She touched his face and stroked his hair. Her fingertips felt like small kisses on his skin.
God, he was getting harder by the minute. He didn’t know how much longer he could take this torture. He didn’t remember “making out” being so frustrating when he was just a dumb kid going on dates, but then again, he hadn’t known what he was missing then. He’d never had sex at that point.
Now her sweet and aggressive kisses gave him more insight into what it might feel like to hold Chloe’s naked body in his arms. To kiss every intimate inch of her bare flesh. To feel her legs wrap around him. To push himself into her.
And because he could imagine those things so vividly and realistically, it just made him want them all the more. Natural enough. But he was determined to slow down and enjoy every step of the way with Chloe, not to lose enjoyment wishing for what lay down the road. No. He needed to live in the present.
Not that it was bad. In the present, he was slowly unbuttoning Chloe’s silk business blouse, and he could already see her perky, pert nipples protruding through the fabric. No, this definitely wasn’t bad. At all.
He finished unbuttoning the smooth garment and pushed the halves apart, revealing the china doll skin of her torso and her perfectly-formed breasts encased in dark green lace. Tendrils of her bright red hair spilled down her shoulders, trailing down her chest and resting on her heaving breasts, looking like fire itself.
The picture was so perfect—she looked like a Celtic goddess in that moment, and being with her made him feel like one of the gods.
He lowered his mouth hungrily onto her nipples, alternating back and forth between them, sucking on first one and then the other through the rough, thin lace until they were both standing at attention.
Chloe moaned under the hot suction of his mouth. Every sound she made was a new aphrodisiac.
He pulled his head up to look into her face, waiting until her eyes cleared and focused on his. He wanted her to be fully present and aware for what he was about to say.
He didn’t care how gruff and commanding his voice was when he spoke. In fact, he kind of liked the sound. It was outside his normal mode of operating, but it certainly showed how he felt. He wanted to be with her, claim her. Make her his.
“Do you know what I’m going to do to you now?” he asked, his voice so low she had to strain her head forward a little to hear him.
She shook her head, her cheeks flushing and pupils flaring. He paused a moment to appreciate it… and also to make her wait. Just a little.
When he did speak, his tone was matter-of-fact. “I’m going to make you come.”
* * *
Chloe’s head spun at Chris’s words. Oh, for the love of Christmas, he was sexy. So damn sexy. That was true all the time. But when he looked at her in that protective, possessive way he had...talked to her with that edge of authority in his voice...oh, God, it was Niagara Falls between her legs.
Her eyes rolled back in her head, his words alone were almost enough to make her climax without him even touching her. He made her feel safe, protected, cherished. In fact, she was pretty sure it was the feeling of absolute safety with him that allowed her arousal to explode and spin out to never before dreamed of heights.
It scared her. She’d never wanted to be the kind of girl who reveled in being taken care of. She’d worked so hard to be the exact opposite, in fact. But, oh God...when she was with Chris, all bets were off. He looked at her with that intense gaze, spoke with that protective tone, and she melted into a puddle of yes-please-take-care-of-me goo.
And she loved it. That was the most surprising part of all. As much as it terrified her—hell, maybe even partly because of how much it terrified her—she abso-freaking-lutely loved it.
It was crazy to take off her clothes in a car by the waterfront. To let a guy make her come in a place like this, that could only generously be described as semi-private. She wasn’t a teenager. She was a lawyer! The most responsible kind of adult there was! There isn’t much else that was more “adult” than passing the bar.
This kind of risky behavior didn’t fit in with that responsible, self-sufficient image she had worked so assiduously to cultivate. But, when Chris looked into her eyes, even risky behavior felt safe… and fun.
She smirked to herself. Whether it was actually safe or not remained to be seen. But the “fun” part was certainly turning out to be true.
She closed her eyes, giving in to the experience completely, and whispered, “Yes. Do it. Make me come.”
Chris’s hand trailed up the inside of her thigh, and she let her knees fall apart naturally. She silently thanked her lucky stars she’d worn a pleated skirt this morning instead of one of the tighter, more form-fitting pencil skirts she preferred. That would’ve made this whole thing a lot more awkward.
His hot tongue flicked her nipples again as he moved his fingers inexorably up the trembling skin of her inner thighs, and she couldn't stand having her eyes closed any longer. They flew open and took in the erotic scene before her—Chris’s head, bathed in silvery moonlight, moving gently over her breasts. Because of the angle, she couldn’t quite see where his tongue met her nipple, but it was even sexier, in a way, because of the mystery.
His mouth engulfed her nipple completely at the exact moment his hand reached its goal. He exerted control. He didn’t dive right in, touching her roughly. He teased, running his fingers lightly over her panties, sending chills racing up her belly and over her skin.
Then, at the exact moment she thought she could not take the teasing touch for one second longer, he pushed the wispy lace of her panties aside and thrust his fingers inside of her. God, he was a master at reading her body. He'd known exactly how long to tease her to work her into this frenzy. He'd known exactly when to end it.
