by Kaily Hart
“I don’t think so. Why don’t you just sit here and I’ll…ah…”
Carly stumbled to a halt as he grabbed his t-shirt at the back of his neck and jerked the entire thing off in one rough move, exposing his smooth muscled chest. He yanked at the button on his jeans a few times before it popped open and her mouth went dry, her attention focused on the soft-looking line of hair that arrowed under his navel down into the opening of his jeans.
Oh God. He’s getting naked. Without-any-clothes-on naked.
He grabbed the waistband of his jeans with both hands, the muscles in his arms bunching.
“Ah…I’ll just run next door and get you a change of clothes.”
Carly felt odd being in his bedroom. She’d been in his place before, but never this room. This was the room he dressed and undressed in, the room he slept in, the room he…fuckedin. Well jeez, she assumed he didn’t always have sex up against the wall of his entry.
What did he sleep in anyway? He didn’t seem the pajama type. She quickly grabbed a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt and opened and closed a couple of drawers until she found his underwear.
Oh God.
They were all black, snug boxer-style briefs. Every single pair. She laughed. Not a lot of imagination, but hey, he so didn’t need any window dressing. They had to look incredible on him, so why would he mess with perfection, right?
She felt depraved as she fingered the soft fabric, imagining what the material cupped when he had them on. She’d never much gotten into going down on a guy but the urge she had to look at, touch and taste Rio almost made her tremble. She wanted to lick his length, suck on him, cup and lick his balls until he trembled against her. She wanted to kneel in front of him in submission, his hands in her hair, urging her on until she brought him to the brink. And then she’d start all over again. She’d never let a guy come in her mouth before either, but she knew she’d let Rio. God, she’d insist. Just the thought of it and she was hot, wet and aching with need. What would he say if she won that dumb bet and claimed her prize as a blowjob for him?
Carly hurried back to her place, not wanting to leave him for too long, but he was already in bed, his breathing deep and steady. His clothes and shoes were scattered next to the bed where he’d been standing when she’d hightailed it out of there, as if all he’d been able to do was drop them where he stood. He’d pulled the sheet roughly up over himself, but there was still plenty of skin on display, stretched tautly over powerful arms and shoulders. She approached him slowly, still trying to come to grips with the fact that Rio was actually in her bed, naked or near enough to it. Hurt, drugged, but in her bed regardless. As she reached over to straighten the covers, he put a hand over hers, trapping it against the hot skin of his chest.
“Thanks,” he rasped.
“Ah, sure.”
Her mouth went bone dry as he reached up and cupped a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her roughly down to him. Her heart felt as if it jumped in her chest as she inhaled the warm scent of his skin. And then he kissed her. Softly, gently, but it was full on the mouth.
Oh wow.
Carly put her hand to her lips when he eased back. She’d had other kisses, of course she had. Deeper kisses, more passionate kisses, but this one would stay with her for a long time to come. It hadn’t been the kiss of a friend. There’d been tongue for one, not much, but enough to elevate it out of the realm of a casual peck between friends. And he’d licked along her bottom lip as he’d pulled back. As she looked down, his eyes were already closed and his hand lay back against the sheet. She could almost imagine it hadn’t really happened. All except for the pulsing heat low in her belly and the tingling between her legs. Too bad he’d probably been completely out of it.
Chapter Four
Carly woke in a rush, gasping at the hot breath on her neck, her hips writhing helplessly against the bed and the hard fingers inside her, moving in and out in a rhythm that was—
Where the hell were her panties?
Her nightdress was bunched up around her waist. Her body was burning up, raging with heat, wet and almost stinging with need. Rio was nuzzling and licking and sucking on her neck and his hand—
Her heart hammered as a hair-roughened thigh slid urgently between hers. Her leg somehow ended up over his. Had he lifted it there or had she, to give him better access? She was completely open to him, but his fingers eased slowly from her body. She tried to stem the sob that rose up into her throat and concentrate on dragging in a much- needed gulp of air. Before she could do either, he’d groaned into her neck, put a hand down to guide himself and pushed inside her in one long sure stroke that took him all the way in.
