Uninhibited

by Melody Grace

  I bite my lip, sliding my other hand lower, over my stomach, down to my hip. I trace along the edge of my panties, and then slip my fingers under the waistband, sliding them down to meet my hot, aching flesh.

  Yes.

  I close my eyes, sinking into the sensation. I stroke myself, slow at first, and then stronger, still picturing Dex’s fingers instead of my own, imagining his rough touch on my delicate flesh.

  “Look at me.”

  My eyes snap open at his command. Dex is stroking himself through his underwear, his eyes half-closed and feverish with desire. I reach for him, desperate to touch him, but Dex pushes me back, so I’m laying spread on the bed again.

  “No,” he growls. “Just you. I want to watch you come undone. Don’t stop, show me everything you want.”

  My heart skitters, I feel like I’m going to combust. But he still won’t touch me. He just kneels at the end of the bed, stroking himself, watching me with that dark, possessive stare.

  Oh God, I want to surrender. I need to obey him, give him what my body so desperately wants.

  I lift my head to meet his gaze, and slide my hand back between my thighs.

  “Yes,” he murmurs, panting. “Show me how you touch yourself when you’re alone at night, and there’s nobody watching. Show me what your body needs, sweet Alicia.”

  I need him, more than I thought possible, but I’m caught up in this reckless game now, and I want to make him see—see how my body aches for him, see everything I’ve dreamed about him doing for so long.

  Keeping my gaze locked on his, I begin to stroke myself with the circling friction that makes me moan. I arch my hips against my hand, finding the maddening rhythm that makes my blood sing and my body ache. It’s not enough, the fabric constricts me, so I wriggle out of my panties and push them lower, over my hips.

  In a flash, Dex reaches out and rips them off me, throwing them aside. Now, he can see everything. I’m open to him, sprawled here in a tangle of my own desire, but I’m too far gone to care. Desire pounds a reckless pulse through my body as I spread my legs and touch myself again, whimpering at the pressure, throwing my head back and shutting my eyes to lose myself in the sensation of my own nimble hands and the hot burn of his gaze on me, watching, everywhere.

  So close, so close…

  I slide lower and sink my fingers into my wet, aching core with a moan. I’m aching for him, needing him to fill me up, but the sensation is enough to send me spiraling to the edge, my blood boiling as I surge my fingers inside me, palm pressing against my clit, rocking my hips to increase the pressure. I can hear myself whimper and moan, writhing in the sheets with total abandon. I squeeze my breast with my free hand, pinching at the nipple with sharp pleasure as I rock faster, panting for release. I’m climbing, cresting, safe here in the dark, alone in the world, but then I hear Dex’s labored breath and it all comes rushing back. My eyes fly open to see him, just inches away from me, watching with a desperate hunger in his eyes and the shock of what I’m doing here—how dirty, how forbidden—crashes over me and I come apart with a cry, pleasure slamming through me in a tidal wave of ecstasy as I come, and come, and come, clutching around my own fingers until my body is spent and gasping.

  I’m undone.

  14.

  DEX

  It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my life.

  Alicia is splayed out on my bed with her bra twisted around her stomach and her glorious body naked in the setting sun. She gasps for breath, still shuddering from her climax, her skin mottled red with desire, her perfect pink lips parted, wet and empty.

  Goddamn.

  Any other girl, I’d be inside her by now: thrusting deep between those creamy thighs until I was buried to the fucking hilt, taking the pleasure that roars in my bones for release. But something holds me back.

  I want to know every inch of her before I finally claim her body as my own. Explore her inch by innocent inch, drive her to the precipice and back a hundred times over.

  Make her darkest fantasies come true.

  When I do take her, I want to hear every gasp and murmur like a melody I know by heart. Learn the symphony of her body so there’s no pleasure she won’t taste, no place in her mind she can run to.

  Nothing between us she can hide.

  I watch her surface from the haze, her cheeks flushing. She moves to cover herself, trying to sit up. A look of stunned panic flares in her eyes.

  Like clockwork.

  I can see it on her face now, clear as day. What the fuck did I just do?

