Beauty and the Barracuda (9 page)

“
Cara
?”
Sansone said just behind her. “Are you all right?”

No, but she should’ve
been. She should’ve been fine. She should’ve been able to stand there without flinching but she’d run. Nyssa had done the one thing that seemed to be instinctive when she was afraid—she’d run. But why? Eight years was long enough to get over something—someone
—
right? It was more than enough time to push away the insecurity that you were never anything more to someone than something they could puppet around at will. It was more than enough time to move on, to grow, to stop feeling like she wanted to stab him in the neck with a toothpick. But she hadn’t, she didn’t, and she
wanted
to!

“Nyssa.”

Sansone’s voice came a little sharper this time, and her gaze snapped upwards from her clenched hands as she leaned against the pristine sink.

He didn’t move from where he stood against the door, his hands in his pockets, his head tilted. “Are you okay?” The question came slower this time, as if he didn’t want to raise his voice for fear she’d go for the window just over the tub.

She gave a jerky nod. “Fine.”

“Liar.”

Her brows drew downwards.

Taking a step closer, he kept his posture relaxed. “You’re
not
fine. You’re shaking. And you’ve chewed off some of your lipstick.”

Nyssa released her lips and tried gripping her clutch hard enough that the shaking would stop. God, what was wrong with her? Why did he still have this effect after all this time?

“You’re
angry,
baby,” Sansone stated, getting just that much closer. “The sight of him made you
angry.”

She closed her eyes and felt warm palms cup the sides of her face. “You hate that he still has the ability to pull any type of response out of you, whether it’s good or bad. It pisses you off that before he could even open his mouth you
felt
something. Because if you
feel
something, it means he still has control.”

How did he know? How did he get it without her saying a word?

Lips brushed across her brow. “I know because I know
you.
As hard as you try to close down, you can’t with me. We’ve been together entirely too long for that.”

Nyssa put a hand over his face and pushed him backwards. “Stop it with the creepy analytical fortune telling, all right?”

His eyes sparkled in the low light and she saw a grin dancing around his mouth before it even appeared. “There’s my girl.”

She pointed at him. “I’m not—”

“You. Are,” he growled, cutting her off. “And if I wasn’t standing here imagining whether or not you wore panties tonight while simultaneously trying to soothe you without using my mouth on places that would make you scream, I’d be in the ballroom trying to explain how and why a man was pile-driven through the floor. Mind you, it would’ve been feet first so I could kick his head around for fun.”

Nyssa tucked her lips in.

“I saw the smile,
cara.
You can’t hide it from me.”

She flipped him the bird.

His brows winged. “Is that an offer?”

“No.”

He pouted. “Why not?”

“Because my ex-boyfriend who also happens to be our ex-employer is in the same location as of right now!”

“And this pertains to me fucking you on the sink because…?”

Rubbing her temples, she replied, “Not funny, Sansone.”

He took her hands away and kissed both sides of her face. “You want me to give a fuck about Woodard? I can’t. Why? Because if I start giving a fuck I will commit heinous crimes tonight, end up in prison, and be without my hair products. Is that what you want, Nyssa? To see me sans
volume mousse?”

“My God.” She sighed. “You are fucking off it.”

“No, I’m trying to make you laugh, and it’s succeeding.” Sansone gave her a patient look. “But if you need me to leave you alone so you can have a silent scream session
without
the help of my love laser, I’ll go.”

Was that what she wanted? For the one man who seemed to understand her without so much as a second thought to walk out and leave her to get herself together? Or did she want him to stay exactly where he was, looking at her exactly how he was, touching her exactly how he was while making her forget the momentary bout of rage that had clogged in her chest?

It happened to be the latter.

Reaching up, she ran her fingers down his jaw. “I want you to stay.” Somehow, she knew that sentence sealed her fate, and yet she didn’t care. She’d think on the semantics later. Right now all she could truly comprehend was the fact she had a man willing to do violence if it meant she’d be safe from whatever emotions James had the ability to provoke. He hadn’t asked
why
she felt the way she did. He’d answered that question. He didn’t judge her for feeling that way; his eyes said he understood. Sansone
got
her. He got her. And for that, she wanted
him
.

For the second time since she’d acknowledged him tonight, Nyssa gripped the lapels of his jacket and yanked him toward her, pressing her mouth against his own and inhaling the breath he let go. He let her take the lead for all of five seconds before he drove his fingers through the hair at her nape, yanked her head back and slid his tongue against hers.

Sansone pulled back and put his lips to her ear. “Tell me to stop, Nyssa.”

She slowly shook her head.

His hands pulled at her hair a bit harder, the added sting sending heat to her clit, causing the nubbin to swell as her panties filled with moisture. “Are you sure? You have to be sure.” His mouth ran down her throat, stopping at the hollow as he swirled his tongue around her pulse.

“I’m sure,” she whispered.

