“You saved me,” she whispered.
“Of course I did. I couldn’t let you fall.”
She laughed softly. “I think it’s way too late for that.”
“Emma—”
“I need you, Ryan. I want you. I don’t care about anything else.”
She was saying everything he wanted to hear, everything that made his heart swell so large it felt as if it might burst right out of his chest. Emma’s voice, her scent—vanilla and roses—affected him like a drug. He was hard for her and the desire he heard in her words was matched by the desire he felt for her. “The lust potion, it’s hard to ignore, I know…but…”
Then Emma kissed him and nothing else mattered.
9
THERE WAS NOTHING SHE WANTED more than this. More than Ryan. She didn’t know why she’d tried to fight it so much before.
He was basically perfect—funny, sexy, warm. There was just that one little thing that kept her from giving in to her feelings for him.
His damn lies.
But everybody lied from time to time. She wasn’t sure if it was worth worrying about as much as she always did. She worried too much for her own good.
Ryan tasted as amazing as he had the other night. It was a kiss that turned her liquid and hot inside. She knew he felt the same for her. She’d felt it earlier—his cock was thick and hard as it pressed almost painfully against her stomach. He wanted her.
Which was a very good thing, because she’s never been this turned on in her entire life.
“You sure about this?” he whispered against her lips.
“About us being together in a dusty old hotel room?”
“Surprisingly not as dusty as I would have guessed.”
“These rooms were sealed up pretty well.”
“Obviously, this was meant to happen then.” He kissed her again and his hands moved up to slide over her breasts. He groaned. “You are so gorgeous.”
She laughed a little. “Sure, now you think it. When we were partners—”
“When we were partners I could barely keep my hands off of you. I’ve always wanted you, Em.”
An unwelcome thought strayed too close to ignore. “What about Charlotte?”
“Charlotte asked me out. I said yes. I wanted you, but you were my partner and my friend and I didn’t want to…” He shook his head. “I didn’t want to mess that up. My relationships have never lasted all that long before. It was important to me not to jeopardize what we already had. Besides, partners aren’t supposed to sleep together.”
“Others have broken that rule.”
“Now I know.” His hands slid down to curl around the curve of her ass. “If you only knew how many cold showers I had to take when we worked together…”
She couldn’t help but smile. He’d wanted her like she’d wanted him. It was what she’d always needed to hear.
The longer she touched him, that he touched her, the more out of control she felt. The more she needed to feel his skin against hers. “Forget about the past. I need you naked right now, Ryan.”
He swore under his breath. “And then what do you need?”
She raised an eyebrow. “You want me to tell you?”
“You’re the writer. Yeah, tell me, Em. Tell me what you want me to do to you.”
An electric thrill went through her. “I never intended to become a writer. But I had so many fantasies—I had to get them down on paper. It just happened.”
“It doesn’t matter. It happened. So tell me what you want.”
“You already read my book, so that’s cheating. You know about my fantasies. Why don’t you tell me what you want?”
His gaze burned into hers. “I want to take off your clothes slowly, one piece at a time. Then I need to see you naked and spread across that bed.”
As he spoke the words, he unbuttoned her blouse carefully, although she noticed his hands were trembling. He peeled the silk off her shoulders and let it fall softly to the floor, leaving her standing there in a black satin push up bra and black skirt.
“Can I help?” she asked breathlessly.
He grinned. “I think I can handle it.”
His hands moved to the small of her back and he slid the zipper down, then skimmed the skirt over her hips, letting it fall to the ground as well.
His gaze raked her, but he didn’t touch her. Not yet. Her skin felt flushed.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Now…” He drew closer and slid a finger under the strap of her bra, pulling it down so just the pale pink edge of her nipple was exposed. His careful approach was driving her insane with the need to feel his hands on her. Her body ached to be touched, stroked, caressed. But Ryan seemed to be in no hurry as he turned his attention to the other strap, before reaching around to unhook the bra. It also fell to the floor.
Desire darkened his gaze. He leaned over and swept his tongue over her right nipple, cupping her left breast in his hand. An involuntary moan escaped her lips as he sucked on her aching nipples, and a surge of molten-hot lust shot directly to her sex. She felt a frantic need to have him between her legs.
Emma struggled to breathe. “You’re not really giving a good narration of your intentions.”
“Sometimes actions speak louder than words.” He grinned at her, then directed her backward toward the bed. She sat down on the edge of it and looked up at him. “Lie back, Em.”
She did as he asked. The bed felt soft and smelled clean, not musty. She inhaled sharply when Ryan sat down next to where she lay and slid his hand along her body, coming to rest just above her panties. He teased the elastic waist band and she squirmed against the bed spread, raising her hips up to meet his heated touch.
“I told you the Desidero potion was powerful stuff.” His voice was raspy.
“It is.” She couldn’t think about much more than what his fingers were doing. “Touch me, Ryan.”
“I am touching you.”
She glared up at him. “You’re not playing fair.”
