“Eli, I’m fine.”
“I’m not,” I reply and unlock the front door, wait for her to walk in ahead of me, then leave my suitcase and briefcase just inside the door, lock it, and tug my tie off as I lead her up the stairs to the living area, shocked to discover that my own hands are shaking.
Kate stands in the middle of the room as I pour two glasses of brandy, pass her one, and take a long swallow, watching her as she also takes a drink and cringes as it burns on the way down.
“Why were you out there so late?”
“I wanted beignets,” she whispers, her eyes trained on her drink.
“You wanted beignets?” I ask incredulously. “What the fuck, Kate?”
“Don’t swear at me!” she shouts back, pointing her pink-tipped finger at me. “I was craving sugar, and it was either ice cream or beignets. The beignets were closer, darn it. I missed you, and you didn’t answer my text, and I’m such a girl!”
She says this like I’m supposed to understand the logic, which I completely don’t.
“What does your gender have to do with it?”
She glares at me like I’m being obstinate on purpose, then sets her glass on my desk and moves to walk out, but I catch her arm in my hand and pull her against me.
“You just scared ten years off my life, cher.” I bury my face in her hair and take a deep breath. “I missed you too. I couldn’t answer your text because I was on a flight home when it came in.”
“Why are you home early?”
“Because I needed to see you.” God, she smells amazing and feels incredible against me. “And then, when we drove past in the cab and I saw that fucker come up behind you, my heart stopped in my chest. God, Kate, he could have—”
“He didn’t.” I feel her smile against my chest. “I was kicking his ass.”
“Yes, you were, tiger.” I grin and plant my lips on her forehead. “You weren’t lying when you said you took self defense classes.”
“I’m no victim,” she says fiercely, and another part of me softens.
“You’re amazing,” I reply and then sigh. “Scared me.”
“Me too.” She hugs me tightly before stepping away. “It’s late, and I have to be at work in the morning.”
“You’re not going to work in the morning.”
“Of course I am.”
“No, you’re not. I’m the boss, Kate. You were mugged tonight.” Before she can shake her head and fight me further, I pick her up in my arms and carry her up another flight of stairs to my bedroom. “I want to spend tomorrow with you.”
“Apparently, you’re spending tonight with me too?” She pushes her fingers into my hair and smiles softly.
“I can’t let you out of my sight tonight,” I reply honestly, before sitting on the edge of the bed with her in my lap. “I need to keep you safe.”
“Is that all?”
I bury my face in her neck, skim my nose up to her ear, and kiss her softly. She shivers, making me smile. “No, that’s not all, cher.”
“Have I mentioned that I’m glad you’re home?” She cups my face in her hands and kisses my lips lightly.
“Are you?”
She nods, her fingers moving gently over my face. God, just having her against me has me hard, but her magical fingers, the way she’s looking at me, has me tied in knots.
I need her.
And I don’t need anyone.
“Kate, tell me now if you’re not okay with me making love to you, because in about two point four seconds, I won’t be able to control myself anymore.”
Her lips curve in a purely feminine, seductive smile as she pulls herself out of my arms, stands, and in one fluid motion, whips her T-shirt over her head and tosses it on the floor by her feet. I’m struck dumb as she hooks her thumbs in the waist of her black leggings and works them down her legs, and suddenly she’s standing before me in a matching lacy light pink bra and panty set.
Jesus Christ, she’s breathtaking.
She moves to unhook her bra, but I shake my head and stand, just inches from her.
“You are stunning.” My voice is nothing but a hoarse whisper as I take her in. She’s slender, but has curves in all the right places. Her breasts…Fuck, I can’t wait to get my hands on her breasts.
She lifts her hands and unbuttons my white shirt, then tosses it down with her things, and her intoxicating green eyes take a journey down my torso.
“Wow,” she whispers, and traces the muscles of my chest and stomach with her fingertips, sending heat through me. “You’re even better than I imagined.”
