Bare It All (23 page)

His avoidance alarmed her farther. “Reese Bareden. Don’t you
dare use that sweet animal as a way to dodge me!”

Giving up, Reese straightened to his full, impressive
height.

He had another, freshly swollen black eye! And a split on the
bridge of his nose. A cut on his lip...

Alice froze in place. “What in the world happened to you?”

One hand on his hip, the other holding Cash’s leash, Reese
dropped his head forward as if disgusted.

Alice waited while he grumbled to himself.

Finally he met her gaze. “A couple of yahoos got into a fight
inside the station.”

“And you used your face to try to stop them?”

“No, smart-ass.” He moved closer, his expression fierce.

And tired.

Huh. So Reese was human after all.

“I got sucker punched when I told them to knock it off.” His
jaw firmed. “That was the shot to the eye. I got the rest when I
subdued
them.”

“Oh.” The discoloration beneath one eye had only just started
to fade. Now the other eye was swollen and purple. She realized his tie was
gone, his shirt torn and dirty.

Poor Reese. He’d apparently had a terrible day. She found one
of Cash’s chew toys and tossed it toward the center of the room. Cash went after
it, then took it to a ray of sunshine to work it over.

Alice turned back to Reese. “You didn’t kill anyone, did
you?”

With a long-suffering sigh, he shook his head. “No.”

“Good.”

“But I wanted to.”

She could see that. Though Reese tried to hide it, he still
looked ready to chew nails.

Brushing at a spot of dirt on the front of his shirt, right
over his chest, she felt the radiating tension in his muscles. Going brisk,
automatically knowing he wouldn’t want to be coddled, Alice asked, “How badly
did you hurt them?”

His green eyes glittered with new intent. “Enough to get them
cuffed and handed over to a uni.”

“Remarkable restraint. I’m sure they deserved more.” She opened
a button on his shirt. Then another.

“Alice?”

“Hmm?” She continued until she had the shirt open, then pulled
it from his slacks. Right where she’d seen the dirt, he had a bruise.

“What are you doing?”

“Undressing you.” Leaning forward, she put her lips to his hot
skin and filled her head with his intoxicating scent.

He dropped the leash to tangle a hand in her hair. “I’m a
sweaty mess, babe.”

“I know.” While kissing her way across his chest, she opened
his belt buckle. “You can soak in a cool tub while I fix you something to
eat.”

Using the hand he had tangled in her hair, he tugged her head
back. “I don’t need to be babied.”

Alice slipped her hand inside his slacks and fondled him. “I
wasn’t trying to baby you.” She felt her nipples go tight as his erection grew.
“I just want you ready for me, sooner instead of later.”

They stared at each other, and she watched his eyes go a smoky
green. “God, that feels good.”

Finally, she had some control. Excited but determined to do
this right, she took away her hand and turned toward the bathroom. “My mouth
will probably feel even better.”

When Reese didn’t follow her, she glanced at him over her
shoulder and smiled at the scorching way he traced her every step. “Come on,
Reese. Let’s get the show on the road.”

* * *

S
ENSES
HEIGHTENED
,
Reese watched
Alice finish with the dishes. After she’d insisted he soak while she grilled
chops and potatoes, he felt like a slug—a very horny slug who’d had too much
free time to think about what she might do. He understood that Alice wanted to
pamper him since he had a few new bruises. But a couple of lucky shots to his
face weren’t enough to slow him down. Piss him off, yeah. He’d been plenty
pissed.

Until he saw Alice.

Even now, while loading plates into the dishwasher, she wore
that small, sexy smile that made him nuts with need.

“You know I could’ve helped with that.”

“I know.” She bent to add in another plate, putting her rump on
display. “But I want to do it.”

Just as she’d wanted to undress him and prepare his bath? All
right, so now what?

“I’m bathed,” he told her. When was the last time he’d soaked
in a tub? “Well fed, too.” The dinner had been fast but filling. “I’m even
wearing clean clothes.” Clothes that she’d laid out for him. He would’ve
definitely protested that, except that he had a feeling she’d deliberately
chosen the draw-string athletic pants and soft cotton undershirt because they’d
be easy to remove.

