Some Like It Geek: A Really Big Set of Romances

by Box Set

  “Meow.” Her orange tabby cat jumped onto the arm of the sofa closest to Derek, purring loudly and giving him a wide-eyed look that begged for petting.

  His reached out to stroke a single finger between her tufted ears. “Who’s this?”

  “Beru.” It was insane to feel a little jealous of her cat, right? But she wouldn’t mind having him stroke her. Anywhere and everywhere.

  Slanting her a look, he huffed out an almost-laugh. “Aunt Beru from Star Wars.”

  Refusing to blush, she lifted her chin and swept a hand down to indicate her outfit. The trench coat belt had loosened enough that he could see her costume through the gap between the lapels. “You already know I’m sci-fi geek.”

  “Mmm.” His gaze heated as looked her over from boots to tussled hair and back again.

  Her skin tingled wherever his gaze touched, and she licked suddenly dry lips. Her attraction to him just wouldn’t quit, and being the focus of his attention was a heady experience. Never in a million years would she have ever expected him to look at her with desire in his expression, but it had happened more than once today.

  “So, where’s your other cat?”

  “My other cat?” She tugged off her gold plastic tiara and set it on the table next to the stack of boxes.

  He tipped his head toward the tall cat tree sitting against one wall of her living room. “Beru here has short orange hair. There’s also long black cat hair on that scratching post.”

  “You do notice everything, don’t you? What are you, like Sherlock Holmes or something?” Though she thought he was better looking than Benedict Cumberbatch, but she was biased.

  He snorted. “Hardly. I’m just relatively observant, which is a good skill to cultivate in my line of work. I can’t look at you and tell you your entirely life history like Sherlock.”

  “I’m glad.” She waved to the cat tree. “I recently watched a friend’s cat for a couple of weeks while she was on vacation. He was a long-haired black Persian.”

  “Ah.” He scrubbed a hand across his nape and glanced away. “Anyway. If Nick bothers you again, let me know. The convention and the convention center both have strict policies about harassment. Which would allow me to thoroughly enjoy throwing him out.”

  Since most people were as charmed by Nick as she had been when they first met, she rather liked Derek’s instant dislike. “Would you make sure he got road rash on his face from hitting the pavement?”

  A grin quirked his lips. “Absolutely.”

  “That’s so kind.” She sighed dramatically and pressed her hand over her heart. “My hero.”

  His gaze dropped to her palm and lingered on her chest. This was hardly her most revealing costume, but it definitely bared more of her cleavage than he would ever have seen before. Normally, she’d hunch her shoulders and turn away, but Michelle’s words rang in her mind. Maybe it was time to bring some of her cosplaying confidence into the real world, and maybe Derek was just the guy to start with. Sure, that was aiming stratospherically high because he could have any woman on the planet, but…why not her? Just this once, why not her?

  She tugged her belt loose, and let her coat fall completely open. When his eyes widened, she let a small smile tilt up one corner of her mouth. “Enjoying the view?”

  He blinked and his gaze flashed up to her face. “More than you’ll ever know.”

  “Maybe I want to know.” Or maybe having him kiss her senseless made her desperate enough to beg for more.

  He dragged in a slow breath and let it ease out. “I want you. I have since the first day I met you, even though you think no one ever notices you. You’re so wrong about that, and I’d love to show you exactly how wrong. It’s taking every ounce of control I have to keep my hands to myself right now.”

  “Who’s telling you to hold back?” Slipping off her trench coat, she tossed it onto an armchair. “Not me.”

  “I’m telling me, for both our sakes.” He compressed his lips and shook his head. “You don’t want to get tangled up with someone like me, sweetheart. I’ll just end up hurting you. I won’t want to, but I know I will, and then I’ll hate myself even more than I already do.”

  The anguish in his voice made her drop the coquettish act and reach out to lay her palm on his chest. “Why would you hate yourself?”

  He caught her hand, and shook his head again. “Trust me, you really don’t want to know.”

