Sweet Ultimatum

by Naima Simone

  With a rough jerk, Selig crumpled the skirt of her dress in his fist, drawing the material high until it bunched around her hips. He cupped her mound, dragging a strangled scream from her throat.

  “Too much…too much,” she panted, rising on her toes to escape the pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. He didn’t allow her to retreat, wouldn’t give her a reprieve. Instead, his hand tightened, his palm pressing harder, grinding against the button at the top of her sex that pulsed with pleasure. Oh God. That first dizzying wave of impending release crested over her. Finally…

  “No,” Selig rasped, “hell no. It’s not going to be that easy.”

  He snatched his hand from her aching flesh and she cried out at the sudden loss. No, she’d been close, so close. Caitlin reached blindly for his hand, intent on dragging him back to finish what he’d started. Eluding her hand, Selig again shackled her wrists in an iron grip above her head. The other hand grappled with his fastener and zipper, freeing his cock from the confines of his pants. A groan echoed in the stillness of the room. Caitlin didn’t feel any embarrassment as she realized the hungry sound came from her. Not when all she wanted was to sink to her knees and take him inside her mouth. Savor the salty, unique flavor of the pre-come that beaded on the engorged mushroom tip. Already tasting it on her tongue, her knees buckled. Selig had other plans. He released her wrists once more only to grip her hips and steady her before snagging the waistband of her panties and yanking them down her legs. The material of his pants brushed her thighs as he lifted his leg to plant his foot in the silk, dragging them down until they pooled around her ankles.

  “Step out,” he growled.

  Caitlin obeyed without hesitation, her breathing loud, harsh. She stared, transfixed as he pulled a wallet from his pocket, removing a foil-covered packet. With practiced movements that should have enraged her, he circled his cock with one hand and rolled the condom down his flesh with the other. In the next instant, big, warm palms cupped her rear as he lifted her from the floor to set her on the edge of the window seat. She barely noticed the chilled glass of the window against her skin. Her focus centered on the knuckles brushing her drenched flesh as Selig grabbed the head of his cock, notching it within the desperate, hungry cleft of her body.

  “Please,” she pleaded brokenly.

  Selig moved closer and in the space of one heartbeat to the next, small insidious doubts crept past the passion. Would he notice the difference in her body? He believed she’d been with other men. Would he attribute the difference to her supposed partners or would he—could he—guess the truth? With a shift of his hips, Selig silenced the questions, forcing all of her attention back to the cock that eased past the swollen folds, pressing deep. Only to come up short.

  Just that small measure of him stretched her. Muscles unused to the invasion clamped down on the cock trying to bury itself within her body. The walls of her pussy quivered around his thick width, struggling to accommodate him.

  Hard fingers tunneled through the hair at the nape of her neck, gripping the strands and tugging on them until her eyes met his.

  “Liar,” he snarled seconds before his mouth covered hers. His tongue plunged deep. A jolt of sexual electricity surged through her, ratcheting the desire throbbing inside her to almost unbearable proportions. She encircled his neck with her arms, holding her to him as his lips and tongue alternated between worshipping and devouring her mouth. Joy swept through her—joy at finally being able to touch and be touched by this man. It had been so long.

  She lost herself in his sensual assault, drowning in the pleasure he created with his mouth and hands. Selig gripped her trembling thighs, widening them. He abandoned her mouth and stared down at the place they were joined. His hot gaze lifted to hers, burning with lust and hunger.

  “Look,” he ordered, “look at us, baby.” Caitlin’s eyes dropped down and watched as his cock pulled out until the tip, glistening with her cream, poised at the very entrance of her core. In a slow, deliberate flex of his hips, he slid back in, tunneling in another inch. Every retreat and advancing stroke took him deeper and deeper until finally, he sat fully inside her. Their groans mirrored each other’s. It felt so good. Her flesh rippled around his cock, growing accustomed to the heavy, thick intrusion. An involuntary spasm in her sheath wrung a harsh curse from Selig’s throat. He answered with a small jerk of his hips that burrowed him a little deeper. Her teeth clamped down over her bottom lip, savoring the reaction the movement caused in her womb. With a soft sigh, her lashes lowered.

