Unworthy (The Worthy Series Book 1)

by Lynne Silver

  He allowed her one more taste of his mouth; then he froze, holding her in place, foreheads pressed together, his palms on her temples. “Now it’s a deal,” he whispered.

  His hands fell and he grabbed hers to escort her back to the table. The moment they sat, he put her palm on his lap and covered it with his own bigger hand. If she stretched a finger, she’d be able to graze Ian’s happy place.

  God, she wanted to reach for her drink. Icy cold would be good now, but she was a righty and her dominant hand was occupado. Her coordination with her left was iffy on a good day, and given her jumpy nerves, she didn’t want to end up with a lapful of syrupy sweet alcohol.

  Amy was watching the byplay with interest, and Cat knew she’d get grilled later. Or whenever she and her friend were home alone again.

  “Got everything settled?” Lisa asked, looking too smug, as if she’d orchestrated the entire thing. As if Cat and Ian hadn’t been a thing since they were teenagers. “Because Amy and I were talking, and she realized she needs to hire someone to help in her store. Any retail experience, Cat?”

  Her hand involuntarily clenched on Ian’s thigh. She’d wondered about Amy’s store, but hadn’t wanted to ask, given that they were new to the whole roommate deal. She hadn’t wanted to overstep. She glanced at Amy. “Really?”

  Amy nodded. “I need help. I have some ideas about expanding and I’m going to need more employees. Why not hire you?”

  A grin stretched across her lips, and only the pressure of Ian’s hand holding hers kept her from leaping across the table to hug Amy. “This is perfect. I can work days with you and spend my nights with you.” She swiveled to look at Ian who smirked at her words. Too late she realized how dirty her sentence sounded. “You know what I mean, perv.” To change the subject, she asked, “Are you going to order food?”

  “Did you each order a roll apiece and a tiny ass bowl of miso soup?” he asked.

  All the women nodded.

  “Then hell yes, I’m going to order food.” He signaled to a waiter who was at their table within seconds. Cat’s hand relaxed on Ian’s thigh as he rattled off his order.

  When he was done ordering, he turned to her and said so quietly that Lisa and Amy couldn’t hear, “You ready to finish what you’re starting?” His gaze pointedly dropped to his lap and he raised his brows.

  Her cheeks heated, but she managed to keep her stare directly on him. “I am. Are you?”

  His even white smile flashed and then a dark look came over him. “Tonight. You sure you want me controlling your nights, too?”

  She swallowed over the image of exactly how Ian would control her nights, then managed to smile sweetly and remove her hand from his leg but not before running her hand intimately over his thighs, letting him know their night was just getting started.

  The first of the dishes they had ordered started to arrive from the kitchen, and she felt her chopsticks in her hand bringing raw fish morsels to her mouth, but she didn’t taste a thing. She had no problem when Ian ate off her plate, as it was a dish he’d ordered but generously told her he’d share.

  After the initial heat of that conversation had worn off, Cat managed to eat the rest of the dinner and hold a normal conversation with everyone. Bonus, now that she’d calmed down a fraction, she could taste the food, which was every bit as delicious as the restaurant reviewers had promised. Was this what life would be like for her from now on? Would it be skin-tight dresses, cocktails, and being seen at the trendiest restaurants in Miami at Ian’s side? It didn’t sound half bad. In fact, it sounded pretty damn good.

  Ian ate the last piece of Hamachi sashimi and washed it down with his Sapporo. Two hours ago, he’d been pissed and ready to end things with Cat before they’d begun. He had enough on his plate without adding the drama of a girlfriend, but he felt better when he learned she’d truly had no idea what she’d invited by hanging out at the Delamer.

  One beer and a good meal later, he was enjoying the company and content to sit back to see where the night would take him. This wasn’t his usual M.O. Yes, he did the excellent dinner at Miami’s best restaurants most nights of the week, but it was always the precursor to bigger, better, dirtier things.

