by HELEN HARDT
My phone buzzed for me at one in the morning. I rose, took a quick bathroom break, combed my hair, and pinched my cheeks. I purposely didn’t put on my robe. I was wearing my trademark cotton/spandex white tank and old boxers.
I crept out into the kitchen. When I turned on the light, there sat Talon, at the same place at the table, staring at a full glass of water, his dog at his feet.
“Where were you last night?” He looked up.
“I actually do try to sleep most nights.” Which was a lie, of course. He hadn’t been there last night, at least not at the same time. Was he messing with me?
I gave Roger a quick pet and then walked to the counter to begin my ritual. “Do you want some tea?” I asked over my shoulder.
“No,” he said without looking up.
Okay. Evidently, things were going to continue as usual. What was I doing? I had work in the morning, and here I was setting my damned alarm to go off in the night. This was ridiculous.
When my tea was ready, I walked to the table and sat down in my usual spot next to Talon.
“So do you ever actually drink that water you pour for yourself?”
He pursed his lips and then brought the glass to his mouth and took a drink. “Satisfied?”
Satisfied? Seriously? “Do you really think I care if you drink your water?”
“Well, you appear to, since you asked.”
“Unbelievable.” I rolled my eyes and dipped my tea bag in and out of my water.
“What’s unbelievable?”
“How you can be so rude about something so insignificant.”
“Rude? Me? You’re the one who asked me about my water.”
Touché. He was right. While the content of my question was innocuous, my tone had been a little snide. “Okay. I’ll admit I might’ve used a slightly rude tone when I asked. But I truly am interested. You’re here nearly every night, you pour yourself a glass of water, and then you sit and stare at it. What is that about?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
I looked straight into his burning dark eyes. “Try me.”
He picked up the glass, walked to the sink, and poured it out. He came back to the table and pounded it with a loud bang. “There. I took care of it.”
“And that is supposed to be significant?”
“Trust me. It is.”
I turned my attention back to my teacup. “If you say so.”
He stood and took the water glass to the sink. He stayed for a moment, his back to me, his ass looking delectable in his sleeping pants. His skin was tan, and the strong muscles of his back seemed tense. How I longed to massage all the tension out of him. Would I ever get that chance?
I’d have to break down a lot of walls to be able to do anything for his tension. Was I ready for that? Having just come away from a broken engagement?
I let out a soft chuckle. Whether I was ready mattered little. Talon was not ready and probably never would be.
He turned around and gazed at me. “What’s so funny?”
Shit. Had he heard my laugh? “Nothing.”
He walked toward me, aggression in his demeanor. “Are you fucking laughing at me?”
“No, I—”
He pulled me up and out of my chair so I was facing him, our chests nearly touching.
“You think it’s funny that I can’t sleep? That I sit here with a glass of water? Is that why you get up every night, to laugh at me?”
I trembled before him—from fear or arousal, I wasn’t sure. He gripped my upper arms, his knuckles whitening with the pressure he was exerting.
I should stop him. I should stop him now before this goes one minute further.
But I didn’t want to stop him. Yes, he was gripping me hard, harder than he should. But his touch on my skin, his hands on my flesh… It all felt right, somehow.
“Answer me, goddamnit.”
I shook my head. “Of course I wasn’t laughing at you. I wouldn’t do such a thing.”
He sneered at me. “Yes, because you’re such a nice person, right?”
“Yes.” My lips trembled.
“Are you, Jade? Are you really a nice person?”
“Of course I am.”
He still gripped me firmly. “Then you should probably stay the hell away from me.” He released me quickly.
I stumbled backward, catching myself by grabbing the back of the chair.
This man was dangerous. Brooding and dangerous. And sexy as hell. His dark-walnut hair framed his face in soft tousled waves. His onyx eyes gleamed, boring holes in my center as he stared at me. His muscles were tense, his whole chest clenched. He needed something. Anything, to release the tension.
