Down for the Count

by Christine Bell

  Then maybe, just maybe, she’d think of him as more than just a fling to help her get over Marty. Maybe they’d have a chance to be something real.

  Slow, Galen. Take it nice and slow.

  He tipped her chin up and lowered his mouth to hers. A soft, brushing kiss, with only the merest hint of pressure. He pulled back to speak, to tell her all the things he wanted to do to her, but she let out a muffled squeak and used the opportunity to dive in, tangling her tongue with his, nipping, licking, sucking. The force shoved him back against the pillow, and he growled low in his throat. Lacey, wanting and hungry for him, was about the hottest thing he’d ever encountered. The urge to go with it and take her hard and fast clawed at him. His cock jerked as she ground her hips against his in a furious rhythm.

  He dragged his mouth away. “You need to give me a minute or this is going to be very disappointing, squirt.”

  She shook her head, eyes wild. “It couldn’t be. I feel like I’ve been waiting for this forever.”

  Even more of a reason to make it worth the wait.

  If he still had a hope in hell of pulling that off, he was going to have to slow her down a little. Or maybe speed it up and then slow it down. His motto was “ladies first” in the bedroom, after all.

  In one swift move, he flipped her onto her back. She yelped but adjusted quickly, running her hands over his back and lower, until she had a grip on his ass. He went for her wrists with a pained chuckle, banding them with his fingers. His full weight was distributed between her torso and his knees so his bottom half could get some space, which finally stopped her from grinding her pubic bone against his already rock hard erection.

  “Let me go. You’re squishing me,” she protested, but her pout told a different story.

  “I’m not squishing you that much. You just want to maul me some more.”

  “You don’t like it?” Her face fell and he tugged her wrists above her head.

  “None of that, squirt. I like it. In fact, I love it. But this”—he angled his hips to her again until his cock nestled against the soft flesh between her thighs; she pulsed against him and he swallowed a curse—“is more than I can bear right now. So we’re going to play a little game. It’s called No Hands. That means, for the next ten minutes, you can’t touch me. At all.”

  She frowned. “That’s a stupid game.”

  “You only think so because you’re a control freak. Humor me, and if you don’t like it we never have to play again.”

  She eyed him for a long moment and then nodded. “Ten minutes.” She peered at the clock and then back at him. “Go.”

  He said a silent prayer of thanks and released her wrists. “Leave them over your head.”

  She bit her swollen lower lip uncertainly but didn’t move. Galen sat back on his heels to look at her. Honey-colored hair decorated the pillow, and he trailed his fingers through its softness.

  “I love your hair. It’s so fucking sexy. You looked like a mermaid in the water. Want to know a secret?”

  Her breath caught and she nodded.

  Maybe it would scare her. Maybe she would think he was a total pervert, but she looked so enthralled, so turned on, he couldn’t stop the flow of words if he tried. “I’ve dreamed of you and that hair. Of you taking my cock in your mouth, real slow. Sucking and licking until I felt like I’d explode. And right when I was about to come, I’d wrap my fist in that beautiful hair and use it to work you faster, harder over my cock until I came deep in your throat.”

  She gasped and her arms came down. “Let me.”

  Need hit him so hard that his vision blurred and his ears buzzed so loudly he could barely hear. “Ah, babe,” he managed to grind out, “you have no idea how much I want to, but I haven’t had my ten minutes yet.”

  Ten had become nine, and he was feeling the pressure. He ran his hand from her wrist, down the length of one arm, over her cheek, to trail down her neck. “Let’s get this off,” he murmured, tugging the strap of her tank top down to reveal the firm swell of her breast. The sight was too enticing to ignore and he bent low and pressed a kiss there. She smelled like sunshine and flowers and he inhaled deeply. “You smell good enough to eat.”

  Her whole body was drawn tight, tensed and so ready for what he wanted to give her. He couldn’t bring himself to make her wait anymore.

  “Fuck it,” he said on a groan. He stripped off her dress, yanking it over her head, and moved to her underwear. With a few tugs and a helpful wriggle from Lacey, they were off and on the floor a second later.

  There she was. Lacey—naked, ready, and waiting. He’d seen her in sections. Her long, trim legs in the summery dresses she favored. Her pert, softly rounded breasts when she’d lost her bikini in the ocean, then later when he’d caressed them in the pool. The flat expanse of stomach on the beach. But all together, capped off by the neat swatch of honeyed curls between her thighs? It wrecked him. The total silence was marred only by the breath sawing in and out of his lungs.

  Ladies first.

