I arched in reflex, released him so I could clench the coverlet in my fists and screamed. Even as I was subsiding onto the bed, he was drawing back and driving into me again. The pleasure shot through my body like a streak of white-hot lightening, scorching a path through me and making me scream out a second time.
Grinning wickedly, he set a steady rhythm. His hips rocked mercilessly, making pleasure come at me in waves. I was helpless against the sheer force of his possessions, defenseless against the shudders that gripped me with every withdrawal. When he closed his mouth over mine and feasted, I knew I was hanging on by a thread.
An orgasm was so close I could almost taste it, and I knew it would be good. Better even than anything I’d experience with my tag-team lovers, Jake and Dev.
Nigel reached for my hands, entwined his fingers with mine, and pinned them to the bed. The delicious touch of the bed linen against the back of my hands as he held them down had me writhing against him. Feeling the force of his grasp, loving the familiar sensation of helplessness that flittered through my body was all I needed to drive me over the edge.
I came hard, bucking beneath him. The powerful climax, begun between my legs, radiated out to every part of my body, sending waves of pleasure over me as I rocked with Nigel.
I didn’t protest when he slowed his pace, didn’t try to stop him when he sprawled on top of me. Instead, I collapsed on the bed like a fish, sated and exhausted from all the emotions that had rushed through me.
“Oh no you don’t,” Nigel said once I’d closed my eyes.
My eyes popped open. “Huh?”
“I’m not done yet.”
I stared at his damp face and tried to smile. “You’re kidding, right? You already came.”
“And I plan to again.”
The man had stamina. I didn’t know of many men who could climax yet maintain an erection. “Just give me five minutes to get my energy up. That was intense.”
“That’s your fault. I was prepared to take it nice and slow, this being our first time. Then you had to go and squeeze me like that. I simply cannot seem to adequately control my body when I’m around you. These…spontaneous explosions have to stop.”
“You’re serious aren’t you?”
He raised his brows and sighed. “I want you so bad it hurts. Don’t you want me, Stella?”
And with those words, my body began to rouse. Amazed at how quickly this man could stir me, I admitted that I did.
Breathing heavy, Nigel withdrew from by body then sat back on his heels. “Get on your knees and crawl to the shelf. I want to take you from behind.”
This again! “Anally?”
He shook his head. “No. You have a great ass and I want to see it.”
I let my eyes rove his body before moving. His face was flushed pink, his chest heaved as he panted, and his cock was hard and eager as ever.
Slowly, I rolled onto my stomach and crawled to the shelf at the head of the bed. I was more than a little put off by the massive mirror that faced me and considered protesting, but even as I was staring at my own, disheveled reflection, Nigel came forward.
“Bend over the shelf until your lying on your stomach,” he said, his breathing quickening by the second.
I did as he requested, crawling forward until my thighs rested against the headboard. Then I bent at the waist and pressed my breasts into the fluffy pillows lining the ledge.
“You have got the nicest ass I’ve ever seen,” he said from behind me. “Are you comfortable?”
As long as I didn’t have to look at myself in the mirror, I was fine. “Yeah.”
His fingers clamped around my hips and he moved closer until his body was flush with mine. For long minutes he ran his fingers over my back with feather light touches that made me shiver. He let them dance over my spine, along the sides of my breasts, and over my thighs until I was in a fever for him again.
I ground my butt into him in silent demand, clenched the cushions in my fists when he merely continued his slow torment.
“If you accept my proposal,” he said, “I’d make you feel this good every night. Wouldn’t you like that?”
He let his cockhead brush my entrance, repeating his earlier torture.
“Hmm?” he demanded, obviously wanting an answer to his question.
“Yes. I would like that.”
Before I could brace myself for his deep penetration, he eased inside of me, groaning as he filled me to brimming. He pulled back almost immediately, then sank in a second time, pulling whines of longing from deep in the back of my throat.
Though I’d climaxed already and thought I was exhausted, my body quickly found Nigel’s rhythm and matched it. The sensations rolling over me weren’t as sharp as before, but there was a languid pull to them, a deep pleasure that in its way was more satisfying than before.
Nigel rode me slow. He kept his arms set on the shelf at either side of me as he moved methodically in and out of my depths.
“Look at me, Stella,” he said, his voice weak with desire.
Though it took every bit of strength I had, I began to twist so I could do as he’d asked. But before I had him in sight he thrust hard and fast, making me collapse onto my chest, a moan of pleasure on my lips.
“Look at me in the mirror. I want you to watch me.”
Panting, I shook my head. I didn’t want to look in the mirror. Looking in the mirror meant that I wouldn’t only see Nigel. I’d also see myself. Something told me that watching myself have sex would be an immediate deal breaker. Nigel was magnificent, but there was no way in the world I could stay aroused if I had to look at myself.
