Her Release (One Night Stand Book 3)

by Toni J Strawn

  He was right beside me.

  Awareness prickled, a sweet, sharp stab of expectation. I jumped when he touched my shoulder.

  “Let me undress you,” he whispered, his breath fluttering across my cheek.

  I smiled, growing surer despite the darkness surrounding me. I didn’t need to see Van to hear the heat of desire in his voice. The slight tremble.

  “You first,” I invited. The thought of being naked and unable to see his reaction didn’t scare me anymore. But I didn’t want to be the only one at a disadvantage. I needed Van to understand he wasn’t in control.

  The soft rasp and swish of sound told me he was complying. I waited until silence stretched out once again, imagining him standing beside me, naked. Desire bloomed in my belly, wet heat slickening my sex.

  “I want to feel you.” I reached toward the sound of him undressing until my fingers brushed against him.

  He guided my hand to the hard warmth of his chest. Everything felt different—more—in the darkness. Fine hairs danced smoothly under my fingertips, while the hand that held me captive was rough and dry. Van shuddered under my touch.

  I furthered my exploration, sweeping across the firm nub of his nipple, trailing down to find the ridge of muscles under his ribs, the smattering of hairs around his navel. I dipped lower, enjoying the feel of his silky skin, consumed with my task.

  When skin stopped and I reached the barrier of his waistband, I frowned.

  “These too.”

  Van tensed beneath my touch. “I thought I was supposed to be doing this for you?”

  I heard the hesitation in his voice.

  “Yes. Look. I can feel myself getting better already.”

  “Oh, I’m looking.” He let out a low chuckle.

  There was a soft thud as his pants hit the floor then Van guided my hand to his thigh. My fingers scraped across short, crisp hairs and contoured muscle. He moved into my touch as I slid my hand down one knee, then up the other to toy with the crease at his hip. The skin was so soft. Almost fragile. I could feel a rash of goosebumps rising, the slight tremble under my fingertips, his quickening breath.

  Spurred on by the obvious signs of Van’s desire, I moved farther, allowing the back of my hand to brush his cock. Again. A light nudge and his legs shifted apart so I could cup his balls.

  I felt his sharp intake of breath. I turned toward him, releasing his balls to grip his shaft. I tugged gently until he’d moved up, thick and hard and level with my mouth. I licked my lips.

  A shudder racked through him. I could smell the sweet musk of his desire as he guided himself to my mouth. I ran my tongue around the bulb of his head, flicking it over the ridge of skin, at the same time squeezing my hand around his cock, pulling him closer.

  Hands gripped my hair. I wasn’t sure whether Van was trying to hold me back, or encouraging me. I didn’t care. I wanted to do this.

  I ran my tongue up his length, then pulled him into my mouth, pushing forward until my lips touched my hand at the base. I eased my mouth back to lavish the head with long licks, then pulled him back toward me, curling my free hand around his hips to grip his buttocks, kneading at them. He rocked into me, keeping up with the steady rhythm as I pumped his cock in and out of my mouth, creating a slippery friction.

  “Fuck. Jess. Stop.”

  The first salty taste of precome nipped at my tongue. Van twisted away and the next moment the examination table disappeared from beneath me as he lifted me in his arms.

  “Hey—”

  He cut short my protest by taking control of my mouth. I barely registered the fact we were moving through the apartment.

  The kiss was all about possession. His mouth parted mine, his tongue delving into the depths to stroke and coax. Van’s excitement fed my desire until it rose in a wave, clamoring for attention. My nipples were aching, my panties wet with need. The knowledge he was totally naked and at my disposal…and yet I was also at his mercy.

  “Where are you taking me?” I finally found the will to pull away. Only just.

  “Bed.” His voice was no more than a growl of sound, thick with need.

  Van laid me down and my head hit the softness of a pillow. I stretched back, aware of how every limb moved. But not how I looked. Usually I’d check to ensure my leg was hidden, but this time it didn’t matter. It was freeing. The blindfold. I couldn’t see his expression. I didn’t even know where he was.

