I gripped her by the wrists. “Not even a little bit. You scared the hell out of me. Next time just . . .” Our chests heaved as my eyes fell to the sexy-as-fuck black strapless bodice. It was connected just above her ass in the back and thrust her breasts in my face. “Just . . .” I licked my lips as visions of exploring the valley between her tits had my entire body pulsing with excitement. I would do that, I would do so many things before this night was over.
“Just?” She put her hands on her hips and stepped back. “What? You like this?”
I cupped her ass and tugged her toward me. Holding her against me felt better than I could ever have possibly imagined. My length throbbed against her dress, too many clothes stood between us, but I had to get a better look at that bodice.
“It’s . . .” I lifted a fingertip and ran it down the curve of her breast and up the other. “Teasing me.”
“The bodice?”
“Yeah, I can’t decide if I want to rip it apart and buy you a new one or slowly undo each hook and torture myself with what I’ll find underneath.”
She sucked in a breath and then turned away from me. “I choose torture.”
I chuckled darkly against her neck. “Why am I not surprised?” The scent of candles and luscious wine filled the air, and the scent of her skin, the taste of whiskey on my tongue mixed with each kiss I stole from her back. Each hook I undid had me ready to explode.
A small part of me still felt like I was taking advantage, but then she’d sigh my name, her head falling forward as I trailed kisses down her back.
She was mine.
Fuck whoever saw.
My body tensed and throbbed at the final hook. After tossing her bodice to the side and slowly pulling her dress over her hips, I stared at her ass long enough for Parker to look over her shoulder. “You gonna make it, old man?”
“Call me old and I really will spank you,” I growled, running a palm down her lower back and resting it against one perfect cheek. I pinched.
She let out a squeal and turned in my arms, facing me the way I’d imagined since I first saw her on my doorstep with freshly baked cookies.
“Tell me this isn’t wrong.” I swallowed against the dryness in my throat, the intense need to taste her, to claim her, to calm this erratic beating in my chest, this roaring in my blood that said she’d always been mine, that this was the most right thing I’d ever do.
Her lush mouth pressed together in a secret smile, and then she was walking backward to the couch, her naked skin kissed the fur blanket as she pulled me on top of her.
Our mouths met with a pent-up frenzy I’d never experienced before. With a cheeky smile against my lips, she reached for my trousers.
I batted her hand away. “Not yet.”
“Yes yet.” She laughed.
“Who has the whistle, Parker?”
“Who has the boobs, Matt?”
“Touché.” I laughed and then dipped my head to pay homage to the most gorgeous pair of tits I’d ever seen. I sucked on one nipple, testing her out, wanting to see her lips part with each swirl of my tongue, each pleasure-filled bite.
“Ah.” She bit down on her lip and shook her head. “I like that, a lot.”
My body tightened as my balls drew up, sweat collected on my upper lip as our mouths joined again, not because I was overexerting myself but because the candles mixed with what was left of my self-control were wreaking havoc on my body temperature.
I lowered my fingers to her bare core, and before I even had a chance to do anything, she was moving against my palm.
I clenched my teeth.
“Matt.”
“Yeah.”
“Foreplay’s boring.”
“What?”
“Not you. Just foreplay.” She moved against my hand again and then grabbed my arm and thrust against my palm. “I want you. I’ve only ever just wanted you. Not your fingers. Not your mouth. I want you. Inside me. Deep. Now. I want to be yours.”
I’d heard of guys losing control.
I’d never experienced that blinding animalistic explosion. It consumed my body as I stood, bringing her with me. Her hands jerked down my pants and briefs, shoes were kicked off, and then I was backing her against one of the chairs, lifting her onto the table, and entering her in one smooth thrust.
“Matt!” She clung to me as her body tightened, her head tossed back like she almost couldn’t take me.
“Right here, baby, stay right here.” She tasted like vodka and longing, wet and scorching all at the same time as I thrust into her again, holding her there, pinning her against the table. I made my way onto the table, my body plastered against hers, all skin and sweat, as our eyes connected.
“Deeper.” She arched beneath me.
I moved inside her and wondered if there had ever been anything so perfect as that moment. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them as we moved in sync and I raked a kiss down her neck. We fucked like we played. In perfect harmony. I should have known it would be like that.
Like she could read my mind.
Like I could read hers.
“I knew it would be like this. It should be like this.” She clung to me, clamored for me as she wrapped an arm around my neck then one leg around my waist.
I rose over her one last time as I felt her walls suck me dry, and when I saw her crazed eyes roll back, I pressed a finger between our bodies, hitting her sweet spot just in time to watch her climax.
“What was that?” she asked in wonder, panting after her release.
But I wasn’t done yet, not by a long shot. I eased out of her then pulled her down the edge of the table and carried her over to the couch, laying her on her back with the pillow beneath her legs. “Aren’t we—”
I sank deep, she was so slick that I was surprised I could still focus as I hiked up her legs with my arms, giving me a better angle, a deeper angle. Her eyes widened. “Holy shit, what is—”
I silenced her with a kiss, loving her innocent expression, hating that a monster once took it from her.
