She wasn’t wearing a bra beneath her thin T-shirt, and her nipples were hard against the fabric. Caressing the soft curve of her, he leaned down to take her nipple between his lips, sucking her through the soft cotton. She arched again, this time more forcefully, as if electricity had shot through her. Her fingers tangled in his hair, holding him against her breast and encouraging him as the tip of his tongue flicked against the hard nub. His hand came up to cover her other breast, kneading gently as he brought his thigh up between her legs to press against her.
Tugging on his head, Ella brought his mouth up to hers and kissed him as she moved restlessly against his thigh. Her tongue wrestled with his, and her hands pulled insistently at his shirt, tugging it out of the waistband of his slacks, and moving beneath to explore his skin.
The feel of her rocking against him was too arousing, and Matt slowly slid his thigh away from her. Something like a whimper escaped Ella at the loss, but was replaced with a sigh as his hand slid down to where his thigh had recently been. He could feel the heat of her through the thin pants she was wearing. With the heel of his hand, he pressed in hard, wringing a moan of pleasure from her lips.
The phone rang, jarring them both with the interruption.
Ella’s eyes flew open, and he watched as the world came back into focus and reality forced the haze from her vision. Matt cursed and dropped his forehead to rest on hers. His own vision clearing, he met her gaze. Ella was stiff and still beneath him, and the location of his hand seemed wildly inappropriate all of a sudden. Her eyes were wide, filled with an emotion he couldn’t identify. Whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn’t passion.
Another loud ring, and he whispered, “Ignore it.” He heard the machine pick up, then Melanie’s voice filled the room.
“El? It’s me. Pick up if you’re there.” Even he could hear the tears in her voice. Something was wrong.
The sound of Melanie’s tears galvanized Ella into action. Scrambling, she managed to slide out from under him, and hurried across the room to grab the phone. “Mel, I’m here. What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
Ella had her back to him, but when her shoulders dropped with relief, he knew that whatever had Melanie calling home from her honeymoon in tears couldn’t be too disastrous. He sat up and dragged a hand through his hair, feeling the spikes created by Ella’s hands. Uncomfortable, he adjusted himself, and with a deep shuddering breath, he tried to bring his overheated body under control. Grabbing his glass of wine from earlier, he drank deeply and tried to decipher what was going on from only one side of a conversation.
“Yeah, I’m fine…Mel, what’s wrong?…Because you’re on your honeymoon…Well, where’s Brian?…Are you sure everything’s okay?…Are you drunk?” A long pause. “I’m going to miss you, too, but…You’re on your honeymoon. Mel? Calm down, sweetie. Mel? Melanie! Fine. Look, let me talk to Brian.” Another long pause. “Brian! What’s going on?…Okay…Uh-huh…Well, don’t let her do that. You’re on your honeymoon, for God’s sake. Go out, have fun, have sex or something, and just tell her to call me once she gets back home…Uh-huh…All right, then, talk to you later.”
Ella hung up the phone, but she didn’t turn around. He could tell by the way she squared her shoulders that she wouldn’t be coming back to where they’d left off. His body protested the thought, every nerve screaming for him to drag her back under him. He hadn’t been this worked up with no release in sight since high school.
The next time Melanie hit him up for concert tickets, he would take great pleasure in turning her down.
With the phone in its cradle, Ella knew she’d have to turn and face Matt. Keep it light. Don’t make yourself look dumb.
She slapped a smile on her face and turned. With a small shrug, she explained the odd phone call. “Mel really shouldn’t drink. She gets all maudlin and weepy. Brian left the room to get ice, and she calls me to tell me how much she’s going to miss not living with me.” She tried a small laugh, but it was a bit forced sounding and she knew it. “Brian was kind of shocked when he returned and found her weeping on the telephone…” She couldn’t meet Matt’s eyes, and her words trailed off into uncomfortable silence. Belatedly she realized her very disheveled state and began adjusting her clothes and pushing her hair back into its ponytail.