  A shiver rippled across my skin. Heated energy. Charged need. I steadied my breath, listening for the telltale signs to give away his position. The bed shifted, depressed to the right as his weight settled. My breath held as the world went still. Then the slightest brush of fingers trailed down my arm.

  Van drew my clothes off, slowly, one piece at a time, helping me raise my head to shed my T-shirt, lifting my buttocks to draw my pants down over my hips. I experienced a touch of claustrophobia when my shirt became tangled in my hands. Bound and blindfolded. Helpless. My heart pounded, blood thudding through my veins.

  I breathed through it, determined not to let it get the better of me. I could hear his breath, the shallow intake of air right before he told me how beautiful I was. His voice was full of awe, worshipping me, calming my fears.

  “Roll over.” Van moved me onto my stomach.

  He trickled fingers over my back and a shudder rippled through me. He wasn’t touching anything erogenous, but moisture slickened my sex, my nipples a delicious ache. I wriggled against the bedsheets to ease the sting.

  “Shh.” His breath puffed close to my ear and I jumped.

  He placed his palms against my back until I quietened. Then the bed shifted again and I felt his weight above me as he straddled my thighs. He didn’t sit on me, but I could feel the press of hard muscle against the outsides of my legs, the heat of his cock brushing my ass as he settled.

  I let out a moan and for a moment forgot I could talk as the sensory deprivation on top of sensual stimulation robbed me of thought.

  I managed to find my voice. “What are you doing?”

  He stopped moving. “Do you want to know, or shall I surprise you?”

  “I hate surprises.”

  My response elicited a low chuckle from Van. “How did I know you were going to say that? All right. Here’s what I’m going to do.” He leaned in close until I could feel the heat of his chest against my spine. “I’m going to tease you. I am going to tame you. And then…” His voice grew softer and I strained to hear the words. “I’m going to fuck you.”

  Behind the blindfold I squeezed my eyes tight. Desire curled like a drug through my veins, spreading out until every limb was tingling with awareness. Super-sensitive. My back arched beneath him.

  “And this is all part of the treatment?” My voice came out shaky. Wanton and wanting.

  “When you come, all of your muscles tighten. And release. I want to feel you come. With my mouth. With my fingers. Around my cock.” His breath picked up, the hard spear of his erection rubbing a slick circle of dampness against my ass.

  His weight shifted again as he drew back. I heard the drawer open beside my head and imagined him searching for a condom. I listened for the rustle of the foil packaging.

  There was a dull metallic click, followed by a buzz of sound. Something nudged at my spine, halfway down my back. It pulsed across my skin.

  I nearly choked. “Is that…is that a vibrator?”

  Van’s laughter spilt out, warm and throaty. “Close. A massager.” He paused and his voice dropped. “But we can use it for anything you like.” He slowly dragged it down my back. Drawing a wide circle around my buttocks.

  It clicked off and the silence was deafening.

  “Or I can use my hands,” he said.

  My throat went dry. The rest of me was hot. And wet. Right now I didn’t care what he used, so long as something was touching me.

  Hands landed on my shoulders, gently pressing as he worked his way down my back. It wasn’t a massage. The stroke of his fingers was far
too sensual for that. Slowly, I felt my muscles relax under his ministrations, while the heat low across my hips intensified with each caress.

  He traced his fingers over the mounds of my ass, trickling down my thighs like drops of water running down a windowpane. He reached the curve of my knees and stopped. Shifted his weight back up again. Something else touched my back, high between my shoulder blades. It was wet and soft. His mouth. The rough rasp of his tongue as it licked at a spot.

  Mmm. Van covered every inch of my back, down past the dip at the base of my spine, his mouth suctioning at my skin, the occasional scrape of his teeth like an electric current jolting through me. His breath was pure heat against my skin, creating patches of moisture, which turned cool as he moved on. He smoothed at the skin on my legs, exploring the back of my knees, one finger trailing between my thighs.

  “Please.” I shifted, trying to widen my stance on the bed and invite him in. I couldn’t move. He had me trapped and I thought I might go mad with the need for him to touch me down there.

