A Lick of Flame (9 page)

“Oh,” she said, pulling a paper from her pocket to examine it. When he eased his car into a parking spot near the dock, she asked, “Where are we going?”

“To the boat.”

She nodded as if she understood then climbed from the car. He captured her hand in his and carefully guided her along the wobbly wharf. When they reached his uncle’s yacht, Sean spoke to the captain who was waiting for them, then turned to usher Madison on board.

When she reached the main deck, she furrowed her brow and glanced around. “Sean, there’s no one here.”

“Down there,” he said, and pushed open the door to the cabin below.

Madison stepped ahead of him and descended the three steps. At the bottom, she turned back to him. “There is no one here, either.”

Sean flicked the lamp on and gave her a smile full of sensual promise. “I know.”

Confusion lit her eyes. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is that I fucked everything up last night and tonight I plan on making it right.”

Madison swallowed and a pink flush colored her cheeks as equal mixtures of surprise and curiosity washed over her face. “Making it right? What are you talking about?”

“You see, sweetheart,” he began as he nudged her until she fell backward on the bed, making it perfectly clear what was going to happen between them tonight. “I want you. I want you so badly that I can barely think straight. But I never should have taken you on the rooftop like that. You deserve better from me.”

He could practically see the wheels spinning as a bevy of emotions passed over her eyes. Then, when she realized exactly what he was up to, she said, “Ohmygod.”

He cocked his head. “Praying again, Madison?”

When the engine started up, Sean began to undress, pulling off his T-shirt and unbuckling his belt. “It’s like this, Madison. Last night when we had sex, it was to prove to both of us that beneath that guarded exterior of yours, a warm and sensuous woman exists, one who gets to me in a way no woman ever has before. But tonight, well, tonight I’m going to prove something else to you.”

“Something else?” she whispered, intrigue clouding her expressive eyes.

He bent forward and brushed her hair back to expose her entire face. “Yeah, baby, I’m going to show you what I see.”

“What are you talking about?”

In a familiar move, she pulled her hair forward to hide her scar. Once she had herself covered, her glance raced to the bright lamp. Sean knew exactly what she was thinking, but he wasn’t about to let her hide from him—or herself. Not anymore.

Not ever again.

“The light stays on.” When she looked like she was about to protest, he pushed her hair back behind her ear a second time and pitched his voice low. “Cover your face again, and I’ll tie your hands to the bedposts.”

He felt a tremor move through her. “Sean, what are you doing?”

“Like I said, I’m going to show you what I see.”

Her chest rose and fell erratically, her full breasts quivering and beckoning his mouth in the most provocative way.

“What…what do you see?” she asked.

“What I see is a beautiful woman, on the inside and out.” He gestured toward the mirror above the bed and felt a rush of tenderness as she followed his gaze. Emotions choked him when he said, “And we’re not leaving here until you see it too.”

A strange noise sounded deep in her throat as confusion morphed to understanding, but when the boat scraped along the dock as the captain steered them out to sea, her eyes widened in alarm. “But. Sean. Water. Seasick.” Her breathless words came out broken, fractured.

Her concern for him warmed his insides. She really was sweet and compassionate, seeing him for the man he really was. An invisible fist squeezed his heart when he said, “Then you’d better start distracting me.” With that, he dropped down on top of her, crushing her beneath him.

Everything inside him reached out to her as her body softened against his. His cock ached to drive into her warmth, but Sean marshaled all his control, determined to go slow and make this good for her. He inched back and lightly brushed his lips over her eyes, her nose, her mouth and the scar on her cheek.

He settled his hands on either side of her head and hunger consumed him. He took a moment to look at her, loving the way her long hair splayed across the pillow. Her passionate eyes focused on the mirror above, and when he felt her quake, his cock thickened in his pants.

“Sean…” she said, her skin flushing as her tone caressed him all over. But he also heard something else in her voice, something that had panic invading his stomach. Was she going to push him away again? He wanted her, yes, in ways he’d never wanted another, but he wasn’t going to take her if she didn’t want him too.

“Yeah, baby. What is it?” He traced the edge of her cheek, his eyes searching her face for answers.

She shook her head and emotions passed over her eyes as she glanced around the room. “This…”

“What about it?”

“I can’t believe you’d actually do this for me.”

“This is the way it should have been last night, Madison. Not some hurried fuck on the rooftop.”

“But last night on the roof told me so much about you.”

He grimaced. “What, that I’m an inconsiderate asshole?”

She frowned, and seemed upset with herself when she said, “I should have trusted my gut. It’s never let me down before. And I know what you are, Sean. Underneath that heroic firefighter suit, I know what you are.”

His stomach clenched. He knew women thought of him as a playboy, a guy who could simply fulfill a fantasy. But Madison was different. He was sure of it. “What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering, she gave him a hard shove, and his heart fell into his stomach. He rolled off her body and landed on the mattress beside her. Once she was free of his hold, she climbed from the bed, her back to him.

Sean swallowed. “Madison, please.”

Madison turned to face him, and reached for the top button of her blouse. “Please what?”

“Don’t—”

“Don’t what?”

When she undid the top button, then moved her fingers to the next one, Sean’s mind stalled. “Wait, what are you doing?”

The boat swayed and so did Madison’s hips, a sexy move that had his blood rushing south. “Distracting you,” she murmured, a sexy gleam in her eyes.

“Ohmygod.”

She chuckled. “Now look who’s praying.”

Sean gave a painful groan.

“And, Sean,” she continued, “you’re anything but an asshole. That night on the roof taught me a lot about myself and it also showed me how much you wanted me, how desperate you were to be inside me. Now how could I be upset about that?”

