by Lauren Dane
She let her head fall to the side this time, hoping he’d trail the line of kisses to the base of her neck, then lower. Instead, he hesitated. He didn’t stop, but his mouth didn’t move over her. He continued to kiss her neck as his fingers flexed against her shoulders.
“Please, Forest.” She backed up, pressing her butt into his groin to give him permission.
As if he’d been given a flashing green light, his arm wrapped around her waist and held her steady. Heat radiated off him and burned through her. His erection pressed against her as he rocked his body into hers.
“Say it.” His mouth lifted, journeying to her jawline and inflaming the nerve endings there.
She decided to spell it out before she threw him on the couch and straddled him, and that was in about-to-happen mode. “I want you inside me.”
His hands stilled for a second before roaming again. “Very soon.”
With every cell tingling, she wanted to demand he do it now. She might have opened her mouth and suggested they fast-forward this first round, but the rip of her zipper stopped her. One minute her dress held tight against her body. The next, the bodice fell and his hands slipped inside. His fingers traced her nipples through the black lace of her bra.
When she turned her head toward him, he captured her mouth in a searing kiss. Not gentle or quiet. No, this one claimed. Hot, sensual and carrying a promise of the wicked times to come, his lips traveled over hers even as his hands pushed her dress and the thin crinoline underneath to the floor.
One arm lifted over her head and found his hair. When he lifted her other arm up, she felt a tug as the clasp on her bra opened. Then his hands cupped her bare breasts and massaged the nipples to tight sensitive peeks.
Forest Redder did know his way around a woman.
His hips bucked against her, mimicking the rhythm she hoped to experience within the next minute or two. She heard the shuffle of material, then his hands left her for a second. When her eyes popped open and the protest hovered on her lips, he appeared in front of her.
With his focus transfixed on her breasts, he peeled off her bra. Fingers dipped under the edge of her tiny panties next. His thumb rubbed against her as the pressure began to build inside her. Yet he didn’t stop kissing her. His mouth met hers and his finger slid inside her slick opening.
If he hadn’t been holding her up, she would have crumpled to the floor. She felt weightless and boneless. Every care slipped away and her whole being focused on getting him into the bedroom and sprawled across that mattress.
She lifted her head. And faced him head-on. Those green eyes had darkened and a tense passion showed in every line of his body.
“Take me to bed.” She whispered the words against his lips and saw a tremble shake through his shoulders as she watched.
“Yes.” Then his mouth came back to hers full force and his hands fell to her waist.
He walked backward as she stripped off his tie and unbuttoned the little white buttons on his shirt. She would have shredded the expensive material, ripped the buttons right off despite the cost, but the way their bodies kept knocking against each other and their hands explored, she settled for dipping her hand inside and caressing the bare skin of his chest.
She had no idea how he steered them into place, but when the back of her legs hit the edge of the bed, she sat. The move brought her face in a direct line with his erection. She didn’t hesitate. Her fingers went to work as his belt buckle clanked and his zipper screeched through the quiet and punctuated their heavy breathing.
Her head dipped forward as she rubbed her palm over him through the opening in his dress pants. She had his erection out and in her hand before he could finish his sharp intake of breath. She pumped and squeezed while his hands slid through her hair.
“Jordan.” He clenched his fingers as he whispered her name.
Not good enough. She wanted to drive him right to the edge so she wouldn’t be the only one standing there. Her tongue licked up his length as she clenched his butt cheeks in her hands. When his body tensed, she kept going.
Every single part of him felt right to her. From his smell to his body, he fit her.
Now she wanted it all.
With one last lingering suck, she pulled a moan out of him. Then she fell back against the bed with her hands by her head. She would have lifted her legs or issued a new invitation, but her muscles failed her and the need driving through her had her vision blurring.
But he didn’t need help with this part. The second her back hit the mattress, he shrugged out of his shirt and bent down to run his hand over the damp front of her lacy underwear. She was wet and ready and when he stripped the tiny scrap of material off her legs, she almost cried in relief.
Then his knee hit the bed and he shifted until his mouth was on her. His tongue up and inside of her. He licked and sucked and kept going when her hips lifted off the bed and her fingers dove through his hair. As he explored every tiny muscle, she heard the soft growl under his groans and felt her breath hiccup inside her chest.
With each pass of his tongue and fingers the nerve endings flared to life. Her sensitive skin burned everywhere he touched. She thrashed and tightened her legs against his shoulders. Anything to ease the winding sensation pumping through her.
Just when she thought she couldn’t take one more second, his mouth traveled up her stomach to her breasts. He took one, then the other into his mouth and licked her nipples until the sensitive areas ached. During all the touching and tasting, he’d stripped off his pants, because she felt the brush of hair on his legs against her soft thighs.
When he lay full against her with his upper body balanced on his elbows above her, she almost begged for relief. He stole what little breath she had when he kissed her again. This time, the kiss lingered. Her head spun and her arms wrapped around his shoulders for balance.
