Outside, she looked around, and then gestured with her thumb over her shoulder. "I actually walked here - my apartment's not too far away. So I'll see you tomorrow-"
"Nonsense," Tanner cut in. "You walked here? And you're going to walk back? Alone, in DC, at night?"
Alicia smiled at him, slipping one hand into her purse. "Trust me, I can handle myself."
"Still not happening," Tanner insisted. Not waiting to see what she pulled out of her purse, he turned and stepped up alongside her. "I'm walking you home. And besides," he added before she could protest, "I'm doing it mainly because I want to get my jacket back. You wouldn't believe what I paid for that, and I can see you deciding to put it through a shredder or something, just to get back at me."
"Ass," Alicia muttered, but she didn't turn him down. Instead, as they started off down the sidewalk together, she slipped her arm through Tanner's.
He nearly jumped at the little electric shock that transferred from the bare skin of her fingers over to his own. He'd been fighting against errant thoughts of touching her, running his hands over her, all night. Now, to have her leaning in comfortably against him... all of those fantasies came roaring back to full life, unable to be silenced inside his head.
Get it together, he snapped at himself, but those voices, those fantasies, only fell silent for a moment before creeping back up. So instead, he just kept his lips pressed tightly together, trying to not let on that he was having distractingly sexy fantasies about this senator, still his enemy - truce or not.
Alicia didn't say anything as they walked along, either. Tanner wondered what she was thinking about, considered asking. But what did he want her to say? What he wanted, he knew that she wouldn't tell him. So he just kept his mouth shut.
They walked down the streets, finally stopping in front of a bank of converted brownstones, rising up three stories, crumbling a little but still elegant and well maintained. "Well, this is home," Alicia commented, fiddling in her purse for her keys.
"Nice place," Tanner remarked, looking up at it. He meant it - this was actually a nice neighborhood, on the up and up, the kind of place where young professionals spent their bonuses, still shocked by how much they made out of college.
"Thanks - moving here was a hassle, but I've finally got most of it unpacked." Alicia paused for a moment. "Sorry to make you walk."
"No problem," Tanner returned. "Like I said, I'm just here for my jacket."
"Right." Alicia had her keys looped around her finger, but she stepped forward, shrugging her arms out of the jacket.
Tanner also stepped forward, reaching out to lift the jacket off of her shoulders. His hands, however, ended up around Alicia, brushing against the bare skin of her back, exposed as she shrugged out of the jacket.
Both of them froze, another shock of electricity passing between them from the contact with bare skin. This time, looking down into Alicia's eyes, Tanner saw a flare of heat in those cool blue-green irises, and knew immediately that she felt the tingle as well. They both stood there for a moment, looking into each other's eyes, frozen.
Inside Tanner's head, he heard a cacophony of different thoughts, all shouting back and forth - but they all seemed curiously muted, the warm radiance from Alicia's eyes seeming to damp down all of the intrusive thoughts. He couldn't break away, couldn't speak, couldn't do anything at all. He felt like a captive in his own mind.
"Tanner," Alicia murmured, but she didn't pull away. If anything, she leaned in even closer, her chest brushing ever so lightly against his shirt and tie.
Tanner opened his lips slightly, although he had no idea what he would say. He needed to remove himself from this situation, he knew. This was approaching a dangerous line; he'd long since abandoned the idea of seducing Alicia, sensing that she'd be expecting such an obvious move, would defeat any attempt at outright blackmail or intimidation.
He'd just let go of her, step back, and wish her a good night.
Easy. Good plan.
Tanner moved.
He didn't move back, however, didn't let go of Alicia. Instead, his arms tightened around her, drawing her in closer. His jacket slipped off of her shoulders, down to the ground, probably covering itself in dirt and dust.
Tanner didn't notice. Alicia was there, in his arms, not resisting. On the contrary; her eyes sparkled up at him, drawing him in, hypnotic. "Tanner," she whispered again, her voice barely audible.
That little whisper broke his last straw of reserve.
