Suspended (9 page)

He gentled his grasp but didn’t let her go as he lapped at her.
The flat of his tongue opened her wider, and he found her clit again. She
struggled against the vortex of pleasure. She couldn’t survive it again. Not
and stay upright. “More.”

She shook her head. There was no way she could give him any
more.

He looked up at her, his mouth and chin wet with her. He
licked at her folds lazily. “I love how your thighs quiver. That’s how I know.”

He tugged off the rest of her hoodie and stripped her to the
skin. He stood and lifted her until she clutched around him with both arms and
legs. His dress pants abraded her delicate tissues, but instead of drawing
back, she undulated her hips against him. It would probably kill her, but she
was revved for more.

The short hairs of his buzz cut tickled under her fingertips
as she palmed the top of his head, then slanted her mouth over his. He jerked
back, but she latched on to him. She could taste herself on his lips, on his
tongue. The smoky remnants of the liquor made for a heady mix of flavors. The
kiss was anything but sweet. The crush of his mouth on hers, the dominant angle
of his head, and the hypnotic stroke of his tongue made her want more. The
chain of the rosary he wore dug into the side of her wrist. The nip of pain and
the full-body press as he crawled onto the bed with her wrapped around him
kicked her into motion.

She scuttled back, her fingers at his zipper.

He tried to push her hands away, but she wasn’t going to be
held back again. She wanted to touch him this time. She peeled his pants over
the muscular curve of his ass. She smoothed her fingers over the lighter skin.
His cock sprang free and bobbed between them. She smiled up at him. His face
was all serious and intense, his jaw locked around a growl. She smiled wider
and cupped her palm under his shaft.

Had she ever made a man growl before?

With the lightest of touches, she skittered her fingertips
over the suede softness of his head. He jerked in her hand. “Are you going to
just play with it?”

She laughed. “Maybe.”

The cross of his rosary swung in front of her. The dichotomy
of religion and hot, near-stranger sex made her heart kick. The chain slithered
over her forearm, tickling her as she grasped him. His groan burrowed into her.
The power of the sound matched the volume as her grip intensified. She cupped
his balls with her other hand as she clasped the base of his cock. The
underside of his shaft pressed into her belly.

“Tell me you have something.”

He buried his forehead into the pillow beside her head and
thrust into her hand. “God, I hope there’s something in here.” She pumped his
shaft, and he stilled above her. “Not helping.”

She hiked her knee over his hip. “Incentive to find a
condom. Until then…” She grazed the underside of his cockhead and up to the
split at the top. Precum coated the pad of her thumb. She watched him as she
slid her thumb between her lips.

“Fuck.”

He was salty and warm. “Well, hurry up.”

He reached over her and fumbled in the drawer beside the
bed. He leaned back, his dress pants bunched around his knees. She followed him
up and swiped her tongue under the head. He groaned, “Kendall.”

She looked up at his warning tone, letting his shaft slide
along the cup she’d made with her tongue. She flattened it, enjoying the
texture of his veins and widening shaft until he hit the back of her mouth. She
tried to relax, but it had been a long time since she’d done this. She fisted
his shaft and sucked around the tip of him. He slid his fingers into her hair.

“Christ.”

She closed her eyes and eased him in deeper. His grip on her
hair tightened, and the bites of pain urged her to take more of him. She let
him go with a soft, sucking
pop
. His
face was even stonier. She dug her nails into the tops of his thighs. “Giving
up so soon?”

He stumbled off the bed and into the bathroom. He came back
with a strip of condoms and flipped her onto her back. “You are going to be the
death of me.” The amused grunt was the first time she’d heard anything remotely
friendly from his mouth.

She rose onto her elbows and flicked her hair over her
shoulder. She watched him take his cock in hand. Part of her wanted to stop and
watch him stroke himself. To watch him erupt in his hand, but it was too dark.
And she wanted him inside her far too much.

“Don’t fucking look at me like that.” He rolled the condom
over his shaft.

Her smile grew wider. “Like what?”

