by Jodi Vaughn
“It’s not like that.” He insisted. “I like to watch videos.”
“Porn. Just say it. You like to watch porn.” I liked to watch him squirm. At the same time I could see his pupils dilate and the rapid rise and fall of his chest. He wasn’t uncomfortable. He was turned on.
“Fine. I watch porn.” He blinked and looked at me, holding my gaze. “It’s not something that needs to get out. I don’t want it to affect my job as…”
“As a sex therapist?” I cocked my head.
“Yes.”
“Roger, when is the last time you had sex.” I whispered the words against his ear and inhaled his cologne. “Using your hand doesn’t count.
“I ah…. had a date a few months ago.” He swallowed.
“Did you have sex with her?” My chest tightened as I waited for his answer.
“Well, no. She was nice and wanted to take things slow and…” He stopped stumbling through his explanation when I pressed my hand to his chest.
“Well lucky for you I’m not a nice girl. Or a good girl for that matter. It seems like we are stuck here in this room until the highway is clear.” I glanced at the wreckage on TV. And judging from the looks of things that will be a good three or four hours. Six at the most.”
“That would probably be a good guess.”
“So I think we should find a way to entertain ourselves. Something to pass the time.” I pulled back long enough to gauge his reaction.
“What exactly are you suggesting?”
I laughed out loud. “A gentleman to the end. I should have known with your pressed shirts and tidy appearance.” I cocked my head. “Tell me something, Roger.”
“What?”
“Are you this much of a gentleman in bed? Or do you like it hot, sweaty, and dirty?”
He tightened his hands on my arms and leaned in close. “Why don’t you find out?”
I arched my brow. I liked this side of him better than the analyzing, know-it-all therapist.
“I’ll take you up on that.” I stepped back and dropped my towel.
CHAPTER NINE
I watched his eyes glaze over with lust as they drifted from my face down to my ample breasts.
Lust licked deep in the pit of my stomach. It had been a while since I wanted a man so bad.
He stood there, hands clenched at his sides and restraint etched in his face. He wasn’t going to be the first one to make a move. It wasn’t part of his character. So I was just going to have to do it for him.
“Let’s see how much of a gentleman you are once you’re naked.” I reached for his shirt and flicked the buttons open. One by one I trailed my hand down his hard chest. His heart beat against the palm of my hand and my confidence surged.
He wasn’t immune to me. This pleased me a lot. I didn’t want to be the only one ready to crawl into bed with a perfect stranger.
Once his shirt was free of the buttons I tugged it out of the waistband of his pants. I stepped closer and brushed my hand against his straining erection.
I shoved the shirt off his shoulders and pulled his undershirt over his head and tossed it on the floor.
He was lean and muscular, a body like an athlete. His chest and six pack abs were bare of any hair which showed off each sinewy muscle.
“Nice, abs.” I ran my finger down his chest and he shivered under my touch.
“Ella,” he reached for me, his hand on my neck and bringing me closer to him “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m sure. How about you?” The words hung between as I held my breath for his answer.
“I’ve never been so sure about anything in my life.” His voice changed and went all gravelly.
“Good.” I grinned and let him pull me close.
His lips covered mine, gentle and soft. But gentle was not something I wanted.
I opened my mouth under his and he got the hint. His tongue swept inside, tasting me. I kissed him back, surprised that he knew his way around a woman’s body. Maybe I was right. Maybe once he got naked he liked to get hot and heavy.
His hold on me tightened and I slid my hands up his naked arms and laced my fingers around his neck.
I pressed my body against his, feeling his desire for me through his pants. Sound seemed to intensify along with my desire as his hands went around my back and trailed to my butt. He groaned as I rubbed up against him, needing him inside me.
“Ella,” he murmured.
I liked the way my name sounded harsh on his lips. I pulled back, opened my eyes and slid my hand down to the front of his pants.
I tightened my hold on him and he brought his warm mouth down across mine, kissing me until I was writhing.
I never had a problem getting what I wanted in life. I certainly never had any problem getting laid. But with the way Roger was kissing me and the way his hands caressed over my body was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
“Let’s get these off of you.” I slid down the front of his body. On my knees, I looked up into his eyes.
I slid my hand up and down his pants feeling his desire getting stronger and harder with every stroke. His eyes rolled back and he let out a curse.
“You’re killing me.” His head dropped back and he curled his fingers into fists at his side. He was trying his best not to touch me and it was really turning me on.
“I’ll make it better.” I purred and unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. I tugged his pants down past his hips.
My eyes widened and I looked up at him with a smirk.
“I’m impressed. And nicely surprised.” I took him in my hand and began to tease his sensitive flesh.
“Ella.” He warned and I replaced my hand with my mouth. I kept staring up into his eyes as I pleasured him.
“Enough,” he growled and hauled me up to my feet. Our bodies crushed together, rubbing against each other with each harsh breath.
“Ella,” the words came out harsh against his soft lips and I it made my heart ache in a way I wasn’t used to.
