It Was Always You

by Tianna Xander

  Her hands cupped his cheeks. “I’m glad you didn’t shave, even though I asked for that. This is better. Sexier.”

  “We can’t always get what we want,” he said, quietly. If they could, he would be settling down with someone like her instead of facing an empty life with someone he didn’t want.

  She ran her fingers over his forehead, eyes, and nose.

  He nipped the tips of them when they reached his mouth. “It’s my turn now. Can I touch you?” Not waiting for a reply, he took her hands in his, leaned down, and pressed his face into the crook of her neck. “Anywhere?”

  “Yes.” She spoke as softly as he did. “I don’t know why we’re whispering, and I don’t care. It’s sexy. Knowing that this…thing is only for one night is sexy, too.” She breathed a little sigh. “It makes me feel kind of easy, but I don’t care.” Arching, she pressed her breasts into his face.

  Jared groaned. “You smell amazing.” What was it about her? It couldn’t just be her perfume. The familiar scent of the peach body butter his fantasy woman used mixed in with the amazing aroma of Candy Williamson made him react in such a strange way. What made him want her so badly? He wanted her more than he’d ever thought possible.

  He cupped her full breasts. True to her word, she wore the gown he’d purchased for the night he would spend with his dream lover. It no longer mattered who this woman happened to be in real life. She smelled right, the stroke of his fingers against her smooth flesh felt right. She sounded right. Maybe he should have called himself Mr. Desperate and named her Miss Right.

  Because Jared was desperate. He’d needed and lived for this date since he’d received the email from Madame Eve informing him she had found the perfect applicant for him. His mystery woman had asked for a guy fitting his description. In his excitement, he’d imagined she could very well be the one from his lonely nights. Not that it would matter. They had no future. He’d known it going in.

  He swallowed thickly as he caressed Candy’s soft skin. After this night, his fantasies were all he would have left.

  Jared had no idea why this woman gave him the strange sense of belonging he’d searched for over the last several years. Stop imagining things you shouldn’t, Jared. This has no future.

  Leaning down, he gently touched his lips to hers. Her mouth opened beneath his, her tongue darting out to taste him. Desire and a sense of finally belonging exploded over him. His breathing grew heavy as her touch left his face, her arms wrapping around his neck to draw him closer.

  He lost himself in the kiss, in her wonderful, addicting scent. This woman, dream lover or not, had already rocked his world. He would have to make the most of the time they had together.

  Chapter Five

  Candy stared up into the darkness. The man’s face stayed nothing more than a dark shape. She took a deep breath, loving his citrusy scent. Finding a bottle of aftershave on the counter in the bathroom when she showered earlier, she’d discovered she liked it.

  “You don’t have an accent.” She had no idea if she should be disappointed or not. She had wanted her fantasy, but the reality could turn out so much better.

  “Would you like me to have one?” he asked, using the staid English speech used in Shakespearean plays. “I could always talk like this, if you prefer.”

  “No. You sound fine.” She liked the way he sounded—even without the brogue she’d thought she’d wanted at first. “I think it’s better that we aren’t pretending. I like you just the way you are.”

  Maybe she’d matured a little and her subconscious mind had accepted this man because, deep down, she could never have the one of her dreams. Jared Harwell would always be too famous to give someone like her the time of day. Hell, she would probably be lucky to get the actor’s attention long enough to get an autograph.

  Mystery Man kissed her again, deeper than before. His tongue tangled with hers for a moment before he sucked it into his mouth, tugging gently until she melted against him.

  Candy roamed her hands over his hard-muscled body as their tongues dueled and their lips frantically clashed together. He pressed his hips against hers, the thick ridge of his cock straining against her abdomen.

  Slowly, she slid her fingers over his warm skin, the tips gliding over the valleys between his well-formed muscles. Mr. Right had the body of a male stripper, and that only turned her on more. Her body already cried for the release she knew he’d give her.

