by Tawny Weber
“You’re a good teacher.”
“Whoa.” Ava laughed, trying to pretend she wasn’t overwhelmed by the compliment. “That’s one heck of a thing for a guy to say after being dared into the ring. Especially a guy who could have tossed me down anytime he wanted in there.”
“Your ring. Your rules.” He shrugged. “And your class. You were showing them some basic combinations. We demonstrated some basic combinations. No big.”
No big. Ava blinked.
He’d choreographed their match to align with her lesson. He’d adjusted his own style, tempered his moves, to let her show hers. All the while, he’d pushed her to the edge. To her edge, as if he assumed—not that she needed protecting or indulging—that she could handle being challenged.
Her heart did a long, slow dive.
“Thank you,” she said softly, smiling up at him. Relaxed now, she could see the changes on his face. A few more lines creasing his eyes. A furrow etched into his brow that hadn’t been there before. But those green eyes were clear, the look in them as familiar to her as her own face.
It was a look of desire, admiration and simple affection. Oh, God. She’d missed that so much.
Trying to pull the scattered fragments of her thoughts together, Ava focused on unbanding her hair, combing her fingers through the strands to loosen the braid until the damp tresses flowed like a comfortable blanket over her shoulders.
“You’ve grown.”
She made a show of looking down at her body.
“Most would say I’ve toned.”
“No,” he corrected. “You’re stronger. Your body kicks ass, yeah. But you’re stronger emotionally. Mentally. I admire that.”
Oh, hell. Ava gave up. “Let’s go,” she said, jerking her chin toward the exit.
“Where’re we going?”
“To finish this round.”
She’d intended to take it upstairs. To shoot for privacy in a room with a door. And maybe even a lock.
But when Elijah cupped one hand over her butt, squeezing his approval, she lost it. Ava grabbed his hand and yanked him through the next door they came to.
The steam room.
Perfect.
When a quick glance assured her it was empty, she flipped the locks, ensuring privacy. She slapped the buttons on the set of swinging doors and pulled him inside. She’d missed the lights, so the bench-lined room was dim, and the steam was rising. Filling the space. Hot, wet, misty steam.
The second the doors swung shut, he had her back against the wall. The long, hard length of his body slammed into hers, anchoring her there as his fingers dove into her hair.
Ava lifted her chin, managed to suck in one long breath between her teeth before his mouth took hers in huge, hungry bites. She felt as if she were drowning in passion, the power of it washing over her—through her. When his tongue plunged, her body went lax, sagging against the wall as if every muscle had melted in the heat.
It felt so good. He felt so good.
More. Ava’s fingers scraped down his arms, reveling in the rounded boulders that were his biceps, rock hard beneath the silk of his skin. She gripped his shoulders, wrapping her leg around his, hooking her ankle behind his thigh.
The wet, pulsating juncture between her legs trembled as she pressed harder against him. Sliding up, then down, then up again.
“More,” she breathed against his mouth. “Give me more.”
Elijah lifted his head just enough to take in her face, that sexy smile of his playing over his mouth when he saw how hard she was breathing, how much she wanted him.
She knew it put him in the position of power. Ava didn’t care. As long as he satisfied the desperate need spiraling in her belly, he could have all the power he wanted.
“How useful is that lock?” he asked, his hand skimming under the tight spandex band of her workout bra.
“Mack has keys. I do. That’s it.”
Apparently considering that useful enough, Elijah hooked one finger around the band and pulled the damp, sticky fabric over her head in one easy sweep.
Leaving Ava bare from the waist up, and very turned on.
His hands cupped her breasts, thumbs working the nipples as he watched. Steam poured out of the vents now, slicking over her skin so it felt as if he were touching her through water.
Her body felt like liquid. And he was stirring her up. Wet and hot and needy, the feelings, the sensations, they all tangled together in a maelstrom of intensity.
When he leaned down, tracing one bead of steam with his tongue as it dripped down her breast, Ava moaned. When he sucked her nipple into his mouth, she whimpered.
He nipped, teasing the turgid flesh between his teeth while he worked her other nipple, scraping it with his thumbnail before soothing it with the rough pad of his finger.
She pressed tighter against him, the wet heat between her legs demanding release. He angled his thigh higher, offering the pressure she wanted. The release she needed.
Ava let her head rest on the wall, closing her eyes so to better get lost in the sensations.
Her body tightened. The orgasm building, climbing. He pinched, bit. Suckled deep as his hands squeezed.
Ava exploded.
Over and over, waves of pleasure washed through her. So hard, so strong, she almost drowned in them.
Oh, so good.
She didn’t know how long she stood there, clitoris throbbing against Elijah’s thigh while his fingers soothed gentle circles around her nipples. Calming the storm but not sending it away.
No, she realized as she pried her eyes open. He was keeping her right there on the edge.
Ava took a deep breath, the moist air thick in her lungs as she tried to read his face. But Elijah was too good at masking his feelings.
“Wow,” she finally said.
“You like that?”
“Oh yeah. I like it a lot.”
