“The elevator isn’t going to plummet, but I think if I spent as much time in the woods as you do, I might have issues with modern technology, too. Don’t worry, I’m here. I’ll protect you from all the strange tech buzzing around you.”
He rolled his eyes. “What has my sister been telling you? I assure you, I am not some weird loner hanging out in the middle of nowhere by myself.”
At least he hoped he hadn’t reached that stage yet. He still kept up with things, didn’t he? He had an Internet connection and a Blu-Ray player.
“I think it sounds heavenly. Things here have gotten so complicated. I think it might be nice to be able to take myself away from it all, to simply say enough.”
She stood up on tiptoes until her mouth hovered right beneath his. Heat radiated off her body and he smelled the sweetness of her breath seconds before she kissed him. He ran his hands through her blonde hair and deepened the kiss.
Kaylee made a sound in the back of her throat, half-moan, half-giggle. He pulled back to look at her. It might have been a long time since he’d done this but never in his thirty-nine years had he ever elicited that kind of response to his kisses.
“What?”
She hugged him close to her. “I kept thinking that thanks to the glass elevators, we’re giving everyone in the whole hotel quite a show.”
“You’re right. We really are.”
Conscious of wanting to protect her dignity as best he could, he pulled her up against him tighter so only he could be seen through the window he leaned against. He pushed down her skirt in case it had hiked up so that anyone who could see them from that angle couldn’t see more than she would want them to.
“You’re such a gentleman, Joe. Carly didn’t tell me you were so handsome and
thoughtful.”
“Sounds like all the facts Carly gave you about me regarded my living in the woods.”
He liked that Carly didn’t talk much about him. He didn’t want his sister running off at the mouth. Only six people in the world—including Eve—knew what happened to him in the desert. It would be really, really bad if she told anyone.
The elevator dinged as it opened and he pulled her with him to exit. “How do you know my sister?” Maybe he should have asked her that earlier, but with Kaylee there were lots of things he’d rather talk about. Or not talk about, as the case might be.
“We used to live in the same building. We met in the laundry room and became
instant friends.”
Good enough. He smiled. And it would be the last time they mentioned his manipulative sister that evening.
They rounded the corner together toward his room.
“Perhaps I should have asked you about this before I propositioned you, but do you have protection for what we’re about to do?”
He nodded. “I do, actually.” Which, in retrospect, seemed sort of odd for him since he never went anywhere expecting to get laid.
As he stuck his keycard in the door, he knew he would be in for a wild ride with this woman who he couldn’t stop desiring. Maybe he’d actually owe Eve a debt of gratitude when the evening ended.
Chapter Two
Kaylee couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so attracted to anyone. She certainly hadn’t expected to feel that way tonight, her last night in town before she left for…wherever.
Pressing her body far closer to his than would be considered respectable, she kissed him again. His mouth felt firm and sensuous. One night with this strong, outdoorsy type who, if the bulge in his expensive slacks indicated anything, wanted her as much as she wanted him and could get her over what happened during the last year.
He opened his mouth and their tongues began to dance as the door slammed behind them. Damn. They hadn’t even fully made it into the room and this ranked as the hottest time she’d had, well, ever. She didn’t do this type of thing.
Joe’s hands tugged at the back of her hair. She loved the way the act hurt a little bit even as it felt wonderful at the same time. She’d never thought of herself as being particularly masochistic but maybe in this new life she needed to forge for herself, she would turn out to be.
She bit down on his lip and he grinned at her. Good, he liked to play. It would be a lousy one-night stand if he turned out to be dull. Not that she could imagine the strong, tall, physically imposing man as anything but exciting. Even living in his log cabin in the woods….
“You are so damn hot, lady.”
She liked how he spoke to her. He made her feel like a woman. In general, Kaylee never felt very petite. Five foot eight and curvaceous described her politely, and she’d heard less flattering words about her figure. But pushed about against Joe Penn, she felt downright tiny.
And the way he looked at her with his dark brown eyes could be called almost
predatory. She shivered at the thought. How silly. He acted like a nice man. Not some kind of…animal.
They moved, pressed together like puzzle pieces, making visceral noises of
appreciation for each touch, each caress over their still fully-dressed bodies. Soon, he had pushed her against the outside window of the room. She found herself tangled up with Joe and the full-length curtains that blocked them from being viewed by everyone who walked around Times Square outside.
Her hearing consisted of only his breathing and her loud heartbeat.
He pulled back to look at her, his callused, strong hands embracing her face with a gentleness that shocked her. “I want to make sure we’re on the same page here, Kaylee.
You want this, too, don’t you?”
She leveled what she hoped amounted to her best are you kidding look in her repertoire. “Would I be here with you if I didn’t?”
“I wouldn’t want to assume. Maybe you simply want to make out.”
She smiled. His expression was so genuine, so concerned for her welfare. One would think he thought he took advantage of her and not the other way around. “I’m thirty years
old. Not sixteen. I’ve done this before. If we just ended up making out, I’d be really, really disappointed.”