  He repeated it like a mantra in his head as he grappled for control. Trailing his index finger over one hip and upward, he caressed the lean lines of her body until he reached the very tip of her breast. She hissed, gripping the pillowcase with both hands.

  “I can’t wait to taste you,” he said, leaning into her and flicking out his tongue. He teased her nipple until she strained toward him, back arched in an effort to get more of his mouth. Her response to the slightest touch made him wish he had more mouths, more hands to touch and taste everywhere. He closed his teeth gently over the tight bud and nipped.

  “Omigod, yesss.”

  He cupped her breast and began sucking in earnest, trying to block out her cries as the pressure in his balls built to a heavy ache.

  “I can’t…you have to…Jesus, Galen, please.”

  Her nipples were beautifully sensitive and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if he could make her come just from what he was doing. Glancing at the clock, he scratched that idea. He was on borrowed time and she’d never climaxed before. No, they’d do this right.

  Pulling back, he gazed down at her flushed face. “I need you to keep your hands up, Lace. No matter what I do, all right? No cheating. I’m on the razor’s edge and if you touch me, it’s all over.”

  “Anything. Yes, just…please.”

  Her eyes were glassy with want and they, along with her soft plea, were almost his undoing. He closed his eyes to block out the sight of her and took a steadying breath, then cupped a hand over her pussy and squeezed. The sweet heat drenched his fingers and he groaned as tremors shook him.

  Lacey tossed her head restlessly on the pillow and she bounced her hips against his hand. She was more than ready and he slid one finger down her center, working the slick, tender flesh until her muttered cries became a litany.

  “Galen, yeah, oh God, yeah.”

  “I need to put my mouth on you. I’m starving for the taste of that wet little pussy.” His words were barely coherent, his voice was so rough. Continuing to stroke her, he slid down the bed until his face was level with her hips, then he dipped his head low. His heart pounded like a jackhammer as he ran his tongue along her seam. When the taste of her flooded his mouth, he lost his mind, sucking and licking, rubbing her swollen clit with his tongue as he thrust one finger into her gripping core.

  The jolt of desire was almost electric. So fucking tight. So fucking wet. Then her hands were in his hair, holding him fast, sealing his mouth to her. Her thighs gripped his head, muffling her screams as the orgasm hit her. Her body tensed, legs trembling as she came against his lips, her clutching heat squeezing his finger like a fist as he slid it in and out. Need battered at him like a tidal wave, the urge to feel that tight channel closing over his cock over and over until he exploded inside her, sucking him under.

  “That’s, oh, wow. I didn’t think I could, but… Now I get it. I so get it,” she said, gasping for air. Her fingers still had his hair in a death grip and her legs twitche

d. In spite of the need grinding at him, he wanted to stand up and do a victory lap.

  “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, squirt.”

  “I don’t know if I can handle better than that.” She quivered as he gently pulled away. “Please, stay with me. I want—”

  “Condom and I’ll be right back,” he said, then rolled to his feet.

  “No,” she gasped, sitting up to take his arm. “I’m on the Pill if you…” She trailed off, her bourbon eyes still hot with need.

  Her trust in him was humbling and he owed her no less. It was liberating to be with someone who he had a history with and could depend on not to try to trap him or trick him. Only with Lacey. “I’m safe. This is a first for me,” he admitted and moved to crawl back into the bed with her.

  “Wait. The thing you said before. About my hair? I…really want to do that.” She wet her lips and shimmied down the bed until her mouth was a scant inch from his tackle. His body went into lockdown mode, as if central command had pulled the plug. His mind bellowed, Back away, but his cock was clearly the stronger force, because nothing short of a grenade could’ve gotten him to budge. Almost in slow motion, her pink tongue peeked out for a swipe over the head of his cock.

  “Mmm,” she murmured, taking him in her hand and dropping to her haunches as if settling in.

  “Lacey,” he protested weakly, reaching out a hand to pull her away. But she took his hand and buried it into her hair, wrapping her fist around his until he held her in a punishing grip. His balls drew tight against his body. “You don’t have to do this.”

  She peered up at him and smiled. “I know. But I want to.” Then she sucked him in hard, cheeks hollowing as she drew deep, deeper until he hit the soft flesh at the back of her throat. She let go of his hand, but her assistance was no longer needed as he worked her over his cock by that sexy mane of hair. The tight, wet suction was a siren’s song too seductive to escape. All too soon, he felt it. The cum pooling low in his balls, the tension low and tight in his belly.

  “We’ve got to stop or I’m going to come.” His warning fell on deaf ears, because he tugged at her hair, but she just kept on going. In fact, she was moving more quickly, her head bobbing between his legs. “Fuck,” he growled, and then he exploded into the molten cavern of her mouth, holding her to him as he spurted hard into her throat.

