Her Favorite Rival

by Sarah Mayberry

  She flung her phone onto the passenger seat, started the car and steered out into traffic. Instead of thinking or listening to the wet blanket screaming warnings in the back of her head, she punched on the radio and hit buttons until something loud and busy and pumpy blasted through the speakers.

  She felt dizzy with both fear and anticipation when she pulled up outside a Victorian workers’ cottage in a quiet, leafy street in Surrey Hills. Fear because she was afraid of what she was about to do, of how Zach might react to her arriving on his doorstep, of how she might be about to seriously mess up her life, and anticipation because she had been thinking about him, about this, for too long.

  She switched off the engine, grabbed her bag and got out of the car. The road was warm beneath her feet and she realized for the first time that she hadn’t put her shoes back on when she’d returned to the car.

  Well, she was hardly going to get them now.

  The front gate squeaked as she pushed it open. Her heart gave an almighty shimmy in her chest as she climbed the steps, fueled by adrenaline and excitement and trepidation. She could see a fuzzy reflection of herself in the opaque glass of the door, could see herself raise her hand. Her knock echoed in the small porch and sent a tremor up her arm.

  What if he doesn’t answer? What will you do then?

  What if he does?

  Footsteps sounded within the house. A shadow moved behind the opaque glass. She heard the snick of the lock. The door opened.

  He wore nothing but a sheen of sweat, a confused frown and a pair of low-riding running shorts.

  “Audrey.”

  She’d half expected her courage to dissolve like sugar in water the moment she saw Zach, and maybe it would have had he been fully clothed and perfectly groomed.

  But he was about as close to naked as it was possible for a man to get and not be arrested for public indecency, and a wave of pure, blistering lust swept over her. She wanted this. Better yet, she needed it.

  “Answer me honestly,” she said, way past niceties like hello and how are you and isn’t the weather great today? “What happened the other night at the bar—has it been on your mind? Have you been wondering what might have happened if we hadn’t stopped?”

  All confusion left his expression and his gaze was very intent, very focused. “Is that why you’re here?”

  “Yes,” she said. Because the time for playing games had passed.

  “Thank God.”

  He was reaching for her before she could process his words. One second she stood on the doorstep of his house, the next she was inside, her back against the wall, his mouth and body against hers. He tasted of heat, his tongue stroking hers with demanding greed, his body large and powerful as it pressed into hers. Her hands found his bare shoulders, closing over warm, hard muscle, even as his thigh slid between hers, forcing the heart of her into intimate contact with his leg.

  It was a pale shadow of what she really wanted, but she pressed herself against him anyway, frantic for satisfaction. For ten days she’d been dreaming about him. She wanted relief. She wanted to know.

  As if in answer to her thoughts, Zach’s roving hand smoothed down her hip and the side of her leg. She felt the coolness of air as he lifted her skirt, then moaned in encouragement as his palm smoothed its way up her thigh and between her legs. She was wet and hot, so eager for him, and she tilted her hips into his touch. He stroked her once, twice, through the damp silk of her panties before slipping past the fragile barrier. She gasped as he stroked the seam of her sex, and an almost animalistic growl vibrated through his body. Her hands tightened involuntarily on his shoulders as he slid a finger inside her. It was so good, so exactly what she needed that she swore, the single word leaving her on a shocked exhalation.

  He surprised her by breaking their kiss and lifting his head. “You know this is a terrible idea, right?”

  She blinked, her brain so fogged by lust she could hardly think. “You’re seriously asking me that while you have your hand in my underwear?”

  “If you want to change your mind, now is the time.”

  For a moment she was stunned that he could even think of stopping—she was so far gone it was a wonder she was still standing. Then she saw the barely leashed desperation in his beautiful eyes and understood that Zach was trying to be a good guy, despite the fact that he was hard as a rock where he was pressed against her hip.

  “If you move your hand I will strangle you with those obscenely small running shorts.”

