More Than Lovers (3 page)

As if he could ever resist when Sarah was ready. Could ever think clearly enough to put off fucking her. He had an idea, knew it was a good one, but couldn’t focus on it when she waited this impatiently.

Charlie positioned himself and with one roll of his hips plunged into her soaking depths.

“Fu-uck.”
Goddamn, she felt amazing. Blow-his-load-in-less-than-a-minute amazing.

Sarah was moving the second he thrust. Twisting her hips, pulling him in deeper, then pulling back, almost releasing his shaft, only to envelop him once again.

A bead of perspiration slid down his spine.

“No one rides me like you do, Sar.” Maybe because he’d given up on other women, hadn’t slept with anyone besides Sarah in months, but more likely because he was head over heels in love with the woman.

“No one fucks me like you do, Char.” She reached blindly for his head and pulled it down until his lips met hers.

For a long while Charlie was incapable of speech. When her tongue met his he lost all ability to make rational conversation. He could only relish the taste of the woman beneath him. Relish the woman wrapped around him. The woman of his fantasies and dreams. The woman he loved.

For a heartbeat he considered telling her. Considered confessing his marriage proposals had not been made in jest.

But just as quickly he nixed the idea.

He could never let Sarah see him as more than a booty call, couldn’t let her think of him a serious long-term prospect. He was the wrong guy for her. She needed a brain like herself, a professional with six degrees behind his name. Someone who would help further her academic career.

A full-time surfer, incapable of differentiating between a degree and a diploma, who hadn’t finished high school, would never be right for her.

It wasn’t that she was a snob. Far from it. But she had aspirations to become a professor one day, and he’d overheard her parents speaking in the lobby of their building shortly after meeting her. Overheard them saying that she needed to find someone of her intellectual standing, someone her department would approve of. Someone who would be an equal in every way and aid her in achieving all her goals.

Charlie was not that person. Hell, he still struggled with the idea that cells contained genes. How the heck could something so small hold enough shit to determine every detail about a person?

A surf instructor would never cut it in Sarah’s life. A fantastic fuck once or twice a week was a definite yes. Anything more? Nope. No matter how many hours they’d spent in bed—or out of it—doing incredible things to each other’s bodies, they’d never done any more than that. Never been for a coffee together. Never seen a movie or enjoyed a meal together. Hell, they’d never even spent the night together.

Because once the deed was done—or deeds, as was mostly the case—their lives continued as they always did. Separately.

Charlie ensured he never asked for more, and thankfully, it appeared that for Sarah, sex for the sake of sex was enough.

For Charlie sex for the sake of sex would never be enough. He wanted the world with her. But since the sex was nothing less than sensational, he reckoned he could live with it within the boundaries he’d forced himself to draw.

What he couldn’t live with, however, was Sarah doubting her own worth.

Chapter Two

There were times—like now, for instance—when Sarah thought she needed nothing more than Charlie’s body entwined with hers. Charlie’s mouth on her mouth and his cock embedded inside her. Times when she believed she could spend the rest of her days wrapped in his embrace.

In his arms, she was the sexiest, most beautiful woman in the world. While they were together he made her feel cherished. Which probably explained why she kept coming back for more.

Oh, she was hurting now. Make no mistake. She really had liked Sebastian. Believed almost immediately that given the time, the two of them could have had something good together. His cutting things off so quickly had been a sharp slap in the face. It had instantly brought up feelings of self-doubt and made her feel uncomfortable with herself.

There were two places Sarah unfailingly felt confident. One was at work and the other was with Charlie. Work was her domain, her passion. She never faltered in her objectives, never questioned herself or her goals. She knew what she wanted and had established a clear path to achieve it.

Charlie was a passion too. Maybe even a physical obsession. Whenever she was with him, she felt happy, felt okay with herself. She also felt ridiculously horny and insatiably aroused.

It was when she was around other men that she began to doubt herself. Began to doubt she could hold their attention or keep their interest. And the string of failed relationships that preceded Sebastian only reinforced that.

Which was probably why she’d headed straight to Charlie’s place after seeing Sebastian. She’d known he would ease the sting of rejection.

And ease it he did, just like he eased the burn in her belly. The burn that spread through her like wildfire the second he touched her. Because for all the almost-relationships she’d had, not one of those guys ever made her feel like Charlie did.

He thrust into her again, and she squeezed her inner muscles tight, trapping him.

Charlie stilled, as though sensing her need to hold him there. She was close. She was always close to orgasm by the time Charlie fucked her—he had a knack of working her up just right—but tonight she was closer than usual. She’d almost come with his first thrust. Had fought off the urge only because she craved the intimacy, needed this time with him.

She gave a moan of objection when he broke the kiss, depriving her of his delicious tongue and lips, of the heat of his mouth. His answering groan told her he was as reluctant to draw away as she was to let him go.

“’Kay, Sar…” His breath was ragged, his cheeks flushed. “I’m inside you, harder than a fucking lead pipe and more excited than a teenaged kid.” He panted, as though speech was difficult. “Can you still…
Ungh
.”

He scrunched his eyes shut and screwed up his nose as she squeezed his cock. How could she not? His words made her inner walls clamp down in excitement.

His reaction almost made her purr. A bead of sweat trickled between her breasts and his chest.

“C-can you still tell me you doubt your own worth?”

Ah, true to his word, Charlie hadn’t let the conversation go.

Sarah sighed, partly from frustration, partly because Charlie felt so damn amazing inside her and partly because she hated the question. “You make me feel like a million dollars, Char. You always have. But…but you don’t count.”

Charlie jerked his head as though she’d slapped him. “Gee, thanks. Just what every guy buried in his lover’s body wants to hear.”

“No, wait,” she gasped. “That’s not what I meant.”

