Opposites Attract (7 page)

Brad
shrugged. “I guess he’s obsessed over losing you. He’s
probably hoping you’ll forgive him and take him back. I can’t
tell you what he’s thinking. All I know is any guy who would
blow a relationship with you is crazy.”

He
looked over and saw tears streaming down her face. “Alyssa?
What’s wrong?” Shit. What had he said to make her cry?

She
shook her head. “Nothing. Really. I’m being stupid. It’s
just that the shithead said the only reason he was even tempted by
that stripper was because I’m so cold in bed.” She
looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

Wow,
how the hell was he going to handle this? He didn’t have much
experience with weeping women, but Alyssa was the last person he
would ever think of as being cold in bed. She set his blood boiling
just listening to her talk on the phone. “Lys, listen. He’s
a jerk and trying to hurt you. Look, I’ve read your sex scenes.
I seriously doubt you’re cold in bed.”

She
gave him a teary smile. “You really are a nice guy. A guy like
you would never cheat on your girlfriend.”

There
was that word again. Nice. He let out a heavy sigh and reached to
touch her shoulder. “Thanks.”

But
he had more important things to think about now than that Alyssa
thought he was nice. Her tears just about broke his heart and he
reached out to brush one off her cheek.

Her
gaze met his. He swallowed hard and watched with shock as she leaned
closer and closer until her face was just inches from his. “Lys.
I don’t—”

“
Shhh.”
Alyssa closed the remaining distance and their lips touched.

It
was like he left his body and this incredible moment was happening to
someone else. It definitely couldn’t be happening to him. Maybe
he’d fallen asleep and was dreaming.

No,
there was the slight salty taste of her tears. This was no dream. It
was incredible and very real. As real as the guilt he felt. What kind
of man took advantage of a woman on the rebound, even if the woman
was his dream girl?

Apparently
Brad was that kind of man. He held her head in both of his hands and
tilted his own to take the kiss deeper. She let out a soft moan as
his tongue met hers and nearly undid him right there with that one
sound. And that was before she crawled into his lap and straddled
him.

Oh,
boy. Somewhere through the haze of excitement, he realized Alyssa was
sitting in his lap and he was wearing nothing but his old sweatpants
that were already too tight on him without the benefit of the
enormous erection he was now sporting.

He
finally regained enough control to pull his head away and look at
her. Her eyes were almost dry now and all heavy and sexy looking. He
nearly just said fuck it and went back to kissing her. No, he
couldn’t do that. But he wished he could with every part of his
being, especially one particular part. The part she was currently
pressed tightly against, then she started to circle her hips just a
bit.

Damn.

Brad
had to take a breath to steady himself before he dared speak. “Lys.
You’re not thinking clearly right now. I don’t want you
to regret this and hate me for it.”

“
How
could I hate you? You’re so nice and sweet…”

His
hopes fell. She didn’t want him. She wanted anyone who was the
opposite of Jake. Brad set a hand on each of her hips and lifted her
off him enough he could think again. “Lys. You really don’t
want this. Women are friends with guys that are nice and sweet, but
they date guys that treat them like shit.”

“
Guys
like Jake,” Alyssa said aloud what he was thinking.

“
Yeah.
Unfortunate but true.” Lord, she’d felt good sitting in
his lap. What was he doing making conversation instead of kissing
her? He truly was a nice guy. He was pretty much insuring his
“friends” status by holding her off like this. He might
as well throw in the towel right now and see if she wanted to go
purse shopping or something.

“
Nice
guy or not, I like you.” She leaned in again. “As a
friend and more.”

He
leaned his head back until it hit the couch cushion. “Alyssa. I
want you to know one thing. I can handle being just your friend, if
that’s what you want. I can definitely handle being your
boyfriend. But what I can’t handle is being your revenge sex
rebound guy who you end up avoiding when it’s all over.”

“
Do
you think that’s what I’m doing?”

“
I
don’t know. Is it?”

She
was quiet for a second, then sighed. “I don’t think so. I
really did like kissing you. Is revenge sex supposed to feel so
good?”

He
swallowed the lump that had lodged firmly in his throat at the
thought that she liked kissing him. His heart pounded at the thought
of sex with Alyssa, revenge or not. This actually could go that far.
He hadn’t thought much past how good she felt sitting in his
lap kissing him. But yeah, this could end up being so much more. Holy
crap.

“
I
don’t know.” Then he said something that would surely
insure his place in Hell. “I don’t know what this is,
Lys, but maybe we should take a chance and find out.”

He
rested his forehead against hers, closed his eyes and breathed deep.
The next move would have to be hers. Whatever she decided to do, he
would abide by it.

Alyssa
sat still in Brad’s lap. He was very aware of how obvious his
arousal was between them. He was also very aware of the passing of
time as she considered what he’d said. Just when he feared
she’d reconsidered, she touched his face.

“
Brad?
Do you really make love the way you wrote about it in the scene
tonight?”

His
eyes flew open at the question. He thought again about the sex scenes
they wrote together and tried to make light of it. “Well,
unlike the character in the book I rarely use the word ‘maidenhead’
but as far as the other stuff, yeah I guess so.”

He
brushed a hair from her face and watched her eyes drift shut. He
fought the urge to kiss her.

“
Brad,
I want that with you.” She’d leaned in and whispered it
near his ear, letting her tongue just barely touch him.