Her hands land on the waist of my slacks and she pops the clasp open, and just as she slides her hands inside to nudge them down my hips, she leans in and plants her lips right over my heart.
Fuck me.
When my pants hit the floor, I lift Kate back into my arms and lay her in the center of the bed, then brace myself on my elbow next to her and run my fingers over the lace of her sexy as fuck underwear.
“I didn’t hear from you this week,” she murmurs, and watches my face as my hands roam over her body. “I thought maybe you’d changed your mind.”
“Hell no,” I reply and nudge her nose with mine. “I knew if I heard your voice I’d get on the next plane out and come straight here.” My finger pushes under the cup of her bra and brushes over her nipple, making her gasp. “I’ve thought of nothing but you.” I glide my finger to the other breast and repeat the movement, making her squirm next to me.
God, she’s responsive.
Her hand cups my cock over my boxer-briefs, making my eyes cross. I take her hand, kiss her palm, then hold it over her head as I cover her body with mine and lay kisses on her lips, her neck, her collarbone, and begin working my way down her warm, writhing body.
“Oh, gosh,” she breathes, shoving her hands in my hair.
“I want to learn every inch of you,” I murmur, my lips against her belly. “I want to know what makes you gasp.” I cup her sex in my hand and grin against her hip when she arches into my hand with a low groan. “God, you’re soaked.”
I glance up in time to see her bite her lip and her cheeks flush as I push one finger under the elastic of her panties and rub her wet pussy with just the fingertip, not sinking inside, just gliding over her lips and clit.
“Oh, that feels good,” she whispers. I kiss my way across her lower belly to her other hip, then down to her thigh and hook my fingers into the material at her hips to pull them off, throw them over my shoulder, and spread her wide.
“Fucking hell, you’re gorgeous, cher.” And she is. God, her freckles are everywhere, sprinkled all over her body, even her pussy, which is waxed clean. I spread her wider and drag my fingertips up and down her thighs, making them quiver.
“Eli,” she moans.
“Yes, babe, moan my name.” And with that, I lean in and take one long swipe with my tongue from her wet opening, all the way up to her hard clit.
“Holy crap!” She jackknifes, but I press one splayed hand on her belly, holding her down, and nuzzle that hard nub with my nose as I pull her lips in my mouth and tug gently. “Eli, oh my.”
I grin against her, still charmed that even in the throes of sex she refuses to swear.
I drag my fingertips down one thigh, around her ass to her crack and slide one finger over her anus and into her slick opening, making her moan all the more.
I love how fucking vocal she is.
I begin to slowly fuck her with my finger and kiss my way up her body. I tug on her nipples through the lace of her bra, kiss up her neck, and finally her lips. She wraps her arms tightly around my neck, holding me to her, still riding my hand and kissing me for all she’s worth.
I’m going to fucking explode.
“Kate.” Her feet are pushing my boxer briefs down my hips, just as anxious as I am for me to be inside her. “Kate.”
“I’m sorry,” she replies and arches against me. “Kate’s not available right now.”
I chuckl
e and bite her shoulder and her pussy clenches like a vise on my finger. “God, babe, you’re so tight.”
“Eli, I need you inside me.”
Just the sound of her sweet voice against my neck while she’s squeezing the fuck out of my finger makes me want to come. She’s not going to get any more ready.
I reach into the bedside table and retrieve an unopened box of condoms to protect us both. I take myself in my hand and guide the tip through her slick folds, making us both moan.
“Are you trying to kill me?” she asks. Her eyes are bright green and wide as she pants and stares up at me in wonder and longing, matching every emotion running through me.
“No, cher, making sure you’re ready.”
“Never been more ready for anything in my life,” she confirms and reaches between us, wraps her small hand around me and guides me to her opening. “Now.”
I slide in, in one long, fluid motion and pause when I’m buried balls-deep. She’s closed her eyes and is biting her lip, her fingernails digging into my shoulders.
