A Kept Man (14 page)

She had her shirt lifted halfway up her stomach when he stopped her.

“No.”

She froze. “What do you mean, no?”

One eyebrow arrowed upward. “‘Let’s do it?’”
he echoed. “That’s not very romantic.”

“I’m not looking for romance.”

“What are you looking for? To get your itch scratched as fast
as possible so you can go back to your day as scheduled?”

Jess frowned. When he put it like that… “Is that a
problem?”

“Yes. We’ve both waited too long to be satisfied by a
quick hump. We’re going to do this right. That means long...and
slow.”

The words rolled off his tongue in a lingering drawl. A shudder
quaked down her spine.

He took one careful, deliberate step forward. “I promised you
an experience. I offered to show you what loving can be. Isn’t
that what you want? Do you just want to get off, or do you want to
savor every moment of the experience?”

She swallowed hard. “I think you just like having the upper
hand.”

“I’ll let you have it the next time.” He extended
his hand again. “What do you say?”

Suddenly racked with apprehension, Jess hesitated before slipping her
hand into his. In fact, she almost turned tail and walked away.

Instead, she stared into the molten heat of his eyes, saw the desire
and the purposeful glint shining there.

And stopped thinking altogether.

The intensity in his gaze offered something she couldn’t
refuse. It burned into her, raw and hungry, until she felt the same
intensity burning inside of her. Her body shook with it, churning
with a need desperate to be filled.

She took his hand.

His fingers closed around hers in a tight grip. His smile deepened.
“Come on.”

He tossed the towel aside and pulled her forward. The view of his
backside was so tempting she would have followed even if he didn’t
have a hold on her hand.

He led her back into the house and up to her bedroom. Only when they
stepped into the room and she found herself looking at the big
king-sized bed did her steps falter.

“You didn’t have sex with Felicity in that bed, did you?”

“I swear I have not been anywhere near Felicity on that bed.”

“Good.”

Charlie smiled patiently. “Nervous?”

“No. I just don’t know what to expect.”

“Then the previous men in your life obviously failed
miserably.”

“Smartass. I know what goes where and so on.”

“We’re not talking about a jigsaw puzzle. There’s a
lot more to it than fitting parts into the right places.”

“Such as?”

“Think back to the most pleasure you’ve ever experienced.
Shouldn’t be too hard. It was only two nights ago.”

“No one likes a braggart.”

“If you don’t like me, you do a fine job faking it.”

“I like you better when you don’t talk so much.”

“Fair enough. So think back to the most pleasure you’ve
ever experienced. Then triple it.”

She shot him a wry glance. “Aren’t you worried about
setting up expectations you can’t fulfill?”

He grinned. “I’m willing to take as long as necessary to
get it right.”

“I don’t have all day. I have a book to write.”
Even as she said it, doubt began to creep in. What was she doing
here? She needed to be working—

“Nope.” He shook his head, his stern expression telling
her he knew where her thoughts had gone. “At the moment, there
is no book. You have nowhere to be but here with me.”

A reluctant smile tugged at her mouth. “I guess that’s
not such a bad place to be.”

“Just you wait. So tell me. Has anyone ever undressed you?”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

“I don’t mean having your clothes pulled off by some guy
who wants to get you naked as soon as possible so he can climb on top
of you.”

“You don’t want to get me naked?” Now that was kind
of deflating.

“More than you know,” he assured her. “But I want
to savor the moment of revealing your body one part at a time. Have
you ever had that?”

Her mouth went so dry she couldn’t swallow if she tried. “No.
I guess not.”

“That’s a shame. It’s what you deserve, you know?
To be cherished.”

He moved so close, mere inches away, that she could feel his body
without touching him. His body heat was palpable. It was all she
could do not to gravitate into it, to feel the warmth of him against
her skin.

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed.

She started to shake her head. “Don’t.”

“What?”

“I don’t need all of that. The…sweet nothings or
whatever.”

“You think me telling you you’re beautiful is nothing?”

