Zero to Sixty

by Marie Harte

He raised a brow at her tone but obeyed, and she did her best to calm her raging girlie parts. Sam was so sexy, a bundle of sweetness trapped in a berserker’s body. He washed his hands, then did what she told him to. Except when he rolled the balls for the cookies, he made them monster sized.

  “No, no. That’s too big.”

  “Huh?”

  She nudged him aside and took the buttery dough into her hands, then rolled smaller balls onto the cookie sheet. “Oh, shoot. I forgot to preheat the oven.”

  Sam washed his hands. “I’ll do it.” But instead of heating the oven, he came up behind her, staring over her shoulder.

  “You’re blocking my light, Grape Ape.”

  “Really, Ivy? A giant purple gorilla? Another cartoon reference? That’s the best you can do?” He leaned his head on her shoulder, and her pulse sped up.

  “I can’t help it. I’m distracted by peanut butter. I love peanut butter. Cookie does too.”

  “I’m sure he does,” he said wryly. “You have to stop feeding him people food or he’ll get fat.”

  “But he likes it.”

  “Well, I like this.” He kissed her neck, and she froze. “But if I did it all the time, you’d never have your clothes on.”

  “Wh-what?”

  “And this.” He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed up against her, his rock-hard front against her back. “Is this okay?”

  “Ah, Sam?” Embarrassing that she squeaked his name. “Y-yes. But I mean…” She held up her peanut-buttery hands.

  He gently sucked at her throat, and a moan slipped out of her. She rested her head back against him, wanting him to take charge. Willing him to soothe that need inside her—for sex and for something deeper.

  His hands came up to cup her breasts.

  Oh, yes. That’s what I need. She rolled her hips back against him, instinctively seeking his heat.

  “That’s it, Ivy. Give it to me.” He continued to kiss his way up her neck until he found her cheek.

  She turned her head and met him in a full-mouth kiss. One he took charge of before he backed off again.

  “No,” she moaned, “don’t stop.”

  His breathy “Bedroom” relieved her.

  She put shaky hands under the kitchen faucet, and Sam washed them for her. He took his time, pulling on her fingers, stroking her palms, the outside of her hands. Amazing how sensitive her hands were. She knew all about touch, but Sam’s felt sexual. Hot. Blazing.

  She let him control her, already aroused and wanting more.

  He dried her hands with care, patting them in the towel. He looked into her eyes and must have liked what he saw, because his gaze darkened and he growled, “Bedroom. Now.”

  Too keyed up to speak, she led him toward her small bedroom, entered, and stood in front of the bed, wondering what came next.

  “You remember what I said,” he uttered, his tone gravelly. “Anytime you’re not sure, you just say no. And I’ll stop.”

  He didn’t touch her, waiting.

  Always needing her permission. There had to be something behind that. But right now she couldn’t bring herself to care. She nodded.

  He eliminated the distance between them and kissed her. No preliminaries. Sam went straight for the power play. His mouth felt so firm, so hot. He caged her in strong arms, taking away her ability to move while he commanded her with tongue and teeth. His groan aroused her anew, because it vibrated through his body, and knowing he wanted her turned her on even more.

  She clenched his forearms, needing to touch him all over, and felt him lowering her to the bed.

  He stood over her, looking down. Breathing hard, sweeping her from head to toe with his gaze, Sam looked hungry.

  And not for peanut butter cookies.

  “Take off your clothes.”

  The moment of truth. But… Practicality had ruined many a magical moment for Ivy, yet she couldn’t bring herself to turn off the cautious voice inside her.

  “I, um, I don’t have any condoms.”

  He watched her. “Uh-huh.”

  “So, ah, do you?”

  “Nope. I left ’em at home tonight.”

  “Oh.” Disappointing but okay.

  “On purpose.” He cleared his throat, finally meeting her gaze once more. “Because if I’d brought them, we’d be fucking right now.”

  Her breath caught.

