Breaking Free (2 page)

“If you think I’m letting you leave here alone, you’re crazy,” I said, grabbing her wrist. “I’m taking you home.”

“No, you’re not!”

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Look, you’re not walking home alone in that dress, so you either come to my place so we can talk, or I’ll take you home and we can talk tomorrow.”

“Maybe I have nothing left to say to you,” she said, shaking free of my grasp and crossing her arms beneath her full breasts. “Ever think of that?”

We fought a lot, mainly because I was jealous and so was she, but she’d never threatened to end it before. My stomach pitched at the thought. Fuck, I couldn’t lose her. I loved the girl, even if she did make me crazy sometimes.

“Don’t screw with me,” I said, trying to quash my panic. “You’re pissed, I get that.”

“You accused me of wanting to fuck other guys tonight! How do you expect me to feel?”

I winced when I realized how harsh I’d sounded. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You’re damn right you shouldn’t have,” she said, tapping her foot on the pavement. “I love you, you asshole. And you have the nerve to accuse me of not only cheating on you with my ex, but also trying to hook up with random guys?”

Every time she told me she loved me, even in anger, I fell a little deeper. I’d never expected someone like her to fall for a guy like me. She was every man’s wet dream. Blond, blue-eyed, slammin’ curves, smart, sassy… her list of attributes went on and on. I knew she was too good for me, but she made me want to work harder to be worthy of her love, to prove to myself and everyone else that I could become the man she thought I was.

“I’m sorry, okay?” I pulled her closer, hoping she wouldn’t push me away. “I just love you so much I get a little crazy sometimes.” That was the truth. She made me crazy. The thought of losing her made me crazy. “I know you’d never cheat on me.”

She leaned into my chest, wrapping her arms around my waist. “What do I have to do to convince you that I’m not going anywhere?”

“I can think of a few ways you can put my fears to rest.”

She smirked as she smacked my chest. “Let’s go.”

The short drive to my apartment was easy, with Maura manipulating the music and me taking advantage of every red light and stop sign to kiss her. I couldn’t get enough. She was the addiction I didn’t want to recover from.

We’d barely made it up the stairs to my third-floor apartment when she started walking backward, undressing me with her eyes. I would have taken her right there, up against the wall, if not for the fact that the derelicts of society frequented my building.

Once we were inside, she turned the lock, and I flattened her against the wall, hooking her leg over my hip so I could gain access to her hot spot. Damn. She wasn’t joking about not wearing panties. It was a turn-on when we were alone, but knowing how close her ex had come to uncovering the mystery pissed me off again.

I took her in a demanding kiss as I thrust two fingers inside her. She moaned as she threaded her fingers through my hair. She liked it rough, and with my temper rising to the surface, it was easy to give her what she wanted.

“You like that?” I asked, kissing her neck as my thumb circled her clit.

“Fuck, yes.” She lifted her hands above her head, pressing them to the wall. She always wanted me to cuff her and have my way with her. She was about to get her wish.

“On the bed. Now.”

Her eyes were heavy with lust as she pulled my shirt apart, sending little plastic buttons skittering across the scarred wood floor. Her nails raked down my back with enough pressure to mark me.

“Wait,” I said, reaching for her wrist.

I tugged on the tie behind her neck, and the top of her dress fell, revealing the most perfect tits ever created. They were large, a sharp contrast to her small frame, and I made no secret of the fact that I was breast man. I couldn’t get enough of her sexy little body, and she knew it was the most powerful weapon in her arsenal. As soon as she stripped down, I was at her mercy.

Moving closer, I undid the short zipper running down the side of the dress, letting it fall to the floor. “Keep the shoes on.”

“Yes, sir.” It was an ongoing joke because she loved when I dominated her, but I wasn’t laughing.

I intended to remind her that she was mine, and that meant she didn’t dance with ex-boyfriends or wear clothes that exposed her. I reached into the nightstand to grab the handcuffs as I lifted my chin, indicating that I wanted her in the middle of the large bed. I had a bachelor apartment, just one large room, and since I met Maura, the bed was the only furniture getting much use.

