A Man Apart

by Joan Hohl

Always before, Hannah had resented a man calling her honey, yet, somehow, coming from Justin, it didn’t bother her. The fact was, she rather liked it.

  “Refill?” he asked, raising his mug.

  “I don’t think so.” She shook her head before swallowing the last of the coffee and setting her mug on the table. Hannah stood, telling herself to get moving before she gave in to the desire to stay and indulge herself. “I’ve got to go home.”

  “Why?” he asked with a grin. “I was tempted to say-Home is where the heart is-but,” he shook his head. “I decided that was a bit too obvious.”

  Though she really tried, Hannah couldn’t contain a smile. “And practically everything you’ve said to me, every suggestion you’ve made, wasn’t obvious?”

  He pulled a long face-an attractive long face. “And here all the time I thought I was being subtle.”

  She burst out laughing. “Subtle? Justin Grainger, you are about as subtle as a jackhammer.”

  “You deeply wound me.” His words were belied by the devilish light in his eyes. He set his cup aside and started toward her. “Is that any way to being an affair?”

  “Affair?” Hannah felt a thrilling jolt. “We, uh…we’re not beginning an affair.” She took a step back. He took two steps forward. “We hardly know each other.” She held up one hand…as if she actually believed that would stop him.

  Of course it didn’t. Justin kept moving, slowly backing her up until her spine made contact with the kitchen wall. He raised his hands to cup her face. His palms were warm, gentle. His long fingers stroked her cheekbones.

  “Justin.” Hannah would have drawn a deep breath, if she could have found anything other than the most shallow wisp of air. “Don’t.” Her breathless voice was a mere half-hearted whisper, hardly a deterrent.

  Still, Justin paused, his mouth within inches of hers. He sighed, as if held motionless by that one word don’t. “Oh, sweet Hannah, don’t tell me no,” he murmured. “If I don’t kiss you soon, I’ll explode.”

  Hannah raised her hand to his shoulders to move him back. She felt the muscles grow taut beneath her suddenly gripping fingers. And then, amazing herself with her boldness, she slid her hands to the back of his neck, grasped his hair, and pulled his head to hers to devour his mouth.

  Justin did a fantastic job of devouring in return. Holding her head still with gentle fingers, he angled his mouth over hers. His tongue outlined her lips, teased the sensitive inner skin, before exploring deeper, engaging her tongue in an erotic dance.

  Hannah could barely breathe, and she didn’t care. His mouth was heaven, his tongue a seeking, probing, ravenous instrument of sensual torment.

  His hands deserted her head to glide down her spine, cup her bottom, draw her to the fullness of his body. All rational thought dissolved, swept away by a torrent of sensation, part agony, part pleasure, all terribly exciting and arousing.

  He could have this effect on her with one kiss? Hannah marveled, in an obscure corner of her disintegrating mind. What would making love with him do to her?

  On the spot, without having to give it a moment’s thought-which was good, since she couldn’t think anyway-Hannah knew she had to find out, possess him while she experienced his possession of her.

  “Hannah, sweet Hannah,” Justin groaned into her mouth, lifting his head to stare into her pleasure-clouded eyes. “You can’t kiss me like that then tell me you must leave, that we’re not beginning an affair.”

  “I know,” she admitted in a raw whisper.

  Justin drew back another inch to study her expression. “You want me, don’t you, sweet Hannah?”

  She didn’t answer at once, but stood staring back at him. Able to breathe a little, and almost think, Hannah was struck by the realization of having lost count of the times he had called her “sweet Hannah.” She had been called many things in her life, from “squirt” by her older brother, to “the cool one” by her friends, to “beautiful,” even “stunning” by hopeful lovers but never “sweet.” If anybody had said she was sweet, she’d have bristled, been annoyed. Babies were sweet, not mature, adult women.

  So, then, why did she melt at the endearment murmured through Justin’s so-tempting lips?

  “Hannah?” The thin, sharp edge on his voice yanked her from her muddled reverie.

