Worth the Challenge (20 page)

“I’m crushing you,” he murmured into her hair.

She tightened her hold on him when he tried to move. “Stay.”

Chuckling, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You make me sound like a dog.”

“Mmm, never.” She squeezed him close, savoring the feel of him surrounding her. He felt so good, so…right.

And that didn’t scare her. If only she could convince him to feel the same…

“You smell good,” he whispered, his lips lingering on her temple.

“Oh!” Her eyes flew open and she pushed at his shoulders so he would look at her. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. The scent.”

He frowned, his dark brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Smiling, she reached for his face, cupping his stubble-roughened cheek. “I think the perfume should smell like…this.”

“Like what?”

“Like us.” Lifting up, she pressed a kiss to his plush mouth. “Together, after we’ve made love. The perfume should smell like sex.”

Rhett looked at her like she was crazy. “Are you serious?”

Nodding, she nibbled on her lip. “I think so.” Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

He studied her for a long, silent moment, his gaze assessing, his lips pressed against each other. She let her hand drop, disappointment crashing over her. He hated the idea. Thought it was awful. She’d come up with a few options, but this one was her favorite, her number-one choice.

Maybe she was crazy, but perfume, scent, was sexy. So why not try and capture these moments in a bottle? It might be all she’d have once they returned to New York. Memories and the scent of his skin pressed next to hers.

If he agreed to it, that is…

Chapter Fourteen

Gabriella’s idea wasn’t that farfetched. The perfume industry had been trying to bottle and sell sex for years. Still, Rhett wasn’t quite sure what part of the act Gabriella was referring to. And if he was being honest, he couldn’t quite believe his sweet little perfumer had made such a suggestion.

“You think it’s awful.” She tried to shift away from him, but he pinned her in place. “Let me go.”

“I don’t think it’s awful.” He gentled his grip on her though he refused to move. “I’m just trying to figure out what exactly you want it to smell like.”

Her cheeks colored with embarrassment. Even after all they shared, wrapped around each other completely naked, his cock still inside her for the love of Christ, she still blushed. He found it adorable. “Well…” Her voice trailed off and she clamped her lips shut.

Kissing those tight lips, he rolled off her and went into the bathroom, disposing of the condom. He was damn careful each and every time they had sex. Wasn’t about to become his brothers with an unexpected baby on the way. Not that his niece and nephew weren’t blessings, but…he was a selfish bastard who could barely figure out how to fit a woman into his life, let alone a child.

Rhett walked back into the room to find Ella sitting up in bed, the snow-white sheet bunched around her waist, her breasts on blatant display. Her still-pale skin had a golden glow to it thanks to the constant time they spent in the sun, and despite her heavy use of sunscreen. Her hair was a tumbled mess, her cheeks still flushed, and she had that just-fucked look about her.

His body tightened. She wore it very well.

“So.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorjamb, blatantly enjoying the view. “Are you going to explain? Or are you still too embarrassed?”

“Rhett,” she chastised, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze.

“The very last person you should be embarrassed with is me.” He sniffed the air, the lingering scent of sex unmistakable. “I just made you scream my name when you came, Gabriella. Come on.”

She waved a hand at him, her head still averted. “I can’t have a serious discussion with you while you’re standing there naked.”

“You’re not even looking at me. Besides, you think I can remain serious when
you’re
sitting there naked?” He waved a hand at her in return. “Just because you’re partially covered up doesn’t mean I don’t know what you look like under that sheet.”

“Oh my God.” She tilted her head back, gazed up at the ceiling. “Open the window, would you, please?”

Frowning at her odd request, he went to the window and pushed back the plantation shutters, then slid open the window. Immediately a breeze blew through, bringing with it the scent of the ocean and smoke from the nearby torches that were lit every evening at sunset.

“Now, come over here and sit by me.” He turned to see her pat the empty spot next to her on the bed.

Like a dutiful child, he went to her, slipping beneath the sheet beside her, leaning back against the pillows. He rested his hand gently on her lower back, caressing her soft skin, and she trembled beneath his touch. The low roar of the ocean sounded in the distance and shadows danced about the darkening room. Peaceful. Sensual. Velvety quiet…

“What do you smell now?” She glanced over her shoulder, a wavy lock of dark blonde hair falling across her eye.

“You,” he answered simply. He drew his fingers back and forth between the two dimples that rested just above her pert ass.

She rolled her eyes. “Besides me.”

“Hmm, the usual. I can smell the ocean, the smoke from the torches that are burning outside.” He sat up, pressed his mouth to her slender shoulder. “With your skin, there’s more to it. You smell like me.”

Ella remained silent for a moment. “That’s what I’m referring to, the combination of both our scents, accompanied by the smells of the island.” Her voice hitched when he kissed a path along her shoulder. “I’ve been contemplating a formula that hopefully captures all of it. I’ve made some notes, come up with a few ideas since we’ve been here though I haven’t really discussed it with you. As soon as we return to New York, I’m going to the lab. I’m hopeful it’s exactly what you’re looking for.”

“Mmm, it sounds amazing.” He pressed a hot, open-mouth kiss to the spot behind her ear, the one he knew she liked. “Will it smell like you here?”

“Maybe it will.” There was a quiver underlining her words, one he knew
he
put there, and he wrapped his arms around her from behind, reaching up to cup both of her breasts. They fit his palms perfectly, her hard nipples rubbing against his fingers, and he squeezed her. “Rhett, we’re trying to have a serious conversation.”

“Oh, I agree.” He sounded perfectly innocent, though his thoughts were far from that. It amazed him, how fast she aroused him. How quickly he wanted her. “But I need to figure out exactly what you’re talking about in regards to the scent. I am in charge, after all.”

