by Faye Avalon
Since then he’d been wary of history repeating itself, which was why he rarely got involved with women beyond easy, brief, sex-only deals. So, despite the fact that his body thrummed with the need to get his hands on Lola, he made himself sit back as the cab driver negotiated the busy late-night traffic. ‘One question.’
Surprise lit her face. ‘Okay.’
‘What’s with the about turn? No one-night stands, remember?’
Lola hiked up one shoulder. ‘Can’t a girl change her mind?’
‘In my experience, if a woman changes her mind it usually ends up biting the man in the ass.’
She laughed, but there was an edge to it. ‘Like I said before, I like to think my way around things. That’s what I’ve been doing, and now what I want has changed.’
He had a feeling they weren’t just talking about sex, but since they’d arrived at his place he shelved the conversation for now. From the throbbing in his pants, he had more urgent things with which to concern himself.
This was only a one-nighter, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep his wits about him.
As soon as the taxi drew to a halt, Connor stepped out and went around to hold the door for Lola. He paid the driver, vaguely registering the man’s thanks for the generous tip. He turned to Lola. Although he resisted hauling her over his shoulder, he couldn’t stop from reaching for her hand. Her fingers curled tightly around his, and he pulled her to his side. Her generous lips slid into a smile and she looked up at him with eyes filled with temptation.
He managed to pull his gaze from hers long enough to jab the code into the security panel of the foyer door, then he hurried her through the marble-floored entrance hall and towards the bank of lifts.
While they waited, she pulled gently at the edges of his plaster with her free hand. ‘That’s dried up already. You must heal fast.’
He needed a moment to get his thoughts straight, as he was totally focused on the arrival of the damn lift and getting her up to his place pronto. ‘It’ll take more than a four-inch heel to put me down.’
She made a low, smoky sound in her throat that did interesting things to his rapidly escalating libido. ‘How about six-inch ones?’
The vision of her wearing even higher heels made his abs clench. ‘On you? That would not only put me down, it’d knock me clean out.’
‘Have you got a shoe fetish?’
‘Don’t give a rat’s ass about shoes, only the legs they accentuate.’ Deliberately, he kept his gaze locked on hers. ‘Especially yours.’
‘A leg man, then.’
Still he kept his eyes on hers. ‘Legs, breasts, ass and pretty much everything between. I’m not particular.’
Again, that laugh. He was tempted to ditch waiting for the lift and negotiate the twenty floors up to his apartment on foot.
‘I don’t believe that for a moment,’ she said with a tilt of her head. ‘I have a feeling you’re very particular.’
He reached out and touched the ends of her hair that were so damned close to her breasts and those hard nipples poking through her top, which he really wanted to touch. ‘What about you? Chest? Pecs? Butt?’
‘My favoured attribute depends on the man.’
He stabbed at the lift button again, his chest tightening with the need to get his hands on her. ‘How so?’
‘Well, I like some men for their bodies. Others for their intellect. Others still for their ability to make me laugh.’
After a quick mental tot, he grinned. ‘Never had any complaints about my body,’ he said waggling his eyebrows. ‘And, while I can’t split the atom, I can hold my own in most conversations. As for making you laugh? I’ve heard that dirty laugh of yours enough times to know I score high in that regard.’
She gave him another sample of said dirty laugh. ‘Okay, three strikes and you’re not out.’ She eyed him wryly. ‘Yet.’
‘Is there another set of manly attributes on your list?’
‘Can’t think of any straight off. Of course, there’s sex. The whole “satisfying a woman in bed” thing.’
Connor swallowed. Yeah. He really liked the way she shot straight. ‘That would make it four strikes, and still I’m not out.’
She huffed. ‘You’ve got a healthy enough ego, I’ll give you that.’
‘No point indulging in false modesty. From what I’ve been told, I seem to have an uncanny ability to make a woman happy between the sheets.’
She took in a breath and let it out on a less than steady sigh. ‘Ah, theory. Or maybe just hearsay. Me? I like evidential proof. I’ve always been a practical girl.’
He glanced down at her cleavage. Hard not to when her breasts were moving up and down as her breathing rate increased. ‘I’ll bet.’
His own breathing was unsteady and, had his cock not been restrained by his trousers, it would have joined in the fun. As it was, it pressed painfully against his zipper.
He resisted a muttered expletive as he stabbed the lift button yet again, his legs almost sagging with relief when the doors pinged open.
He took Lola into the small space and, unable to resist any longer, pushed her against the far wall, then placed his hands either side of her head. He brought his mouth a whisper from hers.
‘It’s time to put theory aside, Lola.’ He brushed her lips lightly, making sure to press his hips against hers to let her feel the force of his desire. ‘And hearsay.’
‘Fine by me.’ She wrapped her arms around his waist, moving her hips in a subtle motion and almost making him lose it. ‘Like I said, I’ve always favoured the practical.’