  “If I didn’t want to know, I wouldn’t have asked.” She kept her tone mild, but she wasn’t going to be the excuse for a cop-out. “It sounds more like you really don’t want to tell me.”

  “You’re right,” he admitted. “I don’t want to talk about it, with you or anyone else.”

  “Fair enough.” She didn’t think he should have to discuss a topic he’d rather not, no matter how curious she was. Maybe she should just let the subject drop, but she had one question she needed answered first. “The thing is—you want me, I want you. Why does it need to be more complicated than that?”

  His expression turned dubious. “Have you ever had uncomplicated, no-strings sex before?”

  She took a moment to consider before she responded. “No, but that also means I haven’t had sex in a long, long time. I’m tired of being celibate. I’m tired of not having what I want. I’m really tired of my ex being able to throw the fact that I haven’t slept with anyone since we broke up in my face. He might not believe it after our little floor show today, but he’s still right. Frankly, if I die tomorrow, I don’t want to go out with him being my last lover.” She pressed her other hand to his chest and stepped even closer. A shudder ran through him, but he didn’t step back. It gave her the courage to keep talking. “I want you, Derek. I want to be with someone who kisses me like he’s starved for the taste of me. I want to be touched by a man who lights me up like a Christmas tree. If that means I have to accept something short-term—even if it’s just for one night—to get all the other things I want…so be it. I’m a big girl, I know my own mind, and I’m ready to try something different.”

  He closed his eyes. “I hope you mean that.”

  “Try me.” She lifted her palm and cupped his jaw. “Kiss me.”

  A groan escaped him, his eyes opened, and the blue of his gaze was almost incandescent. She had a split second to think that she had unleashed a storm she wasn’t sure she could survive, but then his lips were on hers and every thought fled her mind.

  The heat of his body all but scorched her as he hauled her against him. Her curves molded to his harder planes and she moaned into his mouth, it felt so exquisitely good. Sliding her hands up, she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him even closer. She wanted no distance between them. His goatee scraped over her chin, but the rough sensation was just a contrast to the softness of his lips. She met his tongue with hers, and they dueled for control of the kiss. This time, she wasn’t going to let her shyness take over, not for a single second. She’d wanted this, wanted him, for far too long. She needed to experience every moment of the maelstrom, revel in the way it consumed her.

  Desire unlike any she’d ever known coursed through her, electrifying every cell in her body. One of his palms coasted down her back to cup her butt, while the other moved to curl around her breast. She whimpered, arching into his touch. His thumb found her nipple, circling the tip. A shudder rippled through her, a lightning strike of sensation zinging from breast to loin. Her sex clenched, and she felt herself growing damper by the second. Tension wound tight within her, each stoke of his fingers on her sensitive flesh ratcheting up her passion to unbearable levels.

  She broke her mouth away. “Please, Derek. Please.”

  A growl rumbled from his throat, and he moved to sip kisses down the length of her neck. “I knew you’d say my name like that.”

  “Like what?” she gasped.

  He scraped his teeth over the sensitive tendon at the base of her throat.

  “Derek.” His name came out half-plea, half-moan. Her voice was low and smoky
and sexy, so unlike her normal tone.

  “Like that.” Satisfaction laced his words.

  She lifted one knee to wrap around his hip, rocking herself into the rigid length of his arousal. His fingers tightened on her backside, pulling her even closer, grinding against her heated core. The breath froze in her lungs and fire licked through her veins. Dear God, he was almost where she wanted him. The slow friction was driving her mad, mimicking the carnal act she craved, without the surcease she knew he could give her. She arched into him, squirming to get nearer, frustration lashing her like a whip. “I’m dying, Derek. I need you inside me. Now.”

  A shudder rippled through him and he drew back for a moment to look at her. Lust tightened his features, a flush running under his dark skin.

  “I don’t have a condom.” A short laugh escaped him, desperation flashing in his gaze. “I wasn’t expecting to need one. I wasn’t expecting you.”

  She liked the sound of that. She had a feeling not much surprised him, but she’d managed it tonight. “I have condoms in my bathroom.”

  “Get them.” He tipped his head toward her front door. “I’ll lock up here.”