“Open your eyes, dawlin’.” She obliges and surprises me when she smiles up at me and circles her hips, inviting me to move. “You feel—” I shake my head, not having any words for the way it feels to be buried inside her.
And I know, in this moment, I’ll never grow tired of her. I’ll never want anyone else.
She rotates her hips again and I pull back, almost all the way, then push back and she closes her eyes.
“Keep them open,” I instruct her. “I want you to see what you do to me.”
Her eyes soften as she cups my face in her hands and kisses me deeply, and that’s it. I can’t stop my hips from setting a rhythm, moving in long strokes in and out of her, claiming her.
She’s mine.
Her legs begin to shake and her whole body tenses. Her eyes widen in alarm.
“Oh, God.”
“I’m right here,” I whisper and nibble the corner of her lips. “It’s okay.”
I reach between us and press my thumb on her nub, and that’s all it takes. She cries out, arching off the bed and coming spectacularly. I’ve never seen anything like it. Her pussy spasms around my cock, her arms tighten around my neck, and I have no choice but to follow her over into the most amazing orgasm of my life.
Our breathing is ragged and loud in the quiet room as I roll us and tuck her under my chin, cradling her on my chest. Her fingers are trailing up and down my ribs, in the same rhythm of my fingers on her back as we regain our senses.
“Eli?”
I plant my lips in her hair. “Yes.”
“Kate’s available now.”
I chuckle and tilt her head back so I can look in her eyes, needing to see that she’s okay. Her eyes are glassy with happiness, her cheeks flushed, and her hair a mess. She looks quite satisfied.
“She’s about to be unavailable again.”
“She might be tired.”
I grin.
“I’ll do all the work.”
Chapter Ten
Kate
“Good morning, beautiful.”
I feel my lips lift in a soft smile. Most of my face is buried in a pillow that smells of Eli, clean with a touch of his body wash. I’m lying on my stomach. We aren’t touching, but I can feel the warmth from his body next to me.
He suddenly brushes a fingertip down my temple and hooks my hair behind my ear. I pry one eye open and gaze over at a rumpled, sleepy, deliciously sexy Eli.
“’Morning¸” I whisper. My arms are folded under the pillow, bracing my head. He drags his fingertips down my arm to my ribs, and traces the words tattooed from just under my armpit to just above my hip.
“I am enough the way I am,” he recites softly and smiles at me, his eyes bright with curiosity, but he doesn’t ask why these words. He simply waits, that happy expression on his handsome face, and continues to lightly drag his fingertips over my skin, which is on hyper-alert after the night we just spent together.
I lost count how many times we made love, how many times he woke me up with his lips, his hands, his cock. My body is deliciously exhausted.
“You’re not terribly chatty in the morning,” he finally says quietly, and leans over to kiss the ball of my shoulder. I chuckle and bury my face in the pillow, then gaze over at him again.
“Good morning.”
“There she is,” he says. The house is quiet around us. It must be very early morning because of the gray light coming in through the windows. “How do you feel?”
“Hmm…” I take stock of my body and my heart, and smile. “I feel surprisingly limber and sated. You?”
“I don’t think I’ve been better,” he replies, and traces my tattoo again. “I was also surprised to find this during the night.”
“Surprised good or bad?”
“It’s sexy as hell, cher.”
“Are you going to ask me about it?”
“No.” He exhales deeply and finally pulls me into his arms, kisses my forehead, and tucks me against his chest. “You’ll tell me about it when you’re ready.”
I grip onto his naked side and sigh in happiness. He’s warm; his skin is smooth over toned muscles. He kisses my forehead, and his scruffy chin rasps against my skin.
It’s sexy.
“We should be asleep,” I murmur against his chest. “We couldn’t have gotten more than a couple hours of rest.”
“Go to sleep,” he whispers against my hair. His hands are drawing patterns on my back, his lips are planted on my head, and with his heart beating in my ear, I could easily drift off and sleep happily for hours.
