by Cari Quinn
“Oh no, you don’t.” He fisted a hand in her hair and tugged her right back. “You’re going to think of me every time those move inside you. Imagine me sliding them in. Keeping them there as I push my dick into you, slow and deep.” He covered her mouth with his, stroking his tongue between her soft lips.
He kept the kiss brief, and she moaned as he pulled back. Smiling, he laid a finger on her mouth. “Have a nice day, honey.”
Chapter Eleven
Denver rolled her shoulders as she walked down the hallway. The little ball things were no big deal. She felt slightly fuller, but then again, her pussy had been well abused all night.
Okay, so maybe abused wasn’t the right term. Ryan was all about mutual enjoyment.
She slid her fingers around her wrist where her skin was still a little raw from tearing at the cuffs. Even soft cuffs could leave a mark evidently. Beyond that, everything he’d done had been about her pleasure. He’d wrung it out of her with a mastery she didn’t really want to study too closely.
Memories from her days with her ex were tripping her up. He’d been controlling. Not just controlling, he’d been overbearing and obsessive. He wanted to know where she was at all times, and while the sex had been thrilling at first, it had eventually become more about fear and pleasure-withholding than mutual satisfaction.
She didn’t want to ever go back to the girl she’d been with him.
Marco had made her believe that making him happy was most important. Forget her own needs. Pleasing him had been her whole world.
Even if sex didn’t feel or mean the same thing with Ryan, instinct and years of protecting herself couldn’t be denied.
Letting go with Ryan was the scariest thing she’d done in too many years to count.
Not that she really had a choice. He took her out of herself and deposited her onto another plane. One that had no defined edges or rules. At least any rules that she could understand.
And she was pretty sure Ryan liked leaving her moored on his particular island. The worst part was she couldn’t deny just how amazing it was with him. But God, just the idea of dragging him into her fucked-up past made her chest constrict.
Denver hurried down the hall and gasped when she lengthened her stride. “Fuck.” She dragged in a slow breath as the little balls shifted and tugged on one another before settling back where he’d put them.
Okay, maybe today would be a little more interesting than she’d thought.
Placing her hand on the doorknob to Elle’s room, Denver jumped as the door opened for her. “Hey.”
Elle glanced at Denver’s outfit. “And where did you go?”
Denver looked down at her bare legs. “Vending machine?”
“Uh huh.” Elle played with the telescopic handle on her bag. “Did that vending machine have a name?”
“No, but he gave good chocolate.”
Elle snorted. “I bet. Want me to wait for you?”
“Nah, go ahead.” Denver slipped inside the room and swallowed a groan when the little balls shifted.
“Must have been damn good chocolate.” Elle shook her head. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
Denver desperately needed a shower, but she wasn’t sure how that was going to work with her little friends. She didn’t really have time either, so she cleaned up best as she could. Then she learned just how much muscle control was necessary to put on jeans.
By the time she left the hotel room, a fine sheen of sweat dotted her chest and she’d created a list of revenge tactics for Ryan.
Was there a guy equivalent to these damn things? Evidently a little Googling would be in order.
She stepped into the elevator and a bellow from the hallway had her slapping her hand over the sensor to keep it open.
Lauren’s huge blue eyes peered around the corner. “Oh, thank God. The bus can’t go anywhere without you.”
Denver grinned. “Pretty much. Where’s your other half?”
“Already downstairs. I was on the phone with my folks.” Lauren rolled her eyes. “They aren’t exactly on board with my current project.”
Denver tried not to laugh. Her own mom was pretty traditional. She was all about appearances, and from what Lauren had told her, their mothers could be on the same panel of charities. Denver could only imagine how thrilled Lauren’s parents must be about their daughter writing an in-depth—pun intended—book about the female orgasm.
“When you’re getting accolades for your research, they’ll sing another tune.”
“I don’t want to think about my parents and my research, thanks. There is a level I will not stoop to, and that’s it.”
Denver let her laugh free. “Not even for the good of the book?”
“Nope.”
She slung her arm around Lauren’s shoulders. “Conversations with you are never boring.”
The doors opened and they rushed off.
Bad move. So much. Denver drew in a slow breath.
“You okay?” Lauren’s huge blue eyes went even wider.
Denver swallowed hard. “Oh, yeah. Just a rough night last night.”
Lauren’s eyebrow spiked. “How rough?”
“Get your mind out of the gutter, girl.” Even if it thoroughly belonged there. Denver resisted the urge to bend at the waist and beg for mercy.
“Hard to do that when I’m in constant research mode. Speaking of, I really need—”
Denver held up a hand. “No and no. I am not answering any more questions about my solo time in the front of the bus.”
“You must have thoughts up there at the very least. Aren’t you bored?”
Denver sighed. “No. I’m never bored.”
Okay, maybe that was a teensy lie. More like sixty-forty on a really bad day. The road was usually soothing to her. Even the monotony was a comfort. And when she wanted interaction, she opened her curtain and listened. She even participated a lot of the time. It was a pretty sweet gig.