  The door was slightly ajar. Not so much that anyone could see them, but none of their neighbors would be shy about poking their head in if they wanted something. “Oh. Yeah. Good idea.”

  She hurried for the bathroom, half-disbelieving that he’d still be there when she got back. This felt too much like something out of her fantasies, not something that could be real. But on the off-chance she wasn’t dreaming, she grabbed the small box of condoms in her medicine cabinet. They were only a few months old—she’d almost slept with the last guy she’d gone out with, but he’d decided to let her know he was getting back together with his ex-girlfriend before she’d gotten the chance. Ah, well. Better to know he had lingering feelings for someone else before she’d hopped in bed with him.

  It also meant she conveniently had some unexpired rubbers lying around for when the hottest man alive decided he wanted to get naked with her. That was the best bad luck she’d ever had.

  She held her breath for a moment before she stepped out into her living room. Please, let him still be there. Please, let this not be just a dream.

  He’d shrugged out of his leather jacket, folded it in half, and draped it over an armchair. His eyes lit up when his saw her, heat and impatience burning in his gaze. She held the unopened box aloft. “Here they are.”

  He had the box out of her hands and unwrapped in seconds, discarding the cellophane on her coffee table. After plucking out a couple of rubbers, he set the box and condoms on the table next to the wrapper.

  She arched her eyebrows. “Two, huh?”

  “For starters.” His look was nothing less that sinful. “Unless you’re kicking me out after the first round.”

  Passion flashed through her again, and it was all she could do not jump him then and there. Instead, she pursed her lips and looked him over thoroughly. “Not if you’re as good as I’m hoping you are.”

  “Is that a challenge, Ms. Jones?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He tugged the hem of his shirt up, revealing the hard ridges of his abs. Then his pecs came into view and the flat discs of his nipples. She wanted to suck them, wanted to slide her fingertips over every centimeter of his brown skin. He shucked the shirt over his head and laid it on top of his jacket. Then he bent forward and tugged off his boots and socks. She bit her lip when he straightened and reached for his fly. “You, too, sweetheart. This isn’t just a peep show.”

  Nodding, she didn’t take her eyes off him for even a second. She unhooked the gold lasso that was attached to a loop at the bottom of her corset. She tossed it onto the couch, then reached for the zipper that held the top of her outfit together. The red and gold corset pealed apart, and she could feel the heat of his gaze on her breasts. The garment fell to the floor and she left it there. All she had on were her boots and a pair of star-spangled spandex boyshorts.

  “Leave the boots on,” he whispered. Unbuttoning and unzipping his pants, he shoved them down and stepped out of them. His erection curved in a hard arc to just below his navel.

  Well, if she’d had any doubts at all about how turned on he was, they were gone now. Because, wow. He was big and flagrantly aroused and she wanted him inside her.

  Hooking her fingers into the top of her boyshorts, she eased them down her legs until she could kick them aside. She held on tight to her cosplaying superheroine confidence while she let him look his fill. His gaze was appreciative, and his expression was wolfish.

  “Damn,” he said, his tone was almost reverent, which made a little smile tip up with corners of her mouth.

  “Are we just going to stand here staring, or are you going to put those rubbers to good use?”

  She was back in his arms before she finished the question, every burning inch of him pressed to her. If she’d been hot and bothered before, her system went into immediate overload. The crisp whorls of hair on his chest stimulated her nipples into tight peaks, and gooseflesh broke down her limbs. The air tangled in her lungs as need surged through her, but she couldn’t stop her fingers from stroking over every millimeter of his skin that she could reach. Up the solid muscles on his back, across his broad shoulders, down the slope of his pecs, around his nipples. Good Lord, he was pure male perfection.

  His hands were just as busy sliding over her curves. He teased her nipples until her knees went weak and low moans spilled from her throat. When his fingers slipped lower, dipping between her thighs to toy with her nub, her legs gave out and he caught her against him. He backed her up into the couch, then eased her down onto the cushions.