He pumped his fingers in and out of her, and her inner walls clenched against them every time they thrust inside of her. She loved the way it felt, the way it filled her with abandon. It was so much more than sexual. So much more than physical, even. It was as if her entire being was opening up. It was like being free. And it was all so new, so exciting.
He started making steady, slow circles over her clit and the world exploded in white. She tried as hard as she could to hold back her orgasm. It wasn't that she didn't want to come — she really wanted to. She knew it was going to feel amazing.
It was what the orgasm represented. The end. The end of this feeling. The end of Chris's hand expertly caressing between her legs. The end of floating along on this cloud of his protection without a care in the world.
The end of all of that and the beginning of her return to "real life." As much trepidation as she had felt about surrendering to this luscious helplessness, now she enjoyed it and found she wasn't at all eager to return to all the responsibilities that “real life” entailed.
But resistance was, as they say, futile. The orgasm crashed over her with irresistible power, and it brought with it sweet oblivion. Her head spun out, auras flashing in front of her closed eyes, and every muscle in her body trembled and clenched as the powerful sensations raced through her. It didn’t just feel good between her legs or in her belly. Hell, it was like her entire body was coming—her chest, arms, legs, fingers, toes...there wasn’t one distant corner of her physical self that wasn’t utterly consumed with pleasure.
Especially her mind. She was spinning, overwhelmed, and completely oblivious to the outside world. And she wouldn’t have traded it for a second. A thought popped into her head, unbidden. This is the happiest I’ve ever been.
When she opened her eyes again, it took her a moment to re-acclimate to her surroundings. She had forgotten, while her head spun off into space, she was in a car. Or at the waterfront. Or in Baltimore. Everything but that she was with Chris.
The whirlwind had swept her up, and she had forgotten all of it.
But she remembered now, and she surprised herself by liking the realization rather than being horrified by it. She'd learned something about h
erself tonight. She wasn't as buttoned up as she had tried to convince herself that she was and worked so hard to be for so long.
No, there was a part of her that was completely wanton, and in that moment at least, she was happy to embrace it.
She sat up, pulling the two sides of her blouse together, and in one smooth motion she leaned over Chris and reclined his seat so that it the same way hers was.
He fell back comically and laughed. "What are you doing?"
She let a sultry smile grow on her face. "Returning the favor."
With fingers that were no longer trembling in the slightest, she unfastened his jeans and pulled his cock out. She slipped her lips over it hungrily, devouring it entirely in one smooth stroke.
He groaned and grabbed fistfuls of her hair. "Fuck, that feels good," he breathed.
His encouragement spurred her on. She liked thinking she affected him the same way he affected her. She liked thinking she made him lose some of that iron control that turned her on so much — not all of it, of course. But just a little.
Chloe bobbed up and down on his erection, swirling her tongue around the head of his dick every time she reached the top and then diving back down, engulfing him completely in the sweet suction of her hot mouth.
She did this again and again and again, a feeling of power surging through her with every stroke. She felt him getting harder and harder in her mouth, his cock throbbing more insistently with every trip down his shaft.
Finally, his hands knotted tightly in her hair, the tension almost painful. "I'm gonna come," he groaned.
There was warning in his voice. It was clear he was giving her time to move her mouth away before that happened.
She appreciated the courtesy, but that was the exact opposite of what she wanted. Rather, she wanted nothing more than to take every bit of him into her. Devour him, every last drop.
He stiffened. Every muscle in his body tensed. Her mouth filled with the warm and salty evidence of his climax.
She drank it all down. She didn't understand why she wanted this. It had always seemed disgusting to her before, but with Chris, it was heaven.
When he'd given her every last bit, she sat up, wiping her mouth.
The look he gave her was full of awe. "You're amazing," he whispered, brushing sweaty strands of her hair back from her forehead. "So perfect."
She looked out the window, a trace of doubt growing in her belly. She wasn't perfect. Far from it. She was a workaholic, prioritized her ambitions over people in her life, and—well, plenty of other things she could have named if she wanted to make herself feel like shit by mentally listing all of her faults.
Seeing the reverence on his face as he said that made her start to wonder — is he only into this because he sees a pretty face and has invented a "perfect" girl to go with it? Or does he actually see me?
Chapter 10
“What do you mean, you’re staying the extra week?”
“Damn, Jake. I don’t feel like that’s a complicated statement."
“Dude, our plane leaves in two and a half hours.”
“Well...your plane does. Mine leaves next week.”
“What’s going on here, Chris?” Jake’s confusion was evident in his voice.
“I decided to stay for the second week of the seminar.”
“When we talked about coming out here for this training, we both agreed that the supplementary content wasn’t all that critical. Especially with the firefighter shortage we have back home right now.”
“Well,” Chris hedged, “sure, that’s what we said before we got here. Before we got a taste of the high-quality instruction. Now, I feel like it would be good for the firehouse—for the whole town, really—for me to take in the entire thing.”
“Bullshit. Besides, you know that’s not your decision to make. I have to sign off.”
“Well, then I’m asking you to sign off. Otherwise, consider this my official vacation request.”
