UNEXPECTED compile (8 page)

With an arm braced on the door above her head, he leaned into her, chest, hips, and thighs solid against her back. Off balance physically and emotionally, she pushed back to keep from falling. The dips and swells of his insane body trapped her between his torso and the door. She heard his breath hitch.

“Are we going in?” he asked, his voice a low rumble in her ear.

The door had barely closed behind them when he turned and pushed her against it. She fell back, one hand on his chest. His heartbeat thudded against her palm. The keys fell from her hand to the floor with a jingle. Warm fingertips traced the column of her neck and slope of her shoulder. He drew in a deep breath before cupping her breast, cradling it with care. The tip of his nose skimmed the shell of her ear, and every muscle south of her waist clenched with abrupt desire.

There was something hesitant about his touch as if any minute he expected her to recoil. If only he knew how exquisite it felt to be stroked by someone so powerful. The tips of his fingers were rough from hard work but gentle in their exploration. They drifted over her skin with butterfly lightness, causing quite a commotion in her nether parts. She bit her lower lip and sighed.

“This is probably a bad idea,” he said. The deep, rough voice was tortured with emotions she couldn’t begin to identify, their sounds echoing her own internal anguish. “Neither one of us is in a good place.”

“I know.” She closed her eyes and swallowed hard to hold down the lump in her throat. “We’ve both had a shitty day. But maybe we just need to fuck through it.” When her eyelids fluttered open, she found him staring at her with raised eyebrows and an amused smile.

“Fuck through it? Okay. I’m intrigued.” He tugged on the tendril of hair curling behind her ear. “Go on.”

“Yeah. You know what I mean.”

“I don’t want you to hate me later.” He tickled her nose with the end of her hair. “These kinds of things don’t usually end well for me.”

“I won’t hate you.” What was it about him that made her feel so deeply? She couldn’t imagine ever hating him. “But maybe we should set some ground rules.”

“Like what?” He leaned forward and nuzzled the column of her throat. The tip of his tongue tickled beneath her ear, sending tingles down her neck.

“Like no expectations. No regrets.” She angled her head to the side so he could nibble along her jaw, enjoying the softness of his lips and the occasional brush of his beard against her skin.

“I can’t give you anything more than tonight.” His nose rested alongside hers, their breaths mingling. “Is that enough?”

“I don’t want to be alone right now. And I don’t think you do either.” She raised her hands to cup his face, skimming her thumbs over the soft skin of his lips, sensitive in their masculinity. “I just want to forget. For tonight.”

CHAPTER 10

The front door chilled her back despite the heat. Randy trailed a hand along the side of her ribs and the swell of her hip to rest at the hem of her dress. The brush of his fingers on her bare thigh raised the skin into gooseflesh, heightening her desire. She closed her eyes, enjoying the slow, deliberate sweep of his palms along her outer thighs. There was no hurry in his movements. Each caress possessed a measure of control and reverence at odds with his strength and size.

Air brushed between her legs as he swept the dress up to her waist. He grabbed the hem with both hands and dragged it over her head. She raised her arms to help. The fabric tickled past breasts and shoulders. When the dress cleared her head, he kept her hands tangled in the fabric and pinned her trapped wrists to the door. The charcoal gaze made a slow and leisurely perusal of her body, taking in every inch from hair to toes, lingering on the tight buds of her nipples and the appendix scar on her abdomen. When his focus stopped to rest on her mouth, she wanted nothing more than to climb up his lean length and devour him.

What was he waiting for? Was he going to touch her or not? She huffed in frustration. Her body, taunted by his proximity, the roughness of his voice, and the scent of testosterone, tensed with desire and confusion. The harsh sound of her breathing and the tick-tock of the clock on the wall filled the room. She bucked against the door and scowled.

“So impatient.” He looked up at her through thick lashes, his dark eyes swirling with wicked intent.

“Yes.” The word came out stilted and breathy as she wriggled, impatient for his touch. “You’re torturing me.”

