by Isabel North
“Uh-huh.” She picked up his hand and began to play with his fingers.
She had to admit it. She had a serious thing for his hands. Not because they were so big, or because she now knew from delicious experience that he was very talented at using them, but because they were so strong and capable, and gentle. She traced the thick veins on the back with a forefinger. Powerful.
Burke continued, “It didn’t go quite as well as it could have.”
“Sure.” Lila put his hand on her breast.
Burke sucked in air, and stared at the sight. Lila looked from his face to his hand and back again. By his reverent expression, you’d think he’d never touched a boob before.
This man, Lila decided, could do terrible things to her ego. She was going to start thinking she was a goddess or something, if he carried on looking at her like that.
She picked up his other hand. His fingers flexed in hers, but he made a valiant effort to regain his train of thought. “I came over because I wanted to…”
Lila opened his fingers wide and slid her palm flat under his, measuring the size difference. She made a pleased sound, lifted it, and set it on her other breast.
Burke swallowed. Lila arched her back and he sighed. His thumbs brushed the undersides, sweeping up in a slow drag. His eyes glittered.
“You were saying?” Lila prompted. He didn’t reply. Okay. She’d teased him enough. Lila caught his wrists and pressed them to the back of the couch. “What are you trying to say, Burke? What do you want?”
He rotated his wrists in her grip, even though she gave it her all to hold him there, and gathered her hands behind her back. “What do I want?”
She nodded.
“You. I want you, Lila.” He laid his mouth over the pulse fluttering at the base of her neck. “I want to be with you.” His mouth glided up the side of her neck.
Lila tilted her head to give him better access.
He sucked her earlobe between his teeth and bit down, gently. “We said one night. Night’s not over. I want all of it. Every hour, every minute, every second.” He grasped her chin and turned her to face him, holding her close enough to kiss as his eyes bored into hers. “I want to take everything you’re willing to give.” He dragged a thumb over her bottom lip, then pressed a light, open-mouthed kiss to her parted lips. “I want to make you scream my name.”
When this guy turned the tables, he really turned them. As in, he picked them up, and tossed them across the room. “Thought I already did.”
“You didn’t scream it. You whimpered. I want screaming.” He threaded his fingers through her hair. “I want to drive you crazy, make you beg.” His voice roughened. “Want to make you feel a fraction of what I feel.” He fisted her hair and held her for a kiss. “Want to be inside you.” He kissed her again. “That’s what I want, Lila.” He whispered against her trembling mouth. “What about you?” Releasing her hands, he sat back. “What do you want?”
“That,” she said. “Yes. What you just said. Sounds good. Yes. I am on board one hundred percent.”
“Yeah? You want to come apart under me? Want me to hold you down while I put my mouth on every part of you? You want to carry the ache of me with you for a week?”
Good lord. Her thighs tightened. Dirty talk. Lila was going to explode.
It had been damn hot when Burke was kissing her between telling her what he wanted to do to her. Sitting there with his eyes on hers, slouched back against the couch and not touching her, his deep voice quiet and steady in the dim room, was something else altogether.
“Yep,” Lila said. “You nailed it. That is what I want. Yes, yes, and yes.” She peppered his face with kisses. Then she straightened. “Hold up. No.”
Burke pressed clenched fists to his temples and groaned. “Lila.”
“Not until you promise me you’re not going to freak out again.”
“I didn’t freak out.”
“Burke. You freaked out.” She slid off his lap and backed up. Burke stood and followed, not allowing any distance to open between them.
“I didn’t freak out. I was disappointed.”
“Disappointed? Wow. Second to dirty talk—and it’s close—that is exactly what every girl wants to hear.” She hit the stairs, continuing to back up.
Burke reached for her and set his big hands at her waist, making sure she didn’t trip, but he kept his hold light. “With myself,” he said. “Disappointed with myself.”
They were at the top of the stairs. “Are we back to the order of orgasms again? It’s not math, you know. It’s not like, hmm, do I multiply first, or divide first, and what about the brackets?”
