by Erika Wilde
She blinked at him in surprise. “You do?”
“Oh, yeah, I do,” he replied, his tone piqued. “So why don’t we give them something to look at and gossip about?”
His gaze quickly searched the vicinity, though Elle wasn’t sure what for. But when he looked at her again, his whole demeanor had changed and there was a sly, sexy gleam in his eyes that had her pulse picking up its beat. Taking her hand, he walked her a short distance away, to a more secluded area where there was a huge, round pillar and less people mingling. Backing her up against the cool plaster, his hands settled firmly on her waist as he stepped closer, until she could feel the press of his thighs through the chiffon skirt of her gown.
She gasped at his outrageous move and what he planned to do, even as she realized that Helena, Claire, and Gwen could still see them. “Hunter, this can’t be appropriate.”
He smirked down at her. “After everything I’ve already said to you tonight, do I really strike you as a man who likes to follow rules? News flash, Just Elle, I hate propriety and decorum, and while I know it definitely has its time and place, right now, I don’t give a fuck about being a proper, respectable gentleman. Not when I’ve been dying to kiss you for the past few hours.”
Raising one of his hands, he pressed his fingers beneath her chin, tilting her head back farther and positioning her mouth just inches away from his. “You have five seconds to say no,” he warned, giving her the option to stop him.
His eyes were so mesmerizing as they stared into hers, and there was no denying what she wanted just as badly. Her lips parted of their own accord, giving him the answer he sought. As his mouth descended and slid across hers like heated silk, everything and everyone around them seemed to fade away, including the three people who’d been watching them up to this point.
Considering Hunter’s assertive personality thus far, she’d expected a fast, hard kiss from him, not this soft, sensual tease of his lips on hers as he coaxed them farther apart. With a soft moan, she invited him deeper, welcoming the slow, decadent sweep of his tongue against hers and the addicting male taste of him. The kiss gradually grew deeper, claiming her more thoroughly, and even though he’d told her he didn’t give a damn about being a proper, respectable gentleman in a public place, she felt his self-control and knew he was holding back from completely ravishing her.
When he finally lifted his head and broke the kiss, he was breathing hard, his jaw clenched, the hot, dark lust in his eyes confirming just how difficult it was for him to maintain his self-control. It was a heady, exhilarating thought that she’d brought such a sophisticated man like him to this heightened state of need.
“We’re done here,” he demanded, his voice gruff with arousal. “I want you all to myself so I can kiss you how I really want to without an audience.”
Between all his dirty talk throughout the evening and now this steamy kiss, her desire was at an all-time high. Without hesitating, she nodded her agreement. “Yes.”
Chapter 5
Hunter grabbed Elle’s hand in his and laced their fingers together, holding on to her securely as he led the way through the ballroom and around guests, his sole focus on the elevator located just outside of the ballroom. He pressed the call button, and as soon as the doors slid open, he stepped inside with Elle, then retrieved his private key card, swiped it through the reader, and tapped the button marked with a capital H.
“Where are we going?” she asked curiously. “Aren’t the upper floors the MadX-Tech offices?”
“That would be the second floor of the building,” he explained, which didn’t require a special key card to access during normal business hours. “When my brother renovated this warehouse years ago, he made the top three floors living quarters. Mine is the third, which would be that button with the H. The fourth level is my sister’s place, and the penthouse belongs to Maddox.”
She gave him a flirtatious smile. “Well, that’s convenient.”
He lifted her hand to his mouth and let his lips caress the backs of her fingers. “At the moment, very much so,” he agreed, just as the double doors opened to a marbled entryway. Up until this point, he’d never brought a woman here, but taking Elle to a hotel seemed pointless when his bed was so much closer and he was beyond impatient to have her.
As they stepped out, he released her hand, and she immediately gravitated toward the living room and the floor-to-ceiling panes of glass that overlooked most of the city. The apartment itself was all sleek, masculine furnishings and décor, courtesy of Tempest’s eye for design.