  “No, baby.” Selig’s fingers tightened in her hair, giving her head a little shake. “Open your eyes. Look at me take you. This is my pussy. Mine. No man can fill you, fuck you like me. This is mine.”

  And with those words, a dam of emotion and pure lust burst in her. She watched as he rocked back and forth between her thighs, the evidence of her arousal gleaming on his cock with every pull and plunge. Her fingers dug into his waist, trying to find purchase in the chaotic storm she found herself tossed in. Pleasure was a steadily growing beast, devouring her with each lunge of his hips, every contraction of his firm buttocks. Her head fell back on her shoulders, a soft cry escaping her lips while she rose to meet each downward thrust.

  “Good girl,” he praised against the damp skin of her neck. “Good girl. That’s it. Meet me. Come with me.”

  Caitlin let go. Fingers digging into his shoulders, she lifted herself until they met chest to chest, stomach to stomach. She was his match, his sexual equal. No one had ever made her feel like he had—and did. Not only did her body call out for him, her soul did as well. And she could do nothing other than answer. So she gave him thrust for thrust, kiss for kiss, moan for moan. His hands shifted from her hair to grasp her buttocks, gripping the flesh to lift her higher, to plunge deeper.

  She begged, her pleas falling on his lips. Urging him deeper, harder, more…

  “That’s it, baby. Fuck me. Take me. Your pussy is like a hot, wet mouth. I could die in you, Caitlin. I could fucking die in you.” He growled the hot sex words in her ear, pistoning between her thighs harder and faster. And when that first tightening low in her stomach signaled the onset of release, she tried to fight it, not wanting the fierce joining to end.

  “No,” she whispered, trying to pull back from Selig’s hands, but he wouldn’t allow her retreat. Rumbling his own denial, his grip firmed, pulling her tighter to him to thrust again and again, the sound of wet flesh meeting wet flesh echoing in the room.

  She exploded.

  Caitlin cried out, body stiffening as Selig continued to pound in her, hurtling her over the abyss into violent, terrifying pleasure. She writhed against him as he gave her every measure of the orgasm. And only when she fell limp did Selig surrender to the demands of his body and come inside her with fierce, short strokes, grunting with each lunge. His orgasm set off mini-explosions of aftershocks deep within her, so they shuddered together, clasped in each other’s arms.

  A deafening silence followed the storm, waiting for their laborious breathing to even and eventually quiet. And with the quiet came cruel reality. Sweat and the evidence of their desire dried in the cold air. As Caitlin shifted, her inner thigh muscles groaned, protesting. And maybe worse of all, she felt the boneless relaxation of release ebb from Selig, a fine tension invading his frame in its place.

  Damn, she squeezed her eyes together as her fingers clenched and relaxed over his shoulders.

  It had been so…so devastating.

  And as his deep sigh brushed her ear, she knew it had also been a mistake.

  For years she’d struggled and fought to rebuild a life without Selig—accepting that even if her existence was empty, at least he was protected, safe. And in one weak, foolish moment, she’d forfeited it all.

  Despite the recriminations brewing in her head, Caitlin closed her eyes, breath catching in her throat as he slowly withdrew from her body, relishing what would be the very last time she’d have him inside her. Eyes downcast, Caitlin lowe
red her feet to the floor. Selig rolled the condom from his flesh. Yanking a white handkerchief from his pocket, he folded the material around the latex and returned it for later disposal. He tucked his damp cock back into his pants before buttoning and zippering them. She smoothed the wrinkled skirt of her dress back down her thighs.

  His golden gaze moved over her face like a physical touch. Still Caitlin refused to meet his eyes, knowing the shrewd stare would miss nothing. And though her near virginal state and uninhibited explosion in his arms had no doubt raised questions, she refused to answer them. Not now when every emotion rioted so close to the surface.

  Caitlin remained motionless for a moment, taking stock of the new aches and strains in her body. She remembered a time when she would have cherished each twinge and pull as a sensual reminder of their lovemaking. Now…now all it did was remind her of her reckless and selfish abandonment. It also nailed home that she still wanted him like no other…still loved him like no other.

