Taking Control

by Nina Croft

  One hand slid behind her neck to drag her close and pull her head down for his kiss. He didn’t hold back, his lips hard against hers, parting them, pushing inside her hot, wet mouth. Deep, drugging kisses, that were nowhere near enough.

  Finally he ran out of oxygen, released her, and sat back, his breath coming hard and fast. How long did they have? He suspected not long enough to get her out of that dress and onto his cock.

  While he was considering options, she pulled away slightly. He looked at her, ready to drag her back into his arms, but something in her eyes stopped him.

  “I still owe you,” she said and the look in her eyes made the last of the blood drain to his pulsing erection.

  He went still, every muscle locked tight. “So you do.” His voice sounded hoarse to his ears as she slipped from his lap to kneel on the floor. He spread his thighs, and she shuffled closer until she knelt between his legs.

  Her lips parted slightly, and her tongue poked out between her teeth. She rested her palm on his thigh and he jumped; then she stroked upward, and he lost the ability to move. Finally, her fingers closed around the length of his shaft and she squeezed.

  A groan escaped him and his head fell back against the leather of the seat. He watched through his lashes as she flicked open the button on his pants and slowly lowered the zipper. The relief was amazing and lasted about two seconds.

  She tugged at his pants and he lifted his hips allowing her to pull them down, then she settled back. “Is this nice enough for you, Declan?”

  But he’d lost the ability to speak.

  Reaching behind her, she loosened her hair, so it fell about her shoulders. Her perfume, sweet and sharp, swirled in the air, filling his nostrils. Then she leaned closer and breathed over the head of his cock. It jerked.

  Christ, he was going to lose it if she didn’t take him soon. No, she wasn’t being nice. Not nice at all.

  Finally, she licked him, a long slow stroke from the base to the head. Her tongue swirled around and heat flooded him. Then she took him in the hot, wet cavern of her mouth, and it was the most amazing thing he had ever experienced. His hips rose from the seat, pushing himself into her mouth, unable to control the movement.

  She pulled away, sat back on her heels, and pouted.

  It was official. She was so not nice.

  When he thought he might beg, she wrapped her hand around the base of his shaft and squeezed, then lowered her lips to him once more, engulfing him in the moistness of her mouth.

  She took him deep, alternating with hard sucks to the head while her fingers shifted lower and caressed his balls. He watched her every move, unable to drag his eyes from the most erotic thing he had ever seen. She’d always loved doing this to him. He’d forgotten. Or wiped it from his mind. But she’d gone down on him everywhere and anywhere. Giving him her total concentration as though his cock was the most important thing in her world.

  Sweat beaded on his forehead as the pleasure built inside him, tugging at his balls, tightening his spine. Until he could hold it back no longer. His back arched and he exploded into her mouth. She kept sucking and swallowing and pleasure washed over him in waves, until finally he was done. Wrapping his hands in her silky hair, he slowed her movement, finally holding her still.

  She pulled away and peered up at him, lush red lips curved into a smile. “I told you I was nice.”

  Chapter Nine

  As she sat back on her heels, Jess became aware of the movement of the vehicle. They must have halted at traffic lights, because now they were pulling away and picking up speed.

  Declan sprawled in front of her, his clothes still in disarray, making no attempt to cover himself. “Baby, ‘nice’ doesn’t come into it.”

  She licked her lips and he groaned. Again. She could still taste the saltiness of him; she’d forgotten how much she loved to take him like that. The sensation of all that masculine power under her command. Declan, usually so in control, losing it totally, coming apart for her.

  A pulse beat insistently between her thighs, but she refused to give in to it. Anyway, there was no way sex in this dress in a moving car was possible, and she wasn’t getting naked with two of her men up front, even if they couldn’t see through the tinted glass. Knowing her luck, they’d get pulled over or a puncture or…

  She rested her hands on his knees and pushed herself up and into the seat beside him, then hooked her long hair behind her ears. “Well, that was more fun than a stuffy charity dinner.”

  Declan shifted on the seat pulling up his pants. She sighed. She liked disheveled Declan much better than Billionaire-Perfect-CEO Declan. But it was just as well, maybe she needed the reminder that he was really no different from the other guys she’d been trying to date.

  As he finished zipping up his pants, he turned to her, his gaze dropping down over her body, then past her and out of the window. They were driving along the embankment now and she could make out the dark slow moving water of the river.

  “You want to go for a walk?” he asked.

  Suddenly she had the urge to be outside, in the fresh air and she nodded. “Why not?”

  Declan pressed the intercom button and spoke quietly and a few seconds later, the car pulled up to the side of the road and came to a halt. The guard got out from the front and opened the door and she climbed out. Declan followed her and they stood for a moment. He stripped off his jacket and rested it over her bare shoulders. She hadn’t even noticed the chill air.

  Peering around her into the night, she saw nothing suspicious. But she had no real worry about his safety tonight. There was no way they’d been followed; the streets were too quiet.

