Audrey’s Inn

by Aycart, Elle

  “I grew up with Kyra and Mike. They’re very easy-going. All their friends are, which means Alexa, Wata, and Josh are too. Amantis’s crew have been in Alden to learn the new choreography. They’re nice people, I hear.”

  Maybe. Probably. But Audrey had only seen them on TV.

  At that moment, some of the guests at the pool started taking pictures with their phones. She discreetly covered her face. At his frown, she shrugged. “I don’t like being photographed.”

  “I didn’t know that,” he said. “You’re so beautiful, I bet you’re extremely photogenic. One would expect you to live for selfies.”

  She snorted and sipped her cocktail. “Plenty of things about me you don’t know.”

  “Such as?”

  She looked at him, wondering whether she could trust him. She so wanted to. “What if I told you I’m not the person you think I am? What if I’m not a what-you-see-is-what-you-get girl next door? What if I have something dark hidden in my past? Something… shady?”

  He shrugged. “That wouldn’t bother me. We all have secrets and dark shit in our past.”

  True, but there were secrets and then there were secrets. “I fell in love with the wrong person. It not only fucked up my life, but ultimately it cost my roommate and dear friend her life.”

  Con’s gaze was intense, his face harsh. “That’s not on you. That’s on that person. Do you want to talk about it?”

  So fucking badly she couldn’t breathe sometimes. But this was as far as she could go. What if he didn’t want anything to do with her after she came clean? She couldn’t risk that. Actually, she shouldn’t have gone this far. Time to stop drinking. Or maybe her momentary lapse of judgment was due to being high on endorphins after having sex with Con. She was always extremely happy when she was with this man, that couldn’t be natural, she was bound to crash.

  She shook her head. “No, not really.”

  Con didn’t insist, and thank God for that, because she wasn’t sure she could have kept her mouth shut if he had prodded her further. That stuff in her past weighed on her so damn heavily. Not even the sense of fulfillment she got from making the inn blossom was enough to quiet the ghosts. She loved it in Alden, and Alden seemed to love her back, which made her feel even more of a fraud for keeping stuff from them. Especially from Con.

  “Did I overstep my boundaries? By arranging the dog walking, I mean.”

  “Come here,” Con said, crooking his finger at her. When she did, he kissed her and then spoke against her lips. “No. It was very sweet, actually. It’s nice to see the master care for her house elf’s well-being.”

  Audrey rolled her eyes and broke into laughter while he took her mouth again. She couldn’t refrain from grimacing at the same time. “We smell like dog.” She’d washed her hands and face several times before leaving the shelter, but that had done squat, apparently.

  Con didn’t seem to mind. “I have a high-tolerance nose. Try being in the military for over a decade. You’d develop tolerance too. And for the record, you smell fantastic, like always. Extremely fuckable.”

  Really? Maybe they could kill two birds with one stone. “What do you think about taking advantage of the humongous shower in my room, before I have to give it up and move to the cottage?”

  The words were barely out of her mouth before Con was getting up and pulling at her.

  * * *

  She came along, laughing. Thank fuck, because at her suggestion his whole body had gone into overdrive.

  “Enthusiastic much?” she asked.

  “Absolutely. You know what the downside is of being mentally and physically on alert for so many hours? Adrenaline. Tons of accumulated adrenaline looking for an outlet.” Combat adrenaline was a bitch. Now that he knew having sex with her wouldn’t trigger a panic attack, he was as good as gone.

  She gave him an intoxicating grin and looked down at his happy-to-oblige dick, which was already standing at full salute, ready to serve. “And I am the outlet?”

  “You offered.” Then he stopped. Better to make sure. “That was an offer, right?” As horny as he was and with all his blood supply headed south, he might have misinterpreted her words. They couldn’t shower in the dark. She might not want to get an eyeful of his mangled body. Not that she hadn’t seen it, but never in such a bright light.

  The vixen went on tiptoe and whispered, “You owe me a shower to soothe my burns, remember? From that time at the gym when we almost got caught?”

