Ruff and Tumble

by Lucy Gilmore

  He thought she had the soul of a warrior, and for the first time in her life, she absolutely agreed.

  “Jesus.” She hesitated at the sight of Cole’s bare torso, which was so freakishly perfect it felt almost surreal. His shoulders were impossibly broad, his chest a massive swell of strength and superiority. It was as if someone had taken the marbled ideal of a man sculpted hundreds of years ago and breathed life into him.

  Fully aware of the effect he was having on her, Cole placed his arms behind his head and grinned. The pose was designed to make the most of his powerful biceps, but flexing only drew attention to the round scars on his right shoulder from the surgery he’d had two years ago. Seeing them—this visible proof that he, too, was human—gave her the resolve she needed to strip her panties away.

  “Jesus,” he echoed, dropping his arms.

  It was all the invitation she needed. She lowered herself to his lap, sitting astride, her entirely naked body pressed against his half-clothed one. Even this inequality didn’t disconcert her. She liked the way his jeans felt against her, the hard ridge of his groin pressing and pushing against her body with a need that neither one of them could deny.

  Taking his face between her hands, she lowered her lips to his and kissed him. He was expecting it, his mouth ready and willing to accept hers the moment their lips touched. She was too hungry and too eager, small moans escaping every time his tongue slid along hers, but it didn’t seem to matter. He matched her sense of urgency beat for beat and bite for bite.

  “What the hell else are you hiding from me?” he asked when she pulled away to adjust her position. Her legs, already spread much farther than decorum allowed, widened until she could feel every part of his erection. He seemed to like this, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her down so that she couldn’t move in any direction but against him. “Secret tattoos? Sexy piercings? Deep, dirty kinks I’ll have no choice but to play along with?”

  Hailey felt a pang of regret starting to take over the hot, liquid yearning between her legs. If that was the kind of excitement Cole craved in the bedroom, he was going to be disappointed with anything she had to offer.

  “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I don’t have any tattoos or piercings,” she said, more serious than the moment required but unable to prevent the words from escaping. “I’m scared of needles. And infection.”

  “Noted.”

  He still seemed inclined to be amused, so she added, “And to be perfectly honest, I don’t have any kinks. None that I know of, anyway. I’m not experienced enough for that. There are a few that seem like they might be fun, but I’ve never met anyone I’d want to try them out with.”

  This foray into the truth was having its inevitable effect on her—which was to say, the fire that burned in her blood was starting to rise to the surface. Of course. This was the thing to make her blush. This was the thing to make her feel as though she was, well, squirming and naked on a man’s lap.

  It was also the thing that kept her mouth moving long after a wise woman would have glued it shut.

  “I wouldn’t mind trying some of them out with you.”

  Naturally, Cole didn’t have a response to this. How could he? In one breath, she’d admitted her lack of sexual experience, revealed her risk-averse tendencies, and thrown herself at him in ways she would regret for the rest of her life. It was one thing to offer sex to a man who clearly wanted it; it was quite another to open the door to boundary-pushing deeds enacted in the name of lust.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Cole said after a pause that felt interminable.

  She was almost afraid to ask. “What?”

  “I should have known.” He lifted a hand and trailed the back of his fingers down her cheek, his touch cool against the flame of her mortification. He skimmed over her jaw and along the pulse in her neck, danced over her clavicle and down the naked peaks of her breasts. She thought he might keep going until he reached the softest, wettest parts of her, but he stopped when he reached her sternum.

  There, he placed his palm flat against the thrum-thrumming of her chest. “It doesn’t stop until it reaches your heart.”

  At that, something inside Hailey cried out—not verbally but in a burst of energy and emotion that tingled in all of her fingers and each of her toes. She swung a leg off Cole’s lap and made a move to dash away, but he caught her by encircling her wrist.

  “Don’t,” he said—begged, almost, his voice low and hoarse. “Stay with me.”

  She shook her head, the loose strands of her hair tumbling around her face. Although she could feel some of her blush abating, she still felt hot and exposed.

  Then again, she’d felt hot and exposed since the moment this man first walked into her office. It would be a far stranger thing to change the state of affairs now.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said. “I’m just going to grab protection. Stay exactly where you are.”

  She didn’t wait to hear his reaction this time around. There were so many things about this moment that felt fantastic, but that was pretty much her life in a nutshell. Every day was a new adventure in stepping outside her comfort zone, in revealing all her soft, squishy inner parts to virtual strangers. For whatever reason, Cole Bennett had taken one look at her soft, squishy inner parts and decided he wanted to stick around long enough to enjoy her soft, squishy outer ones.

  And she, Lord help her, was going to let him.

  It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for. She paused on her way back to peek at the puppies. Bess and her babies were all contentedly napping in their usual positions in the kitchen, but Rufus’s box had shifted and the heated blanket was askew. Not, as might be supposed, because Rufus was once again trying to escape, but because Philip had somehow managed to sneak past the gate and make his way into the kitchen. He’d found Rufus’s box and pushed the blanket aside. Their heads rested together, eyes shut and dreamy expressions on their sweet little faces.

