If You Dare (12 page)

Right.

He could definitely get used to this.

“I’m real comfortable with that idea, darlin’.”
 

He felt the cold air settle on his skin as she pushed his shirt off onto the floor.

“So you might as well resign yourself to the fact that you’re in need of some relaxation too.”

What more could a man want? Honestly?

“I’m resigned. Trust me. I’m resigned.”

He watched as she slid his dress pants down his legs, felt the cool air hit him as she tugged at his briefs and let them fall too.

“I bet that water’s warm.”

He didn’t figure he could get much warmer. “You cold?”

He looked pointedly at her hardened nipples and watched her cheeks flush. Damn, there she went and did cute again. He loved it when she did that.

She didn’t bother to answer. Instead, she stepped down and he watched as the water settled around her thighs. Now that wasn’t cute.
 

That was just sexy as hell.

And then he held out his hand. Oh yeah. If she wanted to call the shots the rest of the night, he’d be more than happy to let her.

Taking a step he let his foot sink into the warm, bubbling water and watched as she smiled up at him.

As he sank into the tub beside her, she leaned back against the edge and sighed.
 

“So you were saying something about tense?”

For a second Joe couldn’t remember what she was talking about. But then he remembered his plan.
 

Oh yeah. Tense. As in delay. As in have some fun. Fun that didn’t necessarily include penetration. At least not for now. What he wanted was a couple hours of mind sex. Foreplay that lasted longer than a few minutes. If he could just get his body to cooperate.
 

If he could just get her to cooperate.

He scooted across the seat of the hot tub and grabbed her hand. “Yeah. I said you were looking a little tense. And then you went all dominatrix on me and made me get in the water too.”

He lifted his hand and poured a stream of water down her arm. “You know, I’m going to have a hard time relieving your tension now.”

She didn’t lift her head from the side of the tub, but she did turn to look at him when she spoke. “I bet you’ll think of something. And I didn’t go all dominatrix. It’s called assertive.”

The teasing tone in her voice made him smile.

Seemed like he pretty much smiled all the time she was around. It’d been a hell of a long time since he could say that about a woman.
 

Of course, it had just been a day.

“Assertive huh? Well, let me be a little assertive right back at you. Scoot on over here and let’s see about that tension.”

She didn’t bother resisting, just slid over until she fit right between his legs.

Her wet skin felt slick and soft and hot on his and Joe wondered if it was possible to just talk, just touch and feel and play, with a hard on that begged for personal attention.

Hell, the hallway sex seemed to have him harder and hotter than before instead of worn out. Absolutely insane and totally incredible. All rolled into one.

Well hell.
 

He was going to try.

He couldn’t do much more than that.

Cordelia closed her eyes as she felt his warm hands caress her neck and shoulders.
 

Nothing had prepared her for the sensual onslaught of this moment.
 

Sitting naked between his legs in the water made her entire body feel like one big sexual toy. She could feel his erection pressed against her back, but he didn’t seem all that inspired to use it right then. But, oh God, it felt so good.

And then his hands. Oh man, oh man, oh man.

She felt a breath of cold air hit her wet neck and shivered as Joe bent to taste her with a tiny kiss.

But then he sat back up and just let his hands drift up and down her back in lazy crazy eights that had her entire system humming.

He just thought she’d been tense before.

He bent again and she felt his breath on her ear as he whispered. “Tell me your fantasies.”

She almost laughed out loud as chill bumps blossomed down her body. She could imagine his reaction if she told the truth. Oh let’s see, sitting naked in a whirlpool with you so far surpasses my fantasies, I don’t know what to say.

She leaned forward and let her elbows rest on her knees, let her hardened nipples dip in the warm water, as he deepened the message on her back. Oh man that felt so incredible. She didn’t want to talk about what she wanted, what she thought. “World peace and food for everyone. Tell me yours.”

