Trespass (22 page)

She was on the verge of nodding off when they pulled into the driveway, predictable barking replacing the drone of the engine. She slammed her door and followed Russ up the steps, patting one of the dogs’ heads before kicking her shoes off.

“Thanks,” she said as Russ flipped the den lights on. “That was fun.”

“Good.”

She shut the door and rubbed her arms, wishing a fire were magically there to greet them. “Did
you
have fun?” she asked, eyeing his stern expression.

Russ shrugged and wandered to the sink to pour himself a glass of water. “Yeah. Same old scene, but sure.”

“You were awful eager to leave.”

She watched him take an almighty breath, gaze trained on the floor.

“What?”

Russ shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fine.” She headed to the couch to get her bed assembled, hoping he’d sleep off whatever was eating him. She’d respect his wishes and take him at face value, not question him to death about what was wrong. Though she sure as hell wanted to know if she’d done anything to trigger this change in the atmosphere between them. Maybe not, though. Maybe he’d just run into somebody he had an old beef with. Who knew what went on in men’s heads.

“Got everything you need over there?” he asked, still standing by the kitchen counter.

“Yup.”

“Good.”

She went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She’d have to do laundry again tomorrow and pray the faint fragrance of other people’s smoke came out of her new outfit. As she flipped the bathroom light off, she came face to face with Russ, nearly bumping into him as he headed to his room.

“Sorry,” she said. “Bathroom’s free.”

He nodded, eyes locked on her nose or chin.

“Thanks again.” Her words dropped to a whisper as she took in his face from this close up. Those features she thought she knew looked strained. She cleared her throat, reached up and gave his stubbly jaw a playful squeeze. “That’s a good look for you.”

Russ wrapped his hand around her wrist and held it between their chins. Their eyes darted uncertainly for a handful of seconds, then he leaned in and kissed her.

She felt the brush of his unshaven face, tasted beer and reveled in the slick heat as his tongue slid between her lips. Her gasp died in her throat, and she invited him deeper, as deep as he wanted. He let her hand go and his palm went to her neck, possessiveness heating the gesture.

Whatever he was feeling, she felt it twofold. Longing and animal need, and fear. She wanted this kiss, but knew it wouldn’t last. A momentary lapse in Russ’s judgment. A surrender. They wouldn’t wake to still find this together. She had no doubt of that, though she wouldn’t let the chance pass her by, either. She and Russ were temporary, but she wouldn’t leave this place having missed any chances to explore with him, physically. To make her interest plain, she took his face in both hands and kissed him back as rough and desperate as he was offering her.

Russ changed. He led her by the shoulders, walking her backward into the den. Their mouths didn’t separate until she felt the couch against her calf. He sat first, pulling her gracelessly down to straddle his lap. Forceful hands tugged her hips against his waist and she felt him behind his jeans, hard.

“Russ.”

He stroked her shoulders, mouth on her throat.

“Is this what you want?” she muttered.

The sweep of his tongue and the faint drag of his teeth answered her—another wondrous glimpse of the other Russ. Cool air caressed her lower back as he eased her blouse up. She went to work undoing its buttons, then let it drop from her shoulders.

He pulled her close again. “I didn’t like seeing you gettin’ flirted with by other men.” His breath steamed hot against her neck.

“I didn’t flirt back.”

“I don’t care.” His hands fumbled with the bra clasp between her shoulder blades, far more rough than competent, far more erotic than any wine-and-candles seduction Sarah’s stupid magazines might endorse.

“My body thinks you’re mine,” he growled, getting the hooks free, hands sliding forward to cup her breasts.

She sucked in a breath, transfixed for a moment, staring at his face and the wildness in his narrowed eyes. Letting him slip the straps down her arms and toss her bra aside, she welcomed the gentle brush of his rough palms. He moaned as she raked his scalp with her nails, a sound she’d missed since he’d taken all this away from them.

“I never stopped wanting you,” she whispered, tracing the curves of his ears with her thumbs.

“Me neither.”

“You going to regret this tomorrow?”

Russ ran his tongue up her jugular before he spoke. “I don’t care.”

