Sex, Lies and Mistletoe (15 page)

She wanted this, she reminded herself. Wanted to be front and center of attention. And even more, she wanted Caleb. Wanted a night of mindless, wild sexual exploration.

Which meant she had to step up to the plate and play the game. With that reminder ricocheting around her head, Pandora lifted her chin, then took a step backward.

She released the edges of her dress, rounding her shoulders for just a second so her bra straps slipped down under the sleeves, catching on her upper arms. Caleb’s eyes were like lasers, sharp and intense as he stared.

She skimmed her fingers up her bare abdomen and cupped her lace-covered breasts. His stare intensified. Pandora’s fingers folded over the top of the cups of her bra in preparation for tugging it down. But she couldn’t do it.

It was as if her shyness was in battle with the power of Caleb’s sexual magnetism, amplified by the aphrodisiacs. She wanted this, like crazy. But it scared her.

Slowly, her eyes still locked on his, she turned. Back to him, her head angled so she could still see him, she pulled the bra straps off her arms, under the fabric of her dress, then let the bra dangle at her side.

“Toss it aside,” he ordered.

She tossed it toward the couch, the red lace catching the edge of one magenta pillow and hanging there like a flag of surrender.

“Turn around,” he commanded. His voice was husky, his body tense. He looked like the bad boy that rumor claimed him to be. He didn’t scare her, though. Instead, his demeanor made her feel…amazing. Sexy and strong.

All because he looked at her as if she was the hottest thing he’d ever seen. The answer to all his sexual fantasies, even.

Holding on to that thought, Pandora turned.

As she faced him again, Caleb kept his eyes on hers for three beats, then dropped his gaze. He arched a brow at her hands clutching the filmy fabric of her dress closed, so she let it go and dropped her arms to her sides. As her breath shuddered in and out, the fabric shifted, sliding over her rigid nipples, adding a whole new layer to the torturous delight going through her body.

He stepped closer. He reached up, his fingers tracing her areola, visible through the veil of black fabric. Her nipples beaded tighter. Heat circled low in her belly, making Pandora press her thighs together to intensify the wet delight.

His gaze shifted, meeting hers.

His eyes were molten gold. Slumberous and sexy.

“Nice,” was all he said, though.

Before she could ask him what that was supposed to mean, he leaned forward and took the opposite nipple into his mouth, sucking on it through the fabric. The wet heat of his lips, combined with the subtle abrasion of the material, made her gasp in delight.

Desire melted her body. Her knees felt soggy, so she grabbed on to him to keep her balance.

“You like?” he asked, his teeth scraping over the aching tip before he sucked again.

“I really, really like,” she hoarsely agreed.

Her fingers scraped a gentle trail over the wide breadth of his shoulders, then down until she reached those freaking rock-hard biceps. She gave a low growl deep in her throat as she tried to wrap her hands around his arms. Too big, too large, too wide. She hoped that meant other things were big and wide, too.

He swept his hand up the opening of the fabric, his palm hard and warm as it skimmed her body, leaving a trail of tingling awareness behind. He cupped her breast, his long fingers squeezing in rhythm as he sucked.

Her body went into heavenly spasms. Wet heat pooled between her legs, emphasizing the aching pressure building there. So needy she wanted to beg, Pandora wrapped one calf around his leg, pressing tight to try to relieve the ache.

He growled his approval. Then he grabbed her butt with both hands and lifted, making Pandora squeak in shock. Not lifting his mouth from her breast, he swung her around so her back was against the wall, anchored between it and the hardness of his body.

“Oh, yeah,” she murmured, letting her head fall back with a thud. It was definitely easier to focus on the pleasure if she didn’t have to worry about not falling on her ass.

Finished playing through the fabric, Caleb pushed open her dress and gave a low, husky growl at the sight of her bare breasts. Pandora knew her chest was flushed almost as pink as her nipples, but she didn’t care. She loved his reaction. Loved the appreciative heat in his eyes and the way his fingers tightened on her waist as he stared.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

Caleb’s eyes met hers and she swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. His gaze was hungry, but there was an appreciation, a sort of soft wonder, in his eyes that made her feel as if she was the most incredible woman in the world.

Then his mouth met hers and she forgot to think at all. His tongue caressed, then slipped gently between her lips. He tasted delicious. Hot and mysterious, with just a hint of chocolate. As he kissed her, his hands slid up to gently cup her cheeks, tilting her head to the side just a little so his mouth could better access hers.

Pandora swore she was melting. Not just sexually, although one more rub of his thigh against hers and she’d explode. But emotionally. The kiss was pure romance. Sweetly sensual, sexually charged and oh, so perfect.

Then he changed the angle. His mouth devoured. His hands skimmed over her shoulders, taking her dress down her arms. He gripped her hips for just a second, pulling her body away from the wall so the fabric could fall free to the floor.

Leaving her naked, except for her tiny little black panties.

She shivered as his fingers, just the tips, trailed a path along her spine. Up to her shoulder blades, where with the gentlest of pressure, he pressed her bare breasts tighter against his chest. Down to the small of her back, right above her butt, where his fingers curved down beneath the strip of elastic and gripped her buns. His fingers grazed her thigh, leaving heated trails of pleasure.

The move brought Pandora closer, so she locked her calf around the back of his knee and hugged tight, trying to relieve some of the pressure building between her thighs, swirling and tightening. Her breath came in gasps now as his fingers slipped around her hip, tracing the elastic of her panties. First at her belly, then around her thigh.

She shifted her knee, pulling back just a little. Inviting his fingers. Hoping he’d take the hint and touch her. She needed him to touch her, to drive her those last crazy steps over the edge.

But he just kept tracing the elastic. Caressing in soft, teasing moves.

