Taking a step forward, he draped the jeans across her lap.
Lennon's breath skittered, but her hands didn't tremble when she gathered up the jeans and buried her face in the crotch.
If his arrested intake of breath was any indication, the balance of power had shifted once again.
Lennon glanced up and found herself eye level with the length of impressive erection straining against white cotton. "It ain't over till it's over. You remember that."
Josh didn't--or couldn't--reply. He just spun on his heels, giving her a view of tight, white-cotton-covered butt that was so scrumptious she didn't think, she just grabbed.
He stopped dead in his tracks, and Lennon found herself blushing wildly as he cast a sidelong glance over his shoulder.
"You going to let go, chere, or would you rather I leave it with you for safekeeping?"
The heat in her cheeks prickled uncomfortably, but Lennon found herself positively inspired by the desire she saw in his gaze. "It would be anything but safe with me right now."
Her fingers lingered only a second more before she drew them away.
"You don't need permission to touch me. You've got full privileges." He sat back in his chair, leaving Lennon folding his jeans and placing them over the back of the sofa to the sound of his laughter.
She dealt the next hand.
The heat in her cheeks may have cooled before she'd said, "Hit me," but she could still hear the echo of his laughter when his four queens beat her two pairs.
Let him laugh. He may have won this hand, but unless Josh had a sudden run of luck, he'd lost this game. One more loss and he was butt naked.
But he didn't look like a man who was about to lose. His gaze boldly captured hers, the silent challenge she saw there goading her to make the most of her win.
It ain't over till it's over.
Lennon had several ways to go here. She hadn't wagered any specific clothing this hand, so legitimately she could remove the beaded barrette holding one side of her hair behind an ear. Or she could remove her cream silk shell to reveal the lacy brassiere below. Or she could remove her skirt, beneath which nothing but moist throbbing skin resided.
Twirling on tiptoes, she cocked her right hip in his direction and accepted his challenge.
"Oh, yeah," he said, gratifying her with the catch in his voice. "I may get my wish and see you in nothing but hair yet."
Lennon smiled silkily. He had no idea.
Making a great show of parting her zipper, she shimmied the skirt over her hips, letting it slip down her legs with a whoosh that by all rights should have given Josh whiplash.
She twirled lightly on her toes, flashing him before she sat back down, her sex throbbing moistly against the cushion. Deciding to make the most of his undivided attention, she spread her legs just enough to reveal a nice view of neatly trimmed blond hair and moist folds of skin, with the hope of distracting him from concentrating properly on this next hand.
Of course, her boldness actually worked against her, because concentrating didn't seem possible when her head was filled with the inane thought that somewhere she'd heard people at nudist resorts always sat on towels for sanitary purposes, and sitting like this couldn't possibly be sanitary....
She picked up the deck, shuffled and asked him to cut.
He did.
She dealt.
One glimpse at her hand and Lennon knew she'd won the game. There was no way the man was beating a royal flush, and she knew he knew he'd lost, too, when she didn't trade in any cards.
"What have you got?" she asked.
"Nothing strong enough to beat whatever you're holding." He laid down two pairs--aces and fours.
She smiled and countered with her royal flush.
He whistled. "I suppose it was meant to be."
"You'll make a much more believable Marquis de Sade than James Dean with that ponytail, anyway."
"So you say." His smile flashed sexily.
"Yes, I do. And that's all that matters right now, isn't it?" she said boldly. "So lose 'em, black sheep. Unless you've got a money belt hidden inside those briefs."
Lennon leaned back in her chair, propped her bare feet on the table, giving him the mother of all crotch shots, and smiled in delight at the look of shocked lust he gave her.
"You weren't so modest about showing off the family jewels this morning," she reminded him.
Her words seemed to rattle Josh from his stupor. "You know what they say, chere, unlucky in cards, lucky in love."
"You wish."
He leveled a stoic glance across the table and said earnestly, "Yes, I do. Care to do the honors?"