  “Not long now,” he soothed.

  He continued down my legs until he reached my ankles. Van pushed my knees apart and I heard him groan. Slippery moisture pooled between my legs. He massaged my buttocks, his thumbs circling closer and closer to the slickness of my sex. I writhed against the bed and just when I felt I could bear it no more, he slipped both thumbs inside me.

  “Ahh. Yessss.”

  I bucked upward on my knees, pushing back against him as he slid his thumbs deep into my sheath, pressing outward. Van rocked against me, his cock nudging my thigh so I could feel what this was doing to him.

  “Are you ready?” His breath was harsh, words guttural.

  I was beyond saying anything other than yes.

  He withdrew his hands. The drawer snapped open again. The sound of foil ripping. Breath, ragged and uneven.

  I gasped out as his cock slid inside me on one perfect glide. Tight. So tight. A low groan vibrated along my back as he pressed himself close. Van slowly withdrew, then shoved deep again. And again. Gathering momentum. Pistoning in and out.

  Hands gripped my hips and Van lifted me so there wasn’t as much weight on my knee. I was glad. This position usually hurt, but the only pain I felt was the exquisite ache of building need. Not for long. I dug my hands into the sheets, driving my hips back to meet his thrusts as he slammed into me.

  Pressure built low and fast, my body tight in the grip of pleasure. Van’s pace faltered, small grunts growing to long sounds of enjoyment as he pushed himself deeper. My legs started to shake and I let out a choked scream as an orgasm rolled over me. My pussy grabbed at his cock and Van came, jerking hard one last time, buried to the hilt.

  The blindfold had come off during sex. I hadn’t even noticed. I looked over my shoulder at Van as he eased out. He rolled me to the side so I fell onto the bed and he collapsed next to me.

  “Do you want to stay a while? We can play a little longer?” he asked, pulling me into the crook of his arm.

  I could hardly open my eyes to look him. Every muscle in my body had been worked over. I was one giant orgasmic ache.

  “I don’t think I’d survive it.”

  Van gave a satisfied chuckle. “Probably a good thing,” he agreed. “You need to rest those muscles.” He jumped up. All vital and energetic. I would have punched him if I could have moved my arm. “I’m busy at the clinic tomorrow, but how about we pick up the day after?” He gave me a sly smile. “Unless you want to admit you’re enjoying this? Maybe want to slip in an extra session?”

  “No.” I closed my eyes. “Day after tomorrow is fine.”

  I needed at least a day to get over this…this…whatever it was. A workout. Sexercise. Boot camp. My head was swimming.

  Van patted my naked rump. “I’ll run you home when you’re ready.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jess

  I had the apartment to myself. Like, really to myself. Madison had gone to Buffalo with Cole to finish packing.

  I would have leaped in the air if my ass muscles weren’t so sore from boxing with Van yesterday.

  “No parties. Or boys, or anything fun,” Cole had said before he’d left.

  “No parties. No boys,” I’d promised, meaning every word. Boy was not a word to be applied to Van Sheffield. He was all man. One hundred percent.

  The apartment to myself. I suppressed a giggle. And the wildest thing I could think to do was invite Van around. I was slipping. Worse still, I was totally okay with that. In fact, I was looking forward to my next session with Van. The boxing had been a blast, teaching me to move in different ways far more effectively than leg lifts and stretches.

  But, I wouldn’t be seeing Van today. Not that I didn’t want too, but I’d rather he not think I was excited to see him—or participate in his boot camp with bennies again.

  I picked up my phone.

  “Thomas.” I greeted my cousin with a sunny smile. “Jess here.”

  “Jess, how are you?” Thomas always sounded ridiculously posh. I still couldn’t get over him being related to my. By rights, Cole should have pummeled him into the ground when they first met after what had happened back in high school. Cole had taken the fall for something Thomas had done wrong. Instead, Thomas was making a nice addition to our family. One I intended to take full advantage of.

  “Is the offer still available to practice at that army assault course you mentioned?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” Thomas started. “I’m not so sure if it’s a good idea.”