As if he couldn’t prevent himself from doing it, Burke tightened his grip and took her off her feet. There was no skirt to get in her way this time. Lila wrapped her legs around his hips and rested her forearms on his broad shoulders, staring into his face.
“I can do better,” Burke said. “Earlier, it kinda took me by surprise.” He hesitated. “What’s wrong?”
Lila was squinting at him. “I don’t believe it. You have freckles. Could you be any cuter? How have I not noticed until now? You have tiny little freckles, right at the top of your cheekbones.” She got so close his features blurred and she had trouble focusing.
Burke, the man with the dirty talk and the talented hands, was still her shy guy. He blushed hard. “I’m not cute.”
“No?”
“No.” It came out aggrieved, and a touch indignant.
“Sorry.” Lila tossed her hair. “Take me, you sexy animal.”
He glanced around questioningly.
“Take me through the second door on the left,” she told him, and kissed the line between his dark eyebrows.
“I wanted it to be good for you, Lila.” He stopped by her bed and laid her down, settling on top of her. He searched her eyes. “I’m going to make it so good.”
“Smile for me,” she said suddenly.
“What?”
“I love your smile.” She brushed her fingers over his mouth, which was already starting to curl. “Smile for me.”
He did. His heartbreaker smile. Something inside Lila’s chest squeezed so hard, the breath caught at the back of her throat in a tiny protest.
Burke kissed her forehead, and pushed off, swatting her hands away when she reached after him. “Take off your clothes.” He stared at her as he pulled his shirt over his head and undid his jeans. “Now.”
Lila whipped off her tank top, flopped onto her back and raised her hips to pull down her sleep shorts. Once she had them down to her knees, Burke grasped them and dragged them the rest of the way. She made a move to help him with his clothes.
He shook his head. “Stay there.”
Lila lay under his gaze, naked and impatient, as he toed off his boots, stripped off socks and then jeans, his focus on her the whole time. His boxer briefs were last to go, and he stood before her, eyes hot, letting her look her fill.
And there was plenty to admire.
Plenty.
He was so damn big, built along lines of power and strength that made everything in Lila sit up and take notice. And want to grapple.
She tracked her gaze from his wide shoulders, down his broad chest and tapering waist to his hips, and lower. Same as the rest of him, his cock was big, powerful, and she wanted to grab it.
Lila bit her lip and glanced up at Burke from below her lashes, in time to catch the dawning horror on his face.
“Shit,” he said, and bent to scoop his jeans from the floor.
Lila flung herself across the bed. “Oh no, you don’t—”
“Condoms,” he said. “I forgot condoms.”
She wrestled his jeans off him and threw them behind her to the other side of the bed. “I’ve got condoms.”
“Thank god,” he said. Then he laughed, loud and carefree. “Thank god.” He leaned over her, bracing a fist either side of her hips. “Where are they? Bathroom?”
“Nightstand.” She scrambled bac
k to the top of the bed.
Burke opened the drawer and went still.
“Burke? They’re in there, right?”
He turned to her. In one hand he held her vibrator, in the other a box of condoms.
She grinned.
Burke’s lips twitched as he returned the vibrator to the drawer. “We’ll come back to that,” he said, and opened a condom. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation or shyness left as he rolled it on.
Lila had never felt as wanted in her life as Burke made her feel, right that moment, as he came down over her. She wrapped her arms around him and offered up her lips. He kissed her. No hesitation or holding back here, either.
His tongue filled her mouth in languid, deliberate thrusts as a strong hand swept from her collarbone, down her ribs and over her hip, to grip the back of her thigh.
He drew her leg up high and curved it over his ass as he reached between them and guided himself inside.
They both held still. Burke’s eyes closed as if in pain and Lila kissed each eyelid in turn, tenderly. She gasped when he suddenly tangled his fingers in her hair, his face fierce, and started to move, rocking into her with powerful, demanding strokes.