  She blinked. “What?” Then she remembered his question. “Oh…yes,” she answered with complete honesty. “I do want you, Justin,” she confessed, spearing her fingers into his thick dark hair.

  His soft laughter had a joyous ring. Releasing her bottom, Justin flung his arms out to his sides. “Then take me, sweet Hannah. I’m all yours.”

  Hannah accepted his invitation by pressing her mouth to his.

  Without breaking contact, Justin moved Hannah away from the wall, through the small dining room and in the direction of the bedroom.

  Drowning in multiple sensations, Hannah was only vaguely aware of his arms curling around her waist, holding her entire body tightly to his. But she was fully aware of heat rising inside her at the feel of his hard muscles against her softer flesh.

  Entering the bedroom, Justin shut the door with a backward tap of his bare foot. Still without breaking the kiss, he carried her to the side of the bed. Setting her on her feet, he released her, stepped back and brought his hands to the hem of her sweater.

  Trembling with need, Hannah raised her hands and the sweater swished over her head, landing who knew, or cared, where. She was fumbling with the buttons on his shirt when an errant but important realization stilled her fingers.

  “You need to know that I’m not on any kind of birth control. I haven’t used anything for over two years now.”

  He frowned at her statement. “That’s pretty risky, isn’t it?”

  “Not at all.” She shook her head, a bittersweet smile shadowing her lips. “I…haven’t…er…indulged-” She broke off to shake her head once more. “You know.”

  “You haven’t had sex in two years?” His voice, his startled expression, hovered somewhere between amazement and disbelief. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes.” She sighed.

  His expression turned pained. “You don’t like sex?”

  She had to smile. “Well, I don’t dislike it.” She sighed again. “It’s just that,” she lifted her shoulders in a hapless shrug when his frown deepened to a near scowl. “I haven’t felt attracted…that way…to a man, any man, since I ended a relationship a little more than two years ago.”

  “Why did you end the relationship?” he asked, in a tone that said he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know.

  “It was mutual,” she answered. “It simply wasn’t working for either of us.”

  “What wasn’t working?” His gaze probed intently into hers. “The sex?”

  “Well…yes,” Hannah confessed, lowering her eyes to the allure of his half-naked chest, suddenly aware of her own near nakedness. “I owe it to you to admit that I fear I may be, uh…unresponsive.” She drew a deep breath before rushing on, “I’ve never had an orgasm.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  Tired of feeling like a feminine failure, Hannah lifted her head and boldly stared straight into his shocked eyes. “No, I am not kidding. Dammit, do you think any sane woman would kid about something so serious?”

  “No, I suppose not,” he agreed. Then he asked, “You said you wanted me. Did you mean it, or were you just experimenting with me?”

  “I meant it.” Hannah’s tone was filled with conviction. “I do want you.”

  “Good,” Justin purred, the flame of desire flaring again in his eyes. Lowering his head, he brushed a taunting kiss over her mouth. “Then let’s get on with it, see if we can’t give you that orgasm.”

  The mere brush of his mouth robbed her of breath, sent her senses whirling.

  “What about…um,” she said between quick breaths, “protection?”

  Justin smiled. “Luckily for us,” he said, shoving his hand in a jeans pocket and retrieving a foi
l-wrapped package, “I do practice safe sex.”

  Six

  Hannah lay where Justin had placed her, right in the center of the queen-size bed and watched as he stretched his long length next to her.

  “Hannah, Hannah,” he murmured. “What am I gonna do with you?”

  She gasped and opened her eyes in wide innocence. “You need instructions?”

  Justin laughed gently. “That does it, sweetheart. Now you are really gonna get it.”

  “Really, really?” Hannah curled her arms around his neck to bring his mouth back to hers. She was thoroughly enjoying herself, never before had she teased and laughed while making love. “Will I like it?”

  “Let’s find out,” he whispered, taking command of her mouth with his.

  Deepening his kiss, he slid a hand over her shoulder, down her chest to the rounded slope of her breast. Gasping, Hannah arched her back, seeking more of his exciting touch. Growling into her mouth, he cupped her breast, found the hardening peak with his fingers.