  There was no mistaking the relief in his eyes.

  “You mean, like this?” He stroked her with his finger, his thumb sliding distractingly over the most sensitive part of her, his gaze never leaving hers.

  By way of answer she slid a hand into his hair and dragged him down for another kiss. His tongue took her mouth again as his hand worked magic between her thighs, stroking and teasing, all thought of stopping and being sensible clearly forgotten.

  Despite the fact that they’d barely started, she could feel her climax coming, could feel the tension building, and she wanted him inside her when she finally lost it. Needed it to be that way, needed to feel invaded and owned and utterly taken. Her hands smoothed down his back and across his belly. She plunged a hand inside his shorts to grasp his erection. He was achingly hard, and she slid a hand up and down his thick shaft, her thumb gliding over the silken head of his erection.

  He shuddered, pushing himself into her hand. She shoved his shorts down his hips, then reached beneath her skirt to do the same with her panties. He was quick to help her, then his hands were on her bare backside, his strong arms bulging as he lifted her. She wrapped a leg around his hips and guided him to her entrance. The feel of his thick hardness against her made her sob with anticipation. She tilted her hips to invite him inside—then froze as cold reality intruded.

  She wasn’t on the Pill. And he wasn’t wearing a condom.

  “Wait,” she said, wrenching her mouth away from his. “Condom. We need a condom.”

  He stilled, his whole body trembling, and she could feel the act of will it took for him to drag himself back from the edge of no return. “In my bedroom.”

  “How far is that?”

  “Down the hall, second door on the right. About a million miles.”

  She grinned, even though she trembled with unfulfilled desire. At least she wasn’t alone in feeling frustrated by necessity.

  He eased her down the wall and took a step backward. Her gaze moved down his body to his thighs, to the part of him that had been about to become a part of her. He was beautiful, thick and very hard and just the right length.

  She couldn’t help herself—she licked her lips.

  “Hold that thought,” he said. Then he turned on his heel and started up the hall.

  For a second she was mesmerized by the flex of his muscular backside as he walked away from her. He had an amazing body. Amazing.

  And it was about to be hers.

  She followed, hands reaching for the zipper on her dress. She kicked it off as she entered his bedroom, her bra next. He was on the bed, removing a shiny foil square from the bedside drawer. She joined him, crawling up the mattress. She didn’t give him a chance to take charge, plucking the condom from his hand before planting a palm in the middle of his chest and pushing him flat onto his back. She straddled him as his hands smoothed up her sides and onto her bare breasts. She watched him watch her as she tore the condom open with her teeth, stroking the thin latex onto his erection, hugely turned on by the dark flush in his cheeks and the knowing glint in his eyes.

  She positioned herself over him, ready to take them both to the place they needed to be, but he surprised her by lifting his head and tonguing her nipple. It felt so good, even better when he sucked hard before biting her gently. Her sex throbbed in response, and he took advantage of her momentary distraction to buck beneath her. A second later she was on her back, Zach above her, his arms braced on either side of her body.

  “Sneaky,�
�� she said.

  “You didn’t really think I was going to let you be on top the first time, did you?”

  She was still trying to come up with a suitable response when he nudged inside her, and then there was nothing but the feel of him, so hard and thick and hot as he stroked into her willing body.

  So good. Almost too good.

  Wrapping her legs around his hips, she gave herself up to the mindless, perfect pleasure of finally being naked with Zach.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  ARMS BRACED ON EITHER side of Audrey’s body, Zach stroked into her again, burying himself deep inside her wet, tight heat. She felt...amazing. Soft and firm at the same time, her skin velvety smooth beneath his hands. And her breasts... God, he loved her breasts.

  He lowered his head to draw a pale pink nipple into his mouth, teasing it with his tongue until it was tight and hard. He could smell her perfume and taste clean skin and something that he guessed must be pure Audrey. It was intoxicating, and he couldn’t get enough of it.