  The city was never dark, and the streetlights reflected on the water. Declan took her arm, and they walked along beside the river, breathing in the dank, salty air. She was aware of the guard falling into step about thirty feet behind them, but she ignored his presence. She cast a sideways glance at Declan. Once again, he looked perfect, hard to believe five minutes earlier, he’d had his pants around his knees and she’d had his dick in her mouth. Now, he looked what he was: a super-successful businessman. She probably looked like a hooker he’d picked up.

  Something occurred to her that was quite mind-blowing. She came to a halt as she thought it through. “You know, Rory was right.”

  Declan stopped beside her and in the light from a nearby streetlamp she could see his frown. “He was?”

  “Much as I hate to admit it, because I don’t like him very much, but yeah. I’d never fit into your world.”

  His frown deepened, forming lines between his dark brows. “You could. You could do anything if you wanted it enough” He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and she shivered at the caress. “You certainly look the part.”

  She shrugged. “I borrowed the dress. And the shoes. But really, I have no interest in dressing up. And parties and posh dinners leave me cold. If I’d managed to keep hold of you all those years ago, I’d have been bored out of my mind. No doubt I’d have done something really stupid just to liven things up, and your Mr. Perfect facade would have flown out the window.”

  “I’m not perfect.”

  “Hah. Come on, Declan, I’ve read up on you. You never put a foot out of place; there’s not a hint of scandal or gossip attached to you.”

  “You make me sound…boring.”

  She grinned. “If the cap fits….”

  He took a step closer so his chest brushed against her breasts, and a tingle ran through her. Then a shiver, and she hugged his jacket around her. The night was cool, that was all. He lowered his head and his warm breath feathered across her ear. “Do you think I’m boring, Jess?”

  He didn’t give her chance to answer; his hands rested on her shoulders and he gently urged her backward, until she came up against the barrier to the river. They were in the shadow of a huge pillar, and she didn’t protest as he lowered his head and kissed her.

  The kiss lasted only seconds but left her shak
en. She cleared her throat. “I thought we were walking.”

  A slow smile curved his lips, but to her shock, he slipped his hand in hers and tugged her out. She hadn’t held hands since…since the last time she had walked like this with Declan all those years ago. They hadn’t been able to be together without touching.

  His palm was hot in hers, but his grip was loose. She could pull free if she wanted to, but she didn’t. They walked slowly; she couldn’t do much else in her four-inch heels.

  “Why did you join the army?” he asked, breaking the silence.

  “Maybe I had an overwhelming urge to go and shoot things, and it seemed sensible to do it in a controlled environment.”

  “Really?”

  She thought for a moment. To be honest, that time in her life was a bit of a haze. She hadn’t been thinking of much at all, keeping her mind blank so as not to remember things she’d rather forget.

  “I didn’t know what I wanted to do except I couldn’t face going back to school. Then I saw a recruitment ad for the army and thought why not? It seemed as good as anything.”

  “And did you like it?”

  “Some bits. I liked blowing things up. I liked the physical side of things, and I loved training. I even enjoyed the danger in a weird sort of way.”

  “You never feel so alive as when there’s a chance you might die?”

  She flashed a glance at his face, then down to his arm. “I suppose you’d know how that feels now. Anyway, the discipline was good for me, however much I hated it.”

  “So why did you leave?”

  “I never really got used to taking orders, especially from total assholes. I made sergeant twice and got busted down again. Then Jake—he was an officer in my unit—left and started up Knight Security. He offered me a job, and I took it. End of story.”

  “You sleeping with him?”

  “With Jake?” She snorted. “You have got to be kidding.”

  “Why not?”

  Basically, because even if he’d been interested, and maybe back before he’d met Kim, he might have been, she had given up on men. And she hadn’t wanted to lose Jake as a friend. He was one of the few guys she respected. Also, she’d tried sleeping around and always ended up comparing them to what she’d had with Declan and been devastatingly disappointed. But she didn’t want to share that little piece of information. “Jake’s married to my best friend,” she said instead. “He’s been in love with her forever. But he’s been a good friend and a good boss.”

  “So are you seeing anyone now?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “Baby, you just gave me a blowjob, I think that makes it my business. But I’m guessing there’s no one and hasn’t been for a while.”

  Now she did try and tug her hand free, but his grip tightened. “And why would you think that.”

  “Because you felt like a virgin.”

  “Have you had lots of virgins, Declan?”

  He cast her a sideways glance. “Only one. But I remember it well.”

  She swallowed. So did she; the night they first made love was indelibly imprinted in her dreams. He’d made her come with his mouth until she was so wet that he had pushed in with ease, only causing her the slightest hitch of pain.

  “But it wasn’t only that. You were desperate that day in my office. I’m guessing there hasn’t been anyone for a while.”

  She wanted to argue that she hadn’t been desperate, but it would be a lie and she wanted to keep lies to a minimum. “Maybe. I told you, I’ve been quite happy with my vibrator, so what the hell would I need a man for?”

  “I thought you were looking for a ‘nice’ man.”

  “That’s only recent. I joined a dating agency.” Though she was still waiting for her first offering since Kim had doctored her questionnaire. It made her wonder what her friend had put down.

  Declan turned to face her, brows drawn together. “I’m not sure I like the idea of you dating other men.”

