Never with a Rich Man

by Tina Susedik

  Cassie pressed her hardened nipples against his chest while Hogan kissed, sucked, and nipped down her neck. Guiding her across the floor, they bumped into the back of a couch facing the fireplace. Hogan grabbed her rear with both hands and propelled the two of them over the couch, ignoring its nearly tipping. Holding her waist, he landed first and jerked when her knee nearly met with his groin.

  “Sorry.” Her husky voice vibrated through his system.

  Hogan removed his glasses and flung them in the direction of a coffee table. Neither noticed them clattering to the floor. She straddled him, her hot core sliding against his cock. He pressed her back down and brought a taut peak to his mouth, suckling first one, then the other. His hand slipped between her legs, heightening his desire when his fingers met her already moist folds.

  Cassie flung her head back, her hair whipping across his face. “Now, Hogan. I can’t wait,” she cried, riding his rock-hard penis.

  “Slow down, babe,” he warned, placing his hands against her back and pressing her against his chest. In a quicksilver movement, he flipped her over so she lay under him. He tore open the foil package. “I came prepared this time.”

  Cassie reached down and wrapped her soft, yet incredibly strong fingers around him. He bucked against her hand. “Let me put this damn thing on,” he said through clenched jaws.

  “I’ll help,” she offered, her eyes smoldering with need.

  “You’re no help at all.” He nearly exploded when she squeezed the base of his penis. “Stop, or I’ll be way ahead of you and you’ll be finishing up by yourself.”

  Cassie let go and rubbed the palms of her hands on his thighs. His hands shook as he struggled with the condom.

  What seemed like eons was only a matter of seconds before he had them protected. Cassie’s eyes were filled with passion. “I really wanted to take it slow this time, honey, but it seems we both need each other too much.”

  He lifted her hips and slid into her moist warmth. His legs trembled as he held still, letting Cassie make the next move. She bucked her hips and the race was on.

  She met him thrust for thrust until they nearly fell off the couch. Cassie reached behind him and squeezed his balls. It was his undoing. Right after he poured himself into her, her muscles tightened and she moaned her release.

  Chapter 15

  “Wow,” they said at the same time.

  “Déjà vu?” Hogan murmured against her neck.

  “Yeah,” she mumbled against his shoulder.

  “I thought last weekend was something, but . . .”

  “Yeah,” she managed to sigh.

  “Am I squishing you?”

  “Uh-uh.”

  “Good, ‘cause I can’t move.”

  “I don’t care if we never move.”

  “Cassie?”

  “Mmm?”

  “My arm is falling asleep, my lips hurt, and I think my nuts are numb.”

  Cassie giggled. “Is that where the term ‘numb nuts’ comes from?” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe I just said that.”

  “Uh . . . I think so,” he answered somewhere in the vicinity of her ear. “Are you laughing at me?”

  A snicker erupted. “No.”

  Hogan moved so they lay on their sides, face to face. The overstuffed, deep couch his mother insisted she needed was a haven for two people to nestle in after making love.

  “Hey, numb nuts are no laughing matter, dear lady. They’re serious business.”

  Cassie eyes glowed as she rubbed her hands across his back in slow circles. Goosebumps rose on his skin. “Really?”

  He took a quilt from the back of the couch and covered them. “Yes. Really. If they stay numb too long, I could have irreparable damage.” His body went heavy and he struggled to keep his eyes open as she continued her hypnotic massage.

  “Ooh, poor baby. What kind of damage?” She switched to massaging his wounded parts.

  Hogan’s breath caught. No longer sleepy, he wondered how he could possibly be ready for round two so soon. It had never happened this quickly before. Anyway, not since he was a teenager when just seeing a shapely girl could get his hormones flying. “Uh . . . I forget.”

  Cassie grinned. “You forget? Can’t be too terrible an injury then, can it? Should I kiss them and make it all better?”

  Hogan groaned and stopped her magic hand. “Cassie, wait. I took only one condom. The rest are in my bag.”

  Struggling, they sat up and peered over the back of the couch. Hogan couldn’t contain his laughter. Cassie’s chest shook against his arm. A trail of clothing from the front door to the couch gave evidence to rushed ardor. Hogan’s bag lay on its side, a pile of condoms fallen from the opening. Shirts lay like broken scarecrows, a pair of black lace panties hung partway in a shoe, socks were bunched up like dust balls, and Cassie’s bra hung from a coat rack standing by the door.

  “Wow!”

  “We need a better vocabulary.” He helped her from the couch and into his arms. “Woman, it’s incredible what you do to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been this wild before.”

  Cassie wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her breasts against his hairy chest. “Me, neither. You bring out the beast in me.”

  “Well, my little cheetah. The next time will be slow and sensual. I promise.”

  “Mmm. That’s one promise I expect you to keep. Fast and furious was fantastic. I can’t imagine what slow and sensual will be like.”

