by Lynda Aicher
Two steps, that was all it took to reach her. He hauled her to him, breath hitching when skin met skin. Her lacy bra teased his nipples, sending sparks racing to his groin on a train of lust.
He ran his fingers through her hair, the silky strands tickling his hand before he cupped the back of her head. “What the fuck am I going to do with you?” he mumbled.
That slow smile of hers worked its way over her lips. She drew his head down, pausing a breath away in a trick she’d picked up from him. His pulse raced as she looked into his eyes, the heat and want mixed with an honesty he couldn’t reject. This was more for her too. Not just another fuck.
His heart did a clench-and-hold that tightened his stomach and nipped at the longing he’d blocked years ago. He was heading into the unknown and he couldn’t get himself to stop. Not with her.
She lowered her gaze, her lips brushing his as she whispered, “Fuck me.”
He was on her then, his mouth claiming hers in a desperate drive to stake his ownership when he had none. Not yet.
But there was no way he’d be satisfied with one night. And there was no damn way he’d let another man fuck her. Not after this.
Whatever the fuck this was.
Chapter Seventeen
Carson kissed her like a man possessed, and Avery gave herself over to him. His tongue teased and stroked with every little dip of his head, and she met each one without thought. No, she couldn’t think. Not now. Not in the moment.
If she thought at all, this entire night would be too overwhelming.
His erection ground into her abdomen, his skin hard yet soft against hers. Her senses were overstimulated with everything about him. That masculine, woody scent of his swirled through her head to spin with the dizzying stroke of his hands down her back, and lower, over her ass, beneath the thin line of her thong.
Yes. Her cry was silent, the want climbing with every heated second that passed. Would she ever get close enough to him?
Her moan was muffled by his mouth when her bra loosened. His hands skimmed over her back, one slipping to her side before it slid beneath the fabric to cub her breast. She heaved a sigh of relief that hitched when he tweaked her nipple, but it was only a tease. More chanted in her head as she sucked in deep breaths through her nose. Touch me. Pinch me. Please. Please. Everywhere.
He pulled back, removing her bra as he did. His eyes were dark with lust and promise. “Lay down on the bed.”
His authoritative tone sent a line of goose bumps down her back. His distinctive rumble deepened into that sultry husk from the Boardroom. Her nipples tightened impossibly more, sending a wave of tingles over her chest that raced to her clenching pussy.
She’d never been ordered around in the bedroom. And she’d never had a man look at her the way Carson was. Like he wanted to consume and savor her at once.
And that was her power. It flared through her to ignite a confidence she’d never had in this situation.
A sly smile curved over her lips as she crawled onto the bed. Every move was deliberate, including the sway of her hips and the peek of a glance she sent him over her shoulder.
His low growl urged her on even more. She could tease him, taunt him with what she had and he wanted. This newfound strength was heady and so damn amazing.
She turned to her side, her smile shifting from sly to knowing when she caught his fiery gaze. She had him. And for right now, in this moment, he was all hers.
Just hers.
She reached down to remove first one, then the other heel. She tossed each one over the side of the bed before rolling to her back, knees bent, legs spread. The pose was decadent and blatantly smutty. And she loved it.
His nostrils flared on his inhalation, lips compressed with the hard clamp of his jaw. He wanted her, and she reveled in that knowledge. She truly felt beautiful under his gaze.
“Play with your nipples,” he rumbled as he undid his belt. Her heart jumped, but she complied without thought. This time she was the show, and there was something thrilling about it.
She slid her palms over her abdomen before cupping each breast. They were heavy and full in her hands, and she savored the delicious sensation of simply experiencing her own touch. Of how her breasts molded and compressed when she squeezed, waking a want she’d never bothered to explore before. Not with herself.
She tipped her head back, eyelids lowering when she finally pinched her nipples. The bite was gentle until she squeezed harder. Her back bowed as a nip of pain burned into desire.
“That’s it,” he encouraged. “Pinch them harder.”
And she did. Her whimper eased out when she rolled the tips between her fingers, twisting like he’d done. The sting shifted to breath-stealing anguish, but she didn’t let go. This was his show, and she’d give him whatever he asked for.
She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to breathe through the stabbing digs flaring from her nipples. It wove over her chest and dove deep as it spread in a languid thread to her pussy. She tracked it, a part of her enthralled by the path.
The bed dipped, and then Carson was between her legs. His breath ghosted hot over her pussy through the thin material of her thong, wrenching a shudder from her. “Fucking gorgeous,” he said on a low note before he shoved the slight covering aside and swiped his tongue through her heat in one long stroke.
She gasped and curled up, her stomach muscles clenching as the pleasure ripped through her. “Oh, God,” she cried, opening her legs wider.
His chuckle tickled her clit before he flicked his tongue over it. Her moan was long and filled with the amazing warmth spreading from her pussy. The pain was gone, replaced by an intense bliss that hovered in her core.
Her hands fell to her side as her focus zoomed to his attack. He was relentless. His assault on her pussy was just as intense as the one he’d made on her mouth. He paused long enough to yank her thong off her legs before diving back in. Each hot lick, flick and suck drove her deeper and deeper into the haze of lust and need. Her pussy clenched, demanding to be filled, but he didn’t heed her pleas.
