by Mari Carr
And he’d never experienced sex mixed with love until her. Hell, he hadn’t felt it since.
Not until now.
Chloe’s hips lifted to meet his and her soft groans told him exactly how close she was. He reached down, intent on drawing more than just one orgasm from her. He’d spent years dreaming of having her under him once again. He wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.
He pressed her clit firmly, loving the wild, unrestrained response it provoked. Chloe’s back arched as she released a loud cry. He thought he’d loved the sound of her laughter, but that music was a far second place. Blake waited a few seconds as Chloe trembled, her climax running its course. Then he fired the trigger again. He stroked her clit as he increased the speed of his thrusts.
Chloe gasped, shaking her head. “I can’t. Not again. Too much.”
He kissed her roughly, cutting off her refusal. He knew her too well to be fooled by such a lie. They’d spent a summer in each other’s arms. He remembered exactly how many times she could come in a night and they weren’t even close to that number yet.
His kiss combined with his finger on her clit and his cock pounding inside her hot pussy pushed her over the edge a second time. This time, he didn’t stop moving, working instead to draw the sensations out, prolonging the pleasure for her.
As the orgasm subsided, Chloe’s arms left his shoulders, dropping heavily to the couch cushions beside her. Her eyes were closed—her face the perfect blend of exhaustion and bliss.
“We’re not finished.”
She blinked rapidly, forcing her gaze to his. “I’m out of shape. It’s been a few months since…”
Blake laughed. “It’s been almost two years for me. So get your second wind. There’s no way I’m letting this end so fast.”
“Years?” Her skeptical expression was flattering…and slightly insulting.
He narrowed his eyes. “Yeah. Just so we’re clear on this, I’m not some sex-craved pervert sleeping in a different bed every night. I do have standards.”
Chloe shook her head in mock disappointment, laughing softly. “Damn. Such a shame. What happened to the horny, gets-hard-when-a-strong-wind-blows bad boy I fell in love with all those years ago?”
He knew she meant her words as a joke, but all he could focus on was the reminder that she used to love him. He’d thrown that away because of pride and stubbornness. “A week ago, I would have said he was gone, but now…”
Blake punctuated the pause with a quick, hard thrust. Chloe gasped, her arousal firing hot once more.
She tightened her legs around his waist. “Do that again.”
He tilted his head, considering. He’d never taken the submissive role in the bedroom and he didn’t intend to now. He held still as Chloe worked hard, trying to force him to move. She lifted her hips as much as her position underneath him would allow. When that failed, she dug her heels into his back, trying to push him as low as she could.
When all her attempts proved fruitless, she stopped moving and gave him a dirty look. “You joined the police force and yet, you still suck at following commands.”
He chuckled, kissing her lightly on the cheek. A decade apart hadn’t changed one thing. It still felt as if Chloe knew him better than he knew himself. “I’m a model detective. But doing my job there and doing it here are two entirely different things. Put your hands above your head.”
“Why?”
He lifted one eyebrow, letting his impatient look answer the question. She lifted her arms, resting her hands in a position of surrender. It turned him on. A fact that wasn’t lost on Chloe as his cock twitched and grew even harder.
She sighed. “Liar.” The word wasn’t spoken with malice or accusation, but he was confused by the name. Then she added, “You are still a very bad boy.”
He grinned, pleased, then bent his head to take one of her nipples into his mouth. They hadn’t shed a damn piece of clothing besides their pants—something he would rectify the next time—so he added extra pressure, sucking harder, making sure she felt his touch through her blouse and bra.
Her back arched as she attempted to keep his mouth there. He added his teeth to the game, nipping lightly at first, then digging deeper.
She cried out, not in pain, but in true pleasure.
He lifted his head. “And you’re still trying to pretend you’re a good girl.”
She cupped his face with one of her hands, intent on pushing him back to her breast. Blake gripped her wrist firmly, pressing it against the couch cushion above her head. “Don’t move your hands or I’ll tie you up. I have my handcuffs with me.”
