Anything but Vanilla (4 page)

Arousal thickened between her legs, and a rosy blush began to infuse her skin. What would he do if she pressed back or reached out and touched him? What if she were direct enough to touch his cock? Would they make it as far as the bed, or simply fuck hard and fast amidst the disarray of photographic equipment?

Kara’s mouth grew dry. She slowly moistened her lips.

She could picture it so clearly. They’d end up naked, wrapped up in exposed film, surrounded by countless dirty images.

Damn, what was she thinking? Kara risked a surreptitious glance at Ric, who gave away nothing of his thoughts, only a low-level twinkle in his blue eyes hinting at any kind of wickedness in him. What was happening to her? She didn’t routinely jump into bed with strangers, at least not since the days before Gavin. Yet here she was craving the affections of a man she’d only just met, whose nearness had rendered her knickers sopping.

It took every ounce of willpower for Kara to remain still. Every single damn ounce, because what she really wanted to do was to wriggle and cosy up against Ric’s cock, and to know that he was ready for her.

‘About those keys,’ he murmured, not quite breaking the spell she’d woven in her head, for his mouth lay just shy of her neck. If she turned now, their lips would almost certainly meet. ‘I can’t seem to put my hands on them.’

Sod the keys!
Having him put his hands on her would be far more gratifying. It took a supreme effort of will to smile at him indulgently instead, like it didn’t matter that her only home at present was whatever decrepit barn her brother had bought, which she couldn’t get into until Ric produced the keys, or that her nipples were so taut they were poked up against her blouse virtually demanding his touch. It didn’t matter that her cunt was wet either, or that it ached for the sensation of something hard to fill it. Or that whatever bed she eventually made it to would be cold and empty.

‘I’ll keep looking.’ He gave her an endearing and rather knowing grin, one that suggested he guessed more of her thoughts than she cared to share, and maybe, just maybe shared one or two of them. ‘That said – it is getting a bit late to be trekking over there at this time of night. The visibility sucks and I wouldn’t want you stumbling about hurting yourself.’

‘Yeah? What are the alternatives?’ She leaned a little closer to him.

Ric’s tongue briefly wetted his lower lip. ‘I’ve a spare bed.’

‘Right. I couldn’t – I mean, I don’t want to impose.’

Damn it with the social niceties, she definitely wanted to impose. She wanted to jump right into his bed, and have him touch her between her legs, where good girls who had just broken up with their fiancés weren’t supposed to ask to be touched. Then again, she’d spent long enough pretending to be the good girl that at heart she wasn’t. Time she stopped holding herself to other people’s standards and lived a little.

‘You won’t be.’ He reached out and very briefly touched a lock of her hair where it rested against her cheek. ‘Besides, it’s my fault. I should have been more organised and had those keys set out ready.’

‘I could bunk down in my car,’ Kara ventured, not really wanting to. Her poor old VW Golf was only just windproof. Even with the heater turned to max she’d have to shiver to keep warm.

The promise of a hot body versus a crappy heater equalled no choice at all.

Maybe it was time to be bad.

People would forgive her. They’d say the break-up had sent her off the rails.

Oh, yes. She wanted to do wicked things with this man. She had no doubts that Alaric Liddell knew how to make a woman sing. He literally oozed sex appeal, like it was a pheromone, from his shirtless back to his beautiful bare toes. She wanted to do bad things, and she wanted to do them now.

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ He leaned closer still so that she could smell his aftershave and the musky bass note of his underlying scent. ‘It’s no problem at all.’ Her pussy clenched tight in anticipation. Her folds were already moist and swollen.
Kiss me
. Her entreaty rang in her head. She needed him to touch her. She wanted to come.

Instead, Ric stepped back. She’d missed her cue.

‘Come on back down and I’ll fix us a drink. I can show you over to the barn in the morning.’ His grey-blue eyes glittered with mischief. Then his arm shot out, neatly trapping her in the entrance to the stairwell. His palm lowered from the wall to caress her cheek where a few strands of blond hair clung to her skin. ‘Don’t worry. I don’t ruthlessly adhere to the old ways.’

‘Old ways?’

He laughed; the sound seemed to tickle her insides all the way down to her stomach. ‘Welcome to Liddell Island.’ He leaned in, so that her taut nipples brushed pleasurably against his chest, while his mouth closed over hers.

Kara gasped as his kisses zapped fire all the way down to her cunt. Then he took her by the hand and led her back downstairs to the study.

