by Lauren Smith
“I like the art.” He nodded around at her framed prints.
“Thank you.” Her gaze swept over him. “Let me take your coat.”
He slid it off his shoulders and she hung it by the door on a decorative silver hook nailed into the wall. When she turned back to him, she was rubbing her hands together nervously. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him. He crossed the short distance and took her hands in his.
“Hey, we don’t need to do anything. I have no expectations.”
Her lips curved in a small smile as she freed her hands from his and laid them on his chest.
“But I do.” She whispered an instant before she stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
Passion radiated from within him, sudden and hungry, as he cupped her face. He held her as he kissed her back. Her hands moved up his chest to his shoulders and rested there casually, yet his flesh tingled at the contact. His senses spun as he breathed in her sweet floral scent. He moved one hand to the hollow of her spine and his fingers lifted the hem of her sweater so he could settle his palm against her bare skin. He tipped her chin back and trailed kisses down her throat, glad she wasn’t wearing a turtleneck. A pulse beat steady in her throat and he nibbled her skin just beneath her ear. She groaned and clutched at him.
“Please, Matthew.” She begged. “Bedroom. Now.”
“You sure?” he asked.
“Yes.” She pulled at the front of his shirt, ripping it open and sending buttons scattering on the tile floor. He pulled free of the ruined shirt.
“Sorry!” She gasped.
“Not to worry. I have a dozen more,” he promised as she took his hand and led him down the short hall to her bedroom where she tugged him back into her arms for another kiss. This time she was more urgent in exploring and he savored it as he lifted her sweater off her body. After a moment, they were tumbling back onto her bed. Jeans, boots and socks were removed in a frenzy as they laughed between kisses.
Matthew leaned over her, tugging the cream silk bra cups down to expose her full breasts. She was gorgeous and he buried his face in the valley between the two peaks. Aubree moaned and arched her back as he took one nipple into his mouth and sucked hard. He slid his hands behind her, unclasped her bra, and dropped it to the floor. He licked the hardened bud before moving to the other breast. As he explored her soft ivory flesh with fingertips caressing down her legs and up her inner thighs, he got lost in the heaven of her sighs and shivery responses. Without another thought, he wound his arms around her waist and lifted her, carrying her over to bed. They lay side by side, breathing slightly heavier as they shared a deep, openmouthed kiss.
“You’re bloody beautiful, Aubree.” Not only on the outside, but within. He wished she could truly know how much he meant it.
When he kissed her and closed his eyes, he swore he could see her soul shining bright and calling out to him. It felt like home. It felt like the last time he’d driven between the gates of his grandfather’s ranch with the horses running through the pasture and the wind whipping their manes while his grandmother was baking fresh bread in the kitchen.
Being with Aubree… It filled that mystery emptiness he’d felt since he left Australia.
“I want to touch you,” Aubree reached for his boxer shorts and he rolled onto his back so she could pull them off. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of his erection. He chuckled and pulled her on top of him.
“Kiss me,” he begged softly. She rewarded him with a hot lingering kiss that made him hard and even more desperate to have her. When she curled her fingers around his cock and stroked, it felt so good he thought he might die. Her name came out as a groan as he gripped her ass and his fingers fisted the fabric of her panties before he ripped them off her body. A minute later, he rolled her back beneath him and she parted her thighs, allowing him into the natural cradle of her body.
“You have a condom?” He whispered.
Aubree shook her head. “I’m on the pill. We don’t need one if you’re clean.”
“I am,” he promised.
“Me too.” She ran her hands up and down his back and he shifted, positioning himself at her entrance. They shared a sound of pleasure as he sank into her welcoming hot depths. He threw his head back as he withdrew before pushing back inside her.
“Harder,” she encouraged.
Matthew was happy to obey. He braced one hand beside her head and they gazed into each other’s eyes as he claimed her and she gave him everything in return. It rocked him to his core to see her face burst with delight when her orgasm hit. Her inner muscles clamped down around him and he nearly lost his own control right then. Not wanting to rush and hoping he could coax another release out of her, he slowed his thrusts. Soft sweet words were whispered between kisses and he hoped she could feel how much he adored her.
She arched against him as her body contracted around his shaft and this time, he couldn’t slow down. He listened to her sounds and when she cried out with a second climax, he roared as he let go inside of her.
Once their bodies stilled, he sank forward onto the bed and tried to catch his breath without crushing her. They were naked and tangled in the sheets; he couldn’ think of anywhere else he wanted to be in that moment. Matthew adjusted his position so they lay on their sides; he was still inside her as he pulled her limp, sated body close to his. He ran a hand along her shoulder, down her waist, over her hip and upper thigh as he watched her panting softly and staring at him. Her skin felt like satin and he never wanted to stop touching her.
“No regrets?” he asked.
Aubree shook her head. “You?”
“No,” he brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek and her lashes fanned down.
“Tired?” he tried not to smile when she fought a yawn.
“A little.”