Her pussy clenched tightly against his cock. Blake fought to restrain a groan, stars forming behind his eyelids. Chloe had liked it rough; her sexual needs a mirror image of his. At nineteen, he’d chalked it up to her innocence, believing her desires were fueled by genuine curiosity. Now he knew it was more than that. Not all women were created equal.
Blake pushed off his elbows, grasping Chloe’s wrists in his hands, forcing them into the cushion. The power play, the show of strength had Chloe’s eyes drifting closed, her body shuddering with need.
“Please, Blake.” Her voice was soft. He knew what she was asking for.
He withdrew from her body until just the tip of his cock remained and then he shoved in hard, going as deep as their bodies would allow. Chloe didn’t shy away from his almost brutal thrusting. Instead, she added her own fuel to the flames, joining the rhythm, driving her hips up as he came down. The only sound in the room was that of their mingled cries and the slapping noise of skin on skin. Blake’s grip on her wrists slipped a bit as both of them started to perspire, the temperature in the studio rising to rival that of the sun.
Neither of them stopped for air or for rest. Instead they kept fighting for climax, two bodies slamming together in a selfish search for completion. Chloe came first…and second. Two orgasms, one right on the heels of the other. She groaned loudly, trembling, but when Blake refused to give way, to stop, she quickly recovered, rejoining the race.
When he finally approached his end, Blake released one of her wrists, letting his fingers drift along her body to her clit. He wanted to feel her coming around him again as he found his own pleasure.
Chloe jerked when he touched the swollen, sensitive nub. “I can’t,” she cried.
He stroked her clit faster. “Yes, you can. You’re going to come with me, Chloe. You and me. Together.”
She gasped and he felt the familiar fluttering of her pussy. She was almost there. Thank God. Blake was seconds away from falling over the cliff himself. Chloe pushed him off. Her inner muscles clenched, squeezing his cock almost painfully. He dropped to his elbows as he came, jet after jet of come filling the condom.
“God.” The word felt as if it was ripped from his chest. Every muscle in his body tensed in beautiful agony. How much time had passed since he’d been this affected by sex? He knew the answer to that.
Ten years ago.
Chloe lay beneath Blake, refusing to open her eyes. She’d told him she wouldn’t regret it.
But she’d lied. And not for the reasons he might think.
Chloe had done some serious introspection since the conversation with her mother. She’d comprehended the wisdom in her mama’s advice. Chloe needed closure where Blake was concerned.
She’d had her heart broken by him when she was young, inexperienced, foolish. As a result, she’d held on to that pain, harbored it, made it larger than it should have been. She was an adult now, a woman, and she was no stranger to love affairs or casual sex.
Chloe believed if she slept with him just once more, she’d realize she had built him up to some mythological proportions that were inaccurate. A brief, one-time fling with Blake would prove to her that he was a man just like any other and she’d be able to let go of her sex-god beliefs and move the hell on.
So much for that idea.
“Closing your eyes isn’t going to make me disappear.” Blake’s smug v
oice proved he knew she was trying to hide from the consequences of her actions.
She didn’t open her eyes. “Maybe you’ll think I fell asleep and leave peacefully.”
He kissed her cheek. She wished that friendly, platonic buss didn’t feel so freaking good. “I’m not leaving.”
He was still buried inside her, his body covering hers in such a warm shelter, she found it hard to remember why this was wrong.
Chloe released a long breath, then let her gaze find his. He was more handsome now than he’d been at nineteen. Though he’d never had a boyish look, not even when he was younger, some of the hard lines around his mouth and eyes had softened.
“You don’t look as pissed off at the world as you used to.”
Blake chuckled, unoffended by her remark. “People don’t annoy me as much these days.”
She needed to get away from him—put some distance between them before she said or did something else completely stupid. Chloe lightly pressed on his shoulders, surprised when he gave way easily. He sat, helping her up as well. He made no move to stop her when she rose and began to tug on her jeans. Mercifully, they’d limited the disrobing to just the waist down.
