I lifted my chin, which brought my mouth dangerously close to his. “Public.”
“I definitely need to get to the library.”
“We have lots of resources for the community,” I whispered.
“I’m the patron who’ll need lots of attention.” Closer, closer, closer his lips came. “Personal attention.”
I gulped as I imagined him clearing the reference desk and laying me out on top of it. “You could start by joining the book club.”
“The dirty one?” His mouth brushed mine. “I vote we start our own. Right here. Right now.”
“I don’t have enough copies of the book for both of us,” I rasped, fisting his shirt.
“We’ll have to improvise.”
With a palm in the small of my back, he pulled me flush against him. Hard heat branded my stomach even though we were both fully clothed. The faint scent of peppermint intoxicated me.
I closed the millimeters between our faces and kissed the corner of his mouth. It wasn’t enough. Greed consumed me when his stubble sandpapered my lips.
I slid my hands up his chest and around his neck, threading my fingers in his hair. And then I kissed him like I meant it, like I’d been waiting for this moment my entire life. His tongue collided with mine, and it became official: peppermint Hale was my new favorite flavor.
He held me like I belonged to him. His touch melted every bit of tension from the day away. He was unexpected and yet familiar. I opened to him in a way I hadn’t with anyone before, and instead of thinking too hard about that, I yielded to how right his fingers pressed into my back felt.
My heart jack-hammered as I peppered kisses up his jaw. He traced a circle with his tongue in the spot just below my ear, and I shivered. I nipped at his earlobe, and he groaned his approval, those sure fingers skimming up my spine.
We’d been naked only hours before, but this felt more intimate and no less dizzying. I trailed kisses across his bare chest, not sorry in the least for ruining his shirt. He applied pressure to my neck, and I pulled back, thinking he’d had enough.
“Don’t stop,” he rasped.
I blazed a different path over his pecs. When I grazed his nipple with my teeth, he tugged on my hair. The slight sting on my scalp was sweet. I needed it again, so I worked my way to his other nipple and repeated a little harder. The reward was exactly what I wanted.
His fist wound tightly in my hair. I shoved his gaping shirt off of his shoulders, but it got stuck on his arms where he refused to let me go. He slammed his mouth to mine with intensity and urgency.
I wrapped a leg around his waist, and he lifted the other so I was no longer on the ground. He moved toward the bungalow and never stopped kissing me, even when my back hit the sliding glass door.
I squeezed my thighs together as a riot took place inside me. He ground his erection into my center, which sent me into a frenzy. My hands and mouth were everywhere, out of control and desperate.
I reached between us and pulled on the hem of my shirt. Over my head it went, destination unknown as I let it fly. The warm breeze hit my bare breasts.
“No bra?” He dipped his head and kissed between my cleavage.
“The only one I have is ruined.”
“Good.” His cupped me with his big palm. “You have been taunting me with these all day.”
“I’d say you had a good look earlier.”
He rolled my nipple between his fingers. “Not the same as touching, Patch.”
I wholeheartedly agreed.
His hair was the ultimate temptation. I played with the ends of it and felt an overwhelming satisfaction as he grew harder against me.
He dropped his forehead to mine, something I was quickly growing to like. “Be mine. Just for tonight.”
I didn’t have to think twice. Maybe this man drove me crazy at times, but I loved the way he felt against me, how I just plain felt. Like I was alive after a hundred-year sleep.
One night. Our version of sexcapades. Yeah, I was definitely down for that.
I offered him my mouth in acceptance, and he took it. The glass had warmed against my back, but it was nothing compared to the fire in his touch. I fumbled for the button of his jeans and pushed them off his hips. Bare skin branded my stomach.
I broke apart and looked between us. “Do you even own underwear?”
He laughed and brushed his lips against mine. “I didn’t want it to get in your way.”
“Guess I can’t say you’ve never done anything nice for me.” I gripped the base of his shaft. The playfulness on his face evaporated. He was too big for my fist. I applied pressure as I jacked up, and he thrust into my hand.
“Is this what goes on at a book club?” His voice was strained as I worked him in a slow, deliberate rhythm.
“I’m improvising for this one.”
He massaged my breasts, and I let my head fall back against the door.
“This one isn’t open to new members,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s room for anyone else.” I squeezed the base of his head and ran my thumb over the tip. “And we can’t name the one at the library Sexcapades.”
“Oh no?”
“It’s already taken for this private one.”
Hale
* * *
Everything about Patch was unexpected. From her sexy underwear to her playful, flirty side to the way she gripped my dick like it was made for her.
Other women had touched me. Hell, they’d gotten me off. But her delicate fingers made the experience completely new and took it to a level I’d never imagined. Ever.
The moon cast a glow on her sun-kissed skin. Her face was free of makeup and her hair was a wild mess. I opened my mouth to tell her she was beautiful, but quickly closed it. She was so far beyond, those words were inadequate.
“Hale?” She touched my cheek, and I leaned in. My dick twitched in her palm at the sound of my name on her lips. She loosened her grip and looked uncertain. “We don’t have to…”
I wrapped my hand around hers. “Yes, we do.”