Denver followed Lauren out of the hotel and each step across the parking lot was eye-crossing. Two SUVs were waiting for them. Ryan waved from the one reverberating with a bass-line that made her head throb. Elle waved from the other, so she climbed in with her. Lauren followed. Apparently it was going to be the girls versus the guys on the race to the bus.
Even their driver was a girl and evidently secretly wanted to drive for NASCAR. Denver was fairly sure she’d put fingermarks through the upholstery by the time The Egg came into view.
“Are you sure you’re all right? You’re a little pale.” Elle patted her leg.
“Yep. Just used to being the driver.” Denver hoped that was a good enough explanation for her reaction to the damn ben wa balls.
Were they supposed to move around this much?
“Ahh, car sick.” Elle took out a stick of mint gum. “This helps.”
Rather than arguing, Denver took the gum with a smile. Minty fresh breath definitely went with shaking thighs. “Thanks.”
The speedbumps about killed her as they finally pulled up behind the bus. The boys rolled in right behind them even with their Danica Patrick wannabe driver at the wheel. Lauren and Jules were torturing Randy in the third row of the SUV. Lo’s penchant for invasive questions made for a lot of laughter, especially since most of them made Randy blush and stammer.
While they were distracted, Denver took the opportunity to head for the bus. Even with a head start, Lauren, Jules, and Elle caught up. Drunk on too little sleep and too much excitement, they were a flock of magpies chasing each up the stairs.
By the time Denver got to the stairs, the steep incline of the three steps seemed a little daunting.
Lauren paused and turned to look down at her. “Sure you’re okay?”
“Peachy.” She could do this. It was a simple matter of one step at a time. She wrapped her fingers around the railing just as a familiar scent rolled over her. She knew it well because she’d bought it for him as a joke. The guys had been making fun of the Johnny Depp commercial for Sauvage co
logne since the day it had come out.
The problem was, the way Ryan wore it was no joke. Crisp spice and heat.
“Ryan,” she said on a low growl.
“I know, I know. We’re a secret.” His voice was a rumble. His fingers slipped into her jeans pocket. “I have a little something for you.”
“I know, I’m wearing it.”
His nose brushed her ear. “You sound a little frustrated already.”
She elbowed him.
He laughed. “Just hit play.” Then he was gone. Up the stairs like a shot, leaving her suffering on the blacktop.
“Bastard.” She stuck her hand into her pocket and found the earbuds. She generally wore one earbud and played her own playlist on her phone, but Ryan knew that. Why the hell did he think she needed a new pair of buds? Then she felt the slim MP3 player.
She couldn’t concentrate on that right now. She had to get on the bus and get it moving. They had a schedule to keep and the trip to Rochester was a monotonous one. Especially when the day was bleak and gray.
A spear of lightning cleaved the sky and thunder rolled over the city. Just what she needed, to drive through a storm. Maybe they’d be lucky and they’d drive out of it. She took the first stair and her body didn’t betray her this time. Okay, she could handle this.
She dropped into her seat like usual and everything shifted and eased. She could definitely handle this. She pulled her microphone down. “Ladies and pervs, it’s time to get this show on the road. Everyone aboard?”
“Missing one,” Elle said from the back.
She checked her gauges and itinerary. “Tie all the things down you don’t want rolling around. West, that’s a clue for you today.”
Jules laughed. “Lo has been starting up her toy collection. Don’t think they hit ropes yet.”
“Yet is the important word,” West said.
Denver rolled her eyes and twisted in her seat. Looked like she and Ryan were the only ones with that particular fun bag.
Jules dropped into her beanbag chair with a magazine. “She’s going to need a trunk like Ryan soon.”
Lauren sat up. “Did you know it’s a tax write-off? Research.” Her grin was wide as she clapped.
Denver shook her head and faced forward. Mal and his beefy shoulders came into view. He looked over his shoulder once before climbing the steps. Her eyebrow spiked. “All good?”
Mal only grunted and moved through the living space and to the bunks without a word.
“Hello to you too.” She closed the door. She set her course on the dash GPS and set her maps as a backup under her thigh. She didn’t foresee any problems. The trip out through central New York was boring and flat, but she liked her options just in case.
The bus held a low hum of excitement and laughter. The night before had been a high point of the miniature tour. Add in their field trip to The Velvet Vault and there were smiles all around, her own included.
She pulled out into traffic and maneuvered her way down the winding hill that led to the interchange of all the major byways in Albany. The roads were crap and potholes were plentiful. Every time she rolled over one, her seat rocked, thanks to the bus’s exceptional shocks. The shift of her hips on the cushioned seat normally didn’t faze her. In fact, she didn’t think twice about bouncing around thanks to city driving.
Until today.
“Holy shit,” she whispered. Or make that whimpered. She clenched as her hips rolled thanks to one cracked and frayed road after another. As she made it to the on-ramp, her tires hit the rumble strips thanks to a very narrow row of cones on her left side.
“Sorry,” she called out when Jules and Lauren shouted their dismay.
They could just shut up. They didn’t have a pair of little balls bouncing around in their girl parts, for fuck’s sake. She gritted her teeth as her muscles involuntarily tightened around them to keep them in place.