“Foreplay,” I said against her mouth. “Trust me, you want foreplay. You want to be ready for me, for this, for us.” I moved my hips in a circular motion then gripped her ass, driving deeper as she bent up and grabbed my face, pressing a kiss to it just as I felt her body pulse around mine. I thrust one last time, my control once again at its end.
She collapsed against the fur blanket, a smile on her face.
“What?” Why was I winded? What the hell?
“I guess you’re not old,” was her answer as I grabbed a nearby pillow that we were most definitely going to burn, and tossed it in her direction, still inside her, still feeling the afterpulses of our bodies.
No regrets.
None.
And when she said, “I want to sleep in your bed.”
I couldn’t get her dressed fast enough.
Because I suddenly saw it as ours.
Chapter Twenty-Five
PARKER
I didn’t want to stay for the rest of the party. I wanted to go home with Matt. I was almost embarrassed that when I thought of home, it was his home that came to mind, and him.
Both of them a package deal.
I smiled to myself as I retied my halter top and smoothed down my dress, careful to make sure there wasn’t any evidence of what we’d just done.
I turned in time for Matt to hand me a glass of wine and lean in, like it was normal to lean in and kiss me.
Did sex make that normal now?
Could we do that?
Was it allowed?
Giddy, I kissed him back as he moaned into my mouth. God, his wine-infused tongue felt like velvet against mine. Our mouths danced along each other, and then I clung to his chest with my free hand, just as someone cleared their throat.
Had there even been footsteps?
Jagger stood there, stupid grin on his face.
“What are you?” Matt glared. “A fucking ninja?”
He grinned wide.
“Willow will be here in less than thirty seconds. What to do, what to do . . . I mean on one hand . . .”
I grumbled as he held out one hand.
“I could just yell like Matt did when I was caught with my pants down, literally. I could tell her that her best friend was hooking up with her brother . . . hmmm.” He held out his other hand. “And in this hand . . .” He lifted his hand to his lips, mimed zipping them, whistled, tossed the imaginary key into the air, then swallowed it.
“You done?” Matt asked in a bored tone.
Jagger crossed his arms. “I want to date your sister.”
“Absolutely not.” Matt’s teeth clenched, every muscle in his body strained beneath his shirt. I was surprised he was able to hold his wineglass without breaking it over Jagger’s head. “She’s off-limits.”
“Well, shit.” Jagger smiled wide. “I guess I’ll just let her know that her best friend, your houseguest, and, well, I wasn’t going to say it but I think I will now, her friend’s mentor, were just in here ripping each other’s clothes off, screaming profanities, and getting busy on the table.” He jerked his head to the wood. “I think your bodies missed a spot, you were trying to get every inch, right?”
Matt shared a look with me. “We’ll tell her.”
My anxiety spiked.
“Just not today.” He sighed. “One date, you can go out on one date, and if you suddenly elope or she ends up pregnant, I’m going to throw you off my balcony and claim it was a war crime. Your grandma should be helpful with that.”
Jagger burst out laughing just as loud footsteps made their way down the corridor. “Hey, baby, you ready to—Matt!” Willow stopped short.
“Nice red wine, isn’t it?” Jagger crossed his arms. “So . . . robust.”
I almost choked on my next sip then set the wine down on the table. “You know what? I’m exhausted.”
“How sudden.” Jagger winked.
I sent him a Stop it look while Matt grinned like he was suddenly thrilled at the prospect of Jagger and his sister alone. “Actually, Willow, Jagger was just telling us about his love for shoes. You should tell him about your trip to Paris, I’m sure he’d love every detail. In fact, you guys stay as long as you want.”
“Oh, we will.” Jagger pulled Willow close.
Matt sighed and elbowed Jagger as we both walked by.
Willow made a beeline for the wine.
Jagger grabbed my wrist. “Careful.”
“Weren’t you just encouraging this?” I hissed.
“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still tread carefully.” He winked. “Have fun tonight.”
“Already did.”
“Night’s not over,” he said, making my heart thump like a party in my chest.
I clung to Matt’s side as we made our way back down the hall.
And then reality set in.
Because when he opened the door, his hand fell from mine.
His posture stiffened.
Right.
Athlete.
Coach.
Professional.
I forced a smile on my face as we said our good-byes to people around the room. I was exhausted by the time I grabbed my coat. The car was brought around. Matt opened my door, and I got in and waited for something, anything to remind me of the magic from the wine cellar.
But he didn’t even reach for my hand.
I felt the sting of tears.
Had it just been physical?
It was so much more to me.
More than I’d ever admit out loud.
Because those words held power, and I’d learned my lesson—never give another person all of yours.
There was something thrilling and terrifying about pulling up to a dark house with a man who just had his mouth all over your body.
Did you just walk into the kitchen and ask if he was up for a midnight snack then drop your clothes?
Or was it more normal than that? Did you walk in, watch TV in your pajamas, and then end up on top of one another?
Or did we just go to bed.
Him with a book.
Me with my ear buds and a magazine?
By the time the car rolled to a stop, the garage door slowly going down, I was almost sick to my stomach. I had dated in college.