  Right. He’d forgotten about that.

  “You said you always settle your debts.”

  Then she flicked her tongue against the hollow spot under his ear. After discreetly rubbing her thigh on his hard-on, she pulled him toward the building. He would have lifted her in his arms and charged to her room, but she was the boss around here. That kind of display would have been too obvious. Red was already smirking at him.

  They made it to her room without talking. He had a lump the size of a fist in his throat, blocking words. Testosterone poisoning might have a hand in it too.

  Once they had a closed door between them and the rest of the world, she turned to him. Hooking a finger in the waistband of his jeans, she pulled him along as she walked backward to the bathroom. “Time to settle your debt, house elf.”

  There was no Red or other prying eyes around now, so he lifted Audrey by her ass and took over, while she wrapped her legs around his waist and giggled. Next, he fell upon her sexy mouth, as if he wanted to inhale her, which he did. One hand under her ass, the other cupping her head, he was already out of his mind as they entered the bathroom.

  “Let me get the light,” she whispered, reaching out to turn on the switch. “I want to see you.”

  “Really?” Con had always been very sure of his physique. His body had not only been in top condition but very appealing to the opposite sex. Then all the shit had happened.

  “Of course, silly. I want to enjoy you. Put me down.”

  He obeyed and looked around. He hadn’t paid any attention that first night, but Audrey was right: the shower was huge, spanning wall to wall. Half the cottage could fit in that bathroom.

  “My shoulders are dead from holding leashes. How good are you at massage?” she asked, kicking her shoes off.

  “So this was about abusing your poor house elf after all.”

  She broke into laughter. Man, she was so sexy. So open. “I promise I’ll massage your back too.”

  “You don’t have to,” he muttered, getting rid of his own shoes. Caressing his butchered back was a sure mood-killer.

  She pursed her lips, seemingly not liking his words. She crooked her finger at him this time, and he went willingly. She started unbuttoning his shirt. “You’re gorgeous, Con. Yes, you’re scarred pretty badly in some places, but it doesn’t detract from your rank on the sexiness scale.”

  “Sexiness scale? There’s something like that?”

  “Sure there is. Someone like you in a shower like this… off the charts.”

  He smiled softly.

  “What?”

  “I… hmm… had an erotic fantasy about you and me in a shower.”

  “Really? What was I wearing—or was I naked?” She turned the shower on.

  “You were wearing the gown you had on during the grand opening. It was wet, almost transparent, and clinging to your body.”

  “That dress was Red’s, actually.” She shimmied out of her pants and, wearing only white undies and a T-shirt, moved closer to the shower. “You’re in luck. These, although not very sexy, will become all but transparent when wet.”

  She proceeded to demonstrate, stepping under the stream of water. In no time, her shirt was wet and clinging to her body, and her glorious tits were in plain view, her tight nipples poking out. Water ran down her belly and over her crotch. Soon her white panties were transparent, and he could see her juicy slit. “Good enough to recreate your fantasy?”

  The water didn’t seem to be that hot, but the place was fogging up. Or maybe it w
as his mind going off-line.

  She stepped toward him and unbuckled his jeans. Jesus, she was gorgeous. Like in his fantasy, but better. So, so much better.

  “What did I do in this fantasy of yours?”

  “Among other things, you let me fuck you bareback.”

  She stopped dead in her tracks. Looked at him. “Is that something you’d want?”

  He nodded. “Very much.”

  She seemed surprised. “I thought you wouldn’t want that level of intimacy. You were the one putting the brakes on sex from the very beginning.”

  True, but he did want that level of intimacy. With her. Why, he wasn’t sure, but he did. “I understand if you don’t want to.” Fucking without condoms implied a level of intimacy and trust that a woman might not want to reach with a “more than a project” dude.

  She stared at him for a long while. “Are you clean?”

  “I didn’t have sex for more than a year before you and I got together. In the hospital they checked me for all sorts of shit. I’m clean.”

  “I’m on the pill to regulate my period.”