“Oh, wow, your place is incredible,” she said, her voice filled with awe as she set her little purse on the sofa table, then walked to the windows to stare out at the spectacular view. Without any interior lamps on, the entire room was shadowed, but the lights from around the neighborhood gave off just enough illumination so that it wasn’t pitch-dark.
The cell phone in his pants pocket vibrated, and he pulled it out and glanced at the text from his brother that was addressed to him and Tempest. A little anxious about how things had gone down with Maddux and Theodore, he opened the message and read the condensed note: It’s done. I’ll talk to you both in the morning.
His brother had always been a man of few words, and It’s done insinuated that everything had gone as they’d talked about and planned, and Maddux would provide all the details in the morning. Hunter couldn’t deny the satisfaction he felt at the thought of Theodore Cole finally suffering for taking their parents’ lives.
Exhaling a deep breath, he tossed the phone onto the couch, and knowing that justice had been served, he was ready to fully enjoy the next few hours with Elle. He let her take in the sights for a few minutes as he finally yanked off the offending bow tie from around his neck, then released the first few buttons on his shirt so he could breathe. Shrugging out of his tuxedo jacket, he draped it across the back of a leather chair and strolled to where she was standing, wanting her naked as quickly as possible.
“This view is amazing,” she said, still looking out the glass as he came up behind her.
He put his hands on her bare shoulders, and she visibly shivered beneath his touch as he swept the long, wavy blonde strands of her hair to one side to give him better access to the back of her dress. “Yes, the view is amazing. And it’s about to get a whole lot more incredible. At least for me, anyway.”
Lowering his mouth to the side of her neck, he placed a few warm, damp kisses there that had her pulse quickening against his lips, while his fingers trailed a path to where her gown was fastened and tugged on the satin ribbon cinching the corset top together. It didn’t take him long to loosen the bindings enough to let the dress fall to the floor, but before he could push the gown over her hips to do so, she quickly crossed her arms over her chest, holding the material in place, her demeanor suddenly tentative.
He paused and brought his mouth close to her ear. “Second thoughts?” he asked, not sure how he was going to let her go if she changed her mind. He couldn’t remember wanting a woman as badly as he desired her, to the point that he wondered if fucking her once tonight would be enough to get her out of his system.
No, definitely not, he decided.
“I . . . umm . . .” Her voice wavered slightly as she shifted anxiously on her feet. “Can anybody see through these windows?”
He chuckled at her reason for being so self-conscious and demure, which was something he wasn’t used to with the more experienced females he normally slept with. But surprisingly, he found Elle’s shy reaction incredibly appealing and hot as hell, because it meant the pleasure of corrupting her would be all his. By the time he was done with her, any modesty she had when it came to sex or the things he wanted from her would be nonexistent.
“Not much of an exhibitionist?” he teased as he stroked his thumbs up along the line of her spine, enjoying the soft, smooth feel of her skin beneath his fingers while trying to ease away her apprehension.
She laughed nervously. “No, not really.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” he reassured her, kissing the side of her neck again and inhaling the soft, floral scent lingering on her skin. “All the windows have a high grade of privacy film on them. You can see out at night, but no one can look in.”
He felt her exhale a sigh of relief, but her arms remained crossed over her chest.
“Release the dress, Elle,” he ordered, his tone firm as he slid his hands inside the back opening of the gown to push the material down her body once it was loose. “Let me see what’s mine for the night.”
All hesitation now gone, she acquiesced. Her arms fell to her sides, and from there the dress floated to the floor at her feet. Wearing just a pair of white lace panties that covered her shapely ass and those sparkly crystal shoes, she stepped out of the circle of fabric, and he took a moment to scoop up the gown and arrange it over the back of the couch so it didn’t get ruined.
