Flirting with Sin (9 page)

“I know it sounds pathetic—”

“Don’t.” A small muscle ticked along his clenched jaw. “Don’t do that to yourself.”

She blinked and, in the midst of the pain and humiliation, she found a small smile at his fierce defense. “Yes, sir,” she whispered. But the flicker of amusement was just…a flicker. In the next instant, the past immersed her once more. “I’d like to say I broke it off, but I would be lying. He came home one day three months ago, packed his clothes and announced we were over. When I pushed him to give me a reason, he told me I smothered him, bored him and was frigid. Said he refused to waste one more day on a relationship headed nowhere. And that was it. He left.”

Ari dropped his hand, his fingers balling into a fist on his thigh. “He’s an asshole. An insecure, cruel bastard of an asshole. Instead of looking at himself, he blamed you for his own shortcomings and inadequacies.”

“How could you know? You’ve known me less than a week.” She’d intended the question to be a challenge, a
how the hell do you know anything.
But, instead, it lacked heat and emerged as an uncertain murmur.

“Yeah, and in these few days, I’ve seen a compassionate, kind, funny woman who is so tortured over disappointing and hurting her father, she would continue going to a job she hates, facing a douche bag every day so her dad is happy. You aren’t weak or boring, but loyal and self-sacrificing. Maybe too much. Maybe your crime is caring too much about people who aren’t deserving of it.” He released a mocking scoff. “And you are not frigid.”

She ducked her head, heat flaming across her skin. She was
so
not having this conversation. Especially with
him
. But Ari wouldn’t let her dodge it.

Pinching her chin, he gently, but firmly forced her head up. “You are
not
. If he couldn’t get you hot or make you come—”

She whimpered, mortified, and lowered her lashes, trying to physically shrink from the conversation.

His grip tightened. “No, don’t look away. If you didn’t come then he failed, not you. It’s a man’s responsibility to make sure his woman enjoys sex. Fucking loses her mind as she comes apart for him. It’s his responsibility and his pleasure. And if he didn’t look out for you, then not only is he an asshole but a selfish one. He came, didn’t he?” He waited for her answer and when she didn’t reply, he pressed. “Didn’t he?”

Good God
. She grimaced. “Yes.”

He grunted. “Just what I thought. He had no problem getting off.”

“Ari,” she pleaded.

“You think I didn’t notice your reaction when I was on top of you today?” He released his clasp on her chin. His fingers moved to her hair. Smoothed over the loose strands before tangling in them. His gaze, hooded and so sensual the air snagged in her throat, studied the dark waves wrapped around his hand as if the sight fascinated him. And when he shifted that intense scrutiny to her, a fine tremble coursed through her. “You think I didn’t catch how you stroked your pussy over my cock? I didn’t see how you wanted to cry out but held back?” A small tug to her hair, and she swallowed a whimper. “How you were so close to coming? It took everything in me to not fuck you right there in the snow.”

“Ari,” she repeated his name, silently begging him to stop talking.
Jesus
, he needed to stop talking… A hard, heavy pounding had settled between her legs. Her clit pulsed in time with her rapid heartbeat, her sex clenching in a hungry rhythm. She loomed five seconds away from crawling over him and embarrassing the hell out of both of them. “Please, don’t…”

But he ignored her.

“You’re wet now, aren’t you, baby? Just from me talking to you. I can feel you shaking. Are you squeezing your thighs together? Hoping it will ease the ache in your pussy?”

What is he? A damn mind reader?

He chuckled, the laugh rough, dirty, and so wicked. “I can help with the pain. Just spread those pretty legs and let me relieve it for you.”

Oh, shit. Eve hadn’t stood a chance against the serpent if it had used even half the seductive persuasion this man wielded. Need, molten and thick, flooded her veins. Through the arterial highway, desire reached every cell, limb and organ, infiltrating her, consuming her.

She stared at him, so ensnared in his erotic offer and the carnal promise in his stare, she couldn’t respond. Couldn’t object when he reeled her closer by slowly twining her hair around his fist. The pulls on her scalp reverberated in her quivering, hungry flesh, drawing more moisture to coat her panties. In the years she’d been with Troy, she’d never been this wet…and except for her hair, Ari hadn’t even touched her—yet.

