by Aimee Duffy
Shey was trembling so hard she didn’t know how to answer. She was wired to him, barely hanging on to reason. All she wanted was to be closer. To have his hands on her. For him to stop talking and fulfill the promises he made earlier with actions.
As if reading her mind, his palms made contact with her outer thighs. The charge that ran through her ignited her senses. She was aware of every one of her pulse points, especially the one aching between her legs. Knees weakening, she grabbed onto his shoulders for support. His lips brushed her collarbone, and her head rocked to the side to give him better access. That seemed to be the reaction he wanted, because slowly he slipped her dress up her hips as he nibbled her throat.
The pull towards him intensified like gravity. The closer she got, the closer she needed to be. His breath tickled her neck as one of his hands slid around to her backside. He squeezed hard and she moaned her approval. Pleasure sparked anew and gathered momentum as it crashed through her. His other hand got to work, sliding beneath her thong, and immediately a long, thick finger entered her. Instinctively, she squeezed her muscles to pull him deeper, ground her hips to get a better angle, and he rewarded her by slipping in another. Though she felt full, it wasn’t enough. Shey tried to tell him, then his lips pinched her ear sending a blast of shuddering currents through her body and all she managed was a mewl.
Thrusting his fingers, he squeezed her backside, pulling her into a rhythm that made the burning inside morph to an achy pleasure. The orgasm swelled with the force of a train going full out, and she couldn’t bite back the desperate sounds coming out of her throat. His fingers swirled, over and over, barely skimming a spot inside that made heat flash through her. She was panting so hard she couldn’t tell him where she needed him to focus, but as she looked at him with pleading eyes, she hoped he understood.
Calvin’s jaw was tense and the feral need in his eyes cranked her up higher. She gasped as he hit that spot inside again, and he grinned. Shey let out a wordless protest when his fingers swirled again.
‘The anticipation will be worth it, Shey. Trust me.’
She couldn’t form a coherent reply, not with what he was doing to her. Taking her body to the edge, then slowing. Finger-fucking her faster as she felt the monumental orgasm slip away, then using lazy strokes right before she could come. She was sweating all over, and with every ragged breath she got another shot of his amazing smell. It was hard to believe that it would be better this way. When he brought her to the edge again and stopped, Shey wanted to weep. Her emotions were as raw as her body, held at the brink, her pleasure and what felt like so much more in this man’s control.
This time Calvin slipped in a third finger and started pumping hard. With her nails digging into his shoulders to keep herself upright, she begged him with her eyes for more. Whatever wall he’d put up to restrain himself cracked. His thumb found her clit and his mouth sealed over hers with a growl.
Her control crumbled as everything doubled.
The sensations, the mounting pressure, the electric connection. He thrust his tongue into her mouth at the same tempo as his fingers, and kept that punishing rhythm on her clit until she couldn’t breathe. As he sucked her lower lip into his mouth, the pressure exploded in wild spasms, and she grabbed onto his hair to pull him closer, so his mouth could swallow her cry of relief while her body shuddered on.
Shey went limp against him. She felt too open, too raw, more vulnerable than she’d ever been, but she couldn’t let him go. Calvin’s gentle kisses eased her, reassured her that everything would be fine even though she couldn’t think straight. His free hand rubbed up and down her spine softly.
As her mind sharpened, she realized her head had slipped down to rest against his chest, and he still had his fingers inside her. Wedged between the table and him, she was held upright. Shey tested her leg muscles and decided it was better he supported her, but the thought of his hand between her thighs, fingers inside her, made her face heat. Made everything too real. Especially when she realized the pull to him was stronger than ever.
She tried to speak. Her throat was clogged so tight nothing got past except little puffs of air.
Slowly, Calvin withdrew his fingers and her inner muscles tightened on instinct. When they had slipped out all the way, she felt cold and bereft which, she told herself, was insane. Releasing her hold on the silky strands of his hair, she disentangled herself from him, but a hand on her lower back kept her stomach pressed against his straining erection. Her achy core throbbed and pulsed, her muscles clenching with the thought of him filling her up, fucking her as thoroughly with his cock as he had his fingers.