  The attitude adjustment had everything to do with the girl sitting at his left. He’d known her since he was twelve, but it was as if he were meeting her for the first time this week. She’d rocked his world when she’d marched back into his life, and it had snowballed from there.

  His desire for her had been building at a rapid clip since their kiss, and right now, it was all he could do not to haul her out of her chair and find the nearest bit of privacy so he could explore the cleavage that beckoned to him from her cock-tease of a dress. It fucking killed him that she’d been blithely drinking at Delamer earlier with no idea that every man there was fantasizing taking her home with him. She was his, and if his claim stake here at Okto didn’t do it, he’d have to take an ad out in the Herald. In neon and flashing lights.

  Yeah, he was being an asshole. So fucking what?

  Cat swallowed hard as Ian turned the key to his top-floor apartment that surely had a great view of downtown Miami. It was go time. They’d spent the rest of the night at the sushi bar basically pretending to make conversation, all the while indulging in little touches that had her body at heightened awareness. When it was time to leave the restaurant, words hadn’t been necessary. Ian’s arm wrapped firmly around Cat’s shoulders in a possessive move. Lisa would drive Amy home. While waiting in the valet line, there’d been time for a quick silent eye conversation with Amy, making sure her roommate was cool with Cat ditching her.

  When Ian walked around his Maserati to get in the driver’s seat, Amy gave her a quick fierce hug. “I’m happy for you. Be safe, have fun, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Cat hugged her back and then was in the sleek car, zooming away. She and Ian had made it clear to each other that they were taking it to the next step and she’d been fully on board. Down the rabbit hole she dove into a life that didn’t at all resemble her former life, waitressing and wondering how she was going to afford the dented cans at Winn Dixie.

  Only now that reality was in her face, in the form of the tall male gripping her hand with his free one, doubts were coming to play. “Have you lived here long?” she asked into the looming awkward silence.

  “About a year.” And the door was open.

  Then they were inside, and her gaze circled the room but took in nothing. There could’ve been an elephant in the corner for all she knew. It was hard to notice anything above the pounding of her heart. Ian was speaking to her, but it sounded as if his words were traveling through a tunnel of cotton balls before they got to her.

  “Cat, relax.”

  She smiled up at him. “I’m relaxed. I’m cool. I’m—”

  “You’re shaking,” he said dryly.

  She finally relaxed enough to laugh. “Sorry. It’s been a while, and it’s you.”

  He met her gaze, and the solemn look on his face calmed her more than any words. He was feeling the moment, too; she could tell.

  “Come on.” He reached for her hand again and tugged her lightly toward the closed door off to their right.

  She stepped into the bedroom, aware of his touch at every second. He wasn’t feigning or hiding his desire for her, which she appreciated. He’d made it clear he wanted her to follow him to his bedroom, and she was all in.

  She blinked to get used to the dimness in his bedroom. Blackout shades hung floor to ceiling blocking any ambient city light. It was as if she stepped back into a cave. It meant she couldn’t see Ian’s face when she entered the room and stepped toward the bed. She could hear him, and his dark words had her swallowing and quivering with excitement.

  “Strip,” Ian said from where he was a dark shadow standing next to the bed.

  Cat froze and squinted. She wanted to see his face. “Can you turn on a light, Ian?”

  A light on the nightstand snapped on, and she blinked at the sudden f
lare of brightness.

  On second thought, maybe light was a bad idea. She wanted to see him in the buff, but didn’t crave doing a striptease for him. On her budget, her biggest workout was carrying trays of empty drinks to the bar. Ian had always been an athlete, and from what she’d felt through his clothing during their kisses, he was still incredibly in shape.

  She felt her cheeks heat and muttered, “Sorry. Feeling a little shy here.”

  His palm was so tender as it caressed her face and came to a stop on her shoulder. “No need to be shy. You’ve seen me naked before.”

  “Not really.” Her gaze lifted to meet his on her protest as they remembered their one fumbled in-the-dark coupling, and then she remembered the one time she’d seen him naked. She had seen him naked, but he’d been fifteen and she was twelve. She and a friend had decided to spy on Danny and his friends when they’d changed into swimsuits for the pool. She and her friend had been caught and duly chased around the house, then tossed in the pool in their clothes.

