Heart-Shaped Hack (12 page)

He seemed in no hurry to pull her down onto the bed, maybe because he was at eye level with her breasts. Her suspicions were confirmed when he stroked her nipples with his thumbs. When he put his hands on her waist to bring her closer so that he could circle her nipples with his tongue, Kate’s legs got wobbly. She rested her hands on his shoulders and watched him, sighing when he began to suck.

Kate pulled off his sweater and T-shirt. She wanted them to be skin-to-skin, and Ian pulled her down onto the bed as if he’d read her mind, holding Kate close as he kissed her. His hands were everywhere: in her hair, on her hips, and moving lightly up and down her back. He slipped his fingers under the elastic of her thong and slowly pulled it off, his fingers trailing down her legs from her thighs to her feet.

“Your legs are every bit as incredible as I thought they’d be,” he said before spreading them.

Silently he drank in the sight of her naked before him, and she ached for him to touch her. Her breathing quickened when he finally began to stroke her, starting near the top of her thigh and then moving slowly inward until he reached her center.

“Oh,” Kate said, letting out a moan. “Look at you, finding that spot on your first try.”

Ian circled it with his thumb. “I don’t understand how anyone can have trouble finding it. It’s right
here
.”

Kate squirmed under his fingers because even though Ian knew exactly where it was, he was skating around it, not quite touching it, which was driving her insane in the most wonderful way. He dragged his finger downward and slipped it inside her, then dragged it back up again and repeated the circular torture. He did this slowly, continually, until Kate couldn’t remember her own name. Her apartment would have to be on fire for them to stop, because there was nothing she would rather be doing at that moment than letting Ian explore her body with his magic hands.

Until he started exploring her with his tongue.

He kissed his way down her body until his head was between her legs, and Kate found the feel of his scruff scraping her inner thigh incredibly arousing. Holding her open, he resumed the same movements with his tongue that he’d been doing with his fingers. As wonderful as that had felt to Kate, this was even better.

She was so close, but he kept her on the brink, slowing down his movements before speeding back up again. “Ian,” she said, shamelessly holding on to his hair and trying to keep him in place. “Please, I’m begging you.”

He slipped a finger inside her and then flicked his tongue right where she wanted it most. When the flicking turned into light sucking, Kate came harder than she ever had in her life, and the pulsing waves of her orgasm seemed to go on forever.

“Did that feel good?” he asked.

Kate’s sigh, and her incoherent response, made him laugh softly. As soon as she came back down to earth and caught her breath, she straddled Ian’s thighs, unbuttoned his jeans, and pulled his zipper down slowly.

“How did this possibly fit inside here?” she asked, sliding her hand down the front of his jeans and palming him.

“It was a tight squeeze,” he said, groaning.

“It’s even bigger than I remember.”

“That’s because I am very, very hard.”

Kate took off the rest of his clothes, thankful for the weak glow coming from the bedside lamp. Ian’s body was long and lean and strong and hard, and this time instead of just looking at it, she could touch him anywhere she wanted. Twisting her fingers in his hair, she kissed him and then nibbled on his ear and sucked gently on his neck. There was something about the smell of his skin that made her want to explore every inch of him with her face. She licked and nipped her way from his shoulder down to his chest. Then she brought her hand lower, skimming over his hardness and cupping him from underneath. Slowly she teased and tortured him, the way he’d teased and tortured her. But it was the sweetest, most erotic kind of torture, and Kate didn’t think he minded at all.

When she switched from her hands and fingers and started exploring him with her mouth, he was the one who twisted his fingers in her hair as he groaned. One by one, she followed the steps she’d learned from reading the article about oral pleasure. That information was clearly golden as evidenced by the fact that Ian seemed in danger of losing his ever-loving mind. His breathing sounded out of control, and his whispered praise would have put a smile on Kate’s face had her mouth not been otherwise engaged.

It surprised her when he stopped her. “As incredible as this feels—and I should mention that the time you spent online was time very well spent—when I come, I want it to be when I’m inside you.” He sat up. “Where are my jeans? I brought condoms.”