  Silence.

  “Spell it out clearly for the dumb fucker with the leaking hard-on, will you? I don’t want to misunderstand.”

  She laughed softly. “You can fuck me bareback. I want you to.”

  If his mind hadn’t been off-line before, it surely was now.

  He reached for her but she took a step back. He struggled to focus.

  “Con, foregoing protection implies exclusivity. You’re clean now, but if you fuck around, you might not be the next time we… have sex.”

  Con shook his head to clear it. “What are you talking about? Fuck around?”

  “I don’t want to assume anything. Exclusivity might not be your thing, and—”

  “Wait, wait. Time out,” he said. “Fuck around? Do you really see me as someone who would cheat on you? Really? I haven’t cheated in my life. Ever. And I won’t start now. Although I guess exclusivity is something you don’t expect from a “more than a project” dude you happen to be banging, right?”

  She blinked. “What? ‘More than a project’ dude?”

  “That’s what you said I was. More than a project. At the shelter, remember?”

  “Con! I didn’t know what to call you that wouldn’t freak you out.”

  He crossed his arms. “What about ‘your man’? Or am I too fucked-up for you to even consider me for that position?”

  “I didn’t know whether you wanted to be my man.”

  “I want,” he stated, holding her gaze. And his breath.

  “Okay,” she whispered.

  He didn’t relax his stance. “What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “I want to hear you say that I will be the only one you have sex with. Exclusivity goes both ways.”

  “Of course I’ll sleep only with you,” she said in a snort. “You’re too much work. I couldn’t juggle two of you.” She was going for funny, but he sure as hell wasn’t appreciating it. “I only want you.”

  “Good,” he said and kissed her.

  “All this talk has put a damper on the sex fantasy, hasn’t it?” she asked, her eyes apologizing. “Way to interrupt and fuck up the mood.”

  “What interruption?” He gestured at his imperturbable hard-on. “The little guy didn’t notice any interruption.”

  He reached for her, but she took a step back, giving him a luxurious once-over. “What else did I do in that fantasy of yours? Did we go straight to fucking?”

  She was almost under the shower jets, water skating down her body. God, she had to stop looking at him and talking like that or he wasn’t going to last worth a damn.

  He struggled to think. “No, we didn’t go straight to fucking. You jacked me off—and yourself at the same time—while telling me how much you wanted me.”

  Grinning, she palmed him and stroked him from base to tip, then back to base. “Like this?”

  A ragged groan tore from his throat. Shivers of pleasure broke out all over his body. “Harder. Squeeze me harder,” he instructed, covering her hand with his and showing her how he liked it.

  She got the hang of it right away and in no time she had him teetering on the edge of coming, breath hissing through clenched teeth, body tense as a bowstring. Unable to take his eyes from her, he watched, enthralled, as she slid her other hand under her wet undies.

  If he’d thought he was in trouble before, it was nothing compared to the deep shit he found himself in the second she began pleasuring herself. He watched, spellbound, as her fingers sank deep between her legs while she milked him. Fuck, he so wanted to do that to her. “Let me, babe. Please.”

  He took over, sliding two fingers deep inside her hot, plush depths. She moved closer to him and held on to his arm while she breathed hard against his chest. “I want you so much, Con. In your fantasy, did I come on my fingers?” she asked, whimpering, her pussy already clamping around his invasion.

  He nodded. “You whispered in my ear that you wanted my cock inside you,” he let out, his voice so low and gravelly it surprised even him. “You offered me your mouth, your pussy, your ass, whatever I wanted to fuck.”

  This shit was getting too hot. She probably thought so too, because at his words, her pussy contracted sharply and sent her over. Her eyelids fluttered shut and she leaned heavily on him. He was wondering if he’d gone too far with his macho-power trip, making her replay his dirty dream, when she opened her eyes and licked her lips. “What did you end up fucking?”

  “Your pussy.”

  “My pussy it is.”

  His cock jerked so badly he almost lost it. Thank God he had his hand covering hers, effectively holding it still, because if she had moved it, he would have embarrassed himself then and there.