Jake narrowed his eyes and sat down on the edge of the bed in Chris’s hotel room. “Right. This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with that redhead you left the pub with a couple of nights ago, would it?”
“Her name’s Chloe.”
Jake nodded. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Chris grinned and Jake groaned at the sight. “Aw, shit. I recognize that grin. I had that grin on my face when Tessa came back into my life.”
“Come on… it’s way too early to start talking like that. I’ve literally known Chloe a few days.”
“Nah. I can spot the signs. If Chris Martell: Super Player is suddenly changing his plans for a woman, it’s got potential. If he gets the stupid-in-love grin on his face when he talks about her, it’s serious.”
“Not that I buy what you’re selling, but say it’s true. Why all the groans? Why is that a bad thing?”
“Because we’re short on firefighters already, dude. I can already see I’m gonna be replacing one of my best ones soon.”
Chris laughed. “Holy shit, are you way ahead of yourself! You think I’d give up my home in the Sierras, all my friends, my job, my whole life...for a woman I’ve known less than a week? Seriously. You’re reading too much into it.”
Even as he said it, though, Chris wondered if Jake’s words could have any truth to them. Was there something about Chloe that made blowing up his whole life just for the chance to be in hers seem like a realistic possibility?
Jake shook his head ruefully and sighed as he stood and slung his duffel bag over his shoulder. “Whatever, man. I guess I can always just hope she comes to California instead of you staying here.”
“You’re fucking dramatic. But does that mean you’ll,” he made air quotes with his fingers, “approve my request to attend the next week of training?”
Jake laughed. “God. Just call it vacation, then you don’t have to worry about getting caught skipping the sessions. And, just so we’re clear: I’m only agreeing to this because Tessa would kick my ass if I dragged yours home.”
Chris rolled his eyes as his boss walked out the door. It was true he felt strongly about Chloe, but making a forever commitment after one date? It was too much.
Wasn’t it?
Shit, maybe Jake was right. He’d never felt this way about a woman before, that was true enough. And he’d never acted this way—changing plans, making sacrifices, pursuing her. His MO had always been to take whatever naturally came easy, and when it started getting hard, move onto the next thing that was coming easy.
He’d seen what losing his dad had done to his mom. He’d seen her so grief-stricken she couldn’t get out of bed for weeks at a time. Even after she’d mostly pulled herself together, he’d seen how she’d gone a little dead behind the eyes. How she never laughed anymore.
He didn’t want that. Not for himself, or for any woman that might make the mistake of falling for him. So he became a good time guy, and he stuck to good time girls. Nothing serious. It was a system that worked, so he’d never seen a need to mess with it.
Until Chloe. She’d spun his head around until he didn’t know which was up.
Suddenly, the idea of forever didn’t seem so crazy. Thinking in those terms after less than a week, sure. That still seemed a little nuts.
But, yeah, he could definitely see himself making plans after a month or two...plans to settle down.
Hell, when he’d closed his eyes the night before, he’d seen Chloe in a wedding dress, her fiery red hair cascading down against the bright white fabric. And damn if that image hadn’t seemed right to him in a way that nothing ever had before.
Well, fuck.
Maybe he was just going to have to accept that his boss might be right. There was a very good possibility that the day he’d met Chloe, his life had changed forever, and he would never want to change it back.
He grinned. The weirdest part of thinking that was how it made him happy instead of freaked out.
In fact, he thought as he picked up his keys, it just makes me all the more excited t
o go meet her for lunch right now. Damn, I haven’t been away from the girl for more than a few hours, and I already can’t wait to see her again.
Chapter 11
Chloe sat at her table overlooking water and smiled a little to herself. Not too big a smile; she didn’t want to tempt fate. But she couldn’t deny that the past few days had been exceptionally kind to her. She’d started an incredible job, had an amazing first week with her new boss-slash-mentor, and met a man who made her head spin.
And now, after having the best sexual experience of her life, she was sitting in a great restaurant in the Inner Harbor waiting for him to meet her for lunch. She let her smile broaden. Yeah. This week had been one for the record books, and this definitely wasn’t a bad way to cap it off.
The only thing that bothered her was the fact that she was sitting here at the table waiting for him, rather than having him pick her up like a proper date would have started out. She hadn’t even entertained the possibility. Nope. She’d suggested the restaurant, she’d set the time, and she’d showed up fifteen minutes early to give herself greater control over the situation. She’d done the same thing for their dinner date.
But...hell, that was her normal way of operating. She was the quintessential lawyer, nailing down details, leaving nothing to chance. She’d always liked that about herself when it came to dating. It made her feel safer. So why was it bothering her now?
Was it because Chris made her feel safe enough for both of them? That he was the first man she’d ever met she might actually want to trust...and now she was afraid she might not be capable of it?
Well, shit.
“Hey there, beautiful.”
She was saved from her introspection by Chris’s arrival, and she was grateful. She hadn’t had much experience when it came to being in his presence, but all that she did have told her it was basically impossible to be stressed out or worried around him. Hell, even when she’d been threatened by a literal knife, she’d felt nothing but calm security the instant his voice hit her ears.
Wild Irish: Falling for Wild (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 4