No Strings Attached

by Jaci Burton

  She smiled up at him, wanting to tell him how grateful she was for what he'd just given her, but knowing it wouldn't come out right. So instead, she rolled to her side and reached for his cock, wrapping her fingers around the hot, hard center of him.

  He hissed at the contact, then looked down where her hand was connected to his cock. Ella stroked him, learning the feel of him, loving every sensation from hard to velvety soft.

  "Squeeze harder," he said.

  She shuddered at the commanding tone of his voice and wanted to please him the way he had pleased her. She gripped him tighter and he thrust within her hand, making her imagine him inside her, doing exactly the same thing. She rolled her thumb over the soft mushroomed crest of his cock. It was slippery, moist with his fluids. She paused, never having done it with James before, but for some reason she felt bolder with Clay. She didn't know why, but wasn't about to question it. She lifted her finger to her mouth and sucked his taste from her thumb.

  Clay's nostrils flared and he sucked in a breath. "Christ, Ella. Are you trying to make me come?"

  She smiled as she licked his taste off her fingers. Salty, with just a hint of tart sweetness. It made her want more. "Maybe."

  He rolled her over onto her back and spread her arms wide, latching onto her wrists with his hands. "I think I'd rather come while I'm fucking you. Plenty of time to play later."

  She liked the sound of that. Of both ideas, actually. Fucking and playing. She wanted everything with Clay, wanted to know what it was like with him, wanted to know if she'd missed anything, if there were things he could teach her.

  He climbed off the bed and returned a few seconds later with a condom. She lay there, curious, while he tore open the package and watched him roll the condom onto his cock, realizing she'd never seen a man apply one before. She and James had been each others' firsts, and she was using birth control, so they'd never used condoms.

  This would be a new experience.

  He kneeled between her legs and Ella raised her knees, expecting him to push inside her. Instead he dropped down and began to kiss her thighs.

  "What are you doing?" she asked.

  He pressed a soft kiss to her inner thigh, so close to her sex she felt his breath on her clit as he lifted his head to look up at her. "I want you ready, Ella. So close to coming you're ready to scream at me. Then I'll fuck you."

  Heat rose and flared outward. She was already aroused, ready for him. How much more of this could she take?

  The first lash of his tongue along the lips of her pussy brought her head up off the mattress, a soft moan escaping her lips. She didn't want to compare, didn't want to think about a man she had loved with all her heart. But James didn't go down on her, didn't really enjoy it all that much. And she hadn't pressured him to do it. She figured as long as the fucking was good, she didn't need oral sex.

  Dear God in heaven, Clay had a masterful tongue. Hot, wet, licking around her clit, pressing his tongue against the sensitive nub, then sliding along her pussy lips and tucking his tongue inside her.

  She might die. Could a woman die from getting oral sex? She felt these amazing sensations spiraling through her, and was shocked when her climax built so fast, especially after just having had one. She arched upward against Clay's mouth.... so close, so very close.

  And then Clay latched onto her clit and sucked. Her orgasm hit her like a rushing freight train, barreling over her and leaving her out of control. She thrashed around on the bed, and Clay held her down by her hips while he licked her, sucking her while she came in a torrent. She unashamedly cried out her pleasure until her throat was raw and she fell back on the bed again.

  Clay moved up, spread her legs and entered her while her body still pulsed with the aftereffects of her climax. He slid inside easily, her pussy gripping him in welcome. He slid one arm underneath her to tilt her hips upward and looked down at her with a smile.

  Ella traced his lips--still wet from what he'd done for her. She wrapped her hand around the nape of his neck and pulled his mouth to hers for a kiss. He tasted salty--like her. She slid her tongue inside and sucked on his, the sensation overpowering to her senses. Emotion wrapped around arousal, taking her to a depth she hadn't expected.

  It was so damn good to be fucked. She had no idea sex could be this good, this wild and out of control. With Clay, she felt uninhibited, as if she could actually feel his encouragement to let go. And she did, lifting her hips, widening her legs so he could power in deeper. And when he did, sliding along her G-spot, she groaned and bit his lower lip.

