Hoping for Love (McCarthys of Gansett Island, Book 5)

by Marie Force

  They ran across the street and into a side door at the Beachcomber. She had to scramble to keep up with him as his long legs took the three flights of stairs in record time. By the time they reached her room, Grace was out of breath for more reasons than one.

  Evan took the key from her and had them inside in under two seconds. Pushing the door closed, he pressed her against it and thrilled her with passionate kisses that chased away all the worries and doubts about what he might think of her body. He made it very clear with his lips and tongue and hands that everything about her appealed to him. Thankful for the dim glow of a streetlight that gave them just enough illumination, Grace decided not to worry about being naked in front of him. He wouldn’t be able to see much anyway.

  She worked on the buttons to his shirt and pushed her hands inside, greedy to touch muscles and crisp chest hair and nipples that hardened under her hands. When she ran her thumbs over them, he faltered.

  He tugged at the zipper to her dress, and when it didn’t give way fast enough for his liking, he abandoned it and went for the hem, dragging it up and over her hips. His fingertips left a trail of fire on her legs and belly as he pushed her dress up. Finally, he tugged it over her head, leaving her standing before him in the black bra and skimpy panties Stephanie had chosen for her.

  “You’re a goddess,” he whispered reverently as he left a trail of kisses from her neck to her collarbone to the valley between her breasts to the plump portion that spilled over the demi-cups. “So sweet, so soft.”

  Grace was having trouble standing as he explored her with his hands and lips. With her arms linked around his neck, she played with his hair and gave herself over to him. She wanted to touch him everywhere but couldn’t handle doing that while he was caressing her.

  He took her hand and half walked, half dragged her to the bed. On the way, he tugged off his shirt and dropped his pants, leaving him in silky boxers that bulged significantly at the front. Standing next to the bed, he put his arms around her.

  She returned the embrace, breathing in the sandalwood scent she’d forever associate with him and reveling in the soft caress of his chest hair against her over-sensitized skin.

  His erection resting against her stomach was an ever-present reminder of where this was leading, which filled her with a healthy dose of anxiety to go with the desire.

  “Why did you just get tense?” he asked as he freed her from the bra.

  Grace’s first impulse was to cover her breasts as they sprang free, but she kept her hands at her sides while he took a good long look.

  “You’re gorgeous everywhere, Grace.” He cupped her with big hands that were never anything but gentle. “Don’t be nervous,” he said between kisses. “Just relax.”

  The notion that she could possibly relax while standing all but naked in Evan McCarthy’s arms was so far beyond preposterous that she had no choice but to giggle.

  He stopped what he was doing, raised his head and stared at her. “What?”

  Before her mirth could spin out of control, she shook her head and placed her hands on his chest, hoping the feel of his smooth skin under her palms would stifle the need to laugh, for there was absolutely nothing funny about Evan McCarthy’s splendid chest.

  “You have to tell me, or I’ll think you find me…insignificant.”

  “Now you’re trying to make me laugh, and I won’t let you.”

  His grave expression almost undid her. “I could make you laugh if I really wanted to.”

  “We both know you could, but if I get started, it’ll take forever to stop.” She stroked his chest in a circular motion. “Wouldn’t you rather make me do something else?” This was uttered in the most seductive tone she could muster, and it was, without a doubt, the most scandalous thing she’d ever said in her entire life. In fact, it was so wildly out of character, she wondered for a second if she’d only thought it.

  If the smile that stretched across his face was any indication, she’d actually said it, and he wholeheartedly approved of where her thoughts were leading.

  He pulled down the covers, helped her get comfortable on the bed and stretched out next to her.

  Grace reached for him, bringing his mouth back to hers. Their kisses were deep and sensual. Seeking a better angle, Evan came down on top of her, their limbs entwining, her breasts pressed to his chest as their tongues mated in a dance that made her burn for more of him.

  She ran her hands over his back, her fingertips exploring the ridges of his spine. When she reached the waistband of his boxers, she experienced a moment of doubt. Would he think her too forward if she were to slip her fingers under the elastic?

  “Touch me, Grace,” he whispered, making her wonder if her thoughts were obvious to him. “Nothing you do will be wrong.”

  She appreciated that he seemed to get she was nervous and was doing all he could to set her mind at ease. As his lips left a trail of fire on her neck, she tucked her hands into his boxers.

  Evan gasped as she explored his muscular backside. “Shit,” he muttered. “You’re making me nuts.”

  Encouraged, Grace moved her hands to the front.

  He raised himself up to give her room to maneuver. This was about the point where it had all gone bad with Trey, before she’d had a chance to touch him like this. Now she was grateful that Evan’s penis would be the first one she ever held in her hand. As she ran her fingers over his length, his breathing became choppy and irregular.

  “Does it hurt?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Feels too good.” Bringing his hand down to cover hers, he showed her how to stroke him.

  “Like that?” she asked as she mimicked movements that were far rougher than she would’ve attempted without his guidance. His skin there was surprisingly soft, and Grace marveled at how he grew harder and bigger.

