At the Brink (24 page)

“Jesus.” He looked up as if begging for celestial help. “Can we please be done with this conversation? I’m tired of talking and I’d rather negotiate with the Taliban any day than to try to get a deal out of you.”

“Okay,” I said. “We’re done.”

“Thank God.” He kissed me, a kiss so passionate and intense it left me reeling.

“Hmm.” I savored his mouth. “I think we did okay.”

He flashed me a naughty smirk. “Can we move on to the next evening activity?”

I cocked my eyebrows. “Is there more?”

“Much more.” He got to his feet. “Now comes the good part. You get a choice.”

“A choice?”

“Blindfold or cuffs?”

Oh, I could see where this was going. He might be done with the talking, but he wasn’t really done for the night. Someone else could’ve found fault with his one-track mind, maybe even me a while back. Not now. Excitement teased my senses and tickled my body. As to my choices, the true surprise was that I had them. I could either see him or touch him. It was pure Josh, offering me a measure of trust, albeit a cautious one.

“Forget the cuffs,” I said, thrilled with the chance to feel his body beneath my hands.

“Right, then.”

He pushed on a carved panel at the side of the bed. With a quiet click, it opened up to reveal a velvet lined drawer. Holy smokes. Did I even want to know what was in there?

“Let’s get going.” He picked out a blindfold. “Because I need to blow off some steam and your brand new bed needs to be properly inaugurated.”

I eyed the discreet drawer as it retracted. “That’s quite the piece of furniture.”

“Yep.” He slipped the blindfold over my hair and perched it on my forehead. “Best active sex bed on the market. Can’t wait to try it.”

Oh, Lord. My heart skipped a beat. A shiver ran the length of my spine. “Um, Josh?”

“Yes, Lily?”

“What exactly is an ‘active sex’ bed?”

“It’s a bed built especially for sex,” he explained, reaching around me and lowering my zipper. “It has the right kind of bounce and resistance. It’s flat, leveled, supportive and easy to move on. It’s also durable enough to withstand passionate use.”

“Wow.” Josh really knew his specs. Until today, I’d never known they built special beds for sex. And now I had one of them.

“It’s got some unique features.” Josh unclasped my narrow belt and slid my arms out of the dress.

“Features?” My fingers clung to the dress.

“You know,” he said, “for convenience.”

Like that drawer full of stuff hidden in the paneling. My belly squeezed. Dread or anticipation? A little of both perhaps? Leave it to Josh to achieve the perfect design balance between us, a room decorated to my tastes, but equipped for his.

He must have sensed my internal turmoil. “Want a demo?”

I looked from Josh to the bed. I gulped. A demonstration of the bed’s capabilities might challenge my fragile erotic courage.

But Josh had shown bravery tonight. He’d gone out on a limb to bring me to his house and invite me into his life. He’d freed me and then he’d given me a choice, taking a huge emotional risk. Could I allow my cowardice to win when he’d given so much?

I lowered the blindfold over my eyes and for once, I was glad for the darkness. “No demo, thank you.”

The dress slipped from under me, leaving me sitting nude on the edge of the bed and missing my underwear like crazy. Not that I was complaining about Josh’s foreplay. Nobody could ever accuse him of falling on the job. But he was on a mission tonight and while I preferred seduction prior to undressing, one thing I knew for sure: seduction was coming my way. If only I could’ve kept my clothes until then, perhaps I wouldn’t feel so...naked?

Man up, girl.
This was Josh Lane and, a few minutes ago, I’d accepted him and everything he entailed, including his total disregard for my modesty. Still, I couldn’t help it. I pressed my knees together and slouched.

Josh sighed, a sound that reminded me of a teacher who had taught the same lesson to the same failing student one too many times. He must have taken a knee in front of me, because his body fitted itself between my legs. His hands seized mine. His lips brushed over my fingers in small, feathering kisses.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” he said. “I like looking at you. Why would you want to hide your body from me?”

“You hide your body well enough.” A prickle of irritation flared in me. “I’m naked. You’re dressed. That’s the way of things around here. How is that fair?”

His kisses on my hands faltered. For an instant, I sensed a void opening between us. Then his lips were back, on my mouth this time, hot, possessive and all consuming, bridging the divide, coaxing my lips to yield to the flame of his tongue, which thrust in my mouth with infinite thirst.

“You want to touch me?” he murmured against my mouth. “Fine. It’s your night. Go ahead.”

