She reached for him, but he stopped her. “Condoms,” he all but sputtered, and she understood he wanted to be inside her, and fast.
She wasn’t about to get in the way of such a truly excellent idea. “Where are they?” she asked.
“In the bedroom,” he muttered, already moving away from her.
She giggled at the sight of his firm rear end hustling from the kitchen. When he returned, her laughter died in her throat. He’d already donned the condom and was more than ready. Before she could draw her next breath, he hoisted her up against the purring fridge.
Her hips were in his big, capable, hot hands and her legs were wrapped around his waist. He kissed her, deep and hard and she tasted her own pleasure and a hint of coffee.
She felt his hardness probing and the shiver of appreciation as he drove high up into her body. The fridge was cold and hard against her back and Sterling was hot and hard against her front, but it was the thrusting heat inside her body that had her going out of her mind.
Her hands, clinging round his neck, clawed at his shoulders as their bodies thrust together, as primal and satisfying as a jungle drum.
He groaned, but it was more a groan of pain than pleasure and her eyes flew open.
“Sterling. I’m too heavy! Put me down.”
“You’re not heavy. I have a bad knee. But don’t worry, I’m not leaving your body until we both come,” he said through gritted teeth.
She couldn’t argue with his logic, but neither could she let him continue hurting himself. “Bedroom,” she gasped.
“Floor,” he responded in turn.
He eased them down until he lay on the floor and she straddled him. It had taken some maneuvering from them both, but he was still imbedded inside her.
She grinned into his face, then leaned forward and kissed him deeply. Her thigh muscles protested when she tried to push up on them, so she lay flat atop him, put her legs between his and pushed her toes against the kitchen tile, rocking against him.
And she never stopped kissing him.
He thrust his tongue deep in her mouth as she climaxed, swallowing the loudest of her cries. Then he groaned into her mouth as the deepest, jerking thrusts and the gorgeous rush of liquid heat filled the latex protecting them.
She lay sprawled atop him, her head against his chest, and started to laugh.
“What?”
“Nothing. I think it’s just the adrenaline wearing off.”
“Hopefully not too much. I had a lot of fun. Give me a few minutes then we can go at it for another round.”
“Me, too.” She lifted her head to smile down into his face. “I thought somebody might call the cops the way I was yelling.”
His deep chuckle rumbled beneath her. “Anyone with a little bit of common sense would have known those were screams of pleasure.”
“I should have warned you,” she said, dropping her gaze to his chest and plucking softly at the light spatter hair there. “I’m kind of noisy.”
“I like it.”
“You do?” She raised her head in suspicion. Was he teasing?
“Sure. A lady out in public, and totally unrestrained in the bedroom. My kind of woman.”
She chuckled to herself, feeling extremely reassured. “You could go deaf. So don’t say I never warned you.”
Sterling grinned. “Next time I’ll use earplugs.”
Chapter Eight
Sterling reached out, almost lazily, and scooped a shiny, wet ice cube into his fingers.
“This was a great idea.” He stretched forward and slid the cold wetness over the slope of her breast, where the skin was bare, and rubbed it onto the swimsuit cover up fabric and right over her bulging nipple.
The skin where he’d touched her was wet and textured with goose bumps, her nipple the mother of all goose bumps.
She didn’t answer, unless a faint sigh counted. The ice was cold against his fingers, the surrounding feeling of her skin bordering on hot. He liked the combination. He got the distinct feeling she did, too. He didn’t stay in one place long enough for the cold to get uncomfortable. He kept the ice in motion until droplets of water glistened across her upper chest and slid down to disappear between her breasts. He dried his hand by running it down over the cover up. He felt her heart pounding and heard the short breaths she took. She sounded incredibly aroused for so little action. He loved how quick and responsive her body was. To think he’d almost denied himself this pleasure was frightening.
