It was so close to what I’d dreamed about for so many nights, I went a little crazy, pawing at him beneath his T-shirt, even as I used my legs to pull him closer. He must have sensed my inner turmoil because he pulled back a little so he could look into my face.
“We can go fast if you like. But I prefer it slow.”
I swear I almost came on the spot. “Okay,” I breathed.
He smiled, lifting a hand to smooth my hair back from my forehead. Up close his eyes were a dazzling kaleidoscope of blues and greens. “How would you feel about me taking off your T-shirt?” he asked.
“I would be strongly pro that idea.”
He rolled to the side to free my body, his hand finding the hem of my top and tugging it upwards. I arched my back, then lifted my shoulders so he could pull it over my head. His gaze swept over my breasts and I thanked the universe I’d chosen one of my prettier bras this morning, a mixture of black satin and lace.
Beck met my eyes again, his expression a little awestruck.
“Wow,” he said. “Very nice.”
“Thank you. I grew them myself.”
He laughed, the sound low and husky and knowing. Then he leaned close and pressed a kiss to the inside slope of my breast. I went very still as he opened his mouth and drew a little circle against my flesh with his tongue.
Everything he did, everywhere he touched, felt so good. Almost too good. Was it possible to be too turned on? I was afraid I was about to find out.
Beck nuzzled closer, using his nose to push inside my bra cup. I held my breath as he licked and kissed his way toward my nipple. Then he sucked me into his mouth and I was powerless to stop myself gasping with delight.
“Oh, God. Yes. Please.”
I could feel him smiling against my skin, my nipple still trapped in the wet heat of his mouth. He trilled his tongue against me and I almost levitated off the bed, hands clawing at his shoulders.
Beck lifted his head to look down at me again. “Sweetheart, you’re killing me here.”
“I’m the one who’s dying,” I panted.
“Pace yourself, we’ve got a long way to go yet.”
He lowered his head again, and for the next ten minutes I nearly lost my mind as he kissed around and through and under my bra before finally—finally!—easing the straps down my shoulders and reaching behind me to release the hooks.
He paused to take in my pale breasts and tight, pink nipples as my bra fell away. “So fucking pretty.”
I wove my fingers into his hair, torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer as he continued to torture me with his mouth. By the time he slid a hand down my belly and dipped inside the waistband of my cutoffs, I was a quivering, panting mess. Desperate for his touch, I lifted my hips, urging him to get to the good stuff. He murmured his appreciation as he discovered how wet I was, his strong fingers stroking along the seam of my sex.
“You feel so good,” he said in between kisses.
When his questing fingers found my clitoris, all it took was a couple of strokes to make me come in a long, rolling wave that had me clutching at him and gasping his name and generally losing it.
When I came back down to earth, Beck was wearing the smug smile of a man who knew he’d done good. Seeing him looking so self-satisfied lit a fire in me, and I pushed his chest, encouraging him onto his back.
“My turn,” I said.
“Okay,” he said. “Fair’s fair.”
“Oh, this isn’t going to be fair,” I promised.
I dragged his T-shirt off, and for the next little while, I feasted on his amazing body, pressing kisses to his pecs, tonguing his nipples, tracing his muscles with questing fingers, biting, teasing, and generally torturing him with every move in my arsenal. By the time I was done, I was sprawled on top of him, his erection a burning brand between our bodies. Holding his eye, I popped the button on his jeans then found his zipper tab. I dragged it down tooth by tooth, working it over the hard ridge of his erection with deliberate slowness, splitting my attention between his face and the bulging masterpiece I was unveiling.
He’d made me suffer, after all.
He was wearing bright blue boxer briefs, the soft fabric outlining his very respectable erection. I made a little humming sound in the back of my throat, liking what I was seeing, then wrapped my hand around him through his underwear. His body went tense beneath me, so I stroked him again, and then again.
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Beck muttered.
