The Complete Tempest World Box Set

by Mankin, Michelle

  I moaned.

  He lifted his head, his eyes darker than I’d ever seen them, his lips wet. “You’re gonna make me come just from those sexy sounds,” he told me right before his mouth crashed down on mine again.

  This kiss was wetter than the previous one. His mouth was open wide like he was trying to devour me and I accommodated him, loving the things he was doing to me. He licked my lips and ran the edge of his teeth against my tongue. Just a hint of pain but it turned me on like crazy.

  Then his mouth traveled down the side of my neck and he did that suction thing again that I seemed to feel in every part of my body.

  “Yes,” I panted. “Yes.”

  And he gave me more of what I wanted, so much more that I could barely take it.

  He leaned back on his heels and I looked at him, totally dazed. His face was dark and drawn tight with desire. “Sit up, darlin’.”

  I pulled myself up, heart hammering in anticipation, wondering what he was going to do next, and knowing that whatever it was I was going to like it.

  His rings were cold against my skin as he reached behind my back, unclasped my bra, and peeled the straps down my arms.

  I shivered.

  “Fuckin’ beautiful,” he praised his heated gaze lingering as he caressed me with his eyes. “Hold ’em for me, baby,” he ordered, his voice low and gruff. “Promise I’ll get back to them in just a second.”

  He gathered my skirt in his hands and yanked it up to my waist. I wanted to see more of him, too. His jeans were riding low on his narrow hips and he had an enticing v that was making my mouth go dry just looking at it. I thought about unbuckling his belt and exploring, but my hands were full and I wasn’t brave enough to veer from his directive.

  He stared at me, at the results of his skilled handiwork, but I didn’t feel any embarrassment. The way he looked at me made me feel beautiful…adored even. I wondered for a brief moment if he’d ever looked at Lace this way, but I shook that unsettling thought away. It was just him and me now. She’d made her choice. She had no place here.

  “Fuck.” His gaze traveled the length of me again before his lust filled eyes returned to mine. “Never seen better, baby.” And just like every hint of insecurity vanished. I was all with him again, watching his ringed fingers as he trailed them over the lacy edge of my thigh high stockings. “I love these. They’re fuckin’ gorgeous. After this we’re definitely doing it behind the couch with just these and those sexy heels back on.” His deep whisper wrapped around me like luxurious silk.

  He lowered his head again, his warm breath bathing my skin right before his wet mouth closed around a nipple, fulfilling his earlier promise and then some; his lips and tongue moving, his teeth grazing, me praising and panting. “Yes. Warren. Yes. Oh, yes!” I could feel the restrained aggression in him as he reached down and purposefully, possessively laid his strong hand long fingers splaying wide over the top of my damp panties.

  I couldn’t help it. I was lost. My heart beating so hard it felt like it was going to burst from my chest. I lifted my hips trying to grind into his hand. It was going too fast. I had no experience with this level of wanting and need.

  “Warren,” I called, trying to warn him to slow down to let him know that it was coming. But his palm rocked and his fingers touched me, giving me just what I needed right where I wanted. And then it was already too late. I threw back my head and started shuddering beneath the cresting wave.

  I heard the clink of metal from his belt and the crinkle of a condom wrapper before he moved abruptly, shoving my panties to the side. Before I’d even come down from the crescendo of my pleasure, he had thrust in deep.

  The sharp searing pain made me gasp, sensations I was unaccustomed to making tears prick my eyes even while I still convulsed around him.

  “Holy fuck!” he growled, his powerful body jerking and his hips bucking a couple of more times before the muscles in his back went rigid beneath my fingers, the warmth of his essence filling me, completing me, marking me as his.

  Bracketed between his braced arms, my discomfort faded as I watched his release soften the hard planes of his face transforming it from gorgeous to breathtaking. Several scintillating things shimmered through my befuddled mind. Joy that we were joined like this. Satisfaction that I had given him so much pleasure. And the knowledge that I had never felt more alive or more secure. Like I had been a captive all my life and had just been set free. In his arms. By him.