  “I just want to play tonight. Okay? And, Ivy, you don’t have to worry—”

  “Sam, I know.” She loved that he wanted her to feel safe, but he’d started to get redundant. “I trust you. Really.”

  He smiled, that look of pure joy that radiated from deep inside him. “Thanks, baby. But I was going to say you don’t have to worry about me, because I always use protection. Biggest thing to worry about with me is not making babies, not about catching anything. I’m clean.”

  She felt her insides melt at thoughts of making said babies with Sam. “I’ve been on birth control since Max. I never went off it. But I haven’t been with anyone in a long time. I’m clean too.”

  “Yeah?” He was still smiling.

  She nodded.

  “Then how about you stop stalling and take off your clothes?”

  “You first.” Nervous about him seeing all of her for the first time, she had to brace for his possible disappointment.

  “Fine.” He whipped his shirt off and onto the floor.

  “Oh, wow.” She gaped. That much masculinity made her entire bedroom feel dominated, intruded by so much power.

  “You gonna kiss my tats again, Ivy? Maybe suck your way down my body?”

  A glance at the bulge in his jeans showed he liked the idea. A lot.

  “I don’t know. We were supposed to be making cookies…” She bit her lower lip even as she sat up and took off her shirt.

  “Yeah, that’s it. Now the bra.” Sam didn’t blink.

  Nervous at being totally bare up top, she hesitated on the bed.

  “Hey, I did it first.”

  “That’s true.” She swallowed and unfastened her bra, then took it off.

  Sam stared. “You’re so beautiful.” Before she could respond, he lowered himself to the bed and pressed her back down again.

  The feel of his chest against hers was incredibly erotic.

  “Christ, that’s so good.” He rubbed his chest over hers. “I love your tits against me. I’m so damn hard right now.”

  The swearing got steadily worse as he continued to tell her how much he wanted her, until she’d made a mess of her panties thanks to him rubbing between her legs with a massive erection.

  “I’m gonna take off my pants, okay? And yours are coming off too.”

  She could only nod, wanting to see the rest of him.

  Sam left her to stand and remove all his clothes.

  Just… She had no words. The sheer strength of the man was outlined in muscle. His arms, chest, legs. He had the best ass. She was tempted to ask him to turn back around, but he’d already knelt to take off her jeans. A bummer, because she’d wanted a better look at his cock.

  It couldn’t really be that big, could it? Long and thick and stiff as could be. She remembered feeling it before, but seeing it made an even bigger—literally—impression.

  Sam shifted her on the bed so that she lay naked in the middle of it. He sat on his knees, straddling her waist, and she got her much wanted close-up view of all of him.

  “Sam.” She stroked his thighs, what she could reach, feeling needy and so unlike herself. She shivered, craving his touch. “I want you.”

  “Not as much as I want you.” He put his hands on her breasts and gave a gentle squeeze.

  She gasped.

  “You fit my hands. Just right.” He flicked her nipples with his thumbs, playing with her breasts, until she wanted
to scream. He looked in awe, so intent on her body that she didn’t have the heart to tell him to hurry.

  “I came over for cookies,” he said in a soft voice.

  “C-cookies. Right.” Had they turned on the oven? She wanted to care about that, but she’d worry later.

  “And I’m still hungry.”

  “Hungry.” Me too. But not for peanut butter.

  He moved down her body. She waited for him to lay on top of her, wondering how they would do this since neither had any condoms. Though he’d said he was safe, and she knew she was, she’d never had sex with someone without a condom so soon in a relationship. But part of Ivy didn’t care, desperate to have him inside her.

  Except Sam kept moving down her body. His kisses trailed down her belly to her hips, her upper thighs. He rested so close to her sex, his head just…

  “Sam.”

  He parted her folds with thick fingers, opening her while he looked his fill. The cool air felt like another touch over her most sensitive area. But the coolness didn’t last.

  “You’re pretty everywhere.” He kissed her, right between her legs, and she was lost.