  He only laughed in response and dug his fingers in her flesh, encouraging her to do it again.

  "Give me more," she whispered against him, and he did, thrusting even harder, deeper than before.

  This wasn't the sweet, gentle sex she'd grown used to with James. This was primal, wild fucking. Clay rose up and held on to her hips.

  "Watch," he said, pulling partway out, forcing her to look where the two of them were connected, to see his cock slide inside her pussy.

  She'd never seen anything more erotic than the look on his face as he watched them, as he watched her. She wasn't used to this intimate eye contact but found it incredibly arousing looking at him as he drove inside her, as he touched her breasts, plucked her nipples, raked his fingers along her body until he found her clit again.

  They ended up partially on their sides, one of her knees bent so they could both see his cock fucking her.

  "You have such a pretty pussy, Ella. Hot and wet. You make me want to come in you."

  She loved that he talked to her, that he wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind, that he really seemed to enjoy fucking her. Every word he spoke, every time he looked at her, caused her to clench inside, to shiver all over. She'd never felt this connected before during sex. She felt as if the floodgates to her mind, her fantasies, were finally open and she could be, could say, anything. As a result, any inhibitions she'd had dissolved in the sea breeze.

  She reached between them and began to rub her clit.

  "Yeah," he said. "Touch yourself, Ella. Make yourself come again."

  She wanted to. She needed it. With every thrust she drew closer and closer to the pinnacle. Clay increased his pace, powering faster now. She raised her gaze to his, strumming her clit harder as beads of sweat formed on his brow.

  "Just like that," she said, struggling to breathe as she rubbed her clit, tensing as she felt the first stirrings of orgasm. "Don't stop. I'm coming, Clay."

  His jaw clenched and he pumped harder inside her, then pulled her leg higher.

  She splintered, climaxing with a wild cry that he absorbed with his mouth and his tongue. He groaned and shuddered against her, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her thigh as he came, too.

  That his climax was just as hard as hers meant something to her. He'd put his whole body into making love to her, had given her his full attention. And oh, had it been good.

  They fell slow and easy. Clay drew her against him and stroked her hair. She ran her hands over his sweat-soaked flesh, waiting to feel...embarrassed or awkward.

  She didn't. She moved, and their skin made squishy noises.

  "We're kind of sweaty," he said.

  She laughed. "Well, it was a workout."

  "You complaining?"

  "Not on your life."

  "Come on." He dragged her from the bed to the shower--a shower big enough for more than just the two of them. The water sprayed from both ends of the shower, and it was like standing under a steamy waterfall. It was truly heaven. She decided she was never leaving this warm, misty haven, especially when Clay poured some liquid soap in his hands and washed her back. He took his time, using gentle pressure to massage her shoulders, and then skating lower to cup her buttocks.

  "There are no condoms in this shower, mister," she teased, flinging him a scolding look over her shoulder.

  "They're right outside, though," he whispered, nipping her lips with a kiss as he moved in closer. H
e slipped his hand between her legs and cupped her sex.

  She thought she'd be tired, that she'd be done for, but his touch fired her up all over again. She turned around and twined her arms around his neck, lifting her face to him, to the warm spray of water.

  And he kissed her, a long, arousing kiss, while his hand moved between her legs doing incredible things to her. He slid his fingers inside her, pumping her slow and easy, as if he had--they had--all the time in the world. The buildup was slow, but the end result was spectacular. She came against his hand in a hard climax that left her legs weak.

  Clay stepped out of the shower for only a few seconds, returning with a condom applied to his erect cock. Ella was still pulsing, still needy for him. She spread her legs and used her hands to brace against the shower wall. He moved against her, lifted one of her legs and draped it over his hip, and bent down to slide his shaft inside her. He scooped her up by the buttocks and pushed her against the wall. And then there was no slow and easy, just fast, hard and furious as he fucked her with relentless strokes, grinding against her and bringing her close to orgasm again.