  “Don’t even think about it.” Before she can move, I grab a soft blanket from the bench at the foot of the bed, and cover her body. I lie down on the bed, scooping her firmly against me to rest her head in the crook of my shoulder.

  She fits perfectly, like I knew she would.

  “Think about what?”

  Alicia’s blue eyes are bright, her hair spilling back across the covers, coppery red. I reach to stroke it back from her face, smoothing over the silky locks.

  “Running,” I answer, cupping her cheek. “And don’t pretend like you weren’t thinking it. I know how that brain of yours works.”

  “I can’t believe I’m so easy to read,” she protests. “There goes my hope of being a woman of mystery.”

  I laugh, cradling her body against my hip. I’ve still got a raging hard-on, but I force myself to chill. This isn’t about me, not right now. This is about releasing all of her inhibitions, one by one, until she’s the one desperate and begging for me.

  “It’s not that,” I tell her, still holding tight. Why can’t I keep my hands off this woman? “But there’s a pattern for sure. First, you let go, but then your mind starts working overtime, and you try and bolt.”

  She blushes. “I’m working on it,” she whispers, her eyes fixed on me. “It’s not that I want to go, I just can’t help my brain overriding everything. Telling me all the reasons I shouldn’t be doing what we’re doing.”

  “Well, then.” I gently trace a path along her bare collarbone, making her shudder. “We’ll just have to find a way to overload the system. Set the voltage on every connection so high,” I roll closer, whispering in her ear, “and make the speakers blow.”

  I lick into her mouth, claiming her with a kiss. Alicia makes a whimpering noise, and then she’s reaching between us, her hand sliding lower down my stomach towards my aching cock.

  I pull away with a growl.

  “What’s wrong?” Alicia blinks, her eyes wide with confusion. “I thought…”

  “Not tonight.”

  She bites her lip. “Why not? I want to touch you, this time.” Her fingertips stroke back and forth just below my stomach, and I have to fight to keep control.

  Just take her. Pin her down and fuck her brains out, the way you want to. The way she needs.

  “This was about you,” I whisper through a clenched jaw. “Taking your pleasure. Learning how good your body can feel.”

  “It would feel even better with you touching me.” Alicia’s lips curve in a sexy little smile, and it takes everything I have not to ravage her right this very second.

  Fuck, I deserve a medal for this.

  I reluctantly move her hand away. “Believe me, sweetheart, I’m going to take you up on that. But I’m not going to run the risk of waking up tomorrow morning and finding you’ve hightailed it back to the city because you feel like you went too far.”

  She opens her mouth like she’s about to argue with me, then closes it. “You must think I’m crazy,” she finally says in a small voice.

  I chuckle. “Not crazy. Cute. Complicated. Sexy as hell.”

  She rolls her eyes, snuggling closer. “You know what I mean. I feel like a teenager, all this starting and stopping and not going all the way. I should be over this stuff by now.”

  “You really haven’t done this before?” I check. It can’t be true.

  She shakes her head. “I told you, aside from fooling around with my high school boyf
riend, and that one-night thing in college, I’ve never…” she pauses, looking self-conscious. “This is all new to me. I’ve never felt these things before,” she adds in a whisper.

  Her words send a fierce stab of pride through me.

  Damn right, you haven’t, sugar.

  I bite back my reply, not wanting to make her feel weird about it. It still blows my mind she’s so inexperienced. Woman all over the world would kill for her raw sexuality, the way she drives me wild without even trying.

  “What’s stopped you?” I ask, idly stroking her hair. “Not that you should be out screwing every guy you see,” I add quickly. Fuck no. “I just mean, you’re clearly a sexual person. Hell, the last twenty-four hours is plenty proof of that.”

  She blushes again. “Don’t remind me,” she whispers, clearly embarrassed.

  “I thought Garrett was going to have to call in the fire trucks,” I add, teasing until she laughs.

  “See? I just don’t understand why you’ve kept all this locked away.” I stroke her cheek gently. “You have passion, and fire. You deserve to feel this way every single night.”