His mouth found her neck and she shivered. Yes, he found her spot. It had taken Leo years to find it and even then he’d hardly ever nuzzled her there. Joe seemed to like to sniff her. It made her even hotter, like he legitimately enjoyed smelling her. His tongue licked her tender flesh and she grew even wetter inside. Too much more of this and she would soak herself with her clothes still on.
She tugged at his shirt and he took a step back to help her get it over his head. Her mouth fell open as she saw his sculpted abs. Covered with thick, beautiful hair, his chest took her breath away. The man appeared utterly flawless except for a giant red scar marring his otherwise perfect skin.
Compelled by a force she couldn’t have explained, she reached out to touch it with the tips of her fingers. “What happened to you here?” She spoke quietly, feeling like the moment called for softness, even in her voice.
He blinked a few times before he raised her hand to his mouth, kissing her knuckles.
“I had something bad happen to me. Something that changed me forever.”
Kaylee sucked in her breath. His gaze on her face was hot and intense, like he waited for a response from her, something that would end their evening together before it had ever really begun.
“I’m so sorry. Did some kind of animal do that?” She touched it again. The longer she stared at the scar, the more it seemed like claw marks.
“Let’s not talk about it now.” He moved forward until he could kiss both her cheeks.
“Afterwards, if you want to know about it, I’ll tell you the whole sordid story. But for right now, I’d rather focus on you.”
His mouth met hers again. She raised her hands to touch his chest. He didn’t look like the men who hung around the gyms of New York City. No, she could imagine he’d earned his muscle outside splitting wood and hauling rocks. Joe hadn’t manicured himself into perfection. He came across as a man’s
man whose physique came from hard work that also happened to be exercise.
“Your turn now, lady. I get to see your luscious flesh.”
She looked down at the floor. Up until that moment, coming to his room had seemed like a wonderful idea. “I’m not beautiful like you.”
Joe made the strangest noise and she jerked her head up. For a moment, she’d thought he’d growled. But that would be impossible. She pushed away the weirdness because he stared at her with a mixture of possession and tenderness.
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Anywhere. And I used to work in the oil business; I’ve traveled all over the world and seen many lovely women.”
She smiled. “This dress.” She fiddled with the cotton material of the summer outfit she’d put on for what she’d thought to be an evening with a girlfriend. “It’s designed to hide a lot of things. I look a lot better in it than I do out of it.”
He tipped her chin up and she shuddered at the tenderness in his gaze. “Don’t you dare talk about yourself that way. I don’t know how you think you should look, but every curve I see is making me hard as hell. I like women to look like women and, lady, you do.”
Feeling confident not only from his words, but the way he stared at her like he wanted to eat her up, she pulled the dress over her head. Faster than she could blink, his hands
were on her and his mouth devoured her lips as though he wanted to memorize her with his touch alone.
She’d worn pretty bland panties, white cotton, made for comfort, and matching bra.
She wondered if Joe cared about that kind of thing. Not that it would matter. She wouldn’t be getting the chance to parade around in front of him in lacy negligee and silk panties. This encounter could only be about one night. Their one night consisted of a cotton dress and cotton undergarments.
That suited her just fine.
“You smell like vanilla.” He growled in her ear. “And it makes me hot as hell.”
“It’s probably seeped into my skin. I’m a pastry chef.”
Her words seemed to excite him and he pushed her down on the bed. He stood next to it, staring down at her with what she would always think of as his hot look. She wondered if anyone would ever look at her again quite so intensely.
“That made you more turned on? That I work as a pastry chef?” Her chosen
profession—her art, if she let herself be honest—didn’t usually make men horny.
Hungry, maybe, but turned on, no.
“Everything about you makes me hard as hell.”
She looked down to where his large, erect member stood, prominently obvious
through his pants. He climbed on top of her, supporting his weight on his forearms.
His mouth found hers again and they continued their sensual play of tongue on tongue. For the first time in her adult life, Kaylee lost herself in the moment. Nothing but Joe and the way he tasted, smelled, and touched her existed.
Before she knew it, he’d gotten her bra off. And at some point, she saw it thrown across the room. His hands shaped her big breasts and she arched into his touch. He pulled his mouth from hers to suck on her nipples. She groaned, her hands going into her own hair as she desperately looked for some place to hold, to center herself from the flurry of pleasure passing through her body and into the universe.
Finally she grabbed his hair, pulling him back to her mouth. If he could touch, she could touch, and she needed better access.
She trailed her fingers down through the thick, gorgeous hair on his chest until she reached the top of his pants. How had he ended up still partially dressed while she’d ended up so naked and accessible?
“Take them off.” The new Kaylee was done pretending she existed only to be easy-going with no demands. She could be a strong, confident woman with talent coming out of her pores. If she wanted something, she’d get it. And right now she wanted Joe’s pants off. Remembering all this newfound confidence out of the bedroom might be harder.