“Good.” He nodded, then gave her a wicked smile. “Glad it worked for you. But that’s it.”
Ava blinked. Ignoring the tiny beads of steam dotting her skin, she shook her head. She couldn’t have heard right. “What do you mean, that’s it?”
“You snuck out of my bed the other day. You refused to discuss what’d happened between us. I’ll get you off, sweetheart—it’s only fair. But that’s it if you’re going to keep pushing me away.”
“I don’t want to push you away. I want you inside me.” Angling higher, she rubbed her tongue over his bottom lip, then gave it a good nip. “It’s only fair.”
“I don’t give a damn about right or wrong anymore. I’m not interested in playing fair and couldn’t care less about being nice.”
Despite the need jangling through her, Ava had to grin. He was so damned cute. Because despite everything he was, deep down, one of the nicest men she knew. And she was about to use that.
“You’d leave me here, like this?” she asked, fluttering her lashes.
“You got off, sweetheart. It’s not like I got you all churned up and left you hanging.”
Like he was. She could feel the length of his churned-up hardness pressing against her thigh and knew that no cup in the world was strong enough to contain it.
“Mmm, good point.” All it took was a slight movement of her shoulders for him to step back. To give her some space. As if she were actually going to leave.
Instead Ava locked her eyes on his as she toed off her shoes. Her socks, too. She hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her leggings and shimmied free.
“But now I’m naked,” she pointed out. “You wouldn’t make me go out there naked, would you?”
“You think you can lead me around by my...” Always the gentleman, he changed what she knew he’d been going to say. “Hormones?”
“I think that y
ou got me all hot and bothered, and one little orgasm isn’t enough,” she challenged.
“You might think that all we’ve got is sex between us, Ava, but I’ll be damned if we’re going to have it without respect.”
What? Her mouth actually dropped open. “I know you respect me,” she said, wondering why they were talking when all it would take was one touch of his hand on her body for her to come again.
“I mean me. You act like I’m just a piece of ass, only here to get you off. If you want this—” he gestured between their bodies “—then we do it right.”
Scared of how much he’d want, terrified that she’d give him anything, Ava shook her head. “What’s that even mean?”
“Not some long-term commitment,” he said, his eyes tightening at her sigh of relief. “But a commitment all the same. We date.”
“Date?”
“Like, go places that don’t include sex play. We talk to each other. We spend time in nonforeplay events.”
“Are you a girl?”
“Are you afraid?”
Hell, yeah. But she was also turned on to the point of tipping into spontaneous orgasm just looking at his body. As if he knew, Elijah reached down and grasped the fabric of his shirt, yanking it overhead in one swift move.
“Fine,” she agreed, ignoring the warnings screaming out in her head.
“It’s a deal?” he asked.
“Fine, yeah, it’s a deal.” After the briefest of hesitations her need to know overcame her need to come again as soon as possible, so Ava asked, “Why does it matter?”
“I’m simply mitigating damage and ensuring that we can both look ourselves in the eyes when this is over.” He didn’t add “again,” but they both heard it. “We both know it’s probably a mistake.”
“And you don’t like making mistakes,” Ava said, tossing her head so that her hair tumbled, long and luxurious, over her chest, erotically teasing the tips of her breasts. Sticking to the steam-moistened silk of her skin.
Her nipples ached for more, though. She wanted to beg him to touch her, to taste her. But Ava didn’t beg. She preferred to tempt. “Would you really have left me here, Elijah? Could you be satisfied walking away with not getting as good as you gave?”
His eyes locked on her breasts. His fingers clenched and unclenched. But he didn’t reach for her. “Depends on the circumstances. And the cost.” He tilted his head to one side. “And, of course, the payoff. You going to make it worth my while?”
“I’m going to blow your mind,” Ava murmured, running her tongue over her bottom lip and giving a little shiver of delight. “Just as soon as you get naked.”
“Blow my mind, huh?”
“Among other things.”
A smile, part boyish charm and part seduction, flashed over Elijah’s face. God, he was gorgeous.
Ava wished she could get past the passion pounding through her system. It made it hard to think, harder to decide if Elijah was right.
Maybe this was a mistake.
But if it was, she didn’t care. Not when he was pulling off his clothes, baring all that gorgeous bare skin.
Ava dropped to her knees in front of him and, before he could say a word, took the huge, rigid length of him between her lips. Mmm, hard, delicious.
She warmed her tongue around the velvet head of his penis. Slid it up the shaft. Down again, then sucked hard.
She ran her hands over his butt, cupping the hard muscles before sliding them down his thighs. Over the scars. Along the pain.
He grabbed her hand. “Don’t.”
She understood his reticence. She’d felt it herself, back when they were married. She hadn’t carried scars. She’d carried an extra fifteen pounds. Oh, it had been distributed well enough that she looked pretty good in clothes. But naked? Bared? Every ripple, every bulge, every imperfection. And naked with a man whose body put Greek gods to shame?
There was a reason they’d done most of their lovemaking in the dark.
So Ava understood. She really did. But that didn’t mean she was going to let him think there was a single thing wrong with his body.
