“I have wanted to touch you like this all night,” he said, his own breath coming hard and fast, as he tumbled her back onto his bed, leaving them a mess of tangled limbs. “Victoria—you’re so beautiful. God, you’re beautiful.”
“Barrett,” Victoria gasped, arching up into him as the heavy weight of his body pressed down between her legs. His hands were beneath her shirt now, skimming directly over her skin. Little electric shocks of need burst beneath every place his fingers touched, and when he slid down her, following his touches with soft kisses and flicks of his tongue against her abdomen, she found herself writhing with need.
It had been so long—God, it had been a long time—since she’d been with a man. And never—ever—had it been like this before. She tried to think fuzzily and count how long it had been, but she only managed to think back over two or three celibate years before Barrett consumed her thoughts entirely. It didn’t matter how long it had been, she decided. It was happening now, and it was amazing.
Barrett’s hands drifted down her legs as he kissed along her stomach, then stroked upward to grip her backside and lift her ass. He lowered his head, kissing over the fabric between her legs and then letting his lips drift down, so that they skimmed over the inner parts of each thigh.
Groaning, Victoria arched up towards his kisses, gripping his hair and closing her eyes as he teased her. “God …”
“Tell me you want this,” Barrett murmured, his lips now at the back of her knee. She had never known that spot could be so deliciously pleasurable, but when he pressed his lips there, her heart leaped.
“I want this,” Victoria managed to gasp. “Please don’t stop.”
“Tell me what you want,” he said, his voice low and seductive. He looked up at her, his eyes hooded with the same desire that she felt coursing through her.
“I want you,” she said, reaching for him. “I want you.”
Barrett took her hand in his and kissed each finger. “I want you, too. But what do you want me to do to you, Victoria? Tell me. Anything you want.”
Heat settled low in her core, pulsing with need. But she didn’t tell him to take her now, rough and wild. She knew they didn’t have all the time in the world, but she wanted to at least take a little time to enjoy this moment of firsts between them. She wanted to linger. To draw it out. To feel him.
“Undress me,” she whispered, the words feeling so risqué as their eyes locked and held. “I want to be naked with you.”
Need flashed in his gaze, and he lifted himself up over her again in an instant, kissing her fiercely. His hands slipped beneath the t-shirt that she had borrowed from him so long ago, and he lifted it over her head, staring down at her skin and the swell of her breasts against the soft white cup of her bra. Lowering his head, he kissed one of her nipples through the fabric, skimming his teeth along the sensitive bud and making her groan with pleasure.
With one finger, he hooked the middle of her bra and snapped the piece of fabric in two, letting the cups fall away from her ample breasts. Victoria didn’t even consider the ruined bra. The display of strength and need was so potent that it consumed her thoughts, and she watched him eagerly as he lowered his head and began to lavish attention on each breast, moving from side to side and devoting all of his attention to both. He nuzzled her, and kissed her, and sucked her, and all the while his hands stroked down her sides and hooked in the waistband of her shorts, pushing them down her hips, so that she was wearing only a pair of white panties.
“You are so sexy,” he murmured, pausing in his adoration of her breasts to scan his eyes over her body. “God, Victoria. Look at you. You’re amazing.”
“I am?” she whispered, thinking back to the way he had looked, standing shirtless in the bayou. It amazed her that a man with a body like Barrett’s could look at her and think that she was beautiful. He was more than beautiful—he was perfectly sculpted.
Barrett slid his hand down her panties, stroking her between her legs as they fell open. “Oh yeah. …I could just lie here and look at you all day. But I’m not going to.”
He started to move down lower, and her pulse quickened, imagining what he was about to do, but she grabbed his shoulder first. “Wait,” she said.
Barrett stopped, taking his hand from her and looking up at her face. “What’s wrong?” She smiled, slow and sensuous. “Naked first.”
Relieved, he grinned back at her and reached for her panties to snap through those, too. But she stopped him again, shaking her head. “Not me. You.”
Barrett chuckled and sat up, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to the side. His jeans came off next, and he stood there beside the bed in just a pair of black boxer briefs, his impressive, muscled physique looming over her, and his gorgeous face staring heatedly down at her. “Is this what you wanted?”
“Almost,” she whispered.
Hooking one finger in the waistband of his boxer briefs, he dragged them down his hips and legs, then stepped out of them, kicking them aside. He was standing in front of her now, completely naked, and Victoria almost couldn’t breathe. She got to her knees. Kneeling on the bed, she reached for him, and he moved closer to her, letting her run her hands over his chest and along his shoulders. Her gaze and her fingers drifted down to his hips, and she traced the deep V of the muscles at his hips and then slowly ran a finger along the long, rigid length that protruded towards her.
Barrett groaned, thrusting towards her hand. “Victoria …”
“Shhh,” she said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and putting one hand on each of his hips. “Let me play.”
He offered no protest, as she leaned forward and began to kiss her away along his length, her tongue swirling around the head of his arousal. Her mouth sank down around him, taking him deep into her mouth, so that he pressed towards her throat. Closing her lips, she sucked at him, pulling him deeper yet. The groan that escaped him vibrated through her, bringing her pleasure deep within. She gripped his hips harder and began to move her mouth up and down him, sucking relentlessly and swirling her tongue against his sensitive skin.