“If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it right,” he said with an unexpected intensity that stole her breath. The smoky gaze locked with hers. “And probably more than once. You should know that I’m a stickler for details.”

“And you should know that I’m not,” she replied, unable to repress a mischievous smile.

“I can see we’re going to have a few challenges along the way then.” He kissed the tip of her nose.

“Get on with it, Mackenzie,” she teased in spite of her frustration, arching against him. For the first time, the smile on his face was unguarded, turning his features from fierce to handsome. “Or do you need me to give you some pointers on this, too?”

The amused expression slid away, replaced by focused deliberation. The large fingers twisted in the strap of her panties and gave a sharp tug. The fragile elastic ripped free of her body, whispering between her legs, skimming along sensitive flesh. Arousal dampened her thighs as he slipped a finger inside her, teasing and testing, causing her legs to twitch and a moan to escape her.

“So wet already, Karly? And we haven’t even started yet.” His gaze flickered up to hers with a chastising smirk, his finger still inside her. “I like this. I’ll be able to slide right inside you.”

“It was the panty thing.” She gasped as his tongue flicked her earlobe. “Nice touch.”

“Hmmm…thank you.” The width of his shoulders blocked the neon light outside the living room window as he released her hands and tossed the dress onto a nearby chair. Free at last, she buried her fingers in the spiky locks of his hair, damp with sweat and humidity, and forced his mouth to hers, needing his kiss. Their tongues tangled in a frenzied dance, stealing her breath and the last vestiges of her control. They broke apart long enough for her to pull his T-shirt over his head and toss it aside.

“Oh, God,” he groaned when she stroked the long curve of his back and clutched the cheeks of his ass. She gripped him tightly, grinding against him, enjoying the feel of his erection behind the fly of his jeans. A long, shuddering breath shook his shoulders.

“I need this,” she whispered against his mouth. “I need you, Randy.” With a coquettish glance through her lashes at him, she rubbed a hand along his hard ridge. “Are you as big as you feel, or is that my wishful thinking?”

“Baby, I’m not even hard yet,” he said, voice sexy with confidence. “Just wait until I’m inside you. You’re going to feel every inch of me.”

There was no time for second thoughts or hesitation. With his lips on hers, he fumbled with the buttons on his jeans. Impatient, she thrust her hands into the waistband of his briefs and yanked them down. His cock fell forward, impressive in its length.

“Jesus,” she whispered. She rarely took the Lord’s name in vain, but the massive instrument in her hand qualified as an extenuating circumstance. She gripped a respectful hand around him and gave a gentle tug, rewarded by the hiss of breath between his teeth.

“I don’t have any condoms,” he muttered. “Do you?”

“I’m on the pill,” she whispered. “And I’ve been tested.”

“Me, too,” he replied before he put both hands beneath her ass and lifted her. She slid down onto him, pleased with his earthy growl of satisfaction.

The length of him filled her, burning and stretching her to the limit. He pushed into her at exactly the right angle, his tip brushing the bundle of nerves inside her core. With her arms wrapped around his broad torso, she squeezed her legs around his hips.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. The trembling of his body as he sought for control only made her that much more desperate to move and take him deeper. “But you feel amazing.”

“Then for goodness sake, do something, Randy. Now.”

Those words freed him. He thrust up and into her, repeatedly, until every nerve in her body hummed. She focused on the sounds of Randy’s labored breathing and his sexy-as-fuck moans. Tension built inside her as he pulled out and ran the head of his cock along the seam of her sex. She found his gentleness touching and a powerful aphrodisiac.

The heat of his hands seared against the curves of her bottom, opening her to him so he could drive deeper. He buried his head in her neck and fastened his lips on the spot above her jugular, slamming into her with increasing speed. The grunts from his throat drove her to arch her back and clench around him. He responded with a shudder. She dug her nails into his back as pre-climax tremors jolted through her legs. Caught in his gravitational pull like a planet orbiting the sun, she could only hang on and pray for release.

