by T. A. Grey
His eyes never left hers as he handed the keys to the valet, thanked him, and came back to her, stopping right in front of her. She had to tilt her head back to look up at him. She was right. It was like something just clicked into place. His was the face she’d wake up seeing for the rest of her life. The hardened face with the dark stubble around his cheeks and chin, the curling brown hair atop his head, the piercing gray eyes. And the way he was looking at her...made her whole body feel way too warm.
“No one’s ever looked at me like that before.”
His eyebrows arched up.
She froze. She’d just walked into that awkward territory where she spilled some feelings, even minor ones, with someone she’d recently gotten to know. She braced herself. He’d either shut her down now with a harsh retort, or saying something appeasing like ‘that’s nice’. Her face flamed, but thankfully, the moon didn’t give out much light. Maybe he couldn’t see it.
She was saved, or maybe recued would be the better word. Christine threw open the front door and grinned from ear to ear, her clever gaze moving between her and Brayden. “Welcome back. I see you were found.”
Vanessa had to move away from him. Her mind was in turmoil. Had he realized just how much something as simple as the way he looked at her meant to her? She wanted the ground to open up and just sink into it, never to be seen again. Or maybe for aliens to fly by and beam her up into their ship. None of that would happen though, so she threw on a cheerful smile and met Christine at the front door. Christine’s thrilled chitchatting and probing questions about how was her time out was and where she’d gone, gave her time to cool her mind down a bit. She even heard Brayden come inside and close the door behind them without jumping.
“Great; drank a few of those strawberry margaritas. So good!”
Christine’s face pinched. “Ew, no, thanks. Tequila in anything is just gross for me. But give me a sweet wine, now that I can do.”
A deep voice sounded behind Vanessa, sending a wicked thrill down her body. “Excuse us. Vanessa and I have some business to attend to.” Brayden’s hand scooped her arm at the elbow and then he was leading her up the stairs.
Vanessa’s chest moved entirely too fast. She couldn’t let him know how nervous he made her. So she focused and slowed her breathing, in and out. In and out. He took her to the guest bedroom that she’d woken up alone in that morning. The soft click of the door closing felt like she was being locked in a steel vault in a bank...and alone with him.
She thought quickly. Maybe if she excused herself she could hide away in the bathroom for a while. But she never got farther than that. The air stirred behind her, just a small change that fluttered over the bare back of her dress.
“You can’t run from me.”
She shivered; goosebumps formed down her arms. “I wasn’t running.” Be brave, she told herself, and turned around to look at him. She even managed a tumultuous smile and was damn proud of herself for being able to pull it off.
He gave a brief shake of his head. “Yes you were. Tell me why.”
Her smile fell. “I can’t.” How could she talk about feelings when she’d had a hard enough time just saying that no one had ever looked at her like that before...like he cared, like she mattered to him.
“Yes, you can. I know you can. You’re stronger than that. One of the strongest women I’ve ever met.”
She couldn’t stop the laugh that came. “Seriously, now that’s just a straight lie, Brayden.” His arms came around her waist, slowly pulling her into him. She dug her feet in, leaned away to fight it. She didn’t want to be close to him right now, didn’t want him to break down her walls. But her resistance was futile, no match for his strength and she relented until their chests pressed deeply against one another. He touched her hair, threading his fingers through it from scalp to ends. A breathy sigh escaped her. A shudder racked down her spine.
“I don’t lie. Now tell me, Vanessa.”
Her hands flattened over his hard chest, fingers digging in to the solid muscle. “Why?”
His hands paused on her back with her hair still threaded between his fingers. Then his voice came close to her ear, a husky whisper. “Because, it matters to me.”
Oh, she thought breathlessly. Just, oh. It mattered. To him. The temperature in the room surely just skyrocketed, or else why was she suddenly too warm? “I felt like an ass for saying what I did outside.” His hand continued to stroke her hair, the other arm stayed wrapped around her waist arching her into him. The touch made her shoulders slacken, her entire body relax.
“Why?”
She shook her head once. “Oh, come on, don’t make me say it,” she said into his shirt. She kept face as buried in there as she could. Not that it wasn’t nice. He smelled really good.
He sighed and her mouth twitched at the exasperated sound. “Really, Vanessa, I won’t understand how you feel unless you tell me explicitly. I’m not...accustomed to this.”
Neither am I, she wanted to say. “Okay, fine.” She sucked in a deep breath then let it all out. “I confessed something...about how I feel with you and I was afraid you’d shoot me down.” The words were out; no going back now. Still, had she even made any sense? Would he get what she was trying to say? God, she hoped so.
She waited what felt like forever before he replied. And when he did, her heart thumped. “I feel the same.”
“Huh?” She jerked her head up so she could see his eyes.
“It’s true,” he said watching her. “No one’s ever looked at me the way you do, either. As if I’m someone important—to them.”
“Really?” God, was that her tiny voice asking that?
His eyes darkened with something hot, raw, and completely sexual. Her core pulsed, nipples tingled. “I’m telling you now. Nothing could make me let that go. I’d fight for you tooth and nail to keep you, and I plan to.”
