Real Challenge (Atlanta #2) (8 page)

He sometimes regretted that, but he couldn’t really go back at this point. He had chosen his path and he was determined to be the youngest partner in firm history. That was his goal, and he would undoubtedly achieve it. But nonetheless, he swam every morning, losing himself in the feel of the water and the smell of the chlorine.
 

This week, though, thoughts of Cassie distracted him. His body swam on autopilot while his mind relived their night on Erin’s couch, the date at the restaurant, and their tryst in Cassie’s absurd fort. He actually smiled with his face in the water from thinking of his weekend. He was glad no one could see the dopey expression on his face. He probably looked ridiculous.
 

He also spent his time in the pool planning the shock and awe attention he promised her with his tongue. He imagined every way he would run his tongue along her body. He didn’t really think of her as a conquest anymore, but he fell into his usual pattern of identifying a specific goal and the steps needed to achieve the target. For Scott, the wanderings of his mind only felt like dreaming of the moment of having Cassie moving with him again. Friday couldn’t come soon enough. By the time the big day arrived, he was ready for his text-war win.

I’ll see you at 6:51 tonight. It’s my turn to win.

Since I won the Friday issue, I’ll give you your adorable little victory of one-minute. I won 24 hours. Suck on that.
 

Again, Cassie shocked him and had him laughing out loud. He couldn’t wait for 6:51.
 

He arrived at Cassie’s house about four minutes early, but waited in the car until 6:51 exactly. He had even downloaded an app that connected with the World Atomic Clock to ensure precision and documentation of his win. He knocked on the door and immediately forgot to say hello. Cassie was wearing a pair of very low-riding jeans that showed off the gentle curve of her hips perfectly. She had on a cream colored off-the-shoulder-and-very-short sweater with no hint of a bra. That sweater had a wide, form-hugging band of knitting along the base that hugged her torso all around her ribs and no lower. It was looser around her breasts and arms and Scott could see her nipples pushing against the cotton. Her navel sported a small opal gem. Her hair was completely down and hung straight and shining on her bare shoulders. Scott stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of her.
 

She grinned at his response. “Do you like my shoes?” she said as she turned to the side a little and flexed her ankle.

He glanced down to see strappy black stiletto heels and gaped in silence.

“Damn” was the only word he could muster when he finally remembered how to talk. He couldn’t stand not to touch her in that outfit. He walked in and kicked the door shut behind him, completely forgetting about his app. He reached for her bare waist with his hands and her skin felt hot against him.
 

He pulled her in for a very deep kiss and rubbed his thumbs along her stomach as he felt her arms wrap around his neck and her breasts push against his chest. He barely had to lean down because those spiked heels held her so tall. He made sure to use plenty of tongue for her.

When she finally pulled away from his kiss, she was a little breathless. “Ready for dinner?” she managed to say.

“Starving,” he said with a hot smile.
 

“Have a seat on the couch. I don’t have a table because of the yoga room, so I just usually use my steamer trunk. I’ll be right back.”

Cassie returned in a moment with two glasses of water and two sets of ebony chopsticks tucked under her arm. She returned to the kitchen and Scott just watched in wonder at the shape of her ass in those jeans. The shoes only added to the appeal. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to control himself during dinner.
 

Cassie came back into the living room carrying two plates for dinner. The plates were a funky, curvy-edged triangle shape and burnt orange in color. “I found these at the flea market. I love them because I’ve never seen anything else quite like them.” She sat on the floor beside the trunk; Scott did the same.

“Thanks. I love stir-fry, by the way, but I
really
wish you had brought me a fork.”
 

“I thought you loved a challenge,” she said with fake innocence.

She picked up her first piece of ginger chicken, scooped up a little rice and very arrogantly popped the morsel in her mouth. She stared him down and gestured at his plate. “Top that.”