He raised his hand. Those expert fingers glistened and she followed their journey up. Calvin waited until she met his heated gaze, then slipped all three fingers into his mouth and sucked. His eyes closed and an almost feral groan rumbled from his chest. That’s all it took for her whole body to fire up again like she hadn’t just had the best, most intense orgasm of her life.
When he’d finished his taste test, he stared at her through hooded lids. His eyes burned beneath, but she sensed he had put an invisible barrier back between them again, controlled the emotions he’d let go of when she’d begged with her eyes. It didn’t lessen the pull, or the crackle sparking the air between them, but she felt like he’d pushed her away, even though he was still pressed against her.
Not to mention her own self-control was nowhere to be found. God, was she actually considering taking this further? She should have left when she had the chance.
Calvin cleared his throat. ‘I need to be inside you. Now.’
Chapter Three
Calvin’s cock was ready to burst through his Armani slacks, and his muscles trembled with the effort it was taking not to pounce on her. Shey’s scent—her fucking taste—the way she exploded in his arms, cranked his libido into dangerous territory. Worse still, her silent pleading had shot his control to shreds, letting emotions he usually kept on a tight leash flood through him.
He knew from the second they met that sex with Shey would be intense. The sizzling attraction wasn’t one-sided, and it was so much more than he’d experienced with anyone else. It’s why he’d broken all his rules and come after her, even knowing the risks.
He had control now, had wrestled it back as he’d nursed her body through the spasms. She’d squeezed his fingers so tight his dick had swelled until it was weeping at the tip.
He hadn’t intended to go this far. He’d planned on kissing her, making her admit that she wanted the same as he did. Score a night or two in her bed. Because that’s all he could offer her—all he could offer anyone. Commitment was for the weak and he’d already been taken for a fool in that department.
What was between them was more intense than the fire he’d shared with his ex-wife. More necessary than air. Losing control worried him, but the thought of not connecting with Shey on the most basic level was incomprehensible.
‘Shey, tell me what you want.’ Because he needed to hear her say it, even though she clung to his biceps like she couldn’t let go.
‘I…’ Her eyes swirled like melted chocolate, her cheekbones flushed and radiant. ‘We can’t do this.’ Jerking out of his hold, she knocked the chair over in her bid to escape.
Calvin cursed. He was sick of women playing him to get what they wanted, in Jane’s case half of everything he owned. If he wasn’t so riled up, if he didn’t want her so much, he would have walked away. But there was something there that he didn’t understand which was keeping him in the room.
He had to get his cards on the table. ‘Quit playing games. We both know this is going to happen eventually. Coy isn’t sexy.’
After she smoothed down her lilac dress, she glared at him. ‘I’m not playing games, you arrogant ass. I’m telling you I don’t want to have sex with you.’
‘That’s bullshit.’ Even now, she glanced down to his groin. ‘I don’t appreciate being lied to. Tell me what this is really about.’
His a
rousal had won out over patience, but he wasn’t going to force her, silly games or not. Calvin let her pick up her purse and back away to the door. Maybe he should just let her go. She’d lied after all, and wasn’t that how it always started?
But he wasn’t getting those vibes from Shey. In fact, she was the opposite of all the woman who acted coy around him in the hope of gaining his interest, or his ring on their finger.
‘You’re a player, and I don’t do one-night stands. I’m sorry for leading you on, but that shouldn’t have happened.’
His irritation cranked higher. ‘I recall saying I wanted you for more than one night.’
Yeah, he was a fool. An idiot walking wide-eyed into another probable femme fatale, but he couldn’t find it in himself to turn away. Blue balls notwithstanding, it was hard to ignore the chemistry between them. One night would never be enough to explore that delicious body of hers. To find out what else made her scream. To have her tighten and convulse around his cock and fingers and tongue again and again.
