Hot and Bothered (Sin and Tonic Book 4)

by Athena Wright

  Before, I’d been thinking I wouldn’t even know how to begin seducing Evan. After that kiss, my head was now filled with a dozen naughty thoughts.

  My mind went back to that bag with silk and lace. I suppressed a smile.

  Thank you, Lizzy.

  18

  The soft grunts coming from the spare room were driving me to distraction. Although the book in my hands was engrossing, my eyes kept wandering from the page to stare off down the hallway.

  I knew Evan was just working out, but the sounds coming from that room were almost erotic. The first time I’d heard them I’d thought that he’d brought home a girl, or that I’d perhaps walked in on some kind of, ahem, private moment.

  I now knew that wasn’t the case, but it didn’t stop my body from responding in all sorts of inappropriate ways.

  Or maybe it wasn’t so inappropriate anymore. Evan and I were together now. He’d brought me to orgasm on the very sofa I was sitting on. Those same erotic sounds I was hearing right now had fallen from my lips back then. We hadn’t been fully intimate, not yet, but I knew it was inevitable. Why shouldn’t I have been a little turned on by the thought of Evan’s muscled, naked chest, glistening with the sweat of exertion?

  Okay, so I was a lot turned on.

  I didn’t want to interrupt him, though. He clearly took his gym routine seriously. I didn’t have the right to walk in on him and distract him from his workout, no matter how much I wanted to throw myself into his arms.

  I flipped the book shut and pressed my thighs together.

  Evan didn’t even have to be touching me. He didn’t have to be in the same room as me. All it took was a few grunts and groans and I was already hot and bothered. I was turning into some kind of oversexed animal in heat. Surely I could learn to control myself.

  But was control really all it was cracked up to be?

  I chewed on my bottom lip, contemplating my options. Evan said he was okay with waiting, but a guy could only be so patient, right? What would happen, how would he react, if I walked into that spare room right now and plastered myself to his sweaty, sticky body?

  I squirmed on the sofa, wringing my hands in my lap.

  Another soft grunt landed in my ears.

  That was it. My mind was made up.

  I launched myself from my seated position and began to march down the hallway.

  I took three steps and halted as my heart rate spiked with anxiety.

  Was I really doing this?

  Was I really ready?

  Another groan.

  My insides fluttered and ached.

  Only one way to find out.

  I continued on my way with light steps, forcefully shoving down any inklings of hesitation.

  The door to the spare room was open. I steeled myself and peeked my head inside.

  Evan was there, shirtless and in the middle of lifting a weight in his right arm. I waited until he was done his reps and put down the weight.

  “Hey,” I said softly, not wanting to startle him.

  “Hey,” he said with surprise, his chest heavy with labored breaths. A trickle of sweat ran down his throat.

  I got a sudden insane urge to lick a stripe along his skin and taste that droplet on my tongue.

  Oh my god, were those really my own thoughts? What was this man doing to me?

  I should have been scared. I should have been losing it.

  All I felt was a deep-seated yearning in my chest, a shiver of anticipation in my belly, and a throbbing between my legs.

  “Did you need something?” Evan asked.

  “No, I…” I tried to speak through the tightness in my throat. I hadn’t exactly planned what I was going to say. All I knew was that I wanted him.

  Evan cocked his head, waiting for my reply.

  “I was wondering if you needed anything,” I said. “Glass of water? A clean towel?”

  “I’m good, thanks,” he said. “I was just finishing up. You want to watch some more of that cartoon after I’m done getting out of the shower?”

  No, I want to drag you off into your bedroom and get the both of us naked and—

  “Sure,” I croaked. “Cartoon. Sounds good.”

  Evan looked at me with a shrewd eye. “You okay?”

  I nodded emphatically. “I’m great. I’m good. I’ll go turn on the TV.”

  I fled to the living room, cursing myself the whole way.

  I had chickened out. Completely chickened out. I hadn’t been able to force the words out of my mouth.

  I want you, Evan.

  I’m ready.

  I brought my fist to my forehead and groaned quietly, cursing myself.

  I had gone so many years without ever voicing my own wants and needs. I’d given in to every request my parents made of me. Did I even know how to speak up for myself anymore? Had I ever had that ability, or had it been squashed out of me early on?

  Was this how it was going to be? Was this how I was going to live my life?

  A kernel of anger began to rise in my chest at the thought.

  No. I refused to let that happen. I may have been out of practice, or maybe I’d never learned how in the first place, but I was sure of one thing now.

  For once, I was going to get what I wanted, even if I couldn’t yet speak the words out loud.

  Evan was still in the shower when I went back to the spare room. I took the negligee out of the paper bag and held it in my hands, enjoying the contrasting sensation of smooth, cool silk and slightly scratchy, delicate lace.

  I could do this.

  “You want to make some popcorn?” Evan called out from the bathroom once the water had been turned off.

  I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t answer him. My heart was in my throat as I waited in his bedroom in the dark.

  He finally left the bathroom and continued calling out to the living room.

  “I know you’re probably still full from the burrito.” He swung open the bedroom door, dressed again in jeans and a t-shirt. The light from the hallway made a halo around his body, making him appear like a glowing angel. He flipped on the light switch.