Good answer.
Their entire relationship, if it could be called that, was rooted in spontaneous lapses in judgment. If tonight was to be the culmination of all that, this surrender ought to be one big
what the hell
—
fuck it
moment too.

Sarah edged her knees back enough to touch him. His chest was firm behind his shirt, ribs rising and falling with labored breaths, stomach tensing under her palms as she memorized him. His thighs flexed, straining. Somehow she’d been given the power to turn this calm, self-possessed grown man into a greedy, panting teenage boy, and she wasn’t about to waste it. She slid her hand down over his belt buckle and cupped his stiff cock though his jeans. His back arched as his hips bucked.

“I got something else at the drugstore the other day,” she said.

Russ moaned as she squeezed him tighter.

“Probably pretty presumptuous of me—”

“Don’t care,” he said again.

“Love when you say that. Hang on.”

He let her stand, and she went to get the shopping bag from the corner of the room. She opened the condom box and set a strip of them atop the puzzle on the coffee table.

As she made to settle back in his lap, Russ stopped her. “Not here.”

“Where?”

He stood, grabbing the condoms. “I want you in my bed.”

She licked her lips and followed him, realizing how badly she wanted that too. The most intimate, tangled wilds of Russ’s territory. He led her into the dark room to his bed, which she’d made herself that morning, not daring to hope she’d have a hand in desanctifying it so soon. She heard the crinkling of plastic by the bedside table.

“Can we have the lights?” she asked.

A pause, then the lamp beside them clicked on. He held her gaze for a moment then sat beside her.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, distracted. He was staring at her, and she had to look a bit silly, half-undressed. She got up to ditch her jeans and underwear, feeling vulnerable in the best way as she sat next to him, her body bare and his still fully clothed.

Some cautiousness returned to Russ when he touched her, his hands gentler now as he held her small breasts, kisses slower and more romantic. She freed her mouth to say, “Let me see you.”

Russ’s expression cut right into her heart—everything she loved about this man. Loved, indeed. A crazy word to use considering she’d known him less than a week, but the only one that sprang to mind just now. His face was placid, eyes steady, as he unbuttoned his shirt and let it drop, stripped off his tee. Sarah bit her lip, enjoying every square inch of his body as he undressed. She held her breath for the eternity it took for him to unbuckle his belt and open his jeans, push them to the floor along with his shorts. He toed off his socks and kicked them away, but Sarah stopped him before he could sit beside her.

She held him by the hips, enjoying the sheer sight of him. “Just stay there a second.” As she explored his body with her eyes and hands, she felt his fingers tangle in her hair. Something about the hunger in that gesture shifted them yet again, banishing the slow, savoring impulses in a heartbeat and ushering the greedy, grasping ones back in. She fisted his cock and held him tight, forgot to breathe as he wrapped his hand around hers. She let him lead, biting back a moan. His hand guided hers, making her feel it as he grew hotter, harder, bigger. This man had come to mean far more to her than just this…but damn, it felt good.

“Russ.”

He thrust softly to force her strokes, and the flex of muscle and bone in his hip just about dissolved her brain. She felt his strength and weight, smelled and heard him beside this very bed where they’d come so close to getting what they both wanted. Only not. Nicole had been in the way then, and Sarah was happy now they’d been denied this. If Russ said somebody’s name tonight, it’d damn well better be hers. She kneaded his thigh with her free hand, letting her nails dig in and tell him how far beyond ready she’d grown.

He cleared his throat. “I love the way you look at me.” He stared her dead in the eyes. “Like you’re hungry.”

She squeezed him tighter and let him watch as she inventoried the length of his body. “I just want to remember all this.”

“For when it’s over?”

“For whenever. An hour from now, or tomorrow afternoon. For ten years from now, whether we’re strangers then or not.”

“Or not?”

“Who knows,” she muttered, in no mood for melancholy. “But right now, I just want to enjoy you.”

Russ finally let her hand go. “Lie down.”

She stretched out across his comforter, body tensing with anticipation as he joined her. He got his knees between hers, and she brought her legs up, locking them to his waist.