I groped in the darkness. My fingers tripped against his shoulders. His skin pebbled beneath my touch. He had taken off his shirt. It really was my night! If I’d had any complaints before, I instantly forgot them. He was warm, strong and present between my arms. And
I
got to touch
him
.

I ran my hands down the center of his chest, enjoying the feel of his pectorals and the way his nipples prickled against my fingertips. His core tensed as my fingers traveled over his rib cage to caress his belly and fondle his groin. His cock hardened beneath my touch, a distinct bulge that throbbed against my hand and echoed in my sex. The strong muscles of his ass rounded beneath my palms and led me to his thighs, where I would’ve lingered in the space between his legs, had he not caught my wrists in a stern clutch.

“Enough for now,” he said. “No more free ranging until
after
I’m done worshipping.”

I frowned. “Worshipping?”

“Pussy worshipping.” I heard the smile in his voice. “
I’m
going to worship
your
pussy.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Josh

I knew this was all new for Lily, my brave Lily, who’d already given me the greatest reward when she’d agreed to stay with me. But I also knew I could do better, show her pleasures she’d never dare to taste on her own, teach her things no one else could, about her body, about herself.

I took in the lines of her body, long legs, full breasts, generous hips that rolled and danced fluidly when I fucked her. My balls tightened. My cock jerked, already stiff with a rush of blood. Easy now. I couldn’t allow my arousal to hijack her pleasure. I had to show her. I had to prove to her that her choice was the right one and life with me would be a worthwhile adventure. No doubt about it, this was Lily’s night and I planned to ace it in every way.

Kissing was my way to hook into Lily’s complex mind/body network. I settled between her legs and connected with her lips. The radio chatter between our bodies went insane. I fucking loved the way her mouth opened to my tongue, soft, compliant but passionate. Our chemistry spiked with the contact. Her flavors seeped into my bloodstream like some sort of a drug injected directly into my veins.

Her body flowed beneath my touch, warm, even and curving in just the right places, the perfect highway to my hands, my very own autobahn. I kissed my way down to her breasts and caught her nipple in my mouth. Trapped between my tongue and my palate, it lengthened and hardened, broadcasting an urgent message that my body translated into a distress signal, an SOS for sexual succor.

She whimpered when I drew a little harder, an erotic sound that echoed in my balls and wet my boxers with a spurt of pre-come.

Slow down.
I was keyed too tightly tonight.
Enjoy her. Enjoy this.
When was the last time I’d wanted anything as badly as I wanted Lily now?

In the car. At the movies. At the party, while fucking her, and before that, at work; when she was far, when she was near, awake or asleep, in my dreams and in my nightmares...
Stop
. I’d wanted her from the moment I decided she belonged with me. And every day, my need for her grew.

I suckled on her nipples until Lily started to squirm. I slid my hand between her legs and, caressing her labia, found her clit. It sprang beneath my fingers, matching her nipples in hardness and plumpness. I lowered my face between her legs and drew on her clit until her fingers raked through my hair and she could no longer sit still.

“Oh, Josh.”

Even the way she said my name tightened my erection. I kissed her pussy, her belly button and her lips before I got up, helped her to her feet and stripped the coverlet and the duvet off the bed.

“Lay down, sweet.” I guided her as she groped her way toward the center of the bed. “Lean back, head on the pillows, that’s it.”

She was a sight to see, lying on her brand new bed, nude body floating on a pool of cobalt blue like a siren in the sea. I could’ve stared at her all night, but my cock had its own timeline and I had a plan to advance.

I opened one of the bed’s concealed drawers and picked out a few goodies. “I have some things for you, a few toys you may like.”

“Oh?” The pitch in her voice went up a notch. “I don’t need any toys, Josh. I just want you.”

Hell, I wanted her too. I caught myself grinning like a damn fool. Good thing the blindfold didn’t allow her to see the devastating effect she had on me.
Focus, Lane
.

“You’ll get me,” I assured her, sorting out the boxes. “That’s a promise. But there’s a whole wide world out there, and tonight, I want to take you on tour.”

“I’m fine with your, err...”

“Cock,” I put in. “Say it.”

“I’m fine with your cock, really.”

“It comes a little later on your program.” I grabbed her hand and rubbed it against my groin, a miscalculation that had me sucking in breath. I gritted my teeth. No one else had ever managed to rattle my cage like she did. I brought her hand to my lips and kissed it before I released it and sat down on the bed next to her.

“I know this is new to you,” I said, “so I’ll give you some more choices tonight.” I lined up my top four selections on the bed next to Lily. “You can check them out if you want.”