Blake stood as well, walking to her kitchenette to throw the condom away before tugging his own pants on. Because of the open floor plan of her apartment, the only area of the place closed off by walls was the bathroom. She had placed a large Chinese screen at the foot of her bed to give the illusion of a bedroom and to hide the fact she had a tendency to leave her dirty clothes lying in a heap on the floor.
She followed him to the kitchen, feeling some of her confidence return now that she was dressed again. Chloe opened the fridge and pulled out a couple of bottles of water. She tossed one to Blake, suddenly aware that he hadn’t bothered to button his jeans or shirt back up. They both hung open in a way that was far too sexy for her peace of mind.
She reached up to her hair. She’d started the day with a loose ponytail, but most of it had escaped the elastic band. She felt around, trying to find the band, intent on repairing the mess.
Blake took a long swig of water then crossed the room, taking her in his arms. He reached up and tugged her hands down. “Leave it. You look tousled and sexy.”
“Blake.” She needed distance.
“What do you say for the encore we take all our clothes off and try to make it to your bed?”
She scowled. Cocky, arrogant asshole. “Actually, you can take the rest of that water to go. I have work to do. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. It was fun.”
Chloe hoped she’d infused just the right amount of dismissal and hell-will-freeze-over-before-we-fuck-again into her tone.
Apparently she had because Blake’s brows furrowed. “You think that was a one-night stand?”
“It might be more accurate to say it was a one-afternoon stand.”
Blake shook his head. “Think again.”
He hadn’t released her. Instead, he’d tightened his grip, letting her feel just how much he wasn’t finished with her yet. How in the hell could he be hard again already? Then she considered the foolishness of her thought. This was Blake. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. He’d always been ready to roll when it came to sex.
She wanted to hate his alpha power plays, wanted to be pissed off by them. And in a lot of ways, she was. Unfortunately, they also triggered some latent desire to be completely dominated by him. Not in everyday life—that would drive her nuts and force her to cut his penis off.
But in the bedroom…sexually…God yes.
Before she could respond, the door to her apartment slid open. Justin and Ned walked in. Chloe tried to push Blake away, but he held fast.
“Let go of me,” she muttered when she caught her older brother’s dark look.
“You heard her,” Justin said, his fists clenched. Great. Nothing like adding embarrassment to mistake.
She’d been wrong to think she could open the door a crack for Blake and not expect him to push it wide and walk in.
Justin’s gaze took in her messy hair and Blake’s open shirt, his scowl growing. It was far too obvious what had taken place here.
Time for distraction. She shrugged out of Blake’s arms, flushing hotly when he reached down to zip up his jeans, not bothering to hide the action from her brother and his business partner. “What are you doing here, Justin?”
“You and Ned have an appointment to discuss the calendar, remember? We had a work meeting on this side of town, so I rode with him, figured I’d chill on your couch while the two of you worked out a plan for Ned’s pose.”
Ned grinned, obviously sensing her desire to diffuse the volatile situation. “He was planning to be a pain in the ass, making me regret volunteering to do this damn thing. If it had been anyone other than Mama Lewis asking, I would have said no.”
Chloe smiled gratefully. “I’m sorry. I forgot about the meeting. Give me a second to…” To what? What was she supposed to do now? Blake didn’t look like he was going to go peacefully.
Justin crossed his arms, letting her know he was going to watch her every move. She shot him a dirty look, then turned to Blake.
“I really do need to get back to work.”
“What are you doing for dinner tomorrow night?”
She rolled her eyes. He was like a dog with a bone. “Listen, Blake. We tried the relationship thing once and it failed…miserably.”
“We were kids, Chloe. That hardly counts as a serious attempt.”
He was right, but that didn’t mean the way things ended hadn’t hurt. A lot. “I’m nothing like the girl I used to be.”
“So we’ll go out for dinner, get reacquainted.”