I could tell she was turned on by the sight of the cuffs. She loved being restrained while I found new ways to arouse her. I climbed on top of her and fastened one cuff around her wrist before threading the other through the metal bar. My eyes locked with hers as I clicked the other handcuff around her free hand. Sex was never just sex with her. She touched me in a place I’d never known existed, and when I was inside her, I felt like I was home.

“I’m tempted to lock down your legs too,” I said, thinking about the other set of cuffs in the drawer. Just thinking about having her spread eagle on my bed and begging for me made my cock twitch in anticipation. “But I want to feel those sexy heels digging into my back as I fuck you.” She wasn’t the only one who liked a little pain with her pleasure.

She moaned, arching her back as she thrust her tits up. “What are you waiting for?”

I peeled my shirt off before toeing off my worn boots and casting them aside.

She watched me shed my clothes, her eyes hungry as they trailed over my body before returning to my face. “You’re so sexy, Coop.”

“As long as you think so, baby.” I’d never had a problem getting women in bed. Sometimes getting rid of them was the problem. But I couldn’t imagine anything Maura could do or say that would make me want to leave her. Except cheating. I didn’t share, and she knew it.

I braced my weight on my hands as I drew one of her peaked nipples into my mouth. Swirling my tongue around the tight bud, I nipped hard enough to make her cry out before soothing it with a tender kiss. I moved to the other side. I could spend all night doing that, but from the way she was grinding her hips, she was anxious for more. Trailing my lips slowly down her abdomen and over her hips, I forced her legs wide with my shoulders and planted myself between her thighs. She was already trembling in anticipation. Nothing got her hotter than watching me go down on her. But I just blew on her engorged clit, looking up at her.

“What the hell, Coop?” she asked, tugging on her restraints.

“Tell me you’re mine.” When she frowned, I said, “Tell me you’ll never let another man touch you the way that son of a bitch did tonight.”

It had just been a dance, but when I saw his hand on her ass, I saw red. Since I’d found out who he was, I couldn’t get the image of her having sex with him out of my head. He was her first lover, her only lover before I came along, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that that gave him some advantage over me. He obviously still wanted her, but he’d have to climb over my dead body to get to her.

“You know I’m yours,” she whispered. “I don’t want anyone else.”

I was a novelty for her, the bad boy who used his fists instead of his brains to get ahead, and she liked that… for now. But how long would it be before she realized she was out of my league and she’d be better suited to one of those college boys who were always trying to slip her their numbers? I wanted more. I wanted a promise of forever, but she was still young. Hell, at twenty-four, I was too young to think about forever, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to know she’d still be mine in a year, two years, ten years.

But I did have a distinct advantage over those other guys, and I used it. I had the Maura Lancaster playbook memorized. I’d discovered every one of her hot spots, and I knew what made her tremble, cry out, and beg for more. I intended to use every trick I knew to convince her I was the only one who could make her happy, in and out of bed.

Flicking my tongue over her clit, I kissed the inside her thigh when she bucked in response. “You like that, baby?”

She groaned. “Fuck, Coop, that makes me crazy. Please, don’t stop.”

I smirked. Yeah, I had her right where I wanted her. This was gonna be fun. “Stop? Hell, I’m just getting started, sweetheart.” I swirled my tongue around her swollen bud until she was whimpering and gasping.

“Oh. My. God.”

I dipped my tongue inside her before lapping at her juices. She was soaking wet and hotter than hell. Feeling her throb against my mouth, and knowing how turned on she was, just fed my hunger for her. I didn’t want to stop… couldn’t get enough.

“Coop, oh, fuck… I’m gonna come.”

I loved licking her right through her orgasm and beyond. When she was begging me to stop, I continued lapping at her pussy until she was climbing that peak again. That was the advantage of restraining her—she was forced to succumb to the pleasure whether she wanted to or not.

“Come for me again, baby. I need to feel you come in my mouth again.” She loved when I talked dirty to her. The raunchier, the better. “Fuck, I love the way you taste.”

She moaned, tossing her head from side to side. “Yes, oh god…”

And just like pouring gas on a flame, she exploded, her whole body trembling with the force of her release. I kissed a path up her body slowly, giving her a chance to recover, before gliding my tongue over the pulse point in her neck. Kissing her neck was a sure-fire way to get her going again.

