Pas de Deux: Part Two (A Cross and Pointe Novel Book 2) (10 page)

Some of the rough urgency about his movements disappeared. “Sammi, this is all up to you. You gotta tell me if you want me to keep going—or if you want me to stop.”

“I don't...don't want you to stop.”

His fingers smoothed over her cheek. “You know I'll never hurt you, right?”

She nodded. “I know. I just—I'm not ready to go...all the way there with you. Not—not now.”

A little of the tension in his face that made his brow furrow and his jaw clench relaxed, and one corner of his mouth turned up.

“I'll wait for you.” His voice was soft in the darkness, soft and sweet in way that made her reconsider for one instant. “However long it takes. Like I said—you tell me what you want, and I won't do anything but that.”

“I want...” Sammi's face heated up feverishly hot, and she was grateful for the darkness. “I want you to kiss me.”

He leaned down and his lips were soft and unhurried against hers, coaxing her mouth into a slow, deep rhythm that rebuilt the little fire that began way down low in her belly. The next time his fingers brushed the button of her shorts, she nodded against his cheek.

“It's okay.”

Cillian slowly undid the button before pulling the zipper down. He paused again, gauging her reaction, before sliding them down over her hips and off her legs. Her heart pounded an erratic rhythm of nervousness and excitement; he'd never undressed her before.

He tossed her shorts gently to the side and leaned over her again, teasing her lips apart with his tongue. Sammi pressed up on her elbows to meet him, kissing him back deeply. He balanced his weight on one hand while the other slid underneath her shirt, over the cup of her bra as his lips moved to her neck.

Sammi tilted her head back and shut her eyes, feeling his lips move lower. They paused in the hollow of her throat before moving down her chest. He pushed her shirt up to her ribs and moved his mouth to the skin of her belly, kissing a soft line over each set of ribs before moving down to her navel. She froze.

Cillian lifted his head and met her eyes again, hooking his fingers into the sides of her lace bikinis and inching them down her hips, keeping his movements slow and deliberate.

“This okay?” he whispered, kissing each of her knees.

She nodded once, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she tightened every muscle in her body to keep from shivering. He'd touched her twice, but somehow, being completely bare to him was different. And intimidating.

“You trust me?” The corner of his mouth lifted as he kissed her knee again.

Sammi swallowed hard. “Yes.”

He pulled her panties all the way down her legs and carefully nudged them apart, his fingers skating lightly up her shins, over her knees, up her thighs.

“Lay down.”

She leaned back slowly, staring up at her ceiling in the darkness, unable to hold back the tremors when his breath ghosted over her skin. Part of her wanted to get off the bed and run. Part of her wanted to tell him to stop.

Before she could say a word, his lips brushed the inside of first one thigh, then the other. For an instant there was nothing else except his warm breath, and then, in a sensation that made her almost leap off the bed, the tip of his tongue slowly moved up the velvety soft, thick flesh of her core, parting her, before his lips gently latched around the tiny bundle of nerves at the top.

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Sammi let out a sharp gasp, gripping the covers. Immediately, Cillian stopped.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” It came out in one heated breath.

“Want me to stop?” The alarm in his voice was gone, replaced by a gentle teasing note.

“Please don't...”

“Please don't, what?”

“Don't stop!”

Sammi bit her lip as the warmth and silky wetness of his lips and tongue returned to the aching place between her thighs, her eyes involuntarily rolling back in her head as pleasure consumed her. His mouth slowly devoured her flesh as though he were enjoying a decadent, lusciously sweet dessert.

She couldn't contain a soft moan when his tongue slipped inside her, pulsing gently as he tasted her from the inside. Her hips writhed against his mouth and he held onto them, letting out a low, heated chuckle.

“You're squirmin'.”

The heat of his breath sent ripples over her flesh as the tiny pearl at the top of her core tingled intensely. She couldn't lie flat anymore so she propped herself up on her elbows to watch him.

He stroked the flat of his tongue directly up and along her opening, before pulsing his tongue at the sweet spot at the top and closing his lips around it again. A hot tingle of pleasure crept through her core, deliciously slow and lingering. Her head lolled back as her hands splayed open flat against the covers, then fisted them tightly.

“
Cillian
.”

Her moan filled the bedroom, her entire body trembling and shuddering as her climax broke. Sammi squeezed her eyes shut and couldn't help from rolling her hips, pressing herself against his mouth as he continued to lick her slowly.

When she was still, he moved up the length of her body, his chest sliding against her abdomen. His lips hovered above her mouth and she tilted her head up to taste them as he unconsciously rolled his hips between her legs; her excitement shot up another ten notches when she felt his arousal pressing against her. He'd tasted her, and he'd loved it.

She reached for his shirt and hiked it up just enough to grab at his belt. He held still as she deftly she pulled his belt apart and moved her hands to the button of his jeans.

“Sam.” Cillian drew back from her a little. “You don't have—”

“Shh.”

She finished with his zipper and drew her legs up to hook her toes into the waistband and pull them down a little, then reached for the elastic waist of his boxer-briefs.

“Sammi, you—”

This time, she nipped his bottom lip to hush him. With one hand she pulled the waistband of his underwear away from his body and with the other, hiked her tank top up to her ribs. She slid her hand down his muscled stomach, rigid with the effort of holding himself up, before moving inside his underwear to take him in hand.

As soon as her hand closed around him, Cillian sucked in a sharp breath through his nose. She bit her lip; he was thick and endlessly long in her palm. Her hand moved snugly down his length, then slid back up, her thumb swirling over his moist tip.

“Does—is this okay?” She tried to sound sexy, but it came out timidly.
How long has it been since I've done this?

“Yeah. It's good.”