Oh God.
He was hard and big. She was hot and slick and her body clenched around him of its own volition.
He groaned, his hot breath fanning her throat as he sucked the skin of her neck in a hot, openmouthed kiss she felt all the way to her toes and exploded with sensation in her already engorged clit.
“Oh yeah¸” he breathed, sending shudders through her entire body. “Feels good…so good.”
“Rio,” she sighed, feeling as if she were balanced on the edge of…something.
His cock flexed inside her, and then he slowly withdrew, almost all the way out, before thrusting back in slowly and oh so deep.
“Mmmm?”
Carly gasped and clutched at his hard shoulders. Her whole body was alive with sensations she’d never felt before, all radiating from the flesh between her legs stretched tightly around a cock that began driving in and out of her in a long, slow but relentless rhythm.
Despite how exhausted she knew he was, one big hand held her hip firmly, keeping her exactly where he wanted her, maximizing his ability to slide in and out at the angle he wanted. As he thrust against her, he stroked against her clit, right where she wanted it, exactly the way she needed it.
She bit her lip to prevent the low moan from escaping. Her heart thundered in her chest, the blood roared in her ears. How long had he been fingering her in her sleep? She tingled all over, trembled all over and all of a sudden she was close…really, really close.
Carly angled her head back so she could look at him. His eyes were closed. Oh God, did he even know—
“Carls,” he groaned.
So, he did know it was her.
He rested his forehead against hers, breathed her name again and thrust deeply, a little harder than before, and just like that she went over.
She whimpered and closed her eyes, her lower body jerking against him as her orgasm rolled through her, so powerful it was all she could do to hold on and endure the intensity of feeling. She was usually quiet in her pleasure, but it was too strong, too unexpected and she couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Rio, Rio, yes, yes…”
She heard Rio groan, felt his hand flex on her hip and felt the jerk of his body against hers.
Carly tried hard to get her breathing under control. It was almost impossible. Rio was a heavy weight against her and she could still feel the aftershocks of her release against her sensitized clit every time he breathed. As they slowly leveled off, she could only think one thing.
She was no better than the screamer.
And he’d come inside her. Oh God, he’d come inside her. She’d never let any other guy do that before. Well, technically she hadn’t actually let Rio, but she’d even refused with Greg. It had been an ongoing issue between them, one of many. And she’dcome. Just…come…without any theatrics, extended abstinence, mega-stimulation or major fantasy on her part. It had been all Rio. All she’d been focused on was Rio, all she’d been able to feel was him and he’d managed to have her to the edge in an instant. Hell, he’d thrown her over effortlessly.
She usually had to concentrate hard to orgasm, really hard. Everything had to be right—the light in the room, the position, any noise, the angle and she usually had to be primed. No self-pleasure for a while leading up to the deed. She also usually had to imagine something, ty
pically one of her favorite scenarios, of being dominated, of being seduced, of…God…even anything featuring Rio of late. It was one of the reasons she knew she was going to break it off with Greg. It was one thing to use a nameless fantasy to get off, it was another to imagine her sexy neighbor and friend when she was with someone else.
Carly released the silky strands of hair at the nape of his neck she hadn’t been aware were clenched in her fist. She eased back to look at him.
His eyes were still closed. She eased herself slowly from under him, gasping when he slid from her body, and hurried into the bathroom. She shakily washed herself before wringing out another washcloth in warm water.
The view when she went back into her room stopped her in her tracks. He was on his back sprawled over most of the bed, his big, tanned body standing out starkly against the crisp white of her sheets. His limbs were lightly sprinkled with dark hair, his skin smooth over the curves and valleys of a leanly muscled body that looked as if it were carved from warm, rich wood.