The “yet” had her scared as hell and
creaming in anticipation.

So far, she’d managed to hold onto her heart. It’d been a battle, but she’d won. But if he touched her, the last walls around her emotions would crumble and the siege would be over. She’d lose. And the aftermath would be total devastation. Somehow, she knew Ari Sincero would wreak far more damage than Troy or the other men ever could or did.

She parted her thighs.

A rumble of approval vibrated in his chest. Slowly, as if granting her an opportunity to change her mind, he shifted closer, his leg pressed to her hip, his chest grazing her arm. He untangled his fingers from her hair and settled them on her stomach. Propping his other arm on the pillow behind her, he again twisted his fingers in her loose waves.

Drawing her head back until her neck arched, he stared down at her, his narrowed, hot scrutiny steady, relentless. Watching for…

He skimmed a fingertip up her slit through her pajama bottoms.

Lightning lanced her, and she bucked against the caress. A low cry escaped her.

“I got you, baby.” He repeated the stroke over her sex before blazing a trail up her belly. He slid under the low, elastic band of her pajamas. With unerring precision, he dipped beneath her panties and buried a finger in her drenched folds. “I knew it. So fucking wet and hot.” He retraced his erotic path to the top of her sex and circled her clit, delivering a tender pat.

“I can’t.” She gasped, gripping his wrist with both hands. He stilled, his finger remaining on the engorged bundle of nerves. Unbidden, her hips rolled, stealing one last caress to her flesh. She whimpered. “Please, Ari. I can’t—”

Desperation born out of panic colored her voice, stripped it of strength so it emerged as a weak whisper.

“Shhh…” He eased his hand from under her clothes. The grip on her hair also loosened then disappeared. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” With a sweep of his thumb over her cheekbone, he shifted away from her, granting her the space she needed…and hated.

Jesus Christ, what was wrong with her? She shuddered, clasping her hands in her lap. As if she could contain the warring factors within her.

“I’m going to leave.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead then rose from the bed. “Good night.”

She parted her lips to…apologize? Thank him? Object? Hell, she didn’t know. Couldn’t think with her brain calling her an idiot, blaring warnings about self-preservation while her body cried out for him to put his hands back on her. To continue plying her with pleasure.

Indecision froze her to the bed as he walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind him. Carrying the warmth and light with him.

Coward
.

The accusation hissed through her brain. Yes. But what was the saying?
He who fights and runs away may live to fight another day
. By pushing him away now, she would save herself the agony of another heartbreak. He’d already insinuated himself into her heart. Years of fan-girling and these last few days had accomplished that. The tender moments when he’d revealed his pain and grief to her. When he’d showed her a side of himself she doubted many were privileged to witness. When he’d made her feel special, wanted.

Yet, allowing him inside her body—letting him fill her, complete her—would render removing him impossible. Because he would ruin her for another man when he walked out of her life.

And he
would
walk.

He’d leave without looking back while the next man who entered her life would never measure up to the sensual and amazing force of Ari Sincero.

No. She squeezed her eyes shut. Maybe she would never be branded by his fierce passion. Maybe she would never experience his taste, the delicious weight of his body on top of hers. Maybe she would never discover the ecstasy his looks, words and touch promised. But at least
she would be whole.

And empty.

Brave. So fucking brave it’s a little intimidating
…

His praise from earlier in the day rattled in her head like pebbles in a rain stick.

He’d called her brave.

Enough to seize what she craved and damn the consequences? To experience and indulge in true, Technicolor rapture before returning to her black-and-white existence? To be able to claim for once she’d taken what she wanted…she’d put herself first?

Before the thought fully formed, she vaulted off the bed, rushed across the room and bolted out the door. Ari turned as she charged into the living area. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t slow. Just leapt.

And he caught her.

Thrusting her fingers through his dark curls, she yanked his head down. Crushed her mouth to his. Groaned as his earthy, wild flavor exploded on her taste buds. She opened her lips wider, tilted her head, delving deeper for more. More of his taste, more of
him
. God, he was…was there a word to capture the headiness of the first thrust, the first lick, the first moan of pleasure? Maybe, maybe not. Who gave a damn? She just craved
more
.

