She released him and he stood up and removed the rest of his clothes. He was muscled all over and somehow looked even bigger without clothes on. His thick neck melded into broad shoulders and a massive chest and arms. His stomach was flat. His legs were just as big as his upper body, if not bigger. Glancing down quickly, she noted that his erection was in proportion to the rest of him. Then, as if reading her mind, he held out his hand to her with a smile. She relaxed and put her hand in his. After he helped her to stand, he bent down and whispered, “I showed you mine. Now show me yours.”
He watched her remove her shirt and bra, his eyes changing back and forth between smoke and crystal. When she tossed both articles of clothing on the floor near the foot of the bed, she felt him step close to her and move her hair away from her shoulder. Then he bent his head and kissed across her shoulders and all along her collarbone sucking and whispering, “Mmm. Beautiful.”
She managed to unhook her pants and slide them down with her panties. When she was finally naked, he stepped back. His crystallized gaze raked across her skin like a trail of fire, making her breath catch. Placing his hands on her waist he turned her so that she had switched places with him. Now he was next to the bed and she stood in front of him. Then, in a graceful move for such a big man, he sat down on the floor and leaned his back and head against the post at the foot of her bed. He looked up at her with a sexy grin.
“You get to watch me half clothed all the time during my fights. So I should get to look at you for a while. It’s only fair. I’ve imagined countless times how pretty you would be all naked and standing there, wanting me.” He smiled. Then, after a moment where she adjusted to him simply observing her but not touching her, he held out his hand. “Come here, beautiful.”
Placing her hand in his she stepped up close to him. He looked first at the junction of her thighs then up into her eyes. He smiled a breathtaking smile. “Are you sure you want me to share everything with you, Courtney?” When she only nodded, he said, “As much as I enjoyed touching you, I’ve yet to taste you. So I’m going to kiss you instead. Hang on to the post behind me with both hands. If you don’t like my mouth on you, simply let go and step away from me. Just give this a chance, and I know you’ll like it.”
He ran his large hands up the backs of her legs until his fingers were wrapped around the backs of both of her thighs. Then he lifted one of her legs and sat forward, draping it across one of his shoulders. His hot breath on the center of her nearly made her other leg give out but his large hands held her upright. He pulled her against him until she grabbed the bedpost as he had instructed.
Then his mouth was there. Her whole body at first tried to escape the jolt of pleasure his lips and tongue provided. She had wondered what this would be like, and once she adjusted to the shock of such an intimate act, her body assured her that he was right…she enjoyed this. When she relaxed, he made a noise as though enjoying the taste of her.
The vibration against her center made her cry out his name as her head fell back. She released the bedpost with one hand in an effort to touch the part of her that was now overly heated, wet and tingling uncontrollably. When her hand found his hair instead, all she could do was clutch a handful of it. After a few minutes, her body began to break apart in fragmented shivers of ecstasy. The pleasure continued as his firm lips sucked and worked her body into a near frenzy until all she could do was whimper.
He finally released her, kissing her thighs and gently nipping her knee before putting her leg back down. Then he sat back and looked up at her with a knowing grin. Her body wanted more of the pleasure he had just introduced her to but how could she tell him that?
“Please, Ian,” she tried. Meeting his gaze she realized that he knew what she wanted. “I want you…now.”
He smiled and pulled her closer, turning her so she was once more against the bed. Then he rolled onto his knees and lifted her up onto the bed in one motion. Using one of his large hands, he pushed her back gently so she was lying flat across the mattress. Then he stood and put both hands around her waist, moving her farther up the bed. He kissed a trail from her belly to her breasts and suckled each nipple as he climbed up on the bed and situated himself gently over her. The tug of his strong lips against her nipples was an enjoyable torment, but still not enough.
Nudging her knees apart, he made his way farther up her body, finally settling in to kiss her neck. “Guide me where you want me, beautiful.”
She was nearly frantic from wanting him as shock waves of pleasure began to match her heartbeat. It was an odd feeling since she wasn’t even truly sure sex would be enough to satisfy the need in her. Instinct had her reaching between their bodies and grasping him. She gently guided him between her legs, positioning him at her entrance. He pushed forward into her and she cried out at the joy of being so close to him. Skin to skin…like he was an extension of her.
“Mmm, Courtney. Are you okay, beautiful?” he whispered against her cheek, sliding a little farther into her.
“Yes. This is so good, Ian. I can feel you, all of you, and it doesn’t hurt.”
Then he moved forward a little more, forcing her body to stretch around him until he was all the way sheathed within her. It felt so good she could only claw at his back and shoulders.
“God…I love you, Courtney,” he whispered into her hair as he moved within her.
She couldn’t take any more of the tension building in her as he gently moved back and forth. Sliding her hands down his wide back, she pulled his bottom into her more firmly. He stopped moving and rose up on his arms. Looking down at her, his eyes changed to an even lighter shade of crystal. Reaching down with one hand, he looped one of her legs around his arm and pushed into her harder than before. She couldn’t hold back anymore.