“Of course you’re in charge.” Her voice was weak and she sighed when he glided his hands down her belly. “But you’re distracting me.”

“You always distract me.” He pressed his cheek to hers and cupped her sex with his hand, felt the wetness coating his fingers, the heat of her searing his skin. “And I like how easily you say I’m in charge.” He wasn’t talking about being her boss, either. “You’re always so wet, Gabriella.”

She said nothing, her increased breathing the only indication she was affected by his words, his touch.

Sliding his fingers along her delicate folds, he smiled when she spread her legs wider, giving him better access. He removed his hand and brought it to her face, settling his fingers close to her nose. “Will it smell like this?”

Ella melted into him but didn’t reply.

“You smell amazing, hot and feminine.” Where the words came from, he wasn’t sure. But he spoke the truth. He enjoyed nothing more than burying his face between her legs. Tasting her wet, warm flesh, breathing her in. Until he became completely absorbed in the very essence of her, the most intimate part of her she shielded from all.

And shared only with him.

Knowing he gave her that gift, made her come so easily, so beautifully, always filled him with pride. He was the one who did that to her. Who made her writhe, who made her cry out, who made her fall apart. He’d never realized what a powerful aphrodisiac it was, to be the one who gave another such pleasure.

His heart racing, his cock rising, he tightened his hold on her, his fingers biting into her flesh. He felt like a beast tonight. Primal, mindless with the urge to take. He wanted to shock her. He wanted to get inside her head, make her squirm, make her beg.

“Say something.” He whispered the command, his voice light as air yet underscored with an edge of steel. Damn it, he wanted a response. He wanted to know what she was feeling, what she was thinking.

He needed to know if she was experiencing the same chaotic jumble of thoughts, the overwhelming emotions that were trying to seize hold of his heart.

Ella shifted, her lush ass brushing his engorged cock. He bit back the groan that wanted to escape. “You can’t want to do this again.”

“You look at me wrong and I want to do this again. And I know you want it, too. Your body doesn’t lie.” He nudged her shoulders. “Get on your hands and knees, babe.”

“W-what?” The quiver in her voice was unmistakable. She sounded nervous.

And hopelessly aroused.

“You heard me.” Something possessed him, turned him into some sort of demon hell-bent on breaking her. On making her completely and totally his.

She would have no doubt of it after tonight. The pretense grew wearisome. He might not be able to say it in flowery, romantic words, but he could show her.

And he would.

His mood had completely changed, had become dark, almost menacing. Not that she was scared, not precisely. Rhett was as tender and gentle a lover as any she’d ever experienced, maybe even more so. Skilled and precise, though never too precise, considering how out of control he usually became within moments of touching her.

A secret badge she wore with pride, that she could make the charming bad-boy Rhett Worth lose it. How she enjoyed that glimmer of imperfection. Of seeing the man fall completely apart, his expression one of agonized ecstasy, his head tossed back, his muscles in stark relief as he strained above her. Below her.

Always inside her.

He’d completely released her, pushing her into position, and she went on her hands and knees, embarrassed to be on such blatant display for him, what with her butt and everything else in his face. She’d never had a man take her from behind before.

There were many things she’d never done before Rhett.

He climbed off the bed. She watched in anticipation as he went to the dresser across the room and opened the top drawer, pulling out a fresh box of condoms. “We ran out,” he said, tearing into the box and pouring a handful of colorful wrapped squares into the palm of his hand.

Her heart racing, she released a trembling breath when he approached the bed. He tossed the condoms onto the bedside table, stopping so he stood before her, his erection directly in front of her face.

Poised and ready before her mouth.

She glanced up at him, her hair tumbling over her eyes, blurring her vision. He studied her, his lids heavy, his expression slumberous, belying the awareness that made his body taut. She saw it, the subtle tightening of his muscles, the way his hands were suddenly clenched into fists.

 
Knowing what he wanted, she sat up, kneeling on the mattress. She remained silent, reaching for him, curling her fingers around his thick length.

His sharp intake of breath the only indication he approved of her actions.

He was a talker, an endless spinner of words, but for now he remained quiet and there was something even more alluring, more exciting about that. She became attuned to the sound of the palm trees rattling outside. A breeze blew through the window and it washed over her, cooling her flesh. Arousing her senses. The scent of his skin, the scent of his cock, musky and pungent, remnants of their earlier lovemaking lingering there.

It was the smell of his semen and her moisture combined that she embarrassingly enough wanted to capture. A most unconventional quest it was, trying to create the true and distinct scent of sex. Not that she wanted the perfume to be solely based on that, oh no.

But making it an important factor of the scent, oh yes, indeed.

“Take me in your mouth,” he urged in that deceptively soft voice. Her easygoing, devil-may-care Rhett was gone tonight. Before her stood a man in absolute command, who wasn’t above demanding his satisfaction.

She thrilled at the potential.

Doing as he bid, she scooted closer, her gaze staying with his as she bent and slowly parted her lips, pressed them to the very tip of his cock. She delivered a kiss, sticky clear liquid clinging to her lips and she licked them, savoring the taste of him.

He didn’t so much as make a sound, though she detected a faint grimace marring his features. She played because he allowed her to. Sweet butterfly kisses all over the flared head, her tongue darting intermittently but never enough to completely satisfy. He gloried in teasing her, driving her crazy with it, and usually she was too rushed, too eager to return the favor.

His mood had affected her wicked mood as well, she realized as she reached for him. Wrapping her hand around the base of his cock, she drew him in deeper. Her lips tight, her tongue busy, her mouth so very, very wet…