Kara stood befuddled by the doorway, a glass of malt whisky clutched tightly within her hand, staring at the black-lettered document that granted the Liddells of the islands certain rights over the island’s inhabitants, the primary one being the right to tame any maiden that came to live in their domain.

‘This was never upheld, though,’ she croaked. The tingle of Ric’s kiss still lingered on her lips, while the sight of his still naked torso did nothing to calm her raging libido.

‘I assure you it was. There’s documentary evidence.’ He waved at the shelves of books surrounding them. ‘Lists of who and when, and how old they were and where they came from. Even some stuff about whom they went on to marry, although details about the actual main events are pretty scanty.’ He edged towards her again as he spoke, having returned the spirits decanter to its home.

‘Blessedly so, I’d have thought. Most of them must have been scared out of their wits at being summoned up here to warm the master’s bed for the night.’ Somehow she doubted many of Ric’s ancestors had been quite so beautifully put together. Physically, she got off on the wiry, hard-edged make-up of his physique, and that swathe of flaxen hair. And no way had they smelled as good. His scent, a perfect blend of good old-fashioned male spice and expensive aftershave, reached her at that very moment, sending her senses into another meltdown. He led her across to an armchair, and bent down by its side.

A faint smile played upon his generous lips. ‘Don’t you care to know how others enjoy sex?’

She cared to know how he enjoyed sex.

Kara blinked at him uncertainly, unsure if he was leading her somewhere or just teasing. He knew she’d enjoyed his welcome kiss, because she hadn’t been able to stop herself groaning. ‘I’ve never thought about it.’

‘Oh!’ He nodded. ‘If I revived the practice, I’d make sure to record every aspect.’

‘You’d photograph it.’ Kara swallowed slowly around the sudden tightness that gripped her whole body including her throat. Heat zipped between them like fireflies.

‘Film,’ he corrected.

Damn, was he seriously suggesting this? The way he looked her right in the eyes as he spoke rather implied he was. Kara rubbed her fingers over her lips to hide her nervousness. She wasn’t camera-shy like some folks she knew, but she’d never before considered allowing herself to be filmed having sex. Was that even what he was really suggesting?

Perhaps sensing her uncertainty, Ric dipped on to one knee before her and removed the whisky tumbler from her grip. ‘What do you think? Are you shocked?’

‘No, of course …’ Damn it, yes, she was. And intrigued, and aroused, and petrified.

Gently, Ric pressed a kiss to her curled fingers, which caused every nerve in Kara’s body to light up like sparklers. Oh God! They were going to fuck. No, judging by the look in his eyes and the fact that she had to avert her gaze because her cheeks burned with embarrassment, they were going to do something far less straightforward and far dirtier than that.

Kara’s clit perked up immediately. Damn, she didn’t want to wait while he set up lights and a camera. She reached a hand out towards him. Made that first contact, but touching him in the centre of his chest.

Ric wasn’t hairy in the way her one-night stand had been, but nor was he man-sculpted. A few springy curls skirted the hollow of his navel, and thickened where his stomach flattened out. No doubt if she followed that line, she’d find a crisp thatch above his loins.

‘Are you sure about this?’ Ric ran his tongue over his canines in a fox-like fashion. ‘Are we going to start up the old tradition together?’

She didn’t believe for a second she was the first woman he’d done this with. ‘Am I expected to just fall into your arms, or make some attempt to fend you off?’

‘Do you want to fend me off?’

A tiny cry escaped her throat. He had to know that she didn’t. Damn, if he so much as touched her again she’d jump. ‘Maybe. I don’t know anything about you. I don’t even know if those keys are actually missing.’

‘Ah.’ His eyebrows hitched a fraction. She hadn’t meant anything by it but, by God, she’d hit on the truth. He’d known where they were all along. The swift glance he made towards the desk confirmed it.

Despite her desires riding her like a bitch, Kara grew momentarily serious. They hadn’t known one another, but he’d made a snap decision earlier. He’d chosen not to be honest within seconds of her crossing his threshold, like she’d tripped some sort of slut alert and he wanted in on that action.

Kara pushed up out of her seat. ‘If you’ve hidden them, if you’ve been playing me … I’ll –’

‘You’ll what?’

‘I’ll …’

‘Sorry,’ he pleaded before she had a chance to ruin all the lovely tension they’d built up. ‘They’re not lost. I didn’t hide them, if that’s what you think. I just haven’t handed them over yet.’