He sat up, tumbling me off his lap and onto my back. I was still laughing in shock when I felt his hands at my waistband.
“All right. Now we’re talking.” I lifted my hips as he pulled my cutoffs down my legs, taking my panties with them.
Efficient. I liked that in a man. I liked it a lot.
Mr. I-Prefer-It-Slow pushed his own jeans and underwear down next, kicking off his shoes before tossing the whole tangled mess impatiently into the corner. I was too busy glorying in the sight of his thick, hard cock to register the foil packet in his hand. Then he lifted it to his mouth and tore it open with a ridiculously sexy flash of teeth, and I was suddenly all about the latex circle in his hand.
Because oh my God this was really happening.
He was aware of my avid interest and his mouth kicked up into a cocky, knowing smile as he stroked the condom down his shaft. He crawled onto me then, six foot two of brawny man, his legs hairy and strong against mine, and I spread my thighs wide, lifting my hips to welcome his first thrust.
“Oh God,” I whispered as he filled me, stretching me exquisitely.
“Hell, yeah,” he groaned.
His biceps bulged as he planted his elbows on either side of me and ducked his head to kiss me. I lost track of time after that, overwhelmed by all the ways Beck was making me feel good.
The thrust of his hips, the sweep of his tongue in my mouth, the roughness of his thumbs on my nipples... It was all glorious and utterly delicious and I let him know how much I was enjoying myself, telling him what I liked, encouraging his best moves, and, finally, clinging to him as I came a second time, pleasure wracking my overheated body. Beck wasn’t far behind as he buried himself deep inside me and came with a shudder, his fingers digging into my hips and thighs.
He turned into dead weight afterward, his face pressed into the mattress beside me as his breath sawed in and out hectically. My lady parts were still pulsing with aftershocks, while the rest of my body was as limp as overcooked spaghetti.
In other words, being with Beck had lived up to every fantasy I’d ever had and then some.
After a moment or two he stirred, levering himself up on one elbow. His eyes were heavy-lidded with satisfaction as he ran his gaze over my breasts and belly, all the way down to where we were still joined. I could feel his cock surge with interest at the sight, even though he’d literally just come.
“How are you doing?” he asked when his gaze finally returned to my face.
“Um, pretty good,” I said.
Understatement of the year. The man had just wrecked me.
“That was pretty wild.”
“Yeah. It was.”
“Want to do it again?” he asked, nudging his hips forward a fraction.
Which was when I realized he was hard again.
“Already?”
“I’m a little pent up. Been dreaming about you.”
I blinked up at him. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Dirty dreams?” I asked, more than a little thrilled to think that all the time I’d been going crazy over him he’d been going crazy over me.
“Filthy. Depraved.”
He swept a hand across my breasts, plucking at first one nipple then the other.
“I dreamt about you, too,” I confessed.
He went still. “Really?”
I nodded.
He withdrew an inch or two, and I shifted beneath him, biting my lip in anticipation.
“Tell me about your dreams, Haley.
Did I do anything like this in them?”
He slid back inside me, angling his hips so that I got every possible benefit from the delicious friction he’d created.
I dug my fingers into his perfect, muscular butt and let out a ragged sigh.
“Yes.”
“What else did I do?”
I’d never shared a dirty fantasy with a guy before but if ever there was a go-for-broke situation, this was it.
“You kissed me, you know, down there,” I said.
His eyes got bright with interest. “You like that?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What else?” he asked, thrusting inside me again.
“You let me be on top,” I gasped.
“Yeah?”
Before I could react, Beck rolled to the side and onto his back, his strong arms taking me with him so that I wound up straddling him, my palms planted on his chest, a shocked laugh on my lips.
“Show me how you like it, Haley,” he said, his warm hands sliding over my breasts.
I didn’t need to be asked twice. I had a living god beneath me, and he was beautiful and hard and mine for the next little while. Only a fool would let that opportunity go to waste.
