Deception (11 page)

He kissed her nose. “No. It was just really hard for me to hear about your pain.”

All of that skin and muscle so close to her caused her breathing to become erratic. Her body physically responded to her need as her breasts grew heavy and her nipples grew hard. She flattened her hands on his chest and let them rest there for a moment, soaking up his warmth.

“
My
pain,” Maura said.

“Yes.”

Her fingers inched away to caress his tight dark nipples. A groan deep in his throat sent a message straight to her core and she felt the increased wetness on the inside of her thigh.

“What about
your
pain?” Secretly she pleaded for him to confide in her.

He shook his head at her, and then a sexy smile slowly spread across his face. His lips enclosed on her earlobe and massaged. “I can smell your arousal,” he whispered. She felt the instant bloom of heat across her face and neck.

“Look how wild you are.” He pulled her in front of him—her back to his chest. She saw herself in the mirror with wild eyes and hair, deepened color, thick swollen lips, and hardened nipples visible through her melon-colored bikini top.

His fingers traced the fading marks on her neck, and then he untied her top and let it fall to the floor. His head came down, his hair tickling her chin as he kissed the fading teeth marks on the upper swell of her breast. Capturing her eyes in the mirror he said, “Tell me about these marks.”

Fear gripped her, seized her body where she stood and she stiffened. Her back arched as if prodded by a branding iron. “No! I don’t want to. Please Julian, erase his touch.” He turned her in his arms and held her tight. This time his mouth took hers with force and need as his tongue drank from her, leaving no surface unexplored. He cleansed her with his unwavering strokes and she was lost to him. Her memories disintegrated and the only thing that existed in that moment was Julian’s touch.

He pulled away and bent to retrieve her bikini top from the floor. When he fastened the top to her chest she started to cry.

“Why are you crying?”

The look of concern on his strong beautiful face was her undoing. “I thought you wanted me.”

His hand cupped her jaw. “I’ve never wanted anything more.” He wrapped the towel around her body. “Go to my bedroom. I’m going to finish changing out of these wet clothes and then I’ll meet you there. I didn’t figure you’d want to walk through the house topless.”

Embarrassed by her silly emotions, Maura rested her chin on her chest. “No, it definitely wouldn’t do to walk around without my top. It’d be just my luck to run into your dad.”

Julian smiled and kissed her forehead. “Hurry, I don’t want to be away from you for even a second.”

Maura stood speechless at his words. She’d ceased breathing.

Julian chuckled. “Breathe, Maura.”

His whispered breath in her ear made her weak kneed and she struggled to remain standing. She redoubled her efforts to act like a woman who’d actually been intimate with a man before and she opened the bathroom door. Looking back she said, “I’ll be waiting. And this time, I won’t be wearing the suit.”

***

Julian’s cock throbbed with need. He took off his wet slacks and underwear and changed into a pair of dry shorts—sans underwear. He opened the door and emerged from the bathroom to be met by the raised and questioning brows of Everett and Fiona. Julian didn’t know what to say so instead he just smiled. Too widely—Everett would know and he would tell Fiona that he and Maura were having sex. Nothing stayed quiet in his large family for very long. As he took the stairs two at a time his mind became one hundred percent focused on what he’d find behind his bedroom door—Maura, naked.

When his fingers closed around the knob his pulse spiked. Inside Maura had transformed his bedroom. Jane Monheit softly crooned from the speakers and she’d dimmed the lights all around the room. A light breeze drifted in through the open French doors off the back porch. Her face softly glowed from her position in his bed. She was covered to the neck with the bedclothes. His cock stood at full mast, tenting his shorts.

Warm feminine giggles filled the room and Julian made his way to the bed, crouching to advance as a tiger advancing on its prey. When he reached Maura he tickled her senseless. To his utter delight she was highly susceptible to wiggling fingers.

“No. Stop! I’ll pee in your bed.”

In her struggle, one full and perfectly formed breast had popped from beneath the covers. Julian bent his head and kissed the rose colored tip. Then he snapped the duvet and sheets back to expose the rest of her nakedness.

“Hey!” She attempted to pull the sheet over herself, but Julian held them out of her reach as his eyes delighted in her beautiful smooth and sun-kissed skin. The fading bruises on her side and neck and the bite marks across her breasts made him seethe with anger.