Now it was her turn to ask. “Why?”
His hand fell to her waist, curling into to her hips and then he was lifting her, pulling her up. Her arms naturally went around his neck to hang on as she balanced on her toes.
“Because, you’re mine now. I think you were mine the minute you got into my car.”
Then his lips crossed hers and her body melted. That one kiss changed everything. Her lips tingled where they touched. His tongue dipped in and she opened to give him access. Her hands sifted through the soft hair at his head, tugged until he kissed her harder, pressed deeper. He licked inside her mouth and she tasted his, flicking her tongue across the hard points of his fangs and moaning when his body tightened beneath her.
“Taking you now,” he said against her lips. And then he easily lifted the bottom of her dress up, gripped her buttocks and hauled her up into his arms. Her legs went around his waist; her head turned to the side trying to reach all of him. He walked them across the room. She didn’t care where he took her. To the chaise lounge, to the wall, to the floor—it didn’t matter, so long as he took her and made her feel the way only he could.
He lowered her to the bed and she sighed in protest as her mouth lefts his. She fell against the soft cushion, but her body arched up to his, needing him to come back down on her. His eyes leveled on hers, glittering with need. Then he stood back and pulled his shirt over his head. The sight of hard muscles packed and ribbed at his stomach, the tan to his skin, the line of hair down his stomach, made her legs scissor together trying to get some relief. He watched her. She felt like a piece of meat under a predator’s eyes—like she was about to get eaten.
Still, she couldn’t keep her eyes from memorizing every inch of him. When they’d made love on the couch, she hadn’t gotten to feel their naked chests pressed together, hadn’t gotten to see all the muscles she’d felt with her hands. Now she did and her mouth watered.
“Take off your dress.” It was an order given softly, but no less commanding.
Breath hitching in her throat, she grabbed the dress at her thighs and started pulling, her hips lifting and archi
ng as she worked the material up. His eyes flared, his chest expanding hard as he watched her. He liked it and hell if she didn’t like that he did. So she exaggerated the movements, slowed them down. The dress fluttered up around her stomach and she arched her back as she bared her naked breasts. The soft material helped to tease her hard nipples even more, making her sigh as the material passed over them.
He wet his bottom lip but kept watching her as he unbuckled his belt and started on his pants. Finally, she lifted the dress overhead and tossed it aside, completely bare save her small plain panties.
“Beautiful,” he said, eye roaming over her.
She felt beautiful. He could make her feel like that. Like all other women couldn’t compare when he looked at her like that. Finally, he unzipped his pants, toed off his shoes, then slid his pants and black socks off in a smooth move. When he stood tall again, she gasped. She wished she hadn’t, that she could control her purely feminine response, but damn if she could. She’d never seen a man like that. A man with legs wired hard with ropes of muscles, with slender hips and wide shoulders.
She tried not to look, she really did, but her eyes fell to the hard shaft thrusting out from his hips. A flood of moisture spilled between her legs and she squirmed in need, needing him, inside her.
Ah, but it was okay, because he came onto the bed, snagged his fingers around her little panties, then tugged them down and off. No slow moving motions for him. His hands said determination. His fingers slid around her ankles then his hands traveled up her legs. Goosebumps broke out all across her body and somehow made her nipples even harder. Everything ached. Nipples, sex, deep inside her. Even her skin seemed to crave him. Only after he slid his hand over her, did the ache ease. His hands stopped past her knees and then his beautiful eyes met hers. They were pure heat and promise. Then he jerked her legs open, pushing her knees back until she was spread open and bare before him.
Her hands flew down to cover herself as a furious blush burned her face.
“No.” He grabbed her hands, then set them over her breasts. He watched her much smaller hands settle over her breasts, then nodded as if it pleased him. “Keep them there.” His voice had turned huskier, growling.
He settled between her legs. Every muscle in her body pulled tight until she strained beneath. What was he doing? Oh, she had an idea and she felt utterly mortified by it. He couldn’t possibly think about putting his mouth on her there. God, she felt like such a prude, but she couldn’t help it. No one had ever done that...especially not Joseph.
And boy did he seem to have no problem touching her down there. His slid over her, cupping her. This his chin dipped down against her inner thigh making her open even more for him. She couldn’t watch. No way. She slammed her eyes closed and clenched her breasts in a hard grip.
He continued to touch her as if he were petting her. His palm would occasionally press hard against her and sparks exploded inside her, behind her eyelids. Her breath would catch. He tugged on the thatch of hair above her sex, then something very soft pressed over her. Light as feather, but not tickling like a one. She peeled her eyes open for a moment to find him pressing his lips across her.
It started to feel good. Inside, something was growing, building really big.
Then something wet and much firmer darted over her. Fast at first, then slowly, lingering. Her back shot off the bed and her hands flew to his head. She panted, couldn’t catch her breath. Her hands had curled hard into his hair, but she didn’t care. That feeling, oh, that feeling!
His eyes opened to look up at her, his mouth releasing her. Slowly, she uncurled her fingers, then jerked them away as if scalded.