Tanner bent forward, kissed her. He pulled her up against him, feeling the curves of her body press against him. She was supple, yielding, and just the sensation of her warm body nestling in against him enough to set his nerve endings afire. She tasted wet and soft, luscious as her mouth melted against his, and he drank her in like a man lost in a desert stumbling upon a fresh, miraculous oasis.
Dimly, he knew that he shouldn't be doing this. This was wrong; he ought to be letting her go, stepping back, apologizing for crossing the line, backing away before he did any more damage. That was the right thing to do; this, on the other hand, was totally wrong.
He needed to stop.
He didn't stop.
Fireworks went off in his brain, silencing those voices telling him what he should be doing. He couldn't seem to think past the present moment; Alicia was in his arms, her mouth on him, and he needed her. He felt himself throbbing, painfully erect in his pants, more aroused and awake than he'd felt since his first crush at age fifteen had kissed him back. He needed her - his body screamed out for her...
But he finally released her, drawing back his mouth, if not his hands. He opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't have any words.
"This is..." Alicia began, but she stopped, just looking up at him.
"Wrong," Tanner finished, not letting go of her. His hand pressed in against her shoulder, and he could feel her heartbeat, thumping quickly against her ribs, almost like a bird or a small animal.
"We shouldn't..." Again, Alicia seemed to run out of steam before the end of the sentence. Her eyes were locked on him, hungry, drinking him in and mesmerizing him.
She wasn't pulling away, he realized. She kept her own arms around him, holding tightly to him. She shivered up against him, but he suspected that this one had nothing to do with the chill in the night air.
"Inside," Tanner managed to get out, his eyes drifting briefly past her, up to the front door to her brownstone, before returning back to her face, her beautiful features.
Alicia nodded, and her keys clinked in her hand. "Yes. Inside." She turned around, and Tanner barely managed to bend down and grab his jacket off of the ground before dashing up and after her.
Alicia's apartment building featured two doors - the first one granted access to the mailboxes, while the second one led to the actual apartments. Alicia moved towards the second door, but Tanner, his brain afire and filled with nothing but the singing hunger of his raging need, reached out and grabbed her again, once more pulling her to him.
This time, he pushed her back against the wall as he kissed her, pinning her between his body and the row of mailboxes. She eagerly pushed back against him, her hips grinding up against him and nearly making him explode, right then and there! Was it just that he'd gone so long without release? He'd never need a single, particular woman, this woman, so much!
Tanner kissed her lips again, deeply, tasting her with his tongue, and then moved sideways, down, along the graceful slender curve of her neck. Alicia angled her head to give him better access, squirming in his hands - and then, as he nibbled at her collarbone, she moaned.
That soft sound, barely audible, burned away the last little bit of rational thought in Tanner's head.
He spun her around, pointing Alicia towards the second door leading inside. She staggered unsteadily forward, her key bouncing infuriatingly off of the lock half a dozen times before she managed to finally slip it inside. He waited impatiently behind her, his heart thumping like a jackhammer in his chest, aw
ash in unthinking need.
Finally, she had the door open. Tanner followed her upstairs, up to her apartment. She unlocked the door and then, even as her hand reached out for the light switch, he was on her again, kissing, feeling. This time, when she turned and reciprocated, pushing his jacket off of his shoulders and down to fall on her floor, he didn't even give a thought to picking it up, hanging it or draping it on something less dirty.
"The door," Alicia gasped, reaching out for her front door, still open to the hallway.
Tanner stuck out his hand behind him, fumbling about. Finally, frustrated, he tore his eyes away from this woman, the source of this drastic need, just long enough to grab the handle and draw it shut. He reached up and threw the deadbolt across, just for good measure.
Door locked, Tanner turned back to Alicia - and saw that heat rekindled in her eyes, sparkling and alive. She didn't need to say a single word. She raised a finger, crooked it ever so slightly in his direction, and he found himself pulled forward as if on invisible strings.
She backed towards a door as he started forward her. Dimly, Tanner guessed that the bedroom might lie behind that door.
