Well, almost.
“Why do you need this?”
The question slipped out without her permission, but she didn’t regret the words. Open, honest communication, right?
Isaac pulled her thigh over his, tangling their lower bodies together. “I want control—in bed and out—because that’s who I am.”
“Or because you’re afraid of being any other way.”
He frowned, seeming to consider the possibility. “Does it matter? This is where I feel most comfortable, where I want to be. If I’m not hurting anyone, is it really such a bad thing?”
He was right, he hadn’t hurt her. Still, he was pushing her toward a place where she wasn’t comfortable, wasn’t he?
Except last night, she’d been more than comfortable; she’d been aroused, hungry for more, and ultimately satisfied.
It was her turn to frown. “I still don’t think I’m a sub. And I still don’t see how this can work.”
He narrowed his eyes on her but didn’t speak.
She waited.
“Love—”
The rasp of his morning-rough voice calling her love was almost as sexy as the rasp of his beard. She shivered against him.
“There are two things we need to get straight right now.” Serious blue eyes locked with hers, refusing to let her look away. “One, I don’t live my life by ‘where is this going?’ I see what I want, and I go after it. There are too many possibilities in life that could be missed if we only chase after the ones that ‘can work.’ No one thought I’d make it in music, either, but look where I am.”
True. Her heart ached at the thought that he’d pursued his dream without support, but that was a discussion for another time. “Okay. And two?”
“Two—I want you.” He brushed her hair back from her cheek, tucking it behind her ear. “I knew from the moment I saw you sneaking out of that massage room door that there was something different about you. Something I wanted. This…whatever this is between us? I want to explore it. I’m willing to find out where this goes. The question is, are you?”
His words stunned her. She’d felt the same, from the very beginning, but… “It’s barely been a week.”
“And we’re not getting engaged. So what does the amount of days have to do with anything?”
Good question. She’d never found it easy to just let go and be in the moment, not analyze and make projections and pick apart the details. But then again, she’d never felt as strongly about anyone as she felt about Isaac, complications and all. “You do understand that this isn’t about not wanting you, right?”
He shifted his knee until it met the core of her body. Rough hair rubbed through her slick labia. “You’re wet, Kennedy.” His grin tugged at something low in her belly that should be thoroughly satisfied after what he’d done to her already. “And you’re not running from my bed screaming.”
Well, she guessed that was a big clue to how interested she was. “I don’t want to disappoint you, Isaac.”
He came up on his elbow, which tipped her backward, and loomed above her. “You couldn’t disappoint me if you tried.”
She begged to differ—she’d disappointed her fair share of men in her life, usually by being too independent. But with Isaac, letting him down, not being what he needed…that would break her if she let it.
And this was getting far too serious for this early in the morning. She needed time to think, and now wasn’t it.
“So…” She wiggled down a little until her face was closer to his chest. “You always need to be in control.”
“Always.” The both knew better, but the playful way he growled the word told her he was willing to go along with whatever she had in mind.
“And…no morning kisses, right?” She eased down more.
A glint appeared in his eye. “Depends on the kind of kiss.”
She dragged her nails along the smooth skin of his ass, down his outer thigh. “Yeah?”
Isaac shifted his legs, allowing her to scoot farther down. “Oh yeah.”
She winked up at him from the vicinity of his bellybutton. “But you’re in control, right?”
His “right” choked off as her tongue met the tip of his cock. A pearl of precum waited for her there, and she licked it up, enjoying the tang before she opened her mouth and took the thick mushroom head inside. Isaac was just shy of too much in width, but he managed to fit, and the feel of him in her mouth, the soft give of the muscle as she sucked and tongued it, spiked her hunger for more. Shifting forward so that she hovered on all fours over his body, she let go to smile sweetly up at Isaac. “Are you in control now?”
His beautiful eyes narrowed, but she didn’t wait for a response—she wanted his taste, his weight in her mouth. Tilting her head, she opened her mouth and slid him deep inside, tracing the vein along the underside of his cock with her tongue. Isaac choked.
“How about now?” she asked.
Isaac’s expression took on a hard edge that made her tummy flip. “Do it again, love.”
Heat flashed through her at the rough pleasure in his voice. She shifted her weight to one side, freeing a hand to reach for him—
And couldn’t. Isaac’s palms rested over hers, pressing down, their fingers intertwined. She tugged.
He didn’t let go.
“Do it again, Kennedy.”
He was still beneath her, not pushing, not insisting with anything more than words, but every time she tried to reach for him, his grip locked her hands to the bed. She retreated, her mouth barely holding his tip, and glanced up to the head of the bed, where Isaac’s heated stare waited.
He didn’t ask again, didn’t move. She could feel the hunger in his muscles, the need to have her pleasure him, but he didn’t argue. He’d told her what he wanted, commanded her to do it…
And, she realized, it was what she wanted too.
One last time she tried to release her hand. When Isaac’s fingers tightened on hers, a thrill shot deep inside her.