“I want to know if this is only about sex for you,” Russ said.

“It’s not.”

“What is it?”

The question scared her, because she knew the answer and how pathetic it would sound. “I just want to know what it’s like to be with someone like you. For as long as you let me.”

His gaze darted away then held hers, steady. “That’s what I want too. You make me feel things… I don’t even know how to explain it.”

“You don’t have to.”

Russ’s eyes flashed to the side table then back. “I want to please you.”

“Lucky me.”

He smiled, looking a bit flustered. “What do you need? I mean, I haven’t been this riled up in forever. I don’t know how… I might not be much good tonight.”

She bit back a grin, charmed. “Well, you haven’t had any trouble in that department before. What would you
like
to do?”

Thoughts passed over his face and furrowed his brow, then he met her eyes. “Here.” Moving to the side, he coaxed her to lie with her back to his chest. He brought his body lower, his thigh spreading her legs, stiff cock sliding against her wet lips. A replay of that wonderful first night in this bed. With his arm wrapped around her waist he found her clit, warm fingertips rubbing soft and slow.

“Russ.”

“This okay?”

“That’s amazing. So’s that,” she added, reaching down to run her hand along the ridge of his erection.

“Can’t believe how hard you get me.”

As his hips pumped in short thrusts that rubbed his stiff flesh against her soft folds, she felt the climax already brewing. His muscles were tensed and hard against her back, breathing shallow. She imagined seeing these same muscles as he braced himself above her, imagined his face as he lost control. Behind her she could sense his mounting excitement, hips speeding along with his stroking fingers.

For a minute or two or ten, she took everything he gave her. As excitement filled her body, fantasies filled her head, perfectly dirty movies of Russ’s body working to please her, a live soundtrack right in her ear.

“God, Russ.”

“Come on,” he whispered. “Please.”

Sarah didn’t think she’d ever heard a plea that loaded with aggression. She shifted her hips in time with his caresses and felt her body going hot and impatient as the pleasure neared its peak. She imagined how it would look to watch the two of them making love, to see Russ from the side or back or from above as he took her. She palmed his cock and his groan was the final straw. The sensations came to a violent head against his fingertips, an orgasm as harsh and deep and tortured as Russ’s voice at her shoulder. She covered his hand as her clit became oversensitive, holding him still as she caught her breath.

With a touch of resistance, Russ let her go. She rolled onto her back, muscles wobbly, and smiled at him. “Your turn.”

He nodded and reached for the waiting condom from the table.

“Oh, let me do that.” She made grabby-hands at him, eager for any extra excuse to build the anticipation. Russ relinquished it and got to his knees beside her. Leaning close, she pinched the tip and rolled it down his length with the assistance of his impatient hand. Any damper her climax had put on her desire flew out the window as Russ got his knees between hers, angling his cock to her entrance. She held her breath and grasped his shoulders as he pushed the first inch inside.

“Russ.”

“Tell me if I need to slow down.” He braced his palms beside her ribs and lowered, hips pushing him deeper. A glorious noise rumbled from his throat, the death rattle of seven years’ sexual frustration, she bet.

“You feel good,” she said, in awe of his face in the lamplight, his firm muscle under her hands. As he slid deeper she felt a pang, but not an entirely unpleasant one.

“You okay?” he asked, eyes on her pursed lips.

“I’m fine. Keep going.”

He took the instructions to heart, pushing in the final couple of inches fast and firm. He moaned, eyes shut as he savored. When they opened again his expression turned soft. “Jesus, you’re beautiful.”

The compliment caught her off guard. “Thanks.”

“I’m gonna say something real stupid now,” Russ announced, going perfectly still.

“Oh. Alright.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.”

Her mouth fell open. It was as though something hot burst inside her, warmth oozing from her middle out to fill her arms and legs, fingers and toes. It was far too good to be true. Far too much to ever hope that this man felt as strongly about her as she did him.

“And I’m not just saying that because I’m hornier than I’ve been since tenth grade.”

“Okay.”

“I’m in love with you. With Sarah,” he added firmly. “With the woman who drugged my dogs and robbed me and kicked my ass at pool.”