“Okay, okay. As much as it pains me, I’m just going to go ahead and say it. The Arrington dynamic might be a little more than I’d bargained for.” Despite what he’d sworn was a foolproof strategy to manage her family, between the day of sightseeing and the dinner that had followed, her parents and step-parents had given them a serious run for their sanity.
“I told you,” Sasha said, her smile erasing any heat from the words. “Although I have to admit, I can’t believe you didn’t go for the Code Red ear-tug when my mother asked in the loudest voice imaginable when you were going to make an honest woman out of me. I heard her halfway across the room.”
“I thought about signaling for a bail out on that one,” he admitted, laughing now that the whole thing was in his rearview. “But Delaney must have smelled my fear. She ended up distracting your mother with wedding details, and it got me off the hook.”
“Remind me to buy her a drink tomorrow. Or several.”
“Speaking of which…” Sully crossed the room to the small table by the fireplace, and perfect. Everything he’d snuck downstairs to ask the inn manager for just before they’d gone to dinner was ready and waiting. “As precarious as parts of the evening were, we did in fact survive today in one piece. Which means I owe you a little R&R.”
Sasha’s head sprang upward, dark hair framing her face as she froze to her spot next to the bed. “You don’t owe me at all, Sully. If anything, I owe you for getting me through the day. Managing my parents would’ve been so much worse without your plan.”
Reaching past the covered ice bucket, he flipped the pair of crystal glasses on the side table, one and then the other, determined to end her day—and hopefully his along with it—on a high note. “You sure? Because you kind of inspired the method to my madness here, and I’d really hate to drink alone.”
Sully held up the bottle of Jameson Gold Reserve he’d bought earlier while they’d been in Dublin, just in time to catch Sasha’s velvety laughter right in the chest.
“Glass half-full of whiskey. You’re a man after my own heart.”
Damn, woman. You have no idea. He cracked the seal on the bottle, filling each glass with half ice, half whiskey before handing one over. Sully had run through this scenario no less than a thousand times in his head. No way was he going to let her overbearing parents torpedo her chance to relax.
Or his chance to be with her. All his strategy, all his plans to show her he could break out of the friend zone, they all boiled down to this. Tonight.
Now.
“There’s still no rule that says we can’t have a little fun on this trip.” He lifted his tumbler, the amber liquid glinting off the ice in the lamplight. “And anyway, today wasn’t all bad.”
Sasha touched her glass to his with a soft clink. “That’s true,” she mused, taking a sip of whiskey before slipping out of the four-inch heels that had been driving him crazy ever since she’d pulled them from her suitcase. “It’s been nice to spend a little time with Jace and Delaney, and Dublin was pretty fantastic. Plus, even though dinner wasn’t a walk in the park, it wasn’t a total manipulation blowout like my graduation, either. The hand signals were a great backup.”
“And you thought we wouldn’t have any fun.” Sully tilted his glass, letting a sip of whiskey burn a spicy-smooth path down his throat. He knelt down in front of the fireplace, where a handful of logs had been neatly arranged on the grates, and swapped his drink for the box of long matches sitting on the stone hearth.
Sasha blinked down at him, her lashes casting shadows over her face as the fire began to crackle to life. “Wow. You weren’t kidding about relaxing, huh?”
He let his eyes trail over the dark red dress hugging her curves, unable to keep the rasp all the way out of his voice as he said, “I don’t really see the point in doing anything halfway.”
“Oh.” The word tumbled from her mouth on little more than a murmur, and damn. He thought he’d wanted her a minute ago. “Well then, what else did you have in mind?”
Sully’s pulse flared, but he forced himself into a slow, easy stride as he grabbed an extra quilt from the trunk at the foot of the bed. “What I don’t have in mind is either of us sitting in that chair.” He toed off his dress shoes, spreading the thick, pale blue blanket over the floorboards in front of the fireplace.
“That wouldn’t exactly go with the theme of relaxing,” Sasha agreed, walking over to the door. With the flick of one hand, she turned off the lamp, bathing the room in nothing more than the glow being cast by the fire.
