Edge of Sanity: An Edge Novel (13 page)

“I wondered what that would feel like,” he said.

“What?” she squeaked out between too-rapid breaths.

“Running my fingers through your hair.”

While she watched, he did it again, only this time his fingers glided along her scalp, setting off nerve endings no brush had ever managed to spark.

The urge to close her eyes and moan in pleasure nearly choked her, but she was able to utter a lame apology. “It tangles easily. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. It gives me an excuse to touch it.” He said it like he’d thought of touching it before—like he was thinking about doing so again.

Leigh was confused by the shift from his earlier anger and pain to this quieter side. “What’s gotten into you?”

“When the headache goes away, it’s like . . . flying.”

Concern flickered through the rational side of her mind, while the rest of her put the focus squarely on the gentle, repetitive tug on her scalp.

She stood up. With no room for the chair to move in the cramped space, she was forced to step forward, which put her only inches from his body.

He didn’t step back. If anything, he swayed forward slightly and pulled in a deep breath.

Leigh risked a glance at his face. His jaw was tight, but it wasn’t the same tension that had been riding him before. This was different. It was hotter and more fluid, somehow. Before his suffering had been obvious, but now that was gone, leaving behind a thrumming kind of pressure that had nothing to do with pain.

His hands slipped from her hair to her shoulders and stayed there. His gaze dipped down to her breasts, the amber in his eyes darkened to a rich bronze. He licked his lips, and his fingertips tightened slightly over her shoulders.

Watching his tongue move over his mouth felt like striking a match. Something small but fierce flared to life inside her, lighting up all the spaces that had gone for too long without heat. One small breeze would make it go out, and she didn’t want that.

She was going to kiss him. She didn’t know if he wanted it or not, but the compulsion to feel his lips against hers was too much for her to fight. Once she knew what it was like, her curiosity would be satisfied, and she’d be able to concentrate again.

Leigh went up on tiptoe and pressed a small, chaste kiss against the corner of his mouth. His whole body went still for a moment. He stared down at her and his jaw bulged as if he was holding himself back.

“Do that again.” His tone was hard, making his words either a demand or a dare.

Leigh didn’t care which. She pressed her hands against his bare chest to steady herself and kissed him again. Only this time, there was nothing chaste about it. She flicked her tongue across his lower lip, lingering as she tasted him.

Clay shuddered. His hands moved over her—one going up to cup the back of her head and the other sliding down to press against the small of her back.

Contained strength was evident in his hold. His arms didn’t move, but his fingers curled against her, drawing her fractionally closer. Restraint vibrated through him, like electricity through high-tension wires. He surrounded her with hard heat. Only his mouth was soft.

He made no move to kiss her back. She would hav Shectricitye thought it was because he wasn’t interested, but the thick bulge of his erection pressing against her abdomen proved otherwise.

“Why won’t you kiss me?” she asked.

“Because if I do, I’m afraid I’ll scare you away.”

She didn’t know what he meant by that—she didn’t scare easily—but she desperately wanted to find out. He’d offered her a wickedly delightful challenge, and she was more than up for it.

Leigh smiled as she rose on tiptoe again. “Do you want me to stop?”

His voice was a rough whisper. “God no.”

She needed no further encouragement.

Her lips met his, and she toyed with him, nibbling at the edges of his mouth. She tasted him again, sliding the tip of her tongue along the seam where his lips were pressed closed.

She needed him to open for her so she could get what she wanted. She wasn’t entirely sure what that was, but she could feel the prize dangling there, just out of reach.

Leigh sucked on his bottom lip, pressing her teeth against the soft skin just hard enough for him to feel them.

He changed in an instant, as if a switch had been flipped. His restraint evaporated and his hold tightened, jerking her against him from chest to thigh. Heat poured off him. His mouth opened, and his tongue plunged past her lips as if staking a claim.

A moan of surrender rose from deep in his chest, vibrating her nipples so that they tightened almost painfully. Desire spun through her in a dizzying rush. She clung to his hard shoulders and tried to find enough oxygen to stay upright.

Clay’s mouth moved over hers as if he’d been starved all his life and her kiss was the only thing that could feed him. His hands slid through her hair as he held her head, refusing to let her withdraw.

He kissed the way he fought—taking complete control over the situation and bending it to his will, with hard, fast force. Not that she was complaining. Toying with him had been fun, but this . . . this was overwhelming pleasure, potent desire. It consumed her and left her panting for more. She gave in to the rush, letting it wash over her as he worked his magic, making her go soft inside even as he drew her tighter.

His hands slid between them, working at her buttons. She was all for it. The idea of rubbing her bare breasts against his hot chest compelled her to help him speed up the process of getting naked.

Her hands were shaking too hard to be of much use, and after what seemed like forever, he finally gave up and jerked her shirt open, popping the last few buttons free. One clicked against the table. She didn’t care where it had fallen, not when Clay was looking down at her now with lust darkening his skin.

She still had her bra on. It wasn’t anything fancy, and yet the way he was looking at her now made it feel like the sexiest lingerie ever stitched together.

He slid one finger along herngeaking skin, just above the lacy edge of the cups. His breath came out heavy and hot, expanding his chest until the sight blocked out all else.

