by Noelle Adams
“About me. You’re wrong about me.”
They stared at each other in the dim light of the room for a moment that lasted far too long. Tension shuddered in the air between them. Liz’s breathing quickened. Her skin warmed. She licked her lips self-consciously.
“I can let go. I can let go all the way.” Vince seemed nothing at all like himself. He was wired. Urgent. As sexy as hell with his naked chest and barely reined intensity.
She was trapped by his gaze the way she’d been that morning. But this was even more. Even hotter. She suddenly made up her mind. She’d regret it all her life if she didn’t give in to the force of the attraction she felt for Vince even if it was only casual sex.
She’d never wanted someone like this before. She might not ever feel this way again.
She didn’t want to miss out on it forever.
“Then do it,” she said, her voice barely a rasp. “Do it.”
Vince stared at her for another few seconds. Then, without warning, he was kissing her hard.
It happened so quickly she wasn’t prepared. She couldn’t compose an appropriate response. All she could do was follow the demands of her body and heart.
Both of them—all of her—wanted to kiss Vince back.
So she did.
She grabbed for him, partly to keep her balance and partly so he wouldn’t pull away like he had this morning. She opened her mouth and tried to suck his tongue toward hers, needing to feel him as deeply as she could.
He’d taken her head in both his hands to hold her face in place, but after a minute he slid one of them to her back and then lower to her bottom.
She thrilled with the feel of it. Of him. His mouth, tongue, hands, body. He was so hot she was afraid he might burn her, but it was a fire she wanted. She clawed at the skin of his back, her fingernails skimming over his shoulder blades, and she gave a huff of surprise and pleasure when he suddenly swung her up into his arms.
It was the last thing she expected, but the gesture did her in completely. She grabbed his head as he walked, kissing him with a passionate eagerness she’d never let herself feel for anything but antiques and books.
He carried her toward the stairs but stopped partway there. She broke out of the kiss and checked his face, realizing he didn’t know where to go.
“The one at the end of the hall on this floor,” she said with a giggle smothered in his mouth.
He grunted a wordless response as he completed his route to her room.
Liz kicked the door closed with her foot, wishing she’d picked up a little. There was some clean laundry draped over the chair in the corner and a couple of pairs of shoes in the middle of the floor. Jewelry spread out over her dresser.
The gorgeous wedding dress was still hanging on a hook on one wall. She still hadn’t managed to put it away.
“This is casual, right?” she asked, pulling her mouth away from his. “Hot sex. No strings.”
He blinked, like she’d surprised him. Or maybe he was just orienting his thoughts. “Oh. Yeah. That’s okay with you, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It’s fine. I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. If this is just a one-night stand, then maybe I should shove the wedding dress in the closet.” She was pleased with the amused lilt to her voice. Maybe she was better at casual sex than she’d thought. “It might cast the wrong kind of mood.”
He gave a low chuckle. “Do it.” He carried her over to the dress, and she grabbed it from the hook and then hung it in the closet when Vince brought her close enough to do so.
Once that was taken care of, she could focus on what was most important.
Vince. Hot and sexy and raring to go. His eyes were devouring her face and body as he leaned over to place her on her bed. She reached up to pull him down on top of her.
He wasted no time in kissing her again, moving on top of her so he was straddling one of her legs and holding himself up on his forearms. Part of his weight was resting on top of her, and it was big and hard and smolderingly hot. She felt small beneath him, and she wasn’t used to feeling that way.
For some reason it turned her on even more.
She’d wrapped one leg around him in an attempt to ease the ache at her center, and her squirming eventually managed to find the bulge of Vince’s erection in his pants. He groaned into her mouth, his tongue growing still.
She ground herself against him, whimpering in pleasure.
“Oh fuck,” he gasped, tearing his mouth away. “You’re so hot. So... so...”
She loved the helplessness of his voice, like he was feeling too much to handle. She slid her hands down to his ass and squeezed. “So what?” she prompted.
“So eager.”
She stiffened. “Eager?”
“What’s wrong with eager?”
“It sounds undignified.”
He chuckled and brushed a light kiss against her swollen lips. “You think anything about this is dignified?”
“Well, you can do better than eager.”
“Enthusiastic?”
“Try again.”
His eyes were warm with both amusement and arousal, and she loved the combination. “Passionate?”
“That will have to do.” She managed to free her other leg and wrapped them both around his hips, squeezing him between them in a way that made him let out a broken moan. “You seem kind of eager too.”
His mouth hovered just above hers. “Passionate,” he corrected. “And, yes, I am.”
Then he kissed her again, just as deeply as before, and she stopped being able to work out specific moves. They kissed and caressed and clawed at each other’s pajamas until both of them were naked. Vince suckled her breasts until she was whimpering, and then he felt between her legs, finding her wet arousal and stroking her there until she came all around his fingers with a breathless cry.
Her body was relaxing with a hot rush of satisfaction when she finally opened her eyes to see that Vince was smiling down in a very particular way.
