Relentless

by Sybil Bartel

  One of his arms went to the back of the couch as his other hand possessively landed on my hip. He let his gaze drag lazily over me, then his lips curved up in a seductive half smile I was quickly becoming addicted to. “Fuck, you’re sexy.”

  A moment of insecurity clouded my thoughts.

  Why wasn’t he touching me? Why wasn’t he immediately taking my dress off? Why wasn’t he going right for sex?

  Unhurried, his gaze unwavering, his arm left the back of the couch. Grasping my face possessively, his voice quieted to a husky drawl. “Do you know the things I want to do to you?”

  Remembering his words downstairs in the hallway, desire mixed with fear and raced up my spine like chill bumps. “No.”

  His thumb brushed across my cheek. “Everything, beautiful.” Sitting up, he brought his lips almost to mine. “Every damn thing.”

  He kissed me.

  Deeply, intently, his hands angling me into his dominance, he expertly stroked his tongue through my mouth.

  Everything I knew about sex was a lie.

  It wasn’t something to be endured. It wasn’t a rushed, forced melding of my body to another for the sole purpose of someone else’s pleasure. It wasn’t an act I had to grit and bear.

  It was two giant, gentle hands holding me reverently.

  And that’s what he did—the boy from the bar who felt more familiar than the memory of my marriage—he held my face, he groaned into my mouth, and he kissed me like he wanted my pleasure more than all the stars in the sky.

  My body on fire, my mind spinning, I did something I’d never done in my life.

  I put my arms around his strong neck, and I kissed him back.

  Growling, he surged.

  Wrapping an arm around my waist and grabbing the back of one of my thighs, he came off the couch and lifted me up with him. In one fluid movement, as if he’d done this a thousand times before, he spun and laid me on my back, coming down between my legs.

  Driving his tongue deeper into my mouth, he thrust his hips against mine.

  Oh.

  My God.

  My back arched, my mouth opened, and a jolt of painful desire shot through my core as his hard length drove against my now soaked lace thong.

  His mouth moved to my neck, and his tongue swirled over my heated skin right before he bit my soft flesh.

  I cried out.

  Lapping at his bite, he slid his hands up my thighs, taking my dress with his caress. “You still with me, beautiful?”

  I was so with him, I’d let him do anything to me right now, as long as he didn’t stop. Dragging my hands through his short hair, I gripped.

  He chuckled, and his chest rumbled against my sensitive breasts. “Love that, sweetheart. Keep holding on to me, but I need words.”

  “Yes,” I barely managed.

  Sliding his hands up over my hips and to my waist, he sat up and brought me with him. His eyes boring into mine, he stared at me for a moment as something I couldn’t identify filtered into his intense expression.

  His chest rose and fell evenly once… twice.

  My heart pounded, my skin tingled, and if I didn’t know better I would’ve sworn remorse touched his eyes as he inched his hands up.

  “Still with me?” His deep voice too coarse to whisper, his question shivered in the air around me.

  Maybe this wasn’t about him checking in. “Having second thoughts?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “Never.”

  Then why ask me again? The nagging question scratched at my consciousness, but I pushed it down, along with all the insecurities I brought into this hotel room that had nothing to do with the man in front of me.

  Because he was a man.

  A boy didn’t know how to kiss like he did.

  A boy didn’t push for layers of consent.

  A boy didn’t check in.

  A man did.

  And Thomas was all man.

  A man I’d said I trusted. Except he hadn’t qualified his question, and I hadn’t clarified. I wasn’t going to trust him with my heart and certainly not with my life, but for tonight, I was trusting him with my body.

  And trust was given.

  So I’d let him do exactly as he said he would do.

  I’d let him take the lead.

  Lifting my arms, I smiled. “Show me.”

  A SWEET, SEDUCTIVE SMILE TOUCHED her lips and she lifted her arms. “Show me.”

  Guilt sitting on my shoulders, my dick pulsing painfully, I stared at the fucking vulnerability in her eyes she couldn’t hide.

  Unhinged, her dress in my hands, I pulled the material over her head.

  I was an asshole.