“Mmm…” Sansone let go of her locks to run his hands down her sides, his fingertips skimming her flesh ever so lightly. He reached her hips and lifted her upwards. “Then be a good girl for me.”

Nyssa understood exactly
what that meant. Catching the hem of her dress, she pulled it up achingly slowly, watching him watch every movement of her hands. She reached the apex of her thighs and stopped, her breathing shallow. Sansone’s nostrils flared, his eyes lighting with a fire that was nearly feral. She jerked it the rest of the way, uncaring that it cost damn near as much as her rent. The growl that rumbled out of his chest as he gently set her down on the countertop caused her heart to skip. Cool granite kissed her buttocks and the backs of her thighs.

He ran a fingertip up just between her legs then stopped. “You’re not wearing panties,
cara
.”

She bit her lip. “I didn’t want lines showing through the dress.”

His mouth twitched, that finger inching closer as he took his stare from where he touched her and locked onto her gaze. “Was that it, or did you want everyone watching you to wonder?”

Swallowing, she tried to focus on her words rather than his hands. “Wonder what?”

“How easy it would be to bend you over and slip inside what I consider to be
mine
.”

God…

“I wasn’t trying to—”

Sansone tapped her legs and interrupted. “Spread them.”

Pussy thoroughly drenched now, she did as he demanded and he took a step back, his hand now fisting what could so clearly be seen through his trousers. The sight brought back the memory of breakfast this morning when he’d fed the length to her inch by inch.

“Wider,” he rasped.

Nyssa trembled, her mind thousands of miles away from the issues that had haunted her only minutes ago. When she’d done as he’d said, he came closer, his hand gliding up her thigh and leaving fire in its wake before he grazed the lips of her pussy. His thumb pressed down on her clit and her automatic response was to moan.

Sansone rubbed the nubbin in achingly slow circles. “We’re going to play the quiet game, baby. Can you keep being my good girl?”

She nodded without hesitation.

He pinched the bundle of nerves and her head spun. “Are you sure?”

Biting down on her lip so hard she almost broke skin, she simply gave him another nod.

His dark chuckle washed over her, and Nyssa attempted to restore the air that had suddenly left her lungs. With a well-placed hand, he brought her to just the edge of the sink, pulled the hand between her legs back and then spanked her clit. Her eyes slammed shut as fireworks erupted behind her lids and shudders racked her. He pulled his hand back and did it once more. She gripped the edge of the sink for equilibrium.

“I think you knew exactly
what you were doing. You were playing with me, weren’t you,
cara
?”
Sansone whispered. “You wanted to see if I’d give chase.”

She denied it, knowing exactly what it would earn her.

Smack.

Her heart hammered as a dizzying sensation crept up her spine.

“You knew I’d be watching and waiting for you, didn’t you?”

“N-no…”

Smack.

“You’re not a very good liar, baby.”

“Not…lying…” Nyssa panted out.

“You are,” he argued. “But I know when and how to make you tell the truth, don’t I?”

“Yes…”

“And when is that?”

She tucked in her lips.

“I asked you a question, Nyssa. I fully expect an answer.”
Smack.
“When…”
Smack.
“Is…”
Smack.
“That?”
Smack.

Nyssa almost fell backwards. If he hadn’t caught her, she would’ve. “When I’m coming…”

“Exactly.”

She heard his zipper seconds before the head of his cock was at her entrance. It didn’t occur to her that he hadn’t even freed his pants completely until he speared her in one smooth motion, the lips of her now full pussy pressing into the fabric of his trousers.

Nyssa shivered as he tugged at the top of her gown and said, “Down.”

She pulled the straps down her arms and allowed them to fall before tugging the cups of her bra with the front of the dress. Her breasts bounced free and he let out a groan that reverberated off the walls of the bathroom. A really
nice
bathroom. That he was about to fuck her senseless in.

Sansone licked his lips, withdrew from her and thrust back in so hard the wall mirror shook on impact. Nyssa buried her face between his shoulder and neck, biting down to stem her cries, and he slammed into her repeatedly, her legs wrapping around his waist, her chest pressing to his own, and her nipples rubbing against textured material of his shirt until she thought she’d scream.

He whispered things to her that caused a blaze to form in her belly. She held on as he punched his hips over and over, his fingers digging into her waist, her teeth digging into his tux.

Sansone gripped her ass, his digits separating both halves. He ground out as he tapped her rosette with her forefinger, “Someday, I’m going to take you here. And you’re going to love it, won’t you,
cara
?”

Nyssa exploded. Her pussy convulsed as that blaze swept downwards and sent her shuddering into an orgasm so intense that for a minute she thought she’d black out.

He pressed his lips to her throat once more and let out a deep growl as his cock continued to tunnel in and out of her sheath. The drag of his hips didn’t stop until his length swelled and spilled. Sansone wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back in soothing strokes as she sucked in a deep breath.