Anticipation (18 page)

She made a small, animal sound of approval when he pushed one, then two fingers inside her. He lifted his head from her breasts so he could watch what he was doing, noting the way her belly and thighs trembled with restrained need as he stroked her pussy inside and out.

“You like that?” he asked, his fingers tracing a slick path either side of her entrance, his gaze on her face now.

“Don’t ask stupid questions.”

He smiled. “Okay, I won’t.”

He shifted farther down the bed. Blue gave a little hiccupping sob, and he knew she understood where he was going, what he was about to do to her.

“Do you have any idea how many hours I’ve devoted to thinking about how good you must taste? How many times I’ve come thinking about fucking you with my mouth?” he said.

He settled between her wide-spread thighs, making sure she was watching as he lifted the fingers he’d had inside her to his mouth. She bit her lip as he licked his fingers, savoring the taste and smell of her.

Then he lowered his head and lapped at the seam of her sex. His first taste made him growl with impatience. So fucking good — sex and woman and salt and something he had no name for.

Need, maybe. Or maybe it was just the essence of Blue.

Using one hand to spread her wide, he spared her nothing, teasing her with long, firm strokes of his tongue before pulling her clit into his mouth and sucking gently. She shuddered and moaned, her fingers sliding into his hair, her thighs straining wider, as though she couldn’t get enough of him.

He worked her clit with his tongue while he stroked her inner lips with his fingers, loving the way she writhed beneath him, her hips bucking restlessly. Then he slipped two fingers inside her and she shuddered from head to toe.

“Eddie.
Please
,” she begged.

He renewed his assault, and he felt the exact moment it became too much for her, her whole body tensing before she came in a series of convulsions that tightened her inner muscles around his invading fingers.

Only when her grip on his hair loosened did he lift his head, pressing kisses against the inside of her thighs, her mound, her belly, shaken and proud and triumphant that he’d been able to give her so much pleasure, that he’d made her beg and buck and shudder.

“
Seu sabor é tão gostoso
,” he said, telling her how good she tasted to him.

She was lying with one arm thrown across her eyes, her chest still rising and falling rapidly and she looked so good to him he was hard put not to simply climb on board and start all over again.

Instead, he settled beside her and leashed his impatience.

For now, anyway.

The night was still young, after all.

Blue was ruined, every muscle soft as butter, barely able to lift her head.

The things Eddie had done to her…the way he’d made her feel…

It had been worth the wait. It really had.

No matter what might come tomorrow, she refused to regret this moment. It had been too necessary. Too complete. Too mind-blowing.

She turned her head to look at him. He had his arms folded behind his head, exposing the dark hair beneath his arms as he studied the ceiling. His belly muscles were pulled taut by the posture, his feet crossed at the ankle. Against all odds, she felt desire stir again.

The man had just given her two orgasms in rapid succession, and she wanted more. But when hadn’t she been greedy where Eddie was concerned?

He turned his head, meeting her gaze. For a moment they simply studied one another, almost as though they’d never seen each other before. Or — maybe — as if they were seeing each other clearly for the first time.

“How’re you doing?” he asked after a beat, his voice a low, intimate rumble.

“Pretty good. How ’bout you?”

“Yeah. Pretty damn good.” His smile was slow and warm.

She couldn’t help but smile in response before her gaze returned to his body, magnetically drawn by the hard planes and beautifully developed muscles of his chest and belly.

This man…she’d had so many dirty, secret thoughts about this man. She’d longed to touch him for so many years. And tonight, he was all hers.

She could explore his body at will. She could run her hands across his chest. She could learn the texture of his skin and the strength of his muscles. She could taste him and smell him. She could bite him and lick him. She didn’t have to ask permission or feel guilty or hold back.

She was free to act, to consume, to caress, and to admire.

She rolled onto her side and lay her hand on his chest, pressing down lightly. His pec muscles were firm beneath her spread fingers, giving minimally with her touch. His heartbeat vibrated through his body and into her hand, thud-thud, thud-thud.

She smoothed her palm from one pec to the other. His skin was so smooth and hot. Her gaze got caught on the dark brown circles of his nipples and she paused to tease one, watching it pucker beneath her touch.

“I’ve always wondered how that feels for men,” she said, glancing up meet his gaze.

“How does it feel for you?”

“Intense. Bright. I feel it here —” she touched herself between the thighs “— and it makes me achy and wet. It makes me want more.”

His body tensed briefly, as though her words had done something to him.

“You make that sound pretty awesome,” he said.

“It doesn’t feel like that for you?”

“It feels good, but not that good.”

“But you still like it?”

“Yeah. I like it plenty.”

She gave him a look from under her lashes before leaning close and tonguing his nipple. He shifted minutely and she smiled against his skin. He
definitely
liked that.

She transferred her attention to his other nipple, then licked and sucked her way into his armpit. He laughed and pulled his arms from behind his head as he twisted away from her questing mouth.

“Too much?” She hadn’t realized Eddie was ticklish.

“Way too much.”

She glanced down his body and saw he was hard again. God, he had a nice cock. Straight and thick and long. He’d filled her so beautifully, stretching her, satisfying her.

Hands braced on his chest, she slid a leg over his hips and shifted so she was straddling him. His erection was directly beneath her, and she nudged her hips, narrowing her eyes as her most sensitive flesh pressed against his. Eddie watched her lazily, a half-smile playing around his lips.

