The Goddess Within (2 page)

"Hello Mardi." Stryker was amused at the way she suddenly jumped when he said her name. He turned to the three women who watched him with undisguised feminine interest. "Ladies."

"We were just leaving," one of them said as if satisfied that they had seen what they needed to.

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The Goddess Within

by Amarinda Jones

Stryker smiled as Mardi blushed at their winks and hand signals of approval. Sweet and sexy.

"My name is Stryker Reed." He sat down on the chair beside her and inhaled the soft scent of musk and woman.

"What sort of a name is Stryker?" Mardi leaned back from him in a casual way to give herself space. Stryker leaned towards her and looked her in the eyes. He wanted her to know exactly how and felt.

"It's a family name for my mother's side but I don't want to talk about names." He smiled softly as he saw her gulp quickly. "You're beautiful and I want you." That was it—pure and simple. He needed to touch and taste this woman to assure himself he had not dreamed her. Stryker was bemused at the mixture of surprise and disbelief in her eyes.

"You don't waste time."

"Life is short Miss Mardi. Haven't you just seen someone and known straight away that they were the only person for you?"

"No." Mardi knew it was a big fat lie but they were the one you counted on in moments of great temptation.

"Liar." Stryker picked up her hand and gently kissed the palm.

An intense shiver of desire ran through her body and she was instantly wet with wanting. Mardi crossed her legs tightly to remind herself this was a stranger not a lover yet.
Yet.

"I don't screw around." She didn't. That was a fact. She wasn't a prude but sex had to mean something more than just body parts grinding together.

"I am glad to hear that."

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The Goddess Within

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Whoa! That voice—deep, hot and possessive. Mardi just knew he would make love the same way. Make love? What the hell was she thinking? He was a stranger—sexy as—but a stranger who was giving her the most sensuous hand massage she had ever had.

"I'm not desperate enough to jump on any available cock." Though she was honestly was contemplating her options with him. Every so often her slut hormones came out and egged her on and this was one of those moments.

"I know that." Stryker's voice sounded certain on that point. "Let's not waste time. I have wanted you since the first moment I saw you get out of your car and drop your handbag on the ground."

"Really?" Mardi tried to sound cool and jaded but she remembered only too well why she dropped her handbag. It was the first time he had run past her and she had been oblivious to all but him. It was like her hands wanted to reach out and touch the hot sweaty man and not the faux leather bag she carried.

"Oh yes really, and you noticed me."

"Well you were hot and sweaty." Mardi had wondered at the time what he would look like when he stripped those clothes off to cool down.

"And you wanted me." Stryker's eyes locked with hers and they both knew the answer.

Fight the feeling or not?

"Yes I wanted you." There it was out. A definite 'not'.

"Do I make you hot all over?"

"Yes." Mardi gulped noisily.

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The Goddess Within

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"Come with me." Stryker pulled Mardi to her feet and led her from the table.

Mardi grabbed his arm with her free hand to stop him pulling her any further.
Hmm ... nice muscles.

"This is way too fast. I know nothing about you other than you jog and you have access to a walkie talkie."
And you
make my heart pound and the muscles between legs tighten
with anticipation.
Maybe that was enough to know?

"I jog to keep fit and I was talking to my mate Mick over the two-way and that's how you heard me."

"You were discussing me."

"Because you are the woman of my dreams."

"Is this a line you use on women all the time?"

"This is the first and only time I will ever use it Miss Mardi." Stryker gently pulled her along.
Sexy and sweet
. Mardi knew at that moment she was doomed to do something dumb like fall in love with a complete stranger.

"Where are we going?" It seemed natural to hold his hand.

"Do you work around here?" Inane chit-chat seemed to be a good way to get a grip of herself and the situation.

"Over there." Stryker pointed to the large, impressive steel blue building that housed Reed Engineering.
Stryker Reed

"You have a building named after you." Stryker stopped and pulled Mardi into his arms, their bodies meeting for the first time.