  Scooping up a condom from the coffee table, he had his erection sheathed in seconds. Then he knelt between her knees and drew her booted feet up to drape her ankles over his shoulders. “I really like these boots.”

  He ran his fingertips along the inner seam until he reached the top, then stroked the edge where leather met skin. Inevitably, incredibly, that butterfly light touch made her grow even wetter. Her heart pounded, blood rushing hot and wild through her veins. She squirmed. “Hurry. I can’t wait much longer.”

  “I wish I could make you wait, but just looking at you is killing me.” He cupped her hips, and she tilted them up in invitation. Easing forward, he pressed the tip of his shaft to her opening. He sank in one slow inch at a time, and the stretch was divine. She was so full and it felt so good. His grip tightened on her curves almost painfully. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “More, please.”

  “Whatever.” His teeth flashed white in one of his rare smiles. Reversing direction, he pulled out just as slowly as he’d entered. A few more leisurely strokes into her and she thought she’d die of impatience. The friction was enough to make her groan, and her thighs tensed. He turned his head to kiss her booted calf. “Stay with me, sweetheart.”

  She offered him a frown. “Hurry. Up.”

  He laughed and gave her what she wanted. His hips bucked forward and he began thrusting with greater force and speed. She arched to meet him, unable to remain still. Her body screamed for more of this, more of him, just more. He shifted forward slightly, and that was even better. The tip of his shaft hit the perfect spot inside her, and she moaned every time he entered her. His brilliant blue gaze took in her every sigh, as if he were memorizing exactly what made her react. There was something intensely erotic about having his full attention centered on her—the way he looked at her made her feel sexy, powerful, like she owned him, if only for the night.

  He slipped one hand down to settle between her thighs and he began flicking over her hardened nub in time with his thrusts. She sucked in a breath, her sex clamping down on him, as she careened toward climax. “I’m so close, Derek.”

  If anything, that only encouraged him to increase his ministrations on her slick flesh. He slammed inside her, still keeping the perfect angle, and soon she couldn’t hold back. A low cry broke from her
throat as she went over the edge into orgasm. Goosebumps shivered over skin, and her inner muscles contracted around him again and again. Still he worked her nub, thrusting deep within her, dragging her pleasure out until it consumed every molecule of her being. Until she peaked again, until she couldn’t take another moment. “Derek!”

  “Katie,” he gritted out between clenched teeth. He pushed into her once, twice, three more times, and then shuddered over her and in her as he came.

  He sank down on top of her with a groan, his face nuzzled into her throat. She sighed and let her fingers drift over his sweat-dampened back, slowly coming down from the high. She couldn’t help the smile that quirked her lips. Dear God, her most erotic fantasy had just come to life. How many geeky girls could say that had ever happened?

  And it had been awesome.

  His shaft began to harden within her again, and she whimpered at the sensation. Just that quickly, renewed desire filtered through her. He lifted his head and grinned down at her. “Ready for round two?”

  Yeah, that was much, much better than any fantasy she’d ever had. “Absolutely.”

  Chapter Four

  Katie had half-expected to wake up alone, with last night turning out to just be another naughty dream. Instead, her morning had started with a round of deliciously toe-curling sex. It was, bar none, the best way to wake up. They’d spent long enough in bed that they’d been in danger of running late. He’d bolted for his condo to get ready before he had to make the morning security meeting. She’d had a bit longer to get into costume and haul her jewelry cases out to her car, with the exhibitor’s hall not set to reopen until nine. It would have been worth showing up late, but she slipped in just in time to get her displays ready before the doors opened to the public.

  The rest of the morning flew by, and she only thought about the previous evening every other minute. The memories were hot enough to burn, but she made sure not to let a wicked smile cross her face. What had happened between Derek and her was too new, and she wasn’t ready to share it with anyone. Walking around with a Cheshire cat grin would tip Michelle and Larry off to exactly what she’d been up to. Fortunately, her business was booming and kept her too busy to chat much. A few clients she saw at this con every year stopped by and made purchases—always a good sign. One lady even made a request for a custom necklace and earring set, which would be a nice challenge.