  A desperate, cock-hard asshole who was looking at the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on, wondering how the fuck I got here, recognizing I didn’t deserve it, knowing I owed her some truths but selfish enough not to say them yet.

  Because goddamn.

  Fallon Amherst.

  Here.

  With me.

  Holding her bra to her chest, gray lace covering her sweet cunt, she looked at me with trust, and no way in hell was I gonna back off or throw this moment away.

  Tossing her dress aside, I took her face and sank my fingers into her soft-as-hell hair. Then I gave her the only truth I was willing to give her in that moment. “I don’t deserve you.”

  I didn’t wait for a response. I didn’t want one.

  I drove my tongue into her mouth.

  Fuck me.

  I’d slept with my fair share of women. Fucked them every way I could think of and then fucked them in ways I never could’ve dreamed of. I took, I demanded, and I fucked hard.

  I was control.

  The size of my dick demanded it. My touch was choreographed, and my moves were calculated. Every new woman I fucked, I tailored the program. Her reactions, her body moves, her sounds, her desire—I’d catalog all of it, and I wouldn’t just meet a woman’s needs, I’d fucking exceed them.

  Always.

  There wasn’t much I could control in my life, but this I could. So I fucking took charge in the bedroom. Sex was my therapy, women were my reprieve, and control was my drug of choice. I’d never been able to control my immune system, but I could control my cock.

  Which I did.

  Relentlessly.

  But when my mouth landed on hers, the woman I’d wanted my whole damn life, I lost control.

  I wasn’t the sum of my experiences. I was a man desperate. Desperate for every damn thought, want, and fantasy this woman had unknowingly starred in for the past eleven years.

  My mouth took.

  My hands grasped.

  Frantic, uncoordinated and without finesse, I groped her. My mouth, hot, heavy and without skill ate at her. My cock, pulsing with need, had me rutting against her like a damn animal.

  Every movement chaotic, every damn one of my senses in overdrive, I was consumed with one blinding, pounding emotion above all else.

  Possession.

  She. Was mine.

  Growling, I picked her up.

  Gasping, she clutched at my neck.

  “Hold on, baby.” I kicked the chair away from the end of the dining table and laid her out.

  Her golden hair spread out around her, and nerves hit her voice. “Thomas?”

  “Right here, gorgeous.” Leaning over her, fighting for control, I kissed her slow and soft. “Lift,” I ordered in a hoarse whisper, reaching behind her.

  Like a fucking wet dream, she arched her back.

  Unhooking her bra, I tossed it aside, but when I looked down at her, I was momentarily struck speechless. “Jesus, woman.” Fuck, she was all sex and she didn’t even know it. “You’re so damn gorgeous.” Taking in every inch of her hard nipples, my mouth watered, but I reminded myself I needed to check in. “You with me?” I traced a finger from her neck down between her breasts.

  Quiet, hesitant, she answered. “Yes.”

  “You sure?” I couldn’t stop myself. I lowered my mou
th to her perfect fucking nipple and licked.

  Her mouth opened, her eyes closed, and a tremor shook her whole body as her legs came up.

  I latched on to her nipple and sucked.

  A groan, deep and needy, vibrated her chest. Opening her eyes, she fisted my hair. “Yes.”

  My cock surged, and I wanted inside her. Releasing one nipple, I moved to the other. My eyes on her, I hooked my thumbs in her lace thong and raised an eyebrow.

  Her hands gripping my hair, her eyes on mine, she put her heels on the edge of the table and lifted her hips.

  Fuck yes.

  I pulled her underwear down her long legs, then my heart stuck in my fucking throat.

  Jesus.

  She was better than every single fantasy I’d had of her combined. “I don’t have words for how damn sexy you are.”

  Heat flamed her cheeks, and she covered her pretty breasts. “You’re still dressed.”

  Drowning in the mouthwatering scent of her desire, I yanked my T-shirt off one-handed and took her wrists. “You never have to hide from me, beautiful.” Slow and gentle, but purposeful as fuck, I put her hands over her head.

  Her eyes on me, she sucked in a small breath.