  “Yes. Grace, God…”

  When his hand landed on top of hers again, it was to stop her. His belly muscles rippled, and his jaw clenched with tension. “You’re going to finish me off before we get to the best part.”

  “Are you good for only once?” she asked, again amazed by how uninhibited she was with him.

  “Hell, no.”

  That he sounded downright insulted made her giggle.

  “Is that funny?” His hips surged, pushing his cock hard against her hand.

  “No,” she said, certain her quivering lips were a dead giveaway that she found him highly amusing when he was indignant. She recommitted her efforts to careful, hard strokes that made him moan and groan.

  Giving himself over to her, he shifted off her and flopped onto his back.

  Grace bit her lip, trying to decide just how brazen she was prepared to be. When she remembered his insistence that this night wasn’t leading anywhere, she figured this could be the best chance she’d have to try out all the things she’d read about in her romance novels on him.

  She released her hold on his erection long enough to help him out of the boxer shorts. The light filtering in from the street was just enough to see the full length and width of him. As she again tried to imagine how that would ever fit down there, she nearly lost her nerve.

  Determined to bring him as much pleasure as she possibly could, she wrapped her hand around him. Settling on her knees, she bent her head to run her tongue over the wide crown.

  When that resulted in more tortured moans and groans from him, Grace did it again.

  “Take it in,” he said in a harsh tone she hadn’t heard from him before. His hand pressing on the back of her head told her exactly what he wanted.

  While she worried about gagging or choking or other embarrassing possibilities, she did as he asked, wrapping her lips around his thick erection and taking as much as she could into her mouth. The best she could do, it seemed, was only about half, but he didn’t seem to mind, especially when she added some tongue action that had his hips rising from the bed to gain a better angle.

  “This too,” he said, covering her hand with his and showi
ng her how to stroke him while she took him in and out of her mouth. “Goddamn,” he said. “Ahh, that’s good. So good.”

  Grace decided that was among the best compliments she’d ever received. In fact most of her best compliments had come from him.

  The hand he’d buried in her hair fisted and pulled, gently but hard enough to get her attention.

  He jerked himself free of her mouth and erupted.

  Grace watched, fascinated, as he came all over his own belly. She dipped a finger into the milky fluid and ran it over his quivering muscles.

  “Sorry,” he said between deep breaths.

  “For what?”

  “I wanted to focus on you, but the minute you put your hands on me… Sorry.”

  Amused and delighted to have had drawn such a powerful reaction from him, Grace smiled and leaned in to kiss him.

  “Let me clean up, and then it’s your turn.”

  His words sent a shiver of anticipation through her entire body, making her nipples hard and needy and the rest of her hot and bothered.

  Watching him stroll into the bathroom, Grace took in the splendid sight of his muscular butt. She fell back on the pillows, seeking to calm her wildly beating heart. Pleasuring him had been the most exciting thing she’d ever done, and she couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

  Evan returned to the bed and crawled right up on top of her, taking her mouth in a heated kiss that had her motor running at full speed in no time at all. She cradled his lean hips between her legs with only a thin strip of satin between them. His reawakened cock moved seductively back and forth, simulating intercourse, and Grace held back what would’ve been a most unladylike sound.

  “It’s okay,” he said, again tuning into her in a way that should’ve freaked her out. Rather it was comforting to know he was paying such close attention to her signals. “We’ll do it all, baby. We’ve got all night.”

  He’d said exactly the right thing. They were in no rush. They could take their time to fully experience each other. He wasn’t Trey. He wasn’t going to rush off and leave her alone and unfulfilled.

  “That’s it,” Evan said, as he raised her arms above her head and pinned them to the pillow. “Relax and let me show you…”

  He kissed from her lips to her jaw to her chest, working his way toward her breasts. Cupping them in his big hands, he teased her nipples with tentative brushes of his tongue over her taut peaks. Grace would’ve jerked right off the bed were it not for the weight of his lower body holding her still.

  It took all she had to keep her hands where he’d put them, especially when he finally tugged her nipple into the heat of his mouth. As he sucked hard, Grace discovered a direct connection from her breast to her womb. Aching for more, she pushed her hips against his cock, letting him know what she wanted.

  “We’ll get to that,” he said as he shifted his attention to her other breast.

  The sounds that came from Grace as he licked and sucked and teased would’ve mortified her if she’d been in her right mind. At the moment, she couldn’t have cared less, and apparently neither did he. The more she reacted, the harder he sucked. When his teeth scraped against her nipple, she cried out.

  He tended the abused nipple with gentle strokes of his tongue. “Sorry.”

  “Didn’t hurt.” She couldn’t leave her hands above her head any longer. Burying her fingers in his hair, she held him tight against her breast. “Do it again.”

  “This?” he asked, rolling her nipple between his teeth.

  “Yes,” Grace said, gasping as heat and moisture gathered between her legs.

  Evan shifted ever so slightly, his lips moving from her breasts to her belly.

  Grace went rigidly still as she waited for him to ask about the scar above her belly button, but he skipped right over it and focused on removing her panties.

  His hands skimmed over the insides of her legs, opening her as he moved from calf to thigh.

