Melt (7 page)

She nipped his fingertips to make him laugh. “I like
everything about you pretty much. Especially since you’re like a big bag of
secrets. I thought I knew you, but nope, apparently not. Compared to you, I’m
an open book with nearly blank pages.”

“Oh, I don’t think so. I never would’ve guessed innocent
Kylie Fisher knew all about sex toys.”

“There’s probably quite a few I don’t know about.” She bit
into a sausage link with relish. “And there’s definitely things I never got
into. Serious BDSM, for one. Don’t come near me with a cane or I’ll claw your
eyes out.”

“Duly noted.” Lips twitching, he picked up a forkful of
eggs. “No latent submissive tendencies?”

“Judging from my life? Hard to tell.” She shook her head
before he could comment. “I want an equal who’ll be submissive to me as often
as I’m submissive to him. And there’s something else I want.”

“What’s that?”

“For you to tell me how you got that tongue ring.”

“Story’s not nearly as sexy as you’re thinking it will be.”
He shrugged and sipped his coffee. “The kids razz me about stuff. I’m used to
it, and it’s sort of a bonding ritual. They say since I’m past thirty there’s
no way I could relate to what they’re going through. So one day Jared’s in my
office, and he’s showing off his new tongue piercing, bragging about how all
the chicks love it.”

“I bet,” she said under her breath.

“He asked me if I have a girlfriend, and the conversation
sort of devolved from there. Next thing I know he’s daring me to pierce my
tongue.” He shrugged again. “So I did. And what do you know?” He grinned.
“Chicks do like it.”

“So how many chicks have…liked it?”

“Thousands, naturally. Didn’t you see all the notches on the
bedpost?”

To keep from smiling at his easy tone and twinkling blue
eyes, she distracted herself by wrapping her feet around the rungs of her
chair. He kept the place so warm she wasn’t the slightest bit cold, even with
the frosty day outside. “I don’t normally sleep with men without knowing their
sexual history.”

“Want names and dates?” He scraped egg off his plate and
cupped a hand beneath his fork as he offered her the bite. “How about
rankings?”

She gripped his wrist and took the forkful into her mouth
while her mind whirled. Rankings made her think too much about Rob, who’d never
been satisfied with just her. At least not lately. Yet he’d called her cell all
night, claiming he wanted to make sure she was all right. She’d finally given
in and left him a quick voice mail after her shower, though she’d slipped and
told him she was at Justin’s. She’d always been careful to tell Rob that Justin
was just a friend—and he had been—but she regretted her slip. She so didn’t
want to get Justin involved in her messes.

After chewing and swallowing, she pasted on a smile. What
was done was done, and she’d be damned if she spent any more time thinking
about her ex. “So where do I rate?”

“You even have to ask?”

She licked her lips. “Yeah, I do.”

His gaze went from warm to hot in a finger snap. “Think I
need more evidence before I can say definitively. A scientific study requires
plenty of statistics.”

She pushed back from the table and rose, already peeling off
the T-shirt. It fell to the floor. With one hunger sated, she was more than ready
to sate another. This one, she had a feeling, would take a lot longer to
satisfy.

Justin put down his fork and sat back in his chair. “Keep
going,” he said when she hesitated.

Her fingers traced the profusion of bruises along her ribs.
“Not exactly sexy.”

“All of
you’s
sexy from where I’m
sitting. Keep going,” he said again.

She tugged down his boxers and tossed them aside, feeling
more than a little foolish standing naked in the middle of his kitchen. His
gaze roamed over her body, his approval evident in the faint quirking of his
lips. “Turn around.”

She did, wondering when she’d started to shiver. His voice
sounded deeper somehow, richer. If the purely sexual intent she’d glimpsed in
his eyes hadn’t gotten her juices flowing, his voice surely would have.

“Bend over.”

“You’re lucky I’m feeling charitable,” she muttered,
grasping her knees as she gave him the view he clearly wanted. With her ass on
full display, she should have felt embarrassed. Or at least a little nervous.
But all she felt was the moisture pooling between her legs.

When the silence stretched, she bobbed her ass up and down
and glanced over her shoulder at him. He was still staring at her, his brows
low over his dark blue eyes. “Did Rob spank you?”