“I…I guess I’ll get back to bed.” I turned to leave.
But he grabbed me again, this time pulling me right up to his chest, only the thin cotton of my tank separating us.
“I’m going to tell you this once, and I expect you to listen,” he said, his eyes burning.
Was I supposed to nod? I simply arched my eyebrows.
“Do not come to the kitchen in the middle of the night anymore.”
“Why not? If I can’t sleep, the tea helps me relax—”
His lips slammed down on mine.
Oh, God…
He forced my mouth open with his tongue and plunged inside. His kiss was…feral—more feral and animalistic even than the previous ones. Oh, yes, he needed to release tension…and I would willingly help. He gripped my shoulders, bringing us closer and closer together, as if he wanted to disappear inside my skin.
I returned his kiss, not only because I wanted to, but because he seemed to need it so much.
We kissed for several minutes until finally he eased up, and the kiss became softer. He unclenched his fingers from my shoulders and trailed one hand up my neck to cup my cheek.
And I was lost. I could never resist a face toucher. I loved the feeling of being so treasured by someone. I wasn’t laboring under any delusions that Talon Steel treasured me, but oh, the touch of his calloused fingers on my bare cheek… I was in heaven, floating on a magical cloud.
The kiss was still deep, and I still returned it passionately, but it was soft now, almost…loving. He unclenched his other hand from my shoulder and slid it down my arm, my skin prickling in its wake. My nipples were so hard I felt sure they were poking him. I longed for him to slide his hand up my side and cup one of my breasts, but we were too close together for that. I ached for his touch.
My sex throbbed. I knew I must be dripping, and all I had on were these loose boxers. God, I wanted his fingers on me, in me, stroking me to completion while he continued to kiss me.
Bravely, summoning all the courage in my arsenal, I clasped the hand that was holding on to my wrist and drew it toward my mound.
He broke the kiss abruptly, forcing me backward, his dark gaze burning into mine. “You don’t know what you’re asking for, blue eyes.”
My courage still coursing through me, I regarded him. “I do, actually.”
“I will hurt you.” Sadness laced his voice.
Why would he think he would hurt me? Was he even talking about emotional hurt? Did he actually think he would physically hurt me?
“I’m a big girl, Talon. I can make my own choices. If I get hurt, it will be my own doing.”
“You don’t know what you’re dealing with. You have no idea how much I ache for your pussy right now. I want to stuff you so full of my cock that you can’t see straight. I’ve wanted you since the first time I laid eyes on you, Jade. I don’t know why, but you have a hold on me.”
My skin warmed, my pussy pulsing. Was this truly happening? “Then take me to bed. I’m going willingly.”
“I’ll never love you.”
Bam! A brick settled on top of me. At least he was honest. I could give him that. I responded the only way I knew how. “I’m not asking for your love.”
He let out a chuckle. “Sooner or later, all you women want love.”
I c
huckled back at him. “Seriously? Look where so-called love got me. Left at the damned altar. Humiliated in front of my family and friends. Why in hell would I want to repeat that?”
“Maybe you don’t want love today, and maybe not tomorrow. But you will someday.”
“And who’s to say you and I are going to be together someday?”
Another chuckle. “I can guarantee you we won’t be together someday. I don’t love, blue eyes. I take. I take what others are willing to give to me, but I can’t give anything in return. It’s not in me.”
“I think you’re probably selling yourself short, Talon, but what does it matter? Tonight doesn’t have to make a future, does it? Tonight can simply be about what it is—two people enjoying each other’s bodies and releasing some tension.” I touched his shoulders, gently massaging them. “And damn, you’ve got a lot of tension built up.”
“I don’t want to fuck you to release tension, blue eyes.”
“Then why do you want it?”
“Not because I love you.”
Yes, yes, hit me over the head with it. “You’ve made that clear. What you haven’t made clear is why you want me.”
