Open Life (Open Skies #5)

by Marysol James

  When she finally raised her hands to his chest, he almost sighed with relief. Maria’s touch was gentle, shy, and a wave of tenderness for her threatened to wash him away. He stood very still and let her take the lead now.

  Maria ran her hands over his muscles, a bit stunned at his obvious and massive physical strength. He was so clearly holding it all back, though, holding it in check. She grew bolder, let her fingers trace the hard curves of his abs.

  “And what about me?” she said at last. “Do you like me enough to let me do this?”

  “I do,” he said hoarsely.

  She smiled, enjoying the game now. She raised herself on her tiptoes and slid her hands over his broad shoulders. She pulled his face down to hers, flicked her tongue over his lips. “And that?”

  His response was a groan and he clutched her closer.

  “Is that a yes, Dillon?”

  “Yes,” he growled. “Yes, I like you enough for you to do that.”

  “Can I do more?” she whispered shakily.

  “You’d better,” he said. “You’re killing me, darlin’.”

  She lifted herself to him again and this time, he pulled her up. Her sweet mouth met his in a soft kiss. She pulled back a bit and stared up at him. “And you like me enough for that to be OK, right?”

  “No,” he said, almost harshly.

  Her face fell. “N – no?”

  “No. That’s not OK – it’s not nearly OK. I want more than that, Maria, and I want you to give it to me right the fuck now.”

  Out of patience, losing control, he tangled his hands in her hair once more and he took her mouth, holding her in place as they kissed again and again, more deeply, longer, stronger. When she gave a moan and opened to him, he stroked her with his tongue, tasting wine and spice. She gasped as he ran his hands down her body to her hips, pulled her tightly against him.

  Right away, he stopped. “Alright?”

  “Yes,” she said. “So alright.”

  His smile was slow and hot. “I want to forget about dinner for a while.”

  “You do?” She tried to look disapproving. “After all our hard work to prepare it?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “What do you want to do instead?”

  “This.” Without another word, he lifted her off her feet, lowered her on to the island in the middle of the kitchen. She gave a small cry and clutched his shoulders. He was between her spread legs now, trapping her in place with his hands on either side of her – and she loved it. He loomed above her and his eyes were nothing but green flame. “Is this good?”

  “It’s good,” she said. “But it could be better.”

  “Tell me how.”

  “Show me some more how much you like me.”

  He grinned down at her, liking her playfulness. “No problem, Maria. Nothing I’d rather do.”

  His kiss this time was rough, intense. He was marking her, she knew, staking his claim on her and she let him. Hell, she even welcomed it. All she wanted was to be taken by Dillon – taken completely. She wanted to be his… even just for one night.

  As if he could hear her thoughts, he drew back. “I’m not going to take you to my bed tonight.”

  She was hurt and disappointed, but tried to hide it. “You don’t want to? With me?”

  “Oh, I want to.” His laugh was almost pained. “You have no idea how much I want to.”

  “So why not then?” She wondered if she was coming across as pathetic, but dammit… she wanted to see him naked.

  “I don’t have any condoms.” He looked at her hopefully. “You have some?”

  She sighed and returned to earth with a bump. “No.”

  “That’s OK, baby.” His hands were moving over her body, moving down. “I’m going to do one more thing to show you just how much I like you.”

  “What’s that?” she whispered as tendrils of lust coiled in her stomach.

  “I’m going to make you come on my fingers and tongue,” he said. “So lie back and open your legs wider for me.”

  His bluntness was the ultimate turn-on right now and her whole body responded fully. He saw it in her face and his cock hardened mercilessly, pushing against his jeans. It was almost painful, but it was pleasure-pain – he loved being this close to her. He’d put up with some sexual frustration if that meant that he was licking and stroking that sweet little pussy and listening to her call his name.

  Her dress had ridden up her thighs and he pushed it higher until he saw her panties; plain white cotton and he couldn’t imagine anything sexier right this second. Dillon smiled and ran his fingers lightly up her inner thighs, paused when she stiffened a bit.

