In some ways it was an odd thing to say. It was her home, not his, and certainly not theirs. But at the moment
home
meant being alone with him in a place where they could explore, taste, enjoy. She couldn’t refuse him.
“Yes, it’s time. Let’s go.”
Chapter 6
This time Griffin barely noticed the climb to the third floor. He was running on pure adrenaline and in sight of his goal. Once they were inside Lily’s apartment, he made sure the door was locked while she dragged Daisy’s bed out into the living room.
“Stay,” she said to the dog.
Then she caught Griffin’s hand, pulled him into her bedroom, and shut the door.
He took a quick inventory of his surroundings, noting the black enameled headboard and dresser, mood lighting that cast a fiery glow, red linens and a purple blanket. If Lily made love the way she decorated, he was in for one hell of a ride.
She might very well be that dramatic. He’d ditched the jacket in the living room, and she was already sliding her soft hands under his T-shirt. That gentle caress had incredible consequences. His cock instantly jerked to rigid, quivering attention.
It demanded to be served, but before his control disappeared entirely, he had to take care of business. Cupping her face in both hands, he leaned down to nibble her lower lip. “Condoms,” he murmured.
She tickled her fingers through his chest hair and brushed them over his nipples. “Left-hand bedside table drawer.”
He groaned at the sensation of her hands on him. “That’s all I needed to know.” From that point on he was a man on a mission. His single-mindedness soon had her stretched on the red coverlet, wearing nothing but the silver hoops in her earlobes.
He’d kept her far too busy to undress him, so he nudged off his shoes, pulled off his T-shirt, and climbed into bed with her. The rest of his clothes would disappear in due time, but for now, he wanted to feast on the banquet that was Lily.
She was a study in contrasts—alabaster skin tinged with the rosy glow of arousal, accented by the midnight-black triangle concealing his ultimate destination.
His hungry gaze swept over her, lingering on the tempting pout of her nipples and the sweet indentation of her navel. His gaze dropped lower to a flash of dew-dropped pink amid the black curls. His pulse rate sky-rocketed. Yes, there.
Her voice was low and sultry. “Let me see you, Griffin.”
“I’m not nearly as exciting to look at as you are.”
She smiled. “That depends on your perspective. Take it off, Griffin. Take it all off.”
He did, and was gratified by the blatant eagerness in her expression.
“Now let me touch,” she said.
As if he would object. Stretching out on the bed next to her, his cock pointing at the ceiling, he invited her to explore. He’d never been with a woman who enjoyed the process this much. By the time she’d stroked, nibbled and licked her way over his hot skin, he was ready to explode.
At the very moment he decided to make her stop so he could salvage some staying power, she seemed to sense that he’d reached the end of his sexual rope. That kind of awareness in a woman was hard to find. He knew. He’d looked.
She slid up next to him, her body like velvet, her warmth issuing a siren’s call. “If I thought you could take it, I’d suck on your dick.”
He rolled to face her. “If I thought I could take it, I’d let you. But I have a better idea.”
“Ideas are good.”
“This one’s outstanding.” Easing her to her back, he began kissing his way down the length of her body.
Her breathing quickened the closer he drew to her flash point. “I think I know where this is going,” she said.
“Or coming.” He reached the object of his quest, a spot fragrant with pheromones. Gently he probed with his tongue, and she arched upward with a sharp gasp. This wouldn’t take very long.
He wanted—
needed
—to give her an orgasm before he lost himself completely in her heat. Once that happened, he couldn’t guarantee what he’d do. Knowing the urges driving him to bury his cock in her, he could become completely oblivious to her pleasure. He hoped not and that wasn’t like him, but with this woman, this level of lust, he couldn’t be sure.
And so he opened his mouth over her moist sweetness and used his tongue to send her into a frenzy. He loved the way she moaned, deep in her throat, as if his caress touched off a primitive reaction she couldn’t control. He didn’t want her to control it.
