by Jo Leigh
“But I thought you were bringing a chef in.”
“If you’re hungry after, we can find something to eat.”
One more peek past her wily friend proved the massage setup was real, not a hallucination. At least, she didn’t think so. She reached over and pinched Matt’s arm, just in case.
“Ow. What did you do that for?”
“Checking.”
“You’re supposed to pinch yourself, you nutcase. Now, come on. I think we can both use ninety minutes of pure bliss.”
“That long?”
“What, you don’t like—”
“No, no. I do. I just don’t get them often because I’m usually preoccupied with other stuff.”
“Everything’s ready,” he said, standing back and sweeping his arm in front of him like a game-show host.
“You’re not naked.”
He nodded. “Keenly observed. But I didn’t want to freak you out when I opened the door.”
“Too late.”
“Go,” he said. “Just leave your stuff in the other room. Come back when you’re ready. Don’t worry. This is Kathy and Duncan and I explained to them that we’re friends, so they’ll make sure I don’t flash you and vice versa, okay?”
That made her relax a bit. Then she remembered what was in her purse. Maybe she should tell them to go ahead. Flash away.
Nope. There was no way that was going to happen. She wasn’t fond of undressing in front of other people. Not even doctors. Or men she’d slept with. She was a lights-off kind of gal, and this seemed very...bright.
Matt cleared his throat. It got her moving. She tried not to look as if she was running as she hurried to the bedroom. It took a few minutes to get up the nerve to take off her coat.
She was going to hear Matt’s sex noises during the massage. No doubt about it.
And he’d probably hear hers.
It shouldn’t have been an issue, now that she’d decided to sleep with him, but...
She sat down on the edge of the bed and took a few deep breaths. Maybe this was the best plan ever. Instead of going from dinner straight to sex, there was now this little trial period. One where she’d get to hear his noises. Picture him naked under the sheet. Hell, if she hated it, she could always leave. Standing up, she started to take off her various layers. Toed off her shoes and was tempted to keep her socks on, but no. She stripped. Undressed. Got naked. Bared her butt.
She was in her robe faster than she could say her five favorite swearwords.
Oh, God. This was going to be terrible. Or wonderful. She’d dreamed of naked Matt a lot in her life. But in her dreams, she was sexy, too. Not the skinny, geeky girl who didn’t get out much.
She closed her eyes, counted to ten, put on her bravest face and walked out to meet her destiny.
7
MATT TOOK A deep breath when Sam walked into view. He’d already figured out what to do if she declined his invitation. As he had taken the precaution of paying the massage therapists ahead of time, they were fine with wrapping things up at his signal. Thankfully, Sam had got undressed. Although she could have easily been wearing her underwear underneath that thick robe.
He didn’t care. Sam in her underwear would still be sexy as hell. Though he’d have felt a lot better if she hadn’t looked as if she were headed to the gallows. “Kathy and Duncan brought an excellent bottle of champagne with them,” he said. “Would you like a glass?”
She hadn’t quite met them halfway. Her gaze kept skipping from him to the massage therapists, then to the portable tables and the accompanying assortment of oils and wrapped items.
He’d dimmed the lights, the walls had turned pale blue and the fireplace crackled. Soft music and exotically scented candles completed the atmosphere. “If this were a real couples-massage night instead of a demo,” he continued, taking a few steps toward Sam, “we would have had a soak in that big tub in the master bath first.”
“That’s right,” Kathy said. “We usually begin each massage with a relaxation soak.” As she went on to describe the possibilities that came with a couples massage, Matt kept his eyes on Sam. Not just because he was hoping to see what was under that Turkish robe. He was watching her for signs of skittishness.
Her eyes widened, but it wasn’t fear that he saw.
When Kathy wound up the very long list of available options, Sam said, “That sounds... How long would that take?”
Matt grinned. “Hey, if you want to try them all, I’m game.”
“No, I meant if I wanted to try that tech-massage thing and the deep tissue, how long would that take?”
“Ninety minutes,” Kathy said. “Approximately.”
Sam looked at him. “Do you have a lot of spa days under your belt?”
“A few. I know I’m going for the deep tissue myself. What do you say? Willing to give it a shot?”
Her smile came slowly. “Sure. Why not?” She was almost convincing. “I’ll have that champagne now,” she said before she turned to Kathy. “I’d like what he’s having and the tech, please.”
“Absolutely. Would you like me to work on you, or would you feel more relaxed with Duncan?”
She looked down at her bare feet. “You’ll be great,” she said. “No offense, Duncan.”
The big guy nodded. “None taken.”
Matt brought her a flute of Perrier-Jouët, along with one for himself. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”
“I want to,” she said with an upward lilt on the last word.
“Then here’s to new adventures,” he said, clicking his glass against hers. They both drank the champagne more quickly than it deserved. When she handed him her empty flute, her gaze slipped down his robe and she wet her bottom lip. This was either the best idea he’d ever had or the worst.
* * *
THERE WAS NO way there wouldn’t be sex.
