by Miranda Lee
Okay, so some women liked it rough, he reminded himself as he laid her down across the bed. But he couldn’t imagine that Laura would be one of them. Clearly she had believed, up until this life-changing moment, that she needed to be in love to enjoy sex. Which was a fallacy, of course. Sex was a basic human function much the same as eating and sleeping; you didn’t need to be in love to enjoy either of those. Ryan had never been in love in his life and he sure as hell enjoyed all three.
Despite knowing deep down that he was making a big mistake taking a work colleague to bed—business and pleasure don’t mix, remember?—Ryan told himself that he might actually do Laura a good turn by proving that sex and love didn’t have to be joined at the hip. After all, it wasn’t healthy for her to continue living without a man in her life. Her responses tonight had already shown him that she wasn’t the ice queen she’d been pretending to be with him these past two years. Far from it.
By the time he sat down beside her on the bed and reached for her left foot, Ryan had almost convinced himself that what he was about to do had a noble side to it.
Almost…
Laura clenched her teeth hard in her jaw as Ryan slowly undid the ankle strap on her shoe then eased it off her foot. Where did he learn to touch a woman like that so softly and so gently? She would have thought a goalkeeper’s hands would be harder and rougher. But, no, they had the sensitivity and the skill of a surgeon. Every time one of his fingertips touched her flesh, an electric current ran up her legs.
‘I’ve always admired your dainty feet with their slender ankles,’ he said as he dropped the shoe onto the bedside rug and moved onto her other foot. ‘And, whilst I adore these particular shoes, I can’t risk leaving them on right now. The thought of your digging their lethal-looking heels into my back does not appeal.’
When an image popped into Laura’s head of exactly how she might manage to dig her heels into Ryan’s back, her heartbeat went from a fast trot to a wild gallop, her mouth falling open as she sucked in some much-needed air. But when the second shoe was dispensed with and his hands started travelling up her legs she found herself holding her breath once again. By the time he made it to the tops of her thighs, she had to breathe or die.
Her gasp brought his eyes to her flushed face.
‘These have to go as well, Laura,’ he told her, hooking his fingers under the sides of her panties and peeling them down her legs, all the while holding her eyes.
At last, he looked at her there.
By then Laura found it impossible to speak.
She was dying for him to touch her more intimately, but dreading it too. She knew she would be wet down there. She could feel it.
‘Ryan,’ she managed to blurt out when his finger moved perilously close.
Too late. He was there, and it felt incredible.
Her moan brought his eyes back to hers.
‘You have a problem?’ he asked, but without stopping. He was still using just the one finger, but it knew exactly where to go and what to touch, an erotic weapon of total seduction.
Her face twisted into a grimace which reflected her dilemma. She was going to come. And, whilst she was dying for release, it was not what she wanted. She wanted to come with him inside her.
‘I…I… You have to stop!’ she cried out.
He stopped. Just in time.
Laura shuddered with relief.
His head cocked to one side as he frowned down at her. ‘Would you like to tell me why I had to stop? It wasn’t because you weren’t liking what I was doing. I could tell.’
She gnawed at her bottom lip and looked away.
‘I won’t know what you want if you don’t tell me,’ he said softly, and quite sensibly.
So she told him, her voice faltering and her face flaming with embarrassment.
‘Is that all?’ he said, sounding and looking pleased. ‘Just give me a minute or two.’
He stripped off with considerable speed, chucking his clothes onto a nearby chair and not stopping until he was down to his underpants. At that point he did hesitate, first to go over to put another log on the fire then to search through his jacket pockets for his wallet, out of which he extracted two foil packets.
Laura could not believe that she hadn’t thought of protection herself. Just as well Ryan wasn’t so silly. But then he wouldn’t be, would he? she thought ruefully. Not a man of his extensive experience!