“Looks like you already did that,” Justin muttered.
She turned around. “Dammit, Justin. Mind your own business.”
Blake buttoned his shirt. He leaned closer, keeping his ultimatum quiet enough only she could hear it. “I’ll go as soon as you agree to dinner.”
“That’s blackmail,” she whispered.
He didn’t reply. Just gave her that wicked, bad-boy grin that always got her into trouble.
“Fine. But just dinner. Nothing else—not a movie or dancing or coffee at my place afterwards. And I’m meeting you at the restaurant. No riding together.”
Blake looked like he might argue, but she raised her hand to cut him off. “Those are my conditions. Take it or leave it.”
“Fine. I’ll call you later with the details.”
She shook her head. “Just text me.” Until she gathered her wits about her, she wasn’t about to get roped into another conversation with him. Texting was safer.
Blake nodded, then kissed her, the touch too fucking familiar and sexy when his tongue brushed hers.
She half-heartedly pushed at his shoulders. She was about to get the mother of all ass-chewings from her brother. Of course, that was a given. So…she might as well get her money’s worth. She felt Blake’s brief spark of surprise when her tongue entered his mouth and she gave his ass a quick squeeze before she stepped away.
“Goodbye, Blake,” she said, proud of the strength in her voice.
He grinned. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Justin didn’t bother to step out of the way as Blake left. The two men faced each other like adversaries on the battlefield and for a moment, Chloe thought she might have let her guard down prematurely.
Then Blake stepped around her brother, leaving without another word. Chloe released a long breath when Blake slid the door closed behind him.
“Does somebody want to confirm that’s who I think it is?” Ned asked.
Ned Stevens had been Justin’s best friend since their freshman year in college. They were assigned as dorm roommates and they’d been inseparable ever since. In truth, Ned had become a member of the family, another damn overprotective brother. Just what Chloe needed.
“My old boyfriend, Blake,” she answered, realizing the simplicity of the answer would never satis
fy either man.
“Are you sure he’s not a current one?” Ned asked with a wicked grin.
“What the hell was that, Chloe?” Justin threw his hands up in disbelief. She didn’t blame him. She’d been pretty cold to Blake at Sunday dinner. Now, forty-eight hours later, she was boinking the guy on her couch.
“I don’t know what that was.”
“The guy’s a thief,” Justin added.
“He gave Mama the money back on Sunday.” Chloe wasn’t sure why she was saying that as if it forgave all. She certainly hadn’t felt that way two days ago.
“Oh. Did he tell you why he took it and ran off?”
Chloe shook her head. “No. I didn’t ask.”
“Why not?”
She couldn’t explain why she hadn’t asked Blake. Not even to herself. The question had been on the tip of her tongue every single time she’d seen him since his return, but something always caused the words to get lodged in her throat. “What difference would it make, Justin? We know he did it. Can you think of a good reason why he would steal Mama’s money and disappear without a trace for nearly a decade?”
Justin considered the question briefly, and then shook his head. “No, I can’t. Which is why I don’t understand your reason for playing hide the salami with the guy again.”
She blew out an annoyed breath. “Don’t be such a juvenile.”
Her brother grinned, used to her admonishing him for his colorful, somewhat vulgar nicknames for sex. Justin wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close and placing a sweet kiss on her forehead. “Just be careful, pipsqueak. Maybe the guy has changed. But maybe he hasn’t. Keep your eyes open this time. Okay?”
She nodded. Eyes open was her initial intent. Then Blake had fucked her into a state of delicious delirium and she’d allowed it to blind her once more.
“So, tell Ned all about this idea you had for him, a bed, a box of chocolates and no clothes.”
Ned crossed his arms and scowled. “I told you, Justin, I’m not doing that.”
Justin’s face reflected pure mischief as he ignored his friend’s complaint. “And listen, Chloe, don’t waste a bunch of money on the big heart-shaped box. A small sampler will be more than enough to cover his—”