CHAPTER FOUR
LOLA HAD HEARD the expression that you could reel from someone’s kiss, but she’d never given much store to it. Yet as Connor took her mouth she...reeled. Her knees all but buckled and fire zipped in her veins. She wasn’t sure if the way her stomach somersaulted was because of the kiss or because the lift had arrived at Connor’s floor.
‘Hmm. I really like the practical,’ she said, disengaging herself from Connor’s arms and stepping back from him to get a few moments to steady herself. ‘Much better than the theory.’
‘Me too,’ he said as, taking hold of her hand, he led her from the lift and out into the small hallway. There was only one door that she could see, and they headed towards that.
Connor slid the key card into the slot and let Lola enter first. He was right about the view. Across the wide living space, floor-to-ceiling windows dominated and the lights of central London flickered around them.
‘Wow.’ She walked across to get a better look. ‘This is amazing.’ Instinct had her looking across to the east and towards the area that housed the Cabacal property. Discomfort flared that she was kind of deceiving Connor by not coming clean about who she was. He seemed a decent enough guy. But as this was just a one-off deal, and she would likely never see him again, there didn’t seem any real harm.
Connor came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist so that they both looked out at the view. He hadn’t switched on any lights in the apartment, so what there was came from the reflection of the flickering London skyline beyond.
She loved the feel of his arms around her, the scent of him and the sheer animal magnetism that was uniquely his. One hand came up to cup her breast.
‘You don’t waste any time,’ she said in a droll tone as his other hand cupped her other breast. ‘I thought you might be the savouring kind.’
‘I am,’ he said, nuzzling her neck and making her tremble. ‘This is me savouring.’
He squeezed her breasts lightly and rocked his erection against the curve of her ass.
‘You feel damn good, Lola.’
The husky, muffled tone shot reaction from her breasts to her core. She moved her hips, not wanting him to have all the fun, and her reward was a needy groan. ‘You feel damn good too, Connor.’
/> He kept one hand on her breast and slowly slid the other down to cup her between her legs. Lola moved against him as he gently touched her, encouraging him to increase the pressure. Thankfully, he took the hint.
‘I was planning to take this slow,’ he said in a low, sexy drawl. ‘But the feel of your ass against my hard-on is kind of making that impossible.’
Reaching up and back, Lola locked her hands around the back of his neck, the movement pushing her breasts forward so that the hand cupping her breast squeezed lightly. ‘Sometimes slow is overrated.’
He pressed harder against her, encouraging her to open her legs a little.
‘I’ve got you for one whole night, which means we can do fast, slow and everything in between.’
She recalled what he’d said back in the bar about the benefits of broadening horizons, and if she was broadening hers then she was damn well going to enjoy every moment of it. ‘We’re still talking theory,’ she teased. ‘You might still be out on that fourth strike.’
He spun her around, stealing her breath. ‘Not going to happen,’ he warned as he hiked her up into his arms. She squealed, wrapping her legs around his waist and clinging to his shoulders as he took her through to his bedroom located directly off the living space, quickening his pace as he went.
Another huge room, Lola thought as he set her down on the bed. Another room with amazing views from floor-to-ceiling windows. ‘Are the walls in every room of your apartment made of glass?’
‘Just two,’ he said, yanking the edge of her top from her waistband. ‘Are you planning on talking interior design right now?’
Lola laughed. She really did like his dry wit. It was sexy and a big turn-on.
‘I’m just making pleasant conversation.’
Slowly, he drew the zipper of her top down, and she raised her arms as he pulled the top over her head. He took a moment to gaze at her bared breasts, then cupped them, his hands moving in drugging circles, thumbs flicking her nipples and hardening them into tighter buds. She arched, loving the way he touched her.
‘You like your breasts touched?’
‘Uh, huh.’ She hadn’t given it much thought before, but now her whole attention was focused on Connor’s adept thumbs and skilled fingers manipulating her tender flesh.
He leaned forward, guiding her back until she was lying across the bed. He licked one nipple with the lightest touch but it sent shockwaves right through her body. His tongue felt hot, determined, and she hadn’t thought she could feel any better about having her nipple licked until he increased the pressure.
Even as Lola closed her eyes, enjoying his attention, he took the bud into his mouth and sucked. She arched again, higher off the bed this time, resisting the urge to just lie back and let him do what he wanted.
But she had some wants of her own, and that meant getting her hands on Connor. As he continued to kiss her breasts, she pulled his shirt from his trousers and tried to shove it off his shoulders. Connor didn’t seem in any hurry to get naked, grabbing her wrists and coaxing her arms back over her head.
He knelt, working his knees between her legs and holding her arms steady, then continued the sexy manipulation of her breasts.
Lola wondered if she’d ever been shot to peak quite so fast before, because she could feel the merciless throb between her legs and knew that it would only take one touch and she’d probably explode.
But Connor didn’t release her hands. Instead, he curled his fingers more tightly around hers and anchored her to the mattress.
He moved down, kissing her ribcage, the skin across her waist. Bracketing both her wrists with one hand, he used his free hand to reach between them and unhook the clasp of her jeans. He moved her zipper down a mere inch, touching his mouth to the exposed skin. The only sound came from their deepened breathing. His tongue circled her navel, making the muscles between her legs clench hard.
