A Little Harmless Ride (15 page)

“
Has anyone ever told you that you are a smart ass?” he asked.

“
Many times.”

“
Still doesn’t help the situation. We have no condoms.”

“
You don’t, but I do.”

Relief spread over his face at first, then his eyes narrowed. “And just why would you have protection?”

“
That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

Without warning, he rolled off her, flipped her on her stomach, and onto his lap. He smacked her ass twice. The slaps were quick but hard. The sting filtered out over her flesh. Her sex clenched and grew damper. Shit, she always liked a Dom who knew how to spank well.

“
That will teach you to be so naughty. Tell me why you have them.”

“
Cuz I want to,” she said and was rewarded with another smack. Damn, the man knew just where to place his palm. The sting intensified, as did her arousal. Her nipples were so damned hard. She wanted to rub them for relief but resisted. Barely.

“
Tell me, Crysta, or it could get worse.”

She laughed. “Okay. Truth is, I always carry them. Just habit.”

He grunted. She couldn’t tell if he was irritated by that comment. “Where?”

“
My purse.”

He rubbed her ass with one palm while holding her still with his other hand. She squirmed and he gave her another swat.

“
Let me guess, you like to be spanked?”

He didn’t wait for her to answer. Instead, he swatted her ass again. With each connection with her skin, he heightened her arousal. The pain filtered out over her flesh sending ribbons of heat surging through her. Before she was satisfied, he was setting her back on the bed. He grabbed her purse. Rifling through it until he found her stash then dropped her purse back on the table. He walked back over to the bed, ripping the package open. He had the condom on in record time. Joining her back on the bed, he covered her body once more. He rose to his knees, pulling her up with him. Entering her in one, hard thrust.

“
Oh, god.”

It had been months since she’d had sex, the intrusion was a little much for her to take.

He stilled and leaned down to kiss her. It was part apology, part desperation. She could taste it there, need for her, for this. “Sorry, love.”

She lifted her hand to his mouth. “No apologies. Not tonight.”

She wrapped her legs around his waist and rose up against him. He moved his mouth down to her breasts, as he continued to thrust into her. Soon, she could no longer hold back. Her orgasm slammed through her. Before she had recovered from the first, a second one tripped over the last one. She screamed his name, as he shouted hers and followed her into ecstasy.

Chapter Fourteen

Eli watched her sleep. It comforted him in a way he didn’t expect. He had never been into staying over for the night. There was a reason he rarely dated women on his island. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember the last time he had a date. He had plenty of encounters, but he hadn’t been out to dinner or the movies in…well, almost forever.

Crysta was changing things and he wasn’t sure he liked that. He didn’t like change that much. Joe had always laughed at him and told him it was part of life. Eli always thought he’d had enough change early in life to last a lifetime.

Now though, he was thinking that he’d been rash saying they shouldn’t be involved. It would cause problems, but he had seen her reaction to the spanking. The woman was made for submission. He’d never had a woman that responsive, and he had only been teasing. Getting her to submit would be sweet.

She was lying on her stomach, so he brushed her hair over to the side. There was so much he loved about her. She had a belly ring he didn’t know about and he loved her back. He’d been a lover of all things women from the time he hit thirteen but with Crysta, he seemed to love just about everything about her body.

He leaned over and kissed her back, right at the base of her spine. She shifted. This close, he could smell her flesh. Damn, the woman was intoxicating. Had there ever been a woman who called to him like this?

“
Having fun down there, St. John?” she asked him. Her voice was still sleepy and it made it even huskier.

“
I am.”

He kissed her again, scraping his teeth against her skin and moving just an inch closer to that magnificent ass. He wanted to spank her again, but they hadn’t talked about submission. They hadn’t even discussed what would happen tomorrow.

Eli pushed those thoughts aside. Tonight was about pleasure, and they would deal with those feelings tomorrow.

He pulled back and rolled her over, slipping between her legs. He needed another taste of her. Settling his mouth against her, he slid his tongue between her pussy lips. Damn, she was already wet. The taste of her rushed through is blood. Sweet, sassy…like the woman herself. He added a finger, easing it into her damp passage as he took her clit into his mouth. She moaned, long and loud…and it was his name. The sound of it in the dark room touched something in him and he knew then,
right then
, he needed to be inside of her. He moved from her, grabbing another condom wrapper. He ripped it open and realized his hands were shaking. She apparently noticed his problem and took the condom from him.

“
Let me,” she said, her voice husky with her arousal. She sat on the edge of the bed and rolled it down his cock. Fuck, it was probably one of the most erotic things he had ever seen in his life—and he’d seen a lot. But watching her long fingers slip over his cock almost had him coming right there and then.

He eased her back onto the bed, wishing he could take more time with her, but knowing that again, he needed her. Last time was fast and furious. This time, though, he was slow, methodical. He kissed over her skin, tasting her, sliding his cock in easily. He took her up and over into her orgasm, slowly.