Words were worthless. Elijah, he was a man of action. So she’d use action.
She traded. Her hand wrapped around the turgid power of his erection, fingers pulsing, then sliding, pulsing, then sliding. When he groaned, she pressed her mouth to his leg.
“Ava—”
“Shhh.”
While her hands soothed the tight muscles in gentle, easy strokes, she ran her tongue over the rippled flesh. Tasted the salty evidence of their game in the ring. Felt the nerves twitch and quiver beneath her mouth.
His cock jerked, warning Ava that playtime was over. She pressed one last kiss to his leg, then rose.
Eyes locked on his, she moved backward until she was pressed against the wall, rivulets of steam dripping down her body.
“Now,” she invited. “Do me now.”
“Remember the deal,” he ordered through clenched teeth.
He’d do it. She knew he’d grab his clothes and walk right out that door. Unless she agreed. She was too desperate to let him.
“Fine,” she agreed faintly. “Anything you want.”
“As long as I’m here, we’re together. We play this out, Ava.”
The head of his cock teased her wet lips. Ava tried pressing closer, tried sliding him inside. But Elijah held the controls.
“Fine,” she agreed again.
“Yeah?”
He plunged.
“Anything,” she promised breathlessly as he drove into her. “I’ll give you anything.”
With that, she exploded. Pleasure, pain, power, all mingled in an orgasm that sent her flying out of control. Ava didn’t know if she screamed. Wasn’t even sure she still breathed. All she knew was that she felt good.
Amazingly good.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
IT HAD BEEN a long time since she’d practiced the fine art of seduction. But Ava figured it was like riding a bike. Once you had the basics down, it was all about embellishments.
The setting. She looked around her freshly cleaned apartment; it offered comfort and privacy. Since the room was always filled with candles, scent and texture, she’d only had to choose the music.
The timing was good, she decided as she glanced out the window. Late afternoon would soon bleed into evening, with Elijah due to arrive just before dusk. A nice, sexy in-between time where anything was possible.
She checked her little kitchenette, where food waited, either marinating or prepped. Everything was good to go for a delicious, homemade dinner.
Now to get herself ready.
She could count on one hand how many times she’d folded herself into the tiny claw-foot tub better suited to a child than an adult of five-ten. But bubbles and hot oil were a part of the seduction ritual, so she folded and soaked in the scent of pomegranate and lily. And dreamed.
After careful consideration, Ava decided that dreaming a little was one of the important basics of seduction. It elevated it from just being sex. And that, she decided as she slicked the frothy sponge down her leg, was her story and she’d stick to it.
Because she wanted to dream.
Of Elijah. The way his muscles had rippled as he met her in the ring the other day. The feel of his hands on her flesh as they’d sparred. His slick skin, the hard muscles of that gorgeous body. She made her living training, assessing, building hard bodies and wannabe hard bodies. But not one could hold a candle to the pure power of Elijah’s.
The man was pure deliciousness. And that was before she even thought about his tight butt and the rigid power between those ripped thighs.
Mmm, Ava breathed in the steamy air, letting her head fall back on the towel she’d bunched behind her neck.
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When it came to bedroom skills, Elijah was the master. Not only with his body, although each stroke was a work of art. But those hands. The way he moved his fingers, the way he could tease and torment one second with delicate precision, and the next force her over the edge into an explosion of pleasure.
And his mouth. She’d spent years telling herself that her memories of his kisses were an exaggeration. That he couldn’t make her come with just his tongue alone.
Boy had he proved her wrong.
Ava squirmed, the water sloshing high to slap at the edges of the tub.
She wanted to reach down, to relieve the pressure building between her thighs. She was so wound up, so hot and excited, that it would take one dip, maybe two, from her own hand to trigger a nice, bubble-bath-worthy orgasm.
But she resisted.
Because she wanted to let it build. Layer upon layer upon layer of anticipation would add to the fun later.
And she planned to have a lot of fun later.
With Elijah.
Smiling, she let herself dream again.
Twenty minutes later the water was cold, the bubbles were gone and Ava was completely turned on.
She rode the mood, reveling in it as she dried off. She coated her skin with lotion until it felt like silk, then slipped into a pair of silk panties. Figuring she might as well continue with the theme, she added a silk slip dress the color of the sky at midnight. It skimmed her bare breasts, teased over her hips to flutter at her knees.
A few dabs of perfume, a few sultry smudges of makeup and a slick of wild cherry lip balm under the gloss. A trick she’d learned in college to add a taste of sweet.
Seductive enough?
Ava stepped back from the bureau mirror, checking her full reflection. Not bad, she decided with a glimmer of a smile. Elijah wouldn’t know what hit him.
She’d make sure of it.
With taste in mind and a quick glance at the time, Ava got to work on the meal. She had a citrus salad chilling in the fridge. Now it was time to finish the main dish. She’d pulled out chicken pounded to the thickness of cardboard from the bag she’d marinated it in and, with a frown at her dress, tucked a kitchen towel into her neckline in hopes it would work as a modified apron.