  Large, callused palms explored her body—those of a laborer, maybe a carpenter. He touched her almost reverently, his fingers sliding over the swell of her breasts, down to the ample curves of her waist and still farther down to her hips. Gliding his palms beneath her ass, he grasped her cheeks and squeezed.

  “I love the way you feel in my arms—so soft and inviting.” he said quietly.

  “I could say the same about you, Mystery Man. You’re all hard and hot, but you feel so good,” she said. She liked the fact he hadn’t raised his voice above a whisper. It seemed sexy, decadent, almost as though they hid from something, or lent an air of danger to their time together. “I love the way your muscles ripple when I touch them.”

  Reaching behind him, she gripped his hard ass, scoring the cheeks and his upper thighs with her nails. He groaned, his hips thrusting against her.

  “How did you know I would like that?” He followed the question with another deep groan.

  “I didn’t. I just knew I would.” Candy grinned into the darkness. She wrapped one leg around him, pushing her mound tighter against him, urging him on.

  Part of her wished she had the courage to tell him to forgo the condoms, if he dared, but she had more brains than to consider it for more than a minute.

  “The condoms are in the drawer.”

  “I know.” He chuckled. “I checked when I came in.”

  So that’s what he’d been doing. She’d sensed his presence next to her, had even thought she’d heard the drawer of the nightstand open and close.

  Lowering his head, he drew her left nipple into his mouth, his silky hair brushing her skin. He sucked deeply and nipped as his tongue flicked over the sensitive tip. His scratchy, short beard only added to the fire growing inside her as he tugged the sensitized nub, causing her to shiver and moan.

  “Do you like that?”

  He needn’t have asked her the question. She arched her reply, her body striving to follow the stroke of his rough cheek as he pulled away from her.

  “Well?”

  “You know I did,” she answered, a bit disgruntled. This was her fantasy, too, after all. “Are you going to tease me all night, or are we going to get busy?”

  God, did that just sound cheap, or what?

  He moved back to her breast, rubbing his rough cheek across it, the friction nearly driving her mad. “Aren’t you happy with the way things are moving along?” He breathed the words, his tongue darting out to flick over her nipples once again. Alternating between them, he sucked one while gently twisting the other between his fingers. He kept her on the verge of climax for what could have been an eternity, but surely no more than a few minutes.

  Her head thrashed on the pillow. “Of course I’m happy. You are my fantasy, after all.” She stroked his muscular shoulders, over his back, all too aware she didn’t care who made her body react the way it did. She didn’t care what he looked like—who he looked like anymore. At the moment, the only thing she gave a damn about was getting him to give her an orgasm at least once before he drove her mad.

  But she needed him to experience the same urgency she did. Reaching between them, she wrapped her fingers around his thick length, grazing her fingers over his shaft, careful not to scrape with her nails. She cupped his sac, squeezing his balls gently as he mindlessly thrust his hips against her.

  “Don’t make me lose control, darlin’.” He groaned. “I’m not as young as I used to be. I’d hate to find out too late I’ve become a one-hit wonder.” He pressed little kisses to her forehead, cheeks, and the tip of her nose before
claiming her mouth once more in a kiss so passionate, fluttering started in the pit of her stomach.

  For the first time in her life, she experienced true need, true passion. Nothing had compared to the sensations this man evoked deep within her.

  He was real, not a fantasy like Jared. This flesh-and-blood male could bring her to orgasm again and again during one beautiful night of pure passion.

  Chapter Six

  Jared shuddered in Candy’s arms as she stroked his heated flesh. Every brush of her smooth skin against his made him want her more.

  He had never needed anything as much as he needed her. He ached to thrust inside her, to experience the warmth of her wet channel gripping him as he rammed into her, repeatedly driving her to mind-numbing orgasms.

  Gentle hands kneaded his balls. Lithe fingers gripped his shaft, sliding sensually over it, driving him to a desire bordering on obsession to have this woman—to take her in every way imaginable until neither of them could think or breathe.

  The time for tenderness had passed. He covered her lips with his, delved deep into her mouth, teasing her tongue with his and breathing in her sweet, sweet breath.

