Girl Gone Wild

by Joanne Rock

  Yet the only thing Hugh had thought about for three days straight was getting back to Giselle so he could see for himself if he’d just dreamed her potent effect on him.

  He hadn’t.

  His whole body thrummed with leashed hunger for her as she turned toward the counter and reached for a mango. The rear view of her was just as delectable as the front, and he shamelessly indulged his eyes while she reached for a knife to cut the fruit.

  A vibrant turquoise dress clung to her curves and exposed miles of tanned legs. Gently rounded hips swayed to one side while she worked, snagging his gaze and making his hands ache to simply grab on and pull her back against him. But Giselle wasn’t the kind of woman you played rough with any more than she was the kind of woman who would enjoy fast food. Instincts told him she liked taking her time to prepare—whether it be herself or her food—so that she could enjoy the end result all the more.

  Fine by him. He’d been living a stark existence for so damn long he couldn’t help but appreciate the finer things in life on occasion. Giselle’s cultivated tastes and penchant for pleasure was like a shock to his senses, a splash of color in his black and white print world.

  “You’ve done very well,” she announced as she pivoted to face him, licking her fingers. “The fruit you’ve chosen is just the right sweetness.”

  His gaze roamed the body that filled out her dress in all the right places. “I have a very good eye.”

  She reached for a juicy yellow chunk on the cutting board and held the piece out to him. “Try a taste so you can see what I mean.”

  He spied the challenge in her dark brown eyes. Curving his hand around hers, he guided her fingers to his lips. Tasted the sweet morsel along with Giselle’s sweeter flesh. His eyes never left hers.

  “Delicious.”

  She frowned. “Are you sure you didn’t get a dry piece? Because you sound a little hoarse to me.”

  His jaw clenched tight while he wondered how long she’d keep him hanging. Waiting. But she didn’t look very inclined to quit the game yet as she turned back to the counter and snagged a bottle of champagne.

  “I know what you need.” She unfurled the foil from the top of the bottle. “A little champagne ought to whet your whistle and teach you lesson number two about oral pleasure.”

  She wrapped her hand around the cork and eased it out with a pop while Hugh wondered how many more times he could hear her say the words oral and pleasure in the same sentence before he lost control.

  “I don’t know if a drink is what I need right now.”

  Waving away his concern, she fished around in the cabinet for two wineglasses, then dug into her grocery sacks for a basket of mixed berries.

  “You haven’t tried the drink yet. Your taste buds will thank me.”

  “Maybe I have better things to do with my tongue than sip champagne.” He hadn’t meant to be blunt, but apparently his control was slipping faster than he’d realized.

  “Haven’t you heard of heightening the senses?” She washed some strawberries and raspberries, then dropped them into the glass flutes. “It’s good to cleanse the palate with a nice dry wine before you move to any new flavors.”

  He watched her pour the champagne over the berries, then he accepted the flute she offered him.

  “You’re wrong there.” He took the bubbling beverage but didn’t drink. Instead he moved closer to brush her temple with his chin, his words trickling down to her ear. “The sweet flavor I have in mind goes with anything.”

  A noticeable shiver tripped over her skin, igniting goose bumps along her arms while she sipped her concoction.

  She licked her lips afterward, as if she didn’t want to waste a single drop. “Who’s giving this lesson anyway?”

  Hugh finished his drink too quickly, then fished out a berry with one finger. “Sorry. Just thought I’d clarify exactly what kind of palate pleaser I’m looking for.”

  As he crushed the berry between his teeth, he watched Giselle’s breath quicken, the subtle movement of her chest a sure draw to his eye.

  She spun her flute in small circles between her fingers, absentmindedly swirling the berries in her glass while her drink bubbled and fizzed. Their gazes connected, held. Until hers slipped to his mouth. Lingered.

  It was only for a few seconds, but it was as much as a man on the edge could take. He stripped her glass from her hand and set both flutes on the countertop while his lips descended to hers. Their mouths mated, tongues dueling for the tastes they both sought. Her body sank into his, her insubstantial bright blue dress doing little to conceal the shape and feel of her luscious curves.