Water from his hands sluiced down her back and he laughed. “World peace wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I’ve got an idea. Why don’t I tell you yours and you tell me mine. See how close we get.”

Right then she’d agree with anything he said.
 

And the way his hands felt as they kneaded her back pretty much left her speechless anyway.

Letting his deep voice wash over her would leave her completely in tune with him. Besides it’d be interesting to see what he thought her fantasies were. See how wrong he was. How much she’d fooled him. “Okay. Go ahead. Tell me my fantasies.”

He pulled her back against him and she closed her eyes, felt the way his chest rumbled against her back when he talked. “Let’s see.” He lifted his hands from the water again and this time she felt his hands gently messaging her temples and up to the side pressure points of her scalp.
 

“A world wise woman like yourself who gave up the chance for fortune would fantasize about letting go. Losing control. I bet you’ve been in control your entire life.”

So much for laughing at how wrong he was. “How’d you figure that?”

She felt him shrug. “Simple deduction. You live in a town where your mother and father live. You teach. You turned down Harvard. You have to have some serious control issues.”

Well, when he put it like that. She laughed. “Okay. So I have some control issues. I don’t think I’ve had a problem where you’re concerned.”

He let his hands fall to the top of her neck and she let her head fall forward as she moaned out loud. Lord his hands, this water, her entire body felt heavenly. She wanted to melt.

And then he went and ruined it.

“You just go ahead and tell yourself that, darlin.”

Cordelia felt herself tense even as she told herself his words didn’t matter. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hey, this is tension relief. Remember? Relax.” He rubbed his hands down the top of her arms. “And don’t worry about it. I like the way you’ve known exactly what you wanted from the minute I picked you up at the airport. I’m sure as hell not complaining. I just figure one of your fantasies might be to completely let yourself go.”

Cordelia let the warmth of his words wash over her. So he liked the way she’d pursued him. Pretty good for an amateur if she did say so herself.

He lifted her arms out of the water and rested her hands on the back of her head as he bent to whisper again. “Let yourself go with me, Cordelia. Trust me enough to let go.”

Cordelia whimpered as the cold air settled on her arms, her neck, her breasts. As the pungent scent of chlorinated water mixed with the spice of Joe’s cologne.
 

She felt a warm trail of water droplets fall on her left breast as his hand reached out of the tub. She didn’t want to open her eyes, didn’t want to stop this particular fantasy.

And then she felt his hands again as he wrapped a soft silk blindfold around her eyes. “Uhm, Joe?”

She felt his fingers as they deftly tied a knot behind her head.
 

“Trust me, Cordelia.” His hot breath brushed against the back of her head. “If you don’t like this, we can stop. And the blindfold’s barely tied on. You can slip it off if you want.”

Okay. So this hadn’t been a part of the fantasy. She had to admit, something about being completely in the dark left her more than a little turned on. She nodded her assent and felt as he lifted her hands in his again and replaced them on the back of her head.
 

This time the cold air on her nipples felt almost invigorating. She could hear the rhythmic whir of the tub’s motor. Felt the bubbles run over her toes and up past her knees.
 

He let on of his bare legs rest on hers and she wondered if it was possible to die from sheer pleasure.

He started back on her sensual massage, this time focusing on the top of her buttocks as his fingers traced over the edge of her tattoo and down lower and lower.
 

Oh Lord she wanted him in front of her. Now, dammit. Or she at least wanted to feel him hard and ready in her hand.
 

She tried to press against him, let her hand fall into the water, but he caught it in his. “Trust me, Cordelia.”

And then he finally, finally put his hands around her waist and lifted her, turning her just barely until she was facing him.
 

She lowered her hands to the tops of his shoulders and he didn’t protest, just softly told her no more.

And then his hands started their slow massage on the front of her body.
 

Cordelia felt a combination of hot and cold. And when he touched her stomach, she couldn’t hold back a laugh at the ticklish feeling of his fingers combined with the water.