Kate found his jeans on the floor, reached into the front pocket, and handed him a condom. She expected him to hurry, to only be thinking about himself, but he leaned over, kissed her, and began to stroke her the way he had when he’d first started exploring her. His touch was so light, so teasing, that she became aroused again almost immediately, and she arched into his hand, wanting more. When he put on the condom and covered her with his body, she welcomed the solid weight of him pressing her into the mattress.

Wedged between her legs, not yet inside her,
but oh so close
, he hesitated. “Do you know what I’m about to do to you, sweetness?”

“What?” she asked breathlessly. “Of course I do.”

“What’s it called?” he asked, and there was no mistaking his cocky tone.

When she realized why he’d asked, all she could do was laugh. “You are about to penetrate me, Ian.”

He laughed too. “I am. I’m about to go as deep as I can until I’m as far inside as you’ll let me go. I promise you’ll like it. I am
really
good at it.”

“Then stop talking and show me.”

Ian made the most delicious sound when he entered her, somewhere between a groan and a sigh. He pulled out almost all the way and slowly pushed back in, eliciting a similar sound from her.

Though she absolutely wanted to be with Ian and was definitely turned on, she didn’t have high hopes that he’d be able to bring her to orgasm again. In the five years she’d been with Stuart, Kate had rarely found her release from penetration alone. This was more than likely due to Stuart’s tendency to skimp on foreplay and the fact that he never varied his rhythm and preferred a speed and intensity that was too hard and too fast for her no matter how much she tried to slow him down. He was always good about circling back around to help her out afterward, but because she knew he’d rather roll over and pass out, she felt like a burden and often told him not to worry about it, especially toward the end of their relationship.

So when Ian pulled back out again, she braced herself for the rapid onslaught that was certainly about to start.

But that didn’t happen.

His pace was slow, rocking more than thrusting, which put the perfect amount of pressure right where she needed it most.

“Oh, keep doing that,” Kate murmured, and he did.

She locked her ankles behind his back and tilted her hips up to meet him. The pleasure started to build as he matched his thrusts to the rhythm she set until she was the one who wanted, needed, him to go faster. Unlike sex with Stuart, it was different when she was the one who increased the speed. Sex with Ian was so much better than she’d ever imagined it could be with anyone, and when she came, she wasn’t shy about letting him know how good it felt.

He joined her moments later, shuddering and shaking, breathing heavily and groaning out her name. Not Katie, but Kate. His pulsing movements slowed and came to a stop, and he pulled out of her and shifted his weight so that he was lying on his side, holding her in his arms. They kissed lazily as Ian stroked her cheek with his thumb. He left briefly to go into the bathroom, and when he returned, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head down onto his chest.

You let that mysterious hacker right into your bed. You let him do all those wonderful things to you, and you don’t even know his last name.

“I’m not sure how this happened,” she said.

“Well, first I undressed you, and then you undressed me. Then you let me penetrate you. You seemed to really enjoy it,” he said mildly.

“It was absolutely incredible, and enjoy doesn’t even begin to describe how good it felt. I meant how did we make it this far? I didn’t even
like
you three weeks ago.”

“Maybe you finally realized I’m actually a good guy. And maybe I was right about what you were looking for.”

“Which is?”

“Someone who stimulates your body
and
your mind. You haven’t completely figured me out yet, but you want to.”

She propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at him. “You’re right. I do.” When he slid his hand behind her head to pull her mouth down to his, she had to admit, if only to herself, that she was more than a little turned on by that.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

It was nearly ten before she opened her eyes the next morning, and sunlight was seeping through the cracks in the blinds. Ian was spooning her, which was apparently his default sleeping position. She listened to him breathing softly, feeling content and pleasantly sore in all the right places
.