Sam knew without a doubt that once she took off her robe and slid under the sheet, the night would end with her and Matt in bed together. Something she’d never thought would happen, but there it was, complete with champagne.
Which, she had to admit, was giving her courage. The massage might also help relax her—at least, she hoped it would, because she didn’t want to be awkward when it came to... Oh, who was she kidding? Awkward was in her DNA.
Kathy held up a sheet while Sam dropped her robe and climbed up onto the table. She was a little disappointed that it wasn’t equipped with a face hole, but then she looked left and understood why not. Matt was right there, dropping his robe behind a sheet. When he lay down, their eyes met. Of course. The whole thing was about connection.
Not only were they looking at each other, but they were both naked.
She immediately tensed. Kathy’s warm, velvety hands touched her back, and she focused on her breathing: inhale for seven counts, hold for four, exhale for eight. The rhythm of her breathing sent her quickly into an alpha state, where she was halfway between fully awake and completely asleep.
Everything smelled heavenly, Kathy knew what she was doing, and it was as if Sam had been transported to an alternate reality where she got to look deep into the eyes of the man she’d had a crush on for all these years.
Of course, every time it occurred to her that she was blatantly staring at Matt, she had to look away. But she couldn’t look away for long. After the fifth or sixth time, he grinned, and she grinned back, and then she let herself stare unabashedly.
Many long, languorous minutes later, Kathy whispered, “We’re going to do some deep-tissue work now. If anything is uncomfortable, tell me and I’ll adjust, all right?”
Sam thought about telling her to just keep on doing the soft massage, but she didn’t want to seem like a wuss.
Two minutes later, Sam had to ask for a gentler rub. Kathy insta
ntly obliged, and then things got interesting. Not with Kathy...
With Matt.
It looked as if Duncan was shoving his elbow halfway through Matt’s back, but Matt didn’t even wince. She knew because his suddenly intense gaze was locked on hers, the smile gone. It was as if he’d turned up the dimmer switch all the way. She didn’t even want to blink.
Time slid by in a haze. She felt completely grounded in her body and apart from it at the same time. The two other massages she’d experienced hadn’t been anything like this. But then, Matt hadn’t been there, his gaze hungry, his lips slightly parted, and, God, she could see his nostrils flare. Who knew that would turn her on so much?
The lower-body work presented a completely different kind of challenge for Sam. It wasn’t intrusive or anything like that, but her thighs weren’t used to kneading hands. Now her own lips parted as she started to pant. The heat seemed to rise by ten degrees and it was everything she could do to stay focused.
This was the weirdest foreplay ever.
It didn’t help that the walls around the living room had changed from soothing blue tones to pulsing dark pinks. She’d thought about turning off the sensors and then had forgotten about it. But she was glad she’d left them on when she heard Kathy’s sharp inhalation as the colors began undulating, and now, well, now Sam was experiencing the full effect of what a couples massage could do.
It took her a moment to realize Kathy was speaking to her. “Samantha, would you like to turn over now?”
She really didn’t. What she wanted was to keep this barely controlled sizzle going. For Matt to sweep her into the bedroom, where they could do wonderfully wicked things to each other all night long.
“I think we’re good,” Matt said, clearly reading her mind.
Sam shivered down to her toes.
“We’ll get your sheets back to you soon.”
The therapists didn’t even comment. They simply stepped away, their backs turned as Matt climbed off the table, covering himself with the white sheet. It didn’t hide the tent pole down below.
She slipped off her table, the sheet a comfort because this was really happening. The best thing was that Sam hadn’t lost her alpha-state buzz. She felt as if she were floating, more at ease than she’d have ever believed. They didn’t touch on their way to his room, but that didn’t mean they weren’t on the same wavelength.
The moment Matt closed the door behind them, he pulled her into his arms.
* * *
HE’D WANTED TO kiss her since that first day she’d let him into the apartment. And at last, thank God, she was his. Their sheets tangled as he searched for bare skin. Once he touched her back, he smiled, still managing to kiss her with everything he had.
His eyes were closed but he could still map out her irises in his mind. They’d locked on to each other on the massage tables. Prolonged eye sex as foreplay was hotter than he’d ever imagined.
Sam was new to him. He’d never felt her body like this. Never tasted her as she tasted him right back. He moaned into her mouth and her breath hitched, which just made him want her closer, although there wasn’t much closer to get.
He’d been hard for a hell of a long time. There was no hiding it. He didn’t even want to. Except...
Pulling away wasn’t any fun. “Are you sure you want this?” he asked.
Her eyes were dark, the pupils showing only a hint of green. “Yes.” She blinked. “I understand completely, okay?”
Her response was a little odd, but when she pulled him down into another kiss, he forgot all about it.
As he teased her tongue and nibbled on her lush lower lip, he heard the ocean. Waves crashing on the shore. He’d have said that was impossible, but this was Sam...
The sheets had to go. He wanted to see her. To feel her, skin on skin. To discover her secrets and make it so good for her, for them, that they’d never forget it.