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The Goddess Within

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"Yes I do, but the only thing I want right now is to be inside you." He leant down and kissed her hungrily, his hands sliding down onto her arse pulling her close. Mardi gave in willingly to the sensation of his hot mouth on hers. She could feel his cock hard against her stomach and she could not think of a single reason not to follow Stryker wherever he wanted to take her. She was oblivious to the people who smiled at them in bemusement as if they could see the need in their eyes.

How they got into Stryker's office, Mardi wasn't sure. All she knew was he locked the door and looked at her with such hunger it made her knees wobbly.

"I fell in love with you the moment I saw you." Stryker walked towards her with the slow, sure gait of a man who knew what he wanted.

"You're just saying that to get into my knickers."

"Oh yes, I want in your knickers and inside you badly, but if you really don't want to be here with me all you have to do is say no."

The decision was hers. Mardi saw the passion in his eyes and bulge in his pants and she knew it was a done deal. She had wanted him and now she could have him. Clem was right. Something spontaneous and wildly exhilarating should not be passed up.

"We need a condom." She quickly started pulling apart the buttons on her blouse. Mardi needed his hands on her body.

"For what I have planned we are going to need a box load."

"Smooth talker," Mardi murmured in cynical amusement. 17

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Clothes flew everywhere as they stripped off quickly, their need overwhelming all else.

Mardi looked at his cock standing club-like against his stomach. It was huge and just for her. She licked her lips in anticipation of all the heat inside her.

"I wanted to go slow the first time," Stryker's voice was low as he stood before her naked and hard as a rock. "But you are so stunning and I am very close to losing control for the first time in my life with a woman." He pulled her naked body against hers and leant his head down to suck her nipples as he had wanted to from the start. Mardi whimpered softly as he nipped and sucked her hard. She had never before considered herself remotely attractive but at this moment, in Stryker's arms she felt like a Goddess. She reached down and touched his cock. Now was not the time for going slow.

"Condom. Now."

"Yes m'am." Stryker reluctantly moved from her and went around to his desk drawer. "Smooth or ribbed?" He smiled wickedly at her.

"As long as you're cock is in it and then in me I don't care." Mardi had never felt so wild and wanton in her life and she liked it. "Make it fast Mister."

"Get on your hands and knees," Stryker ordered softly as he rolled on the condom and approached her. An unbelievable thrill of excitement shot through Mardi.

"What?"

"I have lusted after your beautiful arse and I want to take you hot and hard from behind.

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The Goddess Within

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Oh boy ... yes please.

Mardi dropped to her knees on the soft carpet. She wanted Stryker anyway she could have him.

Stryker dropped down behind her and moulded his body to hers as he placed her hands on the floor before her. He then slid his hand between her legs and smiled.

"Mmm, you're so wet."

"I need you," she gasped. His cock pushing at the cleft of her arse was the most erotic sensation she had ever felt.

"Then have me." Stryker thrust inside her in one long stroke. "God, you are so perfect." He growled as he pulled out and pushed back into her hot pussy again.

"Oh Stryker," Mardi moaned as Stryker finally settled his cock inside her and started pumping hard and sure. She could feel the edge of the orgasm and she knew she would not last long. No man had ever made her feel anything this fast or intense before. "I am not going to be able to hold on."

"Then don't. Just give into it," Stryker said as he thrust harder and faster as if following his own advice. Mardi tried to bite on the scream that erupted from her as she came but it was impossible. The orgasm drove her face forward onto the floor.

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The Goddess Within

by Amarinda Jones

The present

"Marry you? I knew this had to be too good to be true." Excellent sex with a drop dead gorgeous man had to have a flaw in it somewhere. "You are insane." Typical. Mr Right comes along and he's nuts
. Just my luck
. Mardi pulled out of his arms and sat up.

Stryker chuckled at her words as he leaned back casually on one elbow and looked at her.

