by Ann Jacobs
“Like the robe? I got you one, too.” She tossed an identical garment his way. “You don’t have to put it on if you don’t want to.”
Craig had the feeling he was about to embarrass himself. She only thought he didn’t need to cover up. Her gaze scorched him as he shrugged into the robe.
Cool and satiny, the fabric should have felt like a caress. Instead it made his skin prickle everywhere it made contact. His fingers were beyond tackling the buttons, so he didn’t even try.
His balls tightened when the edges of the robe brushed against them.
He had to think of something else or…he’d concentrate on her.
Her dark-brown hair, freed from its ponytail, cascaded down her back. Looking at it made him want to sink his fingers into the soft mass of curls. The candlelight cast golden shadows across her shoulders and breasts. His mouth watered with anticipation.
The first time, the man should be the aggressor.
He took one step toward Casey. Then he remembered another author’s succinct advice.
Let her make the first move.
Casey stood her ground, a look that hinted at confusion on her pretty face.
Hell, he must be attributing his own insecurities to her again.
Which of the so-called experts who’d written those books had his head on straight? Why hadn’t he just picked out just one book and stuck with it? Craig gave himself a mental kick in the ass.
Then his animal instincts took over and overrode his brain. He closed the distance between them and drew Casey into his arms.
She wasn’t scared anymore, now that he held her. His hard male heat drove the chill from skin that still felt damp from the shower. She curled her toes into the plush carpet that cradled her bare feet.
She tried to tamp down the nerves that had kept her cowering in the bathroom long after she should have slipped into her new nightie and come out to entice her soon-to-be lover.
Ambivalent. That was the word for the thoughts that had gripped her. Wanting, yet reluctant to take the step she feared would reveal her deception. Needing, yet afraid she would drive him away. Not afraid of him, though. Never afraid of him.
Those thoughts faded in the wake of new, arousing sensations. His heartbeat, strong and steady against her breast. The sound of the tide and a cool breeze wafting through the door to the patio.
The faint taste of sea salt on her tongue when she nuzzled the tender spot where his shoulder met his neck.
This was what she’d wanted. Why she’d left Bone Gap and changed the way she dressed and talked. Why she’d enlisted Lisa’s aid to remake herself into the kind of woman a man like Craig would want to sleep with.
Now he was about to make one of her fantasies come alive.
Casey banished the worries about those other dreams of happily ever after—dreams Buck had trampled along with her illusion that he’d desired her this way, too.
Craig’s big hands molded her buttocks, lifted her. When his steely length seared her belly, molten liquid spread through her veins and pooled between her legs. Primal need chased away the remnants of her fear.
Then he kissed her. His lips urged hers apart, and his tongue mated with hers. He tasted like he smelled—clean, slightly salty, uniquely male.
He set her down, broke the kiss and nuzzled her neck before stepping back a little. “Let’s go to bed,” he said, holding out his hand.
Should she take off the nightie or leave it on? What would Lisa do? Easy. She’d strip naked and think nothing of it. Casey tried for a seductive smile as she slid her robe off her shoulders. The material tickled her feet when it puddled there. Craig’s lips curved in a smile. His gaze was pure blue flame, flame that fueled her ridiculous fear.
She was an idiot. She knew it. He’d seen her naked before. God knew she was all but naked now. So why were her hands refusing to grasp the nearly transparent material and tug it over her head?
“May I?” He skimmed his hands over her hips, under the nightie she still hadn’t found the courage to shed. His smooth, hot palms and callused fingers slid higher, bringing the fabric with them as they caressed the indentation at her waist, the lower curve of her breasts.
She thought she felt his hands shake when he brought the nightgown over her head and let it go, to float slowly on the breeze until it settled on the floor a few feet away.
“God, you’re beautiful.” Craig sounded tortured as he scooped her up and deposited her on the big, round bed. He looked tormented when he lay beside her and started to pluck at her nipples.