He wasn’t trying to drive her to passion, he was just driving her insane.

“More, dammit,” she said against his mouth.

Then she felt his kiss shift as he grinned. Before she could decide if she was amused or irritated that he’d made her beg, his fingers slipped beneath the silk of her panties and found her.

They traced her swollen folds, teasing, stroking, enticing. Pandora swirled her hips, matching her rhythm to the dance of his fingers.

His mouth left hers to trail kisses, tiny sweet kisses, over her jaw and down the smooth flesh of her throat, laid bare as she tilted her head back against the wall.

His head dipped lower.

Her heart pounded harder.

His fingers slipped, first one, then two, then three, into the hot slick heat of her welcoming flesh.

Her breath came in pants.

His fingers thrust. In, then out. In, then out.

His lips closed over the rigid, pouting tip of her breast, sipping and laving the aching bud in time with his dancing fingers.

Pandora’s head spun. Heat coiled, tight and low. Her hips twisted, shifted, undulating in time with the thrust of his fingers. Need screamed through her, demanding release.

Then he flicked his thumb over her slick folds.

And she exploded.

She cried out in delight as the climax pounded through her, taking her over once, then twice. Her body rang with pleasure. The lights of the Christmas tree flashed before her eyes, echoing the fireworks exploding in her mind.

It wasn’t until she floated back to earth a couple of minutes—or years—later, that she realized he’d wrapped his arms around her in a soothing, rocking sort of hug.

Pandora’s heart dissolved into a gooey mess.

“See,” she murmured against the hard comfort of his shoulder, curving in tighter as he hugged her close. “Told you it’d be great.”

“Great?”

“Incredible? Amazing? Mind-blowingly awesome?” she returned, leaning back to smile up at him.

He returned her smile, brushing a damp tendril of hair off her face with gentle fingers.

“Sweetheart, don’t get me wrong. This was, and will continue to be, incredible. But in the spirit of honesty, I need to tell you something.”

Oh, God. Tell her what? Was she doing it wrong? Passion fleeing Pandora’s head like fog in the morning sun, she pulled back to stare in horror. “What?”

Other than his arched brow, his gorgeous face was unreadable.

“You’re hot,” he assured her. “And this intensity, the chemistry between us, is amazing.”

Horror was replaced by confusion. “So…what’s wrong?”

“Wrong? Babe, this is way too good to be wrong. No, nothing’s wrong. I’m just saying that you had a point here and I don’t think you’re going to prove it.”

“A point?” She’d had a point? Something beyond an orgasm or three?

“You said you were gonna prove that your aphrodisiacs work, remember?” he said with a grin. “I’m still wondering what you’re gonna offer up as proof.”

Oh. That.

Relief washed over her in a wave, making her want to drop to the couch and sigh in thanks.

“Proof?” she said, her words husky against the soft dusting of hair on his chest. “The proof will be you panting, exploding with an orgasm.”

He groaned, his fingers combing through her hair. She could feel his laughter, though, as his chest vibrated against her mouth.

Her lips still exploring his chest, Pandora forced her eyes open to give him an arch look of inquiry.

“Sweetheart, you’re hot. I’m wild for you. So the orgasm, that’s a given.”

She liked that. Wild for her. Pandora shivered in delight, thrilled beyond delight that a guy like Caleb wanted her this much.

“It
is
a given,” she agreed. “It definitely is. But you’ll be coming before you get your boots off.”

His laughter wasn’t so silent now.

“That hasn’t happened since I was fifteen.”

“Kiss that memory goodbye, then,” she instructed. “Because thanks to me, and my aphrodisiacs, you’ll never be able to say that again.”

She didn’t know where the words came from. But once they were out, she wasn’t scared. Instead, she was empowered. Inspired. Excited.

It was like someone had just broken her from a prison she hadn’t realized she’d spent her life in.

And now she was free. Free to enjoy, free to explore. And most of all, free to use Caleb’s body for every single kinky sexual fantasy she’d ever had.

CALEB LAUGHED AS PANDORA twirled one finger in the air to indicate they should switch places. She thought she was going to take control of the fun. Not likely. He never, ever gave up control.

But neither did he deny a lady her pleasure.

So in the name of humoring her, he released her leg to let the silky-smooth length of it slide down his thigh. Then, his hands wrapped around her waist, he lifted her and twirled, so they’d changed positions.

“Now what?” he challenged, grinning.

She looked so earnest.

Her hair was a silky cloud around her face, rumpled and glowing in the light of the fire. Hazel eyes, still hazy with pleasure, studied him as though she was figuring out a puzzle. Good luck with that, he thought.

“It’s time,” she intoned with a smile.

“Go for it,” he invited, trying not to laugh.

It wasn’t that he didn’t think she was gorgeous. Sweet and pretty and so damn sexy. She was all that. But she was hardly a practiced seductress. So he figured this was going to be a hot and sexy time, but he wasn’t too worried about control.

Or the state of his boots.

“See, here’s the thing, though,” she said slowly, her words as soft as the fingers she was tracing down his chest.

“Which thing is that?”

She gave him a chiding look, then shrugged a little, making her breasts bounce and his mouth water.

“The thing is, I’m new to seduction.”

Caleb laughed, then grabbed her hands and lifted them to his lips, pressing kisses on her knuckles. “Sweetie, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“Oh, but there is so much I do want to do. I’m just letting you know, ahead of time, in case I drive you too crazy, too fast,” she said, her smile turning wicked.

His laughter turned a little hoarse as she pulled her hands away and planted them directly on his belt buckle. Talk about getting right to business. Not that he objected, but he’d been kinda looking forward to a little bit of what he’d imagined would be shyly sweet exploration.