“Sleep,” he suggested gently.
“Will you still be here?”
“Do you want me to be?” God, he hoped she would say yes.
“Yeah, I do. That’s not weird for you?”
“It’s not, and I’ll be here.” He held her close until she fell asleep. He yawned and pulled the heavy throw blanket at the end of the bed over them both.
Tonight had been a labor of love in more ways than one and he’d enjoyed every minute of it. He was falling hard for this woman. Part of him was thrilled but another part of him was worried. Was he ready for a new relationship?
5
X’s and O’s
Aubree opened her eyes a little after dawn, comforted at the sight of her own room, yet something was different. The world spun a little as she felt a muscled thigh pressed to hers and a heavy male arm wrapped around her waist. A man had draped his body over hers.
Matthew… She really had slept with him.
Holy crap.
She started to move but froze. What was she supposed to do? She wasn’t sure what the protocol was after last night. She had asked him to stay the night, but had that been the right thing? Or was she letting herself get too entangled with her emotions? She should try to keep things casual between them, right? She was supposed to be getting out into the dating pool and seeing all the possibilities. Maybe it was a bad idea to be falling so hard for Matthew. She had only known him two weeks and yet she’d slept with him on what she considered their first official date.
Aubree pressed the back of one hand to her head and drew in a few calming breaths. Last night had been wonderful—so damn wonderful. From the making of signs and cocktails, to every sinful, wicked thing that followed. She didn’t want it to be a mistake, but after so many years of not dating, she wasn’t sure what to do.
“You okay?” Matthew’s deep baritone voice was whiskey rough with sleep and the intimate sound made her body flush with heat.
“Yeah,” she settled back down in bed and he moved closer before tucking her naked body against his more snuggly. God, this was more than nice. She could get used to this.
“Still all right that I stayed?” he asked.
She rolled onto her back and looked up at him. He had that sleepy look that made even a hard-edged, handsome man like him seem cuddly; the thought made her smile.
He traced the smile on her lips with his finger. “What’s so funny?” He grinned back at her.
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.” He spoke so gently, so warmly that she couldn’t resist anything he would have asked of her right then.
“It’s just…” She reached up to stroke his jaw, feeling the slightest stubble starting to grow there. “You’re so intense, so masculine and sexy, and I love that. But I like this side of you too.”
“This side?” he asked.
“Yeah, your cuddly side.”
Matthew laughed. “Cuddly? Me?” He rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him and she giggled as she made herself a human blanket.
“Now, this is nice,” he murmured.
“It is.” She agreed as she felt his cock harden between her thighs. She moved above him before gripping his shaft and slowly taking him inside her. Her body felt full in the best way.
Matthew gazed up at her with lust, but there was something gentle in his eyes—a sweet sort of desire that made her chest ache.
They made love slowly, gently. His hands rested on her hips when she leaned down to kiss him and their tongues gently dueled as he thrust inside her over and over. For a long blissful moment, she truly forgot everything outside of this gorgeous man and the bed they shared. There was only them and the magic of the heat and passion igniting between them.
Love is friendship that has caught fire.
Aubree melted into him as an orgasm rolled through her, slow and deep. The aftershocks echoed in a sonorous way that made her blood sing. He came seconds later, breathing her name with quiet reverence.
“Christ, you are amazing.” Matthew murmured against her lips as she settled beside him.
“Thanks, so are you.” She nuzzled his body and rested one of her palms on the warm skin where she could feel his muscled chest.
“What time do you have to be at work?” he asked. His hands ran up and down her back, stroking her in the most soothing, seductive way. Her body hummed with delicious warmth as his body relaxed every muscle in her. She hadn’t felt this calm and sated in…well she couldn’t remember how long.
“Umm… Today is Saturday, so not at all.”
“Good. I was worried you might have to work on the weekends.”
“Sometimes,” she admitted. “But that’s rare.”
Matthew pressed a kiss to the shell of her ear. “How about we spend the day together? I want to know everything about you.”
She laughed. “You can’t learn everything about each other in one day.”
“No, but we can try.” He kissed her ear again and she let all rational thoughts that might have made her say no vanish.
“I surrender.” She gasped when his hands tickled her waist.
She escaped and ducked into the bathroom where she frantically brushed her teeth and ran a quick makeup remover under her eyes and a brush through her hair. When she looked decent, she pulled on her shower robe and peeped through the open door. Matthew was lying on his back in her bed, hands folded under his head in the sheets pulling low on his waist. Ropes of muscle formed his abdomen and a V shaped indentation pointed down his pelvis to what lie beneath the blankets. How had she not licked and kissed those muscles last night or this morning? Men only looked that good in magazines or romance novels. Real men weren’t this perfect. That meant Matthew had to have some flaws somewhere, right?
“You want company?” he asked with a sleepy chuckle as he slowly turned his face toward her.
Shit! He had to have seen her watching him.
“Er…” Her rational brain said no. But her rational brain was not in charge. “You can go again so soon?”
