by Jen Talty
“Yes,” she croaked out, sinking her teeth into on her lower lip, gripping the seat, her hips moving in unison with his rhythm, with the echo of the music. She’d never had an orgasm at the hands of a man, only in the privacy of her own bed, alone, and even that wasn’t all that it had been cracked up to be.
“Look at me,” he said.
She blinked a few times, unable to gain her focus as she stared at the star-speckled sky. A high-pitched groan came with every exhale of her breath. She hadn’t had many lovers over the years. She was looking for the right man to share her life with. Someone she could trust. Love. And someone that would be this intent on pleasing her before himself.
That was a hard man to find, and most of the guys she dated dumped her because they didn’t want to wait for her to feel comfortable with them before starting a sexual relationship.
And then there was Kirk. The mere thought of him made her want to stop. She lowered her chin and opened her mouth to tell Josh she couldn’t do this.
“Open your eyes, Delaney,” he whispered.
She did, gasping. With their foreheads pressed together and their gazes locked, he’d given her the control. Kneading her fingers into his neck, she rolled her hips. His palm rubbed against her intimately, yet he barely moved his hand.
“Oh…my…God,” she managed as her climax rippled to the surface, rocking her slowly at first until it gripped her with force, her stomach quivering over and over again. “I… I…” She blinked, her pulse not slowing down. Her lungs burned. “Excuse me.” She bolted from the chair, knocking it over, before heading down the makeshift stairs in search of a bathroom.
“Delaney!”
She heard him shout her name, his tone questioning and concerned, but she couldn’t face him. Slamming the bathroom door, she turned on the faucet, splashing her flushed face with cool water.
Josh paced in front of the picture window in the family room, the only light from the restaurant below and the faint glow of the moon. The night had gotten totally out of control. Giving her pleasure on the patio hadn’t been part of the plan to take her to dinner. Entertain her. Maybe steal few kisses, then walk her home, being the gentlemen he could be. Around her, all he could think about was burying himself deep inside her.
He stared out the picture window. Ten minutes had passed, and not a single noise from the bathroom. Well, he couldn’t let her stay in there all night.
“Delaney?” He tapped on the door. “Are you okay?” He held his breath, waiting for an answer.
“Yes.” Her reply was barely audible.
“Do you need anything?” What the hell kind of a question was that? “Come out and talk to me. Please?”
The doorknob turned slowly before she pushed the door open, her gaze to the floor.
“Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“What happened then?” Tentatively, he reached out, tilting her chin. Thankfully, she looked at him.
“I’m really not this kind of girl. I don’t go home with men I just met.”
“I know that.” He lifted her hands, placing them on his shoulders. “But that can’t be what upset you.”
“I’ve never experienced anything like what we just did,” she stammered. “That’s never happened to me.”
He swallowed. “Let’s go sit.” He motioned to the sofa. “Can I get you another glass of wine?”
“Yes, please.”
A million things ran through his mind as he uncorked another bottle, but mostly, he thought about how Delaney had no idea how erotic and sensual she was. Nor did she comprehend the power she had over a man.
He handed her the glass of wine as he eased into the seat next to her on the sofa, sipping his and wondering what happened. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” she said. “I’m sorry. I feel a bit foolish for behaving the way I did after you...what...”
Her inability to discuss what happened on the rooftop made Josh wonder what kind of men Delaney had been with in the past. “Why do you feel foolish?”
“I’d rather not say,” she whispered, her arms wrapped tightly around her middle.
He took a chance, acting on his intuition, and asked, “Has a man never given you an orgasm before?”
“I’ve had a few serious relationships,” she said.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
She chewed on her lower lip. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“So, that’s the first time someone other than yourself has brought you to climax.”
She turned her head, catching his gaze with narrowed eyes. “How is that you make this seem like daily normal conversation?”
“It’s not abnormal,” he said, wondering if any man had ever treated her right on any level. “I want to understand why having pleasure made you so distraught you had to run away.”
“You’re like no one I’ve met before,” she whispered. “I’ve come close a few times, but it never happens for me, so you giving me one stunned me.”
“What did your past boyfriends do to help you get there?”
She laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I don’t joke about treating a lady well, whether it’s at dinner or in bed.”
She sipped her wine, shifting on the sofa.
His sadness turned to anger when he realized that the men in her life had so little consideration for her pleasure that they took their own and left her unfulfilled.
“My last boyfriend, Kirk—we dated for a year, but it was rocky from the start, and his frustration over my inability to—well, you know—didn’t help.”
“Why was the relationship difficult from the beginning?” While Josh wanted to understand why she’d run away from him, he hadn’t intended on digging into her personal life. If he were thinking clearly, he would walk her back to the hotel and leave it at that.
“For starters, he didn’t like my rules for dating.”
“What kind of rules?” He looped his arm over her shoulder, feeling the heat from her supple skin. The desire to worship her mind and body like a temple made him ignore that tickle in his brain telling him to keep her at a safe distance. She was the kind of woman he could fall for, hard and fast.