  Heat flowed like molten lava from the rigid peak to the core of her femininity. Hannah was on fire. She couldn’t breathe but she didn’t care. She wanted more and more.

  Squirming to get closer to him, she lowered her arms and pulled him tightly against her straining body. Her hands made a tactile exploration of his broad back, his narrow waist, his slim hips, his long well-muscled thighs.

  She needed something…something.

  “Slowly, sweetheart,” he softly said, his lips following the trail laid out by his hand. “We have all day.” His tongue darted out, electrifying her as it flicked that aching peak. “There’s plenty of time.”

  That was easy for him to say, Hannah mused, moaning deep in her throat at the exquisite sensations his tongue sent quaking through her. She was on fire, every inch of her burning for…that elusive something.

  Grasping his hips, she urged him to her, arching in an attempt to align their bodies. Resisting, holding himself back a few inches from her he slid his hand down the center of her quivering body.

  “Justin.” Hannah cried out as his stroking hand found, delved through her mat of tight blond curls and into the very core of her.

  “Justin!” she cried out again, her voice now a near sob, as he parted the delicate folds to explore the moist heat within. “I…I…please!”

  “Please what, sweet Hannah?” He delved deeper as he raised his head to her mouth, spearing his tongue between her parted lips, capturing her gasping breaths.

  She arched her hips into his tormenting hand, and slid her mouth from his. “I need…need…” she paused to pull some air into her lungs.

  “Me?” he whispered enticingly, slipping the tip of his tongue into her ear.

  “Yes, I need you, your body…now!”

  “At your service, sweet Hannah.” Continuing to tease her by gliding his tongue to the corners of her mouth, Justin settled himself between her thighs.

  Hannah immediately embraced him with her legs, urging him closer, closer. She gave a hoarse cry when he thrust his body deeply inside her. He set a quick, hard rhythm. Holding on to him for all she was worth, she arched back her head and strove to match his deep strokes. It was a very short ride.

  The fire inside her blazed out of control. Hannah felt the unbearable tension quiver, then snap.

  “Justin!” Her voice was raw, strangled as her body convulsed around him. In reaction to the sheer pleasure pouring over her, and without conscious direction, her nails scored his buttocks, thrilling once more when he attained his release, growling her name, over and over.

  Pure ecstasy. Hannah wanted to tell him, thank him, but at first she couldn’t find the breath. Then, when her breathing evened enough to speak, before she could put the thought into words, she succumbed to the sleep that had eluded her during the long night.

  “Hannah?” Getting control of his own breathing process, Justin lifted her sweat-slick head from her equally moist breast to look at her. Her eyes were closed, and she looked serene, disheveled but serene. She was breathing at a normal sleeping rate. “Knocked you clear out, did I?”

  Smiling, he disengaged, lifted his depleted body from hers. Stretching out beside her, he drew her soft, pliant body to his, pillowing her cheek on his chest.

  “Ahhh, Hannah, sweet Hannah,” he murmured, not wanting to wake her. Well, with the swift response of his body to the satiny feel of hers, he actually did want to wake her, but he held himself in check, letting her rest.

  She’ll need it, he thought, rubbing his cheek against the silken, tangled mass of her hair, his body growing harder at the memory of her long blond tresses spread wildly on the pillow in the throes of passion.

  And Hannah was passionate. Justin could still hear the echo of her voice pleading with him, her nails raking his skin, crying out to him in the intensity of her orgasm.

  Her response had triggered the strongest, most shattering orgasm he had ever achieved, he thought, aching to repeat the experience.

  Good grief, were Hannah’s former lovers complete idiots? How could they not be as fired up-roasted, in fact-as he had been to her quick, passionate sensuality?

  A shot of sheer male satisfaction flashed through Justin as he realized he was the first man to bring Hannah to ultimate completion.

  And ultimate was the only way to describe it. She lay thoroughly satiated and relaxed in the protective cradle of his arms, one of which was growing numb. Justin didn’t care. Ignoring the sensation and the discomfort of his hard body, he closed his eyes.