Her eyes would be off-limits—a damn shame—but I could always rely on her body language to know what she was thinking.

“All right.” One of her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Should I take off the blindfold?”

“You should
never
take off the blindfold unless I tell you to do so.” I made a conscious effort to soften my tone. “But your hands are free, remember?”

She moistened her lips with her tongue, a gesture that made me want to fuck her on the spot. Christ, maybe I should’ve dressed her like a nun. Having her all naked on that bed was too much of a temptation. But no, I wasn’t going to deviate from the plan.

“Go on.” I handed her the first object.

She felt it between her fingers, a small, bright pink vibrator shaped into a textured silicon fingertip.

“The Sonic Boom,” I read from the back of the box. “Waterproof, clitoral stimulator, triple speed, glow in the dark, batteries included. Very popular. Want to try it?”

“Um...” She hesitated and set the little vibrator aside. “I don’t know.”

“How about this one?” I handed her the next selection.

Her fingers considered the bulbous shaft, several inches of temperature-sensitive, smooth glass, molded into flowing ripples that grew wider as they got closer to the handle.

Her forehead furrowed. “What on earth is this?”

“The Emerald Wave Wand.” I read from a different box. “Erotic massager. Fantastic reviews.”

She squirmed. By the twist of her mouth, she looked anything but convinced. This was going to be harder than I thought.

“Try the next one,” I suggested.

She picked up the next item from the bed. She squeezed the tapered tip and traced the wider base. Her fingers fumbled over the faux fur dangling from the end.

“Josh?” Her eyebrows lifted above the blindfold. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Foxy trainer, I believe it’s called.”

“It’s a butt plug, isn’t it?”

“And a sexy looking one.”

“No way, I’m not ready for this,” she said, Lily firm. “I’m not wearing it. I don’t know about the future, but I’m not wearing it today.”

Christ help me. I gawked at the vixen on my bed. She had just blown my mind and fired up my fantasies by uttering the vague but promising word “future” and she didn’t even know it.

“Copy that.” I slowed my pumping heart and dropped the toy back in the drawer. “How about the last one?”

I put the G-spot Hunter in her hands, a slim shaft that curved at the end into an egg head.

She tested it between her fingers and gave me the same tepid feedback that she’d been giving me so far. “I’m not sure.”

The surge of anticipation growing my dick decimated my efforts to be patient. “Just pick one. Okay? I’m told they all feel fantastic. I know you’ve used at least one vibrator before, on the video clip, right?”

“Yeah,” she said tentatively. “And before that, Bree gave me a little one as a gag gift for my birthday, but I lost it.”

It was just like Lily to lose what was likely the only sex toy she’d ever owned. Did I have to fall for the only woman in Boston who didn’t count a vibrator an essential must-have?

“Lily?” I said. “Before the video clip, had anyone ever vibed you?”

“Me?” She let out a nervous giggle. “Um...no.”

“Then I want to vibe you, and I don’t mean just a drive by over your clit. I mean to properly vibe you, outside and in, for the first time ever.” I planned to be her first, last and only one at this, but that was my private gig.

She lay still and quiet for a full sixty seconds, with her hands clasped together over her chest like a stone effigy from some medieval tomb. I didn’t know what she was thinking, but I waited with the patience of a goddamn saint.

“Is this important to you?” she finally said.

Pleasing her? “Hell, yes.”

“Okay then.” She took a deep breath and let out a rush of air. “The little one.”

I fitted the Sonic Boom to my finger and settled between her legs. I kissed her closely-cropped mound and nudged her legs apart. I tested her, running a finger between her cleft. She was already nice and wet, but her legs snapped shut as soon as the vibrator buzzed in the general proximity of her pussy.

Christ, give me strength. “Lily?”

“Sorry.” She turned her face toward my voice, cheeks glowing incandescent red. “It’s an impulse. It’s like blinking. Or sneezing.”

“It’s a bad habit,” I said, “and bad habits can be corrected.”

“I’m trying,” she said, “but my mind gets in the way.”

It was an honest answer and perhaps it should’ve dissuaded me from my course, but the truth was that Lily’s honesty, combined with her sexual vulnerabilities, were an aphrodisiac to me. My cock was so hard it wanted to explode out of my pants.

I reached out for her hand and kissed it. “We’ve been working on this keep-your-legs-open thing for a while now with little progress. There are creative ways in which we can deal with this.”

“Creative how?”