  With this knowledge weighing on her heart, Caitlin turned her back on him, gaze fixed to the dark window, lest he read the emotion reflected so clearly in her eyes.

  Chapter Four

  For the second time that night, Selig stared at Caitlin’s back.

  His fingers curled into fists at his side, the taut muscles in his arms straining against the dark cloth of his suit jacket as he forced his hands not to reach out, grab Caitlin and shake some answers out of her. Every emotion he’d experienced after setting foot into Mac’s home seemed magnified by thousands since he’d pulled his cock from her still rippling pussy. If he put his hands on her now, he couldn’t promise gentleness. Hell, he couldn’t promise anything.

  She’d lied to him.

  About wanting him. About being with other men. He remembered with obsessive clarity the clasp of her pussy. It haunted him as did everything else about Caitlin. Like an addict chasing that first high, he’d searched for that perfection with other women, but had never attained what he’d found with her. Six years brought subtle differences—the shape, the fit. But even she couldn’t fake the blistering, wet heat of arousal or the effort to accept his cock. He’d felt every tremble of her pussy around his dick. No, she’d lied about the men she’d been with. But why? And what else did she keep hidden behind that cold, aloof mask she’d donned with him?

  God, how he resented her.

  She’d seen past the arrogance and banter to the bitter, angry man beneath and had dared to allow sympathy to darken her gaze. Sympathy for him. Wasn’t that fucking rich? She’d cut his heart out and yet pitied him for continuing to be furious about it. That had eaten at his pride, shredded his masculinity. And he’d retaliated by nearly fucking himself to death. All thoughts of revenge had given way under quenching his thirst for the taste of her skin, of being buried in her sweet, tight flesh. I could die in you, Caitlin. I could fucking die in you. He winced at the memory of those revealing words, and how except for her groans and cries of pleasure, she’d admitted nothing. Even now, he questioned whether her response was for him or because she’d gone without for so long. He stood behind her, unbalanced and unsure.

  And it pissed him off.

  “If you’re even considering walking out of here without giving me some answers, you’re seriously mistaken. Not to mention delusional.” The biting words were intentional. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted her to show some damn emotion besides when he was fucking her. It wasn’t going to happen. As she pivoted to face him, her features smoothed into an emotionless canvas. Caitlin stared at him out of a dark, unblinking stare, her shields erected. He would smash those walls down even if he ended up bloody doing it.

  “What do you want from me?”

  “Other than the obvious?” He flicked his eyes down her body, the return trip slower, remembering the hot clasp of those thighs around his hips, the addictive taste of her lips and tongue. “How ‘bout we start with answers and work our way from there?” His voice had grown hoarse with lust and he didn’t care that she heard it. Besides, if she glanced down he couldn’t conceal the tenting of his pants over his reawakened dick.

  As if reading his mind, Caitlin’s gaze dropped to the evidence of his arousal and the quick, satisfying hitch in her breath did wonders for his battered ego. She might not like him, but she damn sure desired him.

  “Since calling you a liar about not wanting me would be redundant,” Selig smirked, feeling like a shit and not giving a damn, “let’s begin with not needing my services. It’s pretty obvious you haven’t been ‘serviced’ in a while. How long?”

  Something flashed in her eyes, there and gone before he could identify it. Caitlin lifted her slim shoulders in a nonchalant shrug.

  “A couple of years.”

  “Not exactly out discovering pleasure.” Selig threw her words back at her, not that they cracked her reserved armor. She continued to stare up at him, her expression impassive. He wanted to discover her secret. How could she appear so calm when rage ate at him like acid?

  “Are you complaining?” Caitlin arched an eyebrow and the pointed words were the only sign of her rising agitation. Maybe not so calm. Selig pounced on the slip.