‘Why?’

‘Not that it’s a great defence, but I don’t get very much company up here. Especially not beautiful company that didn’t just knock on the door in order to use the facilities. Besides, you couldn’t have trekked over to the barn in the dark with this wind anyway.’ Certainly the wind had got up. Even cocooned inside the metre-thick walls of the fort you could hear it howling. ‘Forgive me.’ His hand settled lightly upon her calf.

Kara froze. Oh, God, it wasn’t right that a touch there should have so much power. Her pussy instantly flooded with heat.

‘Where are they?’ she asked tremulously.

‘The keys? Oh, Kara – don’t be a spoilsport, not when you’re enjoying this just as much as I.’ His hand crept a little higher up her leg, and disappeared under the hem of her skirt.

‘Give me those keys.’

‘I will. As soon as I’ve made a proper apology.’

Hell, he was pushy, and she really ought to stop him rubbing her inner thigh like that, because it was ridiculously pleasant, and he was a liar, and obviously not to be trusted, and a cad who only wanted her for one thing.

It just happened to be the same thing she wanted him for.

He was on both knees now, his lips closing in on the spot where his hand lay warming her thigh. ‘I’m going to kiss your cunt now. Say yes, please, Kara.’

‘Oh, God!’

‘I don’t think he’s any real jurisdiction here, do you? It’s far too wild, and far too lonely.’ He lifted up her skirt so that every inch of her legs was exposed along with the fabric of her knickers. ‘Hm, on or off. Decisions, decisions. I know.’ He wriggled his fingers into the seams of her panties and drew them down to her thighs. ‘Much better, don’t you think?’

‘Um … I don’t know.’

‘How can you not know –’ he laughed, clearly enjoying her discomfort ‘– whether your knickers are best left on or off? Surely the issue is a simple one. If they’re on, I can do this. And you want me to do this, don’t you? You want me to make that apology, and if they’re off I can’t.’ The very tip of his tongue ran along the split of her sex. Kara grabbed tight hold of the cabinet at her rear, and then changed her mind and laced her fingers in his hair instead.

Damn, that felt good.

‘Off,’ she squeaked. ‘They’re definitely better off.’ She squirmed against his tongue, trying to get him exactly where she wanted him.

‘Yeah – then why don’t you step right out of them?’

Yes, absolutely. Why didn’t she? Only they seemed to get snagged around her ankles and he didn’t let up with that tongue of his. It tickled every sensitive nerve-ending in her body all at once, and that was before he lashed it softly against her clit.

Kara’s fists clenched tight in his hair. She was probably pulling a little too hard, but he didn’t object, rather he seemed to thrive on the sheer intensity of the moment. The sweet massage had caused her sex to plump, making it difficult to keep still. She felt dizzy, uncertain. Fire burned in her cheeks and her womb. God help her, if he kept it up, she would come right against his mouth before he received any reward for his efforts besides a glorious stiffy. Then again, maybe that’s what he got off on.

‘Don’t, you’re gonna …’

‘I’m going to what?’ She felt his smile as a rub of his cheek against her thigh. His next move concentrated his efforts on her clitoris. He tickled and petted the stiff little nub until she was totally undone. Her hips rolled of their own volition, pushing the whole of her pussy up against his mouth, wordlessly begging him for more, for him to never ever cease.

‘Pull up your top,’ he insisted. ‘Show me your tits.’

Kara wrenched her clingy top up over her bra. Her breasts were achy, the nipples pronounced against the satin fabric that confined them.

‘Touch yourself.’

She wasn’t sure what he was getting out of the demand. It wasn’t as if he was positioned to enjoy the view, for his attention remained on her pleasure. Kara understood a little better when she nipped one nipple between her thumb and fingertip. A pulse fired between her breast and her cunt, linking the two and making her orgasm ride up fast.

It broke as she squeezed both nipples hard and his tongue completed the circuit, dabbing against her clit. She sobbed into his shoulder when he rose and held her tight.

Ric didn’t remain still for long. First his lips swept against hers, bringing a second wave of heat to her insides. The kiss was by far the dirtiest she’d ever shared. The taste of her body clung to his lips, while the scent of her arousal flooded the air. Although shirtless, Ric remained otherwise properly dressed. Kara reached for his belt buckle, only for him to grin and step back. Still, the ridge of his erection showed clearly behind his fly.