“Not really rules. More like generalities, such as taking it slow when it comes to sex,” she said. “So, this really isn’t me. I don’t have sex with someone until I’ve gotten to know them. Kirk called it vetting.”
“Nothing wrong with wanting to know anyone you decide to share a bed with.”
“Well, he argued that since I’d met him years earlier when he worked with my father, I was being difficult. He would get angry with me. He told me my standards were impossible and then called me frigid.”
“He’s a selfish prick and an asshole,” Josh said, setting his glass on the coffee table, red wine sloshing out of the top. “He’s not good enough for you. You should never settle for anything less than what you really want.” He palmed her cheek. “So, tell me, what do you really want?”
“I want you,” she said. The tremble in her hand when he laced his fingers through hers told a different story, and her soft blue eyes gave away her fear. Or reluctance.
“I want you, too.” He traced her lips with his forefinger. “But you’re hesitant, and I don’t want to be with you when you’re not sure about being with me.”
“You’re not sure, either.” She tilted her head, molding her lips against his in a hot entanglement, one he let go on far too long as he found himself groaning before separating their mouths.
“I’m sure I could have sex with you and do everything I could to make sure you had another orgasm,” he said. “That’s not the issue.” He kept telling himself this was some kind of test. Vetting, like she’d said. A way to find out if this was a chance meeting of two people attracted to each other, or some dark, deadly payback game Craypo was playing.
“What is the issue, then?”
“Relationships. I’m not interested in any
thing other than physical, no matter how much I like you. So, while you’re here, visiting, we can have sex if you want. Or just hang out. I do like spending time with you and don’t need sex, but that’s all I can give you.” Talk about feeding someone a line of crap laced with nibbles of truth. “You did say you’re only here for two weeks, right?”
“More like ten days,” she whispered. “I’ve never had an affair, a one-night stand, a hook-up, or whatever it’s called these days. I’ve only had relationships, and most of them sucked, and so did the sex. What happened on the rooftop didn’t suck.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad to hear to that. But not all your sexual experiences sucked, even if you couldn’t come, did they?”
“Not being able to get there pretty much sucks,” she said.
“We don’t have to do anything. Watching you orgasm is just as good as sex. I’m already satisfied. We can watch a movie. Go for a walk. You can go home. Whatever you want.”
“You’re not normal,” she whispered. “And I mean that in a good way.”
“What do you want from me? Tell me.”
“I want to have something where there are no strings. No dating rules. No trying to figure each other out with regard to the future. Something that isn’t based on emotion, but pure passion. Desire. A raw kind of shameless, sexual encounter.”
“That, I can give you,” he said, wondering if he’d lost his mind. Never sleep with the suspect. Or someone you suspect isn’t who they say they are. Those were his dating rules, yet he was going to have her tonight. “What happens in Lake George, stays in Lake George.”
“And you won’t think me a slut?”
“Never.” He pulled her to a standing position. “Tell me something.”
“What?”
“These idiot men you’ve dated.” He unbuttoned the top of her skirt, gently rolling down the zipper. “The ones too stupid to know a real woman when she’s standing in front of them.” Reaching his hands under her shirt, he found what she referred to as a shelf bra, then lifted it over her perfect, small, round breasts before raising the shirt over her head and tossing it to the floor. Her skin glowed in the light filtering through the window. She watched him with a heated gaze in those lake-blue eyes. “Did they ever ask what you liked? Or wanted?”
“No,” she said.
He slipped her skirt over her hips, then let it drop to the floor, her tiny thong barely covered her.
She didn’t say a word, just stood there, her breathing coming in short pants. Her nipples puckered.
“Tell me what you want.”
“I want you.” She reached for him, but he grabbed her wrist. “I want to touch you,” she said.
“This isn’t about me.” His control began to unravel. He wanted to bend her over the chair in front of the window and watch their reflection, mixed with the stars, as he brought her to new heights of pleasure. “Do you want this?” He cupped her breast, fanning his thumb over her nipple, barely touching it. Her back arched, and she bit down on her lower lip. “Or this?” He squeezed and twisted her nipple and watched her eyelids flutter shut as her head rolled to the side. “How about this?” He sucked her nipple into his mouth, his other hand pinching and twisting harder as her moans grew louder and throatier. She clutched his head, running her fingers through his hair.
Her body stiffened when his teeth grazed her nipple, letting him know her threshold. He wanted to help her explore what she really desired in a lover. What her body demanded. Help her understand her own sexual needs.
Yanking her underwear off, he knelt in front of her and stared up at the most incredible woman he’d ever known. “Show me?”
“Huh?”
He kissed the inside of her thigh as he glided his forefinger across her milky, wet skin. She moaned when he slid his finger inside. “Help me.” He took her hand, putting it over his, and gently rubbed her in a slow, circular motion.
She tried to pull away, but he kept coaxing her until she allowed him to press her hand over his, and then he studied her motions while he listened intently to her ragged breathing and soft groans. They crawled inside him and wound their way into places he’d been denying.