Leigh smoothed her hands over his pecs, feeling the racing of his heart beneath. Clay’s fingers slid down her torso and came to rest on the button of her slacks. He tilted her head up, a silent question in his amber eyes. She nodded and was rewarded with a slight tug as the button worked free. Her zipper hissed down, barely audible over their rapid breathing.

Clay turned her around until her back was pressed against his chest. He moved her hair aside and kissed the skin just below her ear. She shivered in response, her whole body lighting up with the need for more of his mouth.

He held her in place with one arm looped around her, just below her breasts. She wanted to scream at him to finish stripping her bare, but the words were stolen as his teeth scraped along her throat.

Raw, sizzling sensation soared through her, making her knees sag. Clay held her up and forced her higher with swirling licks of his tongue and sharp little bites.

The collar of her shirt scraped across the nape of her neck, slipping down to bare her shoulders. He kissed every inch of her skin as it was exposed, until she was shaking from the constant barrage of pleasure.

His hand grazed her belly, moving lower until the very tips of his fingers were poised over her mound, above her panties. Another inch lower and he’d be able to feel what he’d done to her—how wet he made her.

Her hips bucked forward. She wasn’t sure if she’d done it on purpose or if her instincts were driving her now. Whatever the case, his middle finger fluttered across her swollen clitoris, setting her whole world on fire.

She let out a whimpering howl of need, ashamed by the noise even as she reveled in his reaction to it. His erection jerked against the small of her back, hard and insistent.

Leigh wanted him. This was no longer a game of challenge. Nor was it something to prove to him that she wasn’t going to be scared away. His kisses and touches had pushed her past all of that, into a realm where need and desire ruled all else.

His finger moved in a slow circle over her clit. The fabric of her panties irritated her. She needed his skin on her skin so badly she could think of nothing else. She grabbed his hand and shoved it inside her panties, showing him what she wanted.

His growl of approval was overridden by her own sharp gasp of pleasure. He parted her labia, sliding easily along the slick folds.

His touch was better than she could have imagined. His fingers were burning hot and slightly rough, creating a delicious friction that became the center of her universe. He cupped her breast, and she couldn’t find enough coherent speech to tell him to take her bra off. And she certainly couldn’t do it herself—not when she was trembling like this, strung tight and clinging to his hard thighs in an effort to stay upright.

Clay’s fingers stroked her with expert skill, dipping and sliding until she was hovering on the verge of orgasm. She tried to hold it off. She didn’t want him to know the kind of power he haof strokd over her body. It was an unfair advantage—one he would doubtlessly use against her if he thought it was for her own good. If he came with her, then the playing field would be even. Her advantage would equal his.

She tried to turn around so she could get his jeans off. All she needed was a moment to gather herself and ease back down off the cliff. But Clay didn’t let her have it. He held her in place, his arms tight vices around her hips and ribs.

“I want this,” he told her, his breath sliding along her throat where his lips and teeth kept working their stinging little miracles.

His fingers sped their wicked pace, and he lightly pinched her nipple through the lacy layers of her bra. Searing sensation shot through her, connecting his teeth and fingers with pulsing arcs of electricity. Leigh gasped and arched, no longer able to stop herself from falling. She tumbled headlong into the first wave of her climax, crashing hard.

Her body convulsed in his grip, completely out of control. She heard the mewling sounds of pleasure she made but could not stop them from pouring from her mouth. Clay didn’t pull back—instead he pushed her higher, forcing her to feel every throbbing second of her release, drawing it out as long as possible.

When the last wave lapped over her skin, all her strength fled. She let herself go, trusting Clay to hold her up.

He swept her into his arms and laid her back on the bed. The look on his face was one of pure male conquest. At any other time, it would have irritated her, but right now, with her body still humming from what he’d done, she felt he deserved to be wearing that look. It suited him, and with any luck at all, she’d get to see him look at her like that again very soon.

Clay’s gaze fixed on her mouth, then slipped down to her breasts. That expression of hunger made her want to jerk the bra from her body so she could watch him as she bared herself completely.

He drew circles over her skin, slipping just below the lacy edge.

Leigh pulled her shirt off and reached behind her to unhook her bra. Before she’d finished the job, she saw him go utterly still. His expression of lust disappeared, leaving behind a layer of disgust.

She went cold instantly, wondering what it was he’d seen in her that had put him off so completely. She followed his gaze, wondering if she’d developed some giant hairy mole or something. Instead, she saw the dark bruises circling her arms—the ones he’d left on her the night they’d met.

Clay stumbled back from the bed as if it had spouted spiders. “I did that to you, didn’t I?”

“I’m fine.” She tried to make her voice reassuring, but she was still thrumming with the languid effects of her orgasm, with little blood left in her brain to make things come out right.

He closed his eyes, anguish tightening his features. Gone was the flush of lust that she loved to see, and in its place was the cold chill of self-loathing.

Clay grabbed his sweatshirt and shoes from where they’d been tossed earlier and made a beeline for the door. “I’m sorry,” he ssorsizeaid, his back to her as he fumbled with the locks and staggered out into the cold.