The glide of her mouth over his cock had Isaac quivering beneath her. She retreated, pushed forward, taking him deep, loving the feel of him tight and hot in her mouth. When he lost that little edge of control, just enough to lift into her descent, seeking the back of her throat, a rush of power filled her. This man wanted her, needed her, and giving him what he asked for made her feel at once strong and feminine. Sexy. Hungry.
She devoured him, and he let her. Not until he was thrusting inside her with abandon and groaning deep in his chest did he finally release her hands in favor of hauling her up his body.
“Holy shit, Ken. Let me inside you.”
He slid a condom hastily over his cock, lined her up, and surged deep in one long thrust. The sight of him, head thrown back, thick muscles rigid with need and pleasure, could not have been more beautiful. She wanted more, wanted to give him more. Hands on his flat stomach, she lifted her body, tightening her pussy around him, then dropped, letting gravity give them both what they sought.
Isaac grunted, his eyes squeezed shut as if not looking at her could stave off his orgasm another second. But when they opened…God. An inferno raged inside. “Put your hands behind your back.”
She didn’t even have to think. As much as she wanted to touch him, the man beneath her had one goal—their pleasure—and she trusted him to achieve it. Sitting straighter, she linked her fingers at the small of her back. Isaac gripped her hips, fingers digging deep, and took over. Lifting, then lowering, again and again, using every bit of force he possessed to bring them together. The impact was beyond anything she’d ever experienced, filled her more full than anything that had come before. She had no control over the depth, the speed, and yet all she wanted was more. More of Isaac. And more of the pleasure. It exploded through her clit with every slam of their bodies together, over and over until she was frantic for it to peak. When it did, with one final forceful thrust of Isaac’s cock bottoming out inside her, she couldn’t even scream. All she could do was arch her back and feel
the firm grip controlling her, keeping her safe as every molecule in her body shattered like stars.
Long moments later she found herself lying across Isaac’s chest, their bodies still joined, their breathing still ragged. His hands stroked her shoulders and arms, easing the ache of what they’d done. When she finally lifted her head, Isaac stared down at her, a gleam of mischief in his eyes.
“So what do you think, Kennedy? Was I in control or not?”
Chapter Sixteen
Music hummed in his veins as images from the last couple of days flashed behind his eyelids. Kennedy… Christ. He hadn’t been lying when he said she was different. He’d had a lot of sex, a lot of one-night stands since making it big—and let’s face it, even before that. But never had he been with someone who still left him wanting after one taste. Or ten. No one whose draw was strong enough to make him want to work at it, to see if maybe there was more than slaking a thirst involved.
Kennedy hadn’t slaked anything; she’d ignited a fire he didn’t know if he’d ever be free of, sub or not.
He groaned, the memory of her plump pink lips wrapped around his cock sending a shaft of arousal straight to his balls. For a second that night, he’d thought he would embarrass himself like a kid in the back seat of his parents’ car with a girl for the very first time. But he hadn’t been about to rush through the experience of pushing into her tight mouth, feeling her tongue trace the vein underneath his shaft, letting her throat cup his head over and over until he thought for sure he’d go out of his mind.
He wanted to do it again, every single second of it. She’d slept over at the penthouse again last night, but after a late rehearsal for him and late work for her, there’d only been time for fast and mind-blowing. Tonight he wanted to savor her.
“Boss?”
Isaac shot a look at Nick over his shoulder. “Yeah?”
Nick’s gaze dropped to the guitar Isaac cradled, the laptop open on the table in front of him. “You’re writing.”
A grin slipped out. “Yeah.”
Another definite plus from his time with Kennedy. The music was returning—slowly, but there. He was adding to the song he’d begun working on in the rehearsal a few days ago with the band. Then he hadn’t been able to expand on what his subconscious mind had revealed, but today… Well, Kennedy seemed to have lit a stick of dynamite beneath his block and blown it all to smithereens.
She’d made more than one thing blow the past couple of days.
Nick took a seat in the armchair next to the couch as Isaac played through the last few bars he’d written. “It’s good.”
Isaac agreed. And the sheer relief of having something this powerful running through his mind couldn’t be described.
He set his guitar beside him on the couch. “It’s for the new album, I think. The only thing I’ve got so far,” he admitted hesitantly.
Nick nodded. “But not the last thing.”
Isaac rolled his eyes. “I was beginning to think there wouldn’t be a new album.”
“Naw. I never worried about that.” Nick relaxed into the cushions, throwing an arm across the back of the chair. “A block happens every once in a while; I’ve worked with enough artists to know it’s just a matter of figuring out what’s going on and working your way through it.” He shot Isaac a knowing look. “With Kennedy here, your nightmares have stopped. That in and of itself is a good sign.”
“That she’s here or that the nightmares have faded?”
Nick snorted. “She’s good for you, man. And bonus!” The jazz hands came out, making Isaac laugh. “She doesn’t seem to mind putting up with your kinky ass.”
She sure as hell doesn’t. Even if she was wary sometimes. They were still feeling their way through each encounter, every day, figuring out where her boundaries were, what she liked, but there was no rush. If he had any say in it, he’d be spending a good bit of his hiatus in the city.
“She’s more than good for me,” he agreed. “She’s…something special.”