"Why? Because I instantly fell in love with you?" He disposed of the condom and looked at her thoughtfully.

"You did not. You just wanted sex and you got it." She looked at him lying like a reclined statue of David, all male and hard bodied. Of course Michelangelo's David could have only wished for a cock as good as Stryker's. Even now he was still semi-erect.

"You wanted me too."

"Yeah but I didn't ask you to marry me." This was wildly beyond the norm of a one night stand or in this case a lunch time pash. "Anyway you cannot just fall in love like that."
Let
alone offer marriage.
She had not had sex for a while. Had the rules for pure and simple lust changed?

"Why not?" Stryker looked at her in amusement. Mardi sat like a hot flushed and confused Goddess. His office had never looked so good before.

"It takes time to get to know someone." 20

The Goddess Within

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"Fine, let's get to know each other." Stryker reached over to pull her into his arms but Mardi scooted backward from him. That was okay. He enjoyed the pursuit of a beautiful woman and this was one he planned to capture and bind to him for life.

"I don't mean knowing in the biblical sense either." Mardi drew her legs up before her and wrapped her arms around her knees.

Stryker wondered if she was trying to keep him out or keep herself from reaching out and taking what she wanted. As far as he was concerned she could have any part of him she wanted.

"Okay, let's get to know each other. My favourite colour is green like your eyes and my star sign is Scorpio." Whatever made Mardi comfortable he would do. "I have two parents and three brothers. I have my own hair and teeth..." He stopped when she held up her hand to silence him.

"Have you asked many women to marry you?"

"Only one—you." Stryker could see that stopped Mardi in her tracks. He knew one day he would find the right woman and it was Mardi. Time meant nothing when it came to love.

"How old are you?"

And now the lady looks for flaws...

"I am thirty-six. How old are you?"

"A gentleman never asks."

"That's mighty prissy sounding after what we just did."

"I'm not prissy." Mardi threw up her hands indignantly.

"I love prissy." Stryker's eyes latched onto her breasts as they bounced in indignation. He sat up and started to move 21

The Goddess Within

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towards her. Both he and his cock were ready for another taste.

"I'm thirty-two and I am not prissy. In fact you know nothing about me other than..."

"...you scream with pleasure when you come." He grinned as she blushed brightly at his words. Not many women did that any more and he liked it.

"You don't even know my last name." Mardi looked at him meaningfully. "It's Keller."

"Mardi Keller-thirty-two, beautiful and delicious and I need you in my life."

"Are you on drugs?" If he wasn't insane that had to be it. Stryker threw back his ahead and laughed.

"Don't you believe in love at first sight?" Maybe that happened, maybe not. She had no proof. Other than having the best sex of her life, Mardi knew they probably did not have a lot in common. Great sex did not mean a great love or even an okay marriage.

"I don't run or exercise, I love eating junk food and I am hooked on reality television." No point beating around the bush. Mardi wasn't about to change for anyone not even the man with the enormous erection headed straight towards her. He legs dropped open of their own accord.

"Are you trying to turn me off?'

"Look at you and me. You're all lean and buff."
And mighty
yummy
. Mardi grabbed his hand and put in on her thigh.

"This is cellulite or fat if you want to be specific." Stryker stroked her thigh sensuously, his eyes locked on the red curls of her pussy.

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The Goddess Within

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"On you cellulite is sexy." He leaned into her giving nowhere to go but flat on her back under him.

"Well yes, that is the correct response to give."
Was it hot
in here or what?
Mardi fell back onto the carpet and Stryker took advantage and lay down between her parted thighs. A good girl would have sat up and struggled but then a good girl would not have had sex the first time with—and be contemplating sex again with—a man she barely knew.
Bad
girls rocked. "
But can't you see but you're so ... and I'm so..."

"I'm so what Miss Mardi?" Stryker hands slid up her ribcage to her breasts and teasingly moulded the mounds of flesh.

"You're gorgeous." And that cocky smile of his was a killer.