“Julian?”

When he didn’t respond Maura climbed atop him and kissed away his rage. She slid her silkiness down his body and unhooked his shorts. Her hands slid beneath the cloth and glided down to his lower back and then, cupping his ass, she moaned. Her shocking display of need and possession made him ache for her. His cock physically strained in its quest to be touched by her.

Running her tongue across his lips made them appear to be made from satin. Her eyes that normally appeared hazel were darkened with lust-fueled hunger. She pulled his shorts off and his erection sprang free. Smiling down at him like a playful nymph she said, “You’re awfully eager.”

He gathered her thick chestnut hair at the nape of her neck. “I’ve wanted you since the day you greeted me with your hot-pink thong panties in hand.”

“In Bailey’s office? The first time we met?”

“That’s right.”

“Do you mean that you haven’t had sex since then?”

“If we’re talking sex with a woman it’s been a while. I can’t say I haven’t pleasured myself to the image of you in my head.”

She blushed. It started in the apples of her cheeks and spread down to her chest. “You jacked yourself off while thinking of me?”

“I did, and it was too brilliant for me to feel shame.”

“Was it the same day you met me?”

“It was that and many more. Remember the day you were naked and fell on top of me? That was the best release of my existence.” Just thinking about that day had him taking himself in his hands, pulling hard and groaning with need.

Maura’s hand joined him, fisting around his girth. She pushed his own hand away and wrapped both of her hot, soft hands over the length of him, milking him while alternating a squeeze, and then a pull. It was heaven. When her tongue connected with the head of his cock a slew of expletives erupted from his mouth. It was more pleasure than he’d ever known. Giggles could be heard floating up from the porch and for the first time he was aware that his groans were loud and lustful. The fact that she’d opened the doors knowing their moans would settle over the back porch made her a vixen. He liked it.

“God Maura, you’re a sadistic little thing.”

She moaned and released him. “I was trying to set the mood. You’ll have to exercise some control.” Her wet heat enveloped him once again.

“Easy for you to say… you’ve got my cock in your hands and my head on your tongue.”

She released him and stood on her knees. “Do you want me to stop?”

“God, no. Don’t stop.”

Fisting him at the root with one hand she took the rest of him into her mouth. Her tongue massaged the underside of him while her fist squeezed and pumped. When her free hand began to knead his balls his body bowed as he reached the edge of climax.

His fingers kneaded her scalp while she continued her relentless pursuit of his climax. “Maura, I’m going to come.” His voice was a raw whisper.

She moaned around his cock in her mouth and that vibration sent him over the edge. His body bowed with his release, pushing him to the back of her throat and he came in long, thick ropes.

Moments passed and she arranged herself resting back on her heels. Suddenly she seemed shy and embarrassed as her blush deepened and she stared down at her clasped hands. “Maura.” His hands cupped her jaw. “You’re incredible.”

Her chin was slick with his come and she wiped the back of her hand across her chin in the most erotic gesture he’d ever witnessed. She was a centerfold. Better, because she was real and she was his. “You swallowed?”

She angled her face down so he couldn’t see her eyes. That wouldn’t do. With a gentle finger beneath her chin he lifted her eyes to his. “Talk to me.”

“I’ve never done that before. Not willingly.” Her voice was breathy. “I want you to mark me everywhere, Julian. Remove the memory of his touch from my body.”

Her words were a plea and her need was fundamental. Before he could complete what she asked of him, he needed to know where he stood.

“Maura, taking you to the place you want to be will be my life’s greatest pleasure. You’re beautiful. I can’t wait to taste you, to be inside of you.” He grinned, “I honestly can’t believe my good fortune. What I’d like to know is if you are wanting this from me because you want me specifically or—”

Her fingers pressed to his lips and then she leaned into him on her knees, kissing his mouth sweetly. “I consider you to be an all around smart man, but sometimes I swear you can be as dumb as a bag of hair.” Her fingers traced from his brow to his jaw and she lay on her side next to him, resting her head on her hands. “It’s you, Julian. Only you. The thought of anyone else makes me sick to my stomach. But you—I trust you with my body. I can’t explain it, but I think you can make me clean and whole again. Untarnished by him.” She swallowed back the grim look on her face. “I’m sorry. If you don’t want to take all that on I completely understand.” She giggled. “We’ve had a lot to drink. We could shut this down now and may not even remember what happened.”