Before she could ask about protection, she felt him shift and heard the rip of paper. His body lifted, but only for a second. Then he came back. He pulled her legs up around him as she felt him right at her entrance.
His gaze burned into her. “You’re sure?”
She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t think. But she knew she wanted this. She told him the only way she could right then. She kissed his shoulder then nipped at his skin in small bites.
As she pressed his shoulders in closer, he started to enter her. He didn’t skip right to plunging and pumping. He slid in, giving her body time to adjust. Then he slipped back and pushed forward again. The move was steady, robbing her mind of thought and stealing her breath.
The feel of him over her, around her, had her body clenching even as release hovered just outside her grasp. He didn’t speed up. He entered her on a steady rhythm, then retreated and began the slow sensual torture again. After a few minutes, her entire body shook with need.
“Faster.” She whispered the plea against his throat. “Now, Forest.”
Only then did he speed up. The room filed with the sounds and smells of their lovemaking. Sweat slicked his back and her fingernails dug into his skin. He plunged deeper, speeding up as his finger rubbed her clit.
Sensations battered her, tossing the last of her control aside. The tightening inside her had her meeting his thrusts while she chanted his name. Just as his body shuddered above hers, something broke lose inside her. Waves of pleasure crashed over her. Her hips lifted and her thighs slammed hard against him. She tried to press and clench, anything to release the energy pounding through her.
With a final push, his rhythm changed. His big body shook over her as her head fell back against the pillows. When the orgasm slammed into her, she inhaled on a mix of shock and pleasure. Every part of her trembled as a soft whisper of his name escaped her lips. Then he kissed her again and she couldn’t think about anything other than keeping them right where they were until morning.
> Chapter Nine
Subject Request for Jake Ballman: He says he can’t share info because he’s a spy. —Member 163
Response from Member 80: He tried that line on me, too. Then I found my Visa in his wallet. He’s a scam artist. Run away now.
FOREST WASN’T EXACTLY a master of the morning after. He’d experienced several in his time, but he was usually the one stepping into the shower, hoping his nighttime partner would be gone before he turned off the water and got out again. He wasn’t accustomed to being the guest. That made standing in the middle of Jordan’s kitchen extra odd this morning.
Not that he was complaining about the night before. Damn, the woman had him ignoring sleep and hanging on the edge of a heart attack for hours. Now if only he could figure out how to work her coffeemaker. It was pretty fancy. His had a timer and a place for the beans and water. That’s it. She had some expensive version that had him thinking about her temp salary.
Owning the condo, the impressive wardrobe. The pieces didn’t exactly fit with his image of a struggling office temp. The city was not cheap, but she didn’t appear to be in financial trouble. He liked the idea of her being secure. But the question of how kept bumping around the inside of his mind. He knew about her law-firm job. Maybe she saved money. Again, logical, but doubt kept nipping at him.
“You need help?” Jordan walked in, wearing a long T-shirt and what appeared to be nothing else.
Any thought of money and coffee vanished. Those legs went on forever and the shirt did little to cover them. She had her hair up and her face scrubbed clean.
The woman clearly was trying to kill him. Make his heartbeat triple until he passed out or something.
“I’ve got it.” He wasn’t sure that was true, but he was more concerned about another topic at the moment. He liked to win and this time the victory carried all sorts of benefits.
She slid onto the barstool across the counter from him and put her cell down in front of her. After a quick scan of the kitchen, she reached over to finish off the coffee prep and press the button to start. They sat in comfortable silence as the machine went to work. Every now and then her phone would buzz and she’d look at the screen.
He glanced over. “Your mom?”
Jordan read for a few more seconds, then sighed. “Good news is she seems satisfied with John.”
“That’s the new guy?” Forest swore the name kept changing. Probably had something to do with all that dating her mother did.
“The newest one.” Jordan waved her hand in the air. “But don’t feel the need to memorize the name. It’s likely to change when she gets back from the Bahamas.”
Bahamas? His parents had been married since before paper was invented. It was a screwed-up mess of a marriage, but it kept ticking. He barely understood their situation. He definitely didn’t understand whatever was happening with Jordan’s mom. “Excuse me?”
“She’s a serial dater. Actually, a serial marryer.”
Sounded messy and expensive to him. He had a former fiancée and that was more than enough in the “former” department. “That’s a thing?”
“She’s the expert.”
“She sounds like an interesting woman.”
“That’s the word everyone uses.” Jordan fidgeted in her chair. “I’ve gotten used to the way she lives her life.”
“Are you sure?” When she glanced up at him, he stared in the direction of her chair. The squeaking immediately stopped.
“I know your family isn’t close—”
“Understatement.”
“—but imagine your sister when she was younger. The idea of her having sex probably would have driven you crazy.”
Something in the back of his brain exploded. “I prefer to believe she still hasn’t had sex.”
“How old is she?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Wow, okay. I see you’ve got that overprotective thing down.” Jordan rolled her eyes in a way that said he was being a dumbass. “Well, my point is my mom was upset I waited.”
