He wasn’t sure if she was frustrated that he was in the kitchen, in her house, or in her life at this point. He’d originally waited for her to talk but after seeing her in that towel, there were more pressing matters to address. Like the fact that every time they were near each other they almost kissed. Or the fact that she couldn’t be alone in a room with him, which he was pretty sure had something to do with the first matter.
As much as he wanted to figure out what she was hiding from him, what she wasn’t telling him, he wanted her more. He was done tiptoeing around the explosive chemistry they shared. It was time to face it or move on. This limbo shit was making him crazy.
She pulled the terrycloth up higher on her chest as she took a step back. “What are you doing?”
“I couldn’t sleep,” he rasped.
He was wired. Part of that, he was sure, was the constant level of adrenaline he’d felt since the second that he’d found out she was in danger. It would most likely stay that way until they caught the sick fuck that was stalking her. But the other part was just spending so much damn time with Maxi. Night and day. Twenty four seven. It had multiplied the feelings that he’d always had for her by a million. Unlike most girls that he spent time with, instead of her getting on his nerves, or him getting tired of her or growing bored, it seemed he was in deeper than he ever had been before.
He’d known Maxi for more than a decade. If anyone had asked him a few weeks ago if he’d known her, really known her, the answer would have been yes with no hesitation. He knew that she hated fish. She loved scary movies but never watched them alone. Her favorite flavor of ice cream was strawberry and her allergies were so bad when she was a kid she used to have to take four allergy shots twice a week.
But over the past week he learned there were many things he didn’t know about Maxi. The real Maxi. Before last Friday, he didn’t know that she never slept with the lights off. He didn’t know that she needed coffee in the morning before she could string a sentence together. He didn’t’ know that she sang in the shower. Really badly. And always music from the 80’s. He didn’t know that the second she came home she got into sweats and “slippies,” and she looked so damn adorable in them.
Now, he did. And the more he learned about her, the more he wanted to know. He wanted to know everything. He wanted to know what secrets she was keeping from him. Why she’d been so sure that Carter was innocent. Why she’d been so scared when he’d pinned her against the wall to protect her from the crush of people.
But before he learned those things he wanted to know what her lips felt like and how she tasted. This entire week had been like one long, tormenting session of foreplay and he couldn’t take anymore.
He stood and the legs of the chair scraped against the wooden floor. Her eyes widened as they ran down his body. He hadn’t bothered to put on a shirt after his shower and had only thrown on loose sweats. They did nothing to hide his arousal. In two long strides he closed the distance between them.
One of Billy’s greatest strengths in the boxing ring had been reading opponents. If someone was in pain, scared, exhausted, or weak he could sniff it out like a bloodhound. He possessed the same gift when it came to women. Not that he’d had to use it much. The women that he was usually with were always more than happy to tell him, in detail, exactly what was going on in their minds. But not Maxi. Maxi hid, or tried to hide, what she felt.
As a kid he’d been the king of hide-and-seek. Time to regain his crown.
A quick scan told him she was turned on. Maybe not as close to the edge as he was, but she wanted him. Her pupils were dilated. Her lips were parted. Her cheeks were flushed. Her breathing was coming in short pants.
The energy between them crackled with intensity. Inching closer he eliminated the space between them. Her eyes darkened to a deeper sapphire blue as they peeked up at him beneath a thick bed of lashes.
Whether or not this was a good idea stopped mattering to him. All that mattered was finally acting on the impulses, desires, and feelings that were erupting through him with volcanic force.
“One kiss.”
He could’ve just lowered his mouth to hers, but he needed to hear that she wanted the same thing he did.
“What?” Maxi’s blue eyes were glazed with lust but he could also see doubt creeping in and battling it.
“One kiss, that’s all I’m asking for.”
Her breath was coming in even more labored pants. He didn’t know about her, but he was flashing back to the storeroom where their lips had brushed. Briefly. Too briefly. It was all he’d thought about since the moment it happened.
With determination she nodded and that should’ve been enough for him. But it wasn’t. He wanted to hear her say it. To say yes.
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes.” The word came out as a breathless pant.
“Say it,” he demanded.
“One kiss. I want one kiss.”
His hands wrapped around her waist and he lifted her up on the counter, bringing her mouth closer to his. She sucked in a startled breath as her hands grasped his bare shoulders for balance. He stepped between her knees and leaned closer to her, his skin felt like it was vibrating with need. Every cell in his body was alive with desire. The heat of her breath warmed his lips. He knew that this kiss had to be more than just a kiss. It had to be everything, say everything that he felt for her. She may not want to hear him tell her what he felt, but he could show her.
But not like this.
Her eyes closed as he got closer but instead of pressing his lips to hers, he slowly lowered down to his knees and placed his hands on her thighs. That got her attention.
Her lids flew open. “What are you doing?”
“If I’m only getting one kiss, I want to make it count.”
His fingers spread out on her soft thighs and dipped beneath the terrycloth material covering them. She stared down at his fingers as they disappeared under the material. As tempting as it was to do the same, he kept his eyes trained on her face, looking for any sign that he should stop. Any small hesitation and he’d stand up and kiss the lips that her tongue was currently wetting. A groan rumbled in his chest at the temptation that seeing her lick her own lips presented.