Her hips jerked up in a desperate quest to get him to fill her. A finger, two, more—anything. She ached with the emptiness while pleasure coiled and tightened beneath her clit.
“Please,” she begged.
He shoved her hips down, his rough purr of satisfaction vibrating over her tender flesh. She sucked in a gasping breath, legs quivering with the unfulfilled need that had become an aching want.
“Please what?” he coaxed. He slid his tongue down to circle her opening. Just circle. A slow glide that edged the rim without dipping into her heat. Her mind blanked to everything but getting that last plunge. Of having her walls finally stretched and filled.
She squirmed, trying to get closer, but he held her hips in place. Her whine was just that. A pitiful plea for what she couldn’t seem to say.
“Please what?” he repeated, his voice stronger, more demanding. He was going to make her say it. Again.
There was no logic to why she was resisting. She’d told him before. She’d said it—begged for it—in front of others. Yet now it stuck in her throat, trapped behind the last outcropping of resistance.
For some damn reason, she didn’t want to give in to him. She could hold out. She could control her own wants.
His tongue skimmed over her opening before returning to her clit to torture her with more flicks and just enough pressure to bring her orgasm so close but not over. It hovered right there, until everything pulsed with the need to explode.
“Please,” she finally begged again, head tossing. “God, please just fuck me.” The words tumbled out on a rush of courage and acceptance. She wanted this and so much more from Carson.
* * *
Her plea was a sweet note of undoing—both hers and his.
Carson surged up and took her mouth in a kiss that said
more than he could voice. He devoured her, sought out her sweet flavor and let it blend with the musky saltiness that lingered on his tongue. The combination was perfect and delicious.
He wanted more. So much more.
She gripped his shoulders, legs winding around his hips to hold him close. Avery’s passion was so beautiful when she unleashed it. Damn how he wanted to please her. To make her fly. To see her smile and make her cry out with pleasure.
And he had to have her before he went crazy.
He shifted back and waited for her eyelids to flutter open. The want and need flared in her enlarged pupils, but there was also something else. Something he was afraid to define, yet a part of him craved it.
He adjusted his hips until the tip of his dick nudged her opening. Her lips parted, breath holding with his as he slid into her on one continuous glide. Heat and wet and tightness surrounded his dick in a torturous yet amazing clench.
She tightened her hold on his neck, mouth opening on a silent gasp until he was buried within her. He sucked in a breath and savored the connection. It was different in ways he couldn’t articulate, but it simmered over his senses and prickled down his spine in awe.
She held his gaze as she drew him down. Her breath hitched, the warmth gusting over his lips before she pressed her mouth to his. The soft, gentle glides countered the wild tension hammering to break free. It crept into his chest and wound around his heart to pluck at the denial holding it captive.
His groan tore from his chest in a brazen escape. He jerked his hips back but halted. A breath. Two. Her eyes were wide, expectant.
His arms quivered as he struggled with the needs of his body and the will of his mind. He closed his eyes, a sense of defeat and acceptance flowing over him when he slid back home. Her sigh was soft, her legs contracting around his hips.
He was lost. So damn lost.
He buried his face in the crook of her neck and gave in to nature. He set a sweet, rolling pace that nurtured the desire spreading from his groin. The warmth flowed through his limbs and meshed with the longing cresting from his chest.
Avery surrounded him. All of him. Every sense was focused on her. Her soft cries. Her firm grip on his nape. Her addicting scent that’d deepened with her desire. She ran her nails down his spine, and he trembled with the goose bumps that followed.
He rocked his hips, the pace increasing without thought. He was nothing but instincts now. Need drove him. The need to hear her cry out with her release. To feel her come around him. To catch those small hitches and aftershocks that trembled through her.
To taste her sweetness and see her amazement in eyes heavy from the endorphins flooding her system.
His dam of restraint broke on a hard crash of primal ownership. He crashed his hips to hers, driving deep and hard into her. He couldn’t get close enough. Deep enough. And she met him on every stroke. Drawing him down, clenching around him until he grunted from the sheer glory of it.
He gasped for air, dragged sloppy kisses up her jaw, then pressed his temple to hers. Her breath hitched. Her nails dug into his back. He drew his knees up to change the angle. She cried out, and he nailed that same spot over and over.
“Come,” he demanded. “Fuck. Please come,” he mumbled, eyes squeezed tight. Come now. Come before I explode. Come for me. Please.
Her orgasm burst free in a wave of clenching muscles, a breathy whine and hard spasms. Pain laced through his shoulder blades from her nail bites to trigger his own release. His harsh grunt ripped from his throat as he ground into her, seeking every last clench and ripple that stroked over his dick.
He emptied himself into her, relief and awe floating through on the ending wave that left him gasping for air. Dazed, drowning, lost. He sucked in air, unable to move or even think.
This...this wasn’t a fuck. Not just a fuck.
He rolled his head against hers, brushed a kiss to her cheek and wrapped his arms around her as he scrambled for the control he’d somehow lost.