Laura did her best to put her sensible head back on, but it was all to no avail when Ryan stepped out of his underpants. Oh dear, oh dear; she’d known he would be built like that. He was seriously impressive. His body was the sort of body that you saw on billboards advertising jeans or male Y-fronts. He could easily have made it as a male model. And he was all hers—for tonight, anyway.
This last thought brought excitement, but apprehension as well. Despite knowing she was way beyond changing her mind at this critical stage, Laura could not dismiss the niggling feeling that going to bed with Ryan would change her life in ways which might not be all good. She might have given the consequences of tonight’s impulsive actions some more thought if a naked Ryan hadn’t joined her on the bed at that point.
‘Only got two of these, I’m afraid,’ he said as he placed the condoms next to the lamp on the bedside chest. ‘But they’ll be enough. For now…’
When he pulled her round and rolled on top of her, Laura gasped at the weight of his body. But, as soon as he propped his upper body up on his elbows on either side of her chest, the feeling of pressure lightened considerably.
‘Open your legs wide, Laura,’ he commanded, ‘And lift your knees up. Yes, that’s the way, sweetheart. This could take a few seconds.’
Without using his hands in any way, he angled himself at her entrance but he didn’t push himself in. Instead, he rocked back and forth and rubbed himself against her until she was almost at screaming point. She could feel her whole insides squeezing tighter and tighter, desperate to feel his flesh filling hers.
‘Oh please,’ she heard herself beg at last. ‘Please…’
Only then did he enter her. But still not very far.
‘Lift your feet and wrap them high around my waist,’ he ordered her. ‘That’s it. Now rock back and forth with your hips. Hell, yes, that’s the way.’
Laura followed his instructions until he was buried in her to the hilt, his flesh filling hers like a sword in its scabbard. Only then did he start to move, repeatedly pulling back a few inches before surging forward until he could go no further. Each thrust brought a gasp of pleasure from her lips, along with an increase in the most maddening frustration. As her body twisted tighter and tighter with sexual tension, her nails began clawing at his back, her heels digging into his buttocks. He responded by thrusting into her even more powerfully, and suddenly she came, her head thrashing from side to side as her flesh convulsed wildly around his. She’d never experienced anything like it before in her life. It was incredible!
‘Yes, yes!’ she cried.
And it was whilst her head was still whirling with the wonder of it all that Ryan came too, his whole body shuddering as it found release. He cried out as well, a loud, raw sound which reminded her of a creature from the jungle— Tarzan, maybe. Or possibly something less human.
So this was sex at its most primal level, Laura realised dazedly as she clung to his shuddering body. The kind animals indulged in. She could not pretend there were any fine emotions involved in their mating. They weren’t in love. They barely liked each other.
No, that wasn’t true any more. Not for her, anyway. She did like Ryan in a perverse kind of way. But she wasn’t in love with him, despite having given him her body.
This last realisation came as a great relief. Maybe she would survive having a strictly sexual fling with him after all. Maybe she wouldn’t do anything so foolish as to fall for him. She’d already fallen for two Mr Wrongs in her life. A third could prove fatal, if not to her sanity then at least to her soul. Because falling for her would ne
ver be on Ryan’s agenda. He’d spelled it out for her already in no uncertain terms. He didn’t do love, or marriage, or long-term commitment. Sex for him was just a physical pleasure, to be indulged in regularly, the same way he regularly ate and slept. Okay, so he did stick to only one bed partner at a time, but he always moved on. Always. She should never forget that.
Finally, his head lifted from where it had dropped down on the bed just above her left shoulder.
‘Amazing,’ he said with an almost surprised look on his face. ‘Was that as good for you as it was for me?’
What could she say? It was way too late to be coy with him.
‘It was wonderful,’ she said truthfully.
He smiled. ‘Tired?’
She shook her head.
‘Great,’ he said, and after giving her a brief peck on the lips he abruptly withdrew, his reverse action forcing her legs to unwrap from around his waist and drop back down onto the bed. ‘Have to go to the bathroom,’ he said. ‘Don’t go away, now.’