Slowly, giving her plenty of time to put an end to this, his hands traveled farther up her creamy legs and the white towel bunched at his wrists. Her skin felt like silk beneath his hands. As he reached the apex of her legs, he dipped his thumbs between them and gently, with measured restraint, spread her legs apart.
She let out a sensual sigh as his thumbs traced the lines of her delicate flesh. He still didn’t look down at the enticing, tantalizing display that was mere inches from his face. He needed to know that she wanted this, that she wanted him.
The pads of his thumbs grew damp with her arousal. He slid up and down her feminine folds as she coated him with her wetness. He loved that it was his fingers making her wet. His touch that was turning her on.
His own body was pulsing with over a decade of pent up lust, passion and desire. Not just his dick, which was harder than it had ever been, but every single cell in his body was screaming for him to strip her naked and touch, kiss, lick, and devour every inch of her perfect body.
Billy had been with more partners than he could count…literally he’d lost count. But this wasn’t just sex. This wasn’t just physical. The air around them was supercharged and somehow it felt like they were cocooned in space and time. He didn’t just want to pleasure her, he didn’t just want to make love to her, he wanted to consume her. To own her. To show her that she was his and he was hers.
“Billy,” she breathed his name in a soft, needy sound as her legs parted even further.
At her open invitation, he lowered his eyes to her sex. When he saw his thumbs against her delicate, glistening flesh, his body flooded violently with lust. It was like a dam had broken as the sensation rushed through him.
As much as he wanted to prolong this experience, to d
raw out the heightened sensations, he wanted, no needed to taste her more.
His thumbs continued their intimate massage as he leaned forward, stopping just a hair shy of contact. Using his fingers he gently pulled the top of her sex, separating it so her clit was exposed. It was swollen and coated in her juices. Her inner walls contracted against the pads of his thumbs as he breathed against her sensitive nub. She was ready to come and he hadn’t even gotten to the good stuff yet.
For a moment he wondered if she was this responsive to every man she’d been with and the thought made him want to throw her over his shoulder and claim her caveman style, but he quickly banished the thought from his head.
This wasn’t about anyone else. This was about the two of them. No one else existed.
“Damn,” he whispered against her flesh. “You’re perfect.”
His mouth covered her sweet center and she gasped at the contact. He took his time tasting her. Memorizing every dip, every line, every fold as he licked, kissed, and touched her.
Her thighs started to tremble against his cheeks and shoulders as he began tracing her opening, teasing and massaging her slit. His tongue ran up and down her core paying special attention to the hood of her sex. Every time he brushed over the sensitized nub her body clenched and her hips lifted up. His fingers dug into her thighs, holding her in place.
Pleasing a woman like this had always been one of Billy’s favorite things to do. He always took care of his partner before himself and he’d found that this was the fastest and most direct way to do it. But this wasn’t just the most efficient means to an end, this was different. With Maxi, the act itself was more than enough. It was everything. Her pleasure was his pleasure.
“Billy…please…I need…” As she pleaded her fingers threaded through his hair and she fisted her hands.
With tenderness that defied the lust raging through him, he gently pushed the tip of his finger into her tight channel as his tongue swirled then flicked her neediest place. The sensation of her body clamping around his digit as he slowly pushed inside of her had his balls tightening and beads of sweat breaking out on his back. Never in his life had he come from getting someone else off, but if that ever was going to happen, this would be the time.
Keeping the rhythm of his tongue steady, he began sliding his finger in and out of her snug passage. Each time he entered her he went deeper, filling her more completely. He felt her inner walls beginning to pulse and he began licking her clit with more pressure. When he did her stomach clenched and her fingers tightened in his hair. The sting of her grip shot straight from his scalp down to his toes intensifying the lust coursing through him.
“Don’t stop,” she breathlessly instructed as her hips began rolling, grinding her sex against his mouth.
Billy loved being in control. He set the pace. He dominated in all aspects of his life, but especially when it came to sex. So it surprised him that he was so turned on by Maxi taking charge of her pleasure. Her riding his mouth was about to shoot him up and over the edge. He somehow managed to hold on to a thin thread of restraint as she cried out in release. He continued feeding off of her sweet center as her arousal coated his hand completely.
When her hands released their death grip on his hair and her thighs went limp beside him, he looked up to find her head was back, resting against the cabinet and her eyes were closed. Although he didn’t regret the area he’d chosen to start his one kiss with, there was a lot more ground he wanted to cover.
He ran his hands over her hips and with one tug on her towel, the material fell open revealing the most beautifully formed pair of breasts that he’d ever seen. After placing several more soft kisses on her center, he began making his way up her body to his next destination.
His body was on fire with heated arousal, but he didn’t let the urgency of his need rush him. He took his time reverently adoring every inch of her body. First his lips brushed over each of her hips, then across her belly, which fluttered beneath his mouth. His hands molded around the curve of her hips and he spread his fingers at the base of her back, supporting her as he continued his sensual journey.