  Arms banding around her, Hugh pressed her more tightly to him, savoring the faint nudge of her taut nipples and soft breasts against his chest. Her hips twisted and turned against his thighs, her whole body moving in a slow, sensual dance of hungry seeking.

  “You taste better than anything I’ve ever tried.” He didn’t tell her to try to compliment her, it was simply an honest truth that blared across his brain as she slid her tongue over his. Not wanting to hurt her, he turned them around so that he would be leaning against the counter instead of her.

  “Which brings me to the next element of the lesson.” She leaned back enough to snag a raspberry off the counter and pop it into her mouth. Closing her eyes, she seemed to savor the fruit, her expression orgasmic. “Every chef knows that when you find a taste you enjoy, by all means, take the time to delight in it fully.”

  “You’re suggesting I take my time?” Hugh skimmed his hands down her spine to press lightly into the small of her back.

  She plucked up another berry to rub across his lips and tease his tongue. He bit into the flesh, allowing the juice to coat his tongue, her finger. The fruit was sweet with just the right amount of tang, but he continued to suck and nip Giselle’s finger even after it was gone.

  “Taking your time can be a good thing.” Her eyelids fluttered, her body sinking into him all the more deeply as she shrugged. “Knowing how to best indulge the senses is critical to culinary success and taste satisfaction.”

  “I think my male ego is wounded.” He stroked his thumbs over her hips and down her thighs, igniting a tiny shiver that shimmied through her whole body. “You may be sorry you suggested I take things slow.”

  “I didn’t want to deprive you of valuable knowledge.” Her sly grin was utterly unrepentant.

  Inching up the hem of her dress, he palmed her thigh, stroking the inside of her leg with slow, easy touches. “Then consider it well learned.”

  Could he help it if he relished the rapid rate of her heart pounding against his, the small catches in her breath that came in time with his teasing brushes over her thigh? Bending closer to her neck, he vowed to start savoring the dish at that very moment.

  “So I take it I was successful in teaching you my oral pleasure lesson?” She murmured the words between sighs and kisses, tilting her head to one side to give Hugh better access to the long column of her neck he had only just discovered.

  God, she tasted great there, too.

  “Honestly?” He slid his hands inside her dress that wrapped around her waist and tied at the hip. Fingers smoothing over creamy skin, he flicked his tongue around her earlobe, then nibbled the soft flesh there. “You might have left out a few important parts.”

  “I may have gotten a little distracted along the way.” Her thighs twitched in hungry rhythm.

  “But at least I remember everything you told me.” He found the tie holding together her bright blue dress and unfastened the bow. Heat built inside him, clamoring for more of her. This being patient might kill him but, by God, he planned to take his time until she was as desperate for him as he was for her. “First, I need to test for ripeness before going any further.”

  As her dress slid open to reveal a tiny pair of silky yellow panties and a matching yellow silk and lace bra, Hugh thought he’d never seen anything so spectacular. Not that she was the most perfectly sculpted woman he’d ev
er seen, but simply because she was so completely unabashed, as if she couldn’t wait to display herself for him.

  Nothing could be more appealing.

  He reached for her long before he’d looked his fill. Giselle whimpered as he dipped his hand into her panties.

  He reached past the silky soft curls to cup her mound, absorbing her feminine heat. Her back arched, thrusting her hips more fully against his hand. Only then did he slip one finger inside her to find the source of that heat. Slick and wet, she squeezed him even as she welcomed him, her knees going limp beneath her as she sank into his touch.

  His every muscle flexed, hardened, strained to be a part of her, to get inside her and soak up all that silky warmth. But he couldn’t. Must not.

  Somehow he’d find a way to slow the pleasure, tease her. Take her to sensual heights she’d never dreamed possible.

  Still, it took Herculean effort to ease his finger back and leave that tight heat. But she clutched his shoulders and cried out at the loss, assuring him it wouldn’t be easy for her to take her time, either.