After the explosive moment they’d shared earlier in the kitchen, he’d scratched their plans to get out and spend time exploring. Instead he’d suggested they stay at the house and relax. It’d been a good idea. After a short nap, he and Naja had returned to the kitchen for a late breakfast slash early lunch. Once the food had been consumed and the kitchen cleaned, he’d enticed her to go for a relaxing stroll on the beach. Afterwards he lured her back to the beach house with the promise of a treat she wouldn’t forget, one she really appeared to enjoy as they lay in the bed together.
“What would you think if I wanted to tie you up?” he asked. He picked up a scarf and her eyes widened. He gripped it, flexing it between his hands. “I found this in one of the drawers when I first arrived. I believe it belongs to Kate, Elton’s wife. However, I don’t think she’ll mind if we use it.”
He reached out and ran the yellow scarf down her arm, curling it around her wrist.
He’d never been a big fan of bondage. He liked the feel of his lover’s hands roaming and touching whatever they felt like touching, especially when it was Naja’s hands. He hated to put them out of commission. Then again, the idea of having her helpless, of taking total control, would add spice to their encounter.
Having her helpless beneath him while he pleasured her seemed like a pretty good plan.
“You didn’t plan to tie me up, did you?”
“N-no,” she said, her body sending off waves of heat that belied her stuttered negative.
“Well then,” he said, leaning in to kiss her, “what do you think?”
“I’m not big on the, um, the bondage thing,” she said haltingly.
“Uh-huh. Can you lift your arms for me, honey?”
She did, and as he slid the cover up over her head she said from inside the cotton material, “I’m not used to giving up control, you see.”
He was glad her eyes were covered so she couldn’t see his smile. “Sometimes trying new things is good for you.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m helping you out of your swimsuit.”
“Shouldn’t you finish taking my cover up off?”
He let the bikini bottoms slide straight to the floor then stood back. “No. I think I got the order right.”
Her arms were over her head, the cover up shielding her from the neck up. Beneath that, her breasts almost tumbled out of the bikini top, her nipples like hard pebbles.
Her belly was long and lean, and she had nice long legs. There was a small scar right above her knee. How had he not noticed that before now?
“Where did you get this scar?” he asked, touching it. As though she couldn’t stop herself, she eased her legs open a little wider. “I was scaling a tall fence and I fell.”
“Athletic, huh?”
“I was sixteen and sneaking out the house to meet the guy I had a crush on at the time.”
He scooped another wet ice cube into his hand.
She didn’t ask him his intentions so he didn’t tell her. It was funny, he wasn’t into bondage, and he hadn’t intended to use the scarf to tie her up, then here she was with her swimsuit cover up nearly blindfolding her and binding her arms. He liked it. From the lack of complaints or struggles, he had to figure Naja liked it, too.
He tugged at the strings securing the top around her neck, undoing them before pulling the bikini down so her breasts sat perkily over top. Nice. He warmed a nipple up with his mouth then rubbed it with the ice.
“Oh,” she gasped, arching against th
e hot and cold. “Oh.”
He warmed the cold, jutting nipple with his mouth one more time, unable to resist putting the ice to her other breast, warm and cold, back and forth. She squirmed and so turned on he could feel her arousal. Some little drops of water, cool, then rapidly warmer, slid down her belly. He followed one with his tongue to the point where it fell into her navel. He tasted the salt on her skin from her dip into the ocean on her skin, smelled the saltiness from the water.
His gaze dipped lower as he dug around for more ice, scooping three cubes. He pressed one against the soft skin of her stomach and while she was busy gasping, he rubbed the coldness over her flesh. He popped the other cubes into his mouth then pressed his mouth against her intimate curls and blew cold, moist air against her.
“Oh, sh-jeez!”
He felt the flesh on her curvaceous bottom ripple with the chill he’d inflicted, and could feel the heat of her so close to his mouth. Hot and cold. Cold and hot. He licked her. Starting from the hot, wet opening of her body, which was salt-sweet and slick, trailing up to her clit, which was swollen hard. Like she was about to burst. Oh, he knew how that felt.