From the first moment he’d glimpsed her in the bar, he’d sensed something wild in her. That very wildness had made him back off and decide she wasn’t the one for him. Apparently he wasn’t that strong, because tonight he’d been blindsided by the compulsion to have her.
If this was to be his only night with Lily, he was going for broke. He was determined to arouse her wild side and discover what sort of woman she would become when the veneer of civilization had slipped away.
Making her climax was no challenge. But he wanted more than a mere orgasm. He wanted to turn her inside out and shatter her world, because he sensed that she was about to shatter his.
The ache in his loins was more powerful than anything he’d ever experienced. In order for her to be ready for that kind of intensity, in order for her to accept the vigor of his first thrust, she had to be wide open, her womb already pulsing in welcome.
And she would be. He felt the surge of orgasmic power building within her. She began to pant and utter breathless, pleading cries, as if she couldn’t get there fast enough. Sliding both hands under her hips, he lifted her up, which gave him even better access.
Her fingers dug into his scalp as she urged him on. He gloried in the force of her wanting as he plundered her riches, sucking her in, stroking her relentlessly with the flat of his tongue. She trembled, drew in a sharp breath, quivered again. He pressed down hard with his tongue and she came noisily, in a juicy, wonderful rush that filled him with even greater lust.
Another time he would kiss and lick and soothe her trembling vagina, but not now. Now marked that moment of desperation when he would die if he didn’t plunge into her. Leaving her moaning and undulating in the aftershock of her orgasm, he located the condoms in record time and put one on faster than he ever had in his life.
Quickly he moved between her quivering thighs, found that hot, wet center that he’d so recently abandoned and drove home. He barely recognized the bellow of triumph coming from him. The next few minutes were a blur of sensation as he began to thrust with increasing speed.
He was vaguely aware that she was tightening around him with every stroke, but he’d lost the ability to gauge whether she was ready to come or not. He no longer cared. His world centered on the pistonlike motion that carried him closer and closer to his personal nirvana.
Almost there. He pumped faster, breathing hard. Now. Yes.
Now!
He hurled himself into her, his body racked with tremors that left him gasping for air.
She cried out and lifted her hips. The constrictions of her climax stimulated his cock even more, increasing the pleasure until it bordered on pain. He groaned and sought to push even deeper into her rippling chamber. He couldn’t get enough of her. He’d never be able to get enough. Never.
Lily drifted in and out of sleep, but something wasn’t right. A heavy weight pressed her down and breathing normally was a struggle. Not only that, a warm breeze was coming from somewhere and it tickled her ear.
Eventually she roused herself enough to realize the weight was Griffin and he was out like a light. His head lay tucked against her shoulder, and that’s why a breeze tickled her ear.
She wasn’t surprised that he was asleep. That had been some session, and if he weren’t sprawled on top of her like a stone, she’d be asleep, too. Great sex could have that kind of effect on a person.
But this had been more than great sex. This had been life-altering sex, and it was all her fault. She waited for guilt to extinguish her post-great-sex glow, but for some reason, that didn’t happen.
Maybe she hadn’t done something so terrible, after all. She and Griffin liked the same coffee drink. They liked the same kind of dog. Sexually they were a terrific match. Relationships had been built on less than that.
Then again, she might not be thinking straight because she couldn’t get enough oxygen to her brain. Somehow she had to move Griffin before he crushed her. She’d like to move him without waking him, though.
All her rationalizations aside, she was slightly nervous about what life would be like for each of them now. With Griffin still asleep, she could paint a rosy picture of two compatible people enjoying each other’s company. She could forget about Anica’s dire warnings.
But she also had to breathe. She began by giving his shoulder a nudge. It was like trying to move a statue in Grant Park.
She might have to wake him up a little bit, just enough to get him to shift over on his own. If she shook him . . . She tried her best to accomplish a decent shake, but nothing happened. He wasn’t moving. She’d always liked the fact that he looked so solid, but now that he was both solid and unconscious, she faced a problem.