His erection bored into her thigh. She thought about touching him the way he was touching her, then remembered what Lisa had told her.
Not unlike their brains, men’s sensations are mostly in their cocks. Play with them there and you can’t go wrong. But how? She reached down and brushed his thigh.
When he moaned and shifted onto his back, she slid a hand across his belly. Her fingers barely brushed the tip of his cock, even when she stretched as far as she could.
She liked his touch, anywhere. The solution was obvious. She’d have to move so she could touch him where he liked it best.
Trying not to think about the view she’d be providing him, she gathered her courage, sat upright, surveyed the scene, straddled his broad chest, and sucked the swollen head of his cock between her lips. With both hands she cradled his velvety scrotum.
All of a sudden Craig was staring at delicious looking silky female flesh bisected by nothing but the skinny piece of black elastic that anchored that intriguing little black lace heart to the center of her velvet-smooth mound.
Her outer lips were baby-soft and slick with moisture. Fuck. She was already wet, and he sure as hell was ready. Looking at her this way was enough to drive a man insane. Especially when he was enduring the exquisite sort of torture Casey apparently liked inflicting on him so much.
His brain was like mush, his cock hard as a stone. His balls were about to explode.
He wished he knew better how to treat her to some similar torture.
Brushing the elastic aside, he traced the damp cleft where it had been with his finger. When he found her clit and circled it, she rewarded him with a moan that vibrated around his aching cock.
He lifted his head and licked along the path his finger had just made. With his tongue, he explored the impossibly tight channel he’d soon fill with himself. She tasted delicious. The chocolate stuff he bought couldn’t hold a candle to her own sweet honey.
She took his cock all the way down her throat and swallowed.
Shit. If she kept that up, he was going to come. But if she quit, he’d die.
Unless… “Come here.”
“M-mmm?”
Her muted question vibrated through his cock to his muddled brain.
“Now.” He had to hurry or the main event would be over before it began. He snatched off her ridiculous little G-string as he hauled her off him. Then he reached blindly for a condom and damn near slid off the big round bed.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah.” Some smooth lover he was turning out to be.
He sat up, then dived for the headboard and his stash of protection. He came up with one that was wrapped in silver foil.
It triggered a memory of the chocolate candy coins his mom used to put in his Christmas stocking. Very briefly. His whole being focused on another sort of treat. A treat he couldn’t wait to sample. Not trusting his hands not to shake, he handed her the condom. “Put it on me,” he croaked.
“Okay. Lie back.”
Why the hell did she have to sound so calm, as if she did this every day? Eyes closed, he held his breath and tried to memorize the smell of sweet flowers and candle wax and musky bodies he’d always associate with Casey and making love.
He wanted her talented hands on him again. Now. Then terror struck. What if he couldn’t do this? What if it wasn’t as easy as Dr. So-and-So had made it sound in that how-to book?
He told himself now wasn�
�t the time to panic. Or to hesitate. He was nuts. Every cell in his body was screaming that it was ready. He couldn’t freakin’ stop now. He didn’t want to stop.
How hard could it be? For thousands of years men and women had been having sex. It stood to reason that not all of them had been experts. And every man had been a virgin once.
Small solace that was now.
Maybe she’d climb on top. Take charge. Maybe she wouldn’t realize how green he really was. Craig could only hope. He prayed she’d hurry up with that damn condom.
Casey wished she could stop shaking. And that the crimped foil would quit resisting her efforts to peel it away. Why hadn’t Lisa warned her that not all condoms came in easy-to-rip-off plastic wrappers? Finally. She had it open.
It was cold and wet and slippery and—finally—in her hand. She tried to hurry and pick off the bits of foil that still clung to the lubricated latex, but her fingers wouldn’t cooperate.
Eyeing her target, she raised up on her knees. Craig was shaking, too. Small surprise considering how long she’d taken to peel off the stubborn foil. But he was also magnificent.