  Alicia lets out a wistful sigh, but she doesn’t answer.

  Then I remember.

  “It’s him, isn’t it.”

  My grip on her tightens. For the hundredth time, I want to smash her mystery man’s face in. But I fight to stay calm. We’re connecting here, finally getting to the heart of things. I can’t fuck it up with my petty jealousy.

  She nods, tracing circles on my chest. “At first, it was just because I was so caught up in him. I didn’t want to be out hooking up like all my friends, I was waiting for him to realize we were meant to be.”

  That guy is a fucking idiot.

  “Didn’t you get tired of waiting?” I ask gently. Years without sex…I can’t imagine it. The last couple of months without her drove me half-mad. I almost picked up the phone a hundred times, to call up one of the girls I used to have on speed dial and work out the crazy frustration in some willing arms. But I didn’t want anyone else. Just her.

  I guess that’s what kept her celibate for this guy, too.

  “I had faith,” Alicia answers quietly. “After we graduated and he met someone, I tried to date. He would fix me up with friends, or I’d meet someone at an event, but…” She gives a soft sigh. “It always felt like a betrayal. That I was letting myself down, trying to settle when I knew deep down who I really wanted.”

  A bolt of insecurity crashes through me like ice.

  Has she been imagining him, all this time? Picturing his hands on her, wishing my kisses belonged to him?

  “Until you.” Alicia’s voice cuts through my doubt. Her eyes meet mine, clear and honest. “You’re the only man who’s ever made me forget him. In the city, and here…I’ve barely even thought of him since I arrived,” she adds, bashful. “When I’m with you, there’s no room for anything else. You’re all I can think about,” she adds in a delicious whisper. Her eyes are blue pools, liquid and hot, piercing right to my soul.

  “Only you.”

  15.

  ALICIA

  We lie there for hours. I must have drifted off, because when I wake, I’m in Dex’s arms, and he’s carrying me gently back to my room.

  “Shhh,” he murmurs, as I lift my head and try to figure out where I am. He settles me on the bed and brings the covers up around me. “Sweet dreams, baby.”

  He kisses me and then leaves, quietly closing the door behind him.

  I lie there, feeling strangely alone. I wanted to stay there in his arms all night, curled against him, my head resting against his chest. I fit perfectly, right there in the crook of his arm.

  I wanted to wake still holding him.

  The feelings swirling through me are unfamiliar, and they make me feel even more confused. It’s been hard enough to get my head around the explosive chemistry between us, and all the sexy, forbidden things Dex is introducing me to. Even remembering the way I touched myself for him tonight—shameless, wanton—makes me blush. But now, to feel an ache of longing not just for Dex’s body and teasing smile, but the warmth of his embrace, too…

  I push the feelings aside and let sleep claim me, a warm haze of peace after the delirious heights my body has experienced.

  My second day with Dex is over. I can’t wait to discover what tomorrow will bring.

  I wake with sunrise again, and I throw off the covers, feeling energized and alert. Pulling a sweatshirt over my underwear, I pad softly through the house. Dex’s bedroom door is open, and the room empty, and when I emerge into the main living area, I see a note propped against the coffee machine.

  Gone for a run. Back soon.

  I look around the empty house. The morning sun is falling bright through the glass wall, and the ocean glistens the brightest blue outside. I go to the open doors, and step out on the deck. Gulls swoop overhead, and the waves are crashing, steady on the shore.

  It’s so beautiful here, crisp and clean. There’s none of my usual morning soundtrack, the city traffic hum: garbage trucks and morning commuters, neighbors playing the radio, or deliveries unloading downstairs. The air is fresh, and it fills me with wakeful anticipation.

  What will we do today?

  I step back inside, and go to the kitchen, pouring myself a mug of freshly brewed coffee and examining the contents of Dex’s cabinets. He must have someone bring groceries, because the kitchen is well-stocked with staples and fresh produce. I find a carton of fresh sweet peaches on the countertop and bacon in the fridge. Pancakes, I decide, and set about assembling the ingredients for the batter.