More worryingly, he wanted to find out what happened in her life that made her fight this connection with everything she had. The horrible scenarios in his mind made his blood boil with anger, and kept him by the table even though he wanted to close the distance between them.
As she reached the door, she smoothed her hair and blew out an exasperated breath. ‘Do you even have protection?’ Shey met his gaze defiantly, and instead of pissing him off it made his dick throb harder.
But shit… ‘No.’
Calvin shook his head. He never forgot protection, ever. He glanced down at the tent in his pants with a sigh.
‘I could…’ Her head bowed for a second, then she met his gaze. Resolve was etched into the sculpted angles of her face.
Calvin raised a brow.
‘Return the favor?’ Shey licked her lips and his cock jumped.
Trying to think with very little blood in his brain, he worked through all the options. Calvin nodded. ‘Tonight, I’ll come to your apartment. We can continue where we left off.’
Frowning, she said, ‘You can’t, I have roommates.’
Was there any easy way with Shey? Calvin didn’t think so, and wasn’t that refreshing. ‘Then you can come to mine.’
He’d never let a woman into his home since Jane, refusing to get that intimate with anyone else. If he went to her place, he could skip the awkward morning-after chit chat over coffee. Something told him Shey wouldn’t stick around for that, mostly because he’d want to wake up next to her and fuck her long into the afternoon. The woman was as addictive as she was infuriating.
‘I don’t think—’
‘Don’t think about it. Just feel.’ As much as he wanted to drive into that sweet, slick body right now, he also wanted her on his bed. Naked. Pushing her over the edge until they were both sweaty and sated.
In the silence that followed he could see her internal struggle: what she knew was inevitable versus whatever ludicrous reasons she had for holding back. Before the latter could win out, Calvin took a pen and company business card from his jacket pocket. He scrawled his address on the reverse, adding his cell number, and handed her the card.
She took it, her hand shaking, and stared down at the words.
‘Your lunch break is almost over.’ Another reason to wait. ‘I’ll pack up some things for you to take back to work.’ As he spoke, he did exactly that, placing everything in the basket, except the wine. ‘I have a meeting soon. Be at that address at seven. I’ll even feed you first.’
Shey still had a dazed disbelief about her she couldn’t seem to shake. Handing her the basket, he tilted her chin and stared down into the most beautiful amber eyes he’d ever seen, almost laughing when he remembered the starry-eyed quip she threw at him on Friday. He dipped his head and brushed a too-brief kiss on those swollen lips. A current of lust shot through him. He pulled away quickly in case he lost control again and took her against the wall.
He unlocked the door, handed the key to her and left the lobby.
‘What about this?’ she asked, holding up the key.
Calvin grinned over his shoulder as he reached the top step. ‘Bring it tonight and remember to lock up behind you.’
The vision of her standing in the doorway, flushed and dazed from the orgasm he’d given her made his chest glow. Shey hadn’t agreed to go to his house tonight, but he would bet his last million he’d see her again.
In fact, he’d make sure of it.
***
As the clock struck seven, Shey knew she was being a wimp. Eloisa was working late and Georgia was held up at a staff meeting. With no one to talk through all the emotions and worries flying around her head, she’d stayed in her apartment.
Pacing back and forth across the shaggy cream rug in the sitting room, she tried to work out what she was feeling on her own. This afternoon had blown her away. She couldn’t focus, couldn’t do a thing other than go over and over the crazy emotions Calvin had unleashed. He stuck in her head, and she couldn’t help wonder who he was beneath Mr. Cool, and it had almost cost her.
Jude had given her another urgent assignment and now she couldn’t even remember what it was. But the fact she hadn’t got it in on time almost led to a disciplinary. The only thing that saved her job was lying through her teeth, squeezing out some tears, and letting loose some drivel about woman problems. He’d been so uncomfortable he’d let her leave with a promise she’d pull herself together.
There was her first clue that she shouldn’t be anywhere near Calvin.