Her clit pulsed at the question. “A few times,” she said a
little breathlessly.

“Did you like it?”

“Yeah.” She wet her lips and took a shuddery breath. God,
just imagining his hand striking her ass had her core clenching. “A lot.”

“You have a gorgeous ass. Perfect size for my hands. I’d
love to see my handprint there, to hear you scream while I reddened your
flesh.” He tossed aside the cloth napkin on his lap and got to his feet. “But
not today. You have more than enough marks on you already.”

Acute disappointment surged through her as she rose to a
standing position. He’d been right when he’d said pleasure was never wrong. So
the slightest hint of pain gave her enjoyment. But hell, truthfully, she liked
the idea of spanking a guy too. Her nipples tingled. She especially liked the
idea of spanking Justin.

“Go in the living room. Start the fire,” he said, setting
another pan on the stove. She’d been so wrapped up in her thoughts she hadn’t
even seen him cross the room. “I’ll be right in.”

She bent to grab her clothes, but he shook his head. “Leave
them here.”

Nodding, she turned toward the living room, but his roughly
sensual voice stopped her. “You take orders pretty damn well.” Grinning, he
dumped cocoa into the pan.

Her lips curved even though she suddenly didn’t feel the least
bit like smiling. “As long as I get what I want, I’ll play along.”

His grin fled. “This isn’t a game. Not to me. If it is to
you, maybe you’re right that staying here today isn’t the best idea.”

“What happened to not wanting more than I could give?”

“That’s still what I want. But what I want most of all is
your honesty. If you’re using me to forget, I’m okay with that. Just don’t lie
to me.” He picked up the jug of milk on the counter and poured some into the
pan, splashing the stove. “And don’t lie to yourself.”

She stared at him for a long moment before going back to
pick up the pile of clothes. Then she walked out of the room.

Justin didn’t know if she’d be waiting for him in front of
the fire. For all he knew, she’d taken off. The cocoa took longer than he’d
expected, because he hadn’t been paying attention and had scalded the hell out
of the first pan of milk. But when he walked into the living room with two
steaming mugs of hot chocolate and marshmallows, she was kneeling in front of the
fire.

And she was still blessedly nude.

He offered her a mug, and she thanked him, but she didn’t
smile. All at once, he realized just how important making Kylie smile had
become in his life.

Every night he came into the bar whether he’d had a good day
or bad, whether he wanted to be alone or not. He’d grown addicted to seeing her
cheerful grins and fielding her teasing questions, but it wasn’t only that.
She’d given something he’d never understood he’d been missing. A place to go at
night, where someone was happy to see him. Where someone gave a shit if he
lived or died.

His feelings for her weren’t easy or uncomplicated, and they
sure as hell weren’t only about sex. If he wanted her to be honest, maybe it
was time he returned the favor. He’d never told her about his mother or why the
mere possibility of a woman being mistreated—especially Kylie—sent all rational
thought out the window. He also hadn’t been able to verbalize why, as much as
he’d wanted to spank her, as much as he suspected she’d be into it, he’d been
unable to see striking her, even in pleasure, as anything but causing her more
pain.

Hearing what she’d been through with Rob had shut him down.
He wanted to see her bent over in front of him, and for a moment he hadn’t been
sure he’d be able to stop himself. But he had, because he needed to make sure
the lines between him and her ex weren’t the least bit blurry.

He exhaled. So…truth. He owed her that much, and more.

She sipped her cocoa, watching him. At that moment, even
living a lie seemed preferable to being without her.

“You like it?” he asked.

“So good.” She dipped her fingertip in the cloud of whipped
cream he’d plopped on top. The can had been leftover from one of the teachers’
many baskets and luckily not expired. “Compliments to the chef.”

He drank rather than spoke. Dark, rich chocolate blasted his
taste buds, soothed by the wash of cream. It
was
good, but he wanted another kind of cream in his mouth. Another
kind of wetness dripping over his chin.