Remembering Lisa’s instructions, she took her time rolling the slippery condom down the impressive length of his shaft, smoothing each tiny wrinkle until he stilled her hand.
“Climb aboard,” he said, a sexy grin on his lips.
Her jaw dropped so far she felt it pop.
His sheathed sex stood at attention against his flat, muscular abdomen. Was it her imagination or had he somehow gotten even bigger?
“Hurry.” He sounded pained.
Her mind churned. What did he want? Idiot. He wants you to get on top.
She could almost hear Lisa telling her to go for it. But no way could she… She didn’t have the vaguest notion what to do. He’d know for sure if she tried to take the lead.
“You come here.” She flopped onto her back, squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed he wouldn’t take off running. Not a sexy move, Casey.
But Craig didn’t run for cover. His hot, hard cock seared her belly, and the pressure from his upper body momentarily stole her breath. When he propped himself up on one elbow, she took in much-needed air. Slightly salty air heavy with moisture and the smells of him and her and sex.
“I’m here, honey. Now what do you want me to do?” He looked at her, his sapphire gaze intent.
Easy question. “Make love to me.”
“My pleasure.” His free hand traced a path along her hipbone. He retraced that path once, twice, three times. Heat built beneath his touch.
The gentle friction aroused her more. Almost as much as his rigid cock throbbing against her mound. But the touch of his hands wasn’t nearly as terrifying.
“Casey?”
“Yes?”
She had no reason to be afraid. None. This was what she wanted. Who she wanted.
He raised his torso, nudged at her thigh. “Let me in.”
“Oh.” Damn, he shouldn’t have had to ask.
When she spread her legs, she inadvertently kneed his washboard abs. Not a smooth move. At this rate she’d never be able to fool him. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
But he didn’t sound okay. He sounded as though somebody was torturing him.
She shifted, opened wider to give him room. His sheathed cock grazed her mound and teased the sensitized tissue around her vagina. He flexed his hips, then pushed a little way inside her.
God, he felt huge. She clutched his shoulders.
Easy, Casey. You can take him. Women have been doing this for thousands of years.
Craig felt her fingers dig into his shoulders, even harder than her cunt was contracting around his cock. She was tight. Incredibly tight. This felt so good it hurt.
He gritted his teeth. No way could he go slow. But he had to try.
When he pushed in another inch, the muscles in her stomach tensed up. He had to be doing something wrong, but damned if he knew what. The book hadn’t mentioned that this might hurt her if she wasn’t a virgin, and no way could that be.
Unless, he remembered reading, he was unusually big.
He didn’t think his cock was that big. He’d noticed a few guys in locker rooms with more impressive equipment than his. Still, she acted as if he was hurting her.
He stopped the slow forward motion of his hips and murmured her name. Every cell in his body screamed out at the loss of that delicious friction.
“Don’t stop.”
She didn’t sound as if she meant that, but he was too far gone not to take her at her word. Maybe he should just get it in and over with. Over with being the operative words. He was about to burst.
He pushed.
She tensed up more. But she wrapped her legs around his waist when he started to pull back.
He took that to mean she wanted more, so he drove back in, harder this time. Something gave way, and she cried out. Suddenly he was buried to the hilt in her tight, hot cunt. Her wet flesh throbbed around him. And he had to move.
When he did, she moaned again. It wasn’t a happy sort of sound.
Gritting his teeth, he held very still.
She let out a little whimper.
Maybe he was squashing her. He raised his upper body and propped himself up on his elbows. “Better?”
“It’s okay.”
When she looked up at him and cupped his cheeks between her palms, he noticed tears glistening in her eyes. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
She’s sure she wants this over with fast.
Craig was about to oblige her. He felt it coming. If she’d let him touch her again he’d make their next time better. Now he had to—
Thrust hard. Deep. Once. Twice. Three times. He exploded, and then the room turned black.