  She laughed, instantly feeling more at ease. “I’m hoping we’ve both changed a bit since then.”

  His grin was almost predatory. Ian sidestepped her to sit back on the bed. She was on edge with how he watched her like he was waiting for that striptease. “Ready to get naked now, baby?”

  “Is that what you want?”

  “Cat. If I expressed my true wishes, you’d be naked and kneeling on the bed. I’d be balls deep in you.”

  His hand grabbed her and touched her cheek at what she knew was a shocked expression.

  “Shit, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “You were honest. I can’t fault you for that,” she said, staring at his chest, embarrassingly aroused at his crude words.

  “No, I wasn’t.”

  She swiveled to look him in the eye. Difficult, really, to focus on his face, when he was looking at her so intently. “You weren’t honest?”

  “Do I want to bend you over the bed and take you hard? Hell yes. But not like you’re a whore. I want to give you pleasure. I want to hear you scream my name as you come.” He leaned closer and traced a finger down her cheek. “My name, Cat, because I want you thinking only about me when I’m filling you and giving you some seriously good orgasms.”

  Her stomach did a little happy dance. “Seriously good orgasms?” She’d leaned closer, and their lips were inches apart.

  His nod brought his lips to hers, and she welcomed his kiss.

  Together, they fell sideways onto the mattress, locked in a deep embrace. Her breasts brushed his chest, and his erection was a hot brand against the flimsy barrier of her tiny dress.

  Her body fought to get closer to him. She wanted to feel him on every inch of her skin. His hands were all over her body, ass, boobs—which had her gasping—and face. “Kiss me,” she managed, and his lips found hers sending her arousal into the stratosphere.

  She’d never wanted anyone the way she wanted Ian. Now she realized the one time they’d had sex, she’d been a teenager and it was before she truly understood what wanting meant. His muscles tensed under her touch, and she wanted to spend hours exploring his taut body and every intriguing muscle.

  Her bra was constricting her and she wriggled away from Ian to sit back and tug her dress and bra off. The moment her skin was bare, his mouth found her nipples, and she froze with the bra tangled around her hands, arms in the air.

  Ian gently pushed her back on the mattress with her hands occupied, and proceeded to make a feast of her body. His talented tongue was everywhere, eliciting begging and pleas for him to give her satisfaction.

  She now understood why women got silly around Ian Lawrence. She’d mistakenly thought it was his job, his position of power that was the allure, and while those things were strong, it was him. He was the draw.

  “Ian,” she begged. “Please.”

  He hovered over her, resting his body on his elbows. His mouth paused between wet kisses on her chest. “Please what?”

  “Fuck me,” she moaned.

  “Not yet. Having too much fun.”

  “You’re killing me.”

  “I waited forever to see you like this,” he said. “Not gonna rush it now.”

  She was going to combust before he even got naked. Shit. She closed her eyes and lay back on the bed, giving up control to him. He played her like a finely tuned instrument, and she sang for him.

  They kissed and fondled each other for long minutes until Cat thought she would explode with need. She wanted them both to get fully naked, but Ian’s hands hadn’t left her long enough for her to remove her panties.

  “Ian,” she said, freezing their love play. “I want…”

  He shifted to kneel beside her and helped her tug her bottoms off and then he was on her again, only this time there was no barrier. His mouth and his fingers were between the lips of her wet pussy, and soon she was moaning with need.

  “Gorgeous,” Ian murmured.

  She tried to reach below his waist, undo his pants and feel all the goodness she’d felt rubbing against her thighs and belly, but he didn’t let her grab his erection.

  “Too soon. I want to make this last.”

  She groaned. “But I can get tortured instead?”

  He smiled from where he was suddenly balanced over her, but it was more of a smirk that told her who was in charge in this bed.

  Hint: It wasn’t her.