Barrett tangled his hands in her hair and aided her motions by thrusting into her. He was so hard and hot inside her mouth, and she could feel the desire rushing through him. He moaned, his muscles tensing, and his grip on her intensifying the higher she drove him. She got lost in the pleasure that bringing him pleasure brought her, and she gave herself over to it, using everything she had to drive him wild.
But then he pulled her head back, sliding himself from her mouth. She immediately reached for him, wanting him back again, but when her eyes lifted to his, she saw his impending climax written all over his face. His eyes were glazed with pleasure and his skin flushed. He was staring down at her with almost animalistic need, and he pushed her back against the bed, hovering over her and looking down into her face.
“Detective Crenshaw,” he murmured. “You are much, much too good at that.”
Chapter 24
Barrett
He would never have imagined that Victoria Crenshaw would have such a wicked way with her mouth, but she had driven him so high so quickly that he had almost spilled himself down her throat. He very much intended to do exactly that at some point—but not this time. Barrett wanted to be inside her more than anything, and as he stretched himself over her, kissing her neck, he slid his fingers down between her legs and slipped them inside her panties, exploring her wet center with probing fingers.
Barrett was rewarded for his attentions with soft gasps of pleasure and the movement of her hips against his hand. Her fingers gripped his shoulders, and she pressed her face against his neck, stifling her sounds of pleasure as she bucked her hips in response to the insistent pressure of his hand at her center.
His fingers slipped inside her tight body, and Victoria cried out with need, driving him so close to his peak all over again that he knew he couldn’t wait any longer to have her. Barrett thrust his fingers into her again and again, lowering his
lips to draw at her nipple to add to her pleasure. In mere moments, she was coming, writhing beneath him, as he brought her pleasure relentlessly.
Before she’d had a chance to even begin to come down from her high, he pulled her panties from her and positioned himself at her entrance, looking down into her flushed face as he positioned his hips and slid fully inside her.
The tight heat of her center encompassed him, pulling him deeper and deeper, and he shuddered, holding still for a moment to make sure that he didn’t spill himself inside of her before he was ready for this incredible moment to be over.
Bending down, he kissed her, pausing for a moment of tender connection in the midst of all the passion. Her arms wound around his neck, and he settled his body around hers as her legs came up to frame his hips. Stroking his hands over her body, he kissed her long and slow, easing them both down from the intensity coursing through them. And then he began to move slowly, sliding in and out of her body with a steady pace that began to gently build up their pleasure again. Her body yielded to him completely, and her lips sought his, kissing him long and deep as they moved together.
Barrett had been with his fair share of women, but it had never felt like this to him before. As he moved with Victoria, the connection between them was so deep and so strong that it seemed to wrap them up into a cocoon of their own—one that no one else could penetrate. He took his time with her, lingering in every stroke of his body against hers and savoring every soft sigh of pleasure and then, as he grew heated once again, her moans of need consumed him.
He refused to hurry, and he refused to let his desperate need for her take over. But even as they savored the pleasure together, their need grew, and it was only a short time before Victoria was moaning his name once again, her hips beginning to thrust forcefully upward as her body demanded more.
There was no holding back once she arched up against him. Abandoning his slow, steady, tender lovemaking, Barrett began to thrust into her again and again, driving her higher and harder with each movement of his hips. Pleasure coursed through him, taking over completely, and he was gasping her name over and over again, as she fell into her next peak. She clenched around his hardness and shuddered beneath him, crying out, as she shot over the edge and tumbled into her own desire. He couldn’t hold back. He followed after her, reaching the height of his pleasure and following it into an unstoppable explosion. Barrett spilled himself within Victoria, clutching her to him, as they both rode their highs and then began to drift back down to reality together.
When he opened his eyes again, his breath was still coming fast, and his body was slick with dampness, his skin pressing to hers. He shifted the brunt of his weight off her and rolled slightly to the side, but she grabbed him, keeping him close.
“Don’t go,” she murmured, her own eyes still closed.
“I don’t want to crush you,” he said, even as his arm snaked around her waist to keep her close. “I’m a bit heavy.”
“I like it,” Victoria said, snuggling her body against his.
Smiling, he held her close and kissed her hair. He hadn’t expected to make love to her—not now, this morning, after the long night they’d had and with so much of his future riding on the next few hours. But as unexpected as it was, it was also perfect. He had never shared himself with anyone the way he’d shared himself with Victoria, and it hadn’t been intentional. There was just something about her that drew him in and made him want to tell her, and show her, and give her everything. He trusted her. He liked her. He cared for her. It didn’t matter that they’d only known each other for such a short time.
She was different.
It was like Ryan had described feeling about Angela, almost right from the start.
It was the way Jordan had said she felt about Wes.
The way Quentin had been so drawn to Lydia.
The same connection that Hannah had said existed between her and Ryan.