“You make me crazy,” she whispered, trying to catch her breath. “I didn’t know it could be like this until I met you.” Her eyes pinned mine, making my heart beat faster. “I love you, Matt.”

She rarely called me by my first name, but hearing my name on her lips felt more personal, more intimate. I liked it. The next time she said it, I wanted to be buried deep inside her.

“I love you too, angel.” I’d never said that to anyone else. I’d had too many girlfriends to count, but I’d never fallen in love. This was different. She was different.

I guided my cock into her slowly, grateful she was on the pill and preferred sex without condoms. In spite of my outburst tonight, I did trust her to be faithful to me.

I thrust my tongue into her mouth, feeling the need to deepen our connection. I couldn’t explain why, but I had this deep sense of foreboding, like something wasn’t right. No matter how fast I pumped into her, I couldn’t outpace the fear. No matter how loud she screamed, I couldn’t silence the voices. No matter how many times I made her come, it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I needed more.

“Jesus…”

The sound of her voice tore me out of my trance, and I realized I was fucking her so hard my next-door neighbor was thumping on the wall with his fist.

“Too hard?” I asked, my eyes closing as she clenched her pussy around my cock.

“Perfect,” she whispered. “I love it when you fuck me hard.”

Her long blond hair was fanned out on my pillow, making her look like an angel. That was why I called her that. She looked like something out of my dreams, and sometimes I feared our relationship was just that—a dream. I’d wake up and realize she was just a figment of my over-active imagination.

I felt the urge building, my blood pressure rising. My cock got thicker as I pinned her legs over my shoulders and drove into her relentlessly. It wasn’t enough to please her. I wanted to possess her. It was almost disturbing how I needed her to the point I wasn’t sure I could survive without her. She had me in a vise grip, and the slightest shift could bring me to my knees.

I felt her body spasm as she moaned my name. She’d come again, which should have pleased me, but it still didn’t feel like enough. I had a hollow feeling in my chest, and even the feel of her throbbing pussy milking me couldn’t make it subside. I flooded her with my come, taking pleasure in the knowledge that I was a part of her now. But that joy was always temporary. I needed something more permanent.

As I eased out of her, I unfastened the cuffs and pulled her into my arms. She held me tight, which should have made me feel better, but it didn’t. I still needed more. I needed something to fill the emptiness, to take away my pain.

“Marry me,” I whispered. I hadn’t expected to hear those words come out of my mouth, ever, but I didn’t want to take them back.

She gasped. “What did you say?”

“You heard me.” I drew back to look her in the eye. “I asked you to marry me. I love you, Maura. I want to be with you. I want the world to know we’re a couple. I want to put a ring on your finger, and I want to know you’ll be sharing a bed with me every night.”

She laughed lightly, trying to push me off of her. “You’re crazy, Coop.” She laughed harder. “You actually had me going there for a minute.”

“I’m serious.”

When her eyes met mine again, I saw realization followed by fear, then panic. My heart sank. I’d just proposed, and she was about to blow me off. I’d screwed up everything. It was too soon. She’d leave me now. She couldn’t continue dating me knowing I wanted more than she could give. I wanted to take it back, but the damage was already done.

“I can’t marry you.”

I’d known she was going to say that, but it still hurt. “Why not?”

“Because I’m too young. I have to finish school, get a job.” She gently pushed my shoulders back so she could sit up. “I think you’re a great guy. But marriage? That’s crazy.”

“Is it because I’m not good enough for you?” I couldn’t suppress my hurt and anger, though I knew it would only drive us further apart. “Is it because you’re embarrassed of me?”

Her blue eyes flashed with rage as she jumped out of bed. “Did it look like I was embarrassed when I was cozying up to you in front of Ben and flaunting you to my friends?” She stepped into her dress and zipped it up before tying it around her neck. Her eyes narrowed at me. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You think I’m screwing around with Ben, don’t you? You don’t trust me. You think if you put a ring on my finger—”

“That’s not it.” My proposal did have something to do with my insecurities about her ex, but I wasn’t stupid enough to admit it. “I love you. Do I need another reason?”