He licked and kissed his way up her body, languidly worshipping every inch of torso until he finally reached the swell of her breast. With his tongue he traced the crescent shaped curve of first her right then her left mound. As he did her chest rose and fell in short pants of breath.
Hearing Maxi grow more and more breathless with anticipation was like audible foreplay. His entire body was strung so tight with need that if a strong wind blew through the room he would probably explode in his pants. But he didn’t let his state of extreme arousal detour him from his mission. He was going to take his time learning every reaction, every response. He was going to memorize every curve, every dip.
During his thorough exploration the side of his cheek brushed across her hardened nipple and he heard her gasp at the brief contact. So he did it again. The first time had been unintentional, but the second, third and fourth were not. Moving from the right to the left, he reveled in the sensation of caressing her pebbled nubs with his cheeks and chin. The closer her nipples came to his lips, the more his mouth watered.
When he finally covered her breasts with his lips and sucked her hardened tips into his wet mouth, Maxi cried out in pleasure. Her back arched, and her hips lifted off the counter. He used the leverage to scoop her up, her legs and arms wrapped around him as his purposeful strides carried them both to her bedroom. He continued showering attention on her gorgeous mounds until they were through the door. Then he crossed the room and did what he’d been dying to do since…forever. He laid her down on her bed.
He stood back up and as his eyes hungrily traveled down her gloriously naked body all he could think was, if spending one innocent night on her couch had ruined him…this was going to destroy him.
* * *
Maxi’s eyes were shut tight as she fisted her hands in the soft fabric of the comforter and waited for Billy to do…something. She knew that she was lying naked, flat on her back on her bed, but had no idea what he was doing. Anyone else in this situation would be able to solve the puzzle by just opening their eyes, but not Maxi.
Since she’d lost her virginity in her freshman year of college until now, she’d never been able to have her eyes open during sexy time. Once things started getting intimate, her lids slammed shut and stayed that way until things were over. It had never bothered Maxi, maybe because it was all she knew.
When her second boyfriend had made a comment about it, pointing out that it was strange, she’d asked a couple of her friends if that was normal. They all said no. A couple even went so far as to say that watching what was going on was the best part.
After a little online research she’d determined that her behavior was a direct result of her past. Her introduction to sex had traumatized her and the mind had a funny way of protecting itself. Closing ones eyes turned out to be a fairly common coping mechanism. Once she’d self-diagnosed her condition, she accepted it as part of herself and moved on.
She’d never cared about it, never wanted to address or work past it…until now. Until Billy.
Sex had always been okay. Pleasant. She didn’t hate it, but she could easily live without it. And as far as she knew all of her partners, a grand total of four, had felt the same way she did. Which would probably explain why she’d never had an orgasm with any of them.
Not one of them had ever set her body on fire from across the room with one look, without even touching her. They’d never had the predatory gleam in their eyes that Billy had as he kneeled in front of her in the kitchen. They’d never taken her to places that she truly believed only existed between the pages of romance novels. And they’d never inspired her to fight past her self-protective instinct of shutting her eyes.
Just the thought of prying her lids open now had her heart pounding so hard in her chest she was sure that Billy would be able to see it, or at the very least hear it. Her fingers fisted tighter grippin
g the cotton as an anchor as her lids fluttered several times before she was finally able to lift them.
When she did she saw Billy, still wearing his sweats, standing beside the bed staring down at her. His eyes were running up and down the length of her body hungrily. Her reaction to his appraising stare surprised her. If someone would have asked her a week ago, or even an hour ago, what it would be like to lay totally naked in front of anyone, much less Billy Marshall, she would have told them that it would be at the very least embarrassing, at worst humiliating. But she didn’t feel either of those things. Instead, she felt empowered and aroused.
Her gaze traveled across his broad, muscular chest and down the ripple of his six-pack abs to where his sweats rode low on his waist. She let her eyes take their time in unhurried appreciation of the lean lines of his athletic frame. She’d seen his body hundreds of times at the gym, but this was different. This time she wasn’t admiring it secretly from afar. She was unapologetically up close and personal. And she wanted to see more of it.
Since she didn’t trust herself to speak she figured she would show not tell and take matters into her own hands. Literally. Pushing up off her elbows she raised to a seated position. Her hands shook as she reached out. Her fingertips had barely grazed his waistband when his hands covered hers.
“Don’t,” he growled.
At the grittiness of his voice and the primal look in his eyes she stilled, unsure of what to do next.
“Lay back down,” he commanded as if reading her mind.
Okay. She knew what he wanted her to do, but she didn’t know why. Why couldn’t she touch him after he’d just gotten up close and personal with her?
She glanced up at him with question in her eyes.
He grinned, the kind of sexy, bad boy grin that made the entirety of the female population swoon. “If your mouth is anywhere near my cock when it comes out to play, this will be over before it even starts.”
His bold words curled deliciously in her core as tingles spread through her. She’d never had anyone talk to her like that during sex. Or any other time, for that matter. She’d heard guys say things in the locker rooms, and had always assumed that she didn’t like dirty talk. But she could not have been more wrong. She liked it. She liked it a lot.
All He Wants Page 12