“Because I crave you. I crave your lips, your tongue, your body pressed against mine. I crave your sweet little pussy, your lips around my cock. I want to take you, own you, possess you for a night. I want to fuck you and fuck you and fuck you until neither one of us can take it anymore.” His eyes glowed, his dark nipples hardened, and his erection was apparent underneath his pajama pants. “I’m so hard for you right now, like granite. And maybe, Jade, maybe if I fuck you and take you, I’ll get this goddamned craving out of my system.”
My knees buckled beneath me. My skin was blazing and my pussy throbbing. He wasn’t offering me love. He wasn’t even offering friendship. What he was offering was a good old-fashioned fuck with his body that had been carved by artists in heaven.
I didn’t think about the consequences, about having to live under the same roof with him and what that would mean. I didn’t think about how it would feel to see him every day and not be able to touch him. I didn’t think about what the night might ultimately mean to me and the sadness I might feel at never being able to have it again.
I should have thought of all those things.
But I didn’t.
Instead, I met his dark gaze.
“You want to fuck me so bad? Then do it, Talon.”
Chapter Eight
Talon
I grabbed her arm and jerked her toward me. God, those breasts, against my chest…her hard nipples poking me… I was so fucking hard, so fucking ready to stick my cock inside her. In her mouth, in her pussy, in her ass. Wherever she let me. And she would let me go wherever I wanted. I could see it in her eyes, those steely blue orbs that haunted me. She’d let me have whatever I wanted tonight.
Why was I hesitating? I was Talon Steel. I took what was offered. I never felt the least amount of guilt.
I looked down at her red lips, swollen from the kiss I had given her. Fuck, that kiss… I’d been like an animal marking his prey. God help me, I couldn’t get enough of her lips, enough of her luscious tits pressed against me, enough of her blue gaze that crashed right into my soul.
I would be her undoing. I knew that without question.
But I didn’t care. I had to get my cock inside her. And if she was willing? Who was I to refuse?
I swept her into my arms and carried her down the hallway into my suite. I wasn’t going to be gentle. I was never gentle. And even though with her, I almost wanted to be, I was so fucking turned on now that I couldn’t be.
I set her down next to my bed. She turned to face me, her gaze never leaving mine as she slowly pulled the white tank top over her head. Her ample breasts fell gently against her chest, her brownish-pink nipples taut and hard. She cupped them for a moment, as if holding them out in offering, but then slid her hands down her sides and over her hips, taking her boxers with her. When they were a plaid puddle on the floor, she stepped out of them.
Fuck me. She was shaved bare, her ruby pussy lips on full display. I nearly creamed myself right there. I had to squeeze the base of my dick to calm myself down. Jesus, I was like a teenager around her.
She took a step toward me, placed her silky hands on my hips, and brushed my lounge pants down over my legs and onto the floor.
Her eyes widened when she saw my cock. I couldn’t help a small smile. Seconds later, though, she met my gaze, slid her hands up my abdomen and neck to cup my cheeks.
“Take me, Talon,” she said. “Take what you need.”
I could have thrown her on the bed and fucked her silly right then and there. She was ready. The lips of her beautiful pussy were already glistening.
But no. I wanted to go slowly, to savor her. I had to make this night count, make it everything it could be. I had to, because I needed to make damn sure this need went away after tonight.
“Get on the bed,” I said.
She smiled—oh my God, she was fucking beautiful—and complied.
“How do you want me?” she asked.
“I’m going to suck on your nipples, blue eyes. I’m going to suck them until they’re raw and aching. Tell me you want that, baby. Tell me you want my lips all over your nipples, all over your breasts.”
“Yes,” she breathed, her eyes fluttered closed. “I want that. I want you to suck my nipples.”
I flicked my tongue over one hard bud. “I want to suck and suck on them, baby, until your pussy is so wet and dripping for me, until you’re begging for my cock.”
“If it’s begging you want, I’m ready now.”
I shook my head. “No way. I’m going to make you really want it, really ache for it. By the time I’m done with you, blue eyes, you are going to be rode hard and put away wet.”
