by Mia Caldwell
“I saw you in your garb last night only a couple of blocks away from here,” he said. “As you can see, accidents do happen.”
She was surprised, not realizing she’d been recognized. “You were the one in the car?”
He nodded.
“I couldn’t see inside it,” she said. “But what made you think it was me?”
“It’s not important. Suffice it to say I became suspicious as a result of what I saw.”
“What did you see?”
“It’s not relevant to the discussion.”
The more he refused to answer, the more she wanted to know. “It’s relevant to me. I can’t have people recognizing me out there.”
“They wouldn’t.”
“That makes no sense. You knew it was me, but no one else could?”
He blew out a breath. “Fine. I recognized your butt.”
Phae’s eyebrows shot up. He couldn’t be serious, but she could see that he was. She didn’t know if she should be flattered or offended. She opted for flattered and smiled, mostly because he’d been embarrassed to admit it.
“You got your answer,” he said brusquely. “Now answer one of mine. Why did you allow me to follow you?”
“I knew if we kept seeing each other, I’d have to tell you about Captain Nice Guy eventually. You simply rushed the process. A lot.”
He looked skeptical.
“Honestly. I was going to tell you. I just didn’t know when. Everything has moved so fast between us, and I didn’t know if I could trust you to keep my secret.”
“Uh-huh. Go on.”
She tried not to let his ongoing skepticism distract her. “Anyway, when I saw you standing out there tonight, I figured you must have been trying to tail me because you were curious about what I do. I mean, you could have confronted me the second I stepped foot out of my apartment, but you didn’t. You followed me and I took that to be a good sign.”
“You shouldn’t have,” Kent said with a frown.
“Obviously. Regardless, I decided the best way to explain what I do was to show you. That’s it.”
“So you didn’t set out to make a fool of me?” he asked, a furrow between his brows.
“No! Why would you think I’d do something like that?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I took quite a beating tonight, Phae.”
“You did well,” she said softly. “I was being honest when I told you that earlier. And you’re not used to the humidity around here, either.”
He sipped his water and studied her.
“I know,” she continued. “I was a little flippant in the woods. I made a couple of jabs and I’m sorry about that. I was so pumped up, though. My plan at the bar worked perfectly. I was afraid I’d get there too late to sabotage Uncle Leon’s truck. That’s why I cut through the woods. Everything took longer than I expected tonight.”
Kent’s mouth formed in the tiniest hint of a smile. “What you mean to say is that I slowed you down.”
She returned his smile. “Yeah, but I wasn’t going to say it.”
“I know you weren’t.” He slowly shook his head. “Tonight didn’t turn out the way I had planned in San Diego. Right now, we should be in bed, sipping wine. Instead, I’m sitting on your couch drinking water.”
In a tiny towel, Phae added silently. He was sitting on her couch, drinking water while wearing a very tiny towel and nothing else. That salient detail made all the difference, in her opinion.
“Are you still mad at me?” she dared to ask.
He exhaled. “I’m not sure. I need some time to think about all this.”
She hopped up from her chair. “You stay there and think. I’ll go check the laundry.”
She took her time as she removed the wet clothes from the washing machine and tossed them into the dryer. She couldn’t understand how Kent thought she might want to make a fool out of him, but at least it explained why he’d been so upset.
After starting the dryer, she waited in the shop for a few moments to give Kent a little more time to think. She hoped that he’d seen how important her work was.
Tonight, she’d been happier going about her tasks than she’d been in a long time. Knowing Kent was behind her pleased her immensely. She’d longed to have someone to talk with about her work.
Kent was confused, but he’d come around eventually. What was the big deal, anyway? So she liked to help people. He shouldn’t have a problem with that, should he?
She took a deep breath and walked back into her apartment. When she entered the living room, Kent looked at her with a wistful expression.
“You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen, Phae Jones,” he said, “even in sweatpants and a t-shirt.”
Chapter 14
PHAE HALTED IN THE MIDDLE of the room. Being called sexy was the last thing she’d expected.
Kent patted the cushion beside him. “Come sit by me.”
And that quickly, tendrils of sensual fog came wafting in from nowhere and wrapped themselves around Phae, pulling her onto the couch beside the handsome man. One minute she wanted to smack him and the next she wanted to kiss him.
He lifted her hand, lightly stroking her palm. “I want you,” he said, almost formally.
A sense of relief washed over her, loosening a tightness in her chest she hadn’t realized was there. He was okay. Everything was okay. He’d thought it out and seen that her being Captain Nice Guy was no big deal. He still wanted her.
She looked into his bright blue eyes. “I want you, too.”
“We have … issues to work out.”
She nodded and trembled when his fingertips passed over the sensitive skin of her inner wrist.
He continued, his voice gone rough, deep. “And I have confidence we’ll work them out. Do you?”
She nodded again, entranced by the passion in his gaze as he looked into her eyes. Right at the moment, she was rapidly losing sight of what those issues might be.
“Good,” he said. “But we’ll do it later, Phae, because I can’t wait another instant to be with you.”
She sighed in pleasure. “It’s about time.”