“But that does.” He watched as Sasha made her way back to the quilt, his pure, raw want for her building with every step.
“No point in doing anything halfway, right?”
She lowered herself to the quilt, crossing her feet at the ankles as she tucked her bare legs to one side. Orange and gold light flickered over her cheekbones, playing in the dark waves of hair spilling past her shoulders. Sully sat down next to her, calculating his next move. While he was fairly certain the desire humming between them was mutual, especially with the lingering way she’d looked up at him today at Willow Cove church, the last thing he wanted was to fuck up his final jump out of the friend zone. Instinct told him he needed to play it smart. Maybe even a little safe.
“Can I ask you a question?” Sasha asked, interrupting his thoughts with a wistful smile. She lifted her glass to her lips, the ice cubes ringing against the crystal as her throat worked over a delicate swallow.
He followed suit, the woodsy bite of the whiskey lingering on his tongue. “Sure.”
“Well, we’re already pretending to be together for the next few days, and we’ve already established there’s no rule against having a little fun on this trip. So what if…” She trailed off, lowering her glass to the side of the hearth before continuing. “What if we had more than a little fun? Would it stay here, in Ireland, just between us?”
The shock kicking through Sully’s pulse turned quickly to desire. “Are you asking me if I want to have sex with you for the next three days?”
Sasha lifted her chin with pride, her eyes flashing with certainty even though her lip trembled slightly over the answer. “It’s the best way I know to relax, and we’re both single, and we’re both adults, so…yes. That’s what I’m asking. But only if we go back to business as usual the minute we get home. I don’t want to do this if it will screw up our friendship.”
Holy shit. This woman would never stop upending every last letter of his game plan.
Sully leaned closer, enough to feel Sasha’s hot exhale on his neck and the fold of her knees resting barely an inch from his thigh on the blanket. He pulled her in tight, tipping her gorgeous, stubborn jaw with his free hand.
“You think us having sex will compromise our friendship?” He trailed a finger across the curve of her cheekbone, sliding his touch to the velvet-soft spot just behind her ear. He wanted her more than his next damn breath, and he wasn’t going to pass up the chance to have her.
Even if he wanted her for a hell of a lot longer than three days.
“Yes. No.” Sasha’s voice was honey, glossy and thick. “I don’t know. Will it?”
A smile shaped the edges of his mouth, turning them upward and making him reckless as he closed nearly all the space between them. “Not even for a second. Now come here.”
Sully brought his mouth down on hers, kissing her in one hot stroke. She tasted dark and sweet, like whiskey and pure desire, and he parted her lips to find the delicious heat he knew was hidden beneath. Not one to be outdone, she kissed him back with equal intensity, her tongue sliding over his with just enough friction to tease him into wanting more.
“Christ, Sasha.” He broke from her mouth, cupping the back of her neck with his palm to gain better access to her jaw, her ear, her everything. “You feel so fucking hot.”
She wrapped his already-loosened tie around her hand, pulling him in tight as she pressed up to her knees, and he barely suppressed a groan at the silky rush of he
r dress against his chest.
“This…doesn’t change anything,” Sasha murmured, tugging his suit jacket from his shoulders. He knotted his fingers in the fall of her hair to close his lips around her earlobe, and her resulting moan shot straight to his cock. “Oh God, do that again.”
“With pleasure, sweetheart.” Sully ran his tongue over the soft skin at the bottom of her ear, following the same path with his teeth before pulling back to blow on the spot to soothe the sting. A sigh spilled from Sasha’s chest, heady and seductive, inviting him back to her mouth. He teased and tasted and took, kissing her hard enough to make his lips pulse from the pressure. But rather than pull back or try to temper his intensity, Sasha only opened wider, meeting him stroke for stroke until they were both gasping. When she arched against him, the bow of her back greedy in its curve, Sully cursed on a groan.
“Not here.” He shifted forward to lead her to the bed, but Sasha refused to budge. She slid his tie from its knot with nimble fingers. Wrapping the blue and gray silk around her hands, she leaned back on the quilt in front of the fireplace, eyes glittering with both promise and need.
