Stranded (4 page)

He did. He so did. But not in the creepy, chop you into bits way. He scared her because he was so completely male, and every cell in her body was on fire for him. She couldn’t recall a time in her life that she felt anything so intensely, not even for her own husband, and it was terrifying to consider the implications of that.

She nodded slowly, swallowing tightly.

“If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already,” Felix said as he drew his nose across her cheek to her hair and breathed in deeply.

Did that mean he wasn’t going to hurt her then?

Poppy felt the hold he had on her arm loosen and his hand slip down to mold her hip. The fingers on his other hand, the one wrapped around her waist, moved slowly up and down the small of her back. Shivers dances down her spine in response, and Poppy welcomed the sensation.

She could hear his breathing grow deeper, his thick chest rising and falling faster as his one of his hands made a slow trek down her side, until his fingers found the bare flesh of her thigh. His arousal was evident, the thick length of him pressing against her belly through the fabric of the towel, and only served to spark her own intense desire for more.
More of this, more of him. Just more.

“Felix,” she breathed huskily, and her knees nearly buckled when his teeth nipped her shoulder. His tongue swept out to sooth the bite. He continued that pattern, nipping and licking his way across her shoulder and down her arm, pausing at her wrist to kiss the thundering pulse there, and when he got to her hand, his
eyes lifted to hers, and her thoughts skidded to a halt as she watched him suck her middle finger into his mouth. His tongue swirled over the pad of her finger, and what she saw lurking in his eyes sent moister flooding between her thighs.

It was a promise of what he was going to do to her.

And, Lord help her, she was going to let him.

Felix couldn’t believe his luck.

He had been laying in the tepid bathwater—the shaking was finally gone, and his lids were growing heavy—when he heard his name called. At first he thought it was nothing, but then it came again, this time more distinct, almost a plea.

             
Immediately, Felix pulled the plug and snapped a towel from the basket to wrap himself in, then he rushed to find her, certain something was wrong and she needed his aid.                                          

Felix couldn’t believe his eyes when he walked into the bedroom. The sight of Poppy, laid out on the bed, her head pushing back into the pillow, her hand tunneled beneath the blankets, nearly undid him. The picture she presented was so unbelievably sexy; he nearly came all over himself.

The air was thick with the musky scent of her arousal, and if he hadn’t been hot for her before, he certainly was now. His erection strained almost painfully behind the thin towel, and Felix had to force himself to calm down before he crossed the room and took what she so obviously wanted him to give.

When he cleared his throat to announce his arrival and she popped up, guilt plastered all over her sweet face, he wanted to curse out loud. Never in his life had he seen someone so incredibly beautiful. And he had been with some beautiful women. Her dark hair fell around her shoulders in thick waves, her breathing was heavy, and her milky white skin was flushed pink from her ministrations.

He had no problem envisioning what she would look like after he had his way with her.

When she stepped gracefully down from the bed, the flannel nightgown that would normally act as an ice bath to any man’s libido cinched up
, revealing yards of creamy pale flesh, and only served to ratchet up his need to get her naked and bury himself between her silky thighs.

Instead of hammering in his chest, his heartbeat slowed to a crawl and his blood turned to sludge in his veins. Time stood still as she walked toward him, the sway of her hips a hypnotic spell that sent his mind spiraling into forbidden places. The things he wanted to do to her were probably illegal, but as she brushed past him, he decided he didn’t care what laws he had to break. He had to have this woman. Even if she wasn’t ready to admit it yet, to herself or to him, she wanted him, and he intended to give her everything she wanted.
As he drew her to him, he had only one thought on his mind: By the time he was through with her, she would know what it meant to be totally and thoroughly fucked. 

5

Poppy was a mass of sensation. Every inch of her skin tingled with anticipation of his touch, greedily soaking up every finger stroke, every brush of his tongue. His hand gripped her ass, keeping her firmly pressed against him as he ground his hips into her, while his other hand roamed up her side, found her breast and pinched her nipple through the gown.

             
She gasped from the spark of pain that shot a surprising jolt of pleasure straight to her sex, making her quiver in his arms.

             
Chest heaving, Felix suddenly pulled back, and Poppy felt the loss bone deep. She stepped forward, her mind already mapping out all the parts of his body she was going to run her tongue over. She’d start with his neck and work her way down, tracing the ridges and deep valleys his muscles created, and then she’d rip away that towel and get down to business.

             
She was stopped cold when Felix palmed her shoulders, holding her away from him.

             
“If you don’t want this, say so now, because I don’t think I can stop myself once we get started.”

             
His voice was rough and deep and slipped across Poppy’s sensitized flesh like fine silk. Raw heat flooded her insides and she shivered, though she was far from being cold.

             
“Then don’t stop.” She pushed closer, but he only held her tighter.