He squared his shoulders at her challenge, stared her down straight back, and then dropped his first attempted bite on his lap just before he got the chopsticks to his mouth. Cassie fell back against the couch laughing hysterically. Scott just chuckled and dropped his head in defeat. “Bested by a chick,” he said smiling at her free exuberance. She was still a riot to be around: what you see is what you get. The thought made him relax enough to succeed at his next attempt at a bite of dinner.

They continued their playful banter about dinner and by the time they were done attempting trick moves with their ebony utensils, their game was aptly named, “Chopstick Challenge”. Cassie had three gold medals and Scott had only scored one.
 

“I give up,” he finally said. “You win, and I find it adorably irritating.”

“Ha! Lets stick with adorable and leave the irritating part out.”

“Done,” he said smiling. “Want help clearing up?”

“Nah, it’s only two plates. I’ll do the dishes tomorrow. No need to waste time on that when I’m ready to experience this ‘shock-and-awe’ you promised. If you throw those kinds of words around, you better be prepared to back them up.”

She left him grinning as she walked the plates back into the kitchen. He swore she swung her hips a little more this time, and he loved the look of the small dimples at her lower back. Those jeans barely covered her at all. When she returned from the kitchen, he was sitting back up on the couch and he gestured for her to come stand in front of him.
 

He sat up to pull her directly facing him and then in one quick motion, he grabbed her ass fully with both hands and pulled her toward him. His sudden move knocked her off balance and he quickly caught her so she wouldn’t fall backward. She crashed down on him and fell on to her knees, straddling him on the couch. She let out a quick gasp, but he didn’t give her time to come up with one of her sassy comments.
 

He pulled her up by the hips so he had access to her sexy flat stomach and began licking and sucking at the skin along her waist. He teased at the flesh just above her jeans and used his tongue to toy with the piercing at her navel. She held on to his shoulders and pushed herself lightly against him while he kissed along the ribs at the edge of her sweater, causing her to move in response to the tickling sensation from his tongue.
 

He nudged the fabric of her sweater up a bit with his nose to gain access to more of her. He ran his tongue decadently across nearly every inch of her soft stomach and he noticed that she had a delicate vanilla scent to her skin. He was absolutely entranced with her all over again.
 

Completely in the moment with him, she let him play along her stomach for a long while, but then moved her hands up his shoulders, past his neck and held his jaw in her hands. She moved his lips to the hollow of her neck and with her soft moans encouraged him to continue his shock-and-awe there, too. He brushed her soft hair behind her shoulders and licked and sucked with greed along her collar bone, shoulders and neck.
 

This time with his chin, he nudged the fabric of her sweater out of his way and kissed along the top curve of her breasts. She let out a heavy breath in response to that, so he pulled the fabric down deeper with his hands so the sweater only barely covered her nipples. He let his tongue lick along the valley between her perfectly round breasts and she made soft, breathy sounds at the sensation.
 

She whispered teasingly through her hot breath, “I am shocked and in awe, baby.”

He smiled at her comment, but didn’t take any time to respond. The wide neck of her sweater was now stretched down all the way around her biceps and across her very hard nipples. He looked at her and tucked his fingers over the top edge of that sweater. She looked at him through heavy-lidded, sexed-up eyes, and he pulled the sweater down completely.
 

Cassie pulled her arms out of the sleeves and let the soft cotton fall down around her waist. Scott reached around her with both arms and held her against him and completely buried his face in her chest. The heat of her skin was intense. He licked and sucked all around the soft skin of her breasts before finally finding his way to her dark, tight nipples.
 

With his arms around her, he used his fingers to gently grip and tug at the skin of her back while he moved his tongue all around her soft beaded peaks. He spent more time there, teasing and licking and even allowing himself gentle, nipping bites with his teeth. She showed nothing but signs of heat in response to his tongue, and he was enjoying every second of her skin. He was completely turned on by her response to him, and he could barely stand that his throbbing erection was held so restricted under his jeans.

Cassie reached down to pull his shirt up over his head. He helped and tossed it aside. He pulled her sweater back up over her frame and dropped it on top of his. He loved the look on her face at the sight of his body after nearly a week apart.
 