  He latched onto her mouth with a desperate passion that she felt, too. And when she came, he did, too, holding tight to her and shuddering against her as he groaned his pleasure, licking at her lips and driving his tongue deep into her mouth. She took him, all of him, blinded by delights she had only fantasized about.

  After, he let her down slow and easy and they rinsed; then Clay shut off the shower and grabbed towels for them both. She towel dried her hair but it was all she had energy for. He took her hand and led her to his bed. She tumbled into it and Clay followed, wrapped his big body around hers, his hand entwined with hers.

  She fell asleep almost instantly.

  Six

  Clay woke to the feel of a warm body pressed up against him. He inhaled and Ella's scent surrounded him. He couldn't resist a smile.

  Okay, this was unusual. He didn't usually spend the night with women he had sex with. Sex, yes. Snuggling and sleeping with them, no. That spelled emotion and entanglements and that just wasn't his thing. His thing was his job, and most women he dated knew he was fun and games and nothing more.

  But Ella was different. This week was going to be different. He was surprised to find that he wasn't uncomfortable waking up next to Ella.

  She shifted, wriggling her butt against his crotch, which not only woke him fully but definitely perked up his cock. It would be nice to slide inside her and really start the morning off well.

  But for some reason he didn't want her to think this was all about sex. Though wasn't that what she wanted? Just sex?

  It would be so easy to make it that. But for Ella, he wanted to do things differently. She deserved it. He slid out of bed. She burrowed under the covers and pulled the pillow over her head.

  He showered, shaved and brushed his teeth. By the time he came out of the bathroom, she was sitting up in bed, her hair a tangled mess around her face. Her cheeks were pink as though she'd just woken up.

  Damn, she looked cute.

  "You should have nudged me."

  He smiled. "I did. With my dick. You wiggled your ass against me."

  She cocked a brow and cast her gaze down his body to where his lower half was covered with a towel. "Really. Was I not tantalizing enough?"

  "Do you want to spend the entire day in bed as my love slave, or do you want to get out and explore the island?"

  She continued to look at him.

  "Well?"

  "I'm still thinking about which option I like better."

  He laughed and jerked the covers away. "Get out of bed. I'm hungry."

  With a loud sigh, she said, "Fine. I'll be your love slave later." She pulled her dress on and grabbed her shoes. "Give me thirty minutes to shower and change."

  "I'll pick you up at your condo."

  While Ella was gone, Clay made a few phone calls back to the office. Tish assured him there was nothing pressing going on. He wrote down a few appointments he'd have to take care of when he got back. Other than that, everything seemed to be running smoothly. Nothing to worry about. He could focus his attention entirely on Ella.

  He dressed and went to Ella's room, knocked on the door. She opened it and he sucked in a breath. She was wearing a short terry-cloth robe that barely covered the tops of her thighs. Her hair was piled up on top of her head.

  She leaned against the door and frowned at him. "You didn't say what we were going to do today. What should I wear?"

  He grinned. "I kind of like what you're wearing right now."

  She rolled her eyes and made room for him to enter, then shut the door behind him. "Funny. Are those your swim trunks?"

  "Yeah." He'd tossed on his board shorts, a sleeveless shirt and sandals. "I thought after breakfast we'd hit the beach."

  "Sounds great. I'll be right back."

  She came out a few minutes later wearing shorts and a tank top, the straps of what must have been her red swimsuit peeking out under the top. He liked being in Hawaii. It meant Ella bared a lot of skin, something he didn't see much of working with her on jobsites where she was usually covered neck to foot. Between last night's skimpy dress and today's outfit, he'd been treated to a lot of shoulder and legs. And oh, man, did she have great legs. Long and shapely. And he knew exactly how they'd gotten that way--hard work and not in a gym.

  "What are you doing?"

  She stood in the middle of the room, her bag flung over her shoulder, her head cocked to the side. One of the things he liked most about her was that she'd tossed her hair in a ponytail and she didn't have on makeup--or if she had put some on, it didn't show. So many of the women he dated were all about looking perfect. God forbid he should see them mussed up or without makeup or their hair perfect.