“I know a line when I hear one. I’ve heard enough of them
the last few days.”

He caught her chin with the tip of his finger and tilted her face up
toward him. “You don’t believe me.”

She fidgeted uncomfortably.

“You are, you know. Beautiful.”

He sounded so sincere. Looking into the liquid heat of his eyes, she
could almost believe he meant it.

“Charlie—”

He ran his thumb down the side of her face, tracing the line of her
brow, the outline of her eye, the curve of her cheek. “Beautiful
eyes.” His thumb came to rest against the corner of her mouth.
“Beautiful lips.”

Instinct told her what came next. She didn’t even have to think
about it. Her eyes drifted shut and her lips parted.

Seconds later, his mouth was on hers. It was an unexpectedly chaste
kiss, his lips a soft caress against her own that barely lasted a
heartbeat. It was a kiss intended to tantalize. It worked. When he
withdrew, she unconsciously leaned forward to go after him, wanting
more. Her pulse kicked up a notch. She sucked in an unsteady breath,
suddenly feeling as though all the air had been pulled from her
lungs.

By the time she opened her eyes, his hands were already on her
T-shirt, lifting it over her back from behind. Jess automatically
raised her arms, allowing him to pull it over her head. His fingers
grazed the sensitive skin at the small of her back as he lifted the
shirt. Prickles rose up wherever his skin encountered hers, the
warmth of his touch shockingly intimate.

It was nothing compared to the look in his eyes when he gazed upon
her bare skin. She hadn’t bothered with a bra after her shower
that morning. Had it been a calculated gesture? Had she somehow known
they would arrive at this very moment? She didn’t know. It
didn’t matter. All that did was the way he looked at her.

Cool air washed over her skin, bringing her nipples to tight,
hardened points. At the same time, his attention warmed her. A flush
rose to her cheeks. He seemed riveted by the sight of her. He didn’t
blink. His eyes never wavered. She’d never had a man look at
her, just look at her and nothing else. She’d never felt more
exposed. Or more aroused. A tremor quaked through her from head to
toe.

His eyes finally flickered up to hers. If she had any doubt whether
he approved of what he saw, one look in his eyes took care of that.

He still must have seen the uncertainty on her face. “You’re
perfect,” he whispered, his voice a low, erotic murmur. “Stop
thinking so much. Just feel.”

She nodded once, unsteadily.

He took her hands and pulled her with him as he moved to the bed. He
sank back to take a seat on the edge of the mattress. She remained
standing at arm’s length from him. “Close your eyes,”
he instructed gently. “Just feel.”

She slowly did as he ordered, wanting desperately to know what he was
planning to do next. With her eyes closed, she felt even more exposed
and bare. She couldn’t see him or what he was doing. She was
completely at his mercy. It was a matter of trust. She had to trust
that whatever he did next would give her pleasure. It was terrifying
and freeing all at once, putting herself in his hands that way. But
deep down, she knew that she did trust him.

He didn’t make it easy for her. He waited what seemed like an
eternity, allowing the pressure inside of her to build to a dizzying
level. Then, just when she almost thought she couldn’t take it
anymore, he touched her. He cupped her breasts with the palms of his
hands, his long fingers moving over and around the soft fullness of
each one. The sensation was so sudden, so unexpected, a full-body
spasm racked through her. It was so intense she almost thought she
came.

When she caught her breath she knew that she hadn’t. That
throbbing ache still pulsed deep in her belly. She was still denied
release.

As she recaptured her sense of equilibrium, she realized that his
hands hadn’t stopped moving. Her breasts felt so heavy with the
ache that throbbed in every pore of her body. His fingers coasted
over every inch, massaging and exploring. He stroked the engorged
tips of her nipples with his thumbs. The areolas were already raw and
sensitive. His touch on them nearly drove her out of her mind.

