Hidden Depths (12 page)

"Good, then I'll drive you home."

"My car is right here and I only live a couple blocks
away, lawyer boy. I'm fairly certain I can get myself home."

Now he pushed harder against her, bringing his hands up to
rest against the side of her jeep, effectively trapping her with his body. She
could feel his breath against her ear when he answered, "I'm sure you can.
But I'm not letting you out of my sight until we talk about this, Gia."

He nipped her neck, reminding her of the bite mark she had
spent all day hiding. She may still have chills running through her body, but
she was done with his overbearing attitude. Done with his assumptions that she
was simply going to give him his way.

She bumped her hips back...hard. Hard enough to cause a
quick intake of breath as she slammed into his already obvious erection. The
shock, and probably a little twinge of pain, caused him to move his hands and
back up a step.

"I happen to agree that we need to talk Josh, but I
will drive my car home. You may follow me and we can discuss this... behavior
of yours somewhere more private."

Her body may give in to him, but she'd be damned if her will
would.

Without saying another word, Josh turned and walked back to
his car, starting it up as she climbed into hers.

She must have been mistaken, but she could have sworn she
heard him chuckle as he walked away.

The drive to Gia's house took less than five minutes, even
when driving cautiously to avoid hitting any of the pedestrian traffic. The
Village was hopping... pretty standard for a Saturday night. She would bet that
she could walk into The Tavern and find any number of her friends there. As she
passed, she gave thought to a detour, but quickly decided against it. If she
was reading Josh correctly, they were having this conversation whether she
wanted to or not, and she wasn't kidding that she'd rather do it in private.

She parked in her garage, letting Josh park in the driveway.
She closed the garage door behind her then headed inside and upstairs to open
the front door and let him in. A small childish piece of her wanted to let him
stand there while she went to hide in her room. Trying to ignore her inner
whiner, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

He stood there, one arm resting beside the door, the other
on his hip. He was in black combat boots, faded old jeans that fit like a
glove, and a tight black T-shirt. His windblown hair looked somehow even darker
than normal, a stray lock hanging just over his left eye. And his eyes... those
incredibly blue eyes, were looking back at her with some blend of humor and
something darker. Desire?

He looked absolutely freakin' amazing. She wanted to slam
the door in his face. She wanted to jump up and kiss him. She wanted to screw
him senseless.

She invited him in with a small hand gesture, stepping back
to give him room. And to give herself a little distance from him. She stopped
when she hit the edge of her sofa, leaning against the arm rather than sitting
down.

He closed the door behind him, turning back to face her, the
amusement starting to overpower the darker edge to his eyes.

"So, how long did you debate before deciding to open
the door?"        

She would never admit to that. "Why would I debate
anything? It's not like you've never been here before."

He smirked. "True. But, I've never been here to discuss
sex before."

Swallowing hard to push the saliva past the lump in her
throat, Gia finally found the breath to answer.

"Is that what you think we are going to be discussing?
I was figuring we'd chat about your sudden need to explore your latent interest
in the 'other' half. Or maybe your sudden need to grope me in public. To stare
at my breasts in front of all of our friends. Or how about your foolish
assumption that there is something going on between us other than a few mistakes.
Or even your absolute stupidity in breaking up with your fiancé because of
those stupid lapses in judgment. Shall we talk about that?"

"Right... the mistakes. The 'one time' mistake that you
swore would never happen again. Is that the one you mean? Or, maybe the mistake
was you coming against my thigh last night. Is that the mistake you wanted to
talk about?"

He was walking towards her, one slow step at a time. She
quickly stood, folding her arms across her chest as if she could somehow shield
herself from him.

Finally, at a loss for words, Gia just gave in. "What
do you want from me?"

Josh stopped where he was. She looked... defeated? Was that
possible? Gia was never at a loss for anything, let alone at a loss for words.
And she was never defeated.

His brain finally managed to wrap around her last question.
A difficult task since his head was clouded with anger and lust. Why did she
keep denying what was between them? It couldn't be one sided. Even if he had
believed that before, last night had proved that she felt something too.

So, what did he want from her...?

"I want you to just admit that there is something here,
Gia. Just admit that this wasn't a 'one time mistake never to be repeated'.
Admit that you're attracted to me."

"Attracted to you. A stuffy, uptight lawyer, who until
recently was engaged to one of my best friends. Why in the hell would I be
attracted to you?"

That stung. He knew it was a defense mechanism on her part,
but it still stung. Willing himself to calm down before he did something
stupid, he took a deep breath, sighing it out long and slow.

"If you're not attracted to me then explain what you
think is going on here. Explain the night in your tattoo shop, explain why your
nipples get hard when you know I'm watching, despite the fact that our friends
are sitting right there. And then, explain last night."

He took another step toward her, somehow compelled to be
closer to her, to physically prove her wrong.

She backed up another step. So he took another. And she went
backward. Another, and another step back. Finally she hit the wall, shock
registering in her eyes. There was a mere three feet between them. A distance
he could close with one long stride. So, he waited, unable to stop the smile
that flitted across his lips at seeing her so... nervous. Gia was nervous, and
it was because of him.

He loved it.

"Fine, I'll explain it, although you're not going to
like the answer. It really has nothing to do with you, Josh. It is simply a
physical thing. I haven't had sex in a while... a long while if I'm being
honest. And you came onto me pretty hard and fast, stirring up a response
before I had time to really even think about who I was kissing. It is a simple
physical reaction. Just like my nipples getting hard when I know someone is
looking at them. Plus, everyone was looking, not just you. And we were all
talking about how they feel, do they enhance pleasure and what not. Everyone
was feeling a little spark of something, which is why Blake put a stop to the
conversation. See, it really has nothing to do with you personally, like I have
already told you."