  Restraining myself, I leaned over her and touched my lips to hers once. “Hi.”

  “Hello,” she whispered.

  “You look nervous, sweetheart.” Fuck, I was nervous.

  “Your arms,” she blurted. “You’re more muscular without a shirt on.”

  I smiled. “Is that a problem?” I asked, teasing her.

  She shook her head. “You’re also taller than I thought. When I first saw you,” she added.

  Her shyness, the way she spoke more when she was unsure, it was sweet and so fucking intoxicating, but it was messing with my head. I’d never been with a shy woman. I didn’t know whether to back the hell off or fist my cock and take control.

  My dick aching for contact, I touched my lips to her throat and ground my hips against her shaved pussy. “I was sitting when you walked in to the bar,” I reminded her.

  Her knees drew up around my hips and she moaned. “Oh God. You’re big.”

  And hung as hell, and she was small as fuck. “I’m not gonna hurt you.” I was going to hurt her. If her cunt was as tight as I was guessing, I’d stretch the hell out of her. The thought alone made my dick harder.

  “Kiss me,” she whispered.

  I didn’t hesitate.

  Covering her mouth with mine, I kissed her. But unlike a few seconds ago, I kept my shit in check. All control, stroking deep, I angled her into my kiss and slowly ran my hand down her throat and between her breasts. Barely grazing her hard nipples, I skimmed over her ribs, and flattened my palm across her stomach. Taking the kiss deeper, I held my hand firm.

  Then I cataloged every reaction of her body to mine.

  Pressing down with my fingers, I listened to her breathing accelerate. Gripping her hair tighter, I caught her sweet moan. Inhaling the scent of her desire, I made a mental note of every dominant move she responded to.

  Then I took it to the next level.

  I cupped her.

  She sucked in a sharp breath and stilled.

  Fucking salivating to taste the wetness hitting my hand, I nipped at her bottom lip. “Do you know how badly I want to be inside you?” My dick pounding against the restraint of my jeans, I wanted to sink inside her more than I’d ever wanted to fuck any woman.

  “No,” she barely whispered.

  “I’ve been waiting for this.” I shoved a finger inside her.

  Her back arched, and her mouth opened, but she didn’t make a fucking sound.

  Goddamn, she was tight.

  “Oh, sweetheart.” I bit her ear and thumbed her clit. “I’m gonna make you say my name.” I shoved a second finger inside her and stroked deep.

  “Thomas,” she cried out.

  Hell, yes. “That’s it, sweetheart. Tell me who’s making you feel good.” Fuck her ex. Fuck any man who’d ever touched her. I stroked her sweet cunt again.

  Clenching around my fingers, her hips bucked. “Oh my God.”

  “Fuck, you are so damn sexy under me.” I kissed down her neck and pulled my wallet out.

  Grabbing the two condoms I had, I tossed them on the table and shoved my wallet back in my jeans. I was gonna give her every damn fantasy she’d ever dreamed about and more. I was gonna be it for her. I’d make her feel every stroke of what my body could do for hers and I’d make sure she never wanted another man. I’d be what she dreamed of. I’d be the taste of every damn one of her orgasms. From here on out, she’d remember this night if it was the last thing I did.

  Her arms right where I’d left them, I put my hand over her wrists again. “You ready for this, sweetheart?”

  “YOU READY FOR THIS, SWEETHEART?” His voice, deep and commanding and so incredibly sexual, sent a shockwave through my already tense body, and I shivered.

  I didn’t know what this man had done to me, but nothing had ever felt this good. Oh dear God, his hands, his fingers—huge and rough and thick, he stroked inside me and pressed his thumb on my clit, and I was already straining to hold back an orgasm that would wreck me.

  One intimate touch from him and I was ruined.

  No man would ever compare to him.

  Every stroke of his hands, every touch from his lips, every nip of his teeth and thrust of his hips, it was as if he was playing me. I was his instrument and he was my song. My body on fire, notes of desire and unabashed need escaped my lips.