  “Sweet, beautiful, Hannah,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head as he drifted into a light doze.

  The afternoon sun rays were slanting into the room when Hannah woke. She felt good. No, she mused, yawning. She felt wonderful…but hungry. No, that wasn’t quite right, either. She felt famished, in another part of her body as well as her stomach.

  She made a tentative move in the confines of Justin’s caging embrace, sliding her body against his.

  Justin. A thrill skipped up her spine at the memory of what they’d shared. With his mouth, his hands, that strong hard body, he had given her a gift beyond her wildest imagination. Not only in her delicious release, but by freeing her fears of being frigid.

  “I was beginning to think you had died.”

  His breath tickled her scalp, his low, intimate tone tickled her libido. “For a moment there, I think I did.” Tilting back her head, she smiled up at him and nearly melted at the tender expression on his handsome face. “Isn’t that what the French call it. The little death?”

  “Yeah.” His mouth curved invitingly, a flame springing to life in the depths of his eyes. “Wanna do it again?”

  “Yes, please,” she said, sliding her free hand up his chest to toy with one flat male nipple. His response was so swift it was breathtaking.

  Grunting like a caveman, he heaved himself up and over her, settling her flat on her back. Precisely where she wanted to be at that moment. She opened her legs for him.

  “Not so fast, sweet Hannah,” he said, laughing down at her as he lowered his head to hers. “You had your way with me the last time. This time it’s my turn.”

  She pouted at him. Still chuckling, he crushed her pouting lips with his hungry mouth.

  This time the little death was even more intense; the release, mind and body shattering. Never had Hannah expected to feel as if she were soaring above the clouds. Talk about a natural high! Justin’s slow, fantastic loving had brought her to the point where she had actually screamed in response to the sensations of joyous bliss.

  Hannah might have been embarrassed by her uncontrollable outcry, if Justin’s shout hadn’t almost immediately followed her own. Still buried deeply inside her, he lay, spent and relaxed, his head pillowed on her breast. Moving beneath him, she rubbed her leg over his buttock and down the long length of his muscular thigh.

  He murmured something against her breast, letting her know he was alive, if not altogether awake.

  “I�
�m hungry,” she said, sliding her fingers into his hair, combing through the sweat-dampened, long, tangled strands.

  “Are you trying to kill me, woman?” he muttered, raising his head to stare at her in feigned astonishment. “I’m in my thirties, you know, not my late teens.”

  Hannah giggled. “I thought I felt something stir awake inside me,” she lied, laughing into his teasing eyes.

  “You thought wrong. It’s out for the count.” He grinned, rather leeringly. “It’ll take a while before I’m ready to spring into action again. Do you think you can bear the wait?”

  “I guess so.” She sighed, then grinned back at him. “But I don’t know how much longer I can bear your weight.”

  Justin groaned and rolled his eyes. “Give me strength. The woman’s tossing puns at me now,” he groused, lifting his body to roll over, sprawling next to her.

  Hannah gave an exaggerated sigh of relief. “That’s better.” Arching her back, she stretched the stiffness out of her arms and legs. “I’m hungry.”

  “You said that.” He grinned and looked down at the front of his body. “And I explained that-”

  “For food, man,” she taunted, getting back at him for twice calling her woman. She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “So drag your so depleted carcass off this bed and help me get something together to eat.”

  “Slave driver,” he complained, laughing as he practically leaped from the bed. “I’m not doing another damn thing, bossy woman until I shower and shave.” Circling the bed, he scooped her body up into his arms and headed for the door. “And you, sweet Hannah, are going into the shower with me.”

  Smothering yet another giggle, Hannah curled her arms around his neck and rubbed her face against his shoulder. “I’ve never showered with a man before,” she softly confessed.

  Justin stared down into her eyes. He shook his head, his expression compassionate. “You’ve never done a lot of fun things with a man, have you?”

  “No.”

  “Did you enjoy your, er, first thing?” He arched his brows, then wiggled them.