Skin of the Night: Book One of The Night series

by Claire D. Bennett

  “Do you live alone?” I asked just before my dress fell to pool around my ankles.

  “No. I’m expecting my girlfriend back in about an hour, so we’ll have to be quick,” he replied flatly.

  My heart faltered. Slowly, plagued by dread, I turned my head to regard him over my shoulder. A sardonic smile welcomed me.

  “Tosser,” I insulted him, annoyed. He’d been pulling my leg.

  He laughed, and his eyes creased with his amusement. “Yes, darling, I live alone. Do you?”

  “No. I’ve got a flatmate – best mate.”

  “Mate?” he echoed, perplexed. “You mean you live with a man?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s a bit unusual, isn’t it?”

  “Maybe.” I shrugged. “He’s like a brother to me, though.”

  “Poor guy,” he tittered. “Is he aware you think of him that way?”

  “Of course – it’s a mutual thing.”

  He looked sceptical. “I’m sure. You haven’t slept with him, then?”

  Facing forward again, I laughed at the preposterous idea. “Of course not.”

  “I can’t imagine he’ll be happy with my future visits,” he continued conceitedly. Visits? What did he mean visits? Had he forgotten that I apparently lived in Edinburgh?

  I was about to murder his hope when he placed his hand on the small of my back and pushed me forward quite tenaciously. Spread flat across his dining table, I felt his nails claw down my back.

  “Mm. You are a sight to behold,” he claimed after he’d left a kiss on my shoulder blade. While stretching up to his full height behind me, he smoothed his hands across my buttocks. “This,” he squeezed, “is more enticing than I could possibly express.”

  I swallowed a lump in my throat and closed my eyes to prepare for his intrusion. Soon enough, the tip of him lapped across my folds, possibly to lubricate himself in my fluids. It was a careful action, and yet the sensation made me shiver. I was overly sensitive now, which convinced me that I’d be coming again in record time.

  And then he pushed into me with a groan that joined my own. Searching for something to hold onto, I spread my arms to grip the edges of the table, and when he grabbed my hips upon his steady retreat, I perceived it as a warning. His next shove wasn’t going to be merciful.

  However, his following thrust proved me wrong. Unlike earlier, he was deliciously delicate in his treatment this time around. He didn’t plough into me. Instead, he settled into a steady rhythm that massaged my front wall in the most pleasurable manner. In all fairness, this pattern was far worse, because it seemed to trigger me more swiftly.

  “Oh my God,” I whimpered and gathered my arms to lift my upper body. Using his hold of my hips, he manoeuvred me to meet each of his thrusts, which led him to reach so blissfully deep.

  I’d never been penetrated so well.

  “You like that?” His voice was sexier than any other I’d heard, and particularly when he used that tone. It made him irresistible.

  “Mm, yes. Don’t stop,” I answered breathlessly.

  His warm mouth placed a loud, hungry kiss on the spot between my shoulder blades. As the tip of his nose trailed up to the nape of my neck, he murmured sensually, “If I could, I’d fuck you forever, darling. You feel that good.” And then, a single harsh thrust.

  “Oh!” I shook my head from side to side.

  Would I survive this?

  5

  AGAINST YOUR BETTER JUDGMENT

  Inexorable, he continued, seemingly determined to ruin me. But all of a sudden, he pulled out and grabbed my arms. After hurling me onto my back, he knelt between my legs and tucked them over his shoulders again. My face paled when I understood his intention.

  “No. Please,” I begged and sat up to grab his jaw. “I’ve had enough. I just want you to come.”

  While soft laughter poured out of his mouth, he gripped my wrists and locked my arms by my sides. “Well, that’s not what I want,” he contended with a gleam in his eyes.

  “Will!” I writhed against his hold on me, but he was much too strong. I tried to close my legs, but his mouth had already reached me. Pleasure bolted through me at once, merciless in its force.