Justin set down his mug, intending to grab a couple of
cushions and a blanket off the couch. The uncarpeted floor was hard, and with
the full glass front door only a few feet away, the room tended to get chilly
even with the fire. But before he could turn, sure fingers wrapped around his
zipper and tugged.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed she’d set aside her
cocoa on the hearth and crawled closer. Despite her kneeling position, from the
fierce expression on her face, she wasn’t in the mood to submit. Firelight
carved hollows in her cheeks, backlit her sunny hair. She looked like an angel.
A wicked angel he’d only dreamed of getting out of his fantasies and back into
his life.

Regardless, he had to talk to her. To try to explain. But
when the teeth of his zipper separated and she found only hard, erect flesh, he
forgot all about baring his soul in favor of baring his dick.

Her tongue flicked against his length, little flames of heat
meant to build his need. Leisurely at first, faster as he started to pant. She
peeled down his jeans until they wrapped like denim bindings around his bunched
thighs. Strangely, the constriction only made other parts of him ache more.

Her hot gaze caressed him, and his cock swelled, rising
flush against his belly. Slowly, she brought the tip of him into her mouth. Her
lips made the perfect vise, and her breath steam bathed his erection while her
bright blue eyes locked on his.

She drew harder, and he fisted a hand in her tousled hair as
she swallowed more of his cock. His hunger for her knew no bounds. After all those
months of pretending he didn’t feel anything toward her but friendship, all
those times he’d taken a cold shower to keep from thinking of her mouth on him
as it was now, he was lost.

The first time they’d been together had been about
missionary sex only. They’d had a bit too much to drink that night, and he
hadn’t taken full advantage of having Kylie in his bed, figuring they’d have
more time. But they hadn’t.
He
hadn’t.

Finally they could make up for what they’d missed.

He grasped her head in both hands and pulled her toward his
groin, urging her on. Begging her to take what he wasn’t even capable of
voicing.

Kylie reached between his legs to palm his balls while she
slid her mouth up and down until her saliva coated his rock-hard length. The
wet sounds of her devouring him filled the room, broken only by his harsh
grunts. His hips drove forward, but she didn’t balk. Her eyes only offered a
silent demand for more.

God, she hadn’t been kidding about being experienced. In a
minute he’d be growling like an animal. Fucking her mouth felt damn close to
heaven, and he didn’t know if he had the strength to stop her before the gates
closed.

With a groan, he gripped her hair and pulled her off him. Control
was something he didn’t have. Not when it came to her. He expected her to
protest, but she didn’t. She just smiled as if she knew exactly how good she
was at rocking his world.

Still smiling, she feathered her fingertips over the black
sun tattoo that spread its rays from his navel out toward his ribs. “Some kid
dare you to get this too?”

“No. This one was all my idea.” He swallowed to try to
alleviate his dry throat. “It’s a reminder. The sun always comes up, no matter
how long the night. No matter how dark.”

“It’s incredibly sexy,” she said after a moment, her
expression as soft as her touch.

He gave her a lazy grin. Last thing he wanted was for her to
be sad—or to be consumed with thoughts of what she’d left behind. “Think you
might have said that before.”

“All of you is sexy.” She encircled his cock with her
fingers, though they had trouble stretching around his width. Her tongue darted
out and lapped at the bead of precum on the crown. “I’ve wanted you for
months.”

The admission prodded his arousal even more. Already his
balls hung heavy between his legs. How much longer he could withstand her
onslaught, he didn’t know, but his hands weren’t gentle as he guided her lips
around him once more. She was too good at this, and he
ached
too much. “But?”

She only sucked for a moment before she drew her well-used
mouth away. “But I was with Rob, and I thought it’d pass. I didn’t think you’d
match me in bed, but that was okay.”

He chuckled, though her concerns about his prowess burned.
“I was drunk that night in college. We fell into bed, and you fell out of it
before I barely had a chance to touch you.”

“It wasn’t just that. You were so careful with me. I never
wanted that. There was a part of me, one I couldn’t admit, that wanted to be
used. That needed to use someone right back.” She tipped her head back and met
his gaze. The naked vulnerability in her eyes yanked his heart out of his chest
and left him bleeding. “Part of me wondered if you’d changed. If maybe, if we
came together again, it would be different. I could help you see what we could
be together. But you don’t need my help.”