He caught the zipper fastening between his teeth and slowly pulled it all the way down, then used his free hand to push her jeans open.
It was deliciously erotic and Lola moaned low in her throat.
Connor looked up at her, his grey eyes dark and hooded.
With her wrists still bracketed by his hand, Lola swallowed and gave a half-hearted tug. ‘Do I get to yank your kit off any time soon?’
He grinned, that deliciously sexy hike of his mouth doing amazing things to her equilibrium. ‘All night, remember? First I’m having you. My way.’
‘What does that mean?’
He trailed a finger down the line of the unfastened zipper towards the top edge of her panties just visible beneath her jeans. She shivered.
‘It means I’m going to touch you, taste you, do what the hell I like. After that, maybe I’ll let you do the same to me.’
Lola liked the sound of that, but she wasn’t going to let him think he was calling all the shots. ‘Who says you get to go first? Isn’t there some leeway for negotiation?’
‘We already negotiated.’
‘We did? I must have missed that part.’
He kept his gaze on hers and pushed his hand down the opened fastening of her jeans. Lola sucked in her stomach to ease his way lower, wishing she hadn’t worn such tight-fitting jeans. As it was, his fingers were barely inside the lacy edge of her panties.
‘My place, my rules.’
‘So, if I’d invited you to my place, I’d be the one with the negotiating power?’
He hesitated. ‘That’s how it works.’
‘In whose world?’
‘Mine.’
He released her hands but she kept them over her head, wondering what he planned to do next. Her whole body was on fire, trembling, skin shivering and burning all at once. He lifted her hips and pulled the jeans from her legs so slowly that it made her feel exposed in a way she’d never felt before.
Having tossed her jeans away, he hooked his fingers into the sides of her panties. She thought he was going to tug them off too, but instead he leaned down and pressed his mouth to her lace-covered mound.
It was somehow more erotic having him kiss her with this flimsy barrier between them than if he’d just ripped the panties away and kissed her bare. Her whole body trembled as he hooked his hands beneath her knees and raised her legs so he could get more access to the place he wanted. His mouth was hot, his tongue determined as it flirted with the edge of her panties.
Bringing her hands down from above her head, she tried once more to get the shirt from his shoulders, needing to feel his skin beneath her hands and drive her fingers deep into his firm, hot flesh. But he didn’t budge, just kept kissing her with a kind of determined focus.
‘Connor?’
Her breathy plea echoed around the space, but Connor ignored it. She hiked herself up onto her elbows, her gaze falling to where Connor worked her so expertly. If the man could make her feel like this with her panties still on, what the hell would he be able to do when she was naked?
She didn’t have to wait long to find out. Before she could track what he was doing, he tugged at the lace, dragged it down her legs and tossed it away to join her jeans on the floor.
He spread her, holding her open and looking his fill. She shivered as his head descended, and the first touch of his mouth to her raging heat shook her right through to her core.
She flopped back against the mattress in sensual surrender, her fingers curling into the sheet for purchase. It was like being devoured, like being ravaged, tossed in an erotic sea of pure sensation. All she could do was go with it, let the storm take her wherever it might. She closed her eyes, her muscles jerking with each press of Connor’s tongue against her slit.
There was no time to prepare herself, no time to brace against the fury of the spasms that rocked her world. It was amazing, incredible, overwhelming, and as she came down she was already mourning the fact that this was temporary, one
night only, no strings. No anything.
Lola flung an arm across her forehead, gasping for breath. ‘Bloody hell.’
He inched up, bracing himself on his hands to lean over her. ‘Yeah.’
‘You’re good at that.’
‘I’m good at a whole lot more.’
‘Condom?’
He grinned. ‘Not yet. I haven’t finished.’
Since she had her legs open with him lying between them, his impressive bulge pushing hard against her heat, she looked up at him from beneath her arm. ‘When do I get my turn?’
‘I thought you just did.’
‘Funny. You won’t even let me take your shirt off.’
‘Plenty of time for that.’
She tried again to slip it from his shoulders, but he caught her hand. ‘I told you I wasn’t finished.’ He grinned. ‘Unless you want to miss out on my special technique.’
Lola gave him a suspicious look. She wanted to challenge him on his bossy attitude, his determination to get his own way. Getting involved with a man who liked to control to the extent Connor did should have sent out all kinds of warning signals, but her body was sending out its own signals right then. Her skin tingled and her muscles clenched in anticipation. She had to admit that she was intrigued and, as this was only a one-night deal and their paths were unlikely to cross again, she wasn’t about to get too hung up on his need to call the shots. ‘What special technique?’
He grinned, leaned down and kissed her breasts, taking his time to explore each nipple in turn. Then he moved down her body, kissing her lightly at the waist, exploring her abdomen and around her navel before touching light kisses down her thighs to her knees.
Lola moved in sensual pleasure, driving her fingers into his hair until he started to move up her body again and settled beside her. Their gazes met and Lola loved the deep, smoky look he gave her.