His hand in her hair, he pulled her into his kiss. Massaging her lips with his own, her mouth opened to him on a gasp and his tongue discovered her depths. So soft, so feminine, so sexy. “I will never forget this night. Silly woman. And I’m glad to hear you say it’s me that you want.”

“Only you. When you’re around I can’t function. Maybe you’ve noticed I can’t execute a grammatically complete sentence in your presence.”

“I’ve noticed your breathing becomes shallow.”

“There’s that too.”

“I’m glad I have that effect on you.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. “You really are beautiful—spectacular. Your face is perfection. It’s your skin. It glows or something. It’s almost the color of gold.”

She scoffed. “You’re so drunk.”

“I’m being sincere. I’m also fond of your long legs. How tall are you?”

“Five-eleven.”

He smiled and nodded. “Check.”

“Check what?” She tilted her head in confusion.

“I actually made a list of the qualities I desired in a mate. Height was one of them. I’m a little over six feet and the women I’ve been with have all been really short. It’s like dating a preschooler.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Eww.”

“Yeah, that was a bad analogy.”

His head dipped and delicately bit into her side, where he’d tickled her before. She shrieked and more laughter emanated from the back porch.

Julian smiled and shook his head. “It’s like they’re listening, purposefully waiting to hear something extremely telling.”

“We shouldn’t hold back then.”

His finger traced a tight needy nipple. “Are you up for it?”

“Hmm, I don’t know if I’m up for it, but one thing’s for sure . . . your cock is.”

“The word cock coming from your lips is making me achingly hard again.”

“So why don’t you do something about it?” She gave him a defiant smirk.

“I’m trying to act like a gentleman instead of an animal.” He kissed the curve of her shoulder. He continued to kiss his way down her body. With gentle pressure he sucked her nipple into his mouth. To give her senses something to work on he grazed his teeth ever so gently across the hardened nub. She writhed and moaned and it spurred him on. He moved to the other nipple and glazed his tongue over the tip, feeling it furl even more. His mouth watered and he deposited moisture as he descended down the curve of her breast to her breastbone, sucking gently down her torso, around her navel, and the inside of her thigh. “Mmm, I could make a meal out of just these long silky legs.” Of their own will his hands massaged their way up and down her thighs.

She writhed and moaned an indulgent sound—the kind of behavior a woman exhibited to let her lover know she was pleased. Her right arm bent and she sucked her fingers into her mouth. He could watch her all day—the rest of forever. She was expressive with her passion, not hiding her pleasure from him.

He rested his cheek against the delicate flesh between her legs. She was soft, bare, and so hot. His tongue demanded her flavor. The first taste of her was so exquisite Julian realized he’d been surviving on scraps—starving.

Maura moaned his name around her fingers. When he sucked her clit into his mouth her thighs squeezed his head and her back arched off the bed. He loved how her entire body worked to bring her pleasure.

“
Shh. Listen.”

“What?”

“Somebody’s opened the gates of Mordor!”
Female laughter filtered in through the balcony.

Julian chuckled at their humorous description. “Let me close the doors.” He whispered against her flesh.

“Don't you dare move.”

When his middle finger slid between her silky lower lips her thighs pressed against him even tighter than before. Slowly his finger inside her curled in a rhythm that complemented the massage his lips gave to her clit. He watched as she writhed and let the pleasure wash over her, holding back nothing as she cried his name. He couldn’t wait any longer to be inside of her so while she wrestled with the vestiges of her orgasm he snatched a condom from the nightstand, and then rolled it over his painfully erect cock.

Maura was in the zone—her fingertips still in her mouth, her eyes closed, her arm lazily resting on her forehead. Rapid breathing had her chest moving up and down highlighting extended nipples. Perfect! A slight sheen of sweat hugged her torso. Using the moisture on her body he slid his hands along her hips, positioning and readying her for his advance. “What are you thinking about right now?”