When he stepped back this time, he caught a glimpse of the far wall, and it stopped him. The ocean. Right there. On all the walls. Big waves, vivid as an IMAX picture, only private and theirs alone. “How?”
“What?”
He nodded to the left.
“Oh, it’s perfect. I’ve only seen it by myself, but this is so much better.”
“How did you do that?” He’d always thought of her as a techie, but his Sammy had quite the whimsical spirit.
She tugged the hair at his nape. “Really? You want to talk about that now?”
Laughing made it harder to kiss, so he let go of his chuckles along with his sheet. Thankfully, there wasn’t too much bruising from his workout this morning, and Duncan had been careful to keep away from his lower chest.
Sam held on to her sheet, although it wasn’t quite hiding everything. The glimpse of one areola against her pale skin made him groan.
She, on the other hand, was too busy staring at his erection to notice.
“Everything okay?”
“Recalibrating,” she said. Finally, her gaze meandered up to his shoulders, his face, his eyes. “You’re gorgeous. I never— I mean, I’ve seen you in shorts and without a shirt, but that was—”
“A long time ago. Another life. In this one, you’re the gorgeous one. I’m just a lucky bastard.”
She smiled, inhaled deeply and then dropped her sheet. “Fair’s fair,” she said, but her eyes slammed shut as her blush painted her from chest to cheek.
Everything he saw was beautiful.
There was no doubt she was a true redhead. That made his cock jerk, although so did looking at her shoulder. Rubbing her arm down to her hand, he said, “Come with me?”
“Okay.” Her grip was strong as he led her the short distance to the bed. He pulled the blankets down to the floor. She lay down, put her head on a pillow, arms by her sides, legs tightly together, stiff as a board.
“I see the massage got you nice and relaxed.”
She looked down at herself and burst out laughing. Then her gaze fell to his cock, which was practically touching his stomach. Her excited shiver and breathy exhalation were just the green light he needed.
* * *
WATCHING MATT CRAWL into bed next to her was surreal and sexy beyond words. She wasn’t able to take her eyes off him. It reminded her of a dream. Of many dreams with him as the star, but they’d been—
His knee brushed her thigh, and okay, this was definitely not a dream. The waves continued to crash around them, the scent of the ocean mixing with the fragrant oils from their massages an aphrodisiac. The room changed colors as the CGI sunset filled the space with orange, pink, blue and yellow. His eyes flashed dark and hungry, and he startled her when he slid down the side of her body.
He stopped with his head just above her clamped thighs. He bent, nuzzled the small triangle of hair. His inhalation made his eyelids flutter. Then he touched the tip of her lips with the tip of his tongue.
At first she squeezed her legs even tighter together, but as soon as her body would allow it, she let go of her resistance. This was it, her one shot at an actual fantasy coming true. She’d meant it when she told him she understood. This might be their only time together and she didn’t want to regret a single second of it. She whimpered at his first touch. Gripped the bottom sheet with both fists.
All he used was his tongue, licking her just enough to make her blush deepen and her heart race. It wasn’t long until he started moving again, a panther crawling up the length of her.
He stopped again when his mouth was over her chest.
“Oh, God,” she cried out. “What are you...? That’s... Oh, God.”
He didn’t stop sucking her right nipple at her outburst, although he did chuckle. At first it was all she could do not to grab his head and hold it there.
His mouth was so wet, his tongue pointed as he flicked the
sensitive tip of her nipple. His moan caused his lips to vibrate very subtly.
Keeping her eyes open wasn’t easy in spite of the incredible show taking place all around her. The sunset colors painting the walls came in a distant second to the way he looked at her. This wasn’t Dream Matt or Crush Matt. This was real. She wanted to memorize everything, every lick and every sound.
Matt started in on her left nipple but teased it for only a few seconds before he raised his head and hovered over her, his eyes level with hers. “You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice gruff, as if he’d just woken up.
That was only testosterone and arousal talking, but she didn’t mind.
“I mean it, Sammy.” His eyes stayed locked on hers. “So how about you believe me?”
She inhaled and then let the air go. “All right,” she said, looking away and up at the ceiling. “The sun’s about to set on our indoor ocean, and I can see Venus up there. Anything’s possible.”
“I can’t even guess how you’ve done this.”
“Magic,” she said. Just like now. The whole evening. It was all magic.
“How come I never saw this fanciful side to you?”
She almost said it was because he’d practically avoided her during his last two years at MIT.
But then he saved her from herself by kissing her nose, then her lips. He pulled back when she touched his cheek.
“What do you want, Sam? Whatever it is, I want you to have it.”
Still touching his face, she looked at his chest, the dusting of dark hair, his toned muscles, his patient erection. “Would you be offended if I told you I don’t want a lot of foreplay?”
He laughed and she felt his mouth shift in her palm. Touching him like this grounded her. Made her want more. She tugged him down and wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Offended? No. It’s taken everything I have not to ravage you.”
“Really?”
“God, yes. Feel my chest.”
She rested her palm over his heart and felt the drumming within his chest and how he was trembling. “Oh,” she said. “So I’m not the only one.”