Nigel squeezed my shoulders as his pleasure mounted. I could feel the hot air he breathed out against my back. “Look at me, Stella. I want you to watch me take you.”
“I don’t want to see myself”.
“Why not? You’re beautiful. Look at me.”
Slowly, I raised my head until I could see Nigel’s face, then his shoulders and chest came into view.
Magnificent didn’t begin to describe him. The rubber band had fallen out some time ago. Now, with his hair a damp halo about his head and his chest gleaming with sweat, he looked like a Viking God, come down from the heavens to conquer and claim. His eyes were intent on me, the crystalline blue of his pupils seemed glassy. I watched his hips move as he drove into me, and I sighed at the sight of his taut body moving in time with my own. A tingle of feminine pleasure at being the recipient of his attention hummed through me.
I pushed more forcibly against him. My body’s need to be sated grew as I continued to watch Nigel watch me. As I lay against the shelf, eyes locked with his, his lips parted and he moaned. Low grunts began to emanate from his open mouth, each sound coming in time with his thrusts.
I bit my lip as the tingling in my cunt expanded and intensified. Every penetration made me spasm; my body shook under the force of his thrusts. I moaned in time with him, our bodies becoming one even as we continued to watch each other in the mirror.
I could feel the pressure increasing again, knew release was drawing close even as I fought to hold it off a few moments longer.
Then like a burst of light exploding before me, Nigel screamed out his pleasure and collapsed on top of me, his body so hot it scorched. With deep thrusts he drove into me hard and fast.
“Yes,” he called. “Oh yeah!” His body began to shudder on the force of his release, and the sight of him, eyes fluttering shut and lips quivering, was enough to push me over the edge.
I fell forward, let out a sigh of relief as a climax tore through my body, rendering me limp and helpless.
We collapsed onto the bed, rolling off the pillows until we lie on our sides, spoon style.
“Guess you win the bet,” I said, then lay still, waiting for my breathing to calm, knowing that after we were in our right minds we had to talk.
But before that could happen, I fell asleep.
~*~
4/17/05, 3:27 a.m.
&
nbsp; I stood in the early morning breeze under the glowing lamps of the marina parking lot, waiting for Ann and Gerard to pick me up.
Though I felt horrible at the way I was leaving, I truly didn’t know what I could say to Nigel in the morning. We’d shared a wonderful night, a fun week, but it couldn’t be more than that. I had Jake and Dev. And I was too much a coward to discuss them with Nigel. So, when I’d awakened in the night, the room lit only by the glow of the stars beyond the window, I’d slipped from bed and dressed.
Grateful the yacht was docked, I climbed off the boat and called Ann from my cell phone. I told her where I was and asked her to come get me.
I didn’t have to wait long. I was scarcely outside ten minutes when I saw the headlights of Ann’s truck come into view.
“Stella, there’s something I have to tell you,” she said as soon as I got in.
“Where’s Gerard?”
“He’s back at the house. I made him stay.”
Though it was dark outside I could see flashes of Ann’s face whenever we drove beneath lampposts. With her mouth set in a thin line and her eyes rimmed in red, I figured something was wrong. The red eyes could be attributed to being awakened in the middle of the night, but seeing that look of grim determination on her face had warning bells going off in my head.
Once we pulled out onto the main road, Ann glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. “I’m just gonna come out and say it.”
“Say what?”
“Dev’s at the house.”
Shit!
Shit! Shit! Shit!
“You’re joking. Tell me you’re joking.”
She shook her head. “Nope. He was there when me and Gerard got home from the party.”
Groaning, I let my head drop against the dashboard. “Why me? What did you tell him?”
“That you were out. After what you told him on the phone today he could figure out with who.”
I was absolutely mortified. But that wasn’t all, and this is the worse part. Even as I sat there, wondering what I’d done to piss off the gods, comforting warmth had begun to suffuse my body. Dev had come to North Carolina…for me. Did that mean he hadn’t been lying when he told me he loved me?
Or maybe he’d come with some malevolent plan in mind. “Jake?”
“Dev came alone.”
Dear God, maybe he does love me. Do I love him? “What am I gonna do, Ann? I just had sex with another man. I have the scent of Nigel all over me.”
Ann didn’t answer immediately. “I don’t see that you have much of a choice. He’ll know what you were doing as soon as he sees you. Your dress is wrinkled, your hair is a wreck…and you smell like sex.”
“How can I tell him the truth?”
“How can you not?”
I began to bang my head against the dash. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I chanted. “If I’d only held out one more day. I almost made it.”
Ann pulled into the driveway and put the truck in park, but made no move to open her door. “Do you love him, Stella?”
“Nigel?”
“Dev. Do you love Dev?”