“My God, you’re beautiful,” she said unashamedly, running her hands over the hard planes of his stomach and chest. She dug her nails into his strong shoulders, testing their strength against her fingers and then grazed her pinky nail along his dimple when he smiled at her attention.
 

She leaned down and kissed him softly at first, and then instantly harder, almost crushing down on his mouth. His hands moved up to cup her breasts when she did, and then he pulled her hips down completely against him so she was resting directly against his cock. He pulled at her hips more, moving her to grind against him, loving the feel of her weight moving against his manhood. She moved with him willingly and he could only grip harder.

He moved her off of his lap only long enough to stand them both up before working his tongue along her neck again. As he did, he kicked off his shoes. He moved a step back away from her and looked at her long, lean frame covered only barely by the low-slung fabric of her jeans. He licked his lips at the sight and led her to her bedroom and onto the bed. She laid down on her back and he moved down by her feet and began kissing her ankles and untied the straps of her shoes with his teeth. He removed each shoe like that, kissing and licking her toes as he did.
 

He slowly dragged his hand up her leg while he stretched himself out beside her, his head now directly at her slim waist again. He kissed and licked along the low-rise edge of her jeans and enjoyed the sounds that came from her mouth as he did. He unbuttoned her pants and unzipped the tiny zipper and saw that she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
 

The skin along the triangle between her legs was now bare. She had removed the soft curls that had held her skin hidden from him. He groaned at the sight and placed a heavy kiss against that now smooth area. Getting those tight jeans off took some doing, but he didn’t mind the work. He licked every inch of the skin of her long legs as he revealed them. When he finally had them off of her, that beautiful bare triangle between her legs was beckoning him again. The smooth skin there was so enticing, he had to play a little longer, still working on his shock and awe. Her moans rewarded his efforts.
 

After he took his time teasing between her legs, he moved up again, eliciting more of those passionate noises she made in response to his tongue. He brought his mouth back to her breasts. They pooled gently off to the sides of her chest, and he enjoyed pushing them back together and licking between them.
 

“Impressive,” Cassie said through her breathing. “But if you remember, it’s my turn. Shock and awe is over. Prepare yourself for the counter-assault.”

She pulled herself up and pushed him down onto the covers. She went about removing the rest of his clothes without ceremony. “Wait here,” she said. She went to the mp3 player and sultry, sexy music started to play. She lit two candles by the bed, feeling Scott’s eyes on her body the whole time. Once she had the mood set just how she wanted, she crawled seductively back on the bed and right over to where Scott was lying.
 

She straddled him and moved his hands up on her hips. “Now let me show you how it’s done,” she said seductively. Gone was the playful romp. Cassie lost herself in the role of seductress vamp. She reached for the nightstand drawer, silently damning the interruption, and then sheathed him. The only foreplay she offered him was her fingers at his mouth, encouraging his tongue again. While he watched, she circled her nipples with her wet fingertips and then moved over top of him. He moaned when she pushed herself down and buried his cock deep inside of her.

Cassie moved over him slowly, drawing out the pleasure for him and feeling him inside of her. She watched his face contort in the pleasure of her grinding and she slowly raked her nails down his broad chest and chiseled abs to heighten the intensity even more. The deep, grinding rhythm of the music played along with the flicker of the candlelight. He gripped her hips almost roughly and pulled at her in the passion of holding himself deep inside.
 

“No…just take it Scott…this is my show, remember?”

He rested his hands on her thighs and gripped them tightly as she moved over him, his eyes now closed and his head thrown back. “Watch me move,” she said, her voice full of heat.
 

He looked at her then, and realized what she was doing. With him still inside of her, she began to dance to the sultry music from her speakers. Her hips were moving against him in the slow rhythm and her breasts swayed along. She lifted her arms up over her head and began moving more intensely in her erotic dance. His eyes were heavy with passion at the sensual sight of her hips rolling seductively along his. She loved that he watched her run her hands up through her hair slowly, her hips still keeping time grinding against his.