  “Shit!” I cried out as his tongue continued to torment me. Crouched over him, my toes curled again. Breathing erratically, I felt the tension rebuild within me, impossibly strong. A tearless sob escaped my mouth, and I failed to inhale again. All I could focus on was the unbearable tension that engulfed my entire body. Desperate for release, I tried to break away, but he wouldn’t have it. While maintaining his grip on my wrists, he smothered my legs with his arms to hold me in place.

  And then it unfurled. Shuddering against him, I wailed his name until I collapsed onto him, limp as a corpse. Only vaguely did I hear him chuckle.

  Gently, he moved me onto my back. My eyes had been shut, but when I reopened them, I discovered him hovering above me. A soft expression dwelled in his features, and I hoped it included sympathy. While he brushed a lock of my hair behind my ear, his eyes roamed across my flushed face.

  “Women as beautiful as you shouldn’t be allowed to wear clothes,” he then brought himself to say.

  Unimpressed, I only frowned back. What an unbelievably shallow compliment. As if it ought to be a beautiful woman’s duty to please the male eye. As if an attractive woman shouldn’t be allowed to decide over her own body.

  Bewilderment entered his face upon my silence. “What?”

  “That was a rather shit compliment, even though I know you were only trying to be nice.”

  His eyes widened. “What—? How was it shit?”

  “Because it sounded a bit sexist.”

  He gaped for a short beat, struck by disbelief as he tried to see from my perspective. Then, at last, he shook his head as if heading back to reality. “For the record, I’m not a male chauvinist. I find sexism outrageous. Besides, you’re living proof of how amazing women are.” With a pleading gaze, he continued, “If you give me your number, I’ll prove to you all of the above.”

  My lips twisted with amusement. Damn it. I didn’t want to be smiling right now. It was giving me away, and I worried he’d misread a smile as actual – albeit disguised – interest.

  “No.”

  He sighed, head dropping. “Give me at least your surname then.”

  I groaned, despairing of him. “No, Will. I wish you’d give it up already.” Considering his persistence, I realised this had been a mistake. “I should leave,” I said with a sigh and tried to shove him off, but he wouldn’t budge. “Will,” I prompted.

  “Fine,” he grumbled. “Have it your way.”

  Since he didn’t move, I wasn’t sure what he meant. “Sorry?”

  Lifting his gaze, he studied me for a brief moment while his lips formed a brooding line. “When you leave tomorrow, that’s it. But I’m going to have you all of tonight. If you’re still determined not to meet again by the morning, I’ll respect that.”

  I swallowed, and while I struggled to string together a coherent response, he leaned away and dragged me with him. Once I was seated on top of the table, he bent over to heave me across his shoulder.

  Wide-eyed, I stared at the floor beneath my head and wondered what I’d set into motion. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m ensuring my end of the bargain,” he muttered and kicked open the door to another room. After stepping into the darkness of it, he dropped me off his shoulder.

  I squealed in fear of meeting the floor, but confusion silenced me the instant my skin met soft material. His bed?

  After shutting the door, he switched on the lights. I found him grinning at me, clearly amused by my earlier squeal.

  “What – did you think I’d resort to violence?” he asked.

  “Maybe. For all I know, you could still be Mr Bateman in disguise,�
� I countered through protruding lips.

  That made him laugh. “I can assure you I’m not. I’m merely a man who’s grossly intrigued by you.”

  I snorted. “I’m sure your mother would be jealous, had she heard that.”

  He shuddered. “What? No. Way to kill the mood.”

  I arched my brow at him and directed my gaze to his ever-present erection. How potent was he, truly? “You don’t seem affected.”

  “That’s thanks to the glorious view,” he explained and gestured towards me.

  Blushing, I observed my new surroundings. His bedroom was really quite big. I noted three doors leading into it, and we’d arrived through one of them. So, what was hiding behind the other two? A bathroom, I gathered, as well as a closet, or perhaps a private office?

  “Even for a corporate solicitor, your flat’s rather big,” I remarked. “And seeing as you’re only twenty-eight, I’m struggling to understand how you could’ve amassed such a fortune already.”