She bounced her head against her headrest as they came to a complete standstill in traffic. Morning rush hour was so inappropriately named. But at least no movement meant she could calm down a little.
Her jacket pocket buzzed and she pulled her phone out.
Ryan: Put the player’s earbud in one ear and press play. Tell me when you do it.
She bit her lip. No way should she be listening to his crazy instructions while she was driving.
Ryan: Make sure your phone earbud is in too.
She quickly typed back to him. Figured that he’d try to get her in trouble.
Denver: Hey, how about knowing my surroundings? Can’t be cut off, buddy. One ear has to be available for traffic.
She wiggled in her seat a little. Already she was far too stirred up. She was sitting stationary, dammit. She shouldn’t be this wired.
Ryan: Hmm. Why do you have to be all logical? Play the songs through your speakers.
Good thing she had an auxiliary port on her stereo.
No. Don’t listen to him. There’s no reason to follow his sick little games.
Who the hell was she kidding? Her freaking nipples were tingling at the thought of what he had planned.
She pulled her cord out of the cup holder beside her. She glanced at the queue. There were only a handful of songs on it. They’d created more than one crazy playlist over the last few months. This was tame for him. Of course, he had to choose a few of her favorite singers. It really sucked being with someone who knew you too well.
Was that really what they were? Together?
She blew out a breath. She couldn’t think about that right now. For once she just wanted to live in the now and damn the consequences.
She plugged in the cheapie player and thumbed back a quick text.
The low, primal drumbeat filled the front of the bus. She flicked over her curtain and tacked the Velcro to keep it closed.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Not a text buzz either. What the hell was he doing?
She tucked her earbud into her ear. “Hello.”
“Just had to close me out, huh?”
“You’re the one who wanted music, buddy.”
“I like knowing you’re sitting up there listening to what I put together. Especially when I know you should be sufficiently warm by the end of it.”
She could hear the smile in his voice and, dammit, the timbre of it was even lower than usual. She swallowed. “Just what do you think this is going to accomplish?”
“Oh, you’ll see.”
“I don’t get off on the dirty talk. I thought we established that the other night when I told you to shut the hell up.” She kept her voice low, knowing everyone on the bus could hear her if they really wanted to. And the band was nosy. Especially Lo and Jules. They got bored a lot.
“Who needs to talk dirty? The music will do it for me. Those low drums should rumble right through your thighs and up…” He trailed off. “Or are you wet for me already?”
She gritted her teeth. He knew damn well enough that percussion instruments were a weakness for her. Watching him onstage when he brought out the large standing drums pretty much killed her.
“Drums always do it for me. Better be careful with Mal around.”
It was easier to tell him Mal made her nuts. It was good for him to work for it.
He growled in her ear. “Mal doesn’t make you come your fucking brains out. He doesn’t get to hear that husky purr in the night when you’re so far gone, words are useless.”
She drew in a slow breath through her nose. She hated how in tune he was with her. The fact that he could tap into her darkest corners scared the hell out of her.
“You don’t have to admit it. I knew the first night when we looked out at the city from the rooftop and I buried myself so goddamn deep into you. I knew, Colorado. It’s always going to be you.”
He couldn’t know. They were just friends. They’d only been together a handful of times. Sure, it was good, but she’d had good sex before.
Lies.
Lies.
She clenched her teet
h as her hips slowly rocked in time with Sully Erna’s hypnotic voice. Add in Ryan’s smoky purr in her ear and the damn ben wa balls inside of her and she was going to go right out of her ever-loving mind.
“Are your hips rocking to the beat? I’m listening at the same time as you are. I’m going to rock into you just this slow. In and out until you’re nothing but one big frayed nerve. Then, when you soak my dick, and you will, only then will I touch your tight little clit.”
She sucked in a breath as the song changed to an achingly romantic ballad. The Sting song was sexy and soft, but the sandpaper-rough version by the band Ryan had selected made it so much worse.
“Do that hip thing you did last night while I was driving into you. The little circles as you pushed back on me. The one where my cock touched every inch of your perfect pussy.”
She tightened her fingers on the steering wheel. “The traffic is letting up. I have to drive.”
“Little circles, Colorado. No one will know but me. I’m in my bunk with my curtains closed.”
“If you’re jacking off while I’m wound as tight as a fucking spring, I will kill you.”
“Man, I love when you get into threats. That means you’re ready for me.”
He wasn’t wrong, which pissed her off all the more. “You are an asshole.”
“You love it.” His voice lowered to a mere whisper. “You’re probably so wet I’ll have to peel away those pretty cotton panties you wear. What color are they today?”
“Eat me.”
“Oh, I will. I’m going to swallow down every drop of that slick slit the minute we take a break today. Now tell me, what color?”
The song entered a slow, epic acoustic solo and her hips followed the light Spanish guitar. Her walls rippled around the stupid little invasive balls. How could she have allowed him to freaking put them inside her?
She accelerated as traffic started passing her in earnest. Jesus, this was so stupid. She wasn’t paying attention.
“All that noise in your head? Let it go, Den. This is just us. I just want to make you feel good.”
“Good?” Her whisper was almost a shout. “I’m going insane up here.”