The Unblocked Collection (44 page)

“Why are you here, Frankie?” My question surprised her. “I know this is hard for you. It’s hard for me, too. But I want you to say how you feel—
you
, not Brea or Anna or your dad. Just you.”

She squinted as she scanned my eyes. “I came here to ask you the exact same question. Why are you
here
, Derek? You told me you wanted more, but what does that even mean? Because I’m racking my brain trying to figure out if I can make both things work, but what if I sacrifice and it all comes to nothing? What if we don’t want the same things? What if what I lost with Reed is all the happiness I’ll ever be allowed?”

That was bullshit.

“What if you stop getting in the way of what
you
want?” She may not have been ready for me to touch her, but that didn’t stop me. I slid my hands around her waist, feeling her breath hitch in her throat. She wasn’t going to step off this sidewalk without knowing how I felt, even if that meant sharing more with her than I had with anyone since Taylor. “You make me feel things I haven’t felt in a long time. When I say I want more, I mean I want more of that.”

“Do you want
me
, Derek? Not my pussy…but me?”

“I can’t tell you what to do, no matter how much I want to.” My fingers were slick as I tightened my grip on her. “I can tell you what I want and hope that’s enough.” I leaned down so she could feel my words. “Yes, I want you, Frankie—more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. I think about you; I hunger for you. I’m weakened by you. I don’t believe you have to make a choice. But if you do, then you have to choose Jordan International. You’ve worked too hard to give it up.” She stiffened in my grip, so I clamped down even harder. “I think you can have everything you want. Me. Your company. Your father’s respect. Brea and Anna’s encouragement. All of it.”

“I’m scared of fucking it all up.”

Her honesty made me smile. If all business owners were this humble, assholes like Randy wouldn’t exist. “Baby, that’s why you’re going to be the best boss those agents have ever had. Stronger than your father, more fierce, more determined. It shows me you want this.” I brushed my lips across her cheek. Her smell and the feel of her skin were enough to make my dick hard. “And it tells me how much you want us.”

“Derek…”

“Hire more staff to help you manage it all; restructure, delegate, only see me a few nights a week.” I placed my hand on the pole above her head, trying to block some of the rain from hitting her face and to get even closer to her. “But don’t let fear come between us.” She chewed her bottom lip. She wasn’t convinced; she needed more. “Here’s what I can promise…I’ll always be honest with you, and I’ll never lie to you.” I rested my hand on her navel. “I will do everything in my power to protect you, to never be the reason you’re feeling pain, to never intentionally hurt you.” She wanted me to let her inside…of me, of the things I cared about. She’d seen my skin, and she’d felt it, but she hadn’t seen anything beyond my surface. She needed to before she made a decision.

I brought my hand up to her cheek, my thumb pressing at the corner of her mouth. It was so fucking hard not to ravage those lips. “Come to my house in Portsmouth. After you spend a weekend with me there, you can make your decision.”

She hesitated before the corners of her lips spread into the faintest smile. “Okay.”

I didn’t kiss her, but goddammit, I wanted to. I just brushed my mouth over hers so I could taste her, and so she could taste me. I needed that. I needed more than that, really. But it wasn’t going to happen tonight. “How about this weekend, assuming you don’t have to work?” That was only a few days away. I could wait to see her—if that were my only choice. “We’ll leave early on Friday and stay late on Sunday.”

“I’ll have to check with Brea, but I’d like that.”

I took her hand. “Jesus, Frankie, you’re shivering.” The air and the rain were growing colder, and she was soaked. We both were. “You’re coming to my townhouse so I can get you warm. Then I’ll drive you home.”

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea—”

I slipped my arm around her as we headed back toward my place. “Trust me. I’m not going to touch you…not in the way you think, anyway.”