  “Very luscious, but maybe you’re not quite ready yet.” He withdrew his hand from the scrap of fabric and made a show of tugging the damp silk back into place. Trailing his fingertips lightly across her belly, he reached up to cup her breasts, skimming the taut nipples that already puckered against the material.

  “Maybe you’re taking my lesson a bit too literally. I think I’m more than ready for you.” She gasped as he circled the tight peaks, her arms snaking around his neck tighter.

  Damn but that pleased him. He knew he could tempt her to her limits and show her he knew how to give as well as receive.

  Nudging one strap of her lemon-yellow bra off her shoulder, he kissed her skin, licking a path inward to her neck while he steadied her body with his hands.

  “Don’t worry, Giselle. I think I’ve got a few ideas to help you reach the peak of sweetness.”

  9

  GISELLE SANK HER FINGERS deeper into Hugh’s broad shoulders, admitting she’d probably made a tactical error in suggesting the man take his time. She’d missed him for three days straight, though, and had twice been left hanging by his phone calls, so was it any wonder that she’d wanted to ensure he stayed with her for hours on end this time? She wanted to indulge herself in nonstop Hugh Duncan until she collapsed in exhaustion.

  But she hadn’t meant to imply she needed all that sensual satisfaction up-front. She wanted Hugh inside her now every bit as much as the man so obviously wanted to be there. Running her hands along an erection that could have been the model for the erotic statuary in the Pleasure Parthenon, she decided to clear up the matter now.

  “Um, Hugh?” Somehow he’d removed her bra and now cupped her aching, tingling breasts in his hands. When he rolled one nipple between his thumb and forefinger, the pleasure knifed straight through her to swirl low in her abdomen. “Regarding that comment I made about taking your time? You might have misinterpreted—”

  She halted abruptly as he lifted her up on the kitchen counter, spreading her thighs so he could step between them. The cool granite beneath her did little to stanch the fire inside.

  “I don’t think so.” He rubbed the yellow silk triangle of her panties with two teasing fingers until Giselle thought she’d jump right out of her skin.

  “Actually, I fear you might have.” She felt her body tightening up inside, knew the tension-filled signs of an orgasm waiting to happen. Gripping his upper arms with determined fingers, she wondered if she could steer his touch right where she needed it to be. “Because it definitely wouldn’t be a problem for me to go in the bedroom right now and get naked and—”

  He kissed the rest of her words away even as he paused in the gentle panty massage that was driving her to the brink of insanity.

  “You wouldn’t want to deny me oral pleasure at its most satisfying, would you?” He pressed his thumb against the throbbing center of her, no doubt feeling the racing pulse of that tender spot. “I can’t wait to taste you.”

  His words nearly undid her. Would have sent her over the edge if only he hadn’t removed the exquisite pressure of his thumb at that moment.

  Wrapping her legs about his waist, she kept him close, needing the release that he could wrest from her so effortlessly. She might have told him she couldn’t wait, that she needed him right now, but her thoughts were so scattered even speaking seemed an effort. She could only feel, her every nerve tightly attuned to Hugh’s next touch.

  His hands moved to her hips and the satin ties that kept her panties in place. Unfastening the tiny bows that secured the garment, Hugh took his time enjoying the view.

  She didn’t think it was possible for the tension to coil any more tightly inside her, but at his intimate stare, her body responded with more heat, more hunger, more all-consuming need.

  When his green gaze finally met hers, there was something dark and feral about his expression. “I think I have a good eye for tasty delicacies at their peak. What was it you said about taking my time to enjoy?”

  It’s a good thing.

  A very fan-freaking-tastic good idea.

  Only she didn’t stand a chance of ungluing her tongue from the roof of her mouth. The ache between her legs was too intense for her to do anything but wait.

  At the first flick of his tongue, the shudders started. Pleasure tore through her in relentless waves, fed by his tongue delving deeper, probing longer. She couldn’t tell where one lush pulse of her senses stopped and the next one began. She only knew her body undulated with torrents of hot pleasure.