  Damn it. He had been spending too much time with Cole. But after my work out with Van, I knew the Mud, Sweat and Tears challenge was just what Jayne and Tash needed. Already I could see how it could yield improvements for all of us.

  “It’s a yes or no question,” I reminded him, frowning. “You either can access it or you can’t.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t realize the full extent of…what you intend to do.”

  Thomas had been going to say my injury, I just knew it. A nerve ticked along my jaw line.

  “If you’re hurt—” he tried to continue.

  “I won’t get hurt,” I cut in. “I’m careful. Most of the time.”

  “I have to think of my position.” Thomas went on as if he hadn’t heard me. “It will look bad for me if you and your friends get hurt while you’re wearing T-shirts supplied by my campaign.”

  “Nice to know you care,” I said dryly. “And what happens if we do great? What kind of story would it create knowing you’re supporting locals to overcome the odds? Come on, Thomas,” I urged. “You’re almost the president.”

  A breath blew down the line. Thomas was a nice guy and all, but he was over-concerned with how other people looked at him. Something he should have considered before teaming up with the hillbilly side of his family.

  “Are you our cousin, or aren’t you?” I huffed when he still didn’t answer. “I thought you were sorry about what you’d done to Cole.”

  “I am,” Thomas said quickly. Another sigh. “Okay. Let me make a few calls.”

  “You won’t regret it.”

  He said good-bye, sounding like he already did.

  Five minutes later, he called back. “It’s all yours for the afternoon. I’ll meet you there. My friend, Joshua Stanton, will take you through the safety steps.”

  “You don’t need to come.”

  “Yes, I do. This is my name on the line if anything goes wrong.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll deny all knowledge of knowing you. There’s no paper trail. No way to put us together…oh, except for our last name.” I giggled. “A minor technicality, I’m sure.”

  “Please be careful,” Thomas said again.

  That was the trouble with Langford males, I thought as I hung up. No sense of adventure.

  Chapter Twenty

  Van

  I checked my watch again. Jess was late. Damn it.

  I pulled back my shoulders, easing the tension that had built
into a knot sitting at the base of my neck. I’d been looking forward to relieving it with Jess. But either she wanted to be here or she didn’t. I refused to babysit a twenty-three-year-old woman.

  I had enough responsibilities on my plate.

  “Are you coming home soon?” My mother had called earlier, the familiar sadness weighing heavy in her voice. “There are some things here of yours. And Ryan’s… I need you to go through his room.”

  Ryan’s things. I had rubbed at my chest. To sift through the memories of the life we used to have—a better life—and pack them away.

  I didn’t want to go back there. I wanted to stay here. With Jess.

  And she’d failed to show. I went back to typing up notes, bashing the laptop keys so hard the letters kept doubling up.

  It was well after eight when Jess knocked at the door.

  “You’re late.” I opened it with a scowl.

  “Sorry.” Jess waltzed inside, not looking sorry at all. She grimaced at the look on my face. “I had to walk and it took me longer than I thought.”

  I took an involuntary step back as I looked at her properly for the first time. “What the hell have you been doing?” My temper disappeared and I tipped her face to the side, examining the bruise on her cheek.

  “Nothing.” Her face grew hot under my fingertips. “I’m just a bit stiff from the other day when we were sparring.”

  I frowned, thinking back over what our time in the gym. I couldn’t account for the bruise, but things had gotten a little out of hand when we’d returned to the apartment, so I couldn’t discount it either. I cleared my throat.

  “You shouldn’t be sore, unless you didn’t do any exercise yesterday,” I said. Her cheeks grew even brighter. “Damn it, Jess, you know you need to stretch it out, especially after using muscles you haven’t before.”

  “I hardly lay around,” she spluttered.

  “What did you do then?”

  Jess took a deep breath, then shook her head. “None of your business.” She stuck her nose in the air. “It wasn’t your day yesterday. And even if I did tell you, it wouldn’t be right. Too much. Too little. It’s always my fault when the results don’t work out how you want them.”