“Get back in this bed, Madison,” he demanded, his voice rough from need and desire. “Right now.”

She pouted her beautiful, full lips. “But you told me I needed to distract you.”

He scrubbed his chin. “Distract, not tease.”

Warm intimacy arced between them as she peeled the rest of her buttons open and slipped out of her blouse. Continuing her striptease act, her hands went to her bra. After she unhooked it and released her gorgeous breasts, she ran her fingers over her creamy skin until she reached her pants. She gave an extra wiggle of her hips, taunting his libido, as she shimmied out of her work clothes. Her eyes gleamed as she stood there in nothing but her lace panties, a naughty look turning up the corners of her mouth.

“What?” he asked, as he took in the gorgeous woman hovering over him.

“Speaking of your bed…”

“What about it?”

“It’s rocking.”

Sean shook his head. “Baby, if you think this is rocking, then you’re in for one hell of a ride.”

With that, he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her back down with him. She let loose a little yelp but he smothered it with a kiss.

She kissed him back, so deep and sensuous that it shut down his mind. His cock, however, was quick to take over where rational thought failed.

Madison writhed beneath him, the scent of her arousal saturating the room as her body massaged his dick. As he thickened to the point of pain, he knew he needed to get out of his pants before he injured something vital.

Madison must have sensed his discomfort. “You’re overdressed,” she murmured, and rolled on top of him. In a provocative move that flooded him with sexual heat, she pressed her lips to his chest, going lower and lower until she reached his pants. Her tongue skimmed his oblique muscles as she took her time to release his button and pull down his zipper. Unable to take her slow seduction, Sean reached down and tore the rest of his clothes off in record time. Once he was naked, Madison settled herself between his legs, but he knew if she dared to put her mouth to his cock, he’d go off like a supernova.

Before he could stop her, she sheathed his cock with her hot mouth, her wet tongue circling his crown and drinking in his precome.

“Fuck…”

She sucked him in deeper, and pleasure swamped him. Tension mounted, and when she made a sexy bedroom noise, he feared he was past the point of no return. Feeling edgy and completely out of control, he grabbed her shoulder and hauled her up. “You keep that up and you’re going to make me come.”

She blinked innocent eyes at him. “But I want to make you come.”

He let loose an agonized breath and could hear the impatience in his voice when he said, “I was determined to go slow, sweetheart. But you have this thing about playing with fire.”

“I guess that’s pretty naughty of me.”

Sean kissed her hard, knowing exactly what she was doing. “Yeah, baby, and you know naughty girls need to be punished.” Lust exploded inside him as he flipped her over and pinned her beneath him. “I think maybe a tongue lashing is in order.”

Sean slid down her body, kissing the hollow of her throat until his mouth was aligned with her gorgeous breasts. He kneaded her full mounds then traced his hands along her contours while he swiped his tongue across her sensitized nipples. She arched into him and tossed her head from side to side as she moaned out loud.

“So good,” she murmured. Her hands went to his arms and she palmed his muscles as he savored the honeyed taste of her skin. Slowly, methodically, he caressed her nipples with the tip of his tongue then greedily pulled them into his mouth, licking and nibbling until she cried out for more.

As her body hummed beneath his, he caressed lower and filled his lungs with her arousing scent. When he reached the apex of her legs, he gripped her hips and spread her legs wide, then leaned back to take a long look at her. Her damp hairs glistened beneath the light and Sean groaned, loving the way she was offering herself up to him.

“Touch yourself for me, sweetheart.”

Her eyes widened, a telltale sign that she’d never been so bold before. But that moment of alarm was quickly replaced by hunger. She slid her hands over her breasts, her stomach, until she reached her wet cunt. She lightly inched her lips open.

“Do you do this when you’re alone?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she murmured.

“Do you think of me when you touch yourself?”

She nodded, her eyes glazing with need.

“I think of you too,” he admitted, turning his attention back to her pussy.

She rubbed her clit, gently at first, then picking up the pace as she chased an orgasm.

Sean drew a ragged breath, her actions fuelling his hunger. Needing to taste her more than he needed to breathe, he dipped his head, and his mouth joined her fingers. He pushed his tongue inside her, and her entire body shook beneath his invading mouth.

Wanting to take full possession of her pleasure, he removed her hands and pressed the pad of his thumb to her clit. As he stroked her softness, caressing her sensitive bud until it swelled, she began breathing harder. Her hips began moving, her cunt gyrating against his mouth, and he could tell she was so close.

“You’re so hot, baby.”

“You make me this way.”

He glanced up at her, and loved the way she was watching him in the mirror, loved the way she was suddenly feeling so comfortable in her own skin.

“Do you like that, baby? Do you like watching?”

“Yes,” she whispered, and there was something deeply intimate in her tone as she raked through his hair to guide his mouth back to her pussy. “Don’t stop.”

Chuckling at her boldness, Sean licked her wet cunt and inserted a finger. She gave an erotic whimper when he pushed deep, and it took every ounce of restraint he had not to drive his cock into her.

He stole a glance at her and noted the intense pleasure on her face. He gave a low growl of satisfaction knowing he was the one who put it there. “Tell me what you see, sweetheart?”

He swirled his fingers through her slick heat and her body practically convulsed as their eyes met.

“I see the most amazing man in the world.”

“What else do you see?”

Her gaze shifted to the mirror. “I see a very lucky woman to have a man like you between her legs.”

He smiled and toyed with her clit. “You’re desirable, Madison, and you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. Inside and out.”