She dried her hands. “You could take Cash out one last
time.”

He glanced at the clock. Hell, it wasn’t late. What did “one
last time” mean? Unless...did she plan to keep him in bed the rest of the
night?

Despite his best efforts at control, his Johnson jumped at the
possibility.

Damned unruly body part.

“Sure,” he said, hoping she didn’t hear the lust sharpening his
tone. “I can do that.” He left his chair.

“But Reese?” She came up to him, smoothed a small hand over his
abs—abs now clenched tight with anticipation. A pretty blush warmed her
cheekbones. “Make it fast, okay?”

“Not a problem.”

She got out Cash’s treat jar—a sure sign that she wanted
uninterrupted time with him. “When you’re done, give him one and then come into
the bedroom.”

Fascinating how her blush deepened, but her eyes didn’t waver.
Bold. Sexy. Sweet.

He liked it. A lot.

Wondering how far she’d go, Reese dipped his head and took her
mouth in a hot, possessive kiss. “Give me ten minutes, tops.” Sometimes Cash
liked to explore every possibility before choosing the perfect spot.

Luckily, Reese didn’t run into anyone else in the lot, and Cash
didn’t find any birds or squirrels to provoke him. With the promise of a treat,
he urged Cash to hurry, and in record time he had him back in the apartment.

Reese hadn’t even been out long enough to work up a sweat in
the thick humidity.

The second he closed and locked the apartment door, he heard
Alice in the shower. Picturing her wet, naked, he started to join her—but he
hesitated.

He didn’t want to steal her thunder.

Instead, he took a minute to play with Cash before giving him
the chew treat. When he heard the water shut off, he went into the bedroom and
sat on the side of the bed to wait.

Fully erect.

Every nerve ending sizzling.

Anticipation honed.

Wrapped in a towel, skin still damp and one hand lifted to
remove a tie from her hair, Alice rushed in.

She halted at the sight of him. Those luscious eyes showed
surprise, a hint of embarrassment, even a little disappointment.

Until determination overrode everything else. He saw the shift
in her expression, in the way she moved.

Looking her over, Reese badly wanted to strip away the towel
that kept her slender body hidden from his view.

Instead, he made himself sit there, the epitome of
patience.

Movements measured for effect, Alice finished freeing her hair
so that it tumbled down around her shoulders. “That was fast.”

“You thought I’d linger?”

In a small, telltale sign, the hand holding the towel clenched,
and her breathing deepened. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

She stood there a moment longer, maybe working up her
courage—or figuring out how to proceed. As sexual as they’d been, as open and
honest as she was in bed, this was new for her.

She dropped the towel.

Just like that, with no warning. Reese sucked in a breath,
soaking up the sight of her. It didn’t matter how many times he’d already seen
her, this was a new attitude for her, and it fired his blood.

His gaze moved to her tight nipples, the damp curls between her
legs, her soft, pale skin now rosy all over.

He did his own heavy breathing.

Beautifully bare, she turned and closed the bedroom door. He
heard the quiet click like a blast of thunder.

“Damn, you have me tightly strung.” Her ass was a special
source of lust for him, and she knew it. “Come here.”

Facing him, she murmured, “I’d like to get your clothes off,
okay?”

“Great. Clothes off.” He reached for her, but she shook her
head.

“Raise up your arms so I can take off your shirt.”

Reese started to strip it off himself, but she stepped between
his thighs, and the sweet scent of her body filled his head.

Catching his shirt, she tugged it from his hands. “Arms up,
please.”

Jesus. Unable to recall the last time he’d been this frantic
for sex, he lifted his arms.

Alice worked the shirt up, slowly, over his chest and arms
until it cleared his head. After tossing it toward her discarded towel, she
stepped closer still. Her plump pink nipples were right
there,
close enough to kiss. The spicy scent of her arousal mixed
with the scent of her soap, the scent of his need.

She touched his shoulders with both hands, gliding her delicate
fingertips over his skin, around to his nape, up and into his hair—which brought
her closer, so close he couldn’t resist.