But it seems a shame to waste an opportunity to have Eli naked.
Again.
My hand drifts down beneath the sheet to cover his ass, which flexes under my touch. His body is just crazy. All of those hours I spent daydreaming about what he would look like beneath those suits of his were a waste of time, because the reality is just stellar.
“That’s not going to sleep,” he murmurs. I can feel him grin against my head as I turn my face and plant a kiss to his chest.
“Not particularly sleepy right now,” I whisper, as I press my belly against his growing cock.
“No?”
“Nope.”
He growls as I press him back onto the bed and pepper his torso with wet kisses, my hands roaming all over him in lazy caresses. His hands drift up my back to push my hair off of my face. When I glance up at him, he’s grinning wickedly.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Kate.”
I feel my face blush as I hide it against his hard abs. “Thank you.”
Eli grips my shoulders and flips us, so I’m suddenly beneath him, his pelvis cradled between my legs, and his arms braced under my shoulders. He brushes my hair off my cheeks and stares down at me intently.
“You. Are. Beautiful,” he repeats, kissing me deeply between each word, and my body flares to life beneath him, my nipples puckered against his chest and my hips circling against his hardness. “Jesus, just when I think I’ve had my fill, it’s as though I’ve never touched you before.”
“Love the way you touch me,” I murmur against his lips. I freaking love the way he touches me.
“Do you like it when I do this?” He drags his nose down my jawline to my neck and lightly scrapes his teeth over my skin.
“Oh, gosh yes.”
“Gosh yes,” he repeats with a grin. “Oh, I think we can do better than that.”
I whimper, knowing where this is going, but I have no energy to try to talk him out of it.
I’ll say extra Hail Mary’s the next time I go visit my parents.
“I want to hear that sweet mouth of yours get a little dirty, cher.”
I bite my lip as he kisses down to my breasts and circles my nipple with his nose before taking it in his mouth and sucking firmly.
“We’ll start with something easy. What’s this?”
“My breast.”
He tweaks my nipple, sending a zing up my
spine. “Ow!”
“Dirty.”
“Um, tit?”
“Very good.” He laves the abused nub with his tongue, and then kisses his way down my stomach, nuzzles my navel and the piercing there, then scoots down the bed further and spreads my legs wide. “Look how wet you are.”
I bury my hands in his hair and try to guide his mouth down to me, but he pulls away and grins. “Use your words.”
“Eli…”
“Yes, that’s a start. Keep going.”
“Please, kiss me.”
He presses his lips to the inside of my thigh and then grins up at me.
“Please kiss my…”
“Your what, Kate?”
“My.” I swallow hard and clench my eyes closed. “Pussy.”
He growls and licks me from my opening up to my clit, and then proceeds to drive me out of my ever loving mind with his lips and tongue, making my head thrash back and forth on the pillow.
“Do you want my fingers inside you?”
“Yes!”
“Ask me.”
“Please put your fingers inside me.”
“Inside your what?”
I lift my head and stare down at him in confusion. “My pussy.”
“Say cunt, Kate.”
I blink. You’re nothing but a fucking cunt. I can’t stand the sight of you.
“Never.” I try to close my legs and move away from him, but he immediately covers me again with his body and holds me tenderly. Tears have sprung in my eyes, pissing me off. “I won’t ever say that.”
“Okay. I’m sorry.”
“That word isn’t okay. Ever.”
He holds me to him, braced over me, and combs his fingers through my hair. “I’m sorry, cher. I didn’t know that was a trigger for you.”
“It’s just that one word. I can’t deal with it.”
“Understood.” He kisses my cheek and the corner of my mouth before pulling back and gazing down at me. His eyes look a bit angry, and I’m sure he has a million questions, but he simply offers me a soft smile and palms my breast once more. “No more c word. Any other words we should avoid?”
“I’m not particularly fond of being called a bitch either.”
All humor leaves his face as his hand stills on my breast. His eyes narrow.