She could tell by his amusement he expected her to decline. They were back to that power thing again.
Lennon glided to her feet so quickly the air swooshed across her bare hips and bottom as if she'd stepped in front of an air-conditioning vent. "Don't mind if I do."
Surprise flared in Josh's expression and in the erection trying to burst free of its cottony prison.
Or maybe that wasn't surprise at all, but excitement.
Lennon stood so close she could feel Josh's male heat through his briefs. The blush rose again in her cheeks, but this time she wasn't so sure embarrassment had inspired it. More like need.
His skin was hot to the touch when she hooked her fingers inside the waistband and lifted. His erection rocketed out as though it were jet-propelled, thick, hard and staggeringly perfect in sheer proportion.
Somehow she managed to remain standing, despite the pulsing between her thighs, which had increased in rhythm to something akin to surf smashing a shoreline during a hurricane. All Lennon could think of was that if she were one of her romance heroines, she'd take full advantage of this moment.
That was all it took to gather her wits about her.
With a casual move, she eased her hand into his briefs and gently cupped his scrotum, protecting the warm velvet weight from the elastic as she tugged the briefs off his hips. A tremor rocked Josh from head to toe and he emitted a sort of gurgle that made her wonder if he was choking.
Keeping her head bowed, Lennon let her hair fall around her face to hide her triumphant smile. Bending before him, she dragged the briefs down those gorgeous thighs, past his knees and along the length of his strong calves.
"Lift up." When he didn't lift his foot so she could remove his briefs, she patted his ankle to coach him, then glanced up with a long, lingering look, letting him get his fill of seeing her on her knees, poised beneath his erect penis. And his low groan suggested that he enjoyed the view immensely.
And, of course, as she stood, she couldn't resist the opportunity to brush a silk-covered breast against that proud erection, making it bob wildly in reply....
Circling him slowly, Lennon took in the lean curves of muscle with an attentiveness she hadn't had time for this morning. His tan reached high up on his thighs before fading into his firm backside and resuming low on his hips, suggesting that he spent lots of time outdoors in shorts.
A dimple flashed in his pale buttock and a long groove indented the side of his thigh when he shifted to let her squeeze between him and the table. She felt her own bare bottom keenly while maneuvering the distance, her softly furred mound brushing his thigh on the way.
Coming to stand in front of him again, she ran a fingertip up the hot length of his erection. It jumped in instant reply and Josh sucked in a ragged gasp of air, his body swaying.
"I guess you were right, black sheep--you are lucky in love." She winked up at him, his bemused expression making that needy ache between her thighs throb hard, a reminder that Josh's good luck would be hers, too. "Or you're about to be."
11
"MY TURN, chere," Josh announced, a subject not up for debate.
He'd let her tease and torture him long enough, and was nearing the breaking point. He would play her power exchange game as long as he got another turn at wielding the power. One of the sexy scenes from her novels replayed vividly in h
is head, and he knew just how Lennon liked it.She gasped as he wrapped his fingers around her waist and hiked her onto the table. Her sweet bottom slapped against the polished wooden surface, heightening the urgency of the moment, the demands of his mood.
And he had demands that made the blood course through his veins like high-octane fuel. The sight of glossy blond curls molding that soft swell between her thighs made him crazy. He could see a hint of tempting pink lips those curls almost concealed, and he wanted to take her with a fierceness he'd never guessed he possessed.
"I'm going to undress you, chere," he said, barely recognizing his own voice. "I'm going to touch every inch of your beautiful body until you ache for me."
With the swipe of a hand, he knocked his briefcase to the floor, then shoved aside portable computers to free up some room on a table crowded with equipment. She didn't resist as he urged her to lie back, then nudged her knees apart with his hips. Indeed, she arched toward him as he moved in, close enough to feel the heat of her sex scorch his erection, close enough to promise that once he removed her blouse, he could bend over her and catch a rosebud nipple with his teeth.