She had to be insane, making out with Matt like she was some hormone-crazed teenager. She barely knew him, yet if the phone hadn’t rung when it did, she knew she’d be naked and in bed with him by now. Even if it would be a mistake to sleep with one of Brian’s friends, the thought wasn’t an unpleasant one. In fact, the thought was more than a bit tempting.
She had to be crazy to even consider it.
Somehow, though, she just couldn’t bring herself to feel as crazy as she thought she should. In her entire life, she’d never had an honest-to-goodness, no-strings-attached, one-night stand, but Matt definitely would have been a grand choice for a first time—even with the possible repercussions.
It had been a bad idea, and she should thank Melanie for her unwitting save. She’d be better off in the long run without this complication.
The silence was deafening and growing longer and more uncomfortable by the minute as the easiness they’d enjoyed all evening evaporated. Ella wasn’t sure how to get it back—and she wasn’t even sure if she should try, all things considered—but she needed to say something. But what?
Matt cleared his throat, breaking the silence, and Ella jumped. “Ella, I, um…” He paused, and she finally got the nerve up to look at him. He was as disheveled as she, his shirt half-unbuttoned and untucked where she had been desperate to touch his skin, his hair rumpled from her hands. She noticed him staring at her chest. Looking down, she saw the damp spot where his mouth had closed over her nipple, and she hurriedly crossed her arms across her breasts.
He cleared his throat again, as if speaking was difficult. “I guess I should go. I’ll just, um, call you tomorrow, and come by and pick up those presents.”
“Okay.” What on earth was she supposed to say? He seemed as uncomfortable as she was, but his willingness to bolt for the door was slightly offensive to her ego. As she walked down the stairs to show him out, she found herself cursing Melanie’s bad timing. Earlier she had been caught up in the moment, spontaneously taking advantage of the situation. Now she actually had to think about what she was doing, and she was tired of always thinking rather than doing. The whole situation was frustrating as hell.
Hand on the doorknob, Matt paused and turned to her. She stood on the second step, making her eye level with him for the first, nonhorizontal time. “You were great tonight.”
“Excuse me?”
He hurried ahead. “At dinner, I mean. Not that you weren’t great under—I mean after—um. Damn.” He took a deep breath. “I’m really making a mess of this. What I mean is that I had a great time tonight.”
Somehow his discomfiture alleviated a bit of her own. “Me, too.” She smiled, a genuine one this time.
“Good night.” He leaned in to kiss her, and Ella met him halfway, expecting a quick, perfunctory kiss. Instead he kissed her long and hard—not with the all-consuming passion she had felt earlier, but still filled with a longing that was unbelievably erotic. She kissed him back, and he lifted her off her feet, crushing her against him.
Minutes—or possibly hours, she had no sense of anything when Matt kissed her—later, her back against the wall of the entryway, Matt finally broke the kiss and lowered her onto her feet. Thankfully, he didn’t let her go, because her legs were too shaky from the kiss to hold her upright. He held her loosely and rested his chin on top of her head.
“Wow.” He took a deep breath and released it noisily. “Okay, I’m going to go now. I really don’t want to, but I should.”
From her position, head nestled in his chest, she could feel his heart pounding against her cheek, and there was no mistaking the feel of his erection pressing into her. She knew that those weren’t just polite, empty words.
> “Then don’t.”
CHAPTER FOUR
SHE said the words quietly, but Matt tensed as if she had shouted at him.
He pulled back to look down at her, surprise written across his face. “What?”
“If you don’t want to leave, you don’t have to. I’d like it if you stayed.” Ella couldn’t believe the words she heard coming out of her own mouth, but she was sure she meant them. She liked Matt; she enjoyed talking to him and spending time with him. And, if their earlier foreplay was any indication, he was practically guaranteed to be fabulous in bed. She was leaving Chicago and this chapter of her life behind her, so consequences be damned. This time next week she’d be back home and starting a new life. She was absolutely free to do anything she wanted, and she wanted to do Matt Jacobs. She placed her hand on his cheek and smiled. “Really.”