Wiggling out from under him didn’t work, either. She was pinned to the bed and her chest hurt. She called his name, but he didn’t respond. She called louder. Still no movement from Griffin.
If the sleep clinic at the University of Chicago needed a poster boy, Griffin would be their guy. She’d known good sleepers in her life but he was a world champion. Of course, this particular deep sleep might have more than a little magic going for it. After all, he’d just had the most significant sexual experience of his life. That sort of thing probably induced all sorts of heavy-duty sleep needs.
Unfortunately, she’d have to wake him up. Somehow. Reaching up, she took hold of his ear. “Griffin, wake up.” She pinched his ear gently.
He moaned softly but didn’t move even a centimeter.
“Griffin, sweetie, you have to move.” She threw the
sweetie
in there because she was about to inflict more pain. She pinched his ear really hard.
“Ow!” Scrambling up, he stared down at her in shock, his hazel eyes filled with accusation. “You pinched my ear!”
“Only because I couldn’t get you to move any other way. I’m sorry. I was suffocating with you lying on top of me.”
As he gazed down at her, all the irritation faded from his expression. “You’re so beautiful.”
She smiled. “Maybe sometimes, but not at the moment. At the moment I’m sure my makeup’s smeared and my hair’s a wreck. That’s nice of you to say, though.”
“I’m not saying it to be nice. You’re gorgeous. I could eat you up. But I need to grab a shower. Then I’ll follow up on that thought.”
Before she could open her mouth, he’d left the bed and disappeared into her bathroom. She turned her head and checked the bedside clock. Two fifteen in the morning, and Griffin sounded as if he was ready to go another round. Whew. Well, she could probably manage that, especially if she showered herself.
While she could sleep in, however, she’d be surprised if he could. She wasn’t a lawyer, but she’d watched TV shows about lawyers, and the job seemed to include a lot more pressure than her bartending duties. She didn’t think Griffin could afford to show up exhausted.
If the spell had worked, and by his reaction she had a feeling it had, then they’d have many more nights like this. They didn’t have to experience everything immediately, and they’d both probably enjoy themselves more if they got some rest.
The shower was already running by the time she worked up the energy to climb out of bed. In theory, making love all night sounded great. In practice, for a couple of working folks, it could cause problems.
She walked into the steamy bathroom, but even with the mirror fogged, she could see that her hair was sticking out in all directions. Not what she’d call gorgeous. But his comment had been good for her ego.
From inside the shower came the sound of a washcloth slapping against damp skin. Her libido perked up, but she told it to calm down. She and Griffin needed several hours of sleep more than they needed to dance another horizontal mambo.
“Griffin?”
“I’m almost done.”
“Listen, I’m flattered that you want to pick up where we left off, but you have to get up early for work. What if we make a plan for tomorrow night after I’m finished at the Bubbling Cauldron?”
He turned off the shower and slid back the curtain decorated with red and black swirls.
She gulped. There was nothing quite like a fine specimen of manhood standing in a girl’s shower to ruin all her noble intentions. His muscled body glistened in the overhead light. Droplets of water clung to his chest hair and the dark curls surrounding his penis.
As her gaze wandered in that direction, his balls tightened and his penis swelled. He had quite a package there, and she was mesmerized by the rapid inflation going on.
“I can’t wait until tomorrow night,” he said quietly.
Her brain stalled. She’d been trying to make a point, but damned if she could remember what it was.
“Stay right there.” He stepped out of the tub and left the bathroom. “I’ll put something on.”
“Don’t do that on my account.” She couldn’t have moved if she’d wanted to. The sight of his tight ass when he’d walked away had rooted her to the spot. No doubt she’d had her hands on that very fine part of his anatomy earlier tonight, but she must not have been paying proper attention. That was the kind of feature a girl needed to worship with both sight and touch.
When he returned, she realized what he’d meant by
putting something on.
He was nicely dressed in another condom. His eyes were hot as they roamed over her.
Suddenly sleep was the farthest thing from her mind.