When he pivoted back toward her, he was pleased to see that she hadn’t turned around to face him and was waiting for his next command. His gaze shifted to her faint reflection in the glass, and he took in the generous curves of her nearly naked body. She wasn’t overtly skinny, but voluptuous and curvy in all the right places, which he appreciated. Her breasts, from what he could see, were full and firm. From behind, he followed the flare of her hips down to her supple-looking thighs, then back up to her delectable ass, the kind that would nicely cushion his deep thrusts from behind . . . and that was definitely one of the ways he planned to take her tonight.
His dick was already excruciatingly hard, thick, and aching beneath the zipper of his slacks, but he wasn’t ready to undress just yet, not until he had Elle as soft and malleable as he wanted her. Stepping up behind her, he circled his arm around her midsection, splayed his palm on her stomach, and pulled her flush against the front of his body. She came easily, willingly, the soft catch of her breath letting him know that she was very aware of the length of his cock pressing insistently along the crease of her lace-clad bottom.
He brought his other hand up to one of her bare breasts, cupping and kneading the heavy weight and reveling in her moans of pleasure as he lightly pinched and pulled her taut nipple. The hand on her belly slid lower, easily making its way beneath the waistband of her panties and down to that sweet spot between her thighs.
Her entire body jolted against his the moment his fingers glided through her drenched pussy, and he groaned against her neck at the undeniable evidence of her desire for him.
“Jesus,” he rasped into her ear as he grazed his thumb across the hard knot of her clit, which had her panting for release. “You’re already so fucking wet for me, aren’t you?”
She whimpered her response, and as if she needed something to hold on to, her hands gripped the material of his dress pants at his thighs as she tipped her head back against his shoulder, her hips moving rhythmically against the slow, deep strokes of his fingers along her slick flesh. Christ, she was so damn responsive, so needy, and it was hot as fuck to watch her uninhibited reflection in the glass window as he pleasured her, as she gradually gave herself over to him.
“I can’t wait to get my mouth on you,” he said huskily, adding fuel to her fire as he grazed his teeth along that sensitive spot where neck met shoulder and bit down on that flesh, causing her nipples to pucker even tighter against the twist of his fingers. “I’m dying to lick your pussy and taste your come as you shatter against my tongue.”
“Hunter,” she moaned desperately, her fingernails now digging into his legs, her body feverish with lust and need.
“Come for me, beautiful girl, right now,” he ordered, squeezing and rubbing her clit between his fingers with just enough friction and pressure to push her over that edge she was teetering on. “Just like this. I’ve got you.”
She cried out, and he felt her orgasm shudder through her. She leaned her full weight back against Hunter, trusting him to hold her upright as her legs shook from the force of her climax and as she finally sagged against him for support in the aftermath of her release.
Knowing if he let her go, she’d slither to the floor in a heap, he swept her up into his arms and headed out of the living room and down the hallway toward his master bedroom. He heard the separate clunk-clunk of her shoes falling off her feet to the floor somewhere along the way but didn’t bother to stop and pick them up.
“Where are you taking me?” she murmured, her arms circling his neck to hold on as she peered up at him, her expression sated yet adorably flirtatious.
He gave her a wicked smile. “To my bed, where you can lie back and be comfortable while I do dirty things to you.”
She laughed softly and buried her face against his neck. “You just did dirty things to me.”
“I’m not done, beautiful girl.” Reaching his master bedroom, he eased her back down to her feet, and when he was assured she was steady, he flicked on the nightstand lamp, then turned toward the high four-poster king-sized bed and pulled back the covers down to the fresh sheets.
He walked toward a nearby dresser. “Lie down.”
She moved up onto the mattress, situating herself so that her head was on the pillow, her eyes still hazy with desire as she watched him retrieve a gray tie from the top drawer. He let it unravel and dangle from his fingers as he approached the bed again. Her inquisitive gaze went from the strip of fabric in his hands up to his face.
“I want to restrain your hands to the headboard,” he said, craving that control over her mind. Her body. Her pleasure. “Will you let me?”
She bit her bottom lip as she considered his question, a blush sweeping over her complexion. While he hoped she submitted to his request, he’d also understand if she denied him. He was a stranger, after all, but instead of fear or uncertainty in her eyes, a glimmer of excitement and exhilaration sparkled through.