  “This OK with you?” he said.

  “Yes,” Maria said unsteadily. “I – I want you to touch me.”

  “Good, ‘cause I love touching you.”

  “It’s just…”

  He leaned back to get a better look at her face. “Just what?”

  “Just that I used to be thinner,” she mumbled. “I’ve gained a lot of weight over the past year and I’m a bit… self-conscious about it.”

  Dillon ran his hands up and down her body. “I don’t know why you’d want to be less than you are. I think you’re fucking perfect like this.”

  “You do?”

  “I do.”

  He kissed her again, tenderly, waiting for her to relax a bit. When her curved body melted against his, he slid his hands higher, higher again. He slid his fingers in to her panties and groaned at her incredible heat and softness. Carefully, he twisted his hand to stroke her between her swollen lips. She gasped, opened her legs a bit more.

  “God, baby.” His fingertips were soaked with her. “You’re so wet… is this all for me?”

  She gave a moan as Dillon dipped his finger inside her. “Y – yes.”

  “I love it,” he murmured. “I want more.”

  “Me too.”

  He took her by the shoulders and gently pushed her down on her back. She couldn’t believe that she was on the kitchen island, Dillon standing between her open legs, his hand on her pussy. She felt amazingly out of control but she also felt OK with that. This man made her want to do things she’d never done with anybody else in her life.

  Dillon pulled her underwear to one side and there she was: open and wet and all his. He wanted to launch himself at her, attack her sweet pussy, get his hands and tongue all over her. But she deserved better than that – he wanted her to feel worshipped and adored. Loved.

  He placed his hands on either side of her head and kissed her, his tongue teasing and stroking. Maria dug her fingers in to his lower back and arched against him, loving being totally covered by Dillon’s large, hard body. She felt feminine and overwhelmed, but also incredibly powerful. His want was palpable and he was whispering her name over and over, telling her that she made him crazy.

  Her hands moved down to his ass, paused as she felt something hard. “Is that…”

  He cursed, pulled away. “Shit. I forgot about the gun. I’m sorry.”

  She nodded silently. More than once, she’d forgotten that Dillon had a gun tucked in to the waistband of his jeans almost every single second that he was awake. His t-shirts always covered it, but it was there. Touching it made her tense up again as she remembered just why Dillon was at Open Skies in the first place. Gabi was in danger and maybe she was too. Her skin was suddenly covered in goosebumps and she shuddered.

  Dillon both saw and felt her fear and he quickly pulled her back up in to his arms. “You alright?”

  “Yeah. It just – it surprised me.” She took a breath. “I’d kind of forgotten what you’re here for, I think.”

  “You want to stop?” he said, smoothing her hair off her face with both hands. God, he wanted nothing more than to taste her, to have her go wild under his touch, but she looked pretty up
set.

  “I – I…” She closed her eyes. “I think so. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” He tangled his fingers in her hair, pulled her in for a kiss. “It was kind of a mood-killer, I know.”

  She gave a small laugh. “Yeah.”

  “I can’t take it off while I’m guarding you, baby, but I don’t sleep with it on.”

  Her dark eyes flared. “No?”

  “Nuh-uh. I actually sleep just in boxers. The gun goes on the bedside table.”

  “Hmmm.” She thought about that. “So you’re saying that if we sleep in the same bed, there will be no more large, hard objects for me to come across by accident?”

  He grinned down at her, thinking that she was the cutest damn thing he’d ever seen. “No, I’m not saying that. If you let me in to your bed, you’d definitely stumble across a hard object. To call it large may be bragging on my part, though.”

  “Umm. Is it a cell phone?”

  “Nope. Try again.”

  “A calculator?”

  “Nope again. You want a hint?”

  “Please.”

  Dillon took her hand in his, watched her eyes as he gently pulled her hand down to the front of his jeans, just above the snap. “You getting an inkling now?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Want to play hot and cold?”

