Jaded (19 page)

A goddess that couldn’t be his...

Get a grip, Luke. You don’t care about that. You never have before; no time to start now.

Regardless, he was going to spend an intimate night with her and get his money the next day. Things would sort themselves out later. He knew she wanted him; he knew she was practically begging for it. It would be easy and he would be out of there. Money in the bank.

But no matter how much he tried to neatly package the situation, his stomach continued to knot harder. He didn’t want the money—he knew that already. He didn’t care about the new stereo system, and the reaction from his buddies was the last thing on his mind. Once he was settled into his convertible, he stared hard in the rearview mirror, desperate to see something in his reflection that might calm the tumult of emotions inside him. Something was different about the eyes that looked back at him. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he entertained the notion that now they only saw one girl.

Isabella.

No kidding. The night before, he’d attempted to reinstate his title as the Reigning Sex God of Southeastern Florida. He’d gotten the girl easily enough. She’d been ogling him for hours while he was at the bar with his buddies and it took only a suggestive look to get her to tag along. But when the ball had been entirely in his court, he floundered. Something was missing. He had assumed that a girl at his apartment, horny and completely willing to do whatever he wanted, would have shaken him from his Isabella trance. Just looking at the other girl had made him feel guilty. He didn’t lay a hand on her before he made the girl go home, unsatisfied and without explanation.

So he had proof. He’d fallen for Isabella.
Except it would never work out.

His rational solution was to get the best of both worlds. She wanted to break his heart? Fine. She wanted to continually pull him in, then push him away? Sure. But there was only so much abuse he would take.

***

“Hey there, Luke.” Isabella eyed him cautiously as she let him in. He could see the emotional tug-of-war beginning behind her eyes already and he didn’t want to waste any time.

“You look really sexy.” Always good to start the night on a positive note. Besides, it was the truth. She was wearing an over-sized T-shirt over a tank top and her yoga pants, the pair of glasses she used for working sitting low on her nose. He appreciated the fact that she wasn’t over-dressed, and hadn’t spent hours perfecting lip liner or arranging her jewelry in preparation for his visit. The intimacy of familiarity with one another—Luke couldn’t get enough of it.

She blushed and fought to hide her smile. “Thanks.”

She shut the door behind him and he didn’t bother ripping his eyes off her. Electricity snapped in the air between them.

“So what made you want to come over tonight?” she asked.

“Why shouldn’t I want to?”

She shrugged. “Things are awkward, I guess. Because of me.”

“Were awkward,” he corrected. Then, without warning, he leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers.

She stiffened, so he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. She relaxed immediately.

“I’ve missed you more than you know,” he breathed hotly into her ear, dragging his fingers up and down the sides of her body. He wasn’t surprised by how strongly he felt his words.

She was quiet for a moment until she said in a small voice, “I’ve missed you too.”

Luke forced himself to remember that she wasn’t his—would never be his—because he was afraid of what might happen if he let himself fall too deeply into her, into his emotions, into this rapidly unfolding world of affection, tenderness, and scary newness.

“I want you, Isabella. So bad.”

His words seemed to stir something within her. Her eyes darkened and a smile crept onto her face. She took a step closer to him and he felt himself growing hard. She coaxed him into a hot, frenzied kiss that marked the end of her resistance.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to take you up into my bedroom and do all sorts of naughty things to you,” she murmured into his ear. His heart wrenched in his chest and he knew he couldn’t wait any longer; this was happening now and it needed to happen fast.

He took her hand in his and they ran upstairs, tripping over the steps and laughing at themselves. They stumbled into the bedroom, a flurry of kisses erupting. Isabella’s tongue danced around his, and she clung to him as they fell backward onto her bed. She pressed her pelvis into his and he held back a gasp—he’d been in this exact position thousands of times before, but it had never felt this way. He couldn’t ever remember his heart pounding so hard, or the way his knees felt like they were going to buckle, or feeling like he would do everything in his power to prolong this union, this intimacy with Isabella, and their budding relationship, no matter the cost.