What she wouldn’t give to be able to run her hands over every inch of him, to use her mouth, her lips, her tongue. But it had happened so fast. All she’d had time for was to clutch those massive shoulders and just…feel.
Sated, he should have been soft and…smaller. Instead he still looked partially hard. His cock lay thick and long up against the firm skin of his torso, still wet and glistening. His heavy balls lay between muscular thighs amid a nest of dark, coarse-looking hair that she would have loved to trail her fingers through.
He was so very male and so gorgeous and he was in her bed. He’d been in her.
Finally.
Carly approach slowly, not wanting to disturb him. She put the washcloth to him as gently as she could, wiping him carefully, jumping when he flexed beneath her hand.
Despite his relaxed form, strong fingers snagged her wrist when she tried to pull back. There was incredible strength there, yet his fingers held her loosely, his eyes barely open, still dazed, unseeing.
“Carls?” he murmured.
“Yes?” she whispered, holding her breath.
“You came, right?”
She smiled. She couldn’t help it. In any other guy, she’d think it was simply ego. Not Rio. Even out of it, so tired he could barely keep his eyes open, whatever it was that was such an integral part of him still demanded he ensure he’d taken care of her.
“Oh yeah,” she drawled, but he’d already closed his eyes, drifting back to sleep.
* * * * *
What the fuck had he done?
Rio swallowed as Carly sighed softly and turned her head toward him, almost as if she knew he was staring at her, had been for the last fifteen minutes. The feeling of dread he’d woken with still sat heavy in his gut. Actually, the longer he stood looking down at her, the worse it got.
She probably hated him, probably never wanted to see him again. Or she would.
Why couldn’t he have left it the hell alone? Why couldn’t he have left heralone?
He’d been thinking with his goddamn dick, that’s why. Yeah, he could use the excuse he’d been exhausted, so tired he’d been barely able to think, out of it on pain meds, but all that was just so much bullshit. He’d known on some level, his body had known and recognized her and it had just wanted. To the exclusion of everything else.
He took a deep breath. She’d held on to him. Tight. She’d been so wet, she’d sighed and groaned his name. His name. And she’d wiped him off afterward. God, just thinking about it almost buckled his knees. Would she have done any of that if he’d been forcing her?
He ran his hand through his hair, pleased for the deep throb in his arm. He welcomed the pain. It served him damned right.
The thing of it was he’d blown it. Big time. He’d finally had her in his arms, under him, he’d had the chance to look at her, touch her, kiss her, show her how much he wanted her and he’d done none of it. Nada. He’d come almost as soon as he’d gotten inside her like some selfish, inexperienced kid who didn’t know jack and just wanted to get off. He hadn’t even thought to protect her. God, she’d been worried about him and he’d…he’d taken advantage of her. He’d thrown away everything. Everything.
It was an effort to tear his gaze away to glance down at his watch. Fuck, he really had to go. He knelt by the side of the bed, ignoring the tremor in his hand as he fingered a smooth strand of her hair. She looked so pretty in the soft light. He’d never noticed before how long her lashes were or that she had a sprinkle of small freckles across her nose. His stomach clenched at the thought this might be the last chance he’d ever get to be this close to her, to see how smooth her skin was, to inhale the sweet smell of her hair. Because next time he saw her? She was likely to tell him to go to hell.
Yeah, he’d fucked it all up royally.
* * * * *
The music was too loud. Her new boots were pinching her toes. Her drink was way too strong and the bar was just too damn busy. She was seriously going to scream if she got jostled one more time.
With all the bodies piled in here she shouldn’t have had a direct view of Rio two tables away, but she did. And it was one she could have done without. She didn’t need this. Not now that he’d kissed her and touched her and been inside her. The thought of him sharing his body with someone else after that… It felt as if a knife were slicing through flesh already torn ragged. As did the realization that he didn’t seem to remember what had happened between them.