“Right here,” she breathed, and holy hell, he was powerless against how badly he wanted to be inside of her. Sully reached out, his hands skimming the length of her bare thighs, coasting over the layers of silk on her dress to wrap around her shoulders. His mouth found hers again, his tongue thrusting hard and deep as he parted Sasha’s frame with his hips, angling her body all the way beneath him on the quilt.
“This dress has been killing me all night.” He brushed one palm over her waist, bracing his weight on the other as he moved up her body with barely-there restraint.
“Really?” The word was part surprise, part tease, and Sully met it with a laugh that came up from the back of his throat.
“You have no idea, do you? What you’re doing to me.” He dropped his mouth to the column of her neck, a slow grin breaking over his lips as he discovered Sasha’s pulse beating wildly at her throat. “Do you know how sexy you look with this dress molded to your body? How beautiful you are?”
She arched against him, soft in all the places he was impossibly hard, the hem of her dress sliding dangerously high over her thighs. “Take it off. Right now, take it off.”
Sully pulled back to look at her, hesitating even though the need in his blood screamed in dissent. Yes, he wanted her—Christ, he’d wanted her from the beginning. But he wanted to take his time, to learn her, to take her from a whisper to a scream.
To show her that three days were just the beginning, not the whole show.
“Please, Sully.” Sasha stared at him through the firelight, her wild, dark hair a total juxtaposition to her sweet face. “If you’re sure, I’m sure. Take my dress off and touch me.”
In one unfaltering motion, he swung her from beneath him, turning them face to face on the quilt as he threaded his fingers through her hair, lifting it with one hand while working the zipper on her dress with the other. Sasha slid her palms to the heated sliver of space between them, quickly freeing the buttons on his shirt before pushing it from his body. With a few decisive moves, both his dress shirt and the T-shirt beneath it found the floor beside them, and Sully delved under the silk of her dress, slipping it from her heated skin.
She was even more gorgeous than he’d imagined.
Sasha’s creamy skin glowed pale gold in the low light from the fire, the lean angle of her shoulders tapering in toward the ample swell of her breasts. A swath of dark red lace allowed the slightest glimpse of her rose-colored nipples, and Sully’s cock jerked at the thought of taking them into his mouth until she screamed. The slope of Sasha’s belly flared out into sensual, curved hips, a tiny triangle of dark red satin the only thing hiding the rest of her from view.
She reached out, hands trailing over his chest like the fire banked behind her. “You’re overdressed,” she said, her fingers diving lower to close over his belt buckle.
“And you’re impatient.” With an act of unparalleled control, Sully flashed his palms over Sasha’s shoulder blades, returning her to her back on the blanket. Her eyes went round with surprise, then shadowed with undeniable desire as he skimmed his thumb over the bud of one nipple through the lace. Unable to keep himself from discovering her taste, he pulled the thin ribbons of her bra from her shoulders, cupping her tightly as he drew her nipple all the way past his lips.
“Oh God.” Sasha moaned her approval, arcing eagerly into his touch. Sully took her just as eagerly, swirling his tongue over the tight bead with just enough slowness to drive them both crazy.
“You taste incredible. Sweet. Spicy.” An idea sparked in his brain, dark and wicked and perfect, and he reached for the glass he’d left on the hearth. A few quick twists of his unoccupied hand had Sasha’s bra free from her body, her high, beautiful breasts tempting him to touch.
Her gaze darted to the whiskey in his hand, although she didn’t shrink back. “What are you doing?”
“I want to show you how you taste.” Sully drank from his glass, letting the flavor of the whiskey linger on his mouth as he pressed forward to kiss her. But rather than staying focused on Sasha’s lips, he broke free to kiss the length of her neck, parting from her skin just long enough to tilt a tiny stream of whiskey from the crystal to her breasts.