The bet came hurtling back into his mind, and he pushed the nagging feelings of guilt from his head. The old side of him whispered that it didn’t matter; she was never going to be with him. This way, he got it all—a night with Isabella
and
some cash. It made perfect sense. Despite the rationalization, he knew that this decision was only going to make things worse for him. He’d wanted to tell her about the bet from the beginning, at least ‘fess up about the details like he and his buddies used to do, but it seemed every chance was a worse opportunity than the last.

She locked him in a kiss that wiped away every worry. The bet drifted from his mind as white-hot passion overtook him. To hell with the repercussions. He just wanted to forget everything.

Her hands roamed his body as though they’d done it a thousand times before. He shivered, sitting back on his heels. He pulled her up so she was sitting on her knees.

“This needs to come off,” he whispered, gently tugging off her oversized T-shirt and tank top. She watched him, chest rising and falling as his eyes slid over her heavy breasts encased in a black satin bra. Luke gazed at her, struggling to understand the strange mix of lust and bliss swirling throughout his body.

He traced his fingers around the outline of her bra, noticing that this caused her to emit a soft, sexy moan. They locked eyes and he held her gaze as he let his fingers drift across the length of her shoulder. He slid down the straps, fully aware of the romance of the moment they were sharing. He wanted to prolong the moment as long as possible, unnerved yet exhilarated by the new emotions he was feeling.

“Just take it off,” she murmured, smiling coyly. He realized he’d paused too long, and he was in no mood to delay their pleasure.

He made quick work of the clasp and the bra crumpled to the bedspread. His heart rate skyrocketed as his lips met her taut nipple, sucking gently at first and then hungrily as his need overcame him.

She let out a sharp moan that blasted him with pleasure. He hadn’t realized how much he craved her...he’d never been with a woman who had this effect on him. He pressed her breasts together and teased each nipple with his tongue. She arched toward him and repositioned herself onto his lap, wrapping her legs tightly around his back.

His fingers danced at her hips, teasing the area just above the waistband of her pants. She pressed herself into his erection, started grinding slowly, methodically. Luke gasped, matching her movements.

“Can these come off?” he whispered in her ear, tugging at the waistband of her yoga pants.

She grinned at him, fire in her eyes. “I like that idea.”

She sidled out of her pants and tossed them to the floor. Easing back onto his lap, clad only in a pair of white panties, she said, “No more troubles. Except with these.” She tugged at the belt loops of his pants, and then rubbed the palm of her hand over the pronounced hardness between his legs. “I want to see what’s in there.”

“I think that can be arranged,” he said, giving her a sloppy kiss before making quick work of his belt and zipper. The pants crumpled to the floor. Before he joined her on the bed, he tore off his shirt for good measure. She looked delighted as her eyes skimmed his near-naked body. He climbed back onto the bed with her, pinning her beneath him, reveling in the feel of her warm skin against his.

“This feels better,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and allowing her legs to fall apart, all the way open, so that his hardness rested right against the most important area. He was throbbing already and felt like he might come within minutes if she kept moaning like she was. There was a veritable wonderland of woman before him—Isabella’s slopes and curves and flesh on full display and he was loving it, gobbling it up, afraid that the reverie might end before he’d explored it all.

They fell into a slow and subtle rhythm, his cock still hidden beneath the fabric of his underwear, rubbing up against the crotch of her panties.

“This feels like heaven, babe,” he whispered into her ear, feeling a contentment bubbling beneath his skin that he hadn’t experienced maybe ever in his life. Just having her pressed to him, in his arms, all their pieces and parts making contact, was inspiring something in him that he could barely understand.

“I know it,” she groaned, trailing her fingertips over his shoulders and down his arms.

“Mmm.” He inhaled quickly and pressed his erection hard between her legs. “But I can’t play nice anymore.”

He kissed her hard on the lips, then left a trail of kisses down her neck, between her breasts, nipping at each hard nipple with his teeth, and then down her belly all the way to the inside of her thighs.