Matthew cast off the sheets and rose from the bed in all his naked glory. And he was glorious. Aubree just stared at him, all too aware of how unbelievably rude that was but there was no way she couldn’t look.
“I can go again,” he promised as he walked toward her.
She stumbled backward into the bathroom just as he got to her. She put her hands on his bare chest when he reached around her and hit the water handle to turn on the shower. Water splashed against the white subway tiles and she tilted her head back to look up at a very naked Aussie man in her bathroom. God, what a fantasy this was!
His hands toyed with the belt of her bathroom robe before he slowly unfastened the loose knot. She held her breath and her heart pounded in a wild excited rhythm as he parted the terrycloth fabric. Her breasts were heavy and hot when he peeled the robe from her shoulders and dropped it to the ground.
Matthew brushed his fingers over her nipples and she shivered. Steam warmed her back before she pulled him into the shower with her. She smiled shyly and ducked her head. He was so tall, well over six feet, and she liked the way he filled the space of the shower. The spray heated them as he ran his hands over her body.
They took their time exploring each other in ways they hadn’t been able to before. She leaned forward and licked one of his flat nipples and he groaned, holding her head against his skin. He slid one hand between her legs to stroke her and she rocked into his fingers in encouragement.
“Favorite color?” he asked huskily.
“Er…” It was so hard to think when his hand was playing with her so deliciously. “Green.” She finally got out.
“What kind of green?” he asked, still stroking her. She pressed kisses along his chest until she reached his other nipple and bit it lightly.
“Evergreen,” she finally answered. “Like Christmas trees. You?”
“Red,” his lazy smile was pure male, and it made her belly quiver in delight. “Like cranberries.” He reached for the bar of soap and lathered it in his hands.
“I love cranberry sauce.” She leaned into his touch as he began to wash her.
“Homemade or canned?” He rubbed his lathered hands over her body, and she did the same, enjoying the simple act of washing each other.
“Don’t laugh,” she warned but he did anyway.
“Canned? The kind that just plops out onto a plate and you can even slice it?” His blue eyes were so bright and jovial that she couldn’t be too embarrassed.
“Yes, that kind. It’s great. I love it and I won’t be swayed otherwise,” she warned but she was smiling.
“Fair enough, I like it too. My ex used to give me hell about it.”
At the mention of his ex she stiffened. She didn’t want to think of him with other women. It somehow made what they were sharing feel less special because she knew he must have done this with others.
“Hey… What’s wrong?” He tilted her face up and she looked into his eyes which were a soft, almost Wedgewood-blue now.
Flustered, she tried to pull away.
“Aubree, what did I say?”
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “You haven’t mentioned an ex before now.”
“Oh…” Matthew pulled her toward him. “So, it’s that time is it?” He was gazing at her so seriously, but there was a gentleness in him that lessened her anxiety.
“What time?”
“The X’s and O’s talk,” he said simply
“What?”
“You know, like the song, X’s and O’s? It’s also a cocktail by the way. Tonight, I’ll have to make us each a stiff one.”
She washed her hair quickly and he did the same.
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
He turned off the shower and got out first, handing her the first towel he could find, and she pointed at her cupboards with extra towels for him.
“How many women have you dated?” Aubree wrapped her hair in a smaller towel.
“I had one great love when I was younger, Lena. We dated from age thirteen until twenty-three. After her…there’s been a few women, but they were only short flings.” He was speaking so calmly of his love life and the fir
st girl he’d loved that he wasn’t with anymore. She was stunned. Aubree didn’t know what to say. She’d never really had that. She’d dated a couple of men in high school and college but her feelings hadn’t been returned to the same degree, so she’d never felt fully in love or like she’d been in a serious relationship.
“Why did you break up with Lena if you loved her?” She removed the towel from her hair and combed her fingers through the wet strands, trying to hide her trembling hands.
He leaned back against the bathroom counter, towel hanging loosely around his lean hips.
“I knew my life would take me away from Perth, from my home and family. I was okay with that. Lena wasn’t. She wanted to practice law in Perth. We did our best to make a long-distance relationship work, but after a year we realized our hearts were in different places and while there would always be some form of affection between us, it was no longer strong enough to survive our diverging paths in life.” When he looked her way, she saw the ghost of an old pain in his eyes and in the curve of his melancholy smile.
“Do you still love her?” It was a question she shouldn’t ask; she knew the answer was only going to hurt her.
“First loves, strong ones, leave a mark, like a river running through a valley of stones over hundreds of thousands of years. It wears a path; it leaves grooves and redefines the rocks around it. While that love may be long gone, its mark is still there, defining any new love that might come through into one’s heart. My love for Lena is like that. It left me changed. There will always be echoes of that love inside me. But no, I’m no longer in love with her.” Matthew met her gaze, his blue eyes somber and serious. “I heard from my grandmother that she’s married and a mother of two now.”
“Oh wow.” Aubree walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry.”