There was no controlling this, though. Not anymore.
And for once in his life, he didn’t care.
* * *
Avery floated in the warm afterglow of bliss and contentment. That had been amazing. So much more than just sex.
At least for her.
Held tightly in his arms—their breaths still heavy, skin still heated, connected in the most intimate way possible—she wanted to believe it was for him too.
She laid a kiss on his jaw. The stubble tickled her lips, but she held it there, believing he would understand her meaning. She couldn’t say what was churning inside her, not if she wanted any chance of experiencing this with him again.
After another long moment, one where her arms grew heavy and her legs slid down to rest on the mattress, Carson reached between them and eased out of her. The loss was tangible, but she clamped her lips tight to stay silent.
He held the condom in place as he rolled to the side of the bed. Her brain hitched, a frown forming at her own lack of awareness. She’d totally forgotten about protection. “Thank you for putting that on,” she told him. She had an IUD, and she assumed his Boardroom membership meant he was STI-free, but they hadn’t discussed going bare. Hell, she didn’t remember when he’d gotten rid of his pants either.
His lips quirked. “Of course. I need to take care of this.” He pointed out the door before he stood. She turned to her side and openly ogled his taut butt cheeks and muscled legs as he left. How could she have missed admiring that before?
She debated if she should get dressed or crawl under the covers. Was this where it got awkward? If this was just sex, then he’d take her home, wouldn’t he?
And she shouldn’t assume it was anything more, no matter how it felt to her.
With heavy limbs and heart, she shoved herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. A chill swept over her skin and she shivered. Indecision had her still sitting there when Carson walked back into the room.
He stopped in the doorway, blocking the flow of light from the hall. His expression was concealed by the shadow, but she could tell he was staring at her. What was he thinking? The urge to cover herself brought a wave of heat up her neck.
Damn it. Why now? Where was that brave new woman she’d embraced earlier tonight? At least she didn’t look away from him.
“Do you need to go home?” he asked.
That low rumble of his floated across the room to caress her. Her shoulders lowered, the tension fading. “No. Unless you want me to leave.”
He flicked off the hallway light. The room plunged into a haze of dark outlines. He came toward her, each step a slow stride that seemed almost predatory. Another shiver raced over her skin, but this time she wasn’t cold.
He stopped before her, and she kept her eyes up even though his dick was right there. The musky scent of them filled her nose on her next inhalation, and she couldn’t stop the smile that formed. She definitely wasn’t used to being so casually naked around anyone.
She knew now that his chest was free of hair, his muscles firm and defined from his abdomen to his shoulders. He was fit and strong and everything that made her feel protected even when he loomed over her.
He cupped her chin, dipped to kiss her. “Will you stay?”
Her heart jumped, hope springing forward yet again. She swallowed it down before saying, “Yes.”
“Good.” He kissed her again. Longer, deeper, oh-so thoroughly that she forgot about being naked. Forgot about remaining distant. Forgot about tomorrow and all that would come.
He pressed forward until she fell back, his lips never leaving hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and made the choice not to worry. Not when she was here with this amazing man who’d changed her life and was becoming so damn important to her.
Maybe it was just a night, but it promised to be a very, very excellent one.
Chap
ter Eighteen
Carson woke with a start. His eyes sprang open, senses on alert. Why? His pulse raced, his brain coming online with the squeal of breaks. A stream of muffled curses filtered into the room from outside to slowly bring the world back to him.
Christ. He flipped to his back, rubbed his eyes. His yawn stretched his jaw. What time is it?
The sun blazed through his thin curtains, and he squinted at the ceiling as he adjusted to the brightness. He didn’t sleep this late—whatever time it was. He was usually up at dawn no matter when he went to bed.
He shifted to his side and froze. The previous night raced in with all the heat and passion that’d accompanied it. The other side of the bed was rumpled but empty. Had Avery left?
He shoved up and scanned the room, breath held until he spotted traces of her belongings. Her red heels still lay in the middle of the floor where she’d tossed them, a scrap of pink lace was bunched on the floor by his dresser and her red dress was folded neatly over the back of the chair in the corner.
He flopped back down, breath gusting out. Why did it matter so much that she was still there? If she’d been any other woman, he would’ve been relieved that she’d left.
But she wasn’t any other woman.
If he was honest, she’d never been.
He tugged on a pair of nylon shorts and a T-shirt before making a quick stop at the bathroom down the hall. He glanced in the other rooms as he passed them, but didn’t spot her. Where is she?
A mug sat waiting for him on the counter next to his one-cup coffee machine. A dirty spoon was in his sink, but other than that, nothing was different. He made himself a cup of coffee and sighed heavily after the first sip. Maybe his brain would function now.
Coffee cup in hand, he took the hallway stairs up to the shared rooftop deck. His smile broke free when he spotted her. Avery was curled up on a deck chair beneath the shade of a table umbrella. Her feet were tucked under her, one of his T-shirts hanging loosely off a shoulder. Her hair flowed in loose waves over her shoulders as she focused on something on her phone.