He’d been gone by the time she’d woken up that next morning. Two weeks. Two weeks and he hadn’t said a word, hadn’t given any indication that he recalled any of it.
Figures. She finally had sex with the hottest guy she’d ever known, one she’d lusted after forever, and he’d probably slept through the whole thing. And now, here she was with a front row seat as she watched Rio in action. With someone else.
And that smile. The flash of white teeth against the tanned skin of his face, the one that lit up his eyes and had the ability to send a sharp tug to the pit of her stomach every single time, except this time he wasn’t even looking at her. He was directing it to a cute brunette who had an ass showcased by the tightest pair of jeans she’d ever seen.
“I see you’re still panting after him.”
Carly groaned. Just what she needed. Rio’s ex and another reminder Rio preferred other women over her.
“I…ah, Liz. How are you?”
She looked as stunning as she always did. She was one of those women who were always immaculately dressed, didn’t matter the venue or the time of day. She was perfectly made up and looked gorgeous in her probably silk black wraparound dress, showcasing just enough of her amazing cleavage for it to look classy. Carly tried hard not to feel dowdy in comparison but quickly lost the battle. Jeans, boots and a sexy green halter top had seemed perfect for the casual bar with a big group of her and Rio’s friends. Had. Up until…now.
“You know, he’s still the best lover I’ve ever had…gentle, thorough and oh so inventive. Trust me. I’ve tried hard over the last year to replace him. He’s one of a kind.”
Oh God, someone really wanted to torture her.
“You sound as if you’re still stuck on him,” Carly somehow managed.
Liz sighed and looked over to Rio. “Yeah, maybe, but not the way you mean. I loved the way he treated me, the way it made me feel, but I didn’t love him, not really. I came to realize that when we split. Even now, after I was such a bitch to him when it was obvious he wanted to end it, I know he’d go out of his way to help me if I needed him. It’s rare in a guy as hot as him, you know?”
Carly winced inside as Rio laughed at something the brunette said. “Yeah, I know.”
“Besides, with Rio, when something’s over, it’s over. He’d never be interested in me again, not like that, which is why I was intrigued when he asked me down here.”
Carly frowned and glanced back at Liz. “Rio asked you to meet him here?”
“He said there’s someone he
wants to introduce me to.” Liz cocked her head to the side. “You know, I always thought he might have a thing for you. With me out of the picture, I thought…”
“Yeah, right.”
“No seriously. To be honest, I… I was always kind of jealous of you. He talked about you all the time. He’s never made a move on you?”
Liz had been jealous? Of her?
“No.”
Well, not when he was conscious, anyway.
“Well, I’ll see you around.”
Not if she could help it.
“Yeah, sure.”
Carly watched as Liz walked over to Rio, finally turning away when he smiled, leaned down and kissed her cheek. They’d been lovers, they’d explored each other’s bodies, they’d slept together… God, just thinking about the things they must have shared, the things he’d done to her, what he’d let her do to him. Did she reallyneed to torture herself anymore?
She no longer had the same ease with Rio that she’d always just taken for granted and she hated it. Hated it. Who would ever have thought she’d want it to go back to the way it was? Exactly the way it was. Just friends. She just wanted it back, she wanted himback. The killer of it was, he’d never really been hers, not really, not in any way that mattered.
She felt the tears that were never far away sting the back of her throat and blinked rapidly when everything blurred in front of her. Enough was enough. She’d had enough. She put her almost full drink down on the nearest available surface and pushed her way through the crush of people toward the exit. The snippets of conversation and laughter she caught along the way only seemed to mock her.
She let out a breath when she finally saw the door, eager for the quiet and the crisp, fresh air she knew was beyond.
“Hey, Carls, where—”
She glanced at Rio, sharply surprised he’d noticed her escape. “I’m leaving.”
She saw the quick frown. “Why? We just got here. I saw you talking to Liz. She didn’t say or do anything to upset you, did she?”