“I love you, Ian…God, please…I want more of this…Please. Fix it,” she begged, pulling at his back and bottom.
Then he moved against her more forcefully, and her entire body came alive. A cool shiver stroked up her body and back down. Then a heated explosion rocked through her from the inside out. After several moments, the same pleasure she’d experienced from his mouth returned with a vengeance. She again cried out and clutched him to her.
He pushed into her several more times before throwing back his head and letting out a loud groan, which he followed with a whisper. “Yes, beautiful…Oh God…yes, yes, yes.”
When he caught his breath he tried to move off of her and roll away. Unwilling to allow him to leave just yet, she said, “No, Ian, please stay here with me.”
He simply laughed and edged over enough so he could lie on his back. Then he turned his face to the side and looked at her for the first time since introducing her to one of the best experiences she could ever remember sharing with another person. They had just made love, and she wanted to do it again. Was that normal?
“Damn, beautiful, that was amazing,” he said, his smile widening. “What are you thinking?”
“I loved that so much, Ian. The feel of your hands on my skin makes me shiver just thinking about it. The way you kissed me…it was so sensitive and hot down there. My God, it was incredible…. And the feel of you moving between my legs…can we do that again?” She laughed.
“Was it better than eating my cupcakes?” he asked with that twinkle in his eye.
“Yes, it was fantastic…. Can you give me sex again? Please?” she asked, wrapping her arm around his wide chest and trying to pull him back on top of her.
By the time they finally fell asleep it was late but she couldn’t remember ever sleeping so soundly. She woke the next morning from the feel of him climbing back into her bed, and she couldn’t keep the grin away as she scooted close to him.
“Where’d you go?” she asked, trying to shake off the blissful effects of good sleep…and lots of sex.
“I let Buck outside to use the restroom and then let him back in, started some coffee an
d called to let the guys know I made it back okay. Someone distracted me so much I forgot to do that yesterday,” he said, pulling her over to him and kissing her temple.
She laid her head on his thick chest. This was so perfect. The way making love was supposed to be. April had been right. Jess, too, for that matter. Experiencing this with the right person made all the difference. Ian hadn’t taken anything from her. He had given her such intense pleasure that if not for the fluttering in her stomach just from lying next to him, she would wonder if it had been real.
“As much as I’m loving you in my arms right now, I have to know,” he said quietly. “Why did you push me away this last time? I would do anything for you, Courtney. I wasn’t trying to pressure you or be…needy. Something was wrong, and I knew it. I just wanted to help.”
“I had to ID the two men who attacked Aunt Corrine, and I wasn’t sure I could do it. Having to think about that and relive it in order to remember their faces…it was almost too much. I just lost it. Instead of falling into you, I fell apart. I’m so sorry, Ian.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that alone. I hope the next time shit gets bad, you’ll consider letting me help,” he whispered.
“That’s the thing. I was so confused. I’m remembering the single most horrifying thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life and at the same time…”
“What, beautiful? Tell me,” he said.
“At the same time, I was thinking of you. How wonderful you are to me. I started remembering your passionate kisses and soft touch…and realizing how much I wanted you,” she replied. “I was comparing how different you are from them. You’re gentle, kind and loving…not angry and violent…even though you are a professional fighter. Then I just thought how wrong that was…to be thinking what I was thinking. Then you kept calling and I was torn between wanting you and needing to remember that time in my life so I could fight for Aunt Corrine by identifying those men, and I just snapped.”
“You thought you weren’t reacting the way you should have?” he asked.
“Yeah, exactly,” she said.
“After all that stuff went down overseas and we were debriefing, I kept waiting on Rusty to just go off on my dumb ass. When the response I expected from him never came I had a real hard time dealing with that, because I felt like I deserved whatever hell he handed out and yet he never handed out anything. Still hasn’t to this day. And the only way I could really deal with it was to chalk it up as being his way of punishing me…not to punish me. He probably figured there was nothing he could do or say that would make me feel any worse than I already did and that was my reprimand. If so, then he was right,” he said. “Maybe those thoughts were your mind’s way of realizing that you’ve punished yourself long enough. You were a child. There was nothing you could have done that would have resulted in a different outcome…only a worse one. So whatever thoughts you were having, or that you still have, aren’t wrong. Even if they aren’t by the book kind of feelings, they aren’t wrong. So go ahead and feel them. Just don’t shut me out in the process.”
“The two men are already in prison from separate attacks on other women. I’m going to testify before a grand jury in two weeks about what I saw that day. If they approve the charges against the two men, it will likely go to trial. That means there will be depositions and eventually I will have to testify against them,” she whispered.
“I’ll be there every step of the way if you’ll let me be,” he whispered into her hair.
“Thank you, Ian,” she replied. “I love you. I really do. I want you to be there and I want to be there for you, as well. Whenever you need me.”
* * *
The next few days seemed to fly by, even though much of it was spent in her bed. Courtney tried not to regret having denied him this form of affection for so long, especially since she enjoyed it as much, if not more, than he did. Much like the way he approached every other area in his life, nothing was off-limits when it came to making love. His daring and fun way of introducing her to an intimate relationship made her adore him even more. He would suggest something but let her try it on him first so she could judge his reaction before deciding whether or not to let him do it to her in return. It was fun and sexy all rolled into one.