But not men like this.
Not powerful men who had their own houses, businesses. Men who could have their pick of any woman in the world.
I hadn’t been thinking all those things when I danced with him, when I took Matt to the wine cellar. All I’d thought about was him. I needed him. Only him.
I exhaled and opened my car door, nearly banging Matt in the face. “Nice, sex and suddenly you get violent?” Matt laughed. “Is this normal behavior for you?”
I grinned up at him as he helped me out of the car. “Describe normal?”
He dropped my hand. I tried not to look as disappointed as I felt. “Good point.”
I ducked my head shyly and walked into the house, the loud clicking from my heels wasn’t helping the nervousness wracking my body.
And suddenly Matt was behind me.
I closed my eyes as his hands traveled down my arms, and then he was drawing me back against his body. It was just us and the darkness in that living room. I would be okay. I had him. He had me.
“What were you thinking?” he whispered as he trailed hot, lingering kisses down the side of my neck.
“Hmm? What?”
He gripped my hips tight and turned me around to face him, his eyes drilled into me with fury. “What the hell were you thinking?”
I gasped. “I wasn’t really thinking, thinking wasn’t really part of the scenario when I was naked beneath you.”
“Anyone could have found us. Your reputation—” He held me tight, his eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that took my breath away. “I don’t give a fuck about me, I care about you. Next time you decide to push me past my self-control, we need to be alone, unless you want the world to believe the worst about you, and Parker, I don’t think I would survive that. I know I wouldn’t. I could live with a lot of things, but people not seeing who you truly are because they’re so busy judging actions they don’t understand—I will not, would not, handle that well. I would rip apart every newspaper, every magazine article. I’d torch the world until they saw your truth, your beauty, your heart.”
Tears filled my eyes. “And I wouldn’t let you.”
“I would try.”
“I’d leave before you ruined yourself over me,” I whispered sadly. “But the fact that you’d be willing to do it makes me want to cry, and nobody should cry after sex. It’s weird.”
“So weird,” he agreed while I quickly swiped my cheeks and smiled. “But understandable.”
“Maybe.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I don’t like being emotional.”
“Nooooo,” he teased. “Really? I had no idea.”
I smacked him on the shoulder.
“Violence is more your answer. I’m surprised you didn’t tie me to that Buddha sculpture with a piece of rope licorice, ride me, and call me bitch.”
I burst out laughing. “You are such an asshole!”
He kissed me.
Once, twice.
I lost count of the heated kisses in his living room, in his house, in his home.
I jumped, wrapped my arms around his neck, and deepened the kiss while he slid his hands up my thighs, gripping my bare ass as he slowly walked us past the guest room.
To his bed.
“As promised,” he whispered against the crook of my neck. “Now what?”
“Now,” I exhaled, taking in his bedroom. He had a fireplace in the corner by the master bathroom you could tell he was still remodeling. A flat-screen hung on the wall, and pictures and decorations added to an aesthetically beautiful masculine bedroom that made me think about Pier 1 and campfires. “Now we test out this . . .” I reached for his bed, just to touch the chocolate duvet, but his hands were on me already, lifting me into the a
ir and dropping me back on the mattress as he started unbuttoning his shirt.
I watched him, licking my lips as he shrugged out of the shirt. The man’s body was . . . well, I wanted to lick every single rivet of muscle, I wanted to run my mouth down his six-pack and then see how many licks it would take to travel to my final destination.
His smug grin told me he knew, oh he knew how sexy he was, how overwhelming it was when all I saw was muscular, tight skin I wanted to rake my fingernails over to leave a mark and claim him as mine.
“Not old . . .” I found myself saying, my voice coming out hoarsely. “Just a very built man.”
“Not old,” he agreed, reaching for the button of his trousers. “Needy, though, I’m very needy. I don’t think you realize how many times I’ve stopped outside your door, and yet when I say it out loud . . .”
“Sounds creepy, a bit. Yeah.” I laughed and then grasped his pants and tugged him closer. I could see every hard inch of him straining toward me, teasing me. “I would have let you in.”
“What?” His eyes were lazily focused on me as I slowly ran my hands down his hips, touching the skin there, running my fingers in slow circles while he let out a moan.
“I would have let you in,” I said honestly. “Though you would have had to leave the whistle at the door.”
He choked out a laugh and then groaned. “Your hands, they feel so good . . .”
“I wanted this,” I confessed without looking at him. “I wanted us.”
“Now that you have this . . . us”—he cupped my face—“what are you going to do?”
I grinned up at him. “I’m a taker.”
“I like that.”
“And right now . . .” Other than getting taken advantage of by my coach and then sleeping with a boyfriend in college, I was lacking in sexual experience. But it didn’t matter. It was shocking to my very core that I could look at Matt and feel like I was everything to him, like this meant something. The look on his face expressed everything his words hadn’t yet said. He cared, he wanted, he wanted me just as bad as I did him. I was so damn afraid and he made me brave. He made me want to spend endless hours naked, longing, licking. And it was all because he cared, he gave me hope, he was a partner. An equal. . . . “Right now, I want to taste you like you tasted me.”
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