FRANKIE

I STOOD
in the center of Derek’s bathroom, the steam from the shower fogging the mirrors. The room was luxurious, richly crafted and extremely masculine, decorated in cool tones, black marble, and lots of chrome. But it was missing the naturalistic, wooden elements that defined his earthy style. It didn’t feel like Derek at all. What little of his townhouse I had seen didn’t feel like him, either. Still, it was beautiful.

But not nearly as beautiful as the man standing before me.

His hands were on my waist, his eyes piercing mine. “Lift your arms.”

I raised them dutifully. Whether he had given me the order or not, I still had to take my shirt off; I was soaked. I didn’t know it was supposed to rain this evening, but maybe it was an appropriate coincidence. Maybe it washed away the worry, the fear, and the questions, stripping me down to my core.

He pulled my shirt over my head and threw it into the sink. Then he did the same with my jeans and panties, slowing dragging them down my wet legs. The material peeled away like a rind. I stood in just a bra, his hands lingering over the back clasp. “I’m not going to touch you—sexually, I mean—but I’m going to make sure you leave here warm.”

“Okay.”

With just one hand, he unhooked my bra, my breasts falling free as he pulled the lace away. His eyes were locked on mine as he yanked off his T-shirt and sneakers and threw both into the sink before escorting me into the shower.

My eyes moved to his chest, the lobes of muscle so incredibly defined. A deeply-etched set of abs followed, and a V cut across the sides of his stomach and disappeared under his waistband. His sweats sat low, held in place by a thin drawstring, clinging to him as they got wetter, making his dick visible through the fabric. Seeing it, knowing what it was capable of made everything inside me start to tingle.

“Are you going to keep those on?” I asked.

“Yes. And don’t try to take them off me.”

“I won’t.” But I wanted to.

“The way you’re looking at them, I’m not so sure.”

I laughed and moved under the stream, extremely aware of the light above my head and how it highlighted every part of my body. Derek was aware of it, too. He leaned into the tiled wall and let his eyes wander all over me. I closed mine and tilted my head back to let the water wash over my face.

His need was there…in the air, in his stare. Even with my eyes closed, I could sense it.

I always felt it when he was near, but sometimes it was stronger…like now. It made moisture pool between my folds. I had to force myself to keep my legs shut.

I moaned when his hands touched the back of my head, his caress unexpected. He massaged my scalp with shampoo, using strong, deft fingers to rub down my neck and back up to my forehead.

“Relax, Frankie.” His voice was enticing. “I won’t go any lower.”

But I wanted him to. How could I have been so confused, so riddled with uncertainty and questions just a short time ago, and yet be so eased by his touch? How could the presence of his nearly naked body give me more clarity than I’d had in days?

None of it made sense.

Maybe it didn’t need to…not at the moment, anyway.

I melted into his hands, imagining how good it would feel if they dipped lower than my neck. The smell of his shampoo mixed with the steam, and the shower was overtaken with his scent. It was a sensual scent directly associated to him, one I hadn’t smelled before and one I wouldn’t ever forget.

When his fingers stopped kneading, he steered me back under the spray and combed out the suds. Then he lathered his hands with body wash and began massaging it over my neck and shoulders. His touch wasn’t sexual, but his movements and pressure provoked the deepest feelings, causing my body to respond even more.

As he continued to rub, it became all the more obvious that he was going to keep his word. “You can go lower, Derek.”

His expression hardened. “No, I can’t. And I won’t.”

“I’m giving you permission.”

“And I’m denying you.” I took his hands in mine and tried to bring them to my stomach. He wouldn’t budge. “When you’ve decided that it’s me who you want and I know there’s no question in your mind, I’ll touch you. But not before then.”

I hadn’t given him an answer about my decision, and yet I was asking him to touch me. I knew how wrong it was, but the throbbing inside me was impossible to ignore. I could hear it in my breath, could see it in the way my chest was rising and falling, could feel it as I ground my waist into his.