Lennon's hair flowed back from her face in tangled abandon. Her pouty lips were opened slightly, as if to sigh. And her eyes, whiskey smooth and sultry with wanting, met his with such passion that Josh knew what they shared was as unique to them as king cake was to Mardi Gras.
He'd never before needed to hear a woman moan in response to his touches, to see her arch greedily toward him with her own demand to be touched...by him.
The experience disoriented him, made him reckless, made him thrust his hands under her blouse and rake her sleek skin with his fingertips until she gasped.
And just hearing the throaty, excited sound whisper past her lips made him press his throbbing erection against her heat, to remind him he needed to savor the moment and bring her to the edge with him. He still had to dig out a condom from his wallet before he could sink inside her...and that would mean finding where he'd put it.
Josh wasn't going anywhere right now.
He ran his hands up her ribs, fingers grazing lace that blocked his way to the sweet swell of her breasts. Grabbing the hem of her blouse, he tugged awkwardly while Lennon arched back, raising her arms to let him pull the silky garment over her head.
Her beautiful body stretched before him, unexplored terrain so enticing, so reminiscent of how she'd looked last night with her wrists bound, that he could do nothing but drop her blouse to the floor and explore.
Josh caressed the slender length of her arms, brought his mouth to her lace-covered breasts. With his teeth, he dragged her bra up and away, permitting her breasts to tumble gloriously free. Lennon's breath skittered in her throat, a series of tiny excited sounds that brought a smile to his lips, a smile that lasted just long enough for him to draw a breath....
He caught one rosy peak with his teeth and tugged gently.
"Oh!"
Her gasp was pure pleasure. His erection strained against her sex like a heat-seeking missile, while that satisfied smile flitted across his lips again. Until he tasted her sweet skin, sucked that tightening bud inside to fill his mouth with warm satin.
He wanted to discover all Lennon's secrets, wanted to know what drove her wild, what made her blush and what made her sigh. He wanted to see how far he could push her before she lost all control. Before he lost control. He wanted to explore this attraction between them without hesitation, without boundaries. He wanted her to abandon herself, to surrender to his desire.
He wanted to surrender to hers.
Just the thought made his blood surge almost painfully, and he swirled his tongue around the peak of her nipple, seeking respite, seeking some diversion, because he was too close to the edge. She tried to lower her arms, perhaps to run her fingers through his hair or guide his mouth elsewhere....
He didn't let her.
Holding her arms braced over her head, he tested her nipple with his teeth again, then tried the other, beginning a game of taste and tug and lick that diverted him from his barely controlled need. She twisted hungrily against him.
Feeling this woman respond to him, writhe beneath him, abandon herself to him so willingly, so trustingly, stripped Josh of any and all pretense. His usual defenses were failing big time. His body vibrated with pleasure, and his need to make her vibrate in reply was drowning him, arousing him in places he hadn't acknowledged in so long he'd forgotten they existed.
No woman had ever affected him this way. Hunger spiked his need to such urgency that if she pulled away and told him to stop he might just die on the spot.
This was so much more than sex. Josh wanted to possess her. Be possessed by her.
He may have held Lennon's arms, may have had strength on his side in their exchange right now, but strength meant nothing when she controlled his body's responses to her.
And had no idea of the power she commanded.
I'm looking for Mr. Right, and you're Mr. Wrong in the flesh.
"Look at me." Josh ordered.
He raked his gaze upward along the smooth expanse of pale gold skin, over breasts glinting with dampness from his mouth, and nipples straining toward him in a silent plea for attention.
When he released her arms, she didn't move, only watched dazedly as he plucked at her nipples, not hard enough to hurt, but forceful enough to spark that fire in the whiskey depths of her eyes. He watched, fascinated, as her features sharpened and she lifted off the tabletop to press her breasts into his palms.
He tugged again, then skimmed a hand down her smooth belly, through the blond curls, targeting that core of nerves he intended to become very, very familiar with.