  She made an unintelligible noise, somewhere between a moan and a plea, and he realized she was very close. He didn’t think it was possible for him to get any harder but he did, spurred on by her absolute abandonment to pleasure.

  Wanting to make her even crazier, he slipped a hand between their bodies. She was already swollen and slick with need when he found her, but he could feel the new tension in her body as he teased her with his thumb. Her fingers dug into his hips as she urged him without words to go harder, faster. He obliged and was rewarded when she arched her back, her head dropping back, her eyes closing. Her breath came out on a shudder, her body tightening around his as she came.

  There was something about how lost she appeared, something about the flush across her chest, the small frown between her eyebrows, the way she strained toward him that pushed him over the edge. He’d wanted to last longer, to perhaps help her find pleasure a second time, but she was too hot, and he’d been thinking about her way too long.

  Pressing his face into the soft skin of her neck, he breathed in the scent of her as he drove himself home to the hilt. His climax hit him like a fist, squeezing him tight with pleasure so acute it was almost pain. Afterward, he let himself rest on her fully for a few seconds, momentarily spent.

  That had been...mind-blowing. Exactly what he’d needed. A million times better than any fantasy he’d ever had. A billion times.

  He could feel her heart pounding away, the vibration of it reaching him through their joined bodies. Like him, she was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Abruptly he realized how heavy he must be. Disengaging, he rolled to the side. He grabbed a tissue from the box beside the bed and took care of the condom and wound up on his back beside her, staring up at the ceiling, his mind a big, echoing void.

  No thoughts. No worries. No pressing need to do anything. There was only the pleasant heaviness in his body and the warmth of her arm and leg against his side and the knowledge that he wasn’t alone, and that was a good thing. A great thing.

  After a minute or two she stirred and he turned his head to look at her. She met his gaze unflinchingly, the way she did everything.

  “Well,” she said. “I guess that was kind of inevitable.”

  He couldn’t do anything but smile. “Probably.”

  “Can’t shove the genie back in his bottle, after all.”

  “Nope.”

  “Good to have it out of our systems, though. Now we can get back to business as usual.”

  She said it very matter-of-factly, as though they were dealing with a pesky work matter.

  He knew better than to think she was feeling matter-of-fact, though, no matter how light her tone was. He’d been inside her. Her fingernails had dug half-moon shapes into his skin. He’d watched her lose herself in spectacular fashion.

  He rolled onto his side, propping himself on his elbow so he could survey her at his leisure. He’d dreamed about this body for a long time, after all, and if this was his one shot at living his fantasy, he was going to take it and run with it.

  “Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s going to take more than what just happened to get you out of my system.”

  “Yeah?” She didn’t look too disappointed by the prospect.

  “Definitely. These breasts, for example...” He reached out and cupped one in his hand. Its curve fit his palm perfectly, the weight welcome and warm against his skin. “I’m going to need more time to get over them.”

  “Is that so?”

  He ran a thumb over her nipple and they both watched as it hardened in response, puckering beautifully.

  “Absolutely.” He smoothed his hand down her breast and onto her belly. Her abdominal muscles jumped as he slid south, past the tiny well of her belly button and into the soft curls at the top of her thighs. “Then there’s this. I’m going to need to put some serious man-hours into getting this out of my system.”

  “Man-hours. Are they different from woman-hours?”

  “Hell, yeah,” he said, leaning close to press a kiss to her belly. She smelled good there, too. He hadn’t shaved this morning and he used the bristle on his chin to gently abrade the soft skin of her stomach.

  She shivered, lifting her hips slightly, and he curled his hand over her mons so that his fingers dipped between her thighs.

  “You’re so soft,” he murmured against her skin. “That’s going to take some getting over, too.”

  “Is it?” Her voice was low and husky with need.