He ducked his head to move his tongue over her left nipple.

Her fingers knotted in his hair. “Lay back.”

Tension coiled tight.

“This time,” she told him, “I want to touch your big, gorgeous
body.”

He met her gaze.

And she whispered, “Without you taking over.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

R
EESE
FELT
RIGID
enough to break as he tried to recline. Now he
knew what she had planned, and it ratcheted up his temperature and his need
until he couldn’t get enough oxygen into his lungs.

“Relax.”

With every second that passed, Alice gained new confidence. He
wanted her to have that confidence. With him.

Only him.

Letting out a long breath and concentrating on unkinking his
muscles, Reese put his hands behind his head.

Until she stroked him through the athletic pants.

Every muscle knotted again in expectation of more to come.

She cupped his balls, cuddling until he clenched his teeth. “I
love how you feel.”

“I love when you feel me.” Speaking wasn’t easy, but Reese
hoped some errant humor might lighten the mood before he totally lost his
grip.

She obliterated that plan when she stroked up along his
erection, squeezing him through the material, then kept on stroking up his body
until she sprawled out over him.

She kissed the bruised skin under his eye, then again near the
cut on the bridge of his nose. “Even battered, you are the most gorgeous man
I’ve ever seen.”

The way she rested on him, her breasts to his chest, one
slender leg between his, the other outside his thigh, drove him nuts. “You said
something about getting me naked?”
And using that pretty
mouth on me...

Her eyes looked darker, deeper. Full of secrets.

Secrets that, this time, he might enjoy.

Sitting up beside him, Alice touched his chest again, used her
thumb to explore his nipple—almost making him leap off the bed—then moving down
to his abs. “You stay in such incredible shape. I can’t imagine any woman not
wanting you.”

Looking for reassurance? “Right now I only care about you
wanting me.”

“Of course I do.” She bent to kiss his other nipple, and Reese
bit off a groan.

Down to his sternum.
Such a hot little
tongue...

Over his abs. He locked his hands together behind his head.

She lightly bit his shaft through the material of the loose
pants and his snug boxers, and before he could catch his breath again, she moved
off the end of the bed and grabbed the waistbands of both. “Lift your hips for
me.”

No problem. Anxious to be rid of clothes, Reese lifted up so
she could strip them down his thighs. She got everything as far as his knees—and
zoned in on his dick.

He tried to finish kicking off the pants, but Alice lay down
crosswise in the bed, giving him a good profile view of her body, and he
stilled.

He could feel her breath.

Taking him in both hands, her hold firm, she shattered all
thought. The way she watched him so intently kept him on a precipice of
suspense.

She nuzzled against him, breathing deep, making a small purring
sound of pleasure. “I love how you smell.”

Ah...fuck. Reese squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on
keeping it together.

There was no prelude, no teasing kiss or tentative lick. One
second Alice held him—and in the next she slid her soft, moist mouth down around
him.

A groan ripped from his chest. Without even realizing it, he
pulled his hands out from behind his head and tangled his fingers in her hair.
He’d had blowjobs before. Always enjoyable, absolutely.

But this was Alice. And that meant it went beyond the sexuality
of the act. It was Alice’s scent, the way she looked while doing it, the soft
sounds she made—how she meant so much more to him than any woman he’d ever
known.

The emotional connection made everything different, more
severe, sweeter and...
hotter
.

He couldn’t keep from growling, from urging her to take more of
him.

Keeping her lips firm around him, she moved her tongue, teasing
around the head.

She pulled back with a long, leisurely lick. “Good?” she asked
with innocent curiosity.

His heart pounded. “Fucking great.”

“Mmm.” Pleased by that, she went back to work on him.

Not wanting to miss a thing, Reese rose to his elbows. He was
draped across the bed. Alice rested on her belly perpendicular to him, legs bent
at the knees, her pretty feet in the air, crossed at the ankles.

She could have been a posed centerfold model, she looked so
enticing.

The fact that she had his dick in her mouth only enhanced the
image.