Lila locked her ankles at the small of his back, shivering at the hot slide of his flexing muscles, the delicious jolt of his body against hers. She lifted her hips to meet him. He increased the pace, twisting into her as if he couldn’t get deep enough.
“More,” Burke said. He brought a knee up for better leverage, without breaking his rhythm.
Oh, god. He hit a spot deep inside that made Lila’s neck arch and her mouth fall open as she panted. “Burke.”
He got the other knee under him and sat back on his heels, fitting his hands to her waist and dragging her up onto his lap. He never stopped moving. Lila stretched her arms up and over to brace on the headboard. With each of his thrusts, the headboard banged against the wall. Lila burst into giggles.
Face alight with amusement, Burke laughed at her. His laughter quickly broke down into moans. “More,” he growled. He curled one hand around her neck, skating a thumb along her jaw to brush over her bottom lip as he stared at where they joined.
Lila bit him. “Come down,” she said. “I want you on me.”
“I’ll crush you.”
“Please. Please, I love this but I want you on me, Burke. I want to feel you everywhere. I can take it. I want it.”
He adjusted their position until he was over her again, breathing hard, skin scorching hot. “Tell me if I—”
“I will, I’ll tell you, please don’t stop—”
“Lila, I l—” He broke off and kissed her again, driving into her relentlessly. He tore his mouth away when she bucked hard into his flexing hips, arching as she called his name.
Eyes gleaming, Burke slid a hand between them and worked against her, pushing her orgasm higher, higher, until she screamed his name. “There it is,” he said.
Gasping for air, Lila held onto his shoulders and held his possessive gaze as his devastating rhythm stuttered. She caught his moan of release in her mouth and reveled as he shuddered against her.
For one short moment, his body relaxed, before he tried to move.
“No.” Lila tried to stop him, but there was no stopping Burke when he wanted to move. Braced for the chill of both the night air and of reality when he separated them, she had to press her lips together tight to not humiliate herself and beg.
But he didn’t separate them. “Stay with me,” he said instead, keeping them connected as he shifted to his back, bringing her on top. He smoothed a hand down her hair, down her back, spread his fingers wide over her butt. “Stay. I’ll take care of things in a minute. Just…stay with me, Lila.”
She smiled against his heaving chest. Her eyes fell closed even as she cupped his cheek.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Lila parked her car behind Jenny’s green Honda. There was no sign of Derek’s bike, or his SUV. Great. Lila got out. Halfway to the front door, she hesitated.
She had to tell Jenny at some point that she was leaving Emerson, but did it have to be today?
No.
No, it didn’t.
In fact, today was a terrible day to do it. She’d woken up at six, rolled over, and instead of finding the large warm man who’d been beside her the whole night through, she found cooling sheets.
Burke had slipped out without waking her, and Lila was mad as hell.
Mad was an improvement. At the time, she’d been shocked. After he’d woken her up during the night for a second round of intense sex that had left them both spent and gasping for breath, Burke had held her as tightly as he had the first time, if not tighter, wrapped in his arms as if he was never going to let her go.
They hadn’t at any point discussed the morning-after protocol, but for him to leave the way he did had been an unpleasant surprise, to say the least.
She’d had big plans for him and the shower. She’d wanted to make him breakfast. She’d had a stupid idea about kissing him goodbye on the doorstep.
She’d really wanted to kiss him goodbye.
But Burke had rolled out of her bed, gotten dressed, let himself out of the house and driven away.
No note.
Not even a text.
She checked her phone.
Nope, not even a text.
Lila sighed and walked back to her car. Today wasn’t the day to tell Jenny about Seattle.
Today was a day for going home and getting back into bed, pulling the covers over her head and—
“Hey! Where d’you think you’re going? Get your skinny ass in here!” Jenny stood in the doorway, one hand braced on the frame, the other holding the door open as she leaned out and yelled at Lila.
Sighing again, Lila stumped over.
“What—” Jenny began.
Lila hugged her.
“Oh.” Jenny’s arms came around Lila’s shoulders.