I took one of her dark-pink nipples between my lips and sucked.
She writhed beneath me, moaning. “God, that feels so good.”
I continued sucking and tugging, while I found the other with my hand, giving a light pinch.
She jerked beneath me.
God, her pussy. I could smell her… Her arousal. That scent that made me crazy. I sucked harder on her nipple, pinched harder on the other. Her hips began moving, wafting more of her scent toward me.
She had a musky odor that reminded me of a ripe peach. Goddamnit, I loved peaches. I wanted to slide down her luscious body and lick her sweet cream. But I wasn’t done with her nipples yet. I wanted her so tight, so on edge that she was begging for me.
She writhed underneath me, moaning, groaning. Each time I gave her nipple another light pinch, she jolted.
“Oh my God, Talon. God…”
I let her nipple drop from between my lips with a soft pop, and I looked into her steely eyes. “You like that, baby?”
“Oh, God, yes.”
I continued working her nipples while I trailed my hand down her soft skin to that oasis between her legs. I found her clit easily and pushed on it. She jerked with a loud sigh.
She began moving in rhythm with my finger as I teased her clit.
She was so fucking wet—wet with that fragrant nectar of hers. I resisted the urge to dip into her channel with my fingers. No, I was going to go slow. I would make her want me so badly she couldn’t take it anymore.
She threaded her fingers through my hair as I started sucking on her nipple again, all the while teasing her clit.
“Please, please…” she begged.
Again I let the nipple drop from my mouth. “Please what?”
“Please… Your finger… Your cock… I need you inside me.”
“All in good time.” I returned to her nipple, sucking it, kissing it. I worked my tongue around her areola and then up over the full globe of her breast. Her skin was like silk under my lips, and she was so responsive. So warm.
A few seconds more, and I dropped her nipple again and removed my hand from her clit. I quickly turned her around and pushed her on the bed
so she was lying on her tummy. Her beautiful ass, creamy and milky, drew my attention. I gave her a soft slap and then shifted her knees forward so her ass was in the air. Her beautiful red pussy was on display, ripe for me to take it. And her puckered little hole… Goddamn…the woman was killing me.
I couldn’t wait any longer to taste her. I shoved my face between her butt cheeks and inhaled her musky odor. I swiped my tongue along her slit and nearly unraveled. God, she tasted so fucking good. Better than any pussy I had ever tasted, and I’d had more than my share. Even her little asshole tasted sweet.
I slid my tongue through her folds again. She moved her hips backward, moaning.
“Your pussy tastes so good, blue eyes.” I dived back in again, sliding her labia along my teeth, nipping, biting, sucking. Couldn’t get enough of her sweet pussy.
When I finally took a break and kissed the sweet curves of her ass, I inserted two fingers into her cunt. Immediately she clenched around me, jerking backward.
God, she was coming. And it was the most exciting thing ever. Her moans and clenches fueled my desire. She was going to come and come and come all fucking night. She responded to my touch like no other had.
“Talon, what are you doing to me? Damn, it’s good.” She kept driving into my fingers, her spasms increasing.
And I was beyond thrilled.
“Yeah, baby, come all around my fingers.” I hoped to God she wasn’t a one-orgasm woman, because I was far from done.
I nursed her through the end of her spasms, and she collapsed on her belly.
I turned her over. I could’ve slid my cock into her heat in that moment, and damn, I was tempted, but I had to savor her. This would be the only time I had her, and I had to get enough to ease my desire. Make it go away forever.
“Sit up,” I commanded. “I want you to suck my cock.”
Her eyes fluttered open. Her lush body was flushed pink. She was clearly still reeling from her orgasm, yet she obeyed me, sitting up and wrapping her slender, warm fingers around my erection.
“How do you like it, Talon? Licking? Kissing? Sucking deep?”
“All of the above.” I closed my eyes. “Just get those lips around my cock.”