“I need to taste you again,” he whispered, coaxing her legs open wider with kisses farther up her inner thigh. He pulled back the crotch of her panties to reveal her pussy, wet and slick and beautiful.

“Luke,” she whispered, her fingers finding fistfuls of his hair.

He placed a soft kiss between her legs, tongue darting over her most sensitive area. As she began to writhe and moan, his pace quickened and he was exploring her with his tongue and lips, every inch he could find, until she was even wetter and Luke wasn’t sure if he could keep tasting her and pleasuring her without coming himself.

He took a break for air and brought himself up to her level. They kissed, long and desperate, and as Luke was preparing to go back down, Isabella stopped him.

“My turn,” she said, and before he could protest she pushed him back onto the bed, head between his legs.

She pulled down his boxers and started with languorous strokes up and down his length. She worked his cock slowly and firmly, never breaking eye contact with him, lips parted slightly as she watched him. He wanted to kiss her, tried to lean in for one, but she avoided it. She shook her head and kept going, a smile playing at her lips.

She lowered herself to his cock, straining tall and thick before her. She grinned devilishly before she took him deep, all of him disappearing inside her hot mouth. He let out a soft moan and collapsed backwards onto the bed, eyes fluttering shut. She sucked him hard, tongue repeatedly flicking up and down the sides of him and over the tip, sending swirling shocks of pleasure behind his eyes and through his limbs. He was ready to come, and it embarrassed him—he didn’t realize how ready for this he’d been, how desperate for her he’d become. Now that it was here, his body was rejoicing, but his endurance was suffering for it.

“Let’s take it slow,” he gasped out, pulling her up to face him. Slow was the last thing he wanted, but he was conscious of the fact that this might be their one and only encounter. He wanted to milk it for every glorious second.

“No way,” she said, climbing on top of him. Luke’s fingers immediately snaked between her legs and stroked her, gently at first, and then more quickly as her body tensed. He slipped one finger inside her, then two, and finally three. She started bucking—throwing her head back and gyrating madly against him.

He wished she hadn’t done that because the sight of her bucking, so wild and uninhibited, almost sent him over the edge. He slipped his fingers out of her, finally ready to do what he’d been looking forward to for weeks.

“I need it,” she said, an edge of desperation to her voice. She slipped out of her underwear and sent them arcing through the air. He sidled out of his boxers, erection huge and straining up toward her. She looked down at it and smiled, hovering over top of him.

They shared a private smile that made Luke feel like they’d been dating for years. It made his heart feel warm for a second
—
but then her silky heat enveloped him as she eased herself down, down, farther, farther, until he was sank all the way in and he couldn’t see anything but white-hot lust. She gasped in his ear as the final inch went in, and he couldn’t believe how good it felt to have her take all of him, could hardly find the attention span to articulate this or even moan.

They quickly fell into a rhythm as Isabella controlled the movements from above. She slammed her body up and down on top of him, head thrown back and body arched away, propping herself up by the arms on the bed behind her. All he could do was sit there and let her ride him, gaping in amazement as he watched her let loose and devour him.

Luke was ready to release within minutes. He hadn’t been so quick to come since he’d been a teenager. All he could do was muster up his self-control from the deepest reserves of his body and hope he would last.

She didn’t look to be anywhere near slowing down, either. He wrapped his arms around her tightly to steady her body against his. She seemed surprised, but slowed her movements. He breathed in her ear for a moment before saying, “Baby, we gotta slow down for a second.”

She laughed throatily, knowing exactly why. “Oh, really?” She continued to move against him, almost imperceptibly, but even the tiny flinches of movement around his manhood were pushing him closer to the edge. He grabbed her by the hips, steadying her once more.

“I want to be inside you for as long as possible,” he whispered, dragging his lips over her cheek. “Possibly forever.”

She laughed again, eyes hazy with lust while he was deep inside her. “So what you’re saying,” she said lazily, “is that if I keep this up,” she arched against him once more, flexing her muscles tight around him, in a way that even he couldn’t prevent, “you won’t be able to last anymore?”