  Her fingers fisted in his hair, her knees slung over his shoulders as she held on to him and rode the waves. She’d never felt anything like this long, drawn-out orgasmic nirvana. But she wasn’t letting go until she’d milked every pleasurable spasm from the incredible contact.

  Finally, when her body was spent and she slumped bonelessly against the cupboards behind her, Hugh scooped her off the counter and lowered her to the center of the kitchen floor. A thick rug decorated with dark purple grapes covered the ceramic tiles there, but Giselle wouldn’t have cared if they’d been lying on gravel. She’d discovered a depth of pleasure she hadn’t even known was possible, but still she craved the ultimate completion of feeling Hugh inside her. Looping her arms around his neck, she drew him down on top of her, coaxed his mouth to hers.

  Vaguely, she sensed him undressing as he kissed her. And somewhere in the back of her mind her brain registered the fact that he’d brought a condom, and that he was taking care of her even when she lay utterly wasted by bliss. Raining kisses over his face, she tugged him closer and closer still.

  And then he was there, poised between her thighs. Heavy, hot and hard.

  She squeezed his buttocks, urging him near. Then he was inside her, filling her, forcing her to cry out with the sheer animal joy of the union.

  At some point she opened her eyes, spied Hugh’s intense green gaze on her and felt their connection all the way to her toes. Deep. Intimate. And too scary to contemplate now.

  Retreating back into the purely physical realm, she locked her ankles behind his back, effectively sealing herself to him. Hips thrust forward, she tilted herself to take all of him, her body on fire for everything the man was willing to give.

  As another wave of orgasms rocked her body and Hugh gave into his own release, she couldn’t help but remember that look of possession in his eyes as she hoped what he had to give wasn’t more than she’d bargained for.

  HOLY HELL.

  They weren’t the words of endearment that women probably wanted to hear after sex, but it was all Hugh could think for at least ten minutes after he’d taken Giselle on the middle of her kitchen floor.

  Her kitchen floor? Damn, he didn’t even know for sure if this was her house or if she shared it with other people. He’d thought she lived at the hotel. Still, he obviously hadn’t been worried about potential roommates walking in on them when he started undressing her in the kitchen.
Or when he’d driven her into sensual oblivion on the kitchen counter.

  Holy—

  Damn but he needed to pull his thoughts together before he did something stupid like say his mindless epithet out loud. “Are you okay?” Lifting himself off of her, he forced his mouth to move, to speak words that weren’t of the four-letter variety.

  She blinked sleepily at him, her hair fanning out around her creamy skin. “Other than potential rug burns, I’m deliriously excellent. Thanks for teaching me the meaning of multiorgasmic.”

  His hand was already slipping around to check her back when she’d tacked on the multiple-O part. He stilled. “Are you serious?”

  “Now don’t try to pretend like every other woman you’ve ever been with has been some sort of orgasm goddess or I’ll feel like I’m way behind in my sensual development.”

  “Hell no.” So much for his postcoital four-letter word restraint. “I wouldn’t even know the faked kind from the real thing, so it’s a definite ego boost to hear you were…moved.”

  “Like a rocket.” She traced lazy patterns over his chest with one finger, looking for all the world like she would be content to lie on the floor for the rest of the day.

  “Yeah, well, I’m not going to pat myself on the back until I see what I did to your spine.” He scooped her off the small carpet along with their clothes, being careful not to graze the small of her back where the rug burns must be.

  Scoping out the terrain for the first time since he’d spotted Giselle washing vegetables at the kitchen sink, he realized he had absolutely no idea where the bedroom would be.

  “Wait.” Giselle reached over his shoulder to snatch the champagne bottle and a pint of black raspberries off the counter. “My bedroom’s that way.” She pointed with her toe. “And I only have myself to blame for the rug burns. I think it was me who went a little crazy at the end.”

  He snorted, knowing exactly who was to blame. Pausing at the first bedroom he came to, he peered in to see a mammoth sleigh bed covered by some kind of girlie-looking patchwork quilt with two joined circles in the center.