“Enjoying yourself there?” he asked.

“Not as much as I could be.”

His cock twitched beneath her, and she rose on her knees and reached between them, wrapping her hand around his erection. He was so hard, the skin of his shaft as warmly tactile as the finest silk. Her throat grew tight with lust as she stroked him, gliding the pad of her thumb across the sensitive tip.

“Blue,” he muttered, his hips pumping into her hand.

Holding her breath, she tilted her hips and notched him into place before sliding onto his thick, hard length. Her inner muscles clamped around him, and she sucked in a breath at how good he felt.

How right. How necessary.

How am I ever going to get over
this?

The thought made her still. Then she shook her head, pushing the question far, far away. She refused to waste a second of this night worrying about what might happen next.

There would be plenty of time for reality and regret later. Right now, he was hers, and she was making the most of it.

Chapter Twelve

Eddie woke to the awareness he was cold, something which made sense when he realized his naked body was covered by nothing but the sheet. Eyes still closed, he sent out a questing hand and found the duvet — along with a small, very warm body curled in the center of his bed.

Blue
.

Memories from last night exploded across his mind’s eye like camera flashes. Blue in the shower, her hands digging into his shoulders as he slid inside her for the very first time. Blue’s hips bucking and twisting as he made love to her with his mouth. Blue on top, her back arched as she took them both for the ride of a lifetime.

Suddenly he was completely awake and fully aroused, his cock swelling in response to his X-rated thoughts. He didn’t reach for her, though, despite every instinct urging him to.

He needed to think first. To take stock.

Because last night had been big - and not just on the pleasure scale. Last night had the potential to change
everything
.

He’d been too desperate to get Blue naked and into his bed to think through the repercussions of their actions last night. From the second she’d asked that earth-shattering question, he’d been a heat-seeking missile, intent on one thing and one thing only.

Haven’t you ever wondered? About us? How it would be
?

His chest and belly tightened as adrenaline shot through him, prompted by the mere memory of that moment. He was pretty sure those crazy, intense minutes in the alley would be indelibly etched in his mind.

The first taste of her mouth.

The first time he’d allowed himself to touch her with sensual intent.

The first time she’d pressed her body against his.

It had been amazing being with Blue. It had been fun, crazy, intensely pleasurable, beautifully familiar, and terrifyingly intimate.

Most importantly, it had been
right.
In fact, it may have been the most right thing he’d ever done in his life.

He stared at the ceiling, waiting to be freaked out by his own thoughts, but it never happened. He didn’t feel panicked. He felt…
good
. As though something important had slotted into place in his life.

He turned his head, unable to stop himself from smiling when he saw the way Blue had swaddled the duvet around herself, shamelessly hogging all the warmth. Her hands gripped the upper edge of the covers as though she was willing to fight for them even in her sleep, and her chin was tucked into her chest, her mouth soft and vulnerable.

Yes
.

The single word resonated inside him as he studied Blue’s unguarded face.

He wanted this — whatever it was. He wanted more of Blue in his bed, in his arms. He wanted to stay on this ride and see where it took them.

The urge to take her in his arms, to wake her with a kiss and pull her warm, sleepy body against his own was almost overwhelming now that he understood his own mind, but his bladder had other ideas. Moving as carefully as possible, he slid from the bed and padded into the ensuite. Shutting the door, he took care of business, then grabbed his toothbrush from the vanity. He studied his own reflection in the mirror as he brushed and fought the absurd impulse to grin like a loon.

Still, he was feeling pretty damned good by the time he opened the door and slipped into the bedroom — only to pull up short when he registered Blue sitting on the foot of the bed, fully dressed except for her shoes.

“You’re up,” he said stupidly.

“Yep.” She gave him a quick smile before bending to pull on her boots.

“You’re not staying for breakfast, I take it?” he asked.

Another stupid comment. He was on a roll this morning, clearly.

“I thought I’d get out of your hair.” She stood, dusting her hands down the thighs of her jeans before eyeing him with casual interest. “You got anything interesting on for the rest of the weekend?”

He stared at her. Was she seriously trying to blow off what had happened between them with idle chitchat?

“What’s going on?” he asked after a long moment.

“Nothing.”

“Then why are we talking about what I’ve got planned for the rest of the weekend?”

“Because I’m trying to make this as easy as possible.”

“We just slept together for the first time. Why on earth would it be
easy
?”

“Because we’ve both been here before, and we know the score.”

He stared at her. Blue was acting as though this was a one-night stand, as though he was some guy she’d picked up at the bar.

“Come on, Blue. This wasn’t just sex.”

“You’re right, it’s messy. Which is why I was trying to give you a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

“What if I don’t want one?”

Blue shook her head, clearly confused. “Sorry, what?”

“I don’t want a get-out-of-jail-free card. I don’t need you making it easy. And I don’t want you taking off like we did something wrong last night.”

Blue stared at him as though he was talking in a foreign language she barely understood. Then her face cleared, her eyebrows rising in comprehension.

“Oh, right. I get it. You want to do this again.” Her gesture took in the rumpled bed.

“Call me crazy, but yeah. I had a great night. Didn’t you?” He felt very exposed and oddly defensive. As though he needed to justify himself to her.

“Yeah, I had a nice time, but that’s kind of irrelevant. You’re my friend, Eddie. I value that a hell of a lot more than good sex.”