“To do what?”
She gave him eye contact, but she kept swiveling her chair and sliding the placemat around on the counter. “Lose my virginity.”
Every single thought in Forest’s head slammed to a halt. “You’re kidding.”
“I was nineteen and she was horrified.” Jordan held up a hand. “Not that she wanted me sleeping around, because she totally didn’t, but I had a boyfriend when I was sixteen and she couldn’t believe I didn’t do it then.”
“That’s kind of messed up.” He spent a lot of time dwelling on his family situation. He tried to come up with ways to resolve it or at least ease the tension to make it easier on his sister, who was stuck in the middle. This, Jordan’s situation, was a whole different type of dysfunction. He wasn’t completely clear on which was worse.
“Only kind of?”
After a few minutes the green light on the coffeemaker flicked on and Forest forced his hands to slow down as he grabbed the mugs. What he really wanted to do was pour a cup and down it.
He waited until the coffee hit the cups and she started humming before he shifted off their bizarre conversation to one he could handle better, but only slightly. “For the record, the interest isn’t over.”
She eyed him over the top of the mug. “What are you talking about?”
“You said I was all about the chase. Well, I felt pretty caught last night and I’m not going anywhere.” It was tempting to call in sick for the first time in his adult life.
A soft pink stained her cheeks as she fiddled with the edge of the placemat under her elbows. “What about the agreement?”
He took a sip of coffee, because at six in the morning he was already a half hour behind on his usual daily caffeine intake. “Should I know what that means?”
“The confidentiality agreement.”
Between the words and her sudden refusal to give him eye contact, he stilled with the cup halfway to his mouth. “Excuse me?”
“According to the rumors, you make your bed partners sign a piece of paper promising not to talk.” She closed one eye and wrinkled her nose. “That’s not on the site, by the way. Just whispers around the ladies’ locker room.”
He was pretty sure she’d lost her mind. “An agreement in exchange for sex?”
“I’m not sure I’d phrase it that way.”
He searched his mind for anything that could fit. The only time a woman he had sex with signed an agreement it was part of a separate business deal and unrelated to the bedroom activities. He had no idea how that news got around or how it got so tangled up.
Not that he was surprised. This sort of thing happened when rumors ran the day. “Well, call it whatever you want, but it sounds nuts.”
Jordan nodded. “I agree.”
When she continued to stand there, he decided to be as clear as possible. “And I don’t have that requirement.”
“Can’t lie, that’s something of a relief.”
“Yet, even with the possibility out there, you slept with me anyway.” That was the only part of this discussion he found interesting.
“Like you said yesterday, information is fine, but it’s better to find out the truth for yourself.”
Huh, not so appealing when she put it that way. He was hoping for something more along the lines of being unable to resist him.
He eased the death grip on the coffee mug and put it on the counter. No need to smash dishes. That sure wasn’t a great way to end an otherwise fantastic night. Still, her comment refused to settle in his mind. “So I was an experiment.”
She nodded. “I did use that excuse.”
“Okay.”
“It was one of the nicer excuses I gave myself.”
Maybe he should carry her back t
o bed. They worked in there. Out here, not so much. “I’m not sure this morning is going well.”
“Let’s try this.” She slid off the stool and came around the counter to stand right in front of him with her hand pressed against his stomach. “Last night was amazing.”
“That’s much better.” And if her fingers ventured even an inch lower, they would be back in bed again. He’d brought four condoms. He had one left and wasn’t afraid to use it.
She smiled up at him. “Don’t tell me you needed a little reassurance about this. You have to know you’re good.”
His palm cupped her cheek. “I am human, you know.”
“I’m starting to believe that.”
She kept throwing out these lines. Each one knocked him further off balance. “Tell me what that means.”
She rested her hand against his. “You’re not the first powerful guy I’ve worked for.”
“I figured that but, technically, you work for Wen.”
“Uh-huh, right.” She lifted his palm and placed a firm kiss in the dead center. “Cy Peters, Gus Atechson. The list of men who think nothing of pushing women around is pretty long. Then add in the Ryan Peterson type.”
The same man who spent most of his day ruining Forest’s right now. “Dumbass.”
“Asswipe, asshat, asshole. They all work.”
She looked so serious with that frown that he had to laugh. “Who knew the word ass could be so versatile.”
Amusement filled her eyes. “Kind of like jack—jackass, jacknut, jackwagon.”
Man, he loved listening to her. She tested him, made him smile. And what she could do with those legs and that mouth had him wishing he was the work-from-home type. “All very good terms.”
“I dated this guy.” She fiddled with his shirt. “Smart, powerful, tough...and a liar. Like, whoa liar. Forgot to mention the fiancée and ended up making me the other woman in his relationship, the dumb bastard.”
That fact caused tension to zip across Forest’s shoulders. Every muscle tightened as if preparing for battle. In a way, he was. “Who?”