  It was worth it. I had no regrets. This was the next step, the right one for me. It wasn’t surrender. It was a gift I had willingly given.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  War

  I pulled out, sliding off the condom and tucking myself back into my pants. Hastily buttoning as I pushed away from her, tossing the evidence of her innocence and my lack of control into the nearest bin. I couldn’t bear to look at her, or have her look at me. She’d been a virgin and I’d just ruined it for her.

  “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

  I raked my hands through my hair and started pacing the floor.

  That protective instinct I had with her was kicking me in the fuckin’ gut.

  I eventually stopped and looked at her. I’d taken her rough without even bothering to remove her panties, yet there she sat the very epitome of demure sexiness with her stocking covered legs drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Tears brimmed in her eyes and I could tell she was pressing her lips tight together to hold them back.

  “I’m sorry, baby.” I apologized, my voice thick around the words I usually avoided uttering.

  “It’s ok, Warren,” she replied, her voice small and uncertain. It made me want to kick my own ass…again.

  “Why didn’t you fuckin’ say something?”

  She dropped her head to her upturned knees. “I didn’t think it would matter and…” A pause and her voice got so soft that I barely heard her. “I didn’t think it would hurt that much.”

  Fuck me. Fuck me.

  I went and sat beside her, laying my forehead against hers and curling my fingers around her neck. “Sweetness, look at me.”

  She lifted her head. Shimmering eyes met mine. Her cheeks were wet. I was such an ass. I searched for something to say and came up with absofuckinglutely nothing. Skanks and whores I knew how to handle. I had no idea what to say to a twenty-one year old who I’d just unceremoniously deflowered.

  So I went with my gut. It told me to hold her which is what I wanted to do anyway. I threaded my arm around her waist and pulled her onto my lap. She was tense as hell. I tucked her into my chest and kissed the top of her head, breathing in her now familiar smell.

  “I’m sorry I got pissed. It was just so unexpected.” I stroked her back. Her skin felt like warm satin, and she started to relax. “You’re so confident. I had no idea. The first time I came up here you stripped in front of me as bold as you please.”

  “I’m an actress.” She sighed. “I’m pretty comfortable with my own body.”

  “Lucky for me.” Just looking at her and I was already starting to get hard again. Talking about her hot body wasn’t helping.

  She blinked up at me through those fuckin’ beautiful long lashes. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I’m glad you took me up on my proposition back on the bridge. It means I’m glad we did what we just did ’cause, baby you lit up for me like the Fourth of July. I’d be crazy not to want another go at that. You think I could talk you into putting on those high heels again?”

  She stared at me, her green eyes starting to swim in wet again.

  Shit. I was trying to compliment her. What had I said wrong?

  She put a hand on my chest and then traced the heart outline of my tat with her finger, her face hidden from me. “You really want me again after that?”

  “Hell yes. You’re smokin’. Why the hell wouldn’t I?”

  “I thought you were mad.” She looked up still appearing to be unconvinced. “I thought you might be disappointed that I w
as you know…inexperienced.”

  Ah, so that was it. I scratched my head, once again finding myself in unchartered territory, having to be careful with my words around her. “Darlin’ the way you were with me. The way you responded to everything I did, I’ve never had any better. And I’ll tell you something else, it’s a big fuckin’ turn on, and I mean a huge one, to know that I’m you’re first. That you gave that up for me.” I didn’t let on that she was the only one who’d ever given me that gift. I didn’t tell her about Lace. That I’d known that I hadn’t been her first. Though I hadn’t found out until recently that Bryan had taken what should have been mine.

  She smiled, and the brightness of it practically illuminated the entire room. I found it suddenly surprisingly easy to set aside that old bitterness about Lace and Bryan. I was succumbing to Shaina’s charm, discovering that the more time I spent with her, the more that warm light of hers seeped inside of me.