  Ella didn't have to try.... Without makeup she was the girl next door, but still sexy. Not many women could pull that off. Maybe the lack of pretense was what he found so attractive about her--she never tried to be something she wasn't. Even last night's outfit--though killer sexy--was still all Ella. Simple, yet elegant.

  And here he was waxing poetic about a woman he was only fucking.

  "I'm just enjoying the view."

  She actually looked past him and out her sliding-glass door to the balcony. "The ocean? Yes, it's breathtaking."

  She had no idea. Another thing he found so appealing about her. "No, dork. I meant you."

  "Me?" She looked down at herself, then back at him. "Nothing to look at here except a grumbling stomach. Let's go eat. If I don't get some coffee soon, you're going to have to carry me to the restaurant."

  Ella wanted to eat at the coffee shop downstairs. Clay wanted to take her someplace special, somewhere she could enjoy the view and have a good breakfast. She'd balked, but he'd insisted, leading her instead out the front door, where his car was waiting.

  "Where are we going?" she asked as the valet opened the door on the passenger side of Clay's rental car.

  Clay slid into the driver's side and buckled his seat belt. "Not far."

  "Good. You did hear me say I was starving, right?"

  The drive was only a few miles up the coast, but the view would be worth it. The restaurant was set on a cliff. He parked and they walked the steep hill from the parking lot to the restaurant.

  "Great. Making me burn what few calories I have left before you feed me."

  He glanced down at Ella, who grinned up at him.

  "If you faint before we get there, I'll carry you to the table."

  She laughed and slipped her hand in his.

  The restaurant was crowded, as he knew it would be. It was a popular spot, a lot for the great food and made even more so by the view. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a spectacular show of the sea crashing against the rocks that made up the foundation for the restaurant, which seemed to balance precariously on the craggy cliff. If you sat at one of the front tables, which they did, it would almost seem as if you were hovering over the ocean.


  "Wow," Ella said as she took her seat. "This is definitely worth waiting for."

  "I thought you might like it here."

  "Who wouldn't? The ocean, the breeze...It's breathtaking, Clay, especially to someone who's landlocked like me." She turned her gaze to him. "And you, too, of course. This is amazing."

  "Yeah, I found this place on my last trip here and came back every morning for breakfast."

  "I can see why. And I'm sure whoever you brought was very appreciative."

  He laughed. "I didn't bring anyone with me, Ella."

  She poured cream into the coffee the waitress had brought. "No? I would have thought Hawaii was a romantic destination, that you'd bring a woman."

  "I come here to go fishing, not for romance."

  She arched a brow. "Could have fooled me."

  He laughed and leaned in, took her hand in his. "Well, not usually anyway."

  "So I'm an exception."

  "Definitely an exception."

  "Then again, what we're doing together isn't really romance, is it?"

  "What were doing together can't be labeled."

  She slid her hand away and grabbed her cup, leaned back in the booth. "Sure, it can. It's just sex, right?"

  "Yeah. Right. Just sex."

  Why did it feel like more than that? He of all people knew that he wasn't capable of anything more than that with a woman, and especially someone like Ella, who was all about emotion and permanence and marriage. That wasn't where his life went. They'd agreed it would be sex with no strings. She seemed happy with the arrangement.

  So what was irritating him?

  After breakfast, they headed down to the beach, where Clay chartered a boat.

  Ella stepped aboard, helped out by one of the crew. She turned to Clay. "How many others will there be?"

  "Others?"

  "Yes. Other people in this group excursion."

  His lips lifted. "Oh. None. This trip is private. Just you, me and the crew. I thought we'd tour the island, maybe stop somewhere and snorkel."

  "Really?"

  He loved when she was excited and happy. Her eyes lit up like a child's. And she hadn't been pumped up about anything in a long time. He was happy to give this to her. "Yeah, really."

  They sailed out of the port and onto the open sea, heading out at a leisurely pace. Clay led Ella to the front of the boat where there were cushioned seats waiting for them. The sun was out and warm, so he shed his shirt and kicked off his sandals.