Lifting my hips, I worked myself on his cock, shifting and circling, searching for the sweet spot. When I found it, I made a happy little sound, and I could feel Beck’s cock twitch inside me. That was when I understood how much he got off on me getting off, so I proceeded to let him know how much he did it for me as I rode him, my tits bouncing, my ass slapping his thighs with each downward slide.
At some point Beck dragged me down so he could tongue my nipples, the new angle creating a whole new world of erotic friction. Then he bit me lightly on my left nipple, and it tripped me into a climax that had me digging my fingers into his pecs and throwing my head back with utter abandon.
“Fuck. Me,” I groaned, every atom of my being focused on the pulsing pleasure at my core.
Beck muttered something under his breath, and I opened my eyes in time to see his neck muscles cord and his face tense as he shuddered into his own orgasm.
I flopped onto his chest, every muscle heavy as lead. He rested a hand on my back, his palm warm and large, and I found myself smiling into his chest.
Wow. I mean... Wow. I’d had good sex before, but Beck and I were awesome at this. I was pretty sure he’d found erogenous zones I hadn’t even known I possessed.
I was still floating on a hazy post-coital cloud when his hand fell away from my back, and it occurred to me that maybe he was done with me draping myself across him like a human blanket. Pushing myself up on one arm, I dismounted awkwardly, shifting onto the bed alongside him. Beck had his forearm flung across his eyes, his body lax, still in recovery mode, and I lay beside him becoming more and more self-conscious as my skin cooled.
For starters, I hadn’t shaved my legs for nearly a week. And even though he hadn’t seemed to register it in the heat of the moment, I couldn’t help wondering what Beck would make of my soft belly and rounded hips now that he’d satisfied his curiosity about me. At five-foot-one, it was damned hard to keep the pounds off and after years of trying to be skinny like my sister, I’d finally accepted we had very different physiques and given up both ab crunches and my gym membership.
Generally speaking, I liked my curves, but I was lying naked next to a bona fide hottie who was also my sister’s ex-lover.
My sister, the beautiful, glamorous runway model.
A little shiver ran down my spine as the full impact of what had just happened between me and Beck sunk in. Needing space, I reached out and snagged my T-shirt before rolling to the edge of the bed. I stood and whipped the T-shirt over my head in one move, then moved quickly toward the door. I was aware of Beck’s arm dropping away from his face, but I pretended I hadn’t noticed and slipped into the hallway. The white paint on the bathroom door was cool beneath my fingertips as I pushed it closed. I turned on the faucet to make it sound like I was doing something in the bathroom other than freaking out, then I sat on the edge of the tub and put my head in my hands.
I’d just fucked my sister’s ex.
My sister, the fragile, volatile, super-super-super possessive diva.
Once, I’d borrowed Jess’s denim jacket with the embroidered panel on the back without asking permission, and she’d barely talked to me for a month. I could only imagine what she’d do if she found out I’d slept with Beck.
There’s no reason for her to ever find out.
The thought calmed my spiraling panic. Because of course, there was no reason for my sister to ever know that I’d just ridden her ex like a pony at the fair. I wasn’t going to tell her. I already knew that Beck was not in contact with her. This could be our dirty, perfect little secret. An illicit, sexy little miracle that I could hug to myself for the rest of my days.
Feeling calmer, I turned off the faucet and exited the bathroom. Then, taking a deep breath, I stepped back into my bedroom. I half expected Beck to be dressed and ready to leave but he was still stretched on my bed, arms folded behind his head now, feet crossed at the ankles.
My mouth got a little dry as I took in the sight of him, all golden-hued skin and muscle and sinew. This man was a triumph of genetics, there was no denying it. A walking, talking Norse god come to life.
“Hey,” Beck said, and I could hear the question in his voice.
Apparently the old run-water-in-the-sink routine had fooled no one.
“Hey yourself,” I said.
“You okay?”