“I asked you to tell me what you wanted, but you didn’t. So…”
“I can tell you.”
“Then do so.”
“Lower.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Lower? Lower what?”
She grabbed hold of his hand and moved it down between her legs. The press of his fingers over her clit, even through a thin layer of fabric, was enough to make her arch up off the bed.
Ryan whispered in her ear. “Oh, Em. You’re so damn hot you’re going to burn me. But I want closer to the flame.”
She almost smiled, but the expression was difficult to pull off when waves of pleasure were washing over her. “Listen to you. I knew you had a literary bone in your body.”
But she stopped talking, stopped thinking, when he slid his hand under the edge of fabric to slide against the slickness of her sex without any barriers between them.
“Oh, Ryan…yes—” Although it showed an utter lack of control on her part, she couldn’t help it. Only a few brushes of his fingers against her were enough to make her raggedly cry out his name as the waves of her orgasm crashed over her.
It seemed to be enough to shatter his control as well.
He pulled her panties off, leaving her completely naked before him. He got to his knees on the bed and undid his shirt without taking his gaze away from her.
“What do you want, Em?” he asked, an edge of desperation in his words, almost as if he was fighting to maintain control over himself.
The thought excited her.
“You,” she breathed. “I want you.”
“Specific. Be specific.”
“I want you inside of me.”
“What inside of you?”
“Your cock.”
“Emma…more…”
She glared at him, frustrated that he was making her talk instead of feel. Intense lust clouded her mind. “I want to feel your cock sliding in and out of me.”
His expression darkened. “That’s more like it.
”
“I…can’t wait, Ryan. Please…the potion…” Her skin felt like it was on fire. She reached for him, sliding her hands over his chest and down over the hard ridges of his abdomen. That he was still dressed and she was naked made her feel wanton and seductive.
“Is it only the potion, Em?” he whispered.
She stroked his erection that tented his jeans before unbuttoning and unzipping him, pulling his jeans down over his hips so his cock stood out hard and long. She remembered how foggy her head had felt when she’d knelt in front of him in Xavier Franklin’s library and taken him in her mouth. She’d been running on pure adrenalin and lust, not stopping long enough to give her actions much thought.
Tonight she felt more in control of her body, of her needs. The potion’s effects were still driving her more than they might another night, swept away as she was by the need she felt for this beautiful man who drove her crazy in more ways than one, but she sensed that they were just amplifying a need that was already there, waiting. After all, she’d always wanted him, since the first moment she’d seen him. It had been only a fantasy then.
But this was no fantasy. It wasn’t a chapter out of her book. This was real. Every sense she had—not including the sixth one—was focused entirely on Ryan, how good he smelled, tasted and felt, the sound of his moan as she wrapped her fingers around his length and began to stroke him. Knowing that he wanted her as much as she wanted him was so exciting. It made her happy, as if a small inner light that she hadn’t been aware of, one which had been dark ever since Ryan had left Mystic Ridge, had been turned back on. Like the lights in the hotel that had flickered when Harold was here…Emma’s inner light had been struggling to stay on. She just hadn’t known why.
It was because she’d missed Ryan. She wanted him, she needed him, she…
She felt so much more than that. But that room was still dark and scary and she wasn’t quite ready to shine the light on any deeper emotions just yet.
“Did you ask me a question?” she asked.
“I…” His forehead was creased. “I’m finding it very difficult to think straight at the moment.”
“It’s just a little lust. We have to give in to it,” she said without releasing her hold on him. His chest was bare, with slabs of muscle. She knew he worked out at the gym. It showed. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on him.
“Is that all this is?” he asked.
She watched him carefully. “Does there need to be more?”
His gaze sought hers. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t want to think about anything other than this moment, okay? I don’t want anything to ruin this.”
A smile played at his lips. “As you wish.” Then he squeezed his eyes shut as she continued to touch him. “Em, you’re driving me crazy.”
He wrapped his hand around her wrist and pulled her away from him, then kicked his jeans off the rest of the way. Pushing her back onto the bed, he trapped her wrists with one of his hands and moved them above her head so she was stretched out naked on the bed for him just as he wanted.
It was dark in the room, the full moon outside the window bathing them in silver and shadows.
“So beautiful,” he whispered. His hand slid down her body, skimming her breasts, her stomach, until he was stroking her between her legs, the slick folds of her sex. Her breath came in short gasps and her legs unconsciously parted wider for him. “If you knew how many times I’d dreamed about this…”
She moaned as he slid his index finger inside of her, and slowly began pumping it in and out before adding a second finger.
“Ryan—” His name escaped from her throat, hoarse and filled with need. “Please, I want you…”
He brought his mouth down to brush against her ear. “Are you going to admit that the hero of your novel is based on me?”
The rapid movement of his fingers made it hard for her to concentrate on anything but pure sensation. He moved faster and deeper and another orgasm skittered just at the edge of her control.
She struggled to breathe normally. “Ryan…”
“Tell me, Em.” There was a raw edge to his voice. “Tell me that I’m not the only one who’s fantasized about this. About you. Tell me that you’ve wanted me, that you’ve missed me, that you never stopped aching for me.”