“Yes, ma’am.” He laughed as he maneuvered himself out of his slacks. They weren’t inexpensive clothes. She’d spent enough time working in the men’s section of a department store to put herself through culinary school to know designer labels when she saw them. Maybe Joe didn’t spend all his time in a log cabin. It would be something to consider later. That and the used to work for the oil company comment. For now, all she needed to handle involved staring at his erection, partially visible above his boxer shorts.
His penis was hard, thick, long, and highly veined. She wanted to caress it. How incredible would it look fully exposed?
“Boxer shorts. Off. Now.”
“Why, Kaylee, I had no idea you had this part of your personality. Give me more,
lady. I aim to please. If you want my boxers off, I’ll take them off.”
He did as she asked, sliding his underwear off onto the floor. She leaned forward, feeling powerful and more turned on than she’d ever been.
“I get to order you around, too.”
She grinned. “Oh, yes? What can I do for you?”
“Your panties. Off. Now.” He raised an eyebrow as he imitated her earlier
instructions.
She didn’t answer, but did as he told her to.
“Wow.”
Kaylee shook her head. “What?”
“You match. Blonde.” He pointed at the hair on the top of her head. “Blonde.” His eyes traveled the path down to her pussy.
She closed her eyes, suddenly embarrassed. “I cannot believe you just said that.”
His hand caressed her cheeks again. “Don’t be silly, I love it or I wouldn’t have mentioned it.”
“Still.” She opened her eyes. “I’m totally feeling like I want to cover up.”
“Don’t you dare.”
He pushed down on top of her until his body covered hers. She felt engulfed in his size, in his heat, in his weight on top of hers. The sensation showed her what it should feel like to be taken by a lover so much stronger than her, and to know instinctively he wouldn’t hurt her. His every touch caressed her gently, even if his words were playful.
His fingers moved inside of her, searching until they found her sweet spot. She closed her eyes and let her own hand explore until she made contact with his hard member. She stroked him as he touched her. Soon their hands were in a rhythm, her strokes matching his swirls inside her hot core.
Wow. He knew how to touch her, how to make her pant. She’d never felt like this before and any embarrassment fled in the wake of deeper, stronger feelings of trust.
Those emotions should be out of place for such a quick acquaintance but she felt they were still very real.
“We need to stop or I’m going to come in your hand, when all I want is to be deep inside of you.”
She pouted as she opened her eyes. “But I wanted to get my mouth on you first.”
“Maybe later. I would love that, lady. But you are so damn hot, I don’t think I can hold out against that kind of sweet torture.”
How great to be so powerful. She’d never been this way before. “Well, we can’t have that.”
“No,” he laughed. “We can’t.”
“Do you have the condom?”
He nodded. “I do.”
Joe reached over her to the side drawer next to the bed. He opened it and pulled out a box of latex condoms. “I stopped for these on my way into town. I have no idea why. It occurred to me that I should pick up a pack when I ran into the drugstore. Guess it meant we were supposed to be together tonight.”
“Whatever the reason, I’m glad you have them.”
Because if he didn’t then they’d have to stop or finish in what she imagined would be a far less satisfying way.
He raised an eyebrow. “Want to help me get it on?”
“I’ll help you get it on so we can both get off.” She laughed even as she said the words. They were silly, but she felt silly. And ecstatic. And happy for the first time in such a long time.
/> He kissed her on her nose as he chuckled. “Good idea.”
She pushed the condom gently on him and he groaned. As she looked up to make sure she’d heard a good groan and not a hey, you are hurting me sound, she swore for a second his eyes changed colors. One second they were dark brown depths and the next they were still brown…but changed. She blinked to clear her vision and when she glanced again they were Joe’s beautiful brown eyes.
Okay. She did a mental shake of her head. This wouldn’t be a good time to lose her mind.
“That’s it. Playtime is over.” He kissed her hard.
She reveled in the feel of his mouth claiming hers. Joe had lost control and she’d done it to him.
He positioned himself at the opening of her core and in one swift movement entered her. She moaned as a wave of emotion threatened to overtake her. How could anything feel this good? Tears filled her eyes and she blinked them away. She wouldn’t let him see how deeply the moment affected her.
He pulled out and entered her again. They moaned together and she closed her eyes in ecstasy.
“No, this isn’t right.”
“What?” Her eyes flew open.
He pulled out gently. “Roll over, sweetheart.”
She paused. “You want to do it that way?”
She’d never particularly liked it from behind. With her ex, it always seemed he wanted her to roll over so he didn’t have to look at her, so he could pretend he made love to someone else.
“I want to hold you up against my body. I want to be able to penetrate you more deeply. It feels more natural to me. But if you don’t like it….”
“No.” She smiled as she tried to catch her breath. “Let’s do it. I’m game.”
As he withdrew the rest of the way, she rolled over to face the headboard. Scooting forward, she gripped it tightly in her hands. It might not have been as she envisioned them making love but she was determined to make the most of it.
“Let go.”
She shook her head. “I need to hold. I don’t want to fall forward onto the bed. I know it’s soft, but face planting will still hurt like hell.”