Laura could not help it—she laughed. Wild horses wouldn’t have been able to drag her out of this bed. But as she lay there, waiting for Ryan to return, her infernal female mind did start worrying about how she might feel in the morning. Not ashamed, she decided with a surge of defiance; she wasn’t doing anything to be ashamed of. Ryan had broken up with Erica, after all. There was nothing to be ashamed of in consenting sex between two free adults.
Nevertheless, she found herself reaching for some bedclothes so that she wouldn’t be lying there spreadeagled and stark naked when he returned. Which was really quite hypocritical of her, Laura realised after she pulled the sheet up over her breasts. Because, in truth, she’d rather liked being naked in front of him. Had liked seeing the admiration in his eyes. But she kept the sheet up all the same. Maybe she needed him with her to be bold.
The sound of water running strongly in the bathroom soon brought a frown. Maybe he intended to have another shower. Hopefully, it would be a quick one. She didn’t trust herself not to start regretting what she was doing if she was left alone for too long.
Unfortunately, time ticked away and still the taps ran.
So did her worrying thoughts. It actually wasn’t how she would feel tomorrow morning that bothered her, Laura finally accepted, but the future in general. What would she do if Ryan wanted to extend their affair beyond this weekend? Hadn’t he said that one night might not be enough? And, whilst she’d been both thrilled and flattered by his words, she wasn’t sure that to keep sleeping with him would be wise. She might not be in love with him at this stage, but how long would it be before her emotions did become involved? She really wasn’t one of those women who would be content with nothing more from a man but his body.
At least, so she thought, until the running water suddenly stopped, the bathroom door was yanked open and that absolutely gorgeous male body walked back into the bedroom.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
‘WHAT’S with the sheet all of a sudden?’ Ryan demanded to know as he strode towards the bed. ‘I thought we’d got past that.’ His hand reached out to grab the sheet out of her grasp, flinging it aside before bending to scoop her up into his arms.
Ooh, the feeling of being held naked against him; it was delicious. And so very exciting. Already she wanted him to make love to her again.
‘I’ve run us both a bath,’ he said as he carried her into the bathroom. ‘Don’t bother saying no. It’s way too late for you to start being coy.’
She didn’t say no—not to the bath. Or what he did to her once they were in the bath. She surrendered herself totally to his wishes, letting him wash her, caress her and position her this way and that so he had the easiest access to every erogenous zone she owned. His touch never seemed crude, yet he took liberties with her body which she’d never allowed before. And, whilst she was quickly desperate for another climax, she didn’t come. A combination of his seeming to know when to stop doing whatever it was he was doing just in time, plus his telling her that if she held on until he was inside her again her pleasure would be greatly magnified.
So she held on, despite experiencing a level of frustration previously unknown to her. Constant caresses had extended her nipples to almost painful peaks, where even the slightest touch on them made her gasp. Her stomach was rock-hard with tension, her thighs aching and her sex dying to be filled. Every time his fingers slipped inside her down there, her internal muscles would grasp them tightly whilst her swollen clitoris throbbed with need.
‘Ryan, please, I can’t stand any more!’ she cried at last when it all became too much to bear.
She was straddled across his thighs at the time, their bodies together like two spoons, Ryan’s knowing hand rubbing a wet cake of soap back and forth across her burning nipples whilst his erection lay like an armed torpedo along the crease of her buttocks.
He could destroy me if he wanted to, Laura realised with real alarm. Make me ready and willing to do anything he wanted. She understood, suddenly, why that client of his had become obsessed with him. Ryan was the kind of lover who could easily obsess a woman.
Relief swamped Laura when he put aside the cake of soap and lifted her gently from the bath. She was so overcome with gratitude that tears pricked at her eyes. Only fear that he would stop making love to her altogether kept her emotions in check but it was a struggle, especially when he started drying her so sweetly and tenderly. Because by then she didn’t want him being sweet and tender with her. All she wanted was for him to carry her back to bed and ravage her.