With the tip of his tongue he swirled and licked until her hips started to buck against him, then he withdrew and held his tongue against the ice for a moment. When he touched her clit again with the tip of his tongue, she sucked in a breath.
“That’s cold, so cold, ahh-woo.” She didn’t sound as if she was complaining, and with his cheeks full of ice, he wasn’t in a position to ask.
His mouth filled with cold water and she was so hot she’d blow any second. He tipped her back so she toppled onto the bed on her back. He pushed his head between her legs and let the cold water wash over her mound.
She squealed and laughed and wiggled. There was a small chunk of ice left, like a smooth stone, and he used his tongue to push it right up inside her. He pulled her clit into his mouth and showed her every trick he’d ever learned.
He knew the exact moment when she hovered on the edge, her woman’s parts so swollen and hard they felt like barely ripe fruit. Above him she’d thrashed around so much the cover up had pulled right over her head, which was thrown back. Her hair was a tossing tangle, her cries hoarse. He wanted to take her. He wanted to be inside her when she came, yet he also wanted to suck the orgasm right out of her. She was slick and hot and her plump flesh richly flushed as though painted with wine. It throbbed to the frantic pulse of her heart.
One more time he teased her with a long, thorough stroke of his tongue, and then, when she was almost airborne. He grabbed hold of the hips she’d thrust at him and gave her what she needed, tonguing her until she exploded in a long, sobbing release.
She trembled all over when she finally came down and he couldn’t stop kissing her, her still-throbbing lips, her shaking thighs, her knees.
When he untied her hands, she pulled off the cover up and her bikini top and glanced down at him. For the first time she appeared a little embarrassed. “You aren’t even undressed.”
“Give me a few minutes.”
He made it in seconds.
Her gaze scanned his body as eagerly as he’d watched her. Her smile told him she approved, and he felt like a fool to be so pleased about it.
She reached forward to touch his eagerly jutting cock, and for an awful moment when she wrapped her warm and still-shaky hand around him, he thought he might blow. “I think I need second or two,” he told her, gently pulling her wrist.
“I think I need you inside me,” she said.
Grabbing a condom, he ripped the package open with his teeth. He was ready a few heartbeats later. She’d moved away from the wet spot she and the ice water had made between them, so she half sat with her back against the pillows. She was totally, gorgeously buck-naked. “You know,” he said, pulling her legs so they flopped open over his, “you have the nicest body I’ve ever been privileged to see.”
“Thank you. I feel the same about you.”
“Really? Can I put it inside you now?”
Her lips twitched. “Yes. Please.”
He lifted her hips and they both watched as he slid gradually into her body. Oh, it felt like heaven. Hot and juicy, tight enough he could feel the pull and squeeze as she accommodated him.
She stroked his chest and his shoulders, exploring, and he realized he’d missed having her hands on him with her head and arms stuck in that cover up. Her hands were long fingered and sensual, and he liked the feel of them on his chest and belly. He thrust in and out unhurriedly, and she moved gently in time with him. Mostly he was moving leisurely to hang on to control. Maybe because things had turned out so unexpected. He’d imagined they’d both shower, maybe watch the news. Make love quietly before sleeping in each other’s arms.
Slow was good, good, he reminded himself, yet gentle was right now impossible. When he could stand it no more he pulled her hips down beneath him into good old faithful missionary position and plunged hard and deep.
Her eyes widened and she cried out as sudden pleasure coursed through her, her head thrown back. He would think he had hurt her if he hadn’t seen a smile on her lips that looked both X-rated and very familiar. He kept pulling almost all the way out, holding it for the tiniest moment and then plunging all the way. He seemed to be hitting “g” for the good spot, the way she pulled him in, moaning her pleasure. As much as he’d have liked to drag it out all night, some things were beyond a man’s control.