Together we pumped until she was back in control of the motion. I kissed the spot between her collarbone and neck, drawing intense pleasure from her whimper. I trailed my fingers over her shoulders, down her chest along the side of her breast, and over her ribcage. Goosebumps pebbled her skin.
I skimmed underneath the waistband of her jeans. When she’d shed her thong in the bathroom, I’d seen for myself that she was completely bare between her legs. For hours, I’d wanted nothing more than to tease the skin that was sure to be smooth. It had glistened from the salty water and the shower. I wanted her wet because of me.
She dug her nails into the back of my neck and let out a low moan of protest when my journey ascended northward over her stomach instead of south. A tit for tat began.
She cupped my balls. I traced my name along her ribs.
She dragged a fingernail up the vein in my dick. I ran a slow circle around her nipple with my tongue.
She grazed the slit of my head and sucked my come off her thumb. I nosed the column of her neck until my mouth was beside her ear. “Lose the jeans.”
Her brow furrowed as if a colossal debate had ensued inside that gorgeous head. She glanced down between us and then back up at me. I got it. She didn’t want to unwind from my waist, and something about that small detail was beyond satisfying.
“We’re going to have to get creative.” I rimmed the shell of her ear with my tongue. “Or maybe you’ll end up without a single thing left to wear when it’s all said and done.”
Her answering grin nearly made my knees buckle. It was wolfish, all mischief, and I wanted to get up to my neck in trouble with her. “You can’t rip my jeans. The denim is too tough.”
“Have it your way.”
They were thin, the kind that molded to her legs and ass like a second skin. I liked the way they looked on her, but sometimes casualties were necessary. I unfastened the button and yanked. The fabric split at the seam up
the crotch.
“My. My. What do we have here?” I gazed down to exposed skin.
“Underwear is overrated.” She shrugged, completely unapologetic, and I loved every second of her boldness.
“You just didn’t want anything in my way.”
“Now that nothing is, what are you going to do about it?” she challenged.
I swiped my finger up her slit, pleased when I found her soaked. She bucked her hips when I traced her clit. I did it again and then plunged inside of her. My dick throbbed in jealousy, desperate to feel that tight velvet around him.
As if attuned to my needs, she swiped my swollen head against her folds. I dropped my forehead to hers and groaned. “If you want to come first, don’t do that again.”
“I don’t want to come first. I want to come with you.”
Fuck me.
“Hold on to my neck.”
When both of her arms were secured around me, I squatted to pick up my jeans. Once I found my wallet, I plucked out a condom and rolled it on.
“Hope an entire day’s worth of foreplay is good enough for you, Patch.”
I slammed into her and stilled when I hit home. She grunted and tightened her legs around my waist.
“Shit. Did I hurt you?” I brushed her hair back and searched her face.
“In the best way,” she whispered. “Do it again.”
I reared back and thrust with more control. This time, I didn’t stop—couldn’t stop. Her walls clamped around my dick, and she shuddered with every pump.
She dug her heels into my back and kissed me frantically with a desperation that matched mine. I gripped her hips and pulled her onto me as I pushed into her. We moved with one purpose as I raced toward an orgasm I wasn’t ready to have.
She did this to me. My sexy little librarian who got back up no matter how many punches landed. I’d never imagined the woman sitting next to me on the plane could turn into this uninhibited creature who stirred a side of me I didn’t know existed, a side that needed to show her pleasure like she’d never experienced before.
Judging by her scream, I was on my way there. That she didn’t give not one single fuck if the neighbors heard had my dick throbbing so hard, I thought it might explode. My blood lit on fire and pounded in my ears. Her tongue teased and fought with mine in a battle we’d both win.
She tasted like everything I couldn’t have and wanted anyway. She felt like the fantasy I couldn’t have imagined. And when those honey eyes looked at me with endless desire, I was a king.
She kept her eyes locked on mine, like she wanted to see what she did to me. Bold. Patch showed no fear when it came to me.
I cradled the back of her head and drove into her without mercy. She chanted my name, a hoarse chorus of encouragement. Her body coiled tight and paused before she screamed her release.
A prick of pain in my neck where she’d broken the skin sent me straight after my own orgasm. I clenched my ass, had a moment where I futilely tried to fight it, and blew with such force I thought we’d fall through the glass.
Involuntarily, I pumped until there was nothing left in me, and then I stilled. She sagged against me, and I touched my forehead to hers. A barely audible sigh escaped her. I kissed her swollen lips with a tenderness that caught me off guard.
“You said this is just for tonight.” Her legs went slack around my hips even as her arms tightened. “I request we extend it into tomorrow.”
Smithe
* * *
I gave myself an A-plus for my first attempt at a one-night stand. Technically, it was still going on, but considering the puddle of bliss we were heaped in, it wasn’t too early to grade.
“What’s that smirk about?” Hale asked.
We hadn’t even bothered to turn off the lights or close the door to the back patio. The duvet was on the floor, the top sheet a tangled mess at our feet, and the fitted one had popped off the corner of the mattress near my head.