I opened my mouth to assure him I was fine but couldn’t quite get the words out. For a second I stood there gasping like a landed fish, then I closed my eyes and blurted the words that were burning in my gut.
“I need you to promise you won’t tell anyone about this.”
When I opened my eyes again Beck was looking about as insulted and confused as you’d expect a person to look under the circumstances.
“I don’t usually release a post-coital bulletin,” he said stiffly.
“Sorry.” Damn it, I was messing this up. “It’s just if Jess found out, it would get really messy, fast.”
Beck didn’t move a muscle, but I could see something shift behind his eyes.
“She won’t hear anything from me.” He swung his feet over the side of the bed and stood.
I bit my lip as he strode to where his jeans were tangled in the corner, wanting to kick myself for taking something awesome and wild and turning it into a festival of awkwardness.
“She still has friends in town. I ran into one of them today at the art supply store. She’s so sensitive…” I babbled, trying to make him understand where I was coming from.
“I got it, Haley. It’s in the cone of silence. Scout’s honor,” Beck said as he pulled on his jeans.
He didn’t look at me as he finished dressing, pulling on his shirt and then sitting on the end of the bed to tie his boots. When he stood, I mustered a smile and forced myself to meet his eyes.
“I had a really nice time. Thank you.”
“Same,” he said.
He hovered as though he was contemplating saying something more, then he shrugged a shoulder, his gaze going to the door.
“I should probably leave you to it,” he said.
“Okay. Sure.”
He walked out of the room, his boots loud on the old wooden floor. I stood at the end of my bed and listened for the sound of the front door opening and closing. Only when I heard his boots on the front porch did I let myself flop back onto my mattress, both hands pressed to my face.
Why had I brought up Jess? Why? We’d had such a nice time and I’d had to get all wiggy afterward and ruin everything like a stupid idiot.
So much for this afternoon being a dream come true.
19
Beck
Walking out of Haley’s house felt like waking from a dream. From the moment I’d run into her at the Bean this afternoon, I’d been lost in some kind of lust-induced fugue,
my whole being focused on one thing and one thing only—getting closer to the woman who had dominated my thoughts for the past week.
And boy had we gotten closer. Turned out all those X-rated dreams I’d had were just a shabby, pale imitation of what it had been like to sink into her soft body. Everything about what had just happened between us had been extra—the silk of her skin, the taste of her, the tight embrace of her body, her wild abandon, her playful willingness to go wherever I took her...
Now that I was standing on the other side of the encounter, however, I marveled at how completely I’d abandoned my plans for the afternoon the second Haley had issued her invitation.
She’d crooked her finger, and I’d just dumped everything to go with her, following her up the hill like a puppy.
What the hell had I been thinking?
You really need to ask that?
Okay, there hadn’t been a lot of thinking going on. But that needed to change. I needed to stop these knee-jerk reactions when it came to Haley. It felt like every step I took was a misstep when it came to her. Nothing had brought that into sharper focus than her plea as I lay basking in the afterglow, wondering if she had more condoms stashed somewhere in her cozy little apartment.
I need you to promise you won’t tell anyone about this.
Her words had been such a slap in the face. While I’d been idly planning Round Three, she’d been swimming in regret. Or something close to it, judging by how anxious she’d been when she returned to the bedroom.
If Jess found out, it would get really messy, fast.
I jerked the van door open and climbed behind the wheel. I’d put my phone on silent during the short journey to Haley’s house but now I checked the screen and saw that my brother had called, then followed up with an email. It was nothing urgent, just a query from our shipping agent, but I took the time to tap out an answering email before starting the engine and heading for home, needing the small moment of distraction to settle my circling thoughts.
As fun and surprising and hot as this afternoon had been, maybe it had been a good thing Haley had brought me back to earth so abruptly. It wasn’t as though we had a future. Haley had made that pretty clear when she’d returned from the bathroom, and, obviously, I was not about to invite Jess back into my life, even tangentially.
Sweetheart Page 10