  “Good boy,” Hailey whispered as she tiptoed away, fearful lest she disturb their rest. It was nice for Rufus to finally have a friend. Philip, too. Life was far too difficult when you had to go it alone.

  “Sorry,” she apologized as she returned to the living room. In accordance with her command, Cole hadn’t moved—he was still on the couch, still gloriously shirtless, still a vision to behold. And if her quick peek at his groin was any indication, still fully committed to this act. “I had to check on the puppies.”

  “Of course you did.”

  “Their comfort is important to me.”

  “Of course it is.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Are you just going to sit there and blandly agree with everything I say?”

  “Of course I am.”

  She laughed and took her lower lip between her teeth. She wasn’t fool enough to think that this conciliatory mood of Cole’s was going to last—he was far too accustomed to having things his own way for that—but she might as well get some use out of it while it lasted.

  “Then put this on.” She tossed the condom at him.

  He raised an eyebrow but did as she asked. He made a show of it too, slowly peeling off his jeans, tugging at the waistband of his boxer briefs, taking himself out like a man enamored of his own anatomy. Which, to be fair, he had every right to be.

  She’d imagined this man naked before, had seen the pictures of him on a beach and in the locker room, but nothing could have prepared her for the real deal. His size was everywhere in proportion, his strength so much a part of him that even his muscles had muscles.

  “Well?” he asked. “What now?”

  Now she blushed, obviously. This was a moment of words, not actions, and therefore highly uncomfortable. She approached the couch somewhat cautiously, pleased when he took the initiative of once again encircling her wrist and tugging her close, his free hand gripping her bare hip to
hold her in place. The breadth of his hand, always impressive, seemed to span much more of her than seemed possible.

  “I guess it depends on what you like,” she said, swallowing as his fingers pressed deep imprints into her skin.

  His own swallow seemed to match hers, his throat bobbing hungrily. “What I like?” he asked. “You’re standing there, gorgeous and naked and offering yourself to me, and you want to know my sexual preferences?”

  She would have squirmed, but his hold on her was so complete that there was nowhere for her to go. “I’m not a mind reader,” she said. “I usually prefer to be on top, but if you want—”

  He pulled her onto his lap with so much force that she could only squeal and give in. It felt good to be back there, to have her thighs parted above his, this time with no barrier between them but a thin sheath of latex.

  “I want you, Hailey,” he said, his voice raspy. “Any way, anywhere, and anytime you’ll have me. You have no idea what a gift you are.”

  She’d never been called a gift before, but that was exactly what she felt like as Cole dragged her mouth down to his and kissed her. There were no clothes left for him to remove, but that didn’t stop him from unwrapping her, layer by layer.

  The first thing he removed was any lingering embarrassment she might have felt at being naked and on top of the world’s most gorgeous man. The way he kissed, deeply and intensely, as though he couldn’t taste enough of her, left no room for any such thoughts. He might be sculpted like a god and forged of stone, but he was still just a man—and one who wanted her as much as she wanted him.

  The second thing he removed was any shyness she might have felt at making her preferences so clear. He used his vantage point underneath her to explore her body at will, those million-dollar hands living up to their potential in all the best ways. He roamed over her breasts and along the tight pucker of her nipples, down the curve of her waist to the open splay of her thighs. His journey didn’t stop until his hands were clutching either side of her hips.

  “Can I—” he asked, waiting only until she moaned her agreement before lifting her up and guiding her over his length. He used his strength to enter her slowly, bringing her down inch by tantalizing inch until their bodies were one. It had been a while since Hailey had done this, so the fit felt tight and pleasant, a gentle stretch that almost sent her over the edge right then and there.

  The last thing he removed were her inhibitions. They didn’t go slowly, as they sometimes did, and she knew there was no chance she’d ever get them back again once this was over. The second she started moving against Cole, nothing mattered but the way their bodies fit together. His hands didn’t move from their position low on her hips, holding but not controlling her, ensuring that their bodies stayed in full contact. He kissed and accepted, groaned and enjoyed, but in no way made any demands.

  The demands were left up to her, and she couldn’t have been more delighted about it. She moved and rocked against him, taking her pleasure as she saw fit. She hadn’t been kidding when she said she preferred to be on top, to move at her own speed, but never before had she been given quite this much license. Cole let her ride him as fast or as slow as she wanted, arching her back when the mood dictated and stopping to kiss him whenever she felt the urge. He didn’t rush her to climax and didn’t take anything more than what she offered.

  He did, however, warn her that there was a limit to just how godlike and made of stone he could be.

  “I should probably tell you that I have about thirty more seconds of self-control, and then we’re going to need to reassess the situation,” he said, his words gruff with holding himself back.

  She released a gasp as he slid one of his hands between them, expertly finding her clitoris and pressing against it. “I can work with that,” she said. “Especially if you move your thumb about a centimeter to the right.”