  Chapter Eight

  Dreaming. Surely she was dreaming. Galen stood in front of her, all big, hard muscles, his face a mask of pleasure so keen it could’ve been pain. She lapped the soft, broad head one last time.

  “So good,” he muttered as he released his grip on her hair and trailed a gentle finger over her cheek.

  “I had no idea,” she said, wondering if he could even hear her over the pounding of her heart.

  He pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, holding her close. “That’s the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more.”

  She nuzzled his throat, breathing in the musky scent of him with a happy sigh. “I want to. I want it all.” Emboldened by his attention, she wriggled in his arms, letting her nipples drag through the light smattering of hair on his chest.

  “Nice,” he hissed, and slid his hands lower to cup her bottom. He tilted his hips into her, his already thickening member prodding her belly. A tendril of fresh need curled in her belly. And then her stomach growled.

  “How about breakfast?” he asked with a chuckle, giving her bottom a playful slap.

  Who knew good sex was such hungry business? She stepped back and glanced down at his increasing erection. “Are you sure you don’t want to?” She waggled her eyebrows and took him in hand for a gentle squeeze.

  “We have all day, and if what we just did was any indication, we’re both going to need the fuel.”

  His dark eyes held a sensual promise that almost made her forget the food altogether. Then her stomach growled again and he chuckled. “I make a mean ham on rye,” he said, tossing her his T-shirt.

  “For breakfast?”

  “I have three things in my repertoire. Sandwiches, steak on the grill, and protein shakes. Take your pick.”

  “Ham on rye it is.”

  He slipped on his boxers and they made their way into the kitchen, laughing like teenagers.

  While he fixed the sandwiches, she cut up a mango and poured some juice to go with it.

  “Tell me what it was like with Marty.”

  She curled her lip and winced. “Ugh, seriously? Why would you want to hear that?”

  “I can’t get my head around a guy being with a woman who looks like this”—he waved a hand up and down in her direction—“who is so sexual and responsive, and leaving it on the table that way. It’s a sacrilege,” he said with an incredulous shake of his head.

  She set the knife down and tugged at the hem of her shirt self-consciously. “I think you’re biased because of our…recent activities. I don’t think anyone has ever referred to me as sexy.”

  “You are, though.” He took the cap off the mustard and smeared some on their bread.

  “It’s not blatant or even intentional, but it’s there. The way you move and in your expressive, curious face. All that was missing was a guy smart enough to see it and want to coax it out to play.”

  To play. She couldn’t forget that part. This was all for fun.

  He sliced the sandwiches in half and set their plates on the granite island before sitting on one of the stools. “Let’s eat.”

  She moved to sit on the opposite stool, but he pulled her to the space between his legs so she was leaning against him. “I feel like I need to be close to you right now. Humor me.”

  A warm thrill ran through her at his words, but she tamped it down to a trickle. She wouldn’t take every little thing he said and read something into it. She would seize the frigging day and enjoy her time here. Then, and not until then, she would think about what the future held for her.

  They ate their sandwiches in companionable silence. When they finished, he plucked up a piece of mango and held it to her mouth.

  She took it from between his fingers with her teeth, lapping a drop of juice from his thumb with her tongue.

  “That will be burned in my memory forever,” he said in a low, husky voice that made her nipples go hard.

  “Wh-what will?”

  “Of you. Giving me head so enthusiastically. So fucking good.”

  She subconsciously shifted to thrust her bottom against him, enflamed by his words. He groaned his approval and took her hips in a tight grip. “Turn around.” It sounded like a challenge, and it was one she was more than happy to accept.

  She turned in his arms, and he slipped his hand around her neck, pressing two fingers to her pulse. “I see how you want me, and I can’t even describe how hard it gets me.”

  The intensity of his gaze threatened to swallow her whole. She looked away. “You make me feel beautiful.”

  “You are beautiful.”

  Her heart swelled in her chest, and she pressed her forehead to his for fear of him seeing the truth in her eyes. She was in love with him already, if she hadn’t been before, and it terrified her. He snaked his hand around to her nape and captured her lips with his. The kiss was tender, sweet, almost reverent. And then it wasn’t. Like a wildfire blazing from the smallest of embers, it raged out of control. He nipped at her lower lip until she opened for him, then soothed the tender spot with his tongue. His free hand crept around her waist and shoved the cotton shirt up so he could touch her skin.

  He released her mouth and stood, kicking the stool out from behind him. It hit the counter with a crash.