He didn’t seem to mind, just kept moving down, brushing millimeters from her sex as he moved to her thighs, her knees, her shins.

Oh Lord she wanted him more than she’d thought possible. She pressed her fingertips into the hard muscles of his shoulders and bit her bottom lip as he started the path back up.

But again he brushed by her sex and Cordelia bit back a cry of frustration. She wanted him with an intensity she couldn’t explain. She felt swollen with want and need and the water increased that feeling a thousand times over.

All she could feel was his hands and the water. It was like everything else had ceased to exist.

And then he turned her again and she wanted to cry out but he bent and whispered in her ear. “I don’t know how new this is to you, but I guarantee you’ll like it.”

She didn’t know what he meant, but she knew she’d like him to…

All thoughts ceased as he moved her forward barely an inch and a jet of water pulsated against her pelvis.
 

She cried out as he slipped her legs a little wider, giving the water even more range.
 

And then she heard his voice whispering in her ear urging her forward, telling her to let go.

She cried out again as he increased the speed of the jets. And then just as she was there, just as she truly was about to come he slipped his finger inside her and there was no holding back.

For a few brief moments she ceased to exist and all that mattered was the water and his hands.

She wasn’t sure how long the orgasm lasted and she didn’t really care. All she knew was she’d never felt anything like it before. And she probably never would again.

Joe didn’t know what inspired him to turn up the jets on the hot tub, but he wasn’t about to worry about that now. Watching her come could easily become his favorite past time.
 

And as much as he wanted to plunge inside her, he wanted to wait more.

She surprised him by keeping the blindfold on as she settled back against his chest. Her sexy little tattooed butt up against his raging hard on.

She lowered her hand to surround his cock, and he stopped her. “If you touch me right now, I’m liable to come in a few seconds.”

She shrugged and wiggled against him. “So? I want you to come too.”

He did too, just not right now. And he knew if he let her take him in her hand he was a goner. “There’s nothing I want more in the world. Your book on multiple orgasms might not have mentioned it, but there’s a limit for men, and I’d like tonight to stretch out if you know what I mean.”

She laughed and slid a little deeper into the tub in front of him as she slipped the blindfold off her eyes. “In the future, you have my permission to take control anytime you want.”

He couldn’t help but feel a little cocky over her statement. “Liked that, hmm?”

She nodded. “Oh yeah. I’d say tonight definitely ranks as number one on my top ten fantasy list.”

 
“Good.” He stood and held out his hand. “If we don’t get out of this water, we’re going to ruin that sexy skin of yours.”

Her eyes stayed focused on his still hard erection and Joe felt a rush of heat as his body responded to the look. “Don’t get any ideas, Cordelia. Remember what I said.”

She didn’t move, just shrugged her shoulders and let the water swirl around her breasts. “It’s only been once for you so far, Joe. You sure?”

Suddenly he wasn’t sure about a damn thing.
 

Not a damn thing at all except the fact that once again he was hard as hell and wanted to be inside her.
 

And then she went and sat up on her knees and pressed her hands into the small of his back and he knew he was fooling himself.

No way was he turning this down. He stepped closer, braced his hands on the wall and watched her mouth open in anticipation.

Once again he’d set out to loosen her control and once again, she was setting the sexual pace. And what a pace it was.

When her lips closed over his hardened erection he quit thinking all together. Just let himself feel her hands cupping his balls, her lips, her tongue, her hot mouth.

The sound of the water splashing as she moved amplified every sensation, and when he came his knees nearly buckled.

He let his sweat covered forehead rest against the wall. One part of him wanted to drop back in the water and pull Cordelia close.
 

But that’d probably lead to more sex.
 

God what was wrong with him? He loved sex. Cordelia was one hot woman. He loved hot women who knew what they wanted and how to get it. He’d never felt used before.

But right this minute he felt like a sex toy. And like a crazy man, he wasn’t happy about it.