  “Well, you’ll never know, and you’ve got yourself to blame,” he countered cheekily and approached the bed. “Shame you’re not a gold-digger, Sandra. Had you been, I’d have you on your knees in a heartbeat.”

  His comment made me face him again. Unimpressed, I stared at his lopsided smile while he reached for my heels to peel them off my feet. Once he had placed them on the floor, his mouth dived for my calves, and I watched as he slowly kissed his way along them. He really was remarkably sensual. Truthfully, it demanded all my willpower not to submit to his wish about meeting again.

  I wondered if I’d regret it. Then again, if I did, I knew where he lived. He – the poor man – didn’t even know my real name.

  While I’d been worrying, he’d made his way to my throat. Covering it with soft, amorous kisses, he extracted another groan from my mouth. Meanwhile, I seemed to have wrapped my limbs around him subconsciously.

  After roaming across my moist skin, his hands closed around my upper arms. Then, he shoved me onto my stomach beneath him. With my eyes fixed on the black headboard of his bed, I felt him lift only my derrière.

  “I’ll be coming with you this time, but it won’t be the last,” he warned.

  Without further ado, he pushed forward until he reached the very end of me. Hissing and grinding my teeth, I fisted his bed sheets so hard that my knuckles grew numb and white. As he made his retreat, he leaned over me, and the intimacy of his action struck me hard.

  Strong as a fortress, he hovered above me while his lips blessed my neck. Making his way towards my ear, he whispered, “This is going to get a bit rough, love. Tell me to stop if I’m hurting you.”

  My eyes widened and I swallowed. Just what did he have in mind?

  Sneaking his hands under my body, he found my wrists, locked them within his grip, and dragged my arms behind me, successfully lifting my torso from his colossal mattress. When he thrust again, I realised what he’d meant. I barely managed to stifle my whimper. He was using my arms to balance out his weight. With each thrust, he dragged me towards him, and it made him reach a depth that no man before him had.

  How it was possible to fuck anybody so well was beyond me. He must have been designed to pleasure women into insanity. Though it hurt faintly, it was undoubtedly a pleasurable pain. Never in my life had I been dominated like this, and I relished it. Granting him power over my pleasure was easily the best decision I’d ever made, sex-wise. He knew exactly what to do in order to unravel my erotic demons. Since he was introducing me to a whole new dimension of sex, I feared I’d never be satisfied with anything less again.

  “Ah!” A bottled-up cry spilled out of my mouth as he continued to slam into me. This tension was intolerable. I couldn’t last much longer. It was far too powerful. He was far too powerful, and so my shivers started. Oh no.

  “Not yet,” he chastised and released my right forearm to spank me. The sting of his palm made me hiss. What he’d done had been counterproductive, because my drenched, quivering walls clenched down on him as if to reject him. Even so, he forced past them.

  “Don’t you dare,” he growled. “We’re coming together this time.”

  The sound of our flesh parting and meeting echoed through the room – the most erotic thing I’d ever heard.

  “Please,” I begged and shook my head. An entire night of this was out of the question. I wouldn’t last – I was sure.

  “Nearly there,” he consoled me and released my left arm as well. Instead, he grabbed my hips to hold me in place. Desperate to release at least a portion of the tension within me, I tugged my own hair while I silently pleaded for him to come.

  Finally, his thrusts switched rhythm. They grew slower, but harder.

  “Fuck,” he groaned through grinding teeth and dug his fingers into the flesh of my lower cheeks. “Come for me,” he commanded, and I instantly obeyed.

  Allowing myself the release, I shuddered through my intense climax, lost to the world. He closed over me immediately, confining me to him. With strong arms wrapped around me, he performed his final thrust and spilled himself within me.

  Lost in oblivion, I fell limp in his arms and heaved for air. I barely noticed that he rolled us onto our sides where he withdrew from within me.

  We recovered in silence. Though I couldn’t speak for him, I was not only recovering from my row of orgasms, but from mild shock as well. Surely, I’d never had better sex, nor met a man more compelling.