Matt didn’t ask her again. He swept her up into his arms and bounded up the stairs two at a time, carrying her as if she didn’t weigh anything at all. He deftly dodged the boxes in the living room and headed directly for Ella’s bedroom. Her bedside lamp was still on from her quick change earlier that evening, and he was able to wind his way through the chaos without any problems, laying her gently in the middle of her bed.
Ella knew she fit the technical definition of petite, but no one had ever made her feel as tiny and delicate as Matt. He practically loomed over her as he removed the jacket he had put back on earlier. In the semidarkness of her room, she felt like the heroine of some romance novel—the virgin princess about to be ravished by the Viking lord—and she was very much looking forward to it.
His shirt was still untucked and partially unbuttoned from their earlier play, and he stood beside the bed watching her as he slid the final few buttons out of their holes and shrugged out of it. Her mouth watered at the seeming acres of tanned skin and hard muscle he offered. Seeing him reach for the waistband of his pants, she sat up, grabbed the hem of her T-shirt, and started shimmying it up her body.
“Don’t.”
“What?” Ella was confused by the remark, but she stilled nonetheless.
“I want to undress you myself.”
Maybe it was the statement, or maybe it was the huskiness of his voice, but hands down it was the most erotic statement she’d ever heard. Her body agreed; she could feel her nipples hardening again and an ache building between her legs. With a casualness she didn’t actually feel, she leaned back against the pillows, waiting for him to finish undressing and join her.
But, oh, what a sight he treated her to. A fully dressed Matt was unbelievably handsome. Nude, he was simply jaw-dropping. Six-pack abs, narrow waist, well-defined legs—her hands itched to trace the lines of those muscles. She wished she were a sculptor; the man had a body that needed to be immortalized in clay.
Just the sight of him caused all the moisture to drain from her mouth and go rushing south. When she realized she was staring openmouthed at him, she forced her eyes back to his face, hoping he hadn’t noticed.
If he had, he was gallant enough not to mention it as he joined her on the bed. Instead he kissed her, slowly and thoroughly, as though he was memorizing the feel of her mouth. His hands meandered over her body with torturous slowness, driving her insane with wanting. She wanted to touch him all over, learn the taste of his skin, investigate that six-pack with her tongue. Finally he slid her T-shirt up and over her head and she had the skin-to-skin contact she craved. His hard pecs flattened her breasts, and she could feel the slight tickle of crisp hair against her nipples. She only got to savor the feeling for a moment as he kissed her deeply and more urgently than earlier, before he rolled her onto her back and began a leisurely exploration of her breasts and belly.
She hissed with pleasure when his tongue snaked out to taste her nipple, teasing it to an aching point. She tugged at his hair, wanting more, and moaned when he finally pulled her nipple into the wet heat of his mouth. Fire licked through her as her hips echoed the tug of his lips. She wanted more—all of him, now—but Matt was in no hurry as he moved that amazing mouth to her other breast.
She writhed beneath him as he finally licked and kissed and nibbled his way down her ribs to her navel and the waistband of her pants. Slowly, his tongue tasting each inch of skin as he exposed it, he inched her pants and panties down over her hips. Sitting up, he finally slid them the rest of the way down her legs, leaving her naked. He stared at her, his eyes moving from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, until she began to squirm uncomfortably beneath the scrutiny.
“You’re so beautiful. Every inch of you is perfect.” Something low in her belly flopped over at his words, but she couldn’t stop to question it.
His hand slid slowly up her leg from ankle to calf where he gently squeezed the muscle before moving his head down to kiss her knee. Ella could barely breathe as he placed soft, sucking kisses on her inner thighs, moving slowly higher until his breath was tickling her dark pubic curls. He nuzzled her briefly, teasing her, before sliding his tongue in to taste her.