Phae wasn’t a shy type, and this proved to be no exception. She reached out and pulled at the towel that was hardly masking the unmistakable bulge between his legs.
He inhaled sharply as she tossed one end aside and finally exposed what she needed so badly to see.
She licked her lips as she took in all that silky, solid length. His cock sprung out, smooth, with a perfectly-shaped swollen head, pointing at the ceiling, growing longer and harder as she studied it.
“Oh …” she sucked in a breath as she realized how large Kent actually was. She ran her fingers down the length of his cock, ticking off inch after inch.
She glanced back up at his face and her insides twisted when she saw the intensity there. Gone was the playful, joking man and the surly, sour man. He’d been replaced by a sex-fueled alpha who was about to take everything he wanted.
A muscle worked in his jaw. “Lose the shirt,” he demanded.
She didn’t know this voice, this commanding, demanding side. She liked it. No, she more than liked it even when a small part of her thought she shouldn’t. She swallowed hard. And pulled off her shirt.
He took it from her and dropped it on the floor. “Now the bra.”
Again, she swallowed hard. She reached back, hyper-aware of how the movement thrust her breasts out. She unclasped the bra and let the straps fall down her shoulders, then let the whole thing slide off her arms.
Kent took the bra and dropped it on the floor after the shirt. His gaze burned on her flesh. “Come here,” he said.
He lifted her around the waist and pulled her over until she straddled his lap. His rod was hot and hard against the juncture of her thighs. He wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and pulled her head down for a kiss.
It wasn’t any old kiss. It was like in the park. It was a claim, a you’re-mine-and-you-re-not-going-anywhere kind of
kiss. She dug her fingers into his damp hair and opened her mouth. She breathed in deeply, inhaling his essence of clean soap and aroused male.
Their tongues tangled together and Phae did some claiming of her own. They kissed until she was breathless, until she was writhing her hips over his, until their hearts were pounding in shared rhythm.
He broke the kiss and pulled her up higher. She balanced on her knees while he kissed her breasts and sucked her nipples.
She arched her back while his wet, warm mouth worked wonders over her sensitive, tender skin. His teeth raked her nipples and his tongue bathed her.
She throbbed inside, a deep, aching need that threatened to swamp her.
“Oh, Kent,” she said, and moaned.
She reached down and stroked his cock, thrilling at the way it jerked in her hand. She ran her thumb over the satiny head and around the edge. He was big, so big.
Kent groaned. “Baby, I’ve got to have you—now.”
To hell with more foreplay. It had been too long. Way too long. “Yes, yes, please,” she said.
In a few quick movements, he yanked her pants down to her knees, panties and all, then he pushed her down into a sitting position so he could pull the pants the rest of the way off.
She clung to his wide shoulders for balance and wantonly rubbed her bare ass around on his hard thighs.
Kent smiled at her, a dangerous smile of sexual promise and manly need. He shoved his hand between her legs and speared her with two fingers in a quick, unexpected thrust.
She gasped at the electrifying assault and leaned forward, still straddling him, and mashed her mound against his cock.
It felt huge straining against her stomach, seeming to have grown even more. So big, so wide. For the first time, she wondered if she’d be able to take it all.
She looked into Kent’s gleaming eyes. “I don’t know. It’s so big. I haven’t done this in a very long time.” She couldn’t tell him how long because she didn’t want to admit it, even to herself. Three years. What it really true? Three years?
His fingers scissored inside her. “Does this feel good?”
She moaned and rotated her hips. “God, yes.”
“You’re so wet, Phae. It’s hard to hold back.”
“I don’t want you to,” she said, fully adrift again in their shared sea of sensuality.
“Take me inside you. You have to set the pace because I don’t trust myself right now.” He looked down and pulled his fingers out of her. “I’ve got to get more of that.”
He took her hand and wrapped it around his cock. “Sit up. There. Your pussy is driving me crazy. So hot and wet.” He licked one of the fingers that had been inside her. “So sweet. Now, guide my cock to the right place.”
She rubbed his cock up and down her slick folds then nestled it at her opening. “Mmm, it feels so good.”
“Damn, Phae. Look at that. Look at you. You’re going to take all of that inside you, and you’re going to love it, aren’t you?”
“Yes, oh yes.”
“That’s my hot girl. Now, push down. Go on now, just to get it inside. Oh hell. That’s right. You’re so tight. Mmm. Just inside.” He sucked in a huge breath and his fingers dug into her hips.
She’d pushed that big cock inside herself until the head disappeared inside her. The great, swollen thing had taken her past comfort, but it was a welcome ache, a rebirth. So good. So right.
“More, Phae,” Kent demanded, squeezing her hips and guiding her down. “Take more. Yes, God yes. That’s it, baby. So tight. Stretch for me. Stretch. Take it. Just like that.”
She moaned, savoring every inch of him that she took inside. Down and down she went taking more and more. Always more.
She hadn’t thought she could do it, but Kent held her gaze, his certainty bolstering hers. Pleasure and pain played a sweet melody inside her, and she cherished the pain because it would soon be gone.
“Are you okay?” Kent asked, concern etching his handsome features. “Stop if you have to.”
