by Marie Harte
“Thanks.” He turned onto his back and smiled up at her.
“No, thank you.” She placed the paper on her dresser. Then she closed the door, lit a few candles, and just stared down at him.
Long dark fabric covered the windows, the candlelight the only thing illuminating the space around them, with the exception of what little light filtered past her heavy drapes. Shelby in a red teddy and Shane completely naked made the scene feel like something out of a fantasy. Her fantasy, from the way she smiled at him.
“You are so cut. I love looking at you.” She bit her bottom lip. “Get in the middle of the bed and put your hands behind your head. Spread your legs. I want to see all of you.”
He liked letting her have a look. Shane had never been self-conscious about his body. About a lot of other things, yes, but his appearance? No.
She knelt on the bed next to him and ran a hand over his foot. She continued to trail her fingers up his leg to his knee, over his thigh and across his groin. His cock jumped, and she caressed him with the lightest of touches.
“Fuck. That’s good, baby.” He wanted never to leave her hand, his hunger building when she began pumping him with a grip too light by half. “Harder. Hold me tight.”
She let go.
A frown turned those pretty eyes a darker brown. “You do what I say, not the other way around.” She paused. “Not this time.”
Oh shit. “Sure, right. Lost myself there.” He definitely was going to come more than once today. Thank God. Sleeping with Shelby had opened the door on his libido, and now he couldn’t go through the day without a few hard-ons thinking about the sexy brunette.
“Be a good boy.” She leaned down and licked his shaft from root to crown.
He bucked up, unable to control himself. But he kept his hands behind his neck.
“Mmm.” She put her mouth over him and sucked hard, licking up the fluid that pooled at his tip. “Yummy,” she added, her voice husky, arousing him to no end.
It was so much better to know she wanted this, that her fantasy included seducing him. She could have done anything, asked him to make her come in any way possible. Yet she chose this.
She played with him until he thought he’d burst, then completely let him go.
“Not now,” he moaned, and heard an evil laugh.
“Now it’s my turn.”
She straddled his waist, rose up on her knees, and slowly moved her hand between her legs. Shelby unsnapped the teddy and took the crotch piece away, leaving a wet, bare pussy open to view.
“Christ. You shaved it all. Let me fuck you, please.”
“There’s more.” She reached up and pulled down her top, revealing all of her breasts, so that the fabric acted like a bustier, plumping up her already full breasts. “I know how much you like these.”
He gripped the back of his neck so hard he feared giving himself a headache. If the woman would just lower herself a little, he could angle his cock up and let her slide down his pole one inch at a time.
Shelby slowly eased over him, setting her hot, wet cream over his cock. She slid forward, and he nearly lost it.
“Easy,” she warned and lifted her breast. “See my nipple? How hard and tight it is for you?”
He groaned.
“Suck me. I want you to get me wetter, so that when you slide inside me, I’ll come all over you.”
He didn’t have to be told twice. He opened his mouth and took that tasty nipple inside. He sucked and licked, nipped and teased as she writhed over him, coming closer and closer to his dick.
She pulled away and offered her other breast, and Shane couldn’t stop himself from letting go of his neck to reach for her hips while he sucked her hard. Hell, if he didn’t fuck her soon, he’d lose his mind.
“No, not yet,” she rasped and stopped him.
It all but killed him, but he froze under her and let her slip from his lips, breathing so hard it sounded as if he’d just finished a marathon.
“Please. I’m dying to fuck you.”
She scooted up and walked on her knees up his body.
Understanding what she wanted next, he waited with barely concealed patience.
“I want to come over your lips.” She settled her knees on either side of his head. “Make me come.”
He’d never wanted anything more. Shane drew her down and sucked her sweet juice into his mouth. Giving oral to a woman ranked in his top sexual favorites, but Lisa hadn’t been that into it. Shelby, it appeared, was nothing like his ex, and he couldn’t be more grateful.
He ate her out, loving the taste of her, the essence of the sultry woman needing a good hard fuck. It wasn’t going to take her long, not with her breathy cries and all the grinding over his mouth. He added one finger, then two into her cunt, stretching her for him.
His dick throbbed, wanting in that sweet heaven that tasted like candy.
“Shane, oh yeah. Baby, please. God, I’m coming,” she cried as she ground her face over his mouth.
He swallowed her juice, enthralled with the tight bud under his tongue. Man, her clit was hard, and the shocks of her vaginal walls gripping his fingers tight made waiting to take her unbearable. And thrilling, because waiting had never been so hard.
After she calmed down enough to lever off him, she eased back over him like a blanket. She had to feel his arousal, because her belly rolled over his prick. But she made no move to ease him.
After a moment, she chuckled low. “Hard and hurting, hmm?”
He groaned. “You’re such a cock tease. After letting me eat that sweet cunt, you get me rock hard, then nothing?” He rubbed himself against her belly, needing to be inside her.
“I want you to fuck me doggie style,” she said against his chest. “Take me hard, be wild. I want—”
She squealed when he exploded into action. He rolled her over and moved to his knees in one breath, then flipped her to her hands and knees and pulled her up to a bent over position in the next.