A short, strangled cry of pleasure escaped her, and she couldn’t stop herself from lifting her hips to his mouth and threading her hands though his hair to hold him there. Understanding, Matt slid his arms under and around her thighs, holding her in place while his tongue moved over her heated flesh before pushing up into her. She bucked in response, but released her hold on his head to reach behind her to grab the headboard for support. Her head thrashed back and forth as she approached her climax, and when she reached it, she screamed Matt’s name.
The trembling in her legs still hadn’t stopped as Matt pushed himself up and over her, kissing her hard. She could taste herself on his lips, and his erection throbbed insistently against her belly.
“Condoms?” he whispered.
Ella had lost the ability to understand English. “Huh?”
“Condoms. I didn’t come prepared for this.” He moved restlessly against her. “Please tell me you have some.”
“Oh.” Understanding pushed through the haze in her brain. She rolled over to the bedside table and rummaged through the rubble inside. Dammit, where were they? She knew they were in there somewhere, but Matt’s hand stroking down her spine to caress her backside was too distracting for her to function properly.
She forgot what she was doing when he slid one strong finger inside her from behind. She shivered as he withdrew.
What was she looking for again? As he slid another finger inside, her hips bucked, and she remembered. Trying to hold the thought against the wave of lust building, she groped in the drawer. Finally her hand closed over a foil packet, and she rolled back to him, triumphant.
“Thank heaven,” he sighed, tearing into it. The relief in his voice would have been funny if she wasn’t in such desperate physical need. He was fast and efficient, and in no time he was pulling her close. With another deep, drugging kiss, he nudged her knees apart and positioned himself between her thighs.
Wrapping her legs around his waist, Ella wasted no time as she pulled his head down for another kiss and raised her hips to meet his. Matt slid into her with agonizing slowness and caught her gasp of pleasure with his mouth.
Oh. Dear. Heaven. Heat licked at her insides as he withdrew, repositioned her hips, and pushed home. Those powerful biceps trembled as he braced himself on his arms and set a leisurely pace she was sure would kill her with anticipation.
Ella met each thrust as she returned to the peak she’d only just descended. Greedy for more, she gripped his hips, her fingernails biting into his skin as she tried to increase his tempo. It was so good—she should slow down and try to prolong the pleasure. But it was too good to slow down.
Long, lovely shivers moved through her with each thrust, pushing her closer to the edge as sanity spun away. Her universe centered on the hardness filling her as stars exploded behind her eyelids. She reached her climax for the second time, going over the precipice just as Matt gave one last, deep thrust and collapsed on top of her with a groan.
> She was panting and slick with sweat, but as she floated back down, she realized so was he. Unwilling to move too much, she slid her hands over the damp planes of his back and neck as the afterglow hummed through her.
Matt took several deep, gulping breaths before he pushed himself up on his elbows and looked down at her. For a moment she was simply lost in those chocolate eyes as her heartbeat slowed and her breathing returned to normal.
Matt finally broke that intimate stare by leaning down to kiss her. With a rueful grin he placed his forehead on hers. “Sorry. That was a bit faster than I intended.”
“I’m not complaining.” In fact I’m thanking my lucky stars. She unclamped her legs from his waist, stretching them languorously before relaxing. Another small shudder ran through her, and goose bumps rose across sweat-cooled skin. “I don’t think I could’ve waited much longer.”
Matt rolled off her and then grabbed the sheet from the foot of the bed to pull up over them both. He lightly pushed the hair back from her face. “You are amazing.” He stole one last quick kiss before sliding out of the bed with an “I’ll be right back” and padding for her bathroom. “I won’t be in so much of a hurry next time,” he promised as he disappeared around the corner.
“Next time?” Ella rolled onto her side, facing the bathroom.
“Of course.” Matt came back into the room to sit on the side of her bed. Running his hand along her sheet-covered thigh, he attempted a leer. “That was only the beginning of what I plan to do with you.” Opening the drawer he’d seen her rummage through earlier, he searched for, and found, more condoms. Pulling the strip out of the drawer, he let it trail across the bed meaningfully.
“You, my dear, are in for a long night.”
The Secret Mistress Arrangement Page 4