A
shudder ran through him. He swallowed, afraid his voice wouldn’t
work. “Me too.”

They
were moving fast. He realized that. But in just a few days, he felt
like he probably knew her better than her ex-boyfriend of two years.
What was about to happen felt right.

Alyssa
got up off Brad’s lap and reached down to take his hand. He
rose and she led him into his bedroom.

Brad
stopped her in the doorway with a tug on her hand. “Lys, are
you sure?”

She
nodded, but her hand in his was trembling. Or perhaps that was him
shaking. She dropped his hand, walked over to the bed and started
taking off her pants and blouse until she was down to just white lace
underwear and a matching bra.

Brad
stood in the doorway and watched dry-mouthed as Alyssa, his dream
girl, stripped down to practically nothing in his bedroom. He nearly
pinched himself to make sure it wasn’t a dream because he
believed this very scenario might have been a part of one of his
Alyssa fantasies in the past. But now it was very real.

She
was already on the bed, laying back and waiting for him, as he
remained paralyzed in the doorway. Taking a shaky breath, he followed
her path to the bed and lay down next to her. He set his glasses on
the nightstand, rolled back to her and lowered his mouth to hers,
watching her eyes close in response.

With
a groan, he filled her mouth with his tongue and his hand with her
perfect breast. He heard her own groan as she rose off the bed when
he pushed the lace of her bra aside and lowered his mouth to her
nipple.

She
pulled at his shirt. “Take this off. I want to touch you.”

Gladly
shucking the shirt, he flung it to the floor and enjoyed the feel of
her hands all over his chest and back. He’d like to feel her
hands a little lower too, but he could wait for that. The ache he
felt only made this more real and it would be all the more sweet when
it was relieved.

Brad
relished just kissing her—her face, her throat, her breasts. He
ran his tongue down her flat belly, marveling at her tiny waist that
he could nearly span with his two hands. Then he kissed lower,
pulling her panties down until they dangled from one foot. She
started to breathe harder as she spread her legs for him. She’d
said she wanted it like in the book. He could definitely do that.

Settling
himself between her thighs, he spread her with his fingers then
lowered his head. He flicked his tongue on just the right spot to
make her take in a sharp breath. He wanted to feel her come undone.
He wanted to drive her so crazy she would never even remember what’s
his name.

Brad
entered her with one finger, then two, all the while never easing up
the pressure of his mouth. She gripped his head with both hands, her
fingers tangled in is hair as her cries and erratic breathing told
him he was doing the job right, something he was sure of when her
hips rose slowly off the bed. He felt the spasms begin inside her as
her cries grew louder and faster. He took his time and so did she.
Her climax was long and intense as she writhed on the bed beneath
him.

Just
feeling her orgasm almost sent him over the edge himself. Somehow he
held on, but just barely. He finally gentled his touch until the
spasms calmed. He crawled back up the bed to lie even with her on the
pillows. Eyes barely open, she laced the fingers of one hand through
his hair.

“
No
one’s ever done that for me before.” She sounded
breathless and he realized, now that he had a basis for comparison,
it was very different from how she sounded on the phone. Different
and so much better.

Then
he realized what she was saying and was sure he blushed. It was one
thing to do it and an entirely different thing to talk about it
after.

“
Oh.”
It was no wonder the mighty Jake sucked in bed. Brad smiled at the
thought.

Not
knowing what else to say, he pulled her to rest on his bare chest and
kissed the top of her head. He glanced down past Alyssa and noticed
the pup tent evident in his sweatpants. He could wait. If this was
all she was ready for, then he would be satisfied with it. Being
inside her, feeling her surround him, would be well worth the wait,
whenever it happened.

Brad
was consoling himself with that thought when her hand slid down his
torso. She reached slowly under the elastic band of his sweats and
touched him. At the same time that her hand stroked him gently, her
mouth began to explore his naked chest and stomach. He held his
breath as she moved lower and lower until finally his sweatpants
joined the rest of their clothing on the floor.

When
she took him in her mouth, he thought he’d died and gone to
heaven. He grabbed the sheets in both fists and breathed in through
his teeth. “Lys. I’m just warning you. I’m not
going to last long with you doing that.”

She
broke away long enough to say in her sexy voice, “Don’t
worry, we have all night.”

Caught
up in the moment, he blurted, “God, I love your voice.”

She
raised her head. “Really? Do you want me to stop and talk to
you instead?” She looked devilish.

“
No.”

She
laughed at his ready answer and went back to the task while he tried
to hold off the inevitable. Between her hands caressing him, the
pressure of her mouth on his more than eager erection and the
thoughts filling his head of what he could do to her in the night
ahead, he had no hope. He was done in moments.

Well,
he was not exactly done. His body knew a once in a lifetime
opportunity when it saw one. He rose to the occasion again almost
immediately. A few dozen kisses and barely ten minutes later he lay
on top of Alyssa, ready and willing. And so was Alyssa. She reached
between them, grasped him firmly and guided him toward her wet heat.

“
Condom.”
At least a small portion of his brain was working enough to remember
protection. Brad mentally took inventory of his nightstand while he
prayed there was at least a few left in there from his last
relationship.

“
On
the pill,” she said breathlessly.

His
breath came out in a groan as that bit of information registered. He
sank himself unsheathed deep into her. She shuddered beneath him and
Brad nearly lost his mind. Surrounded by her warmth and with nothing
between them, he knew there would never be another woman for him
after being with her.