Slipping carefully out of his arms, she scooped her robe off the floor and headed for the bathroom. After she relieved herself and brushed her teeth and hair, she quietly made her way to the kitchen to start the coffee. As she waited for it to brew, she heard the water running in the bathroom, and Ian walked into the kitchen a minute or two later wearing only his underwear. His hair looked as if a woman had been running her hands through it all night, which wasn’t far from the truth. She’d never known a man whose bedhead only made him more attractive.

He kissed her, tasting of toothpaste. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

Kate opened the refrigerator and found it empty. She wasn’t much of a cook, but she could have made them an omelet or some toast if she’d had any eggs, cheese, or bread. “Unfortunately, I decided not to go grocery shopping before I left.”

“No need for groceries. I say we shower and go out for breakfast after we finish our coffee,” Ian said. “You can wear one of those new sweaters I bought you. It looks cold out there.”

They carried their coffee into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Kate threw a blanket over them. “Did you sleep well?”

“I always sleep well when I have a naked woman’s body to wrap myself around.”

“You do like to spoon.”

“What’s not to like? Your skin is very soft and your hair smells good. Plus my hands can reach all kinds of places.”

Kate had felt those hands wandering in the middle of the night. He’d kissed the back of her neck and then skimmed his palm down her chest and stomach, reaching between her legs and stroking her until she’d awakened fully, which had led to a rather prolonged and delightfully satisfying round two.

She smiled. “They certainly can. I have fond memories of those hands.”

“I should hope so.”

Kate took a drink of her coffee. “I’m surprised you don’t have that laptop open yet.”

“Cyberspace will just have to get along without me for a while.” He put his arm around Kate and kissed her forehead, drinking his coffee as if nothing was more important than being with her.

She snuggled closer, thinking about how long it had been since she’d felt this happy.

Kate grabbed a couple of towels and set them on the counter in the bathroom. She hung her robe on its hook on the back of the door and turned on the shower to let the water warm up. Ian had disappeared.

She found him in her bed, lounging among the twisted sheets like he didn’t have a care in the world. She stood naked in the bedroom doorway and said, “I thought we were getting in the shower?”

Ian beamed. “I am
loving
this revelation that you’re not modest either.”

“Well, not
now
,” Kate said. “What are you doing? I’m so hungry I’m about to gnaw my own arm off.”

“I, Ian, will never, ever infinity, walk in on Katie in the bathroom again unless specifically invited to do so.”

Kate’s eyes widened in disbelief. “After everything we’ve done and all the places your hands have been, you’ve suddenly discovered boundaries?”

“Don’t forget my tongue,” he said, as if she could.

Kate walked over to the bed and looked down at him. “Ian, would you like to join me in the shower?”

He pulled her down onto the bed and tickled her.

Kate squealed with laughter. “Stop that! Very ticklish!” She tried to get away and almost made it before he grabbed her ankle and pulled her back.

He was laughing as hard as she was, but then the laughing turned into kissing, and the kissing turned into touching.

“If we don’t get in there, we’re going to run out of hot water and then we’ll both be sorry,” she said. “Come with me. I promise to wash every inch of you.”

Ian followed her into the bathroom, stripped off his underwear, and pulled her into the shower with him. “I’m an incredibly filthy man, Katie.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” she said, laughing. “Like your last name.”

They walked to Wilde Roast Café. Ian had pulled off her glove and shoved it in his pocket so he could hold her hand. Despite the single-digit temperature, Kate was toasty warm in her parka and jeans and the white cable-knit sweater he’d bought her.

“Here we are again,” Ian said after they’d been seated and ordered coffee. “What was it I said to you the day I tracked you here by your credit card activity?”

“You should be trying to make me forget you ever did that.”

“Water under the bridge. I believe what I said was that I’d win you over eventually. Considering I’ve now been
inside you
, my prediction was quite accurate.” His smile got even bigger, as if he couldn’t be more delighted about the way things had turned out.

Ian was always happy. Forget moody. Forget brooding. An air of amusement surrounded him at all times, as if the world he lived in was just so infinitely entertaining and—in his case—there for the taking.