He didn't care. Right now, he just felt his need, burning inside his chest, in his rock-hard cock in his pants, demanding her. He needed to quench it, before it consumed him.
He followed after Alicia, driven by need.
Chapter Twelve
*
Sure enough, the next room in Alicia's apartment was a bedroom. Alicia was on the bed already, her shoes kicked off, her legs disappearing enticingly up into her pencil skirt, that little smirking smile on her face. He wanted to get down on his hands and knees and crawl up that skirt, figuring out where those legs came together.
Tanner looked down at her from the doorway for a second, his blood nearly boiling in his veins. He knew that they were crossing forbidden boundaries, but he needed her, felt practically insane with his hunger.
His hands rose up, fumbling with the buttons on his shirt - but in a flash, Alicia was there, on her knees on the bed, leaning forward to grab at his tie and tug him forward. "My job," she murmured up to him, her voice husky, as her fingers undid each button slowly, revealing a little more of his muscled chest.
Instead, Tanner turned his attention to her outfit. Bit by bit, he peeled her clothes off of her, even as she did the same to him. With each newly exposed square inch of her skin, tanned and gorgeous, he felt his hunger for her grow even stronger. His cock pushed out against his pants, temporarily impeding Alicia's efforts to undo his belt.
He collapsed down on the bed as he finally shook off his pants, his hands pulling her down along with him. She was warm and soft in his arms, a creature of sex and lust. How could anyone listen to this woman when she spoke, think of anything but taking her? Tanner couldn't understand. He had to have her, felt driven to make her moan, come, shudder and release on his spear.
He sank back on the soft covers, Alicia astride him, above him. He'd already popped the clasp on her bra, and her amazing rack now dangled above him. How the hell did she hide these in those classy, professional outfits that she wore? Now freed from their encumbrances, he couldn't believe her figure, her proportions. She was practically a sex doll, alive and moving eagerly in his arms atop him!
Alicia looked down at him, those eyes filled with some emotion that Tanner couldn't quite recognize. He didn't stop, however, didn't ask her what she was thinking. Instead, sitting partially up, he drew her chest against him and explored it with his hands, his lips, his tongue.
"Ohh," he heard her gasp, above him, as he moved across that wonderful rack, feeling her softness in his hands. He found her nipple, ran first his thumb, and then his tongue over it. He felt her stiffen and prickle at his touch, and she arched forward to push him closer.
"More," she commanded, her hands tangling in his hair, mussing it as her fingers knotted inside to pull him closer.
Tanner immediately obeyed. His body vibrated, almost like a taut string on a guitar, as he pushed against her, needing her to press back against him. The touch of her bare skin against his, the gentle brush of her breasts against his face, ignited his core like a flamethrower. He paradoxically wanted both to rush ahead and make her his, and to prolong this, enjoy the sweet agony, for as much time as he could endure.
But Alicia's hands roamed down, finding his hardness, drawing it out of his pants. She held him in her hands, and whatever need Tanner thought he'd felt before was dwarfed by a new rush. With an inarticulate growl rising up from his throat, he threw her to the bed, climbed atop her.
He felt her resistance as he pushed down, but she spread her legs wide, welcoming him in, wanting him. Her skirt was bunched up around her waist, but her panties caught at him, impeding him. With a hiss of frustration, she pulled them off and threw them recklessly aside.
Nothing else stood in his way. Once again, Tanner came down, feeling her push against him, angling up to meet him as he thrusted forward.
Warmth, wetness, a soft and irresistible tightness that still drew him in further. His arms, on either side of Alicia's shoulders, held him inches above her. Her hands came up, wrapping around his neck, sliding down his broad back and drawing him down to her.
Her lips met his, and Tanner thought no more. His body moved against her, feeling her move back in response. This was all that he needed.
They kept in motion together, sometimes growing fiercer, sometimes relaxing. Soon, Tanner felt Alicia's kisses against him grow wilder, less controlled, as her breath came quicker.