  The T-shirt was up and over her head in a flash, and in one move he’d lifted her onto the island. She gasped as the cool granite hit her skin, scalding with need.

  “Galen?”

  His eyes had gone almost black, and his gaze raked her from head to toe. He was like a man possessed. Dropping to a crouch, he draped her thighs over her broad shoulders and pressed a palm to her belly, easing her back until she was open to him, supporting herself on her hands.

  “I can see how wet you are, slick and ready for me.”

  His warm breath washed over her clit, his whispered words shaking her to the core, and she whimpered.

  “Yes. So ready.”

  Just the anticipation of him sliding deep inside her made her heart flutter. How could she be so turned on when he’d barely touched her this time?

  Her thought blew away like feathers on the beach as he pressed two fingers to her and thrust deep. Sensation overwhelmed her, and she cried out, scrabbling at the countertop with her nails. A moment later, he bent and covered her with his tongue, lapping then sucking. She couldn’t help but chant his name and arch against his mouth. More. She would die if he didn’t give her more. And like magic, he did, quickening the pace, licking and suckling harder and faster.

  Her body tensed, poised for climax, and she froze. “Please, Galen. With you this time. Please.”

  He tore his mouth away and slid his fingers from her. “Fuck yeah.”

  Supporting her legs, he slid them off his shoulders and stood. He peered down between them, a feral smile spread across his lips. “You’re so sweet, I could stay down there forever,” he said, spreading her thighs wide. “But I need to be inside you so bad.”

  He didn’t bother taking off his boxers. Instead, he shoved them over his hips until his cock thrust forward, bumping against her thigh. She watched, breathless, as he closed his hand over himself and he looked up, noting her rapt attention.

  “You like what you see?” he asked, gripping himself tighter and stroking his shaft from base to tip.

  She couldn’t keep the strangled groan from escaping her lips and her eyes shot to his. “Is that weird?”

  “Weird that you like to watch me touch myself?” he asked, frowning. “Are you kidding me? You’re my wet dream come to life.”

  He did it again, working himself in one long jerk, then squeezing. Her breath came in pants as he moved faster and faster and his erection swelled to the point that she knew a moment of fear.

  “The look on your face right now is almost worth making myself come all over your thighs and stomach rather than make you nervous, but I have to be inside you.” His voice sounded like he’d taken a karate chop to the throat. “I’ll go slow.”

  She looked up. “I-I think I’d like that sometime. For you to…do that on my stomach,” she said before she could change her mind about saying it.

  He groaned and stepped closer, lining the swollen head of his cock up with her entrance. He pressed forward, inch by excruciating inch. Full, she felt so full, but he continued until her body resisted, the depths unyielding.

  “You are so goddamned tight, babe. I can’t—” When he paused, her body relaxed and stretched around him. He pulsed and twitched deep inside her, and she moaned. He spoke through gritted teeth. “You good? Am I hurting you?”

  She shook her head, too taken by the sensation of having him inside her to speak. Jerking her hips toward him, she urged him forward. With a growl he withdrew, then drove in hard and deep. She came instantly, her orgasm crashing over her as she cried out his name. The aftershock still rocked her when he began to move. Slow at first, a shallow thrust, then deeper until his pubic bone ground against her clit with every plunge. She opened her eyes and looked down to the place where their bodies were joined. Where his heavy sex, glossy with her juices, moved in and out of her, faster and faster. He gripped her thigh, his movements becoming frantic, and he grew impossibly harder inside her.

  “With me, Lacey,” he groaned and pressed a finger to her clit.

  The touch went through her like lightning. She sobbed and broke apart, the column of her sex clamping over him. He tumbled after her, gritting his teeth then bellowing her name as he jerked deep inside her. When their quivers subsided, he pulled her into his arms and she wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him tight, pressing soft kisses against his shoulder.

  With me, Lacey, he’d said.

  If only he’d meant forever.

  Chapter Nine

  It was evening by the time they emerged from the bedroom again. He tugged Lacey into the shower, and she laughed, hiding her face in his shoulder, trying to shield herself from him.

  “I just spent the better part of the day kissing, licking, and sucking every part of you, and you’re going to get shy again? No way.” He kissed her hard and pulled away until he could see her entire body. She blushed, but she didn’t turn away.

  Funny how he’d been on a mission to drive her wild. He’d succeeded, and had the scratches on his back to prove it. But what he hadn’t expected was for her to drive him just as crazy. Hell, she’d knocked him flat on his ass. Giving and greedy. Sensual but sweet. He’d never been with anyone like her.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked, swiping the wet hair from her face.

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