The second was just as threatening to her job. When he’d said he wanted to be inside her, Shey had almost ripped her panties off and laid back on the table with her thighs spread. She’d wanted him inside her too, so much so she’d gone insane, completely forgetting about protection. Sure, she was on the pill and had been since she got her first period, but she always insisted on doubling up. Accidents did happen. Felicity had told Shey again and again what having her had cost her in terms of career and a life.
She paused at the huge fireplace and watched the artificial flames dance in the dimming light. Calvin was hazardous to her in more ways than one, but hiding from him was a sign of weakness. She was pissing herself off by not having the guts to go and hand him his damn key back and tell him she wanted nothing more to do with him.
More pacing.
The ring tone of her cell cut off her mission to wear a hole through the rug. The unknown number didn’t matter. She knew who it was, though how he got her number wasn’t as clear. Mandy had sworn to tell him nothing else.
Shey let it ring, and ring, and ring again until irritation won out.
‘What?’ she snapped.
‘You’re late.’ The way he drawled the words didn’t hide the undertone of frustration.
Well, he could join the club. ‘I’m not coming.’
A tsk sounded in her ear. ‘I thought you owed me one, Shey.’
Oh, that husky voice wasn’t fair. She was melting, even though all she had on was her sleep shorts and tank top. She slumped onto the cool leather of the sofa. Unsurprisingly, it did nothing to chill the heat of her skin.
‘This has to stop. I couldn’t concentrate all afternoon, and nearly got fired.’ She had to be firm, had to end this now.
‘Sexual frustration does that.’
Her face heated along with the rest of her. ‘I wasn’t frustrated.’ She’d had the best, most satisfying, orgasm of her life.
A low chuckle tickled her ear, like he still had his teeth on the lobe. A delicious shiver ran through her.
‘You were, because you wanted me inside you. You wanted my cock to fill you up and make you come, again and again.’
Holy shit. Calvin’s words stroked right down to her center and wet heat flooded her panties. Crude words shouldn’t have this effect on her. Anyone else and she’d have slammed the phone down by now.
‘I can tell by your breathing I’m right.’ His heavy breaths sounded through the receiver. A
t least she wasn’t the only one.
‘Whether I want you or not doesn’t matter. I don’t need a man in my life, and this has to stop.’ Even if a part of her hated the idea of him giving up on her. Ridiculous. She didn’t even know his last name.
‘The fact that you don’t makes it perfect. If we give in to this spark between us, ride out the pleasure until it’s spent, how can that be a bad thing?’
His self-assured tone grated on her, but she knew now he could back up the words. ‘I’m not coming over.’
‘Then maybe you could return the favor now.’
He didn’t mean…
‘Slide your hand beneath your panties and tell me how ready you are for me.’
Oh my God, he did.
‘Shey, do it.’
‘I…’ She fisted her hand before she did what he asked. This was—
‘Stop thinking. Do you want to know where my hand is?’
Yes, please tell me.
‘I’m cupping myself, Shey. I’m so hard from the need to be inside you, I can’t think straight.’ His voice cracked with raw need.
Calvin’s honesty sparked something inside her, and a weight lifted off her chest. She was screwing with his head, too. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. To the point where they were both useless.
Her usual defenses melted.
Decision made, she said, ‘Squeeze yourself hard on the upstroke.’
He rewarded her with a growl.
Shey reached for the waistband of her yoga pants, wanting to join him in this… whatever it was. Her fingers sought out her smooth mound, then delved lower. She gasped as she came into contact with the burning flesh.
‘Are you wet for me?’
‘Yes.’ She moaned as she tweaked her clit between two fingers, her head falling back against the sofa.
‘I want my head between your legs, Shey. I want my tongue where your fingers are, penetrating you, flicking your clit, sucking your sweet juices into my mouth.’
Mindless, she let her fingers take the path he’d described, plunging deep, withdrawing to flick her clit. It was a special kind of torture. She let his smooth voice brush over her, imagining what he was doing with his cock that had him panting as hard as he was. God! She wanted it in her, she wanted—