When she wrapped her legs around his hips and grabbed his ass, he was a goner. He gave up any semblance of control and bucked like a wild man. A drop of sweat dripped from his face to splash on her shoulder. She didn’t notice or care, she pulled him into her as hard as he pushed to get there and they were both panting.
“I’m going to—”
She jerked up against him and he felt her climax from inside, one of the greatest feelings in the world. She squeezed, hot and viselike and he was gone.
Then his climax rolled up and burst out of him like fireworks. His yell was enough to drown out her frantic cries.
His arms trembled, he noticed, and there was no way he could speak. For a stunned moment they stared at each other, chests heaving and sweat glowing. Then her eyes started to narrow and her mouth tilted up at the corners. She didn’t have to say, “That was fantastic.” It was written in her expression.
He leaned over and kissed her slowly, feeling the fading drumbeat of her heart and the sweet deep kissing of her mouth against his.
Her lips trembled a little, and he thought he could go on kissing her and making love to her forever, never getting out of this bed except to eat and perhaps shower.
She sighed and slipped her arms around his neck, rubbing her breasts against his chest.
Damn if everything didn’t feel right in the world.
* * * *
“Stop looking at me like that, Imani,” Naja grumbled.
“Like what?” her sister asked with fake innocence.
“As if you want to say I told you so.”
“And why would I want to do that?”
Naja rolled her eyes. “I’m getting my lunch to-go.”
“No, you aren’t. You’re going to sit here like a good baby sister and tell your big sister what you’ve been up to since the Fourth of July. While I’ve spoken with you briefly a handful of times, I haven’t seen you in five days. I assume you’ve been with Sterling the entire time?”
Naja reached for her tea and took a long drink. She definitely should’ve ordered something stronger. Truth of the matter was she’d used Imani as an excuse to get away from Sterling. She needed some space to think. Somehow he’d manage to shake up her world and put a serious wrench in her plans to keep it casual.
Since the explosive night at Fourth of July party she’d been glued to Sterling’s side. What surprised her the most was he’d spent as much time showing her she was special outside of bed as she was in it. It also made her nervous as hell. He was starting to affect her in a way she�
��d sworn she wouldn’t let him.
She had a little under a week of vacation left and she wished she could extend it. Unfortunately, she couldn’t. She had a gala she needed to start working on as soon as she returned home.
“Naja, are you going to answer me anytime today?”
She jerked at the sound of her sister’s voice. “What?”
“Oh, boy. You’ve really got it bad, don’t you?”
“Whatever.”
Imani tilted her head to the side. “Are you going to tell him?”
Naja decided it was best not to pretend she didn’t know what her sister referred to.
“No, I’m not and neither are you.”
“Naja—”
“No, Imani,” she interrupted. “I’m serious. I don’t have time for a man in my life.”
“What you mean is you don’t have time for a man who could make you fall for him in your life.”
Naja shrugged. “Same difference.”
Imani shook her head. “No, not at all.” She reached across the table. “There’s nothing wrong with giving Sterling a chance the be the one. Remember, this is what we wanted as little girls. All those times we spent watching Dad dance Mom around the kitchen and dreaming one day we would have someone to do that with us one day.”
“Imani, I don’t think I want that anymore. I’m happy with the way my life is right now. It’s uncomplicated. I don’t have to be or do anything I don’t want to. I’m content with my life.”
“Content or complacent?”
Naja sat back in the chair and folded her arms over her chest. “I’m content.”
“I don’t believe you, Naja. I know you too well to believe that. You’re scared and you have no reason to be. Sterling is nothing like Troy.”
“I never said he was. But since you brought it up, what exactly did you tell Sterling about him?”
“Nothing. I didn’t even mention his name. I simply said you had reason to be wary. Sterling, being the intelligent man he is figured out why.”
Naja released a pent up breath. “Imani, I know you mean well, but you have to let this be.”
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