"Oh, Josh." Her breathy sigh might have been a power surge for the way it jolted his system, and her eyes fluttered closed, her lashes forming gold dust semicircles on her cheeks.
"Look at me."
He wouldn't miss a second of her response. Not when he so enjoyed knowing he pleased her as much as she pleased him. And only when her lashes trembled and she met his gaze again, the amber lights in her warm eyes revealing how very, very pleased she was, did he reward her with a kiss....
Suddenly, her fingers speared into his hair, anchoring his head as she parted her lips and kissed him with a need that stole his breath. All demand, all possession, all urgency. Her tongue explored every recess of his mouth, engaged his in a tangle of frantic breaths and heated moans, and he responded with a finger circling that nub between her legs, the connection between his steady strokes and her frenzied kisses too blatant to ignore.
She finally let him go, only to slide her hands down his neck to his shoulders, urging him closer. But Josh wasn't getting any closer no matter how hard she dug those pointy nails into his skin.
He was nearly overwhelmed by the feel of her sex against his erection, hot, moist, each thrust of her hips a vain attempt to take him inside her. Backing away just enough to break contact, he gave himself the space he needed to bring his desire under control again, to hang on to the shreds of his reason.
"I intend to explore every inch of your sweet flesh until you want me more than you ever wanted before."
He heard the words as though someone whispered them into his memory, recalled Lennon's love story and the bold hero who'd vowed to make his lady breathe his name on the edge of sigh.
Sounded good to Josh. Right now he wanted to be this lady's hero more than he'd ever wanted anything in his life.
He sank a finger into her creamy flesh.
Lennon's gasp deepened into a low, velvety moan. Her hips rose off the table, only to settle back again, squirming against his hand, pressing against the thumb he held on that knot of nerves. He obliged her with slow, steady caresses, his finger driving deep into her heat, riding her with sleek strokes.
Her eyes fluttered closed once more. Josh didn't bother telling her to open them again, because somewhere in the back of his brain a plan was forming, and the first step was to watch her come.... Return
ing his attention to her breasts, he made her writhe and twist, made her smooth thighs work to ride his hand, to increase the friction.
His need flamed almost beyond control as pleasure burst upon her, a visible gathering of supple muscles and a moist clenching of her sex around his finger. Her hips arched and she clung to him, her low moans filling him with a sense of male triumph that she wanted him, only him.
"That's it, chere. Come for me," he whispered against her skin. "I want you."
Want?
Not in her wildest dreams had Lennon ever wanted like this. She couldn't force a sound from her mouth when Josh finally backed away from her, tight butt muscles flexing attractively when he reached for the wallet he'd tossed on an end table earlier.
When Lennon caught sight of a square foil package, she couldn't help but wonder what he was playing at. She couldn't possibly move right now, let alone feel anything more than she already had. She was as limp as a noodle and could barely think. He obviously didn't realize he'd annihilated her, because he whipped out the condom and rolled it onto that awesome erection.
"Josh, I'm gone." Her voice sounded as dazed and languid as she felt.
He flashed those even white teeth in a smile she recognized as masculine conquest personified. "Trust me, chere."
Trust him?
She may have trusted the scoundrel with her body, but he couldn't be trusted with the tiniest smidgen of her heart. And somehow she had to remember that.
Mr. Wrong, Mr. Wrong, Mr. Wrong!
But the reminder flew straight out of her head when he towered above her, so tall and broad and oh so sexy. His grin flashed again, probably at the sight she presented, lying back on the table, legs parted, bra tangled up under her armpits, her head cushioned by a keyboard.
Lennon was too wiped to move even if she'd wanted to. However, the sight must be doing something for him because his erection was completely vertical.
"Ah, chere." He shook his silky dark head. "I've got my work cut out for me."
"Only if you want me to participate. I can lie here just fine." She smiled weakly, a halfhearted attempt at a joke.
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