  Sam groaned and licked her. Sucked her. Kissed and teased her into a writhing mess as she climbed toward a killer orgasm. She pulled at his shoulders, but when he would only lick her harder, she bucked up into his touch. “It feels so good.” Amazing yet lacking him inside her.

  He ate her out as if he really had been starving. His big hands held her still, stimulating as well as oddly empowering. She could give in to her feelings and not worry about anything else. But she wanted him to feel it too, and how better than to offer the same?

  “Turn around,” she breathed.

  He stilled and lifted his head, his arousal glowing in his eyes. “You sure? ’Cause one touch of your mouth on my cock and I’ll lose it.”

  “Yes.” She ran her hands through his hair, tugging him up.

  Sam turned around and threw himself back into kissing and petting her, making her insane. But now she had something to occupy herself while he drove her to distraction. She reached for the thick shaft between them, and he moaned and shoved his tongue inside her, clutching her thighs.

  She drew him down, pleasantly surprised they fit considering their height differential. But she had to lift up to make better contact. The moment her lips touched the head of his cock, he spread his knees wider and leaned into her, lowering his body.

  Just what she needed. She grabbed the outside of his thighs and took him deeper, moving her mouth over him with greater speed. Her timing matched his rhythm, and they moaned and sighed and teased together, swaying into each other as their desire rose higher.

  Sam’s girth stretched her jaw, and his salty taste did nothing but make her desire him more. His scent, the feel of his need in the thickness of his cock. She cupped his balls, felt how hard they were. His thighs strained, and she grabbed his ass and tugged him down even more, taking him to the back of her throat before releasing him, stifling her urge to gag.

  He shuddered and shoved a finger inside her, his lips like magic. She couldn’t stop her body from reacting. And as she crested into release, she sucked him harder and her nails bit into his ass.

  He groaned as he licked her and spilled inside her mouth. She swallowed him down, still caught in her own bliss, until she could barely breathe. He must have sensed her at her end because he immediately withdrew, his cock half-hard, hanging heavy over her.

  Sam kissed his way from her sex, along her thighs as he turned, then up her belly to her breasts. He lingered over her nipples, sucking the peaks into taut buds. He met her lips, and she tasted herself. She wondered if he could taste himself on her.

  When he pulled back and rested on his elbows, looking down at her, something between them clicked. She’d already felt close to him, obviously, but this… She couldn’t feel so deeply for a man she’d met only recently, could she?

  Staring into his eyes, more gray than blue right then, she saw only affection, lust, and that intensity that made words impossible.

  He shook his head and kissed her again, this time lingering before he pulled back. He felt heavy, leaning into her slighter frame from his belly down, but she didn’t want him to leave. “You keep driving me crazy. Dam—Darn, Ivy.” His soft smile and tender kiss earned a kiss back.

  “Back at you, Sam Hamilton,” she said on purpose, putting a mock frown on his face. She laughed. “Do I remind you of Willie, now?”

  “Stop, Ivy. You’re crushing my after-sex buzz.”

  She snickered, so happy and relaxed she wanted to never move again.

  “You know this is just stage two, right?” he asked, running his fingers through her hair.

  She closed her eyes and smiled. “What’s stage three?”

  “That’s full-on sex. Me inside you, feeling you come around me,” he said in a thick voice. “I can’t wait for that.”

  “But we’re taking it slow, right?” she teased. “So, what? We’ll be hitting stage three tomorrow?”

  “If you insist.” He sounded happy.

  She blinked her eyes open and saw him tracing her features with a tender gaze. She’d never seen him so at ease, so…well, soft before.

  “Do you have any idea how tough it’s going to be to not think about this all the time? I’ll be getting hard-ons at work, at Ray’s, hell, around town even.” He grimaced. “At Eileen’s. Damn.”

  She giggled and coughed to stop the giddy sound. Ivy didn’t giggle. Ever. But around Sam, she felt girly and cared for and…well, loved. Too soon for that, but rationalizing her feelings didn’t make them go away.

  She hugged him, pulling him close for more kisses. They lay together, just kissing, resting, and kissing some more. Until the kissing turned deeper, more sexual than sensual.