  His eventual sigh broke the silence. While squeezing me against him, he planted a firm kiss on my neck, and afterward, he nuzzled his face in the crook of it. “I’m gutted you don’t want to do this again some other time,” he murmured against my skin.

  I didn’t reply because I couldn’t find my voice. I was much too overwhelmed.

  An invisible fire in the form of his hand travelled up and down the curve of my waistline. “You’re fucking gorgeous, love. Do you know that?”

  I cleared my throat and turned to look at him. Hoarsely, I replied through a smile, “Now that’s how you pay compliments, William.”

  He smiled lopsidedly. “I’m a quick learner.”

  I tittered. “You’re conceited, is what you are.”

  “And how would you know?” he challenged unimpressed. “You hardly know me.”

  “Cocky, at best,” I insisted and faced away again.

  “Well, you’re rather irritating.”

  “And yet here I am,” I teased.

  “Against your better judgment.”

  I laughed. “If you want me to leave, I will.”

  He tensed against me. “Don’t.”

  “Alright, then. All part of the deal, I suppose.”

  Propping himself up on his arm beside me, he studied me for a while.

  “Sandra, I’m curious. You don’t strike me as sexually inexperienced. Frankly, you come across as being on the liberal end of the spectrum. That makes me wonder how frequently you do this sort of thing. I realise it’s none of my business, but…”

  I smirked to myself. “Well, how often do you do it?”

  “Random one-night stands? Every leap year, maybe.”

  I faced him disbelievingly, but there was no hint of a lie in his eyes. “I find that hard to believe. With your talents, as well as stamina, you must be getting your fill somehow.”

  He chuckled. “Right. If I answer, will you?”

  I narrowed my eyes. Again, he drove a hard bargain. I was desperate to know now. “Fine.”

  He looked away. “I have regular sex, but with the same partner—” his eyes darted towards me—“usually.”

  “Elaborate.”

  He scratched his stubble for a moment, thinking. “I’m not in a relationship, but I’ve got an agreement with another woman. A sexual one.”

  “Ah,” I uttered as I understood. We were in similar situations then, I supposed. I had Aaron f
or that. However, regardless of my arrangement with Aaron, I didn’t shy away from the occasional one-night stand. The only condition was that I used a condom so that Aaron wouldn’t have to, and frankly, I’d do it anyway. Collecting sexually transmitted diseases was not a hobby of mine.

  “Your turn,” William reminded me.

  “Well, same as you, I suppose. Though, when it comes to one-night stands, I might indulge a couple of times a year. All depending on the person, to be honest. I don’t go all out to sleep with a stranger.”

  “Like I did tonight,” he added with a leer.

  “Right.” I grinned, but my amusement suffered a sudden death when something occurred to me. “Is your partner going to mind?”

  He scoffed. “She hasn’t got a right to know.”

  “That’s not an answer, William.”

  He sighed. “I’m not sure. It’s implied I’m allowed to do this sort of thing, but predicting a bruised ego can be surprisingly difficult.”

  Right. That made sense. In the end, that was exactly why Aaron and I had agreed not to mention other partners to each other.

  Suddenly, a frown occupied his face. “Wait, did you say ‘same as’ me? You’ve got a regular partner?”

  I blinked over at him, surprised by his sudden display of disapproval. “Yes?”

  Gripping my jaw, he glared into my eyes. “Then what’s the problem, exactly? Clearly, you have got time. Reject that wanker. Instead, you can reserve that energy for me.”

  My jaw clenched in his hold. “Of course I won’t do that. The arrangement I’ve got with Aaron is perfect. I hardly ever pay him a thought. He’s so low maintenance that he might as well be air, and I’ve got a funny feeling you won’t be, Will, but it’s not your fault. It’s just that you’re new. Aaron’s familiar. New, right now, is bound to mess with my head for a while, and I don’t want that.”

  He moaned and collapsed onto his back beside me. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  His dramatic reaction made me pout. “I’m not. I’m sorry.”

  “How about this, then. Give me your number, and I promise I won’t reach out to you till you’ve completed your exams – so in about two months.”