I sat up and gazed out at the moon, I didn’t know if I wanted to go into the house, I surely didn’t know how I felt. “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”
3:44 a.m.
I stepped quietly over the threshold of my temporary bedroom, careful not to make a sound. Though the sun wouldn’t be up for at least another two hours, there was enough moonlight streaming in through the windows for me to make out a large figure curled up on my bed. He’d pull my comforter up around his throat, but one naked arm was thrown out across the empty side of the mattress. As I moved closer I could see the form quietly expanding and contracting in time with his slow breathing. Clearly, Dev was asleep.
What have I done? I asked myself for the thousandth time since finding out he was here.
I had a sudden urge to touch him. To gently brush the wild curls from his forehead and kiss him. To press my lips to his open mouth and know the taste of him. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. Not when I’d been with another man.
I moved forward until my knees were brushing the edge of the bed. The gentle inhalations and exhalations of Dev filled the room, and as I stood, transfixed by the sight of him sleeping peacefully in my bed, I began to wonder if I did indeed love this man. Was it possible for me to be in love with Dev and not Jake, for I knew I wasn’t in love with Jake. But Dev…
He looked like an angel; too perfect and too precious for the likes of me. I was someone who had such little self-control that I couldn’t go a week without sleeping with another man. I didn’t deserve Dev. Nor did I deserve to sleep with him. Not tonight, or ever.
Making up my mind, I stepped away from the bed on my toes and started for the door.
“Kitten? Is that you?”
My heart danced at the sound of his voice, and then it ached with the knowledge of what I had done. Still, I froze at the door, unable to step into the hall.
There was a rustling of bed sheets behind me as Dev began to move. “Where are you going?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn’t. The ache in my heart was spreading. My stomach seemed to burn with my guilt and my throat had closed.
“Stella. Come to bed.”
I swallowed down the bitter taste of bile and forced myself to face him. Ann was right. There was no choice in this. There was truth. Though I doubted it would set me free. “I’ve done something, Dev.”
Before I’d gotten the words out, Dev had shoved free of the linen, gotten to his feet, and was making his way toward me. The sight of him naked so soon after Nigel had me taking a surprised step back.
Dev was lithe and powerfully built. With the glow of the moon behind him, his body seemed incandescent. He had an ethereally beauty I’d never seen before.
“I was—” I began to say, but was stopped when Dev came to stand before me and pressed his palm to my mouth.
“Shhh. Don’t say it.”
I stared up into his face, into his wide chocolate eyes that were pleading with me. Begging me to remain silent.
I shook my head. I had to say it. Though I was sure that he could tell from simply looking at me, I had to vocalize it.
“No,” he insisted, seeing my silent struggle. “Don’t say it, Stella. I don’t wanna know.”
I breathed against his palm, wondering why he was saying this to me.
“Come to bed.” Slowly, he removed his hand and let his hands fall slack to his sides. He turned then, and started toward the bed.
“But Dev—”
He whirled. Hot anger flashed on his face, twisting his angelic features into that of a demon straight from the depths hell. A moment later he heaved a breath and shook his head. The rage I’d seen on his face seemed to evaporate, making me wonder if it had ever actually been there. “I don’t want to know,” he said through gritted teeth. “Close the door and come to bed.”
So I did.
We neither spoke again nor made love. I wouldn’t allow such a thing and he didn’t seem inclined. We merely lay entwined, spoon fashion, as was our habit when sharing a bed. With Dev’s arms wrapped tight around me, I fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter Ten
3:22 p.m.
I sat silently in Dev’s new Infiniti, gazing out my window as we crossed the Virginia border into Maryland, wondering how I could make things right again.
When Dev and I had awakened, he hadn’t said a word about the previous night, nor did he seem disposed of mentioning it. He behaved as though everything was normal; pretending I hadn’t done anything wrong. Rather, he spoke excitedly about wanting to take me to The Walter’s Art Museum to see the new Egyptian exhibit.
As for Nigel, he hadn’t called. The fact was that he couldn’t have. I’d never left him my phone number. Nor did I take his.
Nigel had been a vacation thing. Nothing more.
Least I figured that if I told myself that enough, I’d start to believe it.
“
This’ll be our secret,” Dev said suddenly. “Jake doesn’t have to know.”
“But what about you?” I said, still staring out the window. “How do you feel about this?”
“I love you Stella. That’s how I feel. I love you.”
Dear God, I’m a monster.
Bio
Having grown up with a love of telling stories, it was only natural for Adrienne to begin writing books. Known for her steamy I/R fantasy romance series, “The Nephilim War”, Adrienne looks forward to having a long career ahead of her. This CAPA award nominee writes chick lit, fantasy, and paranormal stories with domineering heroes and adventurous heroines.
See more works by this author at
www.venuspress.com
THE CHRONICLES OF STELLA RICE: APRIL Page 10