Cupping his fingers around her nape, his thumb in the hollow of
her cheek, he guided her, watching as her lips moved over him, as her
fawn-colored hair fell onto the paler skin of his pelvis.

So fucking erotic.

Her narrow shoulders flexed each time she drew back, and her
toes curled each time she took him deep again.

Two more strokes and he’d be in oblivion. And much as he liked
the idea of her finishing him off with her mouth, he wanted her to come with
him.

He tightened his hand in her hair. “You have to stop now,
Alice, or I’m a goner.”

She did, pulling away with another hot lick that damn near did
him in.

Sitting up in a rush, she said, “Don’t move.” She finished
yanking his pants and boxers off. “I’m going to grab a condom.”

Gaze molten, Reese watched as she left the bed and rummaged in
the nightstand. Seconds later, she crawled back atop him.

What a sight. Alice naked on her knees, her hair loose, her
breasts free, her expression lustful...

She settled on him with her legs open around his thighs. “Lie
back.”

“Let me touch you first.”
All over, with
my hands and my mouth.
“You need to catch up.”

She caught his wrist before he could reach her breast. “On your
back, Reese.”

Damn. Their gazes clashed.

Putting both hands to his chest, Alice whispered, “Please?”

As if in slow motion, fascinated with this new take-charge mood
of hers, Reese stretched out again.

“Tell me if I do this wrong.”

Not possible, because anything she did at this point would only
add to the growing sexual tension. But he nodded.

She worked the rubber onto him—and, yes, that tormented him in
wonderful ways. As soon as she had that done, she straddled his hips.
“Reese?”

God, she looked amazing poised over him like that. Urgent
breaths lifted her breasts and left her nipples darkly flushed and puckered
tight. Excitement pulled her belly taut. She bit her bottom lip as she searched
his face.

“What is it, sweetheart? Tell me what you want.”

Instead, she took his hand and carried it to her body—right
between her legs. Her head tipped back the second his fingers brushed over her
damp curls, then lower, where he found her hot and slippery.

Ready—but not quite enough.

He pressed his middle finger barely into her, testing her,
teasing the slick, swollen lips, then used her own wetness to glide that
fingertip over her clitoris.

Whimpering, she clenched her legs around his.

With his other hand, Reese stroked her breasts. “You are so
damn beautiful, Alice.”

Even now, lost in the carnality of the moment, she shook her
head, denying that. “I’m just...me.”

I love who you are.
Reese kept the
words to himself and instead censored that thought to make it more acceptable to
the moment. “You’re rare. And genuine. And, yes, Alice, beautiful.” He caught
one nipple, rolling it gently, tugging carefully, insistently, until she
groaned. “Especially now, like this.”

That seemed to bring her around. Eyes heavy, she moved his
hands away and instead scooted up over him. “I want you inside me.” She flexed
her legs, lifting up to arrange him for entry. “Now.” And with that, she eased
down over him.

Tight. Slick. He throbbed as she worked the head in, stretching
around him. Lips parted, she paused.

Putting his hands on her taut thighs, Reese whispered, “It’s
deep this way, Alice. Tell me if I hurt you.”

She nodded—and took more of him, her breath catching with every
inch that went deeper.

Apprehension trembled through her as she tried to adjust to his
size.

Reese didn’t mean to, but his hands contracted on her soft
flesh, keeping her from retreating again. “How does that feel, honey?”

She sucked in two fast breaths, pressed down more, and said on
a moan,
“Wonderful.”

Nothing could be more of a turn-on, Reese thought, than
watching Alice as she took him, seeing how she enjoyed the snug fit despite any
discomfort she felt.

Still on her knees, she stopped short from taking all of him,
her head down, her hands braced on his chest.

God, he needed her to move. He could feel her body clasping
him, squeezing in little spasms; he felt her wetness and her heat.

“Reese?”

Sliding his hands down to her knees, he opened her legs wider
so he could better see where they joined. Voice rough and deep, he ordered,
“More, Alice.”

Almost as if she couldn’t help herself, she rocked once, then
stopped. “Not...just yet.”

Reese groaned.

And she asked in the softest of whispers, “How do you feel
about me?”

