Back in Black (20 page)

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Authors: Lori Foster

BOOK: Back in Black
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She wanted . . . to love him.
Feeling far too brazen and wicked, Audrey went down the hall and opened the first door. His black-and-white-tiled bathroom smelled of shaving cream. She breathed in the scent, and her desire tightened.
Already Brett had made a difference in her life. Without even knowing her past, he had helped alleviate the pain of memories. By being himself, he made her doubt her perceptions about fighting and the motivation of fighters. She had a lot of reevaluating to do.
But for now, she craved to know more about him, physically, emotionally.
Intimately.
Heart thudding in slow, heavy beats, Audrey went to the next door and pushed it open. A full-size bed dominated the room, accompanied by a dresser and one nightstand. Fading light spilled through a window on an opposite wall. He’d left it open enough to keep the air cool.
Brett had tidied the room by smoothing out the sheet and a colorful, worn quilt. The dresser held some change, a few receipts, and nothing else.
Drawn to the bed, Audrey went into the room. She sat on the edge of the mattress and put her palm on one of the two pillows, where she imagined Brett would lay his head.
When she heard the door click shut again, she looked up, and Brett stood there, watching her. Saying nothing, he walked to the dresser and took out his wallet, his keys. He turned back to her and, still silent, reached over his shoulder for a fistful of shirt. He pulled it off over his head and dropped it to the floor.
God Almighty, the man had such a fine body.
Audrey’s pulse sped up when he unbuckled his belt and slid it free of the loops in his jeans.
If he shed his pants right here, right now, she’d probably embarrass herself with her enthusiasm.
To her mingled disappointment and relief, he didn’t. He took off his shoes and socks and came to stand by her, his bare feet braced apart. One hand touched her chin, and the other hung loose at his side.
She was eye level with the most remarkable set of abs she’d ever seen
and
a definite erection beneath his fly. Her mouth went dry.
CHAPTER 10
S
TROKING his fingertips over her jaw, her lips, Brett gentled her nervousness and her racing need. He stepped closer and leaned toward her to remove the band holding her hair in a ponytail. It slipped free, and he moved his fingers through her hair.
“So pretty.”
She’d always been a tomboy with no interest in fashion, makeup, or the latest hairstyle. But Brett made her feel feminine—and more. And because he still stood there, taking his time, her natural modesty waned.
Putting both hands flat on his abdomen, she explored his taut skin and the incredible warmth of his body. A tantalizing trail of dark hair led from his navel down into the waistband of his faded jeans.
The muscles tightened beneath her palms, and his hands stilled. She heard his indrawn breath before he deliberately relaxed again. Cupping the back of her head, he tilted her face up to meet her gaze.
“Whatever you want, Audrey, I’m game.”
Such an offer.
She knew exactly what she wanted, she really did. It had never appealed to her before, but now, with Brett . . .
defi nitely
.
Just thinking it tightened her womb and made her nipples stiffen. Biting her bottom lip, she popped open the snap on his jeans. His nostrils flared, his mouth firmed, but he didn’t move.
Freeing herself of his gaze, she gave her attention to her task. Carefully, without haste, she dragged down his zipper. Through snug black boxers, she could see the size and shape of his straining penis. She dragged the backs of her knuckles over him and felt the tension in his body tighten.
He locked his knees and cupped her head in both hands.
Audrey pushed his jeans down to midthigh and at the same time, leaned forward to breathe in the