Everything But (22 page)

Well, he needed to push those thoughts aside and just focus on pleasure…this moment, right now.  Not in the kitchen, though.  He picked her up—God, she was tiny—and walked into the living room.  He lay her on the couch and
lay next to her.  It wasn’t the most comfortable
place
, but he didn’t want to waste time going to the bedroom.  She was still wearing that dress, but he didn’t want to fuck her like an animal this time.  He was going to take his time, removing all her clothes, appreciating her beauty.  He didn’t want her to feel like a piece of meat.

He liked the look in her eyes…she looked eager and excited, her eyes wide and hungry.  That was for
him
, not for the lead sing
er of Spawn and Undue Influence, and that was a hell of a
n aphrodisiac
.
  Yeah, he knew she really was a fan, especially after she’d quoted his own song lyrics to him, but she’d gotten past the whole rock star exterior and still liked him.

He started unbuttoning the front of her dress, kissing her again but moving to the delicate skin on her neck.  When he unfastened the last bu
tton, he slid his hands under the dress
, up by her arms,
trying
to pull it off
like a coat
.  Turned out it wasn’t very smooth and she started giggling when he couldn’t get it off her shoulders.  He laughed too,
a weird happy feeling
surging through his veins.  “Let me help,” she said, sitting up halfway,
shimmying
the dress down her shoulders.

But he couldn’t
ignore
the exposed skin on her shoulder and leaned over to kiss it.  She gasped and paused, unable to move.  That was another turn on, knowing the power he had over her. 
Instead
of moving
, her fingers were curled around his t-shirt,
and
he could tell she was focused on what his lips were doing, not on her own hands.
  He stopped kissing her so he could pull her dress off her hips and the rest of the way off.

“Oh, shit,” he said.  “I forgot you didn’t have any panties on.”

She giggled again.  “Not by choice.”  She grabbed his t-shirt and he helped pull it over his head.  He saw her cheeks flush again as she said, “You have the
sexiest
bod
…”

He couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face. 
“
H
mm-
mmm
.
  You got
me
beat.”

She was still blushing when she rose up to meet his lips.  God, he wanted to make this girl feel incredible again and another brief thought blew through his mind, one that was so scary, he buried it—
that
any girl after
Erin
woul
d pale in comparison.  He was already sitting up after removing her dress, but he straddled her and tugged her bra straps down her shoulders.  He started kissing just below her neck and down to her cleavage, and as his hands cupped her breasts underneath the bra, she arched her back, begging him to touch her.

He couldn’t resist it.

He pulled back one of the cups and traced a line with his tongue.  He drew the nipple into his mouth, eliciting a low moan from her lips.  He moved his hand to her back, between her shoulder blades, to bring her closer
to him
, but he knew she would never feel close enough.

And his focus was on her.  He could wait.  But he wanted her to know she was special
.  He moved his lips back to her neck and whispered, “
You l
ike that?”

“Yeah,” she said, just a breath.

So he pulled the other bra cup down and brought his mouth down on her other nipple.  She arched her back again, and feeling her writhe literally in his hand was a
nother
turn on.  But he wasn’t going to satisfy himself…yet.  He
lay
her gently back while his free hand traced a line down her belly.  He slid his finger down her slit and it was so easy to tell how ready she was.  She was swollen and wet, and when he touched her, she drew in a heavy breath. 
“Like that more?”

“
Mmm
-hmm,” she
purred,
her eyes closed and almost peaceful except for the slight furrow in her brow.

He moved his finger up and down, and it didn’t take much.  He could tell she was close, so he decided to move slowly—draw it out while still making her
feel
good.  He kissed her neck without neglecting her clit, because he’d already figured out
that
her neck, especially right below her ear, was one of her sensitive spots.

Her breathing was growing more ragged, so he knew she was getting closer.  He looked at her and sa
id, “God, you’re sexy,”
and he meant it.  Feeling her get closer, hearing the sounds she made,
w
atching
her excitement rise did more to arouse him than anything else
.

She didn’t say anything at first and her eyes were closed, but then she said, “Kiss me.”

It was a sweet command, the way she’d said it, and he would oblige.  He didn’t know
how
she wanted him to kiss her, though.  Did she want passion or
tenderness,
want him to be
rough or
gentle?  So he just brushed her lips with his
so
she could lead him.  He took her bottom lip in between his and he felt her legs start to quiver as she let out a breath.  That breath turned into a groan as her legs clamped together, but he took that as his cue to keep moving his finger.  She was
orgasming
, that
much he knew, and he released her lip.  “Oh, God…” she said
, and he made a conscious choice to not speed up his motion.  She didn’t need it.
  But he didn’t take his eyes off her.  Her fingers were digging into his back as she started crying his name, and that was the biggest turn on of all.

He didn’t need to worry about the kiss after all.  When he was sure she was done, he pulled out his wallet and grabbed a condom.  He wasted no time
unwrapping
it, then unzipping his fly and sliding it on.  He kissed her neck again. 
“Ready for more?”

Her eyelids fluttered as she nodded.  She looked so innocent, so sweet, and she was flushed.  Her breathing was slowing down as he
nudged his cock inside her.  She drew in a deep breath and wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him down to her.  Her lips demanded that he kiss her and he did.  God…her responsiveness earlier had made him wound tight too, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before he came.