“I’m fucking you right now. No more waiting,” he growled and speared her in one hard thrust.
She cried out, but he didn’t stop. Shane was like a madman possessed. He slid inside her with ease, right through her cream. The friction over his already hot cock made everything brighter, more intense. Despite the dim light of the candles around him, her skin seemed to glow. A peachy silk that was perfect against his darker, tanner flesh.
He looked down and forced himself to slow, so that he could watch himself disappear into her before he pulled all the way out. He punctuated each thrust with a snap of his hips, hitting as deep inside her as he could.
“Oh God. Yes, please,” Shelby moaned and rocked back with each shove, meeting him halfway.
Shane had just about neared his end when she reached under them and grazed his balls.
“Fuck me. Here it comes. All in you.” He held her tight as he pounded inside her once more and stilled, jetting into her in a burst as she tightened around him once more, lost in her own orgasm.
The rush of pleasure overwhelmed him, and he could only kneel there and ride the wave as jolt after jolt of pure adrenaline washed over them both.
When he finished, he felt weak with repletion.
Shane slowly withdrew, already regretting the loss of her warmth. He slumped to the bed beside her and welcomed her into his arms when she crawled over him.
“I’m messy,” she murmured as she kissed his chest.
Emotional entanglement threatened to undo his peace. As much as he’d hoped to remain unaffected by the feelings sex often engendered, he opened to her. He couldn’t help reveling in her kiss, as caught by her tenderness as he’d been by her seduction. She leaned over and looked down at him with an uncertain expression, one that made him want to hug her and tell her everything would be all right now that they had each other.
Time seemed to freeze.
Oh hell. He’d gone and done it again. Fallen for a woman after trying so fucking hard not to.
“You okay?�
� she asked.
He nodded and forced himself to relax. He kept telling himself the affection was merely the result of one hell of an orgasm. Bliss, endorphins, sexual satisfaction, that’s all it was.
“I’m better than okay,” he said back, his voice embarrassingly hoarse.
Her grin eased his discomfort. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think I can move, and I know I’m getting you all wet.”
He felt moisture over his belly but for once didn’t cringe. He’d never been a big fan of the cleanup after, despite the fact that most of the mess came from him. But he didn’t mind knowing he’d come in her, that his seed now stained her legs and his belly.
“We should shower.” He rubbed her back.
“We should. Together.” She kissed him, a slow leisurely merging of mouths that soon morphed into a need for more.
“You’re in charge.” Shane followed her off the bed and into her bathroom. The shower stall looked big enough to fit three comfortably. “Nice. We could have a party in here.”
She winked at him as she took off her teddy. When she stood naked, he just looked at her.
“Call me a sex-drunk fool, but you are the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” He couldn’t look away from her breasts. Until he spied her smooth mound. “And shaving… I admit, you hooked me. Now I can see what I’ve been eating.”
She blushed, and he thought the reaction both surprising and sweet, considering what they’d just done.
“So you mentioned something earlier about you being in charge—at first.” He followed her into the shower after she adjusted the water. “What does that mean?”
He watched her clean herself, knowing he’d replay this scene over in his mind again and again.
After she cleaned herself, she turned to him with the soap and ran it over his body. She paid a lot of attention to his arms and chest, then played with his balls and cock until he threatened to come again.
She let him go with a smirk. “You’re hard, I see..”
“I wonder why.”
She laughed. “I wanted you ready for round two.”
“I’m hoping we’ll eventually get to round six, but that may be reaching.”
They grinned at each other, and something suspiciously like the beginnings of love fluttered in his chest.
Her grin faded. “I liked being in charge, but I also want to be taken.” She looked away from him, and he nudged her chin with his finger, so he could see her eyes.
“Why are you looking away?”
“This is a little embarrassing.”
“Considering what we just did, I’d think you’d be over any embarrassment.” What the hell did she want him to do with her?
“I want you to take charge. It’s weird. I mean, not just be domineering, but to make me totally helpless.”
He thought he understood. “So the scarves in there are for you, not me?”
She nodded, the flush high on her cheeks. “I don’t want you to rape me or anything. But I want to feel powerless, you know?”
He thought he did. A common fantasy among many independent women, or so his girlfriend before Lisa had told him, was to be dominated. He empathized. Being in charge all the time grew wearying. Hell, having Shelby take the lead had been a welcome relief. But commanding her would be a treat as well.
“So I get to tie you up and do whatever I want to?”
She nodded. “And be a little rough. Not too rough, just—”
“Forceful. I get it.” He grinned, liking their next adventure already. “I’m good for it.” He glanced down at himself. “You?”
“Almost. I need to get back in the mood.”
He frowned. “Really? Because…” he tapered off as she lowered to her knees between his legs. He widened his stance when she tapped his inner thighs. “Because… Oh fuck it. You’re going to…” He groaned and gripped her wet hair. Talk about a wet dream. Literally.
Chapter Thirteen
Maggie didn’t know why Mac Jameson continued to harass her. She did everything the big lout said. Her aerobics class had drawn more people than the other instructors normally did, or so the jealous bimbo with a tight ass and fake breasts had mentioned while gawking at Mac as he walked by.