“That’s right.” He groaned and heaved into her so hard the door rattled on its hinges. “Hold onto me, baby. Squeeze those legs tight.”

They came together in a fury of clutching fingers and gasping breaths. As the first spasm of release wracked her body, she threw her head back. It hit the door with a resounding thump. Unfazed, she raked her nails down the columns of muscle on either side of his spine. He hissed and pumped into her again, buttocks tensing beneath her palms. Wave after wave of delicious sensation washed through her, patterns and colors played on the backs of her eyelids, while tremors of unreserved pleasure twitched through her legs.

As the last quivers of climax journeyed from groin to thigh, she struggled to pull herself back from the brink of the abyss. Randy rested his forehead against hers, lost in his own vortex of pleasure. Their bodies were slick with sweat, chests heaving.

“Holy hell,” he muttered.

Very slowly, he let her feet slide to the floor and held her waist until she gathered her legs beneath her. She stood in front of him, palms pressed against the door beside her, feeling shell-shocked and disoriented.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She raised a shaking hand to rub the knot on the back of her head. “I think I might have a concussion.”

Their eyes met, and they shared a shy smile. He hoisted his jeans up but didn’t button the fly, revealing the happy trail of reddish-brown hair from navel to groin. The sight of him took her breath away. The perfect curves of his shoulders, undulating abs, and sinewy arms renewed her desire. Seeing her lust, his eyes darkened with carnal promise.

With his just-fucked hair mussed from her clenching fingers, he shifted from one foot to the other, seeking his balance. Everything about him screamed dark and dangerous, but after one encounter, she craved more, had to have more. The air between them shifted once more. He took a step away from her and rubbed the back of his neck. His gaze fell to the floor, and his brows furrowed in a scowl, followed by the sickening drop of her stomach.

The smile faded from her lips as his eyes narrowed. She’d seen that look on a guy’s face before, right before he bolted. Her insides turned cold at the prospect of an abrupt end to what seemed a promising beginning. She wrapped her arms around her waist for protection from his sudden withdrawal. They balanced on a precarious slope. One false move by either of them and the fragile threads of their new relationship would unravel.

“You look like someone kicked you in the nuts,” she said and steeled herself for his getaway speech.

The panic in his eyes made her stomach drop again. “I didn’t expect that.”

Expect what?
She searched his face for an answer, but he had an uncanny talent for concealing his emotions behind an expression of fierce indifference.

“You.” The slow drag of his hand through his hair and the break in his voice offered better clues to the mystery behind his eyes than his words. “I didn’t expect to fuck you tonight. It was the last thing on my mind.” He placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face upward. Pangs of desire resumed, sweeping through her like rogue ocean waves. A slow smile lightened his intensity. “And I didn’t expect to say this either, but here goes. I want to fuck you again, the way you need it. Slow and deep and a little dirty. Is that how you like it, Karly?” As he spoke, his fingertip traced the curve of her jaw.

“Um, yes,” she replied, completely mesmerized by his voice and touch.

“Tell me where you want to go, and I’ll take you there.” He took her hands and tugged her to him before dropping a kiss on the hollow of her throat. The calloused fingers slid over her arms, bringing all the blood to the surface of her overheated skin. “Will you let me do that? Make you come again?”

“Hell, yeah.” She placed a hand on his cheek, enjoying the stiff, velvety plush of his beard against her palm. He turned his face into her hand and pressed his lips against her palm. "I have a bed, you know," she whispered. "Maybe we should use it."

CHAPTER 11

Randy put his hands on her waist and tossed her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing. The power in his arms sent ripples of excitement through her. He carried her to the bedroom and kicked the door open with his foot. When he smacked her on the ass with one of his large hands, the gentle sting brought a startled giggle from her. Unfamiliar with the terrain, he stumbled over the rug, lost his balance, and threw her headlong onto the bed. She bounced twice, choking with laughter. The aged box spring creaked in protest.