“Are you going to stare at me all night or are you going to fuck me?”
His blue eyes widened and then his lips slid into a grin. “I’m going to take my time. That’s what I’m going to do.”
With his hands on my hips and his lips on mine he walked me backward to the bed. The back of my knees hit the mattress and I sank onto the bed with him on top of me.
I wrapped my legs around his narrow waist and dug my nails into his back clutching at him like a wild animal. He groaned and pressed his body into mine, the pleasure of our bodies rubbing together was mind blowing.
His breathing had turned to panting and his warm breath on my neck sent delicious shivers down my body. I arched closer, needing him to fill this growing desire that shook me to my core.
“Now,” I hooked my ankles around his legs and pulled him close.
“Not yet.” He murmured and pressed his lips to my breasts, teasing one and then the other. He kissed his way down to my abdomen and further still. When he buried his face between my legs I cried out.
I dug my fingers into his hair as he feasted on my sensitive flesh. He might look like a shy quiet doctor but I apparently had unleashed the animal inside the rabbit.
My body tensed and then relaxed at the same time as pleasure washed over me. I saw stars explode behind my eyes and had to admit it was one of the best orgasms I’d ever had in my entire life.
He looked up, smiled and crawled up my body. I wrapped my fingers around the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. I kissed him hard and deep, hoping to burn this moment into both of our memories.
I broke the kiss, hooked my legs around his back and twisted my body, flipping him under me.
“I prefer being on top.” I smirked and slid him inside me. He groaned and pleasure exploded through my body.
His hand traced my cheek while his other hand gripped my hip. His eyes never left mine as we moved in rhythm.
I wanted to look away, his eyes were too intense, spo
ke too much, and I didn’t like my vulnerability. But his gaze held me captive, forcing me to accept how gentle he touched me. His kindness made me uncomfortable.
Pleasure streaked through my body as I reached my second orgasm of the night. I arched my back and dug my nails into his chest. He had other ideas and pulled me down, kissing me as I made murmurs of pleasure in his mouth while he reached his own pleasure.
After I rode out my pleasure, I collapsed on his sweaty chest, exhausted and limp.
His strong arms went around my back, holding me close while he stroked my hair.
“I have to say, you’re pretty good in the sack. For a bunny,” I whispered.
CHAPTER TEN
“I’m a rabbit shifter. Not a bunny.” His voice held a hint of amusement as he chortled.
“I don’t care what you are, I’m not complaining.” I lay on his chest, not waiting to move. That was different for me. Usually after sex, I was a get up and go kind of girl. I certainly wasn’t one for affectionate gestures afterwards. But my body betrayed me.
I chalked it up to the mind blowing sex.
I lifted my head and forced myself to crawl off his warm body. He rolled over on his side and tugged at the covers. I wiggled and squirmed until my body was underneath the cocoon of the covers.
He pulled me against his body and wrapped his possessive arms around me.
His affectionate gesture pulled at the tiny strings of my heart, strings I had long since forgotten existed. I couldn’t afford to get lost in those brown eyes of his, so I shoved my emotions away and turned to look at him over my shoulder.
I shook my head. “I don’t sleep like this. I like my space.”
“You said yourself every man has a price. It’s been a while since I held someone while I slept. That’s my price.” His soft voice washed over me like a plea.
I couldn’t say anything around the knot that suddenly developed in my throat. I nodded, laid my head on the pillow and forced my body to relax against his. As I drifted off to sleep I wondered if this was how normal couples slept together.
I wondered if under other circumstances, I would have lived quite a different life.
***
I woke up to flashing red and blue lights dancing through the windows.
My gut tugged hard and I knew instantly something was wrong.
I looked around for Roger but he wasn’t in the bed. I did a quick search of the room and my gaze landed on his briefcase and suitcase.
He hadn’t left, he was still here. Probably in the shower.
My feet hit the shag carpet and I winced. I wondered what other items had long since been deposited in the dated carpet. I looked around and found his white shirt on the floor and tossed it on. I didn’t bother buttoning it as I walked to the bathroom. I opened the door. It was empty but the steam on the mirrors suggested he’d just left.
I wrapped my arms around my chest and padded over to the window. I pulled a corner of the curtain back and peered out.
There were two police cars in the parking lot and cops were talking to a couple a few feet from my door. They were human and I knew that I had nothing to fear from them. But something about it still had me on edge.
“Ugh. It’s all Roger’s fault. Had sex with a rabbit and now my instincts have gone haywire. That fucker has ruined me.” I grimaced.
The door rattled and I jumped back from the window.
The door swung open and Roger walked in with his hands full of two Styrofoam cups breathing steam from the top. When his eyes met mine he gave me a warm smile.
“Coffee?” He held a cup out to me and I hesitated a second before taking it.
“I usually drink tea.” Call it my Southern raising but somehow coffee never really appealed to me. I preferred tea and homemade tea cakes to coffee and biscotti.
He arched his brow and a satisfied smirk played on his lips. He held out the other cup to me. “Which is why I also brought a cup of English breakfast.”