  His heart pounded, cock throbbed, and his head fairly spun with the desire to drive inside her. Slowly, reluctantly, he ended their kiss. Resting his forehead on hers, he said, “I don’t know how I will ever go back to my empty life after this.”

  “I—what do you mean?” She sounded genuinely confused but had no idea what his life held for him. How could she?

  He chuckled mirthlessly. “Forget I said that. Consider it an instant of temporary insanity. Blame it on the heat of the moment.”

  He moved lower, not wanting to allow her too much time to think. He didn’t want to give her false hope that this could be any more than it was. He could only wish he made it good enough for her that, years from now, she would feel the same—that both their fantasies had come true.

  Lifting one smooth leg, he brought her ankle to his lips. Inch by slow inch, he kissed his way back up her body, his tongue laving the hollow behind her knees and the crease between her thighs and hips.

  “You smell exquisite.” He dipped his head to her sweet-smelling core. “This is what I have been wishing for ever since Madame Eve contacted me about you.”

  He lapped slowly at her smooth labia, and her flavor burst over his taste buds. His stomach clenched, and his cock jerked. Parting her lips with his thumbs, he pulled her clit into his mouth, sucking hard. With a gasp, she bucked. He threw her legs over his shoulders and wrapped his arms around her thighs and held her in place as he turned his attention back to sucking her clit.

  Candy whimpered and fisted the sheets.

  Jared liked arousing her, loved how responsive she could be when he nipped her ear lobe or flicked her clit with the tip of his tongue. He smiled when her head thrashed on the pillow and her low moans of desire filled the room.

  He continued to ravish her and it didn’t take long before she arched off the bed and screamed. Her thighs clenched, holding his head tight as she came. With one slow lick, he pulled away, slowly crawling back up her limp body. Pressing a kiss against her mouth, he let her taste her arousal on his lips. Candy kissed him back, her passionate response nothing less than he’d come to expect from the sensual woman.

  When her breathing returned to normal, she reached between them, her long fingers wrapping around his hard shaft, sliding up and down. He thrust against her.

  “The condoms,” he said gruffly, forgetting to disguise his voice. Although Jared could neither spread nor catch human diseases, Candy didn’t know that. He still had to protect her however. Grimacing, he leaned toward the nightstand, opened the top drawer and pulled out one foil-lined packet from the entire box Madame Eve had provided for them. She obviously had a lot of confidence in him.

  Ripping the package open with his teeth, he sheathed himself. “Are ye ready, darlin’? All I can think about is sinking deep inside you and fucking you until you scream again.” he said, again forgetting the accent.

  She must have been too far gone to notice, because she raised her hips. “I’m ready.”

  Jared moved slowly. He only had one chance to get this right and get it right he would. He wanted to relish the sensation of his cock sinking slowly into her tight flesh for the first time. He planned to create a memory, one to last him a lifetime, thanks to his damned career.

  His heart slammed against his ribs as he pressed deeper and deeper, muscles clenching, aching to drive into her with abandon. But he held back, had to take this time to go slowly. As much as he wished she was someone who couldn’t possibly exist—this woman had stolen his heart.

  Chapter Seven

  Candy waited for his full possession. For some reason he moved slowly—too slowly. However, her mystery man was strong. He held onto his control, even when she wrapped her legs around him in an attempt to pull him deeper.

  “I want to savor this,” he said in a low voice. “We only get one first time and I want it to be perfect.”

  “If that’s the case, then we aren’t ready yet,” she whispered. “It’s my turn to explore your body.” Leaning up, she pressed a kiss to his lips. She’d stopped imagining him as Jared Harwell. She had no idea who this man might be, but he was hers for now.

  “As you wish.” He pulled away and lay back on the bed.

  She ran her palms over his smooth skin. Hard, like warm marble, his body could have been sculpted by a master. Ridged muscles covered his abdomen. Well-defined pectorals jumped beneath her fingertips while she explored his chest and circled his nipples, gently scraping them with her nails while her fingers danced through the coarse hair on his chest.