  I’d lived my entire life without expecting anything good. If you don’t have expectations, you don’t get hurt when you inevitably get let down. I’d learned to take out of each moment the most I could get. If someone gave me an inch, I took that extra mile ’cause that’s how life had taught me to operate.

  Now with her, I wasn’t sure, but I was beginning to believe that maybe the old pushed around and tossed aside Warren Jinkins had finally latched onto something good. Something just for me. It made me feel incredibly possessive and freaked as shit at the same time.

  I didn’t let any of that show or at least I don’t think that I did. I kissed her still smiling lips. I was fast becoming addicted to the taste of her happiness. It was delicious and contagious, and just as fuckin’ sweet and unique as I’d imagined it would be.

  I pulled back and framed her pretty face in my hands. I looked deeply into her sparkling eyes and tried not to think about how much I wanted to stay longer than a night and be the type of man who could make her laugh, make her smile, make her happy. “Why don’t you go get cleaned up? I’ll order some food and then we’ll do some other… stuff. We’ve got all the time in the world, right?”

  She nodded while she stared back, her own eyes searching my own. I think she got the between the lines of what I was saying and that was good ’cause I didn’t know if I could ever say out loud any of the shit that I was thinking.

  “Alright then.” I set her off my lap and slapped her cute little rear. “Get to it,” I ordered gently when she still didn’t seem inclined to move. “I look at that awesome ass of yours a second longer and I’m gonna throw you down on the rug and do you on your hands and knees, Sweetness.”

  Her lips curved up. Given the new dreamy glint in her eyes I got the distinct idea that the hands and knees thing wasn’t actually the deterrent I’d meant it to be.

  My mouth broke into a wide smile. I found myself torn between which to focus on, her hips or ass or her shapely legs as she walked away. She stopped at the doorway, one hand on the frame, and gave me a sexy glance back over her shoulder. “I’ll make a deal with you, Warren. I’ll put the stilettoes back on if you promise to do the hands and knees thing with me later.”

  Hell fuckin’ yeah.

  I had myself a virgin who liked doing it dirty. My luck had taken a definite turn for the better.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Shaina

  My skin was tingling, hypersensitive under the warm water as I took a shower. As the steam billowed around me, I kept remembering the way he’d looked at me as if I were some precious prize that he had won. Or at least that’s what I wanted to believe.

  Warren Jinkins thrilled and terrified me all at the same time. I wanted him, and I wanted him to teach me everything there was to know about lovemaking. I wanted, no I needed, everything from him, and I think though he would probably never admit it, that he needed me too. Even on a terrible day like today I had been able to make him smile. We were good together. We were good for each other. But I was afraid to put myself out there, afraid the fragile seams of what we had woven together could easily come unraveled and I would be left holding nothing instead.

  I took special care with my ablutions, using my favorite bath gel and shaving my legs again even though I’d done them just last night. I kept my hair out of the water because whenever I got it wet it took forever to dry. By the time the last of the suds had slid silently down the drain, I was ready to get out, and ready to take a chance on him. He was worth the risk.

  I determinedly drew back the curtain and stepped out onto the bathmat, and then squeaked with surprise.

  Warren was waiting with a towel. He held it out. His heavy brow gave him a serious air. His caramel hair grazed his jaw, and his changeable oak eyes glittered intently under the bright vanity lights. I stepped into it and he dried me off with infinite care before tagging the robe I’d placed on the counter, and helping me slip it on.

  He was so thoughtful. My reluctant, yet gallant knight. He braved the darkness for me, scaled the tall walls of my loneliness, and even rescued me from a potentially hostile horde of school children. I don’t think he realized that though these gestures made me feel like a princess, they weren’t really necessary anymore. My heart was a favor that he’d already won.

  He gently turned me around and tied the sash for me while I stood there staring down at his bowed head trying not to read too much into it. Trying but failing not to feel completely loved and cherished by him.