  He pressed an openmouthed kiss to her stomach, teasing her with his tongue. When he glanced at her again she was flushed, her hands fisted into the sheets beside her body as though she was afraid of what they might do if she let them have their way.

  She knew what he was doing, where he was going, and he could see it excited her beyond measure.

  Good, because this was one thing he’d always gotten off on, and feasting on Audrey was very high on his fantasy list.

  Returning his attention to her belly, he trailed kisses across her abdomen to her hip, licking along the curved ridge before following it into the valley where her belly met her thigh. She smelled deliciously of sex and woman, and he inhaled deeply before kissing her where she needed him the most.

  She tensed, a small sound escaping her mouth. He teased her with his tongue before sliding one finger, then two, inside her. She was incredibly wet and tight and he could feel himself growing hard again. Ignoring his own needs for now, he concentrated on giving her pleasure, using his hands and lips and tongue and teeth to drive her wild.

  “Zach... Yes.... That feels so good. You feel so good....”

  Her breathless words and the small, helpless noises she made almost destroyed his control. He’d never imagined she’d be vocal, but he loved it, especially when she called his name as she came a second time, her body trembling in his grip.

  She was still shaking with aftershocks when he slipped another condom on and moved over her, sliding inside her with one powerful thrust. Her hands found his hips, then his ass as he lost himself in her warm, willing heat, reveling in the clench of her body around his.

  “Zach... More... Please.”

  He swore, so turned on he almost came on the spot. Instead, he upped the pace, deepening the angle so that every withdrawal gave her the most stimulation. She tensed beneath him, her breasts thrusting forward as she arched her back. He ducked his head and sucked hard on her nipple and felt her climax roll over her. As it had before, her pleasure fed his and within seconds he was gone, lost on a wave of release.

  He was powerless to resist the tiredness that washed over him as he disposed of the second condom. He told himself he would close his eyes for a minute to allow himself some recovery time before he continued to exploit the stunning turn of luck or fate or whatever it was that had brought Audrey to his doorstep. Because no way was two times enough. Not when he had six months worth of half-acknowledged, fevered fantasies to draw upon.

  Without saying a word,
he pulled the covers over both of them, sparing a moment to press one last kiss to her soft, pretty mouth before succumbing to sleep.

  * * *

  HE WOKE ABRUPTLY to darkness and the dip of the bed as she slipped away.

  “Hey.” He reached out and caught her wrist as she passed by. “Where are you going?”

  He couldn’t see her face in the dimly lit room.

  “Home.”

  He didn’t want her to go. Not yet. They’d made a tacit agreement that this one time was it, their chance to indulge themselves, but it wasn’t only sex he was interested in. He was interested in her, the real her, not the professional her she presented at the office.

  “You must be hungry. Let me grab you something to eat before you go.”

  She didn’t respond immediately, and he took advantage of her hesitation to move to the side of the bed.

  “I make a pretty mean omelet,” he said.

  In reality, he wasn’t even sure he had eggs, but he was confident he could improvise something.

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  He reached across and flicked the light on, the better to find something to wear. She blinked rapidly in an attempt to adjust to the light. He hadn’t had the opportunity to fully appreciate her body earlier—he’d been too busy trying to get close to it—but now his gaze swept over her, pausing appreciatively at her full, rosy-tipped breasts before dropping to her belly and hips and legs. He’d always known she had great calves, but her legs in general were incredibly sexy—toned and athletic, but still womanly. And he’d already worshipped the curve of her hips with his hands and mouth.

  Was it any wonder he’d been hot for her since he walked into the Makers building all those months ago? Who wouldn’t want this woman?

  She was looking around and he guessed she was searching for her dress.

  “By the door,” he said, and she turned in that direction, offering him a heart-stopping view of her peach-shaped backside, complete with a colorful addition that he’d failed to notice until now: a tattoo, some kind of cartoon animal that occupied the top third of her right butt cheek. The edges were fuzzy, indicating it wasn’t a recent addition.