  He laughed and obliged, his dimple so irresistibly charming that Hailey leaned down and dropped a kiss on it. Of all the things she’d done today—stripping naked in front of Cole Bennett, climbing on top of him, and taking her pleasure as she saw fit—that was the most surreal. She could kiss any part of him she wanted right now—lips or dimple or chest or cock. He was hers for the taking, wholly at her mercy and, if the dark desire in his eyes was any indication, more than happy to be there.

  That thought was what pushed her over the edge. Well, that and the fact that he was doing something with his thumb that was rapidly whipping her into a frenzy. In that moment, she didn’t care that he was a millionaire or a professional football player or that she could recite his entire career’s worth of highlights without pausing for a breath. He was just a man who was enjoying her company and her body, who didn’t ask for anything more than what she was willing to give.

  Her orgasm came swiftly and explosively, brought on by the light drop of Cole’s lips on the upper swell of her naked breast. There was nothing erotic about that particular kiss, but that was the power of it. It was sweet and spontaneous, the light touch of a lover of long standing rather than a man she’d met three weeks ago.

  That was when he peeled away her final and last layer. Instead of taking his own pleasure as quickly as he could get it, he waited until the last of the rocketing sensation abated. And then, with painstaking deliberation, he lifted his hand to the back of her head and pulled her down for yet another kiss.

  “We’re not done yet, Hailey,” he murmured. “Not even close.”

  This kiss was nothing like all the others. It was slow and careful and deep. It was a tangle of tongues and souls. It was so much more intimate than the joining of their two bodies, and that was reason enough for her body to explode in a second whirl of sensation.

  She cried out, equally surprised and delighted at her body’s response, only to have the sound swallowed by Cole’s low chuckle.

  “Well, that was easier than I expected,” he said.

  Hailey gasped, still full of so many sensations—and of him—that she had to force herself to breathe. “You’re telling me. How many more times can you do that?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never counted before.”

  She had no way of knowing if he counted this time, but she did. The answer was four. Four orgasms, each one building on the other and taking her more by surprise than the last. After three, when she was starting to feel a little light-headed, she was pretty sure he was just showing off, but she didn’t have the energy to call him out on it. She could only cling to his neck as he took over, his hands gripping her hips and moving them in time to his own thrusts. These became much deeper as he neared his own release, instinct taking over reason and turning them both into nothing but skin and sensation.

  Her heater was on way too high for this kind of athleticism, but the puppies needed the warmth. Besides, there was something intoxicating about her sweat mingling with Cole’s. He was a man who spent literal hours refining and honing his body, pushing himself beyond endurance. Yet even he was spent by the time he was, well, spent.

  She slithered off his lap and laid herself out on the couch, her legs propped on his, too exhausted to feel embarrassed at her catlike stupor.

  “I hope you don’t expect me to move anytime soon,” she murmured, eyes closed.

  He chuckled and began stroking a hand up and down the length of her thigh with a light, negligent touch. Hailey imagined this must be what it felt like to be a puppy, to receive affection without cause or reason, and basked in it.

  “You’re a very odd woman,” he said after a slight pause. They were the same words he’d said the day they’d met, and they carried the same caressing undertone. “Every time I think I have you figured out, you throw me a curveball.”

  She opened one eye. “Baseball metaphors? For shame. What would your coach say?”

  “Fine. You throw me a long curl.” He stopped stroking and laid his hand flat on her belly. It was warm and str
ong and made her wonder if five orgasms were out of the realm of possibility. “I came here expecting to have my wicked way with you, but there was nothing wicked about what we just did.”

  “Speak for yourself. I’m the one who sauntered around the house without any clothes on.”

  He laughed but refused to be derailed. “You always do that, Hailey—metaphorically, I mean. That’s the thing I can’t quite figure out. You don’t pretend to be anything you’re not, even when it embarrasses you. Even when it’s hard.”

  “That’s because everything embarrasses me. If I hid under a rock every time I said or did something I regret, I’d never see the light of day. Or have sex, probably.”

  She meant the words to be light and breezy, a conversational gloss over her very real discomfort with the world, but Cole wasn’t done.

  “You have no idea how lucky you are,” he said without irony. If he noticed his use of that word—lucky—he didn’t show it. “Not everyone has things so easy.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to utter a sharp protest, to point out that when it came to easy living, he had the market cornered, but something about his expression gave her pause. He genuinely meant it. He genuinely believed that she had some kind of mystical good fortune that other people lacked.

  If only he knew just how much she longed for what he had. Not fame and fortune and not millions of dollars in the bank, but a family. A safety net. A group of people with so much love for one another that it never occurred to them to question it.

  “I thought my luck was what you came here for,” she said, keeping things light.

  “It was,” he admitted and started to move his hand over her body again. It served as a distraction for them both. “But this is why I’m staying.”

  Chapter 13

  “I got you one step closer to professional and personal glory. It’s the least you can do.” Cole stood in front of his friend, arms crossed and a firm set to his mouth. “Just come meet her—that’s all I’m asking.”