  “Ian, please. I want to touch you.”

  Abruptly, he rolled onto his back and unbuttoned his shirt. Slowly, like he was a professional stripper who knew his audience was drinking back every inch of skin revealed. Finally he got to his pants and removed them quickly along with his underwear. He’d moved so fast, she hadn’t even seen whether he was a boxers or briefs kind of guy. His penis stuck out pointing toward his chin. He was gorgeous, all long, lean muscles and flat nipples she wanted to lick.

  So she did.

  His skin was salty and uniquely his.

  “Straddle me,” he said and gently tugged her until her core lined up with his erection. When he slid along her damp passage, she moaned and undulated, trying to get closer.

  “Jesus, baby. You’re so wet.”

  “For you,” she murmured and leaned up to find his mouth.

  He generously shared his lips, and the thoroughness with which he explored her mouth nearly brought her to tears. She hadn’t expected his tenderness. When she’d decided to become his lover, she’d expected hot, hard couplings.

  Not tenderness.

  But gentle and tender was what he gave her, undoing her by inches.

  “Please, Ian.”

  This time, he capitulated, leaning slightly to one side to grab a condom out of the nightstand drawer. He handed the foil packet to her and she stared for a second.

  She was no virgin, but the guy had always taken care of the condom. That he wanted her to take care of the task felt as intimate as a kiss.

  With slightly shaking hands, she ripped open the square and unfurled the latex over his erection.

  “Ride me,” he ordered.

  Oh God.

  She scooted back up his thighs and grasped his cock, lining it up. It took two attempts, but she finally sank down on him letting the fullness overtake her. He gave her a second to adjust and then his hands were on her hips and he was thrusting up into her body, rolling her hips, and touching her intimately with every thrust.

  She didn’t know how it was happening, but somehow he was in control from the bottom. In her previous experience, the person on top controlled the pace. Not with Ian.

  He led their dance, and she hung on for the ride.

  And what a ride. He knew what he was doing.

  His cock moved inside her, hitting all her sensitive, needy spots.

  Within seconds, she was gasping and felt the beginnings of her orgasm.

  “Let it go, baby. Come for me.”

  She obeyed.

  When she was once again cognizant of space and time, she fo
und herself on her back; Ian balanced above her. Her thigh was bent under his arm, leaving her knee practically by her ear.

  His measured thrusts grew harder and faster.

  Sweat gleamed on his forehead and his eyes were closed in concentration.

  She kept her eyes open, loving the view of him in the throes of his pleasure.

  His speed increased and she lifted her hips to meet his thrusts. Unbelievably, she felt an orgasm building again. Ian was setting all kinds of firsts for her tonight.

  “Gonna come, baby,” he growled in her ear.

  She squeezed her eyes shut and blindly nodded, opening herself to meet his body.

  “Fuck,” he said as his cock jerked inside her.

  Ian’s heartbeat was a jackhammer in his chest. He rolled off Cat and leaned back against his headboard. He stared at the far wall of his bedroom. Next to him, Cat was curled trustingly against his torso, like a kitten waiting for affection from its mama.

  Fuck. He didn’t know how to give affection in bed.

  Orgasms, yes. Tenderness, no.

  Other women didn’t expect anything from him except a fun time in bed, maybe some dinner before or after and an open invitation to one of his parties.

  He had no clue what Cat’s expectations were, but he was pretty sure he’d fail them all.

  “Ian,” she murmured and reached a hand up to pet his chest. “Let’s sleep.”

  Well, that he could do. As long as she gave instructions he was willing to follow, maybe it wouldn’t be so hard pleasing Cat.

  The harder question was why he was so keen on pleasing her.

  A little voice in his brain told him this was why he’d been wary of getting naked with her in the first place. Because she mattered.

  He couldn’t treat her like the other women.

  Hell, he’d never treated her like other women. He’d treated her like a little sister all through high school. Until she was a legal adult and he fucked her once. Then he’d ignored her with every intent to stay out of her life. That plan had been shot to hell.