             
“Be sure. You don’t seem like the kind of woman who would sleep with a man after just meeting him.”

             
And just like that, the haze that had been clouding her mind lifted. Poppy stared into those dark, intense eyes that promised untold pleasure, and cooled. “I’m not.” It was something she had already told herself earlier, but in the face of his raw, sexual prowess, she crumbled, and all the morals and principles she had always applied to herself simply vanished.

             
Oh yes, her instincts had been right. Felix was a dangerous man.

             
She watched as every muscle in his body stiffened. He didn’t like her answer, but it was clear in the set of his jaw and the grim look in his eyes, that he was prepared to back off. With a subtle nod, he dropped his hands and took a step back. She admired his strength, because, honestly, all he would have had to do was touch her, anywhere, and she would have fallen into his arms, his to do with as he pleased.

             
The knowledge was both terrifying and electrifying.

             
Poppy had never been one to do anything without extensive planning. Her life had always been like a puzzle, each piece fitting neatly together to create a beautiful landscape. But somewhere along the way, between discovering that her husband was a cheating bastard and the divorce when she was forced to forge a new life for herself, something inside Poppy had changed.

For instance, she was harder, more resilient, and, apparently, hyper sexual. At least when it came to gorgeous men with carved muscles that looked at her like she was a piece of meat. She had never been a piece of meat before. And she wanted to be a piece of meat now, badly. Just once in her life, Poppy wanted to experience the other side of life. The exciting side that didn’t require rules and that didn’t fit into a neat little package. She didn’t want to look at tomorrow or ten years down the line. She wanted to live in the moment.

              She wanted to know what it was like to have mind blowing sex with a complete stranger.

             
Closing the distance he had put between them, Poppy molded herself to Felix, feeling all that hard muscle flex beneath her, and placed a soft kiss to the center of his chest. When she looked up at him, she saw that he was watching her warily, like what she was silently offering was too much to hope for.

             
Wanting to ease him, Poppy rose boldly up onto her toes and dragged her tongue up the column of his neck, swirling small circles over the thick vein pulsing wildly just below his ear. He hissed air through his teeth and his hands found her hips once more, squeezing his encouragement for her to continue.

             
She placed a line of kisses along his jaw and when she came to his chin, she drew the tip of her tongue over the coarse hairs, feeling the dip of the subtle but sexy cleft there, until she came to his lips. Without hesitation, she plunged her tongue inside and moaned as his tongue tangled with hers.

             
It was a flurry of excitement from there. Teeth clashing, fingers plunging into hair, hands gripping flesh almost painfully. Poppy felt her feet leave the floor as Felix palmed her ass and dragged her body up against his.

             
“Wrap your legs around my waist,” he told her between breaths.

             
She did as she was told which put her core in direct contact with his rigid length. Unconsciously, Poppy rocked against him trying to find the release her body craved, but he was having none of that. With a few quick steps inside the room, Felix pushed her back against the wall, pressing all his hardened planes into her softer ones.

             
“You keep that up, kitten, and this will be over before it gets started.”

He claimed her mouth with a brutal kiss that knocked her head back and stole her breath. Poppy dug her nails into his shoulders and gripped her thighs tighter around his waist, drawing him as close as she could manage, but it wasn’t enough. She needed to feel him moving inside her, claiming her inside as well as out.

“Clothes,” she gasped out, clinging to him as his hands moved to her gown, shoving it over her thighs and up her waist. She hated to let him go, to sever contact of any kind, but when he got to her breasts and could go no higher, she let her feet drop to the floor and raised her arms over her head so he could lift it the rest of the way off.

Felix froze, his hot gaze searing a path down her body. He licked his lips and hand shot out to cup one of her breasts. “God, you’re beautiful.
Fucking perfect.”

She let her own gaze drop, a rush of crippling heat suffusing her core when she realized that, somewhere along the way, he had lost his towel. His thick shaft jutted out proudly, and all Poppy could think about was finally getting him into her bed.

But if this was going to be her first, and probably only, time bedding a man she didn’t know, then she was determined to make it last. Every moment had to count, because she didn’t know when, or if, she would experience anything like it ever again.

Looking down, she took in the sight of him once again. His sex was thick and heavy, the crown round and glistening with his arousal. Poppy licked her lips as ideas of what she wanted to do with that arousal ran through her head. She had always hated the idea of performing oral sex on a man. Jimmy had always complained about her inexperience and refusal to try new things, but she just never saw the need for it. Now, though, she was feeling bold. The very sight of him made her mouth water for a taste.

Without hesitation, Poppy dropped to her knees and wrapped her fist around him. Felix gripped her by the hair and threw his head back with a loud moan as she drew him into her mouth. She ran her tongue from base to tip, tasting the salty flavor of his juices, and was surprised when her own private area clenched with renewed arousal. Despite never having performed this way before, Felix seemed to be enjoying himself, letting small moans slip out each time she drew him in. She figured out pretty fast that the deeper she took him, the more he liked it. Encouraged by his throaty responses, she worked her hand up and down his length, mimicking the movements with her mouth, until he suddenly pulled his hips back and tugged her to her feet.