  “What do you think—”

  He stopped. He stared.

  I sat on the edge of the bed in the skimpy red negligee that hugged my every curve, a flush on my cheeks. I met his eyes head-on, resisting the urge to duck my head down.

  “You… Uh…” He didn’t seem capable of speaking in proper sentences. His eyes opened wide and roved all over my body as he took in his fill.

  “Lizzy let me take it home with me,” I explained shyly.

  He made that familiar strangled sound in the back of his throat.

  “You look gorgeous,” he finally managed to say.

  I stood and went over to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his. I could already feel the hardening length in his jeans. Instead of feeling nervous or uncertain, I instead felt an odd sense of pride and had to suppress a gleeful smile. I loved how Evan reacted to me, just in the same way as I reacted to him.

  “I’m not very good at asking for what I want,” I told him. “So I thought I’d show you.”

  Evan put his hands on my hips and drew me closer. His warm fingers were like a brand searing into my skin, even through the silk.

  “You’ve definitely put on a show.” He lowered his head to mine, closing the distance between us. “And you’ve definitely got my attention.”

  “I noticed,” I told him. “I remember the way you looked at me back at the photoshoot.”

  “And how did I look at you?” he asked.

  I stood on my tiptoes until his lips were a hairsbreadth away.

  “Like you wanted to devour me then and there,” I whispered against his mouth.

  His eyes flashed with a deep, predatory hunger.

  “If we’d been alone, I just might have,” he said.

  “We’re alone now,” I pointed out slyly.

  His hands tightened on my hips, fingers digging into flesh
. The stiffness behind his jeans zipper was now rock hard and poking into my stomach. My insides throbbed sweetly as I imagined what he might look like naked, how he might feel in my hands and against my skin.

  “So, about that popcorn…?” I teased breathlessly.

  “Fuck the popcorn,” he growled.

  He crushed his lips to mine. The kiss was so fervent, so carnal, it threatened to take my breath away. Our previous kisses had been tepid and bland compared to this scorching hot passion.

  Eventually I had to pull away, gasping a lungful of air. Evan took the opportunity to latch onto my neck with his teeth, leaving quick bites all along my collarbone and shoulder. I shivered at the possessive act, wondering if I’d have red blotches on my skin the next day. That wild, animalistic part of me hoped I would. I wanted to see the signs that Evan had marked me as his.

  We fell onto the bed, hands roaming under clothes and over skin. Evan soon removed his shirt and tossed it to the floor. I ran my fingers along his firm stomach, tracing that delicious V of his lower abdomen.

  He tugged at the hem of the negligee.

  “Can I?” he asked.

  I was only wearing panties underneath. If he removed the skimpy article of clothing, I’d be practically naked in front of him for the first time.

  Instead of answering his question, I took the initiative and quickly tossed the entire thing off and over my head, throwing it to land on the floor next to his shirt.

  He sucked in a quick breath, his eyes growing dark, his expression greedy as he took in every inch of my bare skin.

  “So fucking gorgeous,” he murmured quietly, as if to himself. Then he cupped my cheeks and looked deeply into my eyes. “Do you have any idea how crazy you drove me with that fucking nightgown?”

  “It’s called a negligee,” I said.

  “It should be called goddamn illegal,” he said. “After that photoshoot, I was walking around with a hard-on for an hour.”

  “And I see you’re still experiencing that problem.”

  I cupped him over his jeans. His whole body jerked as I felt his length pulse beneath the thick fabric.

  He captured my lips again as he lowered me down onto the mattress. I hooked a leg around his hip and clung to him as he clutched me close. We grinded and writhed against one another, our bodies pressed together so tightly there was not an atom of space between us.

  The taste of him, the smell of him, the feel of him — all of it combined to overwhelm my senses, sending my head spinning and my body buzzing. The ache between my thighs rose to a fever pitch and my panties were quickly becoming damp.

  I bucked my hips against his to get some more friction, wanting to feel that scratch of denim against my core, but it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough. I went for the buckle on his jeans, eager to be rid of that barrier.

  His hands came down on mine, slowing them, and I worried he was going to do the same as last time. That he was going to keep his clothes on and tell me not to worry about him.

  “I want these off,” I demanded as I tugged on his belt. “Boxers, too,” I added.

  His eyes glittered darkly with a ravenous desire. He didn’t make me wait, shucking off the rest of his clothes easily and coming to kneel on the bed.

  I was confronted with a fully naked Evan. A fully hard, long, and thick naked Evan. My body temperature spiked as a bead of sweat ran down my back. It was mostly in arousal but with a tinge of fear. He was… big. To say the least.

  But I didn’t want to let my fears get in the way. I took him in my hand gently and relished the pleased hiss he couldn’t hold back. I stroked up and down, examining him with a curious, ardent fascination. He was warm and heavy. There was a heft to him that surprised me.

  I continued stroking until he started twitching. Then I laid back on the bed and hooked my thumbs under my panties, sliding them down until I could kick them away. I spread my legs for Evan, one on either side of him as he loomed over me. Wetness dripped down my thighs. I was so ready for him.