Eli watched, delighted as her eyes went blurry with pleasure as she sighed his name. And again, he took her, wanting to feel those tiny muscles dance over his cock. And again, but this time, he joined her, shuddering with his release.

* * * *

Crysta woke early, before the sun. For a second, she couldn’t seem to figure out where she was. Then, it hit her that she was in a hotel room. She shifted and ran into something solid and hard.

Eli.

She opened her eyes and watched him sleep. Knowing that she would touch him and they would make love again, she slipped out of bed. It might make her a cold-hearted bitch, but she needed some time away. It was self-preservation.

She tried her best to be as quiet as possible as she slipped into the bathroom. After relieving herself, Crysta looked at herself in the mirror, trying to come to grips with the night before. It wasn’t anything monumental. It was just sex. Really great sex. Okay, it was sex on a level she hadn’t expected. There was a link between them after just one night in bed. She might be the only one who felt it, but she could admit to herself that it was the first time she felt this kind of connection with a man outside of playing. She just never thought she would be able to do that.

She started the shower. She’d gotten no sleep. They’d made love several times, each time just as incredible as the time before, but now, she felt drained. Her emotions were all over the place, and she wasn’t sure she could deal with it.

After stepping into the shower, she stood under the spray realizing that she would have to put on that brave face tomorrow. There would be no way around it. But right now she gave in and cried.

* * * *

The next morning came early. The sun was shining in the room and Eli winced. He reached for Crysta but found the bed empty. He frowned and listened for her, realizing she was out on the balcony. She was on the phone and she was laughing. God, he loved that laugh. He watched her as she continued to talk. Eli was sure that a psychiatrist would have a field day with his behavior. He couldn’t help it. He liked watching her. And he was doing it again while she was on the phone with her father.

Sick, St. John, real sick
. Lusting after a woman while she was having a talk with her father was probably the weirdest thing he had ever done.

And that was saying a lot.

He was going to go out onto the balcony but realized he was naked. He slipped out of bed and went to his room. He needed his boxers at least. After relieving himself and brushing his teeth, he found a pair in his bag.

It wasn’t going to last. It couldn’t. As both of them agreed when they were done, it was only one night. It was to let off some steam.

But it hadn’t felt that way. He didn’t want just a roll in the bed with Crysta. The Dom in him wanted her submission. Complete submission at that. He wasn’t in for a bit of play, but he didn’t know what to do about that.

There was so much worry. The ranch, the work they had to do together, and she wasn’t there forever. He knew at the end of the six months, she would be on her way back to the mainland. Something told him if they partnered up, it could cause problems on the ranch.

“
Deep in thought, St. John?”

He glanced back over his shoulder at her. He realized at that moment, she made him vulnerable. He couldn’t remember wanting a sub as his own so badly…ever. And now, this woman who could cause more problems than he could list, was pulling at needs he didn’t know he had. He frowned.

“
No. Just. A lot on my mind.”

She nodded. “About last night…”

“
Yeah,” he said, trying to think of a way to say they needed to just let it go.

“
I think it best if we just chalk it up to hormones.”

“
Yeah…wait, what?”

“
Listen, I understand what our problems are and involving sex, well that’s just going to cause more problems.”

“
That’s true.” But he didn’t like it. Sure he had been trying to come up with reasons that they shouldn’t be doing this, but now that she had said it, it irritated him.

“
I really had a fantastic time last night, but I honestly think we need to be careful. I don’t want to jeopardize the working relationship we have. I did that once before and I don’t want to do that now.”

“
Is this about that bastard, Ashton?”

She frowned. “What about Ashton?”

“
The ex. The one you caught cheating. Is this about him?”

“
Yes, we worked together, but that had nothing to do with the problems we had. It made working together impossible.”

“
And so you left?”

She shook her head. “No. I handled it. He didn’t and his behavior got him fired. While he was an ass to me and I wouldn’t wish him on my enemies, he was an excellent teacher. I just…the ranch is so important and while I felt I failed Joe as a niece for a lot of my life, I know his one wish was that the ranch be yours. He wanted you to run it and I want to make sure I do everything in my power to help with that.”

He didn’t know how to respond. She was thinking of Joe, and that was on thing he couldn’t fault. While he might have had misgivings about her to begin with, she had definitely pulled her weight and she had loved Joe.

He nodded.

“
Now, I’m supposed to go to lunch with May and Dee. They’re going to pick me up.”

She stepped forward, cupped his cheek, and kissed his other one. He could smell the fresh air on her skin. He didn’t give into the need to turn his head and kiss her mouth. He watched as she walked around the corner to her room then let out a breath.

She was wrong for him, and she had been right about the ranch. On top of that, they had never engaged in play, just fast and fun sex.

And Eli was pretty damned sure he was in love with her.

Fuck.

Chapter Fifteen

Crysta wasn’t feeling any better by lunch than she had that morning. After telling Eli it was just a one-night thing, she realized that she wanted to cry again. How sad was that? She hadn’t even cried that hard when Ashton had cheated on her. But one night with a man had her acting like a little crybaby.