“No, I’m fine.” And she lowered herself another inch. She took a deep breath.
“Phae, beautiful Phae,” he said, holding her gaze with his own. “Look down at yourself.”
She looked between them and realized with a start that she’d done it. She sat fully flush on his lap. She’d taken it all.
“Relax,” Kent said, rubbing his big palms up and down her back. “Be still. Wait.”
She shuddered and leaned forward against his chest. She was full of him, couldn’t be more full. And she realized how much she’d been missing that fullness, marveled she could have gone without it for so long.
How could she have done it? Oh, but the answer was simple. It had never felt like this with other men. Her every nerve was ablaze, quivering, waiting for whatever came next. Her core was on fire with overflowing, unspent desire. Her clitoris pulsed and her breasts tingled.
No, it had never been like this. If it had, she could have never gone without it.
He held her, his arms wrapped tightly around her, and they shuddered and stayed perfectly still. Kent’s breathing was ragged and she was grateful for his restraint. So powerful. So fine.
He worked a hand in between them and rubbed his fingers over her clit. Sparks shot through her at the touch.
His breath fell warm and electric on her ear as he whispered, “Don’t move. Just feel it. Feel me inside you.”
His cock pulsed once, then twice and Phae forgot to breathe. So hard not to move. So hard.
Somehow he knew exactly what she liked, the right pressure and stroke, the right time and direction. Her hips began to jerk without her permission, but Kent held them in place with his free hand.
“Come for me, baby,” he said, picking up the pace. “I want you even wetter. I said don’t move. Don’t. Move.”
He bit down gently on her nipple and she dug her fingernails into his back.
She wanted to hold it off, to let it build and build, but the pressure climbed too quickly to check. There was no delaying it, no tease to be had. It was upon her before she knew it.
He circled her clit faster, a little harder, and she began to come.
Her head fell back and she closed her eyes, soaring away on the pleasure. It was glorious and full-bodied. On and on she flew until at long last she heard Kent somewhere in the distance, cursing and groaning as he struggled to hold himself in check.
Knowing he was struggling nudged her away from the peak. It was time to let go.
She grabbed his hair and looked into his eyes. Between gasps and the jolts of her climax, she managed to say, “Fuck me, Kent. Hard.”
She’d read of moments of passion where a man unleashed his inner beast and she’d scoffed at the idea. But now, here it was, the real thing, right in front of her.
Kent’s face darkened and his grimace changed to a growl of victory. She knew she’d never been as wanted, as desired or as needed, as this man wanted, desired and needed her right then.
He cupped her ass in his hands and in a powerful motion, stood up, lifting her, still impaled on his mighty cock, as if she weighed nothing. She clung to his flexed biceps, wrapped her legs around him and thrilled at the beautiful baseness of the primitive drive guiding them.
He only stood up long enough to turn to the side, then he took her down onto the sofa, onto her back. He loomed over her, pulled his cock out and grabbing her legs behind the knees, shoved her legs open and up nearly all the way to her shoulders.
He stared down at her pussy and nudged his cock against her … once, then twice.
He captured her gaze in his own, and she fell into the fire she found there. Her body quivered in readiness. More. More.
And he said a single word. “Mine.”
With a powerful single thrust of his hips, he surged inside her as far as he could go, crushing against the back of her womb. She cried out and raked her fingernails down his back. The force of his entry practically made her teeth rattle.
“Y
es, yes,” she heard herself saying.
He pulled out all the way, centered himself, then drove his cock into her again. And again. And again. Each time, he growled, “Mine.” It was if he was breaching some invisible barrier over and over.
Phae lost all thought, all ability to do anything other than experience passion she’d never known. They cried out together.
And somewhere in the distance she was saying, “Do it. Yes. Hard. Harder.”
And he was saying things back to her, things that made her insides quake and her toes curl. Goosebumps covered her skin and peppered her breasts which stung from his nipping. Her lips swelled from his ardent kisses.
She wanted it all, everything he had to give. She reached one climax and was nearing another when Kent went into overdrive.
He pumped inside her hard and fast, his breath a staccato beat in rhythm with this thrusting.
“One more time,” he gasped at her.
She knew what he wanted. He wanted her to come one more time, to come with him. Yes. Of course. That’s what she wanted, too.
She tightened around him and he lowered his head with a heart-thrilling groan. Faster. Faster. She thrust up against him, meeting him partway, grinding, pressing. The air smelled of sweat and sex.
Again. Tighten and release. Again. Tighten and release. Again. Tighten and release.
Then there was nothing to be done but soar away on a magnificent orgasm that never seemed to end.
And Kent was arching his back, rearing over her, closing his eyes and roaring out his own release.
Mine. Yours. Ours.
They rode the climax wave together. To its very end.
Chapter 15
IT WAS LIKE A DREAM, Phae thought, lying in Kent’s arms on the sofa. She hadn’t felt this good in … ever. If she’d known sex could be like that, she’d be a nymphomaniac. She almost giggled at the thought.
Something about this man. What was it? He could be unbelievably irritating, but they had this thing between them that she couldn’t deny.