“Let me try,” he whispered, removing her hand and repeating the motions she’d shown him. Her moans grew louder. “Do you like this?” He kissed her sex and was rewarded with her fingers through his hair, gently massaging and coaxing him to go a little deeper. Maybe a little harder. Definitely faster.
Carefully, he pushed her back on the sofa then curled his hands around each slender ankle, propping her firm legs on his shoulders. She looked down, biting on her lower lip, and all of a sudden he worried he might not please her. That he might miss a cue and leave her feeling as though she’d been with one of those other men.
He buried his tongue deep inside her, rolling his thumb intimately across her nub.
He sighed with relief when the back of her feet dug into his shoulder blades. Her hips rolled, and the sexiest moans filled the air. He flattened his hand across her strong mid-section in anticipation of feeling it quiver and shake. He wanted to make her come over and over again until she fell into his arms, so thoroughly satisfied she’d never settle for anything less.
“Josh,” she whispered.
He looked up and found her face flush with desire. “What?”
“Nothing.”
Starting with her belly button, he kissed his way up her torso until he could look into her deep-ocean eyes. “What do you want me to do?” He palmed her cheek. “Tell me, please. I want to know.” He slid two fingers inside her, fanning his thumb across her hard-swollen nub, hoping it would coax her to open up to him.
“I want you to make me…while you’re doing…”
“Like on the patio?”
She nodded. “But just as I… If I…” Her chest heaved up and down. Her cheeks flushed. “If it happens, I want you to—”
“You want me inside you just as you start to orgasm?”
“Yes,” she said, panting.
“I’m going to have to stop what I’m doing so I can get undressed and put on protection.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
As he stood over her, unbuttoning his shirt, she propped herself up on her elbows, watching him as if she’d never seen or experienced anything like this before. It didn’t matter that he still wondered if she worked for Craypo, because this was just sex. He was just showing a beautiful woman, who’d been treated badly, what real lovemaking could be. If she were his enemy, he was simply keeping her close. Otherwise, it was the most wicked encounter he’d ever experienced. One that couldn’t be repeated even if he tried.
He studied her face while he removed his pants and underwear. It humbled him that she appeared to admire him nearly as much as he did her. She licked her plump, rosy lips as he covered himself with the condom. “Do you want just my fingers, like on the patio, or my mouth, too?”
“Oh…God…” she muttered, tossing her forearm over her eyes.
“Just tell me, so I can make this exactly what you want.”
“Both.” Her voice cracked as she breathed the word.
Her insides gripped his fingers, and he gently stroked her, watching her hips roll. When he brought his mouth to her, she shifted her hips, rocking them in a smaller circle. Her groans grew louder, and she whispered his name. He wanted to make her come, but didn’t want this to end, so when he thought she was close, he pulled back, watching her body thrash, reaching out to him for more.
Keeping a hand planted across her mid-section so he could feel the rumble of her orgasm rip across her body, he stroked her with two fingers while kissing her sex, wondering if he’d last more than thirty seconds inside her. He’d done this before, exactly how she’d asked, but no one he’d ever been with tasted like watermelon drenched in honey.
She twitched and jerked, her stomach contracting as her moans turned into throaty groans. She tightened around his fingers. “Yes,” she whispered as her body reacted in a violent
eruption. “Please. Now.”
He positioned himself on top of her, hands at her head, holding himself up, as he dove deep inside her in one fast and excruciatingly exquisite stroke. He held himself steady once he’d entered her all the way so he could catch his breath. Her insides gripped him so tight, he couldn’t see straight.
Her hips ground underneath him, her orgasm still rocking her body. He held himself inside her for a brief moment before pulling out nearly all the way, then ramming inside her again, his control slipping into oblivion.
Her body reacted to his, counteracting his every move. He tried to keep his movements slow and methodical, but her body twisted and turned, pushing him to the edge.
“If you want to make this last longer,” he whispered, “I need to stop.”
“No!” Her body bucked, her legs wrapping tightly around his waist.
He grunted before taking her mouth, his tongue out of control as he tried to keep from ramming himself inside her, but she ground her hips against him in quick motions.
Her hands slid down his back until they cupped his ass and he exploded, driving deep into her, his climax lingering, making his muscles weak with pleasure. He stroked her slowly for long moments afterward, until his pulse returned to normal.
“You’re amazing.” He eased his full weight on top of her, burying his face in her neck. “Is that what you wanted?”
She sighed. Her fingers dug into his back, and she alternated between running her hands gently up and down his back, and a deep massaging pressure.
“Did it live up to how you fantasized?”
“I didn’t know that’s what I wanted until you asked.”
He groaned. “I bet there are a lot of things you don’t know you want.”
5
The moment Delaney opened her eyes, she knew she wasn’t in her room at the Heritage Inn. No, she was in Josh’s bed, in his apartment, overlooking a spectacular view of the lake, wrapped in his blankets after a night filled with one unexpected orgasm after another. She had no idea sex could be that good.