  I suddenly felt shy. His magnetism was a bit overpowering, especially when I remembered what we had just done. I was also having a heck of a time deciding where to rest my eyes. Everywhere I looked was incredibly sexy. He still hadn’t put on a shirt and the wide wall of his muscled chest was calendar worthy, the exposed v above his hastily done up jeans equally so. I was licking my dry lips when he spoke.

  “Food’s here.”

  My gaze lifted. His eyes had turned darker mahogany, and his voice had taken on a gruffer edge. Both were things that I was beginning to correlate with him being really turned on. I liked thinking that maybe he liked me looking at him as much as I liked him looking at me. His ringed fingers trailed down my arm before he took my hand. I found I was more than a little disappointed when he led me to the living room instead of back toward the bedroom. But that disappointment was short lived.

  He’d been busy while I’d been showering. I must’ve been in there a lot longer than I’d realized.

  The furniture in the living room had been rearranged, moved back to accommodate a spread out blanket in front of the sectional. Candles (who knew room service delivered candles?) were lit all around and their flickering gave the room a romantic glow.

  A silver bucket with champagne rested on one corner of the blanket, and there were white and red cartons of Chinese food sitting beside it.

  It smelled delicious and it looked divine.

  I turned, threw my arms around his neck, and kissed him hard. The way I knew he liked. His hands settled on my lower back and he pressed me closer. The kiss got a little heated, tongues were engaged and we were both breathing heavy when he lifted his head.

  “You like Chinese food a lot, huh?” he teased.

  I slapped his arm. “How did you do all this so fast?”

  “I have my ways. But darlin’, you do realize you were in that shower for almost an hour. What the hell were you doing in there?”

  I felt my face warm. “Just girl stuff.” Apparently my mind had wandered a lot farther than I thought.

  Bare feet stepping on the blanket, he withdrew the bottle of champagne from the bucket and opened it with practiced ease, an unwelcome reminder that unlike with me, this wasn’t his first time around with any of this. My nerves resurfaced. The romantic bubble he’d created for us was stretching thin under the pressure. But even though I knew there was a good chance this would likely end after tonight, I wanted to stay in my own pink little bubble of denial a bit longer.

  “Whatcha thinking about, Sweetness?”

  I shook my head. “Nothing.”
He was here and with me now. That was all that mattered. Why ruin it with worry?

  I took a seat on the blanket, tucked my smooth legs underneath me, and arranged the robe to cover them. I peered up at him as he moved closer. “It was really thoughtful of you to do all this.”

  He lowered himself to the floor beside me and squeezed my knee. “You deserve the whole seduction setup and a whole lot more. But unfortunately what you’ve got for right now is me. I can do this.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hands. “And I can make the next time gentle for you, baby. And I can make it good. But I need you to know upfront not to set your expectations beyond that. In the end it’s just me, a short term unreliable guy from the rough side of town.”

  “That’s ok, Warren. I don’t expect anything else.” Wishes were not expectations so I wasn’t lying. “And I don’t want to change you. I like you just the way you are.”

  His expression changed so suddenly and he moved so fast that I wasn’t prepared and gasped when his ringed fingers framed my face. “Say that again.” His voice was low, his gaze was piercing, and his eyes were only inches away from my own.

  I brought my hands up to cover his. “The part about not expecting anything or the part where I said I like you just the way you are,” I asked in a soft rush.

  “Never gonna get used to it,” he muttered his gaze still intense. “The way you keep doing or saying things so sweet like that.”

  Well that sentiment was definitely mutual.

  He closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to mine. “You’re sweet as fuckin’ candy.” He stayed like that for a moment seeming to recollect his usual composure when he leaned back and reached for the champagne. “Wish I had met you before,” he told me with a shuttered gaze as he filled up the flutes.

  Obviously he meant before Lace had betrayed him. His heart was locked up too damn tight for anyone to get in now. Not that I blamed him. That had been a bad scene all the way around. I probably would have reacted the same way, although I wasn’t near as good as he was at shutting down my emotions.