He didn’t answer; instead he crawled over her, the rosary
cross teasing the skin between her breasts as he settled himself between her
thighs. She pushed the pillows out of her way. Want and curiosity replaced the
fire and neediness.

He slid the tip of his cock through her folds and stared
down at her. Her hazy restlessness seemed to have transferred to him. He drew
her leg up and draped her calf over his shoulder. Curiosity dissolved with each
inch into her. The angle opened her wide and let him thrust into her until
every single tissue and muscle was stretched to accept him.

She reached over her head for the headboard and tried to
lever herself up to meet him, but he pinned her into the bed. His eyes
glittered in the moon-spun dark as his hands rested beside her head. He slowly
rocked inside her with a groan. She cried out. Overwhelmed and unable to do
anything but take what he gave her, she gripped his shoulders.

She wanted to flip him, to be in control, but with each
glide of his cock inside her she opened more, accepted more. He filled her so
completely that darkness pulled in and around her, drenching her in his
amber-soaked scent. With each breath she drew in, he pushed deeper. Each breath
out was torture because all she wanted was the closeness, the fullness. All she
wanted was Shane.

She choked out a sob of frustration. He filled her, ramped
up the need, but the pace was killing her. He leaned back, pulling out of her
until just the tip of his cock teased her entrance. Before she could move, he
hooked his arm under her other knee, turning her onto her side. She clutched
the pillow-top mattress edge as he folded her knees together and pushed them
up.

She turned her mouth into the bunched sheets and screamed. The
angle made him feel even bigger. He slammed into her again and again. Her body
shattered around his, accepted the invasion of this man who had the power to
change her whole world inside this room and out of it.

Spots danced behind closed lids, and sweat dripped from
every inch of her skin. She spasmed and cried as her body shook with
aftershocks she couldn’t control. He smoothed his hand from hip to thigh as his
strokes slowed, and her limbs collapsed under her. She pressed her cheek into
the mattress and sucked in gasping breaths. He pulled away and stood. She
brought her knees up the rest of the way to her chest.

Surely she was going to fly apart.

In the conference room, she understood the sex there. That
was anger and frustration needing an outlet. This—no, this didn’t make sense.
She rolled until she was sitting upright. Her entire body felt like an open
wound. Her thighs shook as she stood to gather her clothes.

The room was silent save for the high tide roaring outside.
The thought of the stretchy fabric on her skin right now was too much to take.
She set her bundle of clothes on the desk and leaned on the sturdy chair. The
glass was still there. Maybe alcohol would settle her jangling nerves. The
smooth burn chased the lump down her throat as she unhooked his dress shirt
from the back of the chair and slipped it on, buttoning it enough to stay
closed.

She turned, and her heart slammed. He stood in the bathroom
doorway wearing only his boxer briefs.

“Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

His coarse voice and words were like a slow stroke down her
back. Again nothing seemed to make sense when it came to this confusing man.
Closed off one moment, stretching her open and demanding everything the next,
and now this. She tucked her hands into the overlong sleeves of his shirt.

Thank you
didn’t
seem to fit. Instead, she followed instinct and went to him. It was the only
thing she could trust right now. Silvery moonlight highlighted his cheekbone
and kiss-swollen mouth, leaving the rest of his face in shadow. His shoulders
and torso were a fascinating terrain of dips and valleys that made the pads of
her fingers buzz. She brushed her knuckles over his belly. The muscles of his
abs bunched and tightened under her touch. Some of her nerves settled. Maybe he
was just as affected as she was.

She cupped the cross of his rosary in her palm. The back of
her hand tingled at the soft brush of his chest hair. “Are you religious?”

“My mother was. She always had it with her.”

She traced the Madonna medal in the center. He pushed away a
lock of her hair that had fallen forward, but then stepped back. The smooth
beads slid from her hand.

“I think you should stay here with Kain while I get some
things settled.”

Suddenly cold, she curled her fingers around the gap in his
dress shirt. “What?”

“There’s nothing here for me in Monterey. I need to take
care of a few things.”