“Yes,” she moaned. “It’s true. I want you. I’ve always wanted you, Ryan.”
She felt him press his weight down on top of her, brushing his thick erection against her swollen sex. Just the feel of his cock against her clit was enough to make her climax again. She cried out and grabbed his shoulders, arching up against him.
He swore gutturally. “Too much… I can’t wait…”
He reached over the side of the bed, grabbed his jeans, rooted in his wallet and pulled out a condom, which he tore open with his teeth and quickly sheathed himself with. The next moment she felt the tip of his erection push against her.
“I wanted to do this slowly, but I don’t think that’s going to be possible…” His voice trailed off.
She captured his face between her hands, kissing him with every ounce of passion she felt for him. “Slow, not necessary. Fast is good. Very good.”
He grinned, but it looked labored. “I need you so badly…”
Emma leaned back onto the bed again, her hands digging into his bare hips as he settled between her thighs. He fought for some sort of control. Maybe on another day he’d win that battle, but with the lust potion working against him, he had no chance.
She gasped as he filled her completely with one deep thrust, her fingernails biting into his back. He didn’t move. He just lay there on top of her, sheathed inside of her as she got used to the aching pleasure of feeling him stretching her body to accommodate his length and width.
“Emma…” he whispered, then inhaled sharply. “You feel so good.”
She almost smiled at him using her full name. She liked how it sounded on his lips, half hidden by the dark lust in his voice.
“It’s better,” she whispered after he brushed his lips against hers.
He looked down at her, frowning. “What is?”
“This. It’s better than my book. Better than my fantasies. You…inside me…it’s better than I ever could have imagined.”
“Damn.” His frown deepened. “And here I was trying not to completely lose my mind. You’re not making it very easy for me.”
He kissed her, hard and deep and hot and wet, and his hips began to move against hers. The slow, deep thrust of his cock inside of her commanded all of her attention, all of her emotion. There wasn’t time to think about anything else, worry about anything else.
Was it only because of a lust potion? She’d wanted him, she’d always wanted him, but this irresistible pull she felt toward Ryan that brought them together tonight, in a formerly haunted hotel…would she have even been here if it hadn’t been for the potion?
No. She would have avoided him. Avoided this. And Ryan wouldn’t have returned to Mystic Ridge to see her again. It was the potion to blame. It was the potion to thank.
Ryan felt so good, he fit her perfectly. He was made to make love to her, like this. Here. Now. It was inevitable.
As his thrusts became quicker, deeper, faster, her thoughts again grew cloudy. The heat of his skin, his chest and hands and mouth and tongue sliding against her were all she could focus on. His taste—salty, warm and wet. The slide of his cock inside her.
He pulled her up off the bed, gathering her in his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist. “Emma—”
She just held on, lost in sensation. Lost in Ryan.
He kissed her hard, deep, his tongue tangling with hers. Then he broke the kiss, dug his fingers into her ass and thrust up hard and deep, a dark, guttural cry of her name on his lips as his climax quaked through him.
Ryan collapsed on top of her, a raspy laugh at the back of his throat. She threaded her fingers in his hair as his arms came around her. He hugged her tight against his chest. r />
“So…” he said after a moment.
She smiled. “So.”
“How much do you suppose they charge for a night in this dump?”
“I’ve heard their rates are quite reasonable. Two hair pins per night.”
He propped himself up on his elbow, his right hand leisurely exploring Emma’s back. “I think I just saw a dust bunny. It poked its head out from behind the closet door.”
When Emma had left for her date with Leo tonight, the last place she thought she’d end up was in a previously haunted hotel room with Ryan. “So what happens now?”
“Now?”
“We consummated our…uh, lust. That mean the Desidero potion will start fading quicker now, right?”
He grinned. “You did some research.”
“A little. But I’ll save the true expertise for you and Professor Snape.”
“Once the lust is given in to, then the effects will begin to dissipate. They would have departed anyway, in about a week. But now…it shouldn’t take all that long at all until we’re back to normal.”
“And then, what? We’ll go back to feeling just strong friendship for each other?”
“I doubt it. I’ve never felt only friendship for you, Em.”
She raised an eyebrow. “And now that you’ve tasted the forbidden fruit?”
“I’m seriously considering becoming a fruitarian.” He smiled and brushed his lips over her right nipple before flicking it with the tip of his tongue, making her gasp. “That’s a vegetarian who only eats fruit, I think. Forbidden fruit.”
She laughed and fresh desire for him slid through her.
He drew back up to her face and kissed her lips. “I want to make love to you all night long.”
“Let’s go back to my place.”
“Yeah?”
She just nodded. “Fewer dust bunnies, I promise. And a much more comfortable bed.”
“You know the way to my heart.” He groaned when she took hold of his rapidly stiffening cock and began to stroke it. “So if you want to leave, what do you think you’re doing, Ms. Black?”