He was feeling that now, with Victoria, and he had learned enough from watching his friends fall for their partners to know that he wasn’t going to let anything like fear or doubt get in the way of pursuing that. He didn’t know what lay ahead for him, or what lay ahead for him and Victoria, but he wasn’t going to run from what was growing between them, and he wouldn’t let her run either.
For that reason, even though he knew that she was right about the problems attached to her joining him at the meeting that would take place in just a few hours, he was going to ask her to be by his side anyway. Not as a cop. Not as an outsider. But as his partner.
That was exactly where he wanted her.
If she would agree.
He started to speak to her and tell her to get some rest—that he would hold her as she drifted off to sleep. But when he looked down at her beautiful face, now tucked against his chest, she was already fast asleep, her eyes closed and her mouth gently slack.
Barrett kissed her forehead and hugged her close to him. He didn’t know what it meant that he and his friends had all found partners in such a similar fashion, but he hoped that it meant something great for all of them—and for the Rockwell Clan.
God knew, the Rockwell Clan needed something great to happen fast, and they needed it badly.
Victoria slept peacefully, curled against his body, but Barrett’s eyes didn’t close. He lay there with her, and his mind turned over and over, processing everything that he had learned in the past twenty-four hours. And as he processed, he began to plan.
He was going to need a kick-ass plan.
Chapter 25
Victoria
When Victoria woke up, she could tell that she had only been asleep for a few hours. Her head was groggy, and her limbs were heavy. It took a minute for her head to clear, and when it did, she remembered what had happened with Barrett after they got back to his house. And when she opened her eyes, she found herself staring at a naked chest. Slowly, she realized that there were arms around her and skin against hers, and she knew that he was still lying there, holding her.
For a moment, she felt panicked, as though there was something to be ashamed or embarrassed of. After all, they had decided that clouding their professional relationship with romance was not a good idea right now, and she had been firm that she was attracted to him but not interested in crossing that line.
It seemed laughable now, thinking back to the way they had come together so desperately. How had she expected that they could really ignore what was between them? Why should they even try? She had never experienced any sort of connection with a man that was like this—not even with Nathan, who was the only man she had considered becoming serious with many years ago, when Olivia was younger.
Nathan had been gentle and comfortable. A good friend and an attentive lover.
Barrett was so much more than that.
“I can feel you thinking.”
Victoria looked up at the sound of his voice and found him looking down at her, waiting for her reaction. She wondered briefly if he had slept at all, but the tired lines around his eyes gave her that answer pretty definitively. “Good morning,” she murmured.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he said, touching her cheek. “Everything okay?”
It was a loaded question, given the circumstances. But the answer was natural. “Everything is fine.” She lifted her hand to cover his as it pressed against her cheek. “I’m guessing you didn’t get any sleep.”
“I didn’t,” he said, “but you’ve been asleep for a couple of hours now. I was actually about to wake you—maybe in another twenty minutes. My phone has been going off across the room, and I’m sure it’s about the meeting I asked Grandpa to schedule.”
Victoria sat up immediately, flushing. “God. I’m sorry. You could have moved, Barrett. Even if it had woken me up—that’s not important. You have things you need to be attending to.”
He smiled, stroking his hand down her arm to soothe her. “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t worry. I’ve been plenty productive right here, and I wanted you
to get some sleep. You needed it.”
Barrett sat up, too, and Victoria found herself looking up at him, her eyes locked on his, as he leaned his hand against the mattress and rested his weight on it. His free hand tucked her hair behind her ear, and she realized that her hair must be all over the place. She was a restless sleeper usually, and she often woke up with her red tresses tangled all around her.
But if that was the case, it didn’t seem to bother Barrett. He smoothed down the strands and tucked them behind her ear, tracing the shell of it with his fingertip. “Just as beautiful when you wake up as you are in your sleep,” he said, smiling.
Victoria relaxed further, realizing that she was probably the only one making this awkward right now. He seemed to have no qualms and no regrets, so why should she? If he didn’t want her here, naked, in his bed, he would have gotten up long ago and left her there on her own.
But he hadn’t.
Victoria leaned into his touch. “I …”
She didn’t finish her sentence immediately, and Barrett tilted his head, arching an eyebrow, quizzically.
“I had a nice time,” Victoria blurted out, immediately wincing at the awkward statement. “Last night, I mean,” she added, as though he might be confused as to what she meant.
But he didn’t laugh at her. He did smile, though, and kissed her lips. “Me, too,” he said, running his hand down her back. “No regrets?”
Victoria shook her head. “No. Just nerves.”
“Don’t be nervous,” Barrett said, tilting her chin up, so that their eyes met again. “I’ve never been more sure that a decision I made was the right decision.”
His confident words touched her deeply, and she felt her nerves fading. “So, does that mean …”
“It means I want you here, in this bed, with me, every night that you can manage it,” he said, without hesitation. “I know you have Olivia. I’m not pressuring you. I’m just letting you know—that’s what I want. I want you, Victoria Crenshaw. It’s not exactly hip or modern of me to be that up-front, and it might scare you, but I don’t play games well, and I don’t intend to play any here. I’m crazy about you, and I think there’s something real here, and I want you.”
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