She frowned. “I thought we were going to do this together.”

“I have to talk to Jonas and sell whatever I can. Most of my
money was wrapped up in Justice Construction, so that’s gone now. I have to
figure out a way to get us back to New York.”

“I…” She took a step back. She what? She was dependent on
this man, and he was going to go off and do God knew what alone. Had the
orgasms short-circuited her brain? Kendall painstakingly made sure not to rely
on anyone, and she was completely at his mercy. She’d allowed herself to be.
God dammit, how fucking stupid was she?

One of a half dozen mistakes she’d made since getting off
the plane.

Damn her mother for blazing through their emergency money
with this blasted trip. For what? To come in person and see for herself that
her entire world was going to change thanks to an amendment in Lawrence
Justice’s will? At least in Bradley she was on her own turf. She could rely on
the one person who always got things done.

Herself.

She turned away and grabbed the yoga pants off the desk and
stepped into them. She could feel him behind her but couldn’t look at him. With
shaking fingers she unbuttoned his shirt and let it drop. She dragged on her
tank top and went to the door.

“Kendall.”

She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “You’re right. We
have a lot of things to take care of. I’ll need you to take me back with you in
the morning so I can get my rental car.”

“I’ll return it.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going to be reliant on Kain to
drive me around.” She couldn’t afford more than another day’s rental on the
little coupe. Not if she had to find her way back across the country.

“Kain has a fleet of cars in his garage.”

Incredulous, she let her hand slide limply to her side. “I’m
sure Kain would appreciate you dumping me on him.”

“I’m fairly sure that Kain would love it.”

She turned at his low, dangerous voice. “You think that I’d even…”
Pride and astonishment clogging her ability to form a sentence. “After—”

“After what, babe? This was just fucking. I don’t have any
hold on you.”

Stunned, she got her voice back. “Congratulations on the
upgrade. You’re a fucking asshole. That fits better.” She opened the door, then
slammed it behind her.

“It’s pretty impressive to get laid and have the woman slam
the door in your face within the same hour.”

“Fuck off, Kain.”

“If you don’t want me to comment, then don’t have sex in my
house. Especially loud sex I can hear over my headphones.”

Shane’s grip tightened on his dress shirt. He hadn’t been
able to put it on after she’d worn it. Just a few minutes against her skin, and
it smelled like her. Apples and sex. Two things that shouldn’t go together, but
as usual the dichotomy was what made him sit up and pay attention.

He knew the difference between losing himself in sex and
losing himself in a woman. Twice in the same day was more than scratching an
itch. Twice with the same woman who left him wrecked and lashing out at her,
that was the capper.

He balled up his shirt.

“Shane, this doesn’t have to be a cluster fuck. Just let me
help you guys get to New York. It’s the least I can do.”

Shane looked up at his friend. Kain was one of the few
people he actually had to look up at. Even with all the gargantuan guys he’d
worked with on construction sites over the years, no one was quite as
holy-fuck-huge as Kain. “I think you’ve done enough.”

Kain’s eyes flattened.

Shane held up a hand. “No, not like that. I appreciate you
taking over our employees and making sure the jobs get done. I just can’t let
you bail me out of this too.”

Kain dipped his hands into his pockets. “It’s just money.”

“It’s just your money.”

“And I decide how I want to use it.”

Shane held out his hand. “I know it, but this I need to do
alone.” It was more than time for him to stand on his own. Avery Furniture had
started with a backup. He didn’t want Larry’s name and influence involved, but
he hadn’t taken the plunge without the safety net of Justice Construction. He
needed to know he could do this by himself.

The training wheels had to go into the garage sometime.

Kain grasped his forearm, and Shane did the same before
breaking the contact.

“You know I’ll do anything you need,” Kain said.

“Good, because I need you to babysit Kendall.”

Kain’s brow rose. “I’m pretty sure she’s a grown-up. The
gymnastics upstairs certainly settled that discussion.”

Shane scratched along the few days’ growth of beard at his
neck. “I’d rather not talk about that.”