“Sully,” came her choked response. Setting his glass aside with a swift move, he followed the trail of cool liquid with his heated mouth. Sasha thrust her hands through his hair, deepening the connection between his mouth and her body as he laved first her nipples, then the undersides of her breasts with his lips and tongue. He captured every drop of fiery whiskey from her skin, licking, tasting and sucking. Her knees fluttered open, inviting Sully lower, until finally, he hovered over the damp scrap of satin between her thighs.
“So pretty.” He reclaimed his glass, tipping a few drops from the crystal to the hot swell above the edge of her tiny red panties. Sasha canted her hips in reply, sending the whiskey along the edge of the fabric.
“Please,” she said, the want in her voice sending an unrelenting pulse of lust to the base of Sully’s spine. But he fought the urge to give in, hooking his thumbs over the strings at her hips instead.
He wanted to know how the rest of her tasted first.
With a slow pull, he slid the last piece of clothing from Sasha’s body, leaving her completely bare in the firelight. He parted her legs with a press of his palms, splaying his fingers wide over her inner thighs as he kissed his way from her belly to the crest of one hip. Her sighs became moans in the span of mere seconds, forcing him not to wait. Sully dropped to the furrow between her legs, scooping his hands beneath the lush curve of her ass to bracket his shoulders with her thighs. He kissed Sasha’s core with one long stroke of his tongue, and fuck, she was as hot as she was sweet.
“Oh!” The word burst from her lips, her delicate folds quivering against his mouth as he found a slow and steady rhythm. He meant to go slow, to build up to making her come despite the pleasure-pain ache in his cock, but Sasha had other ideas. Reaching down to cup his face, she guided him over her most sensitive places, tilting her hips and rocking against his lips and tongue until her hands tightened in his hair. He loosened one hand from beneath her body, sinking a finger deep inside her heat while keeping his mouth on the taut bundle of nerves at the top of her core, thrusting with both until she quickened on a sharp cry.
“Sully.” Sasha repeated his name like a plea and a curse. “Don’t stop. Don’t—”
Her body went completely rigid for a split second before vibrating around him in waves. Sully rode out her climax, wringing every last gasp from her before finally scaling back to gentle his touch. He slipped from the cradle of Sasha’s body to return to her side on the quilt, reaching out to pull her close.
He was flat on his back in a matter of seconds, and good Christ in heaven, he was never going to get what he expected with her.
“You’re still overdressed,” Sasha said with a wic
ked smile, sliding one leg over the tops of his wool-clad thighs. Propping her weight on her knees, she made fast work of his belt buckle, then the button and zipper beneath it. “And as mind-blowing as this has been so far, I don’t want to wait any more. I want you…” She palmed his cock over his boxer briefs, sending a bolt of want all the way through his blood. “Inside of me. Right. Now.”
In a flurry of movements, the rest of his clothes hit the floor, and Sully paused for only the briefest of moments to take a condom from his wallet. He knew he should wait, that he needed to make this count, to mean enough for him to build on it.
Except—God damn it—he couldn’t wait. Sasha wanted him right now, and hell if he didn’t want her right back.
She took the condom from his fingers, returning him to the quilt with a careful push. A minute later, she hooked a leg back over his hips in a full straddle, leaning forward to kiss him with shocking softness. Sasha rocked back over his cock, working him into her slick heat inch by inch until finally, no space separated them at all.
Sully grated out a low curse, gripping her hips to keep her in place while he adjusted to the sensations ripping through him. But once again, Sasha had her own plan, and she tipped her body in a sensual glide. Unable to keep from matching her rhythm, he thrust up into her tight, wet core, filling her again and again. Her breath grew more shallow, her movements more fierce and urgent, and although the friction growing between them dared him closer to the edge, Sully refused to pull back. His fingers dug into the press of her hips with strength bordering on despair, and Sasha matched his every move, over and again. He rocked beneath her, arching until they were completely joined, and only when she came undone a second time did he let himself give in.
“Sasha.” The tension in his belly uncoiled, low and merciless, and every last part of him rushed toward release. He shook with the intensity of his orgasm, hips lifting off the quilt with one last thrust, until finally, they stilled in a tangle of fast breathing and heated limbs.
Something Borrowed Page 5