  She had a fuzzy, warm feeling at that, which terrified the life out of her. Christ, she wasn’t even dating Declan. “Well, get over it. Because it really isn’t any of your business.”

  Without waiting for him to answer, she headed back. They didn’t speak again. When they reached the car, she spoke to the driver. “Drop me off at the office, on the way.” She’d get a cab from there. Suddenly she was filled with the need to be alone. She wanted to be away from Declan because his words had confused her. It was nothing to do with him who she dated. This was about sex. Nothing else. She wouldn’t allow it to be about anything else.

  They sat in silence as far apart as they could get, but strangely it was a peaceful silence. He didn’t speak until she was climbing out of the car. “Thanks for the blowjob. Maybe next time I’ll return the favor.”

  “I’ll look forward to it.” Next time wouldn’t be for an age; she had plans for the rest of the weekend, though she was doing her best not to think about those plans too closely. But then something occurred to her and she leaned back into the car. “Are you serious about wanting some…fun?”

  He quirked a brow. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Meet me at the O2 Arena tomorrow morning at ten. And dress casual.”

  “Why? What—”

  But she straightened, slammed the door, and walked away.

  …

  The car pulled up just inside the gates, and Declan sat for a moment staring out of the window and trying to decide what Jess was up to. What she had planned. From the amusement in Steve’s eyes, Declan was pretty sure his bodyguard knew what was going down, but if so, he wasn’t sharing.

  Declan had done a lot of thinking last night after she’d left him. In many ways she was right; they were totally unsuitable. Back then, they would never have made it long-term. They’d both been young, impressionable; the affair had been cut short and so attained far more importance than it ever should have. Now, he suspected he was drawn to her because of the whole unfinished-business thing.

  He’d never admit it, but those first months after he’d left her had been hell. He’d asked his father to keep an eye on her, to tell him if she needed anything, to pass on his number if she got in touch—he’d never meant to cut her off completely. He’d thought perhaps they could have been friends. Friends with an ocean between them to keep him from temptation.

  And every single day he’d waited for a call.

  A call that never came.

  So he’d done what he always did and ignored his feelings, locked them up inside and immersed himself in what he had to do.

  Of course, now he knew that she’d gone to see his father. Something his dad had failed to mention and one day soon they’d have a discussion about that. But maybe his dad had done the right thing, because if Jess had called, he would have gone running. And as she’d pointed out, they’d have been a disaster together.

  So keep that in mind. This was about closure. And sex. Christ, he wanted her again. He wondered whether her idea of fun this morning would involve them getting hot, naked, and sweaty together. He hoped so, but considering the location, somehow he doubted it.

  He climbed out of the car and glanced around. In front of him was the huge white dome of the arena. In front of that, a small crowd milled around what looked to be some sort of bright orange crane device that reached high in the sky. He searched for Jess in the crowd, but couldn’t see her until a movement to the side drew his attention. She was walking across the space between the building and the crane, wearing black jeans and a matching long-sleeved T-shirt. She caught his gaze; her face was pale and her lips held in a tight line.

  He strode across, came to a halt in front of her. “Are you okay?”

  “Do I look okay?” She scowled. “Actually, I’ve just puked up my breakfast.”

  “Rough night?”

  “No. Rough morning. Or it’s soon going to be.” She glanced at the crane behind him and swallowed. “Why the hell did I agree to this?”

  He turne
d slightly and followed her gaze. “Just exactly what is ‘this’?”

  “You haven’t guessed? Well, I hope you like heights because we’re going bungee jumping. Off that.” She nodded toward the crane. It looked pretty high. “One hundred and sixty meters,” she said.

  “Are you kidding me?” But his gut tightened at the thought. And not in a bad way.

  “Wish I was. It’s for one of Dani’s doggy charities. I agreed to do it in a drunken moment.”

  “And where do I come in?”

  “I just checked, and they’ll let us jump together. They even have a name for it, a tandem jump.” She looked him up and down. “And is that your idea of casual?”

  He glanced at his black pants and black sweater. “Yeah.”

  She snorted. But he ignored the sound. A grin tugged at his face. He’d never done a bungee jump before. He looked from the crane back to Jess. “Fantastic.”

  “Fantastic? You have to be kidding.” She shook her head. “We’re going first because otherwise I’m going to lose my nerve as well as my breakfast. Come on. We need to get weighed.”

  She stalked off toward the small crowd and he followed. There were a group of guys wearing black sweatshirts with “Bungee Team” across the back. Jess halted in front of them. “Let’s get this done.”

  One man led them to a weighing machine. He weighed Jess twice, wrote a number on the back of her hand, and called the weight out to his friend. He repeated the procedure with Declan and then waved them to the cage at the bottom of the crane.

  Declan studied Jess’s face as a second man ran through the safety procedures while he fastened a harness around their waists and ankles. Jess checked each of the fastenings, tugging at the leather.

  “Are you sure it’s tight enough?”

  The man grinned. “I’m sure. We’ve never lost one yet.”

  “There’s a first time for everything,” she muttered.

  “Okay, into the cage,” he said, gesturing to the orange cage. Jess bit her lip and then shuffled over, Declan followed.