Then his mouth was on her. The moist heat of his tongue was a sharp
contrast to the rough, dry pads of his fingers. She jerked in shock,
throwing her arms out to steady herself. Her fingers closed around
the steady broadness of his shoulders, their breadth and strength
reassuring. She held on for dear life as he licked around the
delicate point of each nipple, stroking the pebbled surface with his
tongue, then suckling gently, pulling the very tip of her nipple
against his teeth.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take it any more, he moved
lower, pressing kisses down the length of her belly. He licked a
trail through her belly button, and then lower. His hands were
already lodged in the waistband of her pants before he got there. He
tugged the sweatpants and her underwear down all at once, just in
time to give himself an open path to the very core of her.

She tensed as he pressed a butterfly kiss just above her cleft. He
went no lower, withdrawing slightly.

“Step out of your pants,” he said, his hot breath
feathering through the hair between her legs. “Then sit on the
bed.”

She all but jumped to obey his command. Her head foggy with
sensation, her body pulsating with desire, she could only act on
instinct.

Instinct said she wanted more.

They switched positions. She sat on the edge of the mattress with her
lower legs hanging off the edge of the bed. As soon as she was in
position, he pushed her knees apart and fell to his own in front of
her.

“Lie back,” he murmured. “Close your eyes. Just
feel.”

It took no coaxing to get her to obey. She fell back on the bed, her
eyes drooping shut of their own volition. He’d already brought
her to the point where she could do nothing but feel. She couldn’t
process a single thought. Every nerve ending in her body was
completely attuned to him. She felt completely, utterly, raw. He
could touch her in one place and she’d feel it throughout her
body as if his hands were everywhere.

That still didn’t prepare her for when he bent low between her
hips. She felt his breath again first, hot and insistent against her
mound, rustling through the curls. Each breath was like a physical
caress, stroking against the most sensitive part of her.

Then he licked her. She threw her head back. She almost gasped, but
the sound stuck in her throat, nothing more than a choked gurgle. He
tongued her opening, tracing the lips with the very tip of his
tongue. He didn’t touch her with his hands, using only his
tongue to open her, slowly sliding it up and down, letting her feel
the rough insistence of it as he slowly worked it in.

She nearly came. Some small measure of self-control she didn’t
know she had kept her from doing so. She held on to the edge with
every ounce of restraint she possessed, not letting herself go over
the brink, wanting to prolong this moment, knowing that he could give
her so much more. Every moment, every instant, was better than the
last. This wasn’t enough. She wanted more.

With one last lap of his tongue that licked her from top to bottom
from the inside, he began to pull out. Her hands immediately leapt
from the bedcovers, her fingers grasping, desperate not to let him
go. Her head was so foggy she barely heard his chuckle and the calm
assurance he offered.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”

This time she felt his breath inside of her. Her pussy gaped open,
practically begging to be filled by him. She was so wet she could
feel the liquid dripping from her.

She didn’t have to wait long. He put his hands on her, bracing
himself on her pelvis with his palms. He pulled her lips open and
without warning, pressed the whole of his mouth down on her, shoving
his tongue straight into the core of her body like a dart finding the
perfect center of a bullseye.

She came. A scream tore itself from her throat. Her back arched off
the bed. Her hands tangled in his hair. She barely felt any of it.
All she felt were the shock waves of pure liquid sensation that
washed through her on an ever-rising tide. Her whole body screamed
with release, and she rode the tide as wave after wave jerked through
her. Only as the last few ebbs rolled through her did she realize
he’d never stopped, his tongue working constantly,
relentlessly, against her clit the whole time.

She came again.

Finally, when the last wave of spasms subsided, she fell back against
the bedspread. Jumbled impressions and sensations fought for
dominance in a brain that had suddenly turned to mush. She gasped for
air, her lungs unable to accommodate her desperate need for oxygen.
She lay there, limp and dazed, trying to recover, half-wondering why
she was bothering. This was a feeling she didn’t ever want to
lose. She wanted to feel this way forever.

She was so lost in a haze that she barely felt when he moved away, or
when he lifted her into his arms and lowered her onto the middle of
the bed. Her first impression of him came when she felt her legs
being spread apart. Then the mattress sagged as he came to kneel
between her legs.