He swallowed hard, doing everything he could to resist the urge
to thrust up into her. She was so slight in comparison to his height and weight
and bone structure that he could easily hurt her without meaning to, and he’d
die before doing that.

This was her turn, and he’d give that to her no matter how
difficult it might be on him.

She did another single slide of her hips before pressing down
enough that they both gasped.

His cock swelled more, and he felt on the verge of
exploding.

Breathy, strained, she asked again, “How do you feel about
me?”

“You’re killing me here, Alice.”

“You want me?”

“Yes.” More than that, he
needed
her. Not just now. Not just for the physical release. But for...everything. A
scary thought, one he tried to abolish by saying, “Ride me, honey.”

“Yes.” She lifted, sank down again, taking a little more of
him.

Almost there, almost buried inside
her.

“As soon as you tell me how you feel.”

It stunned Reese, but he finally caught on to her game. She was
turning things around on him, using sex to get the answers she wanted.

Answers about his emotional commitment.

Admiration hit him first, followed by sultry acceptance. His
heart thundered in his chest, and with every fiber of his being, he was aware of
their connection, of the clasp of her body holding him so tightly and her hungry
gaze watching for his reaction.

And still he wanted to see how far she’d take it. “I think
you’re incredible.” He cupped a breast, plied her stiffened nipple with his
thumb. “Now, ride me.”

As he said that, he lifted up a little, and she gasped. He
rocked up again, slowly, giving her his entire length by degrees.

Eyes closed, body accepting, she whispered, “Are you interested
in more than...sex?”

While continuing those easy, shallow thrusts, he used both
hands to play with her nipples. “With you, yes.”

She groaned, gasped. “More than...ah! More than
just...now?”

Now, tomorrow, next week and next month. “Yes.” He lifted
harder, sank deeper. Release beckoned, boiling closer to the surface.

“Maybe...” She gasped, cried out, closed her hands over his,
pressing his hands into her breasts. “Maybe commitment?”

Commitment?
Well, hell, that
startling question almost blew it for Reese—until Alice took over, riding him
hard and fast as she sought an orgasm. She lifted so that he almost left her,
then dropped down to grind on him with breathy moans.

Jesus, talk about torture.

“Reese,” she cried. “Tell me.”

He caught her hips, holding her closer, trying to slow her
down. “Let’s talk about it after.”

Closing her eyes on a shuddering groan, Alice held still.
“Let’s talk about it now.”

With him buried deep inside her, her breath coming in pants,
she waited for his reply.

Why not tell her? Caressing her hips, Reese said, “I’m insanely
attracted to you.”

“To this?” She clarified by lifting up and sliding down again,
slowly this time, so slowly that they both had to struggle.

“Yes, that.” Reese strained under her. “But also
you,
Alice. Talking to you. Holding you while you
sleep.” He held her hips and kept her flush against his body, knowing he filled
her, loving the way her breath caught, how her muscles contracted. “I even like
arguing with you. And, honey, I
love
the way you do
payback.”

But for right now, he couldn’t take a second more. He brought
her down to his chest, rolled to put her under him and took over. “Okay?”

For an answer, Alice opened her mouth on his chest, and he felt
her sharp little teeth, not hard enough to break his skin, but definitely enough
to send a rush of pleasure through him.

Luckily, he brought her with him.

Four strokes, five—and they were both coming hard. Alice held
him tight until the last waves of her climax receded. Lying fully atop her,
their heartbeats in sync, Reese felt her ease—her body, her thoughts. It took
him another minute to recover enough, and then he pushed up to his elbows.

She wasn’t asleep. Her eyes were drowsy.

Sated.

She touched the bruise under his eye with gentle fingertips.
And then the mark she’d left with her teeth. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not.” He smoothed back her hair. “I like it when you lose
control.” He kissed her mouth and wanted to go on kissing her.

Her small laugh stalled him. “You’re insatiable,” she
teased.

He put his forehead to hers.
Only with
you.
But again, he held back. They still had so much up in the air,
with killers on the loose and her safety in danger—far too much for deep
declarations.