“Yes,” she said, pleasantly shocking him with her answer as she lifted her hands above her head, giving herself over to his care so utterly and completely.
Jesus. He swallowed hard. Her sweet acquiescence and trust in him tugged at something deep and long forgotten inside Hunter. The emotional reaction startled him to the core, because it had been years since he’d felt anything more than just a physical reaction to a woman he fucked, whereas this one he not only wanted to worship her body, he had the unexplainable urge to mark her. Claim her. Drive as deep as he could inside her soft, warm pussy until every one of her senses was saturated with pleasure, and he’d ruined her for any other man.
They were crazy, insane, dangerous thoughts. They’d both agreed on one night and no attachments, which was how he preferred to live his life after so much devastating loss, which meant marking and claiming were off the table. Exhaling a deep breath, he focused on that hard-and-fast rule and stepped toward the head of the mattress and began wrapping the silk around both her wrists, gently but just tight enough to keep her from escaping the restraint.
“Have you done this kind of thing before?” he asked, just so he knew what he was dealing with, though he had a hunch he already knew her answer.
She shook her head, confirming his suspicion, her hands relaxed as he secured them to a slat in the headboard. “No, but I suppose there’s a first time for everything . . . and I’ve always wanted to . . .” Her words trailed off as if she realized she was revealing too much, and her gaze shifted bashfully away from his.
He wasn’t going to let her off that easy. Making sure her arms and wrists had enough slack to move comfortably—and for him to turn her on her stomach when he desired so he could fuck her from behind—he met her gaze and arched a brow. “You’ve always wanted what, exactly?”
There was an unmistakable demand in his tone, and she responded beautifully to the slight edge in his voice, the pulse at the base of her throat quickening. “To know what it felt like to be . . . dominated sexually by a man.”
God, could she get any sexier? “You are so fucking perfect,” he said, and those words burrowed somewhere they never shoul
d have. It had been forever since he’d felt this kind of perfection, this deeper connection, and it was startling and scary and way too fucking intimate.
Shoving those thoughts from his head, he skimmed his fingers from her collarbone down to her bare breasts and tweaked a nipple hard enough to make her gasp, then moan as that sharp ache ebbed into something far more pleasurable. He gently rubbed his thumb over the tender nub of flesh, silently letting her know that for every jolt of pain, there would also be tenderness and sensual gratification.
“Trust me, Just Elle,” he murmured, meeting her soft, needy gaze. “By the time I’m done with you, you’re going to know what it’s like to willingly give me everything I want and everything I ask for.”
He feathered his fingers down to the waistband of her underwear in a slow, deliberate tease before ending the caress just shy of traversing beneath those lacy panties. He moved a few steps back from the bed, and she whimpered at the loss of his touch, and Jesus Christ, the eager, supplicating way she was looking at him set his blood on fire.
He quickly undressed. She watched him strip off the rest of his clothes, her hooded eyes taking in his broad chest, the tight muscles of his abdomen, then dropping to the thick erection straining the front of his black boxer briefs. She absently licked her bottom lip, and he groaned, imagining that sweet, lush mouth of hers wrapped tight around his cock as she sucked him off, those soft blue eyes of hers looking up at him as she did so. But as much as he’d love to order Elle to her knees to fulfill that provocative fantasy, having her tied up on his bed and spread out for him to enjoy every inch of her body, in any way he desired, was going to be equally satisfying.
Pushing his boxer briefs down and off, he opened the nightstand drawer, retrieved the box of condoms he kept tucked away there, and sheathed himself with one so he didn’t have to stop to do it later. Moving up onto the bed, he straddled her hips and leaned over her upper body. Bracing one of his hands on the mattress for support, he held her gaze as he slid his other hand along the side of her throat and around to the back of her neck. He clenched his fingers in her hair and tilted her head up until he was fully in control. She realized it, too, and a soft, inarticulate sound tumbled past her parted lips.