My groin tightened. “I could restrain your legs, if you’d like.”

She chewed on that. “But you said no cuffs tonight.”

“I said no handcuffs,” I clarified. “The rest is up to you.”

“Do you think it’ll help?”

“Absolutely.”

“Would you like that?”

Christ, I would. “But only if you want to.”

She moistened her lips. “I’d like to please you tonight.”

I almost lost it.

“Okay.” Her voice steeled with resolve. “Tie me up.”

How I made it through the next few minutes, God only knew, because my cock had turned into a concrete beam. The process of tying down one’s lover for the purpose of pleasure required the right tools, care and expertise. Fortunately, I had all of those handy.

I found everything I needed in the bed’s well-stocked drawers. I secured a pair of flexible cuffs to Lily’s ankles, but her knees could still be a problem. So I fastened a second pair around her thighs, right above the knees.

The bed came properly equipped. All I had to do was flip open the middle and lower compartments that concealed the adjustable straps. I hooked the cuffs to the straps and tightened them until Lily’s legs stretched wide apart with her knees bent and her ankles strapped down at opposite sides of the mattress.

“One last thing,” I said. “I know we agreed to no handcuffs, but you might need some extra help.”

I slid open the wooden rosette centered in the headboard. An iron ring folded out of the compartment, complete with a looped strap.

“You may need something to hold on to.” I took Lily’s hands and, lifting her arms above her head, wrapped her fingers around the loop. “Don’t let go. Got it?”

Her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip. She nodded, hair rustling on the pillow. In this position, with her legs spread and her torso stretched out, her breasts jutted out and her nipples pierced the air like a pair of shiny bullets. It wasn’t the whole kit and caboodle, but I couldn’t complain, because I had this gorgeous woman spread on my bed.

My cock throbbed at the spectacular sight. I didn’t think I could hold back for much longer, but I wanted Lily’s pleasure to last all night. Plus she’d said that bit about pleasing me.

“No peeking.” I checked her blindfold before I stripped my pants and my boxers, even though I’d come to trust Lily with the blindfold ninety-nine percent. “How are you feeling?”

“Um...indecent?”

“You are, by far, the most stunning, indecent woman in the world.” I braced my knee on the bed and rubbed the head of my cock against her nipple. “Now, Lily, open your mouth and show me how you like to please me.”

I fitted my cock in her mouth. I had to get rid of the urgency, because an out-of-control cock is a poor instrument with which to accomplish someone else’s pleasure. Her lips activated, tightening around my girth. Her mouth and tongue worked my angles with incredible diligence. I slid in and out of the well of her throat, leaving a trail of pre-come in my cock’s wake.

My incursion into her mouth didn’t last long. Within moments, I pulled out and pumped my cock in my fist. With a muted groan, I spurted my load on Lily’s chest. Some of it splashed on her breasts. A trickle drained into the hollow spot between her clavicles. The rest flowed in the opposite direction, down the middle of her body to pool on her belly.

“Christ, Lily.” I teetered on weak knees. “Your mouth is a slice of paradise.” I had to catch my breath before I dabbed the vibrator’s silicon finger in one of the come puddles and put it to her lips. “Have a taste.”

She licked her lips.

The spark that powered my cock flickered back to life as if I hadn’t just come a minute ago. No way around it. This was what Lily did to my body. She turned me into Superfuckingman.

I switched on the small vibrator. She gasped when I varnished her areolae with my come, working the silicon pad over her nipples until she could no longer stand it. I turned my attention to her pussy, superimposing an imaginary grid of the female erogenous zones on her private terrain. With her legs strapped down, I had unprecedented access to her clit. I intended to use the advantage.

I ran the vibrator over her mons before I turned south. A shiver shook her entire body, unleashing the flock of goose bumps that rippled across her skin. Once she adjusted to the sensations, I parted her labia and ran the vibrator along her inner surfaces, sliding over pink walls and teasing the tiny folds.

She whimpered faintly. I knew that sound well. It tightened my groin and echoed all the way to my dick. And this was only the beginning.

I rubbed the vibrator up and down her cleft and watched her luster thicken into a mouth-watering dew. Lily tried to squirm, but the straps held her firmly in check. The scent of aroused female filled my senses, Lily’s erotic fragrance, my personal spice of life. I worked the toy around her edges, applying the vibration directly to her sensitive opening.

“Oh, my God, Josh!”

“I know, really good, right?” I shifted the vibrator, making a small circuit around her clit.