Confused by his reaction, Poppy went into a panic. “What’s the matter? Did I do something wrong?”

              “Oh no, kitten, you did everything very right. But the night is young, and there are so many things I want to do to you. When I finish, it’s not going to be in your mouth, it’s going to be buried deep inside this sweet body.”

             
To emphasize his words, Felix pulled her against him, running one hand down her belly, forging a heated path to her core, then, at the same time he leaned down to crush his lips to hers, he pushed a finger inside her slick channel and Poppy saw stars explode behind her closed lids.

             
“Oh!”

             
Felix grinned against her mouth. “You like that, kitten? I wonder…Oh yes.” He slipped a second finger inside, stretching her, and Poppy shouted, grasping his shoulders before she crumbled to the floor. “You are so tight,” Felix whispered in her ear as he worked his fingers in and out. “You’re going to make me come so hard, kitten. What do you say we take this to the bed?”

             
Poppy heard his words but was incapable of responding. When he curled his fingers inside her and thrust them deeper, however, she managed a loud squeak and a subtle nod, hoping that would be enough. It was. In seconds, Felix had her lying on the mattress beneath him. As he rocked against her, she could feel his length probing her entrance, and she lifted her hips, eager to take him in.

             
Felix laughed and pulled his hips back. Poppy groaned her displeasure. “So impatient.” He kissed her forehead and smoothed her hair away from her face as he gazed down at her. “Not yet, kitten. First things first. Do you have any condoms in here?”

             
Startled, Poppy shook her head. She didn’t think she would ever find herself in this situation again, so she never thought to keep any on hand. Sex hadn’t been the farthest thing from her mind, exactly, but having it with a man certainly had been. She had even stopped taking her birth control. And here she was, preparing to let some guy she’d known for two minutes plunge himself into her, and she hadn’t even thought about protection of any kind. She wanted to slap herself for being so stupid.

             
“That’s okay,” Felix assured her. “I have a couple in my wallet. I just have to go and get them.” He pushed himself off of her and Poppy squirmed from the loss. “I’ll be right back.”

             
She watched as he walked away, completely naked and not caring in the least. He looked almost as good walking away, she thought, smirking to herself. Laying in complete silence made the time stretch on forever. Bo shifted in the corner and huffed loudly, and Poppy’s head snapped up. He was staring at her, in that way that animals sometimes do that makes you feel completely exposed and a little shameful.

             
“What?” Poppy asked, refusing to feel guilty. “I’m not doing anything wrong.” Bo tilted his big head and looked at her quizzically. “Don’t look at me like that. When you go without sex for as long as I have, then we can talk. Besides, he seems like a perfectly nice guy, and I don’t see you kicking up a fuss.”

             
Felix strode into the room then and looked at her strangely. “Who are you talking to?”

             
Propped on her forearms, Poppy smiled shyly. “Just Bo.”

             
“Ah.” He glanced back at Bo. “I don’t think he likes me.”

             
Poppy waved him off. “If he didn’t like you, I think you’d be missing a limb right now. Bo is very protective of me, and the fact that he hasn’t tried to kill you for touching me yet is pretty telling.”

             
“Yet being the operative word,” Felix muttered as he climbed onto the bed and settled himself between her legs again. He held up a foil packet. “I wonder how old Bo is going to react when his master is screaming to the heavens.” He wagged his eyebrows at her and tore the foil open with his teeth.

             
“Screaming, huh?” Poppy’s belly clenched with anticipation. She watched as he rolled the condom down his erection.

             
“Oh yes,” he assured her with a wicked smile.

             
When he positioned himself at her opening, Poppy drew back slightly. “I thought you said we were taking things slow?”

             
Dropping down onto his forearm, Felix kissed her lips lightly and pushed the tip of his erection into her. Poppy sucked in a breath. “I did say that, but then I came back to find you all spread out, your legs open, waiting for me, and I changed my mind. I won’t lie, this time will be fast. But after that, I’m going to take all the time in the world to get you know this body.”

             
“I—Ah!”

             
Felix shoved his way into her body and Poppy nearly came undone. He was bigger than her body was used to and he stretched her, touching every inch of her and creating a delicious friction that threatened to push her over the edge. He was right. This would be fast.

             
Already Felix was panting as he strained to control himself. “God, Poppy, you feel so good. So tight. You’re going to make me come, kitten.”

             
She liked how he kept calling her that. Kitten. She never had a nickname before, and it was only made more special by the way that he said it so reverently, as if she was undoing him the same way he was undoing her.