‘What a pity,’ he said as he rubbed the ends of her hair dry, ‘That we only have that one condom left.’
She could not have agreed more, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything so bold. Or so telling.
‘Do you like oral sex?’ he added, his eyes holding hers.
Laura swallowed. ‘I…I can’t say that I do.’
Brad hadn’t been into anything but straight sex of the hard and fast kind. Mario, however, had been older and more experienced—or so she’d imagined at the time. He’d also been mad about blow jobs. She’d given him what he wanted because she’d loved him, and had thought he loved her; he’d said it often enough. But she’d never liked doing it.
‘Why’s that?’ Ryan said. ‘Most girls love it.’
‘Do they?’
‘The ones I’ve been with seemed to. Perhaps because I love doing it so much. Would you like me to try to change your mind?’
Laura finally realised he was talking about performing oral sex on her, not the other way around. Now this was alien territory for her. Brad had never ventured to suggest such a thing, neither had Mario. When she’d brought the subject up once, he’d said it was demeaning for a real man to do that. She’d believed him because she hadn’t liked doing it herself. Now here was a real man claiming he loved it.
‘I can see I’ve sparked your curiosity on the subject,’ Ryan said, smiling a smugly satisfied smile. ‘Come on, let’s give it a whirl.’
‘A whirl’ was the right word for it. Within seconds he had her back on the bed, his lips creating havoc within her as they traversed her body at the speed of light from her mouth to her breasts, her navel and finally the smooth mound of skin which lay perilously close to her agonisingly aroused sex. She grasped great clumps of sheets in each hand as he came closer and closer to that spot that was screaming for attention. And then he was there, not kissing her, but licking the swollen nub of flesh like a ravenous cat lapping a saucer of cream. Immediately, her back arched from the bed as her body raced blindly towards the edge of the abyss like some crazed lemming.
Immediately, he stopped, lifting his head so that their eyes could meet. Hers were wide whilst his seemed perversely calm.
‘Not so quick, Laura,’ he told her. ‘It’ll be better if you wait a while.’
‘But I don’t want to wait!’ she cried out in despair.
He laughed. ‘But I’m going to make you wait, my darling.’
‘I
am not your darling,’ she snapped, feeling angry with him, and even more fiercely frustrated than she had in the bath.
‘I thought you said you didn’t like oral sex,’ he went on, propping himself up beside her and teasing her breasts mercilessly with wickedly knowing fingers.
‘I was referring to fellatio,’ she bit out, trying not to groan. But it was hell, the way he now tugged at one of her nipples. Not roughly, she had to admit. But still…
‘Ah,’ he said, the tugging changing to a slow, twisting motion. ‘Well, that is a different matter entirely. But I would imagine a girl of your intelligence would enjoy the sense of power that fellatio would give you. Wouldn’t you like to see me squirm as I’m making you squirm at this moment? Wouldn’t you like to make me lose control? Think of it as the ultimate triumph over me. Because I can promise you this, lovely Laura—I won’t be as cool or as calm as I am at this moment. For those few mad moments, I will be totally yours. Now, isn’t that an appealing thought?’
Laura stared up at him. God, yes. But it also presented her with a not so appealing thought.
‘Is that why you agreed to sleep with me tonight?’ she threw at him. ‘To triumph over me?’
His fingers stilled on her breast, his eyes becoming thoughtful. ‘I have to confess that sleeping with you has given me great satisfaction. And great pleasure. But triumph? No, I can’t say that was my train of thought, though you would present a tantalising challenge to any red-blooded man. From the moment you told me what you wanted, however, my main goal tonight has been to give you the kind of sexual pleasure which it’s obvious you’ve never had. Clearly, the man who hurt you was a complete incompetent in the bedroom. I can only imagine he was very young and inexperienced himself.’
‘No,’ she told him. ‘Mario wasn’t young at all. Brad was, though.’