Cillian's voice was hitched, as if talking required too much effort. His shuddering breaths warmed her skin as he buried his face into the side of her neck. As Sammi's hand caught a rhythm, his length and hardness grew. She bit back a triumphant smile.

His fingers slipped between her legs, moving gently through her wetness in and out of her, in time to the strokes of her hand around him. It was strangely erotic, as if they were making love without actually doing so. Sammi tipped her head back into the pillow, her hand redoubling its effort as his fingers did magical things to her,

Suddenly, Cillian tried to pull away. “Sammi,” he breathed in her ear. “You gotta stop, I'm about to—”

“I want you to.” Her hand never slowed, gripping him tighter as he hardened to marble.

A moment later, his body shook and he let out a short, soft groan, the noise rumbling deeply in his chest and Sammi felt a sudden pool of warmth on her stomach.

Oh, my God. I made him come...

The excitement of it coupled with his fingers still moving inside her sent her toppling over the edge right after him. She gasped against his mouth as her body shuddered and tightened around his fingers.

Cillian tilted his head against her shoulder for a moment as they both struggled to catch their breath. Then he rolled onto his back and glanced over at her, his eyes flickering toward her stomach.

“Sorry 'bout that. I'll grab you a towel.”

“It's okay.”

Sammi found the lacy material of her panties and wiped his warm fluid off. She glanced over, catching his intense stare.

Sammi half-smiled shyly. “What?”

Cillian shook his head. “It's just—I probably shouldn't find that as hot as I do.”

“What's hot?”

He ran his fingers over her now-dry stomach. “You usin' your panties to clean up...”

Sammi was thankful again for the darkness to mask her flaming cheeks. He leaned over and slipped a hand around the back of her head, pulling her close to brush his lips against hers. She latched around his bottom lip and sucked at it, remembering the nip she'd given him.

“Sorry for the bite.” She brushed his lip with her fingertips. “I got a little carried away. I just wanted you to shut up and let me do something to you.”

He laughed softly. “Well, it worked. Besides, I thought that was hot, too.”

“Why do you always seem to put up a fight when I wanna touch you back?”

Cillian reached for her hand. “I just don't want you thinkin' that I'm doin' anything to you because I need you to do somethin' back. I just wanna make you feel good.”

Sammi squeezed his fingers. “I never thought I'd be able to feel that good again. And—I wanna make you feel good, too. This may come as a shock, but I did sort of enjoy sex once upon a time. That part of me just kinda went numb after—everything.”

“
'Sort of
enjoy sex'?” Cillian's thumb stroked lightly over the back of her hand.

“It was okay. I guess my range of experience is pretty limited. You're the first person to make me—” Her face burned and she cleared her throat. “I haven't been with anyone who—”

Cillian's lips brushed her jaw. “Then I'm
very
glad I could be of service.”

“Me, too. I'm glad you let me touch you, finally. You feel amazing.” She nuzzled his cheek, then ducked her head beneath his chin.

“Keep talkin' like that, and I'm gonna stop bein' a good boy.”

He grinned against her cheek when she giggled, nuzzling her back and wrapping his arms tight around her. As she felt his breath warm her flesh, and a feeling of complete satisfaction settled over her like a warm blanket, she had a new realization.

I'm falling in love with you, Cillian Ronan.

“No, no. That's not the timeline we talked about.”

Cillian's ears perked up at the sound of Carl's voice coming from the office as he returned to the gym after lunch on Wednesday. Carl hadn't mentioned he was stopping by.

The hell's he doing here?

Cillian paused just outside the door, which was slightly ajar. Baz was covering the front, and he hadn't mentioned seeing Carl, so Cillian assumed the owner had entered through the back door.

He tilted his head, straining to listen.

“I said I wanted it ready to go by the middle of June. Now you're talkin' mid-July? I paid you a lotta money, Eric.”

Cillian's stomach coiled up as a nasty feeling slithered in his gut, making the gyro he'd just eaten feel like lead.

“Do you think I give a shit about your other clients? I paid you and your crew to build me a club by the middle of June. You agreed to that. Period.”

A fuckin' club? He's gonna close this place for a fuckin' club?

Rage made the edges of his vision go hazy as his fists clenched by his sides. It was all he could do to not charge into the office and knock Carl Wilhelm's head off his neck.

Carl sighed, listening to the person on the other end of the line. “Fourth of July. And you're takin' ten grand off the bill. This place is gonna be packed to the rafters with people, good booze, and good music or I will rip your ass to shreds.”

There was a dull thunk on the desk, as if Carl had tossed his cell phone onto it, and a creak from the chair. Cillian took a deep breath to calm himself, counted to ten, and then pushed into the office as casually as possible, as if he was just returning from lunch. He stopped in his tracks.

“What's up, Carl,” he said, trying to sound bored. “Didn't know you'd be here.”

Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Carl's gaze locked on him intensely.
Tryin' to see if I know somethin', huh, you slimy fuck?

“Yeah. Was hopin' to run into you, Baz said you were out.”

Fuckin' liar. Baz didn't even know you were here.

“Ran out for some chow. What do you need?” Cillian set his drink cup down on the desk and grabbed a stack of mail, flipping through it as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Carl tilted his head, studying him for another beat, then, apparently satisfied that Cillian seemed to know nothing, got up from his seat, spreading his hands.

“Just wanted to check on my champ.” He flashed a shark-like grin, grasping Cillian's shoulders. “Couple more days 'til we roll out to Albany, brother. How you feelin'? Need anything? You good?

Cillian refused to make eye contact and bobbed his head. “Yeah. Good.”

Carl chuckled. “Always so fuckin' tight-lipped. You're gonna have to come outta your shell a little bit this weekend, bro. Got a couple interviews lined up for you, includin' one with a good buddy of mine. So play nice, you understand?”