She frowned. “Don’t gloat.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to say anything. I can read that expression. You’re all proud of yourself for making me come.”
“Would you rather I not make you come?”
“I’d rather you not gloat about it.”
He was still smiling. He couldn’t seem to stop. But he made a visible attempt to control his expression. “How’s that?”
“Not too good. You’ll have to keep working on appropriate humility.” She was teasing, and he knew it. She pushed him off her gently so she could reach over into the drawer of her nightstand and grab a condom from the pack she kept there.
She offered it to him, and he took it without hesitation, tearing it open and rolling it on.
She liked the looks of his naked body. All of him. He was big all over, and she was excited again when he settled between her legs, propping himself up on his arms above her. “Is missionary all right with you, or would you prefer a different position?”
“This is good. This is perfect. Now get going.”
He chuckled as he aligned himself at her entrance and started to edge in. “Always a competition with you.”
“If it’s a competition, then I’ve already won.” Her voice caught on the last word as her body adjusted around the length and girth of him.
“What was that?” Vince teased, although his voice was as breathless as hers.
“I said I already won.”
He eased back slowly and pushed in again, the slow thrust making Liz gasp and grab for the sheet beneath her. “What was that again?” he asked with another taunting smile. His skin was slightly flushed and damp with perspiration.
“I said I—” She couldn’t hold back a moan when he took another long thrust. She arched up into it eagerly.
“You said what?”
“I said—” She was moving with him urgently now, her body stimulated in every way imaginable. “I said I—” She hung on
to his shoulders as they built up their rhythm.
“You what?” His face was twisting in effort and pleasure, so it was clear he was just as carried away as she was.
But if he could sustain their unspoken challenge, then she could too.
“I... already... won!” she managed to choke out, riding him frantically from below as another orgasm built inside her.
“Is that... what you think?” He was grunting now in time with his rhythm. It was the sexiest sound.
“Yes. I already...” She clawed lines down his back as she arched up, the pleasure coiling down tightly just on the cusp of release. Then her whole body shook helplessly as the waves of climax overwhelmed her. “Oh God. Oh God! I won!”
Vince made the strangest sound. It was like a strangled laugh. Then he froze for a moment, all the tension contorting his features, before he came too with a loud exclamation that sounded like, “Fuck, yes.”
They shook and squeezed each other for a long time until the spasms finally faded. They gasped in unison, still tangled up together.
Finally Liz felt Vince’s body shaking in a different way.
She stiffened and frowned up at him when he raised his head from the crook of her neck. “Are you laughing?”
“No. Never.” Despite his words, he was having trouble controlling his expression.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Do you always cry out ‘I won’ when you come?”
Liz blinked. Thought back. Realized that was exactly what she’d done. She giggled helplessly and gave him a light swat on the shoulder. “No! Of course not. I was just finishing my earlier sentence about already winning. I just got distracted briefly by the orgasm.”
“Ah. Is that what happened?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what happened.”
“I see.” He was still shuddering with silent amusement, and Liz couldn’t resist his warm expression.
She pulled him down into a hug.
She was feeling so good. So relaxed. So completely sated. So close to him, their bodies wrapped up in each other and their laughter wafting together.
But they’d clearly discussed what this was. One night of sex. The culmination of the attraction that had always sparked between them. And, unless he said something different, there was no reason to assume they’d ever have sex again.
It was fine. Everything was fine. She could handle anything that happened.
She just wanted to know what he was thinking.
“That was fun,” she said at last.
“Yeah. Definitely.” His relaxed tone did nothing to clue her in to what was going on in his mind.
“You definitely proved you can let go in the bedroom,” she said lightly. “At least one time.”
However he replied was fine with her. It was fine. She just needed to know right now.
“Glad you realize it.” He rolled off her with a groan, taking care with the condom and then sitting on the edge of the bed to deal with it.
She waited, but he didn’t say anything else. She needed a little more information. She couldn’t put herself together and make a plan to deal with it until she knew. “Is that it then?” she asked, reaching down to grab a soft throw blanket to cover up with. She didn’t like to lounge around naked after the sex was over. “Or do you have more to prove to me later on?”
He gave a little jerk and turned his head sharply in her direction. “I’m happy to prove to you anything you think needs proving. Just say the word.”
All right then.
They could have sex again. Nothing more. Nothing deeper. But if she wanted another round of great sex, he was evidently available.
That was all she wanted. This was Vince Darcy, after all. He always kept control of himself. He never let go too much. He obviously wanted to indulge their attraction, but he’d never offer anything else.
She didn’t even want it.
Not with him anyway.
She slanted him a grin. “Sounds good to me. Anytime you feel like you want to prove you can let go again, you come right over and do it.”
He smiled, a tension in his shoulders relaxing. “Sounds like a plan.”
All right then. Things were clear now.
She’d evidently said the right thing to him.
She was still in control of this, so she could have a little fun if she wanted.
Seven
TWO WEEKS LATER, VINCE had Liz’s back against the wall.