I gasped as my heart leapt inside my chest. I took the cup and cradled it between my hands looking up at him like he’d just performed a miracle.
“How did you know?”
“I didn’t.” he shrugged his shoulders. “When I went down to the office to grab some coffee they had some tea as well and,” again he shrugged, “tea seemed to fit you better than coffee. More refined.”
I snorted. “Refined, I most definitely am not. You can bet your ass on that.”
“Ah, but your southern drawl makes me think otherwise.” He grinned and took a sip of his coffee.
“Stop analyzing me.” I glared at him as I took a sip. I swallowed and then cocked my head. “Were you….
“What?”
I narrowed my eyes into slits. “Where you analyzing me? Last night? While we were…” I couldn’t make myself say the words. I wasn’t falling for the bunny man, but I sure as shit didn’t want a man sleeping with me because he wanted to get inside my brain. My body he could get inside, my brain…well that was off limits to everyone.
He choked on his coffee and coughed. When he got himself under control he looked at me wide-eyed behind his glasses. “While we were having sex?”
“I was going to say screwing like bunnies, but yes. And answer the question, honestly.” I pointed my finger at him. My shirt gaped open showing a hint of breast.
His gaze didn’t waver.
“Absolutely not. How could I analyzing anything with your mouth…” He turned a pretty shade of red and looked pretty sexy in his rumpled hair and glasses.
“My mouth on you?” I finished for him.
“Yes.” He shook his head and took a step towards me. “Ella if you thought I had ulterior motives for sleeping with you last night, you are mistaken. I didn’t plan that. Not in my wildest fantasies.’
My lips curled up in a smile. “Well don’t go falling in love, bunny man, because you and I aren’t going to last.”
He ran his hand through his hair, messing it up even more. “I know that.”
Damn he looked irresistible. If he didn’t stop with the shy act I was going to jump him right there. I glanced at the window needing a distraction.
“What’s the deal with the cops outside?”
He took a sip of coffee. “They came down from the crash site. The highway is clear now. They just finished moving the last vehicle out of the way.”
“Really?” That meant I was that much closer to getting to Missouri. I should have been relieved. But what I felt was different.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong. That’s great that the highway is clear. It means I can leave.”
“Where are you going?”
“Missouri.”
“Do you have family there?”
“No.”
“How are you going to get there?”
“The same way I got this far. I’ll hitch-hike.”
His lips pressed into a thin line and his expression hardened. For the first time since meeting Roger he actually looked pissed.
“Absolutely not.
“Excuse me?” I straightened and set my tea down. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
“Are you crazy?”
“No. But people have accused me of being psychotic.” I retorted. My defenses were back up and I was ready to handle him, or any other man who tried to tell me what to do. “Want to try and find out?”
“You are not hitchhiking to Missouri. No way.” He set down his coffee and snatched his clothes off the hangers in the closet. He opened his suitcase and began stuffing his clothes inside.
“What are you doing?” I was beginning to get a little concerned that our sexcapades had turned his brain to mush. There had been men in the past who’d literally gone crazy after I’d had sex with them. I was hoping Roger wasn’t going to be one of them.
“I’m packing. Then we are leaving.”
“Leaving for where?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
He met my gaze. “I’m taking
you to Missouri.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“You’re doing what?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What about your conference? Aren’t you going to get in trouble if you miss it?”
“I don’t care. I’ve already spent three days in workshops about every kind of sexual dysfunction and fetish known to man. I can learn more from porn than listening to the instructors.”
“You guys talk about fetishes?” I couldn’t imagine him sitting around a table and talking about how patients got off by looking at women’s feet.
“It’s pretty common you know.” He gave me a nod and proceeded to pack. “Oh, look on the dresser.”
I walked over and picked up the folded material sitting on top. I held it up. “It’s my shirt. How’d you get my shirt so clean?” I held it up at and examined it front and back. It was so white it almost gleamed.
“I got the housekeeper to wash it this morning. Gave her an extra fifty bucks not to mention the blood.”
“That was a lot of blood on that shirt.” I cut my eyes at him.
“I know. But she didn’t seem upset. Just washed and dried it and I picked it up when I went to the office.
“Thank you.” I shrugged away the little twist in my heart at his kindness. Getting emotional was a good way to get distracted. It was just a shirt after all. Not a freaking diamond ring and a commitment.
I shrugged off his button up shirt and let it fall to the floor. As I tugged my T-shirt over my head I heard Roger groan in frustration. I smiled on the inside and slowly slide the shirt down my chest, just to torture him a little longer.
Upper hand. I always needed the upper hand. I protected my heart with a wall so thick it was impenetrable. It was how I had survived without losing my mind all these years.
I reached for my jeans and cut my eyes at Roger. He wiggled his nose and then scrubbed his hand across his face.
“I’ve got to go pay the bill for the room. I’ll be back.” He averted his eyes from me and hurried out the door.
I grinned to the empty room and propped my hands on my hips in satisfaction. “Upper hand.”