“All it takes is seeing the way you go all smoldery when she’s around to know that.”
“Smoldery?” Isaac shot his friend a look. “Your vagina’s showing, mate.”
Nick laughed—and flipped his middle finger in Isaac’s direction. Before either of them could take the conversation further, Nick’s cell rang, the one they used for business. He dug it out of his pocket, glanced at the screen, and a worried frown settled on his face. “Grace.”
Isaac reached for the phone, and Nick passed it over reluctantly. Isaac had long suspected that his friend had a little crush on Grace, though the two had never met in person. More than once he’d seen Nick chatting before passing one of Grace’s calls to him. He’d definitely need to start keeping an eye on that—she was practically his little sister, after all.
Glancing down, he tapped the Answer button, then stood to walk toward the balcony doors. “How you doing, love?”
“Isaac?”
The trace of tears was clear in her voice, making his gut tighten. “Yeah. I was with Nick. What’s got you upset?”
A pause came through the line, and he pictured Grace’s delicate features red from tears. Whatever had happened, he was fully prepared to beat the shit out of whoever had upset his friend.
“Chris just called with the news. He’s officially backing out of the benefit.”
A string of curses left his lips. What the fuck was the bastard thinking? He had to know Isaac wouldn’t take this without a word.
When he finally got himself calmed down, it was to the realization that the trace of tears in Grace’s voice had become flat-out sobs. Then he cursed himself. She’d worked herself to the bone for this benefit, and all he’d done was add to her stress. “I’m sorry, love. Look, it’s going to be okay. I’ve already got some feelers out; I’ll keep looking for—”
“No!” Grace sucked in a couple of deep breaths, the wheezing sounds making him flinch. “I’m done with this, Isaac; do you hear me? I’m done carrying this alone. It’s been five years! You’re the only family I have left, and I need you, not just thousands of miles away where you can’t be anything more than a voice on the damn phone, but here.
“You’re not gonna keep looking for someone else when the perfect performer is staring back at you in the mirror. You know it, and it’s time you stopped playing the coward and lived up to the responsibility. You are the artist I need, and you better start making plans to be here.”
He stood in stunned silence, his gaze locked on the desert in the distance.
“I’ll e-mail you all the details you’ve probably ignored thinking you were going to get out of supporting me again this year. Be looking for it. I expect to hear back from you in the next day or two with travel plans so I can start advertising. Again.”
Click.
Isaac pulled the phone from his ear to stare at the blank screen. “She hung up on me.”
He sensed Nick’s approach despite the man’s soundless walk. “She’s not little Grace anymore, Isaac.”
How the hell would Nick know that?
“She’s been carrying this a long time. Now, with the anniversary…”
Isaac jerked around to face his friend. “What about the anniversary?” Five years; he knew that better than anyone except Grace. It tore him up inside every time the number rang in his head.
Five years. Christ.
Nick’s gaze met his. “She needs you there. And…” His mouth thinned into a tight line. “Goddamn it, Isaac, she deserves it.”
What the hell? “I—”
Nick didn’t give him time to finish. He held out a hand, nodding toward the phone. The instant Isaac laid it in his palm, Nick walked out on him.
The afternoon was spent in silence, and not only because his best friend refused to speak to him. Every time he picked up his guitar, he put it back down again, unable to settle, to get back to the place where he’d been this morning. Happy. Focused on Kennedy. All he could think about was the sound of Grace’s
tears and the scenes from his nightmares, pulling him under, drowning his peace. By seven, when he was supposed to pick Kennedy up, agitation clawed at him and all he wanted was his woman beside him, under him, drowning him in something far more beautiful than the cold killer sea.
The soft glow of her desk lamp shone into the hall as he approached her open office door. He leaned against the doorjamb and soaked in the view—the thick red hair gathered in a messy bun at her nape, the vee between her eyes as she studied a paper in her hand, but most of all, the calm he could actually feel radiating off her every time he was near.
Well, not every time. Nothing shattered Kennedy’s calm like sex. The thought sent a spasm of need through him.
He rapped his knuckles against the door.
Kennedy swiveled in her chair, her eyes going all soft and happy as she caught sight of him—then hot and dark as her gaze raked his body. His woman was getting wet just looking at him.
He straightened before the effect of that look became too obvious. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” she said.
He stepped inside. “Still working?”
“Just finishing up.” As he stopped beside her, she dropped her head back onto the headrest to stare up at him. “How was your day?”
He really didn’t want to talk about his day. Instead he leaned over her, the position emphasizing how small she was compared to him, almost delicate, and he couldn’t seem to stop the swell of his pride or his cock. Just short of meeting her lips, he paused. “Are there rules about kissing in the office?”
“Corporate rules or my rules?” She flashed a saucy grin. “You’re the rule maker, right?”
Damn right. “In that case…” Warm, full lips opened beneath his, accepted his thrust. Their tongues dueled. Feeling her, tasting her, Isaac let the stress of the afternoon trickle away. He didn’t stop until Kennedy laughingly gave him a push.
“I need to breathe,” she teased.
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