  “Wait, Ivy. Don’t.” Sam was thick and long against her belly, rubbing himself against her instinctively, she guessed. Because even as he told her to stop with the kissing, he continued to rock against her. “I want to fuck you so bad.”

  “It’s been ten minutes at least,” she teased. “That’s enough time for stage three, isn’t it?” Because she wanted him. Deep inside her, skin to skin. She ran her hands over his chest, intrigued at the lack of hair there. “Do you shave your chest? You’re so smooth.”

  His cheeks turned pink. “Ah, no. I think we have some Native American in the family tree somewhere, maybe. I’ve just always been this way.”

  “But not here.” She ran a hand between them to caress his balls.

  He closed his eyes, his face agonized. Then he shifted, rubbing his cock against her clit. He settled between her legs, his tip resting between her folds. “You have no idea how much I want to come inside you.”

  “Sam.” She kissed his neck and sucked.

  He moaned and moved deeper. She felt him there, poised to take her.

  “I want you in me.”

  “No condom?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

  “Just you.”

  He started to push inside, and she gasped at how he filled her. He kept going until she didn’t think she could take any more. And then he gave her the last of him. A light sheen of sweat covered his forehead while he remained very still.

  “Don’t move. Fuck. You’re so hot and tight around me.” He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth.

  “Sam, more.” She nipped his collarbone.

  He withdrew until just the tip of him remained inside her. Then he thrust deep.

  She didn’t think it possible, but she started to seize around him, coming so hard she was lost to everything. Somewhere she thought she heard a bang and barking. Then Sam withdrew and left her all alone.

  “Sam?” She felt drugged. Sam swearing and Cookie barking roused her in a hurry.

  She rushed into the kitchen to see Sam picking up cookie dough off the floor and
shoving Cookie’s messy face out of it.

  “Oh. We left the cookie sheet on the oven. He reached that?” She had a difficult time reasoning with a naked Sam in her sights and her body still coming down off that euphoric high.

  He turned in his crouch and grinned at her. “You’re sexier naked, for sure.” He glanced at the dog. “No discipline. Oh, gross. Don’t lick me. You’re covered in peanut butter.”

  Peanut butter, a puppy, and chaos. And she’d never felt happier. She stared at Sam, seeing his erection flagging. “Ruined the mood, huh?”

  “Maybe a little. But that’s a good thing.” He shook his head. “I have no control around you.”

  “So you didn’t like where we were going?” She knew he had.

  He stood, and she watched his cock bob, hard and pointing right at her once more. Sam didn’t seem concerned about his nudity at all. “Damn it, Ivy. Of course I did. But our first time is supposed to be long and slow. Candles and flowers and shi—stuff.” He seemed embarrassed at what he was saying. “Like a date night.”

  She smiled at him, seeing the romantic he tried to bury under gruffness. “So cookies and sex don’t mix? Not unless we’re talking a sixty-nine or a blow job, is that it?” She laughed at his red face. “Why is it you can swear up and down, but mention of sex gets you all embarrassed?”

  “I don’t know. It’s guy talk at the garage or the bar. But with you it’s weird, okay?”

  She walked to him and gave him a hug, which wrung a groan out of him as he ground against her belly. “You’re so sweet. I owe you some peanut butter cookies. How about we get dressed and make some more? Then we can plan for our special first time together, hmm?”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I know you’re humoring me. I’m weird, but I—”

  She pulled back to put a finger over his lips. “Stop. I love that you want it to be special. Because I do too.” She rubbed his lips. “I can’t wait for you to come inside me. I trust you, remember? And I think it would be amazing just you and me together.” She didn’t know if she should bring up her ex just then, but it needed to be said. “I don’t just have sex with anyone, Sam. I was with my high school sweetheart for more than a year before he and I were intimate. And it was months before Max and I had sex. Even then, he wore a condom for the first two years, before I went on the pill. But with you, I’m protected.” She paused. “You’d tell me if I should worry about you, right?”