He did wait. In fact, that was all he did. Held dead still, not doing anything else. Not moving, not looking at her, not even talking. And Charlie liked to talk during sex, about anything and everything. Which made his silence echo like thunder.

Sarah scrambled to explain. “I mean I could never doubt that you think I’m good enough. It’s like I said, you always make me feel like a million dollars whenever we do this. But things are different with you. We’re about sex, that’s it. It’s like I don’t need to prove anything to you, ever. Don’t need to make a good impression.”

He nodded his agreement, but the tension didn’t leave his body. He wouldn’t look at her.

Frustration rippled through her. “Shit, I’m not saying this right. Look, this isn’t about you. It’s about me and how socially inept I am.”

That got a response from him. He turned his head to glare at her. “Socially inept? What the fuck?”

“I am. Seriously, Char, I’m an academic geek.” Yeah, as if she needed to tell him that. He called her “Geek Girl” affectionately.

Sarah rolled her hips. Enough with the keeping still business. She needed him to move. Needed him to fuck her. His response was instantaneous. Charlie pulled out and surged back in.

That was all it took to start a new rhythm, and as Charlie made delicious love to her, Sarah continued her explanation. “I love burying my head in my books or… Oh, God! That’s good! Do it again.”

Charlie did, and it took a few seconds for Sarah to remember what she’d been saying. “Or…or cooking up a research project for my students.” She shut her eyes, loving the pressure in her pussy every time he surged into her and the pleasure every time he pulled out. “I can talk molecular genetics ’til the cows come home. Just the mention of DNA and RNA and enzymes gets me excited.” Not as excited as Charlie got her, mind you. “But regular conversation is beyond me. I can’t discuss the weather or rugby or latest fashion trends without boring myself to tears. I can only imagine how men perceive me.” No wonder Sebastian had chosen his friend over her.

“First off, you can discuss anything with me—and you have—without once boring me. And secondly, they’d perceive you as I do. A sensual woman with a brilliant mind.”

“You’re biased.”

“I’m not, and I bet I can prove it.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, how?”

“Apart from that piece of paper you have hanging on your wall, telling the world you’ve earned your PhD in human molecular genetics, you mean?”

She couldn’t help the sense of pride that crept into her. “Yep, Surfer Dude, apart from that.”

Again, Charlie stilled, and Sarah nearly growled in frustration.

“I bet you I could find three men who would not only think you’re gorgeous, sensual, brilliant and interesting, but would all love you as much as I do.”

Sarah grinned at him. “You love me?” Yeah, right, as if Charlie would ever love her. Love was connected to commitment and commitment was not his style.

“You’re twisting my words, Geek Girl…and avoiding the bet in the process.”

“You’re frustrating the hell out of me by not moving that beautiful cock of yours.” She tried to rock beneath him, but he shifted slightly, pinning her in place, making it impossible to rock her pussy over his cock.

“Fine, I’ll move if you take the bet.”

“Seriously?” She stared into his gorgeous blue eyes, got lost in their startling color. “You want to turn this into a bet?”

“Yep. I bet I can find three men who find you hot and interesting and would never doubt your worth.”

“You’ll lose, you realize?” She laughed as she said it, but the sound lacked heart. She truly believed her words.

His eyes blazed. “I’m not a gambling man. I never take bets unless I know I can win them.”

“Okay, so let’s say we do take the bet. What are the stakes if you win?”

“Duh, that’s easy. You have your pick of three men who are all hot for you. You can date any one of them. Maybe even marry one.”

“Sounds like a win for me, not you.” Then she laughed with delight. “Are you trying to get me hitched?”

He shrugged. “You mentioned marriage earlier. Not me.”

“Okay, and if you lose? If none of the guys like me?” Which she expected to happen, because seriously, who liked a woman who went into ecstatic raptures while discussing the chemical structure of nucleic acid or possible new chemotherapeutic agents for cancer?

“See, that’s the tricky part. If I lose, it means you won’t marry any of the guys…in which case you have to keep visiting me for sex. And let’s face it, that’s more of a win for me than a lose.” He pulled out of her and thrust back in, reminding her that sex with Charlie was a win for both of them.

“D-do that again.” Shivers of pleasure raced through her.

“Take the bet.”

“Don’t wanna take the bet.” Not if it meant three guys wouldn’t find her good enough. Being dumped by one man left her miserable. Three would likely kill her. “Just want you to fuck me.”

“I’ll fuck you if you take the bet.” Charlie leaned in and nipped her neck. “In fact, beautiful, I’ll fuck you twice if you do.”

She grinned. “You’d fuck me twice anyway. I’m not leaving here until you’ve made me come at least twice more. And I’m happy to wait as long as it takes.”

“Jesus,” Charlie moaned. “Take the bet. Please. You’re killing me here. My balls are turning blue.”

“I’d lick them no matter what color they were.”

“Sarah.” Charlie growled, squeezing his eyes shut as a bead of sweat formed on his brow. “Take the fucking bet.”

She was beginning to perspire herself, desperate for Charlie to move inside her again.

Had they been doing anything but having sex when he made the proposition, she’d have turned him down flat. But as it stood, he had her between a rock and a hard place. She was aroused and ready to explode, and he was the only one who could make that happen.

If she didn’t take the bet, he wouldn’t move. Charlie could be a stubborn ox that way. She needed him to move. Needed it badly.

“Fine,” she finally agreed. “You’re on.”

“Thank fucking God.” Charlie half-shouted the words. And then he was moving again, pulling out of her and surging back in, his thrusts powerful, breathtaking.

“But you have to know the only reason I’m agreeing to…this is that…losing won’t be a complete debacle if…you’re still around to comfort me with sex after.” It became increasingly more difficult to talk. How could she make words when exquisite sensations careened through her body?