  Hogan raised an eyebrow and patted her bare behind. “Well, you just keep wondering. For now I think we should clean up. Then I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  A short time later, their belongings were settled into Hogan’s childhood bedroom. Hogan was rattling through kitchen cupboards while Cassie stood at one of the massive floor-to-ceiling windows gracing either side of a large fieldstone fireplace. A fan hanging from a wooden beam in the cathedral ceiling circled leisurely. After showers, she felt refreshed and ready to tackle the world. Taking a sip of coffee, she watched sailboats glide gracefully in the distance. Beyond the trees in the backyard, couples walked hand-in-hand along the edge of the water, their bare feet sinking into white sand.

  Cassie leaned her head against the window frame. Maybe they could walk along the beach at sunset. Find a secluded spot and make love. A breeze blew a patch of fall leaves, their yellow and red colors tumbling across the yard like acrobats in a circus. She shivered both from the thought of making love in the sand and knowing the fall air would make it too cold for amorous outdoor activities. If things worked out the way she hoped, though, maybe she’d be back in the summer and . . .

  “So what do you think of the place?” Hogan called out.

  “I wasn’t expecting anything so big. I mean, this isn’t a cabin, it’s a full-fledged house.” Was his family rich? Would they be like Tony’s?

  She turned back to the open room. The living room took up the center of the house. Comfortable chairs, a love seat, and the massive couch faced the fireplace in a conversational setting. In one corner, a television sat on a battered, metal, wheeled table. In another, a scarred rectangular oak table held an unfinished jigsaw puzzle.

  To the left of the living room a short hallway led to a bathroom and his parents’ bedroom. An open stairway went to four bedrooms upstairs, two on each side of the house. An open walkway connected the two sides, giving a view down to the living room.

  Cassie sat on a padded stool at the kitchen peninsula. “I love how open this is. You can see anyone from anywhere.”

  “That’s what my mom likes about it.” Hogan opened the refrigerator, sticking his head in.

  Cassie momentarily lost track of the conversation as she admired his rear sticking from the opening. He stood, shut the door, and jotted something down on a piece
of paper.

  “The kitchen in the original cabin was closed off to the rest of the house. She hated being separated from the family while she cooked.”

  It was a large house, one that could rival one of Tony’s family’s homes. But where their houses were cold and confining, Hogan’s “cabin” was warm, comfortable, and homey.

  He opened a few cupboards and added items to the list. “It started out as a tiny cabin, but as the family grew, Grandpa, then Dad, added on as they had the money. As us kids got older, we tried to help with remodeling. What you see are the results.

  “When we all come up here for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we need the room. Each family gets a bedroom.”

  Cassie considered the cheery house with its conglomeration of furniture and decorations. “I like it.”

  “Good. I’m glad.” Hogan came around the corner and slung an arm around her shoulders. “As much as I would love to throw you on the counter here and make more wild stuff, we need to go to the store. Mom left some food behind, but I have plans for something special.” He picked up the paper he was writing on. “Let’s go shopping, sweets.”

  Cassie patted her chest over her heart. “Wow. A man who can cook and make wild love all in the same day. I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

  “While I agree I can make wild love, maybe you need to taste my food before getting all excited.”

  “I don’t need to taste your cooking to get excited.” She hugged him. “All I need is you.”

  Cassie curled herself in a corner of the couch, a glass of wine in her hand, stomach full from the savory meal of veal cutlets and new red potatoes. A fire crackled and spit in the fireplace. The flames skipped and danced, changing from orange to blue and back again.

  Taking a sip from her wine, she thought of the night ahead. Would they be able to control themselves and make their loving slow and sensual as he promised? Or would it be like this afternoon? Either way, the thought made her heart skip and dance like the flames in the fireplace. Nerve endings sizzled. Toes curled in her thick socks.

  Hogan came into the room and lowered the blinds on the windows. Ignoring her, he picked up the coffee table and moved it away from the couch. Cassie opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, but he held up a finger. Bemused, she watched him leave the room. She leaned around the corner of the couch to get a view of what he was up to.

  Next he appeared in the doorway with a sleeping bag in one arm and two pillows in another. After dropping the items on the floor, he left once more, then returned with a sheet and blankets.

  Cassie sipped her wine, her heart beating more furiously as he spread out the sleeping bag, covered it with the sheet, and tossed the pillows at the top. He threw a few more logs on the fire, went into the kitchen, and returned with a tray filled with cheese, crackers, and a bottle of wine in an ice bucket and placed them on the coffee table.

  With anticipation, she watched him light candles scattered on the coffee and end tables. He turned off the lights, leaving a warm, heart-melting glow. He took a handful of foil packets from his back pocket and dropped them beside the tray.

  “I’m learning.” His voice held a promise of delightful things to come. He took her wine glass and set it next to his. “I’ve always wanted to do this.”

  “Do what?” she asked, her words coming out in a whisper.

  “Make love with a beautiful woman in front of a fireplace. Since we don’t have a bear-skin rug, my sleeping bag will have to do.”

  Cassie’s breath hitched. “It’s beautiful, Hogan.”

  He cupped her face and kissed her gently. Liquid heat rushed through her body. She was going to melt right where she was sitting and turn into a puddle of water. Who needed a fire when Hogan was producing enough heat to dissolve all the ice in Siberia? She sighed.

  “Something wrong?” he whispered against her lips. He moved his mouth up the side of her face and kissed her temple.