With one hand buried in her hair and the other cupping her ass, he hoisted her higher, closer. She might have initiated the kiss—if this
consuming
could be labeled something as anemic as a kiss—but he wrenched control of it away from her. Her head arched back on her neck. Her tongue followed his lead. Her whimpers pleaded for a harder, rougher claiming. He dominated her, gave her a preview of how he would fuck her.

Raw. Uninhibited. Completely.

She jerked away and unhooked her legs. Disappointment and frustration flashed in his bright eyes, but he returned her to her feet and didn’t tug her back. His patience and restraint empowered her. Did he know by placing the choice in her hands, he offered her a safe haven in this unfamiliar, erotic storm she treaded?

Of course, he did. Though she could count on one hand the number of days they’d known each other, Ari possessed more insight into her heart, her soul, than anyone. Even her twin sister.

Courage
. The reminder whispered inside her head as she balled the bottom of his T-shirt in her fists and drew it up, up, up and off. His hard, bare chest with its pierced nipples, ridged abs and delineated hips met her greedy gaze. Christ, he was gorgeous. Like a timeless sculpture placed in a museum for people to marvel and lust over. Beauty forever captured in golden flesh and bone. Except he wasn’t a statue. He was a sensual creature created for decadence and sin. And for tonight, at least, he was hers.

She flattened her palms on his pectorals, the cool metal of the small barbells pressing into her skin. Heat like honey, thick and sweet, flowed through her, tightening her own nipples into rigid points beneath her tank top and gathering in a molten pool between her legs. Unable to resist, she flicked her nails over the piercings. His answering growl vibrated beneath her hands, his pleasure obvious. So she did it again. And again.

Rough, almost bruising hands gripped her hips. The long stiff length of his cock ground against her belly, igniting a fury of sparks and mini-explosions in the deepest part of her. The part clenching and rippling with an aching emptiness demanding to be filled.

“Pull on them.” His demand was ragged, hungry. “With your mouth.”

She didn’t hesitate to comply. Parting her lips over a small, dark-brown nub, she curled her tongue around the piercing…tugged. And sucked.

“Fuck,” he snarled, holding her head to him. “That’s it. Don’t be afraid of hurting me. Harder.”

Employing her teeth, she grasped the barbell, drew on it, on him, flicking and licking his nipple. His groans drove her on and, loosing a low moan of her own, she switched to the neglected tip. With one last, slow sweep over flesh and metal, she lowered. Down his chest, between his abs, following the faint arrow of soft hair that disappeared beneath his low-hanging jeans.

Kneeling before him, she popped open the button.

“Baby.” He covered her hand with his, squeezing even as his eyes burned with lust and hunger. “You don’t have to.”

She shook her head. Yeah, she did. Every fantasy she’d envisioned and imagined in the darkest hour of night had led her here. On her knees. His cock stretching her mouth. His come on her tongue. Tonight was for fulfilling those dreams.

The hushed echo of his zipper lowering reverberated in the room. His chest rose and fell on harsh inhales, his hand falling away to smooth a long soothing caress over her hair. Cup her cheek, chin. The silent permission emboldened her, and she reached inside his jeans—no underwear for her rock star—and freed his cock.

She swallowed. Hard.

Damn
. Long, almost brutal and club-like in its thickness. Veined. Intimidating…beautiful. She wasn’t a virgin; she’d seen a few penises in her lifetime. But she’d never considered any lovely in the way of a primal, fierce animal. Hunger pinched her. A hunger surpassing food. This was deeper, rawer, brutish.

Gripping the broad base, she pumped the rigid flesh, loving the stroke of satiny skin sliding over unyielding muscle. The dichotomy fascinated her. She arrowed the heavy column toward her waiting mouth, anticipation a living heat in her veins.

Ari’s hips bucked, the wide, ruddy head, damp with pre-cum, nudged her lips. She licked the tip, hummed at his salty, rich flavor. Went back for more.

One more lap, and then she engulfed him.

“Oh damn, baby.” He groaned. “Goddamn. Wait. Hold on.” She paused in her downward glide, and he traced a fingertip around her parted lips. “So fucking pretty. Even lovelier than I pictured.” He buried his fingers in her hair, twisting the strands. “Now, suck my cock like you love it.”