Josh took another small step toward her and watched as her
hands made little fists against the wall. Another little smile before he asked,
"And last night. How do you explain that away, Gia? It was just me and
you, no one else looking, no hard and fast attack from me. We were just
dancing. So, what made you hot enough to orgasm, on a dance floor, surrounded
by people, if it has nothing to do with me?"

He took one more step, raising his arms beside her head as
he finished speaking. He watched as her breathing accelerated, her chest
started to heave in small, shallow breaths. He took a quick glance at her
nipples, delighted to see them pushing into tight little points against her shirt,
before looking up into her emerald green eyes. Eyes that were watching him,
warily.

"What is this new thing you have with trying to pen me
in, Josh. Back up and give me some breathing room."

"No. Answer the question. What about last night?"

She pushed at his chest, trying to get space... space he had
no intention of allowing her.

"Answer the damn question, Gia."

"I was just drunk," she blurted out.

He smiled again, knowing it was a lie. "Drunk. So, did
you have an orgasm with Dev, too?"

"No!"

She actually seemed upset that he would even think that.

"So, then why with me?"

She shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "Better
angle."

He leaned in, bringing his face within inches of hers, not
close enough for their lips to touch, but close enough that he could feel her
breath hot against his mouth.

"Do you want me to prove you wrong? Right here, right
now... stone cold sober."

"It still wouldn't prove anything, Josh. I told you
it's been a long time for me. You've known me long enough to know that I like
men, and I like sex, and I haven't had any of either. I just need to get off,
to scratch an itch."

"I thought you did get off. Want me to try again?"

"No! Yes... no, that's not... I mean... it will take
more than once."

Now Josh let the smile show. He was sure it looked as
predatory as he felt, and just a little smug as he felt the first little
glimmer of triumph begin to run through his veins.

"I accept your challenge."

Chapter 16

"What? What challenge?" Gia asked, her voice
sounding breathless even to her own ears. Why was he standing so damn close?
She couldn't think with him right in her face like this. God was it hot in
here. She pushed at his chest again, trying in vain to get away from him.

"You need sex, or at least a few good orgasms. I accept
the challenge of giving them to you. So, how many? Two? Four? Six?"

"How many?"

"Yes. Give me a number. How many times do you need to
come in, say, the next forty eight hours, for you to be satisfied? What's it
going to take for you to realize that it is not just physical desire, but
rather desire for me?"

Deciding that she would just name a random number, a number
he couldn't possible achieve, she blurted out "Ten."

He raised his eyebrows, but didn't seem even a little bit
worried. "You're feeling greedy I see."

"Well, if you can't take the heat, get out of the
kitchen."

"Deal."

"Deal? What deal?" She was confused. What had they
just agreed to?

"I give you ten orgasms in the next forty eight hours
and you admit that there is something between us worth exploring."

She froze. Had she actually just agreed to that? She agreed
to have sex with him, just to prove she didn't want to have sex with him? How
was that possible? He must have played some stupid lawyer trick on her.

"Just a sec there, lawyer boy. You think you just won
something, I can tell by your eyes, but I think you misunderstood. I want ten
orgasms... without us having sex."

"And by sex you mean..."

He just left the question hanging there, waiting for her to
fill in the details. She took a deep breath and started setting parameters for
this little deal. Something to make it impossible for him to succeed.

"I mean no actual sex. And no toys. It has to be all
manual. If I wanted a vibrator I could handle it myself."

"So, manual stimulation, without intercourse. What
about fingers?"

As he asked, he ran the tip of one finger gently from her
ear down to her collarbone, then back up her cheek, outlining her lips until
she gasped for air.

"Fin... fingers are fine."

Now he leaned in, trailing the same path with his lips, his
hot tongue peeking out occasionally to taste her skin. He traced the edge of
her ear with that tongue before whispering, "And mouths... what about
mouths?"

"Mouths are... good... good too." She wanted to
grab his head and force his mouth to hers. Now. Right. Fucking. Now.

Just as she was sure she was going to melt into a puddle
right here in her living room, Josh stood up straight, taking his heat and
support with him.

He casually looked at his watch, then looked back at her
with a grin. "So, let's make sure I have this correct, shall we? I can
touch, taste, kiss, lick, suck... anything and everything... as long as I don't
use a vibrator or any other toys. I have forty eight hours, which gives us
until..." another quick glance, "ten p.m. on Monday night, to make
you come ten times. But, no sex... which I am understanding to mean no actual
intercourse, since this is all a form of sex. Does that sound about right to
you?"

Gia stood against the wall, her traitorous body still
humming just from his closeness, from his measly little lick of her ear. She
nodded mutely, unable to form words around the visions playing in her head of
all that touching, and tasting, and licking...

"Good. Then I guess we'd better get started."

Josh grabbed Gia and throwing her over his shoulder in a
fireman's carry, he turned and stomped up the stairs toward her room.

Josh couldn't believe what had just happened. He had come
over here, desperate for a way to make Gia at least consider the possibility
that there was something between them, and she had just handed him his answer.
Not only was he going to prove to her that this was not just a hormonal need,
but he was going to have one hell of a good time doing it.

He smiled as he found her bedroom, walking in and tossing
her rather unceremoniously on the bed. She huffed out air as she landed,
clearly still shocked by everything that had just taken place. He had expected
her to be pounding on his back and ass as he carried her up here. Possibly even
biting if she'd had the chance. In an effort to keep her off balance, he dove
forward landing over her and catching his weight on his arms. Without giving
her time to think about... anything, he went straight for her mouth.