Each time with him was different—even in the course of the same day. One time might be met with fits of laughter, kissing, touching and teasing; the next would be steamy, breathtaking and passionate. She couldn’t seem to get enough of him and he obviously felt the same way. By the end of the week she began to worry about what would happen when she had to go back to work and he went back to school. What would happen when his friends returned from vacation? A secret part of her wished she and Ian could stay locked in her house—just the two of them and a large dog. Locked away from the world for the rest of their lives.
But too soon they heard a knock at the front door. Having showered together, they shut the water off and grabbed a towel. He quickly ran it over himself and then wrapped it around his waist.
“Stay here. I’ll get rid of whoever it is and be right back,” he said, kissing her quickly and leaving the bathroom, closing the door behind him. She dried off and cracked the bathroom door open to listen to him.
“Oh God, man, cover that shit up. Have some decency. I could have been a small child selling cookies or some such thing.” Jess’s voice filtered up the stairs. Courtney could only snicker, since the video camera showed who was at the door and yet he had still opened it for her and let her inside.
“You’re obviously interrupting, so maybe you should just go. Come back in another month,” Ian offered in response.
“That’s repulsive and I’m likely scarred for life. I like sex as much as the next girl, but occasionally you have to stop and feed the kitten…real food,” Jess replied. “Where is she and is she more appropriately attired than you?”
“Probably not. And if she is, she won’t be for long so perhaps another time then?” Ian tried again. Courtney could hear him opening the front door as though inviting Jess to leave. A small laugh escaped her.
“Can I come up?” Jess hollered from halfway up the staircase.
Quickly pulling on her robe and tying it closed, Courtney opened the bathroom door and stepped out onto the landing. “Hi, Jess!”
“Don’t hi me. I know what you two have been doing, and the sick parts of my mind are gagging with the realization it’s obviously been going on since I called you two days ago,” Jess replied, scrunching her face to show her displeasure. Ian had followed Jess up the stairs and shrugged his shoulders as if saying he’d tried to get rid of her with no success.
“Has he fed you at least? You know what? Don’t answer that. It sounded bad, and I realize the implications and therefore take it back. Let’s go eat…food. Let’s go get some food,” Jess finished with a sigh and then quietly said, “Awkward.”
“Give us a few minutes to, um, get dressed, and then we’d love to join you for dinner,” Courtney replied with a laugh as Ian moved past Jess to walk into the bedroom.
“Two days is plenty long enough to lock yourselves away from the rest of civilization. It’s time to join polite society again. I’ll be downstairs…waiting.” Jess smiled back and then headed down the stairs.
Jess stopped halfway down the steps when Ian hollered through the closed bedroom door, “It’s been a wee bit longer than two days, but you’re right, we have to come up for air at some point. Might as well be from a friend’s rude interruption.”
Covering her ears with both hands, Jess said, “Lalalala. I can’t hear you!” With that she continued down the stairs.
Dinner was so fun that Courtney couldn’t remember laughing so much in a long time. Nothing had changed between them, except now Jess had new material to use against Ian. When Jess had her fill of food, friendship and conversation and left to go home, Courtney suddenly realized that not only did she no longer
want to push Ian away but she also wanted him close…always.
“What is it?” he asked with a concerned look on his face.
“Can you…can you stay with me for a while? Just until the grand jury testimony?” she asked.
He leaned forward and captured her lips for one of those kisses she could feel everywhere at once. Then he pulled back, smiled and said, “I’ll stay as long as you want me to. Just let me know if I’m being too needy.”
Chapter Fourteen
“You did great during your testimony both for the grand jury and at trial. This next part will entail you telling the court how the defendant’s actions affected you. Corrine will give an impact statement as well, but being that you were a child at the time yours will have just as much bearing on the sentence that gets handed down,” the prosecutor said. “Both of you take a few minutes. I’ll come back and get you when it’s time.”
Looking across the table at Aunt Corrine, Courtney felt like they had fought the battle against the two men together this time…and won. The past three months had been both painful and liberating. Aside from the conviction of both suspects, and a slowly receding fear of men and people in general, the best thing to come from this experience was that it had brought the two of them closer. Like before the attack ever happened. Ian had a hand in that process and was waiting in the hallway of the courthouse along with his army buddies, Kayla, Tori and, of course, Jess.
Courtney grabbed Aunt Corrine’s hand. “With this thing almost over, a part of me worries that I won’t get to see you as often now.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that. Neil and I will come down every chance we get, and hopefully you and Ian can come up our way and visit from time to time, as well,” Aunt Corrine replied.
Tears threatened to spill but Courtney forced them down. “I’d like that. There’s so much to catch up on. I don’t want to go back to only talking when some life event requires it. I want to talk just to hear your voice…and I want to talk often.”
Maid to Love (Man Maid Book 3) Page 17