still as his orgasm broke. As if he were at the top of the highest roller coaster and the car hovered there, waiting to fall into the abyss. His hips worked furiously, slammed down, and the crest broke. His eyes watered as the wave rolled over him, but Brooke was there, her gaze unwavering, her arms holding him to earth. She peaked moments after him but continued to keep their gazes connected. He fell with her, or her with him, he didn’t know. All he could focus on was her arms and the sweet temptation his heart gave to fall with her.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Brooke woke with a start. Hailey’s screams echoed in her ears as if her daughter was next to her. The pleading was fresh and so damn real. She itched to reach out and take Hailey into her arms. Soft light filtered through the window, a slither of the new day peeking inside.

  At the hotel. On her way to get Hailey.

  The brush of cotton against her naked skin, and the warm, solid feel of Dwayne’s arm across her waist reminded her of the rest. Her face flamed on fire as memories blasted through her mind, each sexual act they indulged in more arousing than the last. He hadn’t lied to her when he demanded she give all. She had. He’d commanded everything from her last night. If the first orgasm hadn’t been mind-blowing enough, the last provided plenty of energy to power the entire building. Electricity sparked through her veins, each jolt coming from his touch, his caress, the whisper of his lips on parts of her she didn’t know were so sensitive.

  Last night, caught in the whirl of need, lost in the dark shadows of soft sighs and intermingled moans, it was so easy to forget about the rest of her life. Swept away to an island of sensual delight, her daughter’s nightmare hadn’t crossed her mind.

  And didn’t that just make her mother of the year.

  The room grew hazy. Reality intruded and the need she had felt last night changed like a cat that discovered their hatred for bubble baths. Her focus shifted to one where she needed to get to her daughter. She was tired of sitting around doing nothing. It was time she put her foot inside the plan in order to get Hailey back. Something needed to be done.

  Careful not to shift the bed, lest she wake the sleeping man beside her, she inched out from beneath his arm, slid off, and darted for the bathroom on silent feet.

  With a quick cold shower to wake up, she wrapped the white robe hanging on the back of the door around her and stepped back into the room. She expected Dwayne to be awake now—a few dropped bottles in the shower would most likely wake the dead—and she wasn’t disappointed.

  He sat on the side of the bed, facing away from her, focus straight ahead on the small amount of light filtering through parted curtains. She couldn’t see his face, but his rigid, broad back told her everything she needed to know. She never knew how many muscles were in the back, but after last night and memorizing every detail as he committed her body to his, she now understood how many. Dwayne was built with an athletic grace that he hid under impeccable clothing. Like an optical illusion, all steel beneath his visible charm. And as she took in his tense back, she gasped at the deep grooves left from her nails down the length of it.

  “Did I do that?” Her hand flew to cover her mouth.

  He glanced over his shoulder and his gaze caressed the length of her. A slight smirk lifted the edges of his lips. She loved the sight of his smiles and wished he did it more often. Handsome as he was, with his lips curved, she swore she pulled an oldie but favorite and swooned.

  He shrugged. “Not complaining here, preciosa.” His voice was rough with sleep, sexy as hell.

  She dropped her hand and winced at the marks. “Do they hurt?”

  He rose, turned to her, and shook his head slowly, like a panther eyeing up a fresh morsel. “Not at all. In fact, I was just thinking on how you left a few spots untouched.” He took a step closer.

  Her breath hitched at the raw sexuality vibrating from him. Good Lord, how could she still react to him like this after last night? After the thoughts of her daughter this morning? The last thought gave her pause and she took a hasty step back to his one forward. She lifted a hand, the temptation to go to him strong, but the urge to have her child in her arms was even stronger.

  “About last night…” she started.

  The tightening of his abs and shoulders, and the smooth expression washing over his face was not lost on her. She hated when he closed his face off. But what the hell did he expect? What were they doing here?

  “Don’t look at me like that. We can’t get distracted, and you, Detective Dwayne Gonzalez, are a distraction. A very nice one, but really, we need to focus on Hailey.”

  Anger, quick as a whip, flashed across his features. “I haven’t once stopped thinking—or worrying—about Hailey. Just because I spent the night between your thighs doesn’t mean that I’d simply forget about my responsibility to get her home safe. For you to even come close to implying something like that makes me wonder just what kind of man you think I am?”

  “That’s not what I meant,” she tried to backtrack. “I’m just saying that while last night was nice, I’d really like to focus on moving forward. For every day she spends wherever she is, who knows what’s happening?”

  “Nice.” He said the word as if it was something dirty.

  She frowned. What was wrong with nice? “I don’t think I’m following here. Last night was nice.”

  He snorted, a sound she wasn’t used to hearing from him. Shaking his head, he reached for a pair of jeans and a shirt, his body still bare, something she was shocked she had yet to realize. “Right. Nice.” He moved to shift around her.

  She sputtered. “Well, what would you call it?” Now she was getting pissed.

  He stopped next to her and turned with a movement so sudden, she jerked back. Dwayne apparently wasn’t having any of her moving away, and he grabbed the back of her head, slammed his mouth down and kissed her with a bruising force. His lips did not caress as they had last night. His tongue did not stroke over hers with sensual licks. No. This kiss was raw, animalistic, and angry.

  He pulled back after landing one more kiss against her lips and stared down at her, the green jewels of his eyes blazing. “I’d say phenomenal. Out of this world. Something that touched more than my fucking body. Laying in your arm
s, being close to you, having your sweet cries of ecstasy filling my ears was something I couldn’t use any one word to describe. Nevertheless, for it to be just nice might be the buffer you want set between us, then fine, Brooke. I’ll allow you this word, because I know how scared you are to open yourself to anything more.”

  She pushed against his chest, his words a bell ringing in her head. He released her and she took a step back. “Scared? No, that’s not it. Why the hell would I be scared of you?” She stared at him, trying to make sense of what he said.

  He tilted his head. “No, not scared of me, of what is going on between us? Why is it so hard to accept that it can be something more?”

  “I think you may be getting a little ahead of yourself, no?” She crossed her arms. He caught the movement and tossed his hands up, then shook his head. She refused to let him intimidate her. So what if he thought she was closing herself off? She could not deal with this now.

  “Is that what you really think? Tell me something,” he said, mimicking her actions, folding his arms across his wide chest. He set his feet shoulder length apart, the clothes balled in his hand not covering any of his nudity. He acted as if he couldn’t care less. Of course, jumping beds as he did, modesty was probably the least of his worries. “How do you think I’m getting ahead of myself? What would you call what’s going on between us?”

  He tilted his head, his body language a taunt.

  “Stop that,” she snapped.

  He scowled. “Stop what?”

  “That.” She pointed to his stance and uncrossed her arms. “You will not intimidate me into having this conversation with you. Last night was a great fuck, Dwayne. The best I’ve ever had. Is that what you want to hear?”

  He blinked at her crude words.

  She tossed her arms around to emphasize her point. “But I know you, and I know how you are. I cannot be one of those bunnies who allow you to hop in and out of her bed. As it was, that one time is going to hurt enough.”