He was close too.  As he’d been touching her, making her feel good, he’d already been hard and throbbing.  He’d never get tired of that feeling,
of
being immersed in a warm, soft cocoon of pleasure.  She was warm and wrapped around his cock like a glove, snug
yet yielding, giving back what he gave.

The buildup slowed the closer he got, and her breathing deepened again, so he knew she might climax again too.  He was to the point, though, where he probably wouldn’t be able to stop himself now.  He’d held off for so long and was too aroused to stop.  It was like a guitar string…he’d turn the tuning knob to tighten the string, change its tune.  As the string got tighter, he’d turn the knob more slowly, and if he kept turning it, it would break.  That was like orgasm for him—a tightening, a string being wound, and once it got tight enough, it snapped.

Erin let out a soft groan and that was all it took for the string to snap. 
Fuck
…an intense burst of overwhelming pleasure, those few seconds where there were no thoughts in his head, nothing but sweet release.  And as he regained coherent thought, he sensed Erin’s legs clamped around his hips, her pelvis slamming into him as she finished coming too.

They were quiet as their breathing slowed. 
And then he held her in his arms.  The couch might not have been that comfortable, but Erin dozed off in his arms anyway.  Part of him wished they could stay like that all night.

Chapter Twenty-two

ERIN WOKE UP
in Riley’s arms.  He felt warm and comforting, something she hadn’t felt in years.  He felt strong and secure.  She stretched her neck and turned a little.  “Guess it was my turn to nap, huh?  What time is it?”

“Not sure…maybe eleven?”

She smiled.  She didn’t want the night to end.  She didn’t want to go back to her everyday life and have to be one day closer to the day Riley left town.  “You still
wanna
take
that
bubble bath?”

He grinned back at her.  “I am
all
about cleanliness.”  He moved a piece of hair off her forehead with a finger.  “
But
you
probably need to go to bed, don’t you?
”

She didn’t want to tell him about her reluctance for the evening to end.  She definitely didn’t want to tell him she was enjoying him more than she ever would have thought she would.  And there was no way in hell she would tell him she was starting to fall…because she was
trying to
deny it even to herself.  So she said, “Probably…but I want to anyway.”  She stood up and held out a hand.  “C’mon.”  She was completely nude and might have felt strange ordinarily, but he wasn’t leering at her, was only looking in her eyes, so it didn’t bother her.

There was some weird dreamy look in his eyes.  He looked so…peaceful and content.  She almost hated to urge him to move.  His jeans and underwear were still on, just halfway down his legs, but she admired his upper body.  He was a walking work of art, a canvas for some industrious tattooing gunslinger, and even though she couldn’t make out most of the individual pictures on his arms, she appreciated the effect.  He had a couple on his chest/ abdominal area,
but because he didn’t have as many there, his dog tags stood out against the unpainted background.  Well, that and the definition of his muscles.

God, she had to stop admiring him or she’d get horny all over again.

He took her hand and sat up.  He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the belly.  Yeah…he shouldn’t do that.  Another round of sex
would
make her worthless at school tomorrow.  But he looked up at her, resting his chin
close to her sternum
.  “How about you go draw the bath and I’ll bring the drinks.”

“Drinks?”

He grinned.  “Remember the
celebration soda
?”  She nodded.  “Do you even
like
cream soda?”

“I like it okay.”

“It all right if I go through your cabinets to find glasses and stuff?”

“Yeah.”

He stood and kissed her, then walked off to the kitchen while she went in the bathroom. 
S
he drew a warm bath, pouring in the bubbles, grabbing two of her fluffiest towels and setting them on the counter, but she wasn’t consciously thinking about what she was doing.  Her mind was focused on Riley and the fact that she was genuinely starting to care about him.  This wasn’t supposed to happen, and she doubted he felt the same way, so she was just setting herself up for heartache.

The tub was half full when he joined her.  He had found two champagne flutes she’d forgotten she had and poured
the soda in them
.  She giggled when she saw
what he’d done
.  He smiled back but just set the glasses on the counter.  “Guess I should get out of my clothes.”

“Not a bad idea,” she teased back.  “So what exactly are we celebrating?”

He looked down at
his jeans as he pulled them down
, seemingly because he had to, but Erin sensed it was something else. 
He sat down on the toilet seat. 
“Well, when I brought that originally, we were going to be celebrating our first time together and, I hoped, one of the best orgasms of your life.  But, u
h…that
kinda
fell flat
.”  He looked up at her
and his fading smile was tinged with guilt and sadness.  Oh, God…she hadn’t meant to ruin the mood.

She took a couple of steps and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Well, I was
mad at you at the time, but it
was
a pretty spectacular orgasm.”

He still looked melancholy but said, “I never want you to feel like you can’t trust me, Erin, and I’m afraid that whole thing probably ensured you
never
will.”

She shook her head.  “Don’t be so hard on yourself.  Besides, I
kinda
taught you a lesson, didn’t I?  Made us even?”

He smiled but the sadness didn’t fade.  “Do
you
feel like we’re even?”