His eyes dropped, and I realized he was watching my hands…which were on my nipples. The small buds were tingling to the point of pain. If I could just rub them a bit, I could satisfy the pulsing desire.

I arched into the water, letting it pour over my chest. Then I tugged harder, the heat mixing with the bursts of pleasure. I thought it would ease the feeling in my breasts, but it only heightened, as did the throbbing in my pussy. “I want you.” The words had slipped out, not sounding anything like me.

None of this was like me.

“Show me,” he said.

Show him?

“Touch yourself,” he said, as though he had heard my question.

The throbbing only got worse as his stare darkened, urging me to give him what he wanted.

So I did.

Breathing in his scent, feeling his need, my hand slowly slid to the top of my clit. The pad of my finger ran the entire length of it, teasing my sensitivity as a moan exhaled through my lips.

“Goddammit, Frankie.” My eyes met his. “You’re so fucking sexy.”

Derek had once ordered me to touch myself while we had been on the phone, but this was different. I’d never masturbated in front of a man before. It was more intimate, more personal. He wasn’t feeling my response from the inside; he was watching it from the outside instead. And it was time to show him what he did to me, even when he kept his hands to himself.

I stepped out of the stream and leaned into the shower wall with my legs spread. One hand stayed on my clit while the other roamed to my right breast, squeezing my nipple with the same strength he would use and pumping it with my palm.

Derek took a step closer, moving directly under the spray while his hand pressed against the wall above my head. His fingers weren’t on my body, but the intensity of his gaze was almost as exhilarating as his touch. In the cave he had created around me, I could feel the heat from his skin, the air from his mouth. I used both as fuel as I drove a finger inside me, the backside of my wrist now rubbing my clit. “Oh, God…” I groaned.

“Tell me.”

“It feels so good, Derek. Not as thick or hard or long as you, but I’m so wet, so slick…and so tight.”

His teeth ground together. “Fuck.”

He wasn’t telling me what to do, or leading me to the spots and places I enjoyed. He was merely a spectator. But I wasn’t trying to entertain him; whatever was coming out of me was an honest reaction that was caused by his presence, by his eyes watching so intently. I could sense him fighting to not touch me.

My slickness grew, and my hand moved faster, my wrist pressing harder. My breathing sped up, hitting Derek’s chest. His stare traveled the length of my body, observing everything I was doing. I spread my legs a bit more, flicked and pinched my nipples.

“I’m so close…”

“I can see it in your eyes, Frankie.”

“Tell me to come.”

His lips moved closer, now only inches from mine. His gaze penetrated me as though it were his tongue wiggling against my clit. More of his warmth spread over me, so did the darkness as his body blocked most of the light. “You’re so gorgeous when you touch yourself.”

“Tell me to come,” I begged again, “
please
…”

He licked his bottom lip slowly, deliciously. “I could watch you do this forever. So no, I’m not going to tell you to come. You’ll do it when you’re ready.”

I was trying to give him control, and he’d given it right back.

But even without touching me, he was in total control.

His command was usually the catalyst that would bring my body to a shuddering orgasm. This time, his eyes were the trigger. I held them with mine, tilted my head into the wall, arched my back forward, and moaned after each plunge of my finger.

His eyelids narrowed and his lips opened.

As my orgasm came to a peak, my hand left my breast and I slapped my palm against his chest. I hadn’t realized how hard I’d hit him until I heard the noise. The cave around me began to tighten, his face moving closer, adding to the darkness as the tingling bursts spread through me.

“
Ahhhhh
…” I panted.

He growled in response, which warmed me like the touch of his skin.

“Derek, I…” My voice faded as the spasms ricocheted through my body.

“Give into it; enjoy it. Let it own you, baby. This is for you.”

So I listened to him, and I let it
own
me. And as I reached the end, my limbs turned numb and my body began to weaken. He caught me in his arms and pulled me against him. My finger stayed deep inside my pussy, my wrist still on my clit, unwilling to let go of this feeling.