  “Nothing, except my legs won’t hold me anymore.” His smile swept against her lips. She pictured his dimples deepening.

  “I guess we’ll have to do something about that, won’t we?” He sidled her over to the makeshift bed, laying her down like she was a precious piece of glass. He stretched out on top of her.

  “Is this going to be the slow and sensual one?”

  “I certainly hope so.” He slipped a button on her blue blouse through its hole. “See how slowly I can unbutton? No scattered buttons or torn shirt, either.” After spreading her shirt wide and from her arms, he slid her T-shirt over her head. Hogan took a nipple in his mouth, his breath soaking through the fabric of her lacy bra. Liquid heat turned to molten lava.

  “What have we here?” he asked, releasing the nipple.

  Cassie lifted her head from the pillow. Hogan stared at the space between her breasts. “What?”

  “Is that a freckle?”

  Cassie groaned and threw an arm over her face. “No great surprise. Redheads are notorious for freckles.”

  “Hmm . . . all over?”

  “As far as I know,” she answered. “Hogan, what are you doing?” she asked when he kissed her chest, ignoring her aching breasts. She tried to urge his expert mouth back to her nipples.

  “I love freckles.” He slipped her bra down from her breasts and peered at them. “I have a new goal.”

  “What’s that?” she murmured, holding back a moan when he cupped a mound in each hand and took turns kissing and licking them. She was not successful.

  “I need to discover all your freckles. I plan to kiss each and every one.”

  “We could be here all night, Hogan.”

  “Not a bad idea, sweetheart. Not a bad idea.” He kissed his way down her chest and ribs until he reached the waistband of her jeans. He grinned at her. “Any down here, do you think?” He unbuttoned then unzipped her jeans. “I see one now.”

  While kissing bare skin exposed at the open waistband, he slipped a hand into her jeans, slid them over her hips and down her legs. “This could take a long time, Cassie.”

  He continued to rain kisses over her stomach, lower and lower to a place no man’s mouth had ever been. Just as she was going to stop his roving mouth, he detoured to a leg, pecking his way from thigh to toe, then switched to the other leg and worked his way back up. When he reached her inner thigh, she was more than ready for him to kiss her most tender spot. Disappointment rushed through her when he flipped her over onto her stomach.

  “Can’t ignore the backside.” He whistled. “And man, what a backside.” Starting at her feet again, he moved up her legs and over her buttocks, using his tongue and teeth to suck and nibble in a way Cassie had never dreamed possible.

  He slid her skimpy underpants down her legs. His mouth skimmed across one side of her back, over her neck, and back down again. She was lost. When he reached the bottom of her bare behind, he eased her over.

  “And here’s the biggest red freckle of all,” he said and buried his mouth in her auburn curls.

  Cassie couldn’t breathe, couldn’t tell him to stop. With little effort her hips rose, giving him better access. He ran his tongue over her wet opening, then swirled it in and out. A tightening grew low in her belly. Cassie grabbed the sheets in her hand, let go, and grabbed the hair on his head. Gasping for air, heart beating frantically against her ribs, her release grew until stars, lightning, fireworks, and a hundred-piece band flashed behind her eyes as a new, never-before-experienced orgasm rushed through her body from her toes to her head.

  Like a molasses dripping from a bottle, Cassie came back to earth. Hogan yanked off his shirt and pants. Through haze-covered eyes, she nipped at a bare nipple and ran her hands appreciatively over his flat stomach. Hogan hissed his response when she helped roll the condom into place. Then he was inside her, and once again, he took her breath away.

/>   The fire crackled and sent shadows bouncing across the walls and their naked, relaxed bodies. Hogan took a deep, satisfied breath, feeling as contented as he’d ever been in his life. He placed a quilt over their shoulders, snuggled into Cassie’s backside, and watched the firelight dance on her hair. He could stay like this forever.

  Now he understood why people made a distinction between making love and having sex. Sex involved body parts. Fit Part A into Slot B, move around, and it feels good. When done, say thanks and go home, or move to your side of the bed and go to sleep. Making love involved body and soul. With Cassie it was making love, not having sex. Cuddling with her came naturally, and it wasn’t the first time he didn’t want to let her go.

  One thing marred his contentment—the investigation. He needed to come clean with her. With what they just experienced she would surely understand, wouldn’t she?

  He’d told her he was in sales. Well, he was, sort of. He’d simply failed to tell her he owned the business with his family and was rich. He was positive Cassie already liked him for who he was, not what he had. Maybe that liking would turn to love. She was a sensible person and would certainly understand why he hadn’t told her he had money—lots of money. Hell, why was he even worrying about what she thought about his financial status? Just because the women in his past drooled over his bank account, didn’t mean Cassie would.

  But what happened when she found out about his undercover work? If he was lucky, she’d never find out she was in the crosshairs of her ex’s activities. He was positive she was innocent, and needed to clear her name before any damage between them was done.

  A warm, soft ass wiggled against his crotch. Enough of worrying about what might happen when they returned home. They had the weekend together. A smile crept to his lips. If he could get his exhausted body to cooperate, he’d dance a jig around the room. He settled for placing a kiss on the back of her unruly red hair.