  His gaze was fixated on my pulsating core, his eyes ablaze.

  I took him in my hand again, guiding him down.

  “Are you sure?” he hoarsely.

  “Yes,” I said. “Very sure.”

  “Wait.” He leaned over to the side and quickly rummaged through the nightstand before returning back to me with a small foil square in his hand. He ripped it open and rolled on protection, then positioned himself between my legs again.

  Evan was going to be my first. The thought nearly blew my mind into a hundred pieces.

  But I didn’t have long to mull over it because his stiff length nudged against my entrance and he took my face in his hands.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “So ready,” I breathed.

  He put his mouth to mine as he pushed inside. I gasped out loud. He was big, stretching me in ways I’d never felt before, but the pain quickly subsided and turned into waves of pleasure. He was hitting spots inside me I hadn’t even known existed, spots that made fireworks explode before my eyes with every push and pull.

  I panted into his mouth as he kissed me through it. Every pump of his hips brought new and entirely thrilling sensations until I thought I might fly apart completely, as if my entire being might spark into a raging inferno.

  I rose higher and higher until I was sure that if I reached out a hand I’d be able to touch the stars. I was close, so close.

  He brought a hand to the apex of my thighs, playing with that cluster of nerves. I combusted like a supernova, crying out my pleasure, clawing into his back and quaking so hard I thought my bones may splinter.

  I’d never come that hard in my life. And the thought that it was Evan who had brought me that much pleasure was almost as wonderful as the orgasm itself.

  Finally, my neck went limp, my head falling back as I sucked air into my tired lungs. I barely registered his own release until he slipped out of me carefully, soft and spent. I was so far gone into my own hazy world of afterglow.

  Evan wrapped me up in his arms and cuddled me against his own heaving chest.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  “Amaaaazing.” My words were nearly slurred as my lips and tongue re-learned how to make sentences all over again. “Oh my god. That was… Wow.”

  He chuckled at my lack of eloquence.

  I lifted my head from the mattress. “Can we do that again?”

  “Up for another round already?” Evan quirked an eyebrow. “Give a guy a minute to recover.”

  I snuggled back down into his arms and smiled.

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I can be patient.”

  19

  The next morning I woke to find an ache between my legs and stinging bruises along my collarbone. The sensations, though perhaps a tinge uncomfortable, were more than welcome reminders of the day’s previous activities.

  I stretched out my limbs to all four corners of the bed with an early morning yawn. My hand smacked against flesh.

  “Oof,” Evan said. “You got me right in the face.”

  I sat up, alarmed, and saw him lounging next to me, an amused smile on his lips even as he rubbed at his nose.

  “I’m sorry!” I winced in sympathy. “Does it hurt much?”

  “Nah.” Evan handwaved the question away. “You’ve got a weak left hook.”

  I leaned forward and placed a kiss on the tip of his nose anyway.

  “There,” I said. “I’ve kissed it better.”

  He caught me around the waist and drew me down for a proper kiss. I sunk into his embrace, molding my body against his.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “A little sore, but that’s to be expected.”

  He ran a finger along my collarbone.

  “I’ve left you a bunch of hickies.” He didn’t sound apologetic in the slightest. “You might want to wear a scarf or something when you go out.”

  On the one hand, I didn’t care if everyone knew a
bout me and Evan. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, in fact. But on the other hand, I wanted to keep my love life — or my sex life, to be more precise — private. Knowing I was in a relationship was one thing. Knowing exactly where Evan had put his mouth on my body was way too TMI for my liking.

  “Good thing I don’t have another photoshoot today,” I said. “It would have been perfectly obvious what we were up to last night.”

  “Lizzy’s the one who gave you that sexy little nightgown thing,” Evan said. “I think she already knows exactly what we got up to last night.”

  My face burned, and I groaned as I buried my head in Evan’s chest.

  “At least Lizzy will probably be discreet,” I said. “I doubt she’ll tell anyone what she gave me, or what she expected the outcome to be.”

  He ran a soothing hand down my naked back.

  “Are you worried what people will think?” he asked.

  “Not really. Or, maybe. Yes. I don’t know.” I flopped back onto the mattress. “I know it’s stupid, but…” I tried to think of an example to explain what I was feeling. “You remember that one movie, that rom-com? The girl was upset right after the wedding, and her new husband asked why. She was sort of a daddy’s girl, and she said it was because now her father would know she’s not a virgin. And it was a funny scene because she hadn’t been a virgin for years. But she was upset because after her wedding night, now her father would know for sure.”

  Evan lifted himself up on his elbow to lean over me.

  “So you’re worried everyone’s going to know you had sex?” His lips twitched, and I could tell he was holding back laughter.

  I pursed my lips and hugged a pillow to my chest.

  “I told you it sounds stupid,” I said.

  Evan took the pillow out of my hands and scooted over to replace it with himself, letting me snuggle down into his arms.

  “You’re allowed to have whatever feelings you want,” Evan said. “Everyone reacts to their first time in different ways.”

  “How did you react to your first time?” I asked.