  Grace was really, really glad she’d listened to Stephanie and Laura and properly prepared for this moment—even if would cost her fifty bucks. She expected him to reach for the condoms he’d put on the bedside table, but rather he held her open and hovered just above the juncture of her thighs. Fighting the urge to squirm, she waited breathlessly to see what he would do next. And then he arranged her legs on his shoulders, and Grace figured out what he had planned.

  “Wait a minute,” she said, tugging on his hair. “Evan…”

  “It’s okay, baby. Let me taste you. I bet you’re so sweet.”

  All the fight went out of her as she fell back onto the pillows, vibrating with tension.

  As he ran his fingers through her slickness, opening her further, Grace bit her lip to keep from screaming. Every nerve ending in her body was on fire, especially the bundle of nerves between her legs that he brushed against on every stroke. Just when she thought she might actually get used to the feel of his fingers, he slid them into her and dipped his head to use his tongue.

  Oh. My. God. Nothing she had read could’ve prepared her for the moment Evan McCarthy’s tongue came into contact with her throbbing clitoris.

  “I knew it,” he said. “So sweet. And so smooth. Mmm.”

  A surge of need ripped through her body, converging in her aching core, threatening to break at any second. The smooth glide of his fingers demanded a portion of her attention, but then he sucked hard on her clitoris and sent her spiraling into a storm of sensation unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.

  “That’s it,” he whispered, easing her down slowly with less insistent strokes of his tongue and fingers.

  As if she was watching the scene from above the bed, she was aware of him lowering her legs and getting up to find a condom. He rolled it on and returned to her.

  “Earth to Grace, are you with me?”

  Startled out of the dream state she’d slipped into, she was suddenly aware of what was about to happen. Finally.

  His brows came together in an expression of concern. “Are you okay?”

  Grace reached up to brush away the furrow with her fingertips. “I’m far better than okay. You?”

  He grinned down at her. “I’m very good.”

  Grace took advantage of the opportunity to explore the dimples that had so fascinated her. His jaw was smooth from a recent shave, and he waited patiently for her to discover all the planes and textures of his face.

  “You’re quite lovely to look at,” she said after a prolonged period of silence.

  He seemed taken aback by the compliment. “I should be saying that to you.”

  Grace looked up to meet his gaze in the faint light. “Is there any rule that says we can’t say it to each other?”

  “None that I’m aware of,” he said, kissing her as his cock nudged at her entrance.

  Grace sucked in a sharp, deep breath as he worked his way in slowly but surely while continuing to distract her with deep, drugging kisses. Tension vibrated through his big frame, no doubt from the effort it took to go slow.

  She would never be able to put words to the exquisite feeling of having Evan McCarthy enter her with such care and concern. This was the way it should be, she thought as she took him in. There ought to be care and concern and emotion and genuine respect between lovers.

  Before now, before tonight, she’d been disappointed it had taken her so long to have sex. Now she was glad she’d waited for Evan, because she couldn’t dream of doing this with anyone else.

  Her hands found their way to his backside, squeezing and drawing another tortured groan from him. After that, he seemed to go a little crazy, moving faster in short strokes in and out until he was all the way in.

  “Feel okay?” he asked, looking down at her.

  “Way better than okay.” Nothing had ever felt like this. She’d been prepared for pain, but this was all about pure pleasure.

  “Good,” he said, punctuating the word with another kiss. He flexed his hips, sending his cock even deeper and making contact
with a sensitive place inside her.

  Grace gasped. “Do that again.”

  “Do what? This?” He hit the same spot, doing it again and again until the tension built to a boiling point and then burst.

  She cried out as she rode a wave of astonishing pleasure.

  Evan grasped her hips and moved in and out of her with increasing speed until he threw his head back and came hard before collapsing on top of her.

  Grace put her arms around him, stroking his hair and back as his breathing returned to normal.

  “That was incredible,” he said many minutes later.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m going to want to do that again very soon.”

  Even though Grace worried that she’d be sore, she was game for another round if it was anything like the first one. “Me, too.”

  “Give me a minute to recover from the first time, and we’ll see what we can do.”

  That sent a ripple of laughter through Grace.

  Evan pushed his hips against her, reminding her he was still embedded in her.

  She wrapped her legs around his hips, eager to maintain the intimate contact.

  They stayed like that for a long time, until he kissed her and eased his way out of her embrace to deal with the condom. He came right back, slid into bed next to her and covered them with a sheet. Lying with her back to his chest, Grace had never been more content or satisfied.

  “You should’ve told me, you know.”

  Grace’s heart rate slowed to a crawl. “Told you what?”

  “That it was your first time.”

  “Did I do something wrong?”

  “No, honey, not at all.” His lips on her shoulder added additional reassurance. “I would’ve been more careful. That’s all.”

  “You were perfect. It was perfect.” Clutching his hand to her breast, she forced herself to ask the question. “How could you tell?”

  “There was some blood on the condom.”

  For some reason, hearing that embarrassed her, which was ironic in light of what had transpired between them. “I know I should’ve told you, but there’s no smooth way to introduce that into conversation.”