  She giggled. “Sure.”

  Maria moved up his body, under his t-shirt. He closed his eyes at her touch, loving how she skimmed over his defined muscles. She moved higher and his shirt rode up, giving her a tempting glimpse of Dillon’s rock-hard abs.

  “How am I doing?” she said.

  “Ice cold. But I don’t mind.”

  “Me neither. Take this off,” she demanded, pulling at the shirt. “I want to see you.”

  “No problem, darlin'."

  Maria watched as Dillon did that amazingly sexy thing that guys do with t-shirts, where they reach behind their heads and yank them off in one fast, impatient movement. He dropped it to the floor at his feet and she actually thought she might pass out at the sight of him. Maybe this is why he'd had women faint in his presence? Because God knows, Dillon Saunders without a shirt was breathtaking. He was hard and strong and surprisingly almost tattoo-free; for some reason, she'd been expecting a dozen of the things, but he only had one.

  "Oh, God," she breathed. "Dillon..."

  "Yeah, baby?"

  "You're gorgeous."

  "You think so?"

  "Mmmm-hmmm." She reached out now, unable to stop herself from touching him again. His skin was smooth and incredibly warm and she ran her fingers over the dark hair on his pecs, along his collarbone, around his nipples. "So am I still cold?"

  "You are." His eyes were hazy and his breath was getting ragged. "Try a bit lower."

  She ran her hand straight down the middle of his upper body, paused on his abs. "Here?"

  "Warmer."

  Her fingers caught in the waistband of his jeans and he twitched a bit as she tickled him.

  "Maria?"

  "Hmmmm?"

  "You're so fucking warm, baby."

  Taking pity on him at last, she slid her hand down his zipper. His cock was unbelievably hard and her touch wasn't anything like relief. In fact, she made the torment and agony keener, sharper. He pushed against her palm and she grinned.

  "Hot, Dillon?"

  "Fuck, yeah." He gripped her hips, his mind full of fantasies about plunging in to her from behind, his hands holding these generous hips flush against his body. He'd make love to her until she came on his cock and collapsed under him, overwhelmed and barely conscious. "So hot."

  Maria had never felt so liberated, so unafraid of her own desire. She wasn't worried about doing anything wrong or not being able to please Dillon. His reaction to her touch was incredible: so honest and open, so strong and passionate. She knew this was a man who wouldn't hold back in bed and she knew he'd fuck like a tender savage. She'd be safe and she'd also have mindblowing orgasms, and her arousal at that knowledge was almost unbearable.

  She kissed him now, her hand and tongue moving at the same time. Dillon shuddered, clasped her closer. This woman was going to kill him, he just knew it. She was also going to make him come in his pants here and now and no way that was happening. She was going to come first; end of discussion.

  He took her hand now, stilled its sensual movements. "So you found it, huh?"

  "I guess I did." She smiled up at him, her confidence making her so goddamn beautiful. "That was a fun game."

  "For me, too." He traced her lips. "Now. We’re eating dinner and then we’re going to your king-sized bed together and I’m going to go down on you until you pass out in my arms.” He grinned as her mouth dropped open. “Any objections?”

  “Just one.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I get to touch and kiss you too.” Maria cupped his rock-hard cock again and this time, he couldn't contain his groan. “I get to do something about this…”

  “Fuck, baby,” he managed. “Your objection is duly noted and we can act on it.”

  “Good.” She smiled and kissed him again. “So, let’s eat. I think we’re going to need some energy for later.”

  Chapter Seven

  Almost three hours later, Dillon was holding a sleeping Maria and feeling as though he’d never really understood happiness before this exact moment. Her breathing was soft, her hair was tousled, her limbs languid. He’d made her scream three times before finally letting her fall in to sleep and he was fighting with himself to not wake her up and start things all over again.