"More, faster," she gasped into his ear, and his body instantly obeyed her.
She panted against him, her body flexing with new need as he pumped in and out, long strokes that pushed her closer to that cliff. Tanner saw the fire growing higher in her eyes, almost overtaking her. She tried to fight back against it, hold onto herself, but it was a fight that they both knew she'd lose.
And then, with one last gasp, her body went rigid beneath him as her orgasm took her.
Tanner slowed, but didn't stop, watching as this woman, normally so controlled and determined and powerful, surrendered herself to emotion and physical sensation. Her eyes rolled back as she went mindless, and she clutched at him, drawing him against her, needing him. He felt her heart beating like a jackrabbit inside her chest as her soft breasts squished against his own body, heard her breath come in ragged panting.
He held her, kissed her, still unable to think but happy that she was happy. She clung to him, a rock in a powerful storm, until her eyes finally blinked and refocused on him.
"Again," she commanded him, those full, gorgeous lips turning up in a ghost of a smile.
He hastened to obey.
When Tanner finally felt his own surge coming on, driving him towards mindlessness, he merely groaned - and Alicia, now on top of him, grinned broadly as she immediately guessed his intentions.
"Yes, give it to me," she insisted, refusing to let him push her off, refusing his attempts to slow down, to delay the train he felt rushing down the tracks towards him. She bent low, her tits dangling in his face and bumping gently against his chin. Her hair fell in waves around his face, closing the two of them off in their own private little world. Further south, her hips rose and fell against him, beating out a primal rhythm against him as she rode his spear, flexing her thighs as they squeezed his body between them.
"God," Tanner gasped out, as the last vestiges of control slipped away. He was no stranger to an orgasm, but he'd never felt one build so much before it hit, come on so strongly. He had a brief mental image of a surfer gazing up at a tidal wave, towering many stories above him.
And then it hit, and Tanner thought of nothing at all as his mind fractured.
She rode him, let him shudder against her, slowed her motions to a gentle rocking to help him prolong as much as he could. Only when his eyes finally reopened, looking up at her in wonder, did she stop, settling down to press the length of her warm softness against him.
&
nbsp; For several minutes, neither of them spoke.
Inside Tanner's head, he couldn't seem to hold on to a thought long enough to see it through to its conclusion. I just slept with softness, warmth, comfort-
Try again. I just had sex with Alicia so amazing, so strong an orgasm, never before, need it again-
No, again. Now that we've done this together, she'll certainly believe me when I tell her need to kiss her again, taste her, feel her body come against mine as I make her scream and cry out and want me over and over...
Clearly, sleeping with Alicia had scrambled his brains much more than he'd anticipated.
Next to him, still partially atop him, Alicia blinked, moved a little closer against him as she squirmed to get comfortable. A soft little sound, barely even a sigh, slipped out of her, and Tanner inexplicably felt himself harden a little at even that small, barely audible noise. How could she still have a hold on him, even after he'd just attained release?
Finally, Alicia turned, enough so that she could rest her chin on his broad chest and gaze down into his eyes. "So," she said.
That was it. Just "So." Tanner tried to think, tried to strategize, but his brain felt as if someone had run rampant inside of it, wielding a stick blender with reckless abandon.
"So," he repeated back, aware that he sounded like an idiot but not knowing what else to say.
"That..." Alicia seemed to be experiencing a similar struggle for words. "That wasn't what I expected to happen."
"No, me neither." Was this all that they were capable of? Small talk, as they lay naked together after gloriously coupling in Alicia's bed? Fighting that sluggishness in his mind, Tanner tried to find something, anything else to say. "I promise, I didn't do that because..."
Alicia sat up a little more as Tanner trailed off. "Because of what?" she asked.
He wished he hadn't gone down this path. "Because I want to blackmail you, get leverage over you, anything like that."
He expected her to blow up, to get angry that he'd even consider such a repulsive action. Instead, however, Alicia surprised him by nodding, as if he'd stated that the Earth was round, or that she was currently naked.
Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance Page 8