Wet satiny skin surrounded him. He held a soft, warm woman in his arms. Craig wallowed in mindless sensation. What he’d just experienced was nothing like a solitary do-it-yourself job. It was mind-boggling—incomparable.
Right now Ranger’s proposed defense didn’t seem outlandish after all. Not while he lay here in the dark, his lover in his arms.
He could easily become addicted.
Chapter Ten
She wasn’t a virgin any more.
Craig’s chest hair tickled Casey’s nipples, drawing her attention from the dull ache between her legs. She skimmed her hand down the sweaty skin along his backbone. Their lovemaking hadn’t made her hear bells and see fireworks inside her head. Trust her to have been born with a hymen tougher than boot leather. She should have figured, considering her past luck.
Losing it had hurt. Until right before the end, when a sort of urgency had overwhelmed the pain and made her reach out to experience the stars she sensed lay just beyond her reach.
Did he know he’d been her first? Would he want to try again, or would her obvious deception make him turn away? “Craig?”
He shifted, aligned their bodies even closer. And snored.
Obviously he didn’t want another go, at least not now.
His heart beat strong and slow, a soothing reminder of his presence. The sweat on his shoulder lent its own salty taste and smell to the air that wafted through the screened patio doors from a calm sea breeze.
Cast in the pale light from the fragrant candles, his face looked impossibly young. Content. He had eyelashes any woman would kill for. And a strong, solid nose and rugged jaw that shouted predatory male. His sculpted lips looked as delicious as they tasted. As sensual as they felt against the sensitive skin around her pussy.
Casey wanted more of Craig. Much more.
While he slept she explored him with her eyes, traced the path of well-developed muscles beneath satiny tanned skin dusted with soft, dark hair. Then she noticed the faded surgical scar on his outer thigh.
As if he sensed her attention, he moved again. Smiled. And sighed. Then he snored again. It wasn’t an unpleasant sound, more like a throaty purr that increased slightly in volume when she rested a hand agains
t his upper thigh.
He sounded downright content.
* * * * *
Could Casey possibly want more?
Through a sated fog, Craig felt her hands on him. Hands, not fists pounding at his flesh in retribution for the way he’d gone at her, the way he’d figured they might. Gentle, soothing hands were quickly bringing his wrung-out cock to life.
Some lover he’d been. He’d violated every rule he’d read about seduction.
He’d lost it. Lost himself in her incredible tight heat, surrendered his mind to sensation. He’d wallowed in the tastes and smells and sounds of sex. In his fuzzy brain he still saw shadowed visions of her face, her mouth, her incredible body cradling his.
He’d surrendered the rational man he was to a ravening beast interested only in his own gratification. And fallen asleep as soon as he’d shot his load. Now his cock was stirring again, apparently anticipating a repeat performance. Hell, he wouldn’t blame Casey if she never spoke to him again, let alone—
“You awake?” she asked.
She didn’t sound angry. “Uh-huh.” He opened one eye. She didn’t look pissed, either.
She looked sort of dreamy. Sweet and young and incredibly innocent. Not at all like the brazen Casey who’d practically gotten him off while they were driving down the Interstate.
“I’m sorry.”
She was sorry? Yeah, he imagined she was. Sorry she’d ever laid eyes on him. “I’m sorry, too. We’ll get it right next time.”
“Okay.”
Her smile confirmed it. Miraculously, she was okay with his less than studly performance. She was apparently ready to give him another shot at getting it right. Craig couldn’t believe his luck, but he wasn’t about to complain.
“Are you ready?” she asked, giving him the once-over and grinning, the way the Casey he thought he knew might have done.
“Any time, baby.”
Her gaze settled on his cock. “Is that reusable?”
Hell. He’d forgotten about the condom. “No.”
He really had lost his mind. Shooting for a sheepish smile, he got up and headed for the bathroom. “Be right back.”
Craig dropped the used condom, watched it drift into the trash can. What were those red streaks? All the rubbers he’d bought were flesh-colored.