  I didn’t know how he knew the exact angle to curve his fingers to make me moan. I didn’t want to think about where he’d learned to put the perfect amount of pressure in the exact spot that both hurt and made me soar. I couldn’t breathe thinking he might’ve dominated another woman the way he was dominating me as his tongue entered my mouth like he owned me. And I definitely didn’t want to analyze why his firm grip on my wrists made me feel safe.

  Because all of it was making me fall apart before he was even inside me.

  The only thing I knew with absolute resoluteness was that I could not come yet. If I did, I would lose a part of myself, and I didn’t want that to happen without him being inside me, holding me together.

  “Please,” I begged, my voice a throaty whisper I’d never heard. “I need you inside me.”

  Never breaking the rhythm of his fingers, his huge biceps flexing, he released my wrists and unzipped his jeans, freeing himself in sure, fluid movements. His eyes steadfast on mine, he picked up the condom and tore the corner with his teeth. “I’m already inside you, beautiful, and it’s fucking incredible.” He drove his fingers deep and his mouth landed on mine.

  My throat hummed with a needy moan, and he kissed me.

  But this kiss was different.

  He didn’t drive his tongue into my mouth like he’d driven his fingers inside me. He didn’t grasp my face and angle me into his kiss. He didn’t even groan.

  He softly, reverently, stroked across my top lip and pulled the flesh between his lips, only to release and repeat the gentle caress with my bottom lip. Having his mouth on mine, the sensation of his invading tongue only seconds old, but already burned into my memory—I couldn’t take his teeth gently dragging across my lips without him giving me more.

  As if he were teasing me, as if he was holding back, as if every touch was meant to heighten the anticipation, he played his song of liquid seduction and denial.

  “Please,” I pleaded, trembling. “Don’t tease me.”

  Sliding the condom on, his mouth moved to my throat. “I’m not denying you, love.” He swirled his tongue across my throat, then he looked down at me as if he’d been waiting his whole life for this moment. “I’m savoring every damn inch.”

  Oh God.

  Love.

  I wasn’t even sure I knew what that word meant. I’d never wanted to know, not after the first time my ex had cheated on me.

  But now?

  With this blond-h
aired man’s hands on me, and his eyes boring into mine as he stroked the head of himself through my desire, I wanted to know.

  God help me, I wanted to know.

  The soft silk of his hair between my fingers, I slid my hands down to the hard angles of his face.

  Then I whispered what I wanted more than anything in that moment. “Make love to me.”

  “MAKE LOVE TO ME,” SHE whispered.

  Her words hit my chest, and a tremor went up my spine.

  I fucking lost control.

  Like a trigger pull, no grace, no take backs, I shoved into her.

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  Her back arched, and she cried out in pain.

  She was tight.

  So fucking tight.

  Sucking in air, forcing myself to keep still, I grabbed her small as fuck waist as her thighs tightened around my hips. “Easy, beautiful, easy.” I kissed her forehead, her cheek, her mouth. “Give me a minute inside you.” My cock pulsed hard. “Just give it a minute, you’ll take me.” Fucking Christ, I hoped to God she’d take me. “Breathe for me, sweetheart, breathe.”

  “Thomas,” she cried, a tear running down her cheek before she squeezed her eyes shut.

  “I know, baby.” I swiped at the tear. “You’re so fucking small. I’m sorry.” I kissed her. “So incredibly sorry.” I didn’t want to hurt her, but fuck, fuck. I’d never felt anything this goddamn good.

  “It’s not… it’s not… Oh God.” Groaning, her hands gripping my biceps, her breath short, she opened her gorgeous green eyes and focused on me like I was her world. “You’re not hurting me.”

  My dick surged as guilt hit. I should’ve made her come first. I should’ve told her who I was. I should’ve done every damn thing different.

  But I didn’t.

  No finesse, I kissed her.

  Then I couldn’t hold back anymore, I started to move.

  Driving in to her, grinding my hips, pulling back to do it all over again.

  Fuck, she felt incredible.

  Bullshit flew out of my mouth. “I’m gonna make us come fast and hard, baby.” I thrust deep. “Then I’m gonna start over and make love to you all night long.” Biting her neck, wanting my mark all over her sweet body, I sucked the spot to soothe the sting.