I rolled toward him and planted my hand on his chest. His arm, already around me, curled with my movement, cocooning me against his side.
“Have you ever done this to a bed?” I gestured toward the mess.
He didn’t even look before he answered. “Hell, no.”
My heart latched onto that no and wore it like a badge of honor. Whether I liked him or not, the man was sex on a stick and personified the very carnage around us.
There was just one little problem.
The needle was moving toward the ‘like’ end of the spectrum, when earlier it had been firmly in the ‘don’t like’ red zone. All right, I wasn’t going to lie to myself and say it had nothing to do with the three—hello, three!—orgasms he’d given me, but sometime after I got over my initial anger that he cut up my beloved T-shirt and sweatpants, reason settled in.
I’d never admit it to him, but I was grateful he’d encouraged me to burn those clothes. He’d seen what I hadn’t. He’d believed in my instincts when I’d grown unsure. He’d given a voice to a desire I’d recognized was there but hadn’t been able to express. If I ever was in a relationship again, it would be with someone I was sure would fight for me, just the same as I would for them.
Hale traced a pattern on my side, and I shivered at the spark his touch ignited. I ached between my legs, thoroughly used in the best possible way.
“I need some time to recover,” he said.
I propped my chin on his chest. “Me too. As much as I want you again, I don’t know if I can take it.”
The smile he graced me with was the most smug I’d ever seen. “This day is just getting started, Patch, and I promised you today.”
“What time do you have to check out?” I asked, suddenly alarmed. It was three in the morning and we hadn’t slept yet.
“Not sure,” he said, reaching toward the nightstand. He flicked a switch and the room went dark. “I have to be up early in the morning.”
“Should I set an alarm?” I failed miserably at hiding my disappointment.
“Already did on my phone.” I tried to turn over and give him some space, but he held me close. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I thought you might sleep better without—”
“I want you right here.” He settled my head on his chest.
I pretzeled my legs with his and soaked in his warmth. The only noise was the sound of our breathing and the ocean lapping against the sand.
“Why are you here?” I asked, though I wished I’d kept the question in a steel box with a locked lid. “At the resort, I mean. Were you—” Smithe, don’t ask if you don’t want to know the answer. “Were you coming here with someone?”
The steady rise and fall of his chest halted for a second before it resumed its rhythm.
“This isn’t a vacation for me,” he said, though it didn’t really relieve the pressure in my head.
“Then what is it?”
“I’m here for a meeting.” The strain in his tone cut between us. I wanted to soothe it away, nudge him to open up to me. But it wasn’t my business, and tomorrow I’d be nothing but a figment of his past. I still wanted to ask.
“I bet you’re ready to get it wrapped up so you can get back home to the people waiting for you.” Way to be discreet. I might as well have said to your lover or wife.
“I don’t have anybody at home.”
“You don’t?”
“If that’s your way of asking if I’m attached, I’m going to pretend you didn’t. I have my asshole moments, but I’m not a cheating asshole,” he snapped and then stroked my hair like he needed to.
“I didn’t mean—” I stopped talking before I said something else stupid. So I got an A-plus in the sex part of a one-night stand. The no strings attached part? I was sporting a D-minus and barely hanging on.
“I sell tableware to hotels.”
“You mean like plates and glasses?”
“Exactly.” He twiddled with my hair until I thought he was going to lose his fingers in it. “That’s why I didn’t
have any spare clothes in my carry-on. My case is full of samples.”
“I wondered what was in there.” The hard-sided piece of luggage was no bigger than the average carry-on, but it didn’t look like a suitcase other than the wheels. Now I understood why he’d said his future was in the case. “I never thought about how that stuff gets somewhere like this. How did you get into that business?”
“I used to work for a company doing the same thing, but when I wanted to design my own stuff, they weren’t interested. I had the experience selling, so I decided to give it a try on my own. ”
“That’s terrific. I’d love to see them,” I said, hugging him. “When did you start your company?”
“Three years ago.”
There was no pride in his voice. It was flat, disappointed even.
“Um, this might be obvious, but doesn’t this resort already have all of those things?” I kissed his chest almost apologetically, though I wasn’t sure what I was sorry about.
He snorted. “After a few years, they need to freshen up, but beyond that, this chain is growing globally. They have four resorts opening in the next eighteen months.”
“And you’re going for that business,” I concluded.
“That’s the plan.” He stretched, and I heard plastic crinkle. “Want one?” The minty scent of his favorite candy wafted toward me.
“Sure.”
He popped it into my mouth before grabbing another for himself.
“I hope they buy new everything,” I said quietly.
“Thanks.”
“Want me to sneak into the kitchen and break a bunch of dishes?”
He snickered. “Nah. We’ll just see how it goes. Don’t need to get you kicked out of here.”
“That will happen eventually anyway unless something drastic changes.”
Hale
* * *
I chomped on a peppermint and crossed the near-empty dining room to the bar. A guy whistled behind it as he cleaned glasses.
“I’m here to see Mikael.”
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