  He groaned. Like he had done to her body, she kissed her way over his chest, dipping into every hollow. She tasted him, breathed in his slight musk, and took her time making her way down toward his stomach.

  Gooseflesh covered his arms and legs as she continued her slow examination of his perfect form. Delighted she caused such a reaction, she ventured lower, following the treasure trail straight to his groin and the erection springing up from the juncture of his thighs.

  Cupping his sac, she rolled it between her fingers. He panted beneath her. She removed the condom and gave him a tentative lick. “It tastes like oranges, too.” She wasted no time taking him into her mouth.

  He jerked. “Are you trying to kill me?” The words were muffled, as though he held a hand over his face, giving his voice a strange inflection.

  “No. I’m trying to make you come.”

  “Darlin’, in my current state, I think all you’d have to do is touch me to do that.” He chuckled, cupping her jaw. “There’s time for this later. Why don’t you let me finish what I started?”

  “No.” She pulled away. “I’ve already said it’s my turn. Now, lie back and take it like a man.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Crawling between his legs, she licked the base of his cock. “It’s difficult when I can’t see you. Are you sure you want the lights off?” she asked.

  “Yes. Of that, I am most sure.”

  “Okay.” Undaunted, she ran her nails up his thighs then tongued the slit.

  “God, woman, you’re killing me.” His hips jerked again, driving him farther into her mouth.

  She smiled, gently scraping his length with her teeth, running her tongue along the protruding veins. Bobbing her head, she took him deeper, concentrating on relaxing her throat around his impressive length.

  “That’s it. That’s quite enough.” He bolted upright, grasped her arms, and rolled atop her once again.

  Her childish fantasies of an extremely famous A-list actor flew out the proverbial window when he kissed her once more. She only cared that this man continued giving her the pleasure she craved, the intense pleasure she had found with him.

  He fumbled in the drawer for a moment, pulled out another condom, and rolled it onto his erection. Positioning between her legs, and, true to his word, he gradually impal
ed her, moving as though savoring every inch.

  Candy arched to entice him farther inside. She couldn’t wait another moment to have him ramming into her, giving her yet another orgasm.

  He rocked back and forth against her mound. It was so erotic, and so worth the pain and embarrassment of the Brazilian wax she’d gotten on the way to the airport. Nothing had prepared her for the touch of his lips and tongue on the smooth flesh. His cock rubbed every secret place, drawing her closer and closer to another screaming climax.

  He bent down and pulled a nipple into his mouth and bit gently, while thrusting faster. He withdrew, only to return with more force, his thick shaft dragging across her G-spot.

  Then he rose to his knees. Cupping her buttocks, he lifted her hips, tilting them, massaging her with each delicious stroke.

  He gave a strange growl above her as he continued, his pace increasing faster than any she had ever experienced. With another odd growl, he flipped her onto her belly with surprising strength. Candy had never been small, yet he’d lifted her as though she weighed less than nothing.

  Mystery Man wasted no time entering her from behind. His hips jackhammered until she nearly lost the ability to think of anything but the building release. The mind-blowing orgasm washed over her. Making yet another noise that sounded less than human, her lover came, his hips jerking while his hands gripped her hips, holding her to him. Panting, he groaned and collapsed next to her. Through the darkness, she made out the shape of his arm over his face.

  Hell, she wouldn’t be able to walk if they did this more than once or twice. Smiling, she turned onto her side. Pressing against his warm body, she rested her head on his chest.

  “Oh my God! What have I done?” Pushing her away, he rolled off the bed, fumbled for his clothes, and stumbled to the bathroom, not once turning on a light.

  After sorting through various reasons for his abrupt departure, Candy had no delusions as to why he’d left. He had given in to some strange fantasy and fucked a woman too curvy for his taste. To add insult to injury, he’d ended up with a forty-seven year-old fatty. His words were like arrows, bullets, to her heart. She wouldn’t doubt it if he was heaving up his dinner. Maybe she should be glad they hadn’t eaten together.