  He kissed her, grabbing her soaked undies and ripping them. “Let’s get rid of this shirt too.” He wanted to suck her nipples, and not through a T-shirt. “Hold on to me, baby.” He lifted her. When she got the T-shirt off, he worked her nipples with his teeth and lips until they were pulsing against his tongue. Then he leaned her against the wall and hooked his elbows behind her knees, spreading her wide open. Her pussy was flushed. She was drenched and swollen from coming. She was ready.

  He stared into her eyes and surged into her, realizing on the spot why no-condom sex was such a big deal. Aud was dangerous to him. As things stood, he felt an overwhelming need to crawl inside her skin and stay there forever. He didn’t need the extra encouragement.

  The extreme heat engulfing him robbed him of his breath, along with any shred of sanity. With her pussy gripping him like a fist, he stilled and gritted his teeth, trying to control the wave of need raging through him. No luck.

  Fucking her bareback had been a miscalculation. He’d thought he could do it without losing himself in her. He couldn’t. Condoms, thin as they were, allowed him to keep his distance and his cool, physically and emotionally. Being bathed in her scalding heat, without any barrier, had him in total sensory overload. He could already feel his orgasm building; his balls tightened and his cum pulsed, begging to jet out.

  “Fuck, babe. Too fucking good. I won’t be able to make it last,” he said in a guttural tone as he began to thrust into her more harshly. He needed to come inside her—deep inside her, where no one else had been able to touch her before.

  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and took all he had to give, moaning for more as he nailed her to the wall.

  “Can’t stop. Too good. Sorry.” He was coming and there was no way in hell to delay it.

  “Don’t stop. I’m coming,” she gasped.

  She tensed and went off, gripping him hard and biting his shoulder, which sent him even higher while he came and came, squeezed by the hottest, tightest pussy he’d ever been in.

  He did his damnedest to keep his legs locked, but it was as if he’d lost all his strength along with his cum. Holding her to make sure she didn’t get hurt, he slid to the floor with
her on his lap.

  “You okay?” he heard her ask.

  “Not sure.” When he opened his eyes, her face was mere inches from his.

  Jesus, it floored him the way she looked at him… like she saw him. Really saw him. Like she owned him. Which she probably did.

  “Did it live up to your expectations?” she asked, cocking her brow. “You know, compared to the fantasy?”

  He kissed her reverently. He hadn’t known sex could feel like this. So intense. So raw. So deeply pleasurable. So personal. “The fantasy paled in comparison. Although I didn’t land on my ass in it. You killed me. Your pussy literally sucked the life out of me.”

  Laughing, she hugged him tight and kissed his shoulder. Then she reached to the corner of the shower stall, where the bottles of soap were, and grabbed one. “Come on. On your feet, soldier.”

  Once they were standing again, she squirted creamy liquid on her hands and placed them on him.

  He grabbed her hands. “Audrey…”

  “What? You chickening out on me?”

  “I can do it myself. You don’t have to—”

  She frowned. “You saying I’m good enough to fuck bareback but not to touch you?”

  Please. “You know it’s not that.” She remained silent, her gaze hard, until he released her. “You don’t have to force yourself.”

  “Shut up,” she ordered, massaging his chest and soaping it up at the same time. Then his back. His ass.

  “Hey,” she complained as he turned her around, her back to his chest.

  “Your turn,” he said, spreading a generous amount of soap in his hands. “You didn’t get the attention you deserve.”

  “I’m completely satisfied,” she muttered, but he ignored her. He soaped her up, massaging her shoulders and arms until she was soft and relaxed, leaning on his chest, her head resting in the crook of his neck.

  “This would work better in a bathtub,” she whispered.

  “True,” he answered, caressing her chest. Her cute little moans reverberated through his body, making his cock pulse, but he kept it under control. This was for her. He cupped her breasts and weighed them, stroking her nipples, pinching them. The needy whimpers coming from her shot straight to his cock.