He lifted himself up, something incredibly hot and wicked glazing in her eyes. “You’re going to lie back now. I’m going to make you come with my mouth and then I’m going to fuck you. You got that?” His eyes glanced back between her legs and he groaned as if he couldn’t wait to be back there.
“Are you sure?”
He stared at her until she gave in and lay back on the bed. There was no relaxing. Not at all. Not when she knew he was going to lick her again. It’d felt so strange. Soft and wet against her own soft wetness. It’d also felt strangely good and entirely wicked and naughty. He settled back down between her thighs, but when he touched her again, it was different. Harder. Hungrier. As if, he was trying to prove something to her.
His tongue found that spot, that sensitive bundle of erotic nerves and he played with it. He didn’t stop. He didn’t relent. Once her breath caught and she started to get swept away in the pleasure, he’d change the motion until she was squirming, sweating, panting. Her entire body trembled beneath his tongue and lips. He nuzzled that spot, applying pressure then relaxing it, darting quickly, then slowly twirling around and around. Her head was swimming. He’d completely swept her up into a pool of throbbing pleasure. And when his finger passed over her entrance, she cried out and threaded her hand in his hair, this time not to jerk, but to coax and beg. He passed it over her again and again, sometimes dipping just a little into her wetness.
She couldn’t take it. She needed him inside her. Needed that tongue to keep that same spot and move faster. “Oh God, please!”
He pushed in at her cry. One finger, no two, dove inside, thrusting slowly, like he had all the time in the world. His tongue slowed and she growled. Now she had the pressure inside she needed, but not the other.
“You’re a monster,” she cried, her head turning on the bed.
She heard a chuckle from between her thighs. Before she contemplated his death though, he moved his fingers faster, did that twirly, erotic thing around her clitoris and there it was. Her entire body tightened, pulling taut as a bowstring until her back arched off the bed, and then she snapped. Screams escaped her throat, her body bucked under his mouth, muscles jerking, then she flooded his fingers. He licked her through it until she twitched from the sensitive feeling.
He withdrew his fingers and then he was climbing up her body, her legs having to spread even further to accommodate hips much wider than her own. His lips slid across her, tongue thrusting deep, and she tasted herself and him in that kiss. Then he slid in deep and hard. She gasped into his mouth. It felt different than it had the first time, even better. Her chest pressed against his, her nipples scraping against him, and their tongues winding together in a passionate embrace.
He didn’t stop moving. He took her body hard and unyielding, stirring passion inside her she didn’t know she had left. Her legs twisted until she clenched around him. Her arms winded until she dug her fingers into his back. And still they kissed, and still he moved faster, more forcefully. She titled her hips into it and then he hit something deep and powerful inside her. She moaned wildly, breaking their mouths apart. When she went back to kiss him again, he darted to her neck.
She felt the press of sharp teeth only a moment before he sunk them into her. Her entire body spasmed as engulfing pleasure soared through her, blinding her. She choked on sounds, moans, and gasps. He growled against her, rocking faster, harder in her depths. He drew from her neck in hard pulls, and with each one, she felt her body drawing tight again like a bowstring. She didn’t just snap this time—she flew apart. Her body jerked hard, rocking. She held onto him for dear life as something hot and wet gushed inside of her, spreading from her fingers to her toes. His deep groan vibrated along her neck and deep inside her until he pulled back and took her lips once more, as he pushed deep and held himself there. Wet licks spurted inside her as his muscles flexed and tightened under her touch from the strain.
They stayed together for a while, softly kissing and holding each other. Her heart felt near to bursting in her chest. It took everything in her not to spill the words and ruin everything, but God, she wanted to tell him so badly. Was it love? Maybe; she didn’t know yet. But what she did know, was that for the first time in her life, things were finally looking up, and she didn’t have to go through it alone. She had Brayden.
He rolled of
f her and pulled her across him. Their bodies cooled and she could feel the essence of their passion between her legs. She smiled a little and ran her hand down his chest, feeling the hard waves of his abs.
“You’re sexy,” she said.
He snorted something like a laugh. “You’re the one who makes me wild.”
“I don’t know. I think you make me pretty wild, too.” In fact, she could think all kinds of naughty things she’d like to do with him...to him. She pressed a kiss to his chest, then put her head back on his shoulder. With his arm wrapped around her, his thumb stroking her arm, she felt the safest she ever had, certainly the most content. “Tell me what happened with the car yesterday. Everything’s so jumbled…I can’t remember much.”
His hand stilled on her arm for a moment, then resumed stroking her. “Just an accident by all accounts. First car got cut off and went swerving right to avoid hitting the asshole who cut him off. That sent him flying onto the shoulder and into us. The car behind him slammed on their breaks, the one behind them did the same, but one of them still hit us.”
Oh. She almost felt like she’d been worried for nothing. After all, she did have a bad guy after her. Since that was taken care of her, body sunk even further onto him. Her eyes closed and didn’t want to open. A big yawn left her. “I’m tired now.”
“Get some rest then, beautiful.”