Literally.
She’d been reading in her favorite spot—the far corner of the Pemberley House estate where there were a couple of comfortable lounges in a sunny spot surrounded by trees. Almost no one ever went there except her, but Vince ran the perimeter of the property every day, and he’d happened to catch her there today.
She wasn’t quite sure how it happened. He’d stopped to say hello, breathing hard and damp with perspiration from his exercise. She’d teased him about keeping his distance while he was sweaty like that.
He’d taken the words as a challenge.
So now she was hot and gasping and slightly sore, trapped against the old stone wall that ran the border of the estate, her legs wrapped around his waist and held up by the press of his body.
“Well,” she managed to say, trying not to giggle in pure giddiness. “That was unexpected.”
“It wasn’t unexpected for me.” Vince was just as warm and breathless as she was.
“What? You mean you found me on purpose to have sex?”
“No. I mean the minute I saw you reading here, I knew sex was going to happen.”
“What if I said no?”
“Then I wouldn’t have done anything, obviously.” He pulled back with an almost wicked glint in his eyes. “But you haven’t said no to me yet.”
Liz hadn’t said no to him. At all. For the past two weeks, they’d had sex every single day. They’d find each other in free moments and take advantage of whatever private spot was available. Both of them agreed to keep their fling quiet, so she hadn’t told anyone else about it. Not even Jane.
It was a fun, hot secret, and it didn’t matter if that was all it was.
She was having a really good time. She’d never met a man who was as much of a match to her intelligence and quick tongue as Vince.
She was pretty sure he was having a good time too.
“There’s always a first time,” she said tartly, wriggling slightly until Vince loosened his hold on her and eased her feet to the ground. She pulled down the little cotton dress she was wearing—hopelessly wrinkled now—and rubbed her back. “I’m starting to regret saying yes this time. Now I’m all hot, and I smell like your sweat, and I’ve got bruises on my butt and my shoulder blades.”
He frowned. “I wasn’t that rough.”
“Not rough. Just enthusiastic. I think it’s clear which of the two of us is more eager.” She giggled at his expression and stretched out on one of the lounges to recover and enjoy the aftermath of her orgasm. “You even bring a condom with you when you take a run.”
“I’m not a fool. I bring a condom everywhere these days. But you were pretty damn eager yourself,” he said. “I’m surprised half the estate didn’t hear us, the way you were screaming your head off in your ecstasy.”
She sucked in an outraged breath and sat up straight. “I was not screaming my head off. Don’t exaggerate.”
“It’s not much of an exaggeration. You were really into it.” He was on her before she knew to expect it, pushing her backward until she was reclining and his face was just above hers. “There was definite screaming involved.”
“Don’t exaggerate,” she repeated primly, pleased to maintain her composure when he was so close, so hot and heavy above her.
His hands were moving now, sliding up her thigh. She’d kept her panties on before—he’d simply pulled them aside to enter her, another discomfort that hadn’t mattered much in the heat of the moment—so now he tucked his fingers beneath them until he was stroking her intimately.
&
nbsp; “Vince, we just had sex. I don’t need a repeat performance.”
“It won’t be a repeat performance. Just proving my point.”
His hand had stopped at her words, so she gave him permission with a wry shake of her head. “Prove away. But don’t be disappointed if it backfires.”
It didn’t backfire.
She wasn’t sure how he did it. It seemed like he just kissed her a little and felt her up, but it was less than a minute until she was feeling urgent again.
He smiled against her skin. “I love how, after we have sex, you’re all primed and ready so it takes no time to get you going again.”
“I’m not... going.”
That was a manifest lie. She was shamelessly trying to ride his hand.
He chuckled and gave her neck a little nip, causing her to gasp and dig her fingers into the back of his neck.
“Okay,” she admitted. “I might be... going a little. But I’m not going to scream or anything.”
“We’ll see.”
She tried to hold out. She really did. But he had some sort of magic fingers, and her body simply wouldn’t cooperate with her will. In about thirty seconds, she was shuddering through a hard climax, crying out her pleasure into the open air.
And Vince was laughing silently as he stroked her through the last of the spasms, his face almost tender in its amused warmth as he gazed down at her.
“That wasn’t a scream,” she managed to say as soon as she found some breath.
“If you say so.”
“It wasn’t. It was a very ladylike sound of completion.” She tried to keep a straight face but failed completely. She was giggling as Vince pulled her into a soft hug that ended their debate.
She was feeling very relaxed and maybe a little sappy. She knew her relationship with Vince was sex only, but it was hard not to like him a bit. In her current mood, she might have said something embarrassing, but she was saved by the buzzing of her phone.
A glance at the screen made her shake her head. “It’s Riot. She says, ‘I’m here. Where are you?’ with a lot of exclamation points.”
“What does she want?”
“God only knows. The girl is always getting into some sort of trouble. Last month she decided she wanted to become an expert in the antiques business, so she trailed around behind me to a bunch of places until she finally got bored and gave up.”