  “Does it look as if I’m complaining?” He grinned, sliding his hand down his abdomen to palm and stroke the lengthening erection thrusting against the dark material of his slacks. “No, baby,” he whispered, arousal thickening his voice as her gaze dipped to watch the slow slide of his hand over his cock, “I’m looking forward to taking my time getting inside you inch by inch. It’s sexy as hell watching your pussy stretch around my cock, milking me.” Heat shuddered through him, imagining his hand was the tight sheath of her sex. “I can’t wait until you ride me so I can see you swallow me little by little until I’m so deep I’m completely surrounded, lost in you.”

  By the time he finished speaking, their harsh breaths filled the room. Once again, the “lesson” backfired. Only minutes after coming inside her, he was hard as hell, ready for round two. He hungered for the images his words painted. And from the way Caitlin couldn’t remove her eyes from his hand, she craved it too. Even if she wouldn’t admit it.

  “I believed if I fucked you one or two times, it would be enough. But it’s only been five minutes and I’m hard as hell. Two days, two weeks might not be enough to get you out of my system.” The admission rumbled past his lips before he could bite it back and in that instant he recognized his mistake. Her gaze snapped to his, the sensual glaze clearing from her eyes. The languid sensuality that had softened her features disappeared, leaving disbelief and anger behind in its wake.

  “You can’t still think I’m going to agree to that crazy plan of yours.”

  “No, I don’t think it.” His hand released his erection as he met her incredulous stare. “I know it. Tonight was only the beginning, Caitlin. Count on it.”

  “Not. On. A. Bet,” she gritted out between clenched teeth.

  That shouldn’t have hurt. It really shouldn’t have. He’d expected her resistance not a quick capitulation. Still, her denial stung. And not just his pride.

  “Pretty brave words with my come drying on your thighs.”

  Caitlin flinched from his crude retort. Her lashes lowered over her eyes, shielding from him whatever they would have revealed. Moments later when they lifted and she met his scrutiny again, the anguish reflected there rocked him. He lifted his hand, intent on easing the pain so clear in her dark brown eyes.

  “I hate you.”

  Her quiet words pierced the bitter shell surrounding his heart. He’d believed nothing else could hurt it, could twist the tortured organ in agony. Wrong. This woman still possessed the power to maim him. He lowered his arm back to his side, fury igniting deep within his gut, the hurt fanning the flames until all he wanted was to lash out and cut her as she’d done him.

  “Hate me all you want.” Selig stepped close to Caitlin, not halting until the wall of his chest brushed the tips of her breasts. He bent his head over hers. His lips brushed her ear, the scen
t of her perfumed skin and the musk of recent sex filled his nostrils. “Hate me all you want, baby,” he repeated, “as long as your pussy stays wet and you fuck me as if you need your next breath, I really don’t give a damn.”

  With a choked gasp, Caitlin shoved her palms into his chest and charged past him. She fled across the room and Selig did nothing to impede her escape. Caitlin refused to stare the grim truth in the face. There was no escaping him. She could leave the room. She could even flee this house. Not that it would matter. She would give him what he demanded. Her body. Her passion. This time when he left New Eden, Selig would leave the ghost of her behind too.

  * * * * *

  “And just where do you think you’re going?”

  Hard fingers bit into the flesh of her upper arm and Caitlin squelched the urge to struggle against Nicholas’ possessive grip. Caitlin didn’t want to create a scene. Not only was this her best friend’s wedding day, but Nicholas’ wife would also notice. Of course, he didn’t seem to care if Rachel caught him dragging his ex-fiancé off.

  Caitlin had hoped she would be able to slip out of the reception unnoticed by Selig or Nicholas. After saying her goodbyes to Mac and Alise, she’d slipped through the groups of party-goers, loosing a sigh of relief as she’d neared the doors. Then Nicholas had seized hold of her arm, ushering her out to the thankfully deserted hallway.

  “Nicholas, please.” Once out of the sight of potential witnesses, Caitlin tried to pry his fingers away from her, but his grip only tightened, telling her he would free her when he was damn good and ready. Declining to engage in a futile tug-of-war, she stilled, knowing from past experience he wanted her to fight so he could exert his power and prove his dominance.

  “Please,” he sneered, a nasty smile spreading over his handsome features. “How I’ve missed that word coming from you. I think I would like to hear it again. Say it.”