“Hi,” Lila said, squeezed Jenny gently, and stepped back. She bent down and said to Jenny’s stomach, “Hi.”
When Lila straightened, Jenny flicked her nose.
“Ow.”
“Why have you been avoiding me?” Jenny said.
Lila turned sideways first one way then the other, making a production out of trying to fit through the door, sucking in her own stomach and inching past Jenny into the hall.
Jenny scowled at the good foot and a half of clear space between them, then shut the door. “I’m not that big yet.”
Lila headed for the kitchen. “Bigger than when I saw you last.”
“Which brings us back to, why have you been avoiding me?”
“Jenny. We talked on the phone yesterday.” Lila dropped her tote onto a chair, pulled out another, and threw herself down.
“Nuh-uh. Phone calls don’t count. You’re avoiding me.” Jenny dithered between the coffeemaker and the kettle.
“Coffee,” Lila said, drawing the word out in two exaggerated syllables. As if she ever drank tea.
“I know. I was deciding for myself. If I’m going into an interrogation, I may need coffee.”
“I’ll spill. Don’t caffeinate the Tater tot.”
“You have got to stop calling her that.”
Lila stiffened, eyebrows high.
“Yep,” Jenny said. “It’s a girl.”
Lila shrieked and jumped up. She grabbed Jenny’s hands and danced them in a circle. Then she hugged Jenny again.
Jenny laughed. “Why are you so cuddly this morning?”
Lila cleared her throat and disengaged. “I’m naturally affectionate, and not afraid to show my feelings. Also, I’m happy for you! Sit down. I’ll make the coffee. I’ll make my coffee. You can have your usual disgusting chamomile tea.”
Jenny obediently took the chair Lila gestured at. “So? Are you going to tell me why you’re avoiding me or not?”
“I am not.”
“Lila, we’ve spoken maybe three times in the last ten days. Yesterday, it was for two minutes,
and you were calling from the store to see if I needed any more ginger tea.”
Lila picked the cup she’d set in front of Jenny back up. “Ginger. Right.”
“Put that down. Chamomile’s fine.” She stared at the cup for a moment, cheeks tinged green. “Although, can you grab me a saltine?”
“If you swear to me you won’t dunk it.”
“Gross. Why would I do that?”
“Cravings.”
“Not for saltines and chamomile tea.”
Lila went for the cabinet and grabbed the saltines. She shook a few out, put them on a plate, and set them by Jenny’s tea. She poured her coffee and sat down. She smiled at Jenny.
“Avoiding,” Jenny said.
“I haven’t been avoiding you. It’s called giving you space.”
Jenny looked baffled.
“Newlyweds,” Lila explained.
“Ah.” Jenny pushed back from the table, cradling the cup high and inhaling the herbal steam. “This is about Derek.”
Lila tipped her head to one side as if confused. “Derek?” she said.
“You think I haven’t noticed that since Derek moved in, you come over less? Since we got married and I told you about the baby, it’s been even less than that. You’re trying to fade into the background. Let me tell you right now, I am not having it.”
Lila shook her hair off her face and absently rubbed at a sensitive patch of skin on her neck. “I’m not fading,” she said. “Me? Background? Listen to yourself.”
Jenny wasn’t listening to anyone. She was staring at Lila. She put down the cup and leaned forward.
“What?” Lila said.
Jenny’s eyes, fixed on Lila’s neck, were huge. She pointed. “What is that?” she said.
“What?” Lila tucked her chin and attempted to look at her own neck.
“Is that beard burn?”
Lila clapped a hand over it. “No.”
Jenny reached over to pull Lila’s hand away. They had a flurried slap fight before Jenny grunted, “Stop slapping me, I’m pregnant.”
“Low.”
“I fight dirty. Hold still. Yep.” Jenny sat back, smiling big. “Beard burn.”
And that was all she said.
“Don’t you want to know who?” Lila demanded. Shut up what the hell you don’t want to tell her this.