  She’d shocked him in some ways, in many ways. What had happened between them in the kitchen seemed to have unlocked something hidden deep inside of Maria – it was like something had been set loose. Something abandoned and wild, a lack of fear or a shedding of her self-consciousness.

  After a flirty dinner, they’d moved to Maria’s bedroom without a word. No discussion was needed; they both fully intended to pick up right where they’d left things off.

  They had undressed each other, yanking off their clothing between kisses and murmurs. Dillon had rolled her on to her back and buried his face between her thighs, coaxing a richter scale orgasm out of her trembling, straining body. He’d moved up to take her in his arms as she recovered and right away, she’d pushed him on to his back.

  Dillon had watched in a haze of lust and wonder as those sweet lips moved over his body. Maria had stroked him with her tongue, tracing his muscles as she worked her way down. By the time she’d reached his cock, Dillon had been seconds away from bursting. Her mouth was pure heaven on him: she didn’t have expert technique, but he didn’t think he’d ever felt anything so perfect.

  When he’d been close, he’d pulled her up to him, kissing her deeply as they stroked him to completion together, his hand around hers, their movements hard and frantic. His climax had shaken him with its intensity and he’d clutched her to his heaving chest, panting and saying her name over and over.

  After, they had a shower together to clean up – and promptly gotten dirty yet again. He’d thrust and plunged his fingers inside of her until she’d come against the shower tile; she’d gone to her knees in front of him and taken him deeper this time. She didn’t stop when he got close, didn’t let him tug her away and Dillon had arched his back as he’d come hard, wishing the whole time that her hot, tight mouth was her pussy.

  Exhausted, they had fallen in to bed together but Dillon hadn’t wanted to stop quite yet: he wanted to watch her unravel once more. He went more slowly this time, really getting to know her body with his hands, lips, tongue.

  He’d started at her forehead and worshipped literally every single inch of her curvy body, all the way to her baby toes. When he’d finally settled back between her legs and licked and sucked her clit, she’d been sobbing with need. After her orgasm, she’d wept in his arms, overwhelmed a
nd breathless, and Dillon had whispered in her ear that she was the most beautiful, shining thing he’d ever seen.

  He stared down at her now, a half-smile on his hard face. God, she made him crazy, made him say fuck it to everything he’d ever thought or believed about women or relationships or boundaries. With Maria, he just didn’t want any lines, any limits. He just wanted her – in his arms, in his bed. In his heart.

  His cell phone vibrated on the bedside table, startling him out of his thoughts. He rolled away quickly, trying not to disturb her, picked it up. When he saw Jax’s number, his chest tightened. He had spoken to Jax and King every day, several times a day, ever since he got to Open Skies and Dillon knew exactly what was happening back in Denver. He kept much of it from Maria, but he suspected that he’d have to share today’s events, if all had gone according to plan.

  Quietly he got to his feet, padded out of the bedroom, shut the door. He answered the phone now, keeping an eye on the bedroom.

  “Jax?”

  “Hey, man. It’s all done.”

  “The trade went OK?”

  “Yeah.” Jax heaved a sigh. “We gave that asshole prospect Warren Kane back to the Fallen Angels in exchange for Gabi’s safety. They’ve promised not to lay a finger on her, now that their man is back in the clubhouse. Holding him hostage was the best move we could have made, in the end, and it all worked out.”

  “And we believe that the MC will keep their word? That they’ll really back off?”

  “Yeah, I think so. King had a private word with Trigger and Ace and he let them know that if anything happened to Gabi, he’d used what he had. They seemed to see reason.”

  Dillon was silent. Trigger MacGee was the MC President and Ace Cuddy was his VP and neither one of them were anything like men of their word. The fact that they’d promised something to King didn’t exactly inspire confidence in Dillon: every instinct in his body screamed at him that this still wasn’t over.

  “Is Gabi going home then?” he asked.

  “Nope.” Dillon heard a smile in Jax’s voice. “She and Aidan are kind of… together now.”