  I turn on the radio to an oldies station as I move around the kitchen. It’s a treat to be in a space like this, all gleaming granite countertops and top-of-the-line appliances. I love to cook, but only when it’s for other people. I enjoy hosting dinner parties for my friends, and whipping up a batch of cupcakes for celebrations, but when it comes to myself, I prefer to grab takeout or fix a simple snack. There’s something painfully lonely about sitting down to an elaborate meal in my apartment, all alone, so I save my favorite recipes for when I have company—someone to share the meal with, and to appreciate the effort.

  I put the bacon on to crisp and mix the batter, adding my secret ingredient of yogurt to make the mixture thick and creamy. It’s a family recipe; my mom taught me everything she knows. I grew up watching her prepare dinner for my father every night. They both work, but she loves to cook, too. For her, it’s never a chore. Even now, she enjoys planning recipes and picking things she knows he’ll like: surprising him with his favorite meal on special occasions and slipping home-baked treats into his lunch for work. It’s her way of showing how much she loves him, and watching them together, I always imagined doing the same for my husband one day.

  In those fantasies, the man in my dreams was always Hunter.

  I pause, thinking of him for the first time in what feels like forever. It’s Wednesday now, and we’re supposed to hang out tomorrow. Part of me held off on canceling him because I wasn’t sure what I’d find here with Dex—reserving the right to turn back around and be home in the city before anything changed.

  I feel a strange wave of guilt, like I’m betraying him by being here: making my morning pancakes for another man.

  No. I warn myself. Don’t think about it like that. He was never yours to begin with. Those fantasies were just that: a distant dream.

  This moment with Dex is something real.

  I find my phone, and quickly tap out a text.

  Can’t make tomorrow, sorry. Out of town!

  A moment later, the reply comes back. Everything OK?

  Yes! Last-minute vacation.

  Hunter replies. Enjoy! You deserve it.

  “Is that bacon? Be still my heart.”

  Dex’s voice comes from the doorway. I startle, slipping my phone away out of sight as I turn. He’s looking illegally good so early in the morning: out of breath from his run, shirtless in athletic shorts, his ba
re chest glistening with sweat.

  Another stab of guilt twists in my stomach, as if he’s now the one who’s caught me cheating with another man.

  “Yes, breakfast!” I exclaim brightly. “Give me a minute, I’m just getting the skillet warmed up.”

  “You cook, too?” Dex saunters closer, investigating the spread. “Damn, woman. You’re every man’s fantasy.”

  He reaches to steal a crispy strip of bacon. I lightly swat his hand with the spatula. “Sure I am.”

  Dex slides his arm around my waist and pulls me closer, hard against his body. “Good morning, sweetheart,” he murmurs, lowering his head to claim my mouth in a scorching kiss.

  Oh…

  I sigh, melting against him. Somehow, I always forget how good this feels. How right. He kisses me thoroughly, exploring my mouth in sensuous strokes as I breathe in his masculine, musky smell. I forget about everything but the taste of his lips and the feel of his naked torso, slick beneath my hands. I fall deeper into the kiss, pressing into him, my body roaring to life under his hands.

  The oven timer sounds, breaking through my dizzy rush. I pull back. “The bacon!”

  Dex grins. “There’s more?”

  “Of course,” I smile, going to retrieve the next batch from under the grill. “I know what men really want.”

  Dex chuckles. “Grilled meat and a gorgeous woman to serve it to us.”

  “Hey!” I toss a dishcloth at him. “Could you sound more caveman?”

  “That’s me, baby. Old school.” Dex suddenly picks me up around the waist, swinging me over his shoulder. “I’ll carry you back to my cave and have my wicked way with you.”

  I yelp for mercy, turned upside down. Dex laughs, carrying me around the kitchen before finally setting me down on the counter with a kiss.

  “You’re all talk,” I tell him, breathless and giggling.

  “Wanna bet?” Dex challenges, a teasing glint in his eye.

  “Later,” I decide, noticing the skillet smoking on the stove. I forgot all about it—I’m lucky it didn’t burn the place down. I give Dex a gentle push to move him aside and hop down from the counter. “First, we eat.”