“Doran, in my office.” He breezed by her without waiting.
The jerk.
She took her time chatting with a few women who had come back after taking her first class last Tuesday. Thursdays at six was a popular time, but with Shantell amenable to giving Maggie the hours she wanted, Maggie would do whatever she could to not only make ends meet, but help her absent best friend snag a decent man.
Everything she’d learned about Shane Collins pointed to a guy Shelby might click with. He was good looking, as Maggie had seen for herself, and he had that same health fixation going on that Shelby did. Her friend could bitch about running ‘til the cows came home, but she still used it as her go-to measure for taking off the pounds. Maggie only resorted to jogging to nab a sale item before another shopper could get to it.
She waved goodbye to her new friends, passed by the catty airheads dreaming about Mac, and grabbed her water bottle. She refilled it at the water fountain and turned to see two men looking right at her, or right where her ass had been before she turned around.
“Hello?” She glared, giving them her man-hater stare, the one Shelby had perfected.
They smiled at her.
She sighed.
“Not getting any younger, Doran.” Mac’s warm breath in her ear startled a shriek out of her, and she jerked around and accidentally spilled water over his shirt.
He grunted and grabbed her by the arm. “I need to talk to you. In my office. Today, short stuff.”
She discreetly tried to yank her arm out of his meaty hand as they left the main gym. But he wouldn’t budge. So like a kid being dragged to the principal’s office, she walked next to Mac on her tiptoes, trying to keep up with his longer stride.
In his office, he finally let her go, and she rubbed her arm and scowled. “Nice, Jameson. I’m not a piece of meat, you know.”
He turned to regard her and settled his fine ass on the edge of his desk. Then he grinned, and she lost her train of thought. For a man who acted like a Neanderthal half the time, he could be a charming guy. That combination of black hair, ice blue eyes and a body Hercules would envy packed a one-two punch.
“You are so cute when you’re angry.”
Cute. She was so tired of cute. She’d much rather be likened to an Amazon, as she’d overheard Mac call her best friend. Or a goddess, or maybe a Marilyn Monroe type instead of petite Barbie.
“You wanted something, slave master?”
His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I want something.” He paused, and she couldn’t for the life of her read the look he gave her.
“What?” She slammed her hands on her hips, glad she’d worn a shirt over her sport bra and more conservative tights today. Whenever he turned his assessing gaze in her direction, she felt half naked. And she didn’t like it. Mac seemed to fit her type a little too much. He had sex with tons of women, acted way too macho for this day and age, and had too many muscles. She liked men bigger than her, but with Mac, she felt dwarfed. It wasn’t so much his height as his brawn. He could crush her with his pinkie before she could even think of fighting back.
“Never mind.” Mac circled his desk and sat behind it. He continued to study her.
“If you have nothing better to do than stare, I’m out of here. I’m working here to do Shelby—and you—a favor, remember?”
“Shelby, right.” He nodded, and the weird expression on his face faded. “It’s been almost three weeks already. When am I going to meet her? I want to see what she’s all about. Shane seems a bit too evasive lately.” He shook his head. “I think the dick is holding out on me.”
“I can’t get through to Shelby either. I’ve been busy at work myself, you know. Between the gallery, here, and my work at home, I’m tapped for time.”
“Work a
t home?”
“I’m a sculptor.” It still made her heart race to say the words out loud, to admit she created art, not as a hobby, but as a career.
“Oh right. You mentioned that.” Mac seemed interested, which surprised her. “You got anything downtown in any of the galleries?”
“Not yet. Shantell…” Before she could get started, she stopped herself. Mac didn’t care about her artwork. “I’ll check on Shelby again.”
He frowned at her. “Fine. Do it. I want to meet this chick who has my friend so interested. I get the feeling he’s avoiding me.”
“Gee, I wonder why?”
He surprised her by laughing. “You know, I like you, Maggie Doran. You aren’t afraid of me, you don’t seem to care about impressing me—”
“Because I don’t. Care that is.”
“—and you don’t seem to want in my pants.”
“Good God. Your ego could stand a few knocks.”
Mac met her by the door to his office. He stood so close she could feel his body heat, and once again she was reminded of how much bigger than her he was. “Maybe I should keep you around, so you can make sure I remember my place.”
Was it her, or did his voice sound huskier than normal? She reached for the door handle to the office, and he put his hand over hers. The flutter in her belly returned, the one she got when she stood too close to Mr. God’s Gift to Women. Hell, she was attracted to him. Not that she liked the feeling, but she recognized it at least.
“Maggie?”
“I’ll show you your place. At the bottom of the barrel,” she muttered and refused to look past his chest, now wet thanks to the water she’d splashed over him. “You might want to change your shirt.”
He didn’t move. “Yeah. I will.”
They stood in awkward silence, his hand on top of hers, their bodies so close they might as well be dancing.
He stepped back and coughed. “So. Shelby. Swing her by. I’ll check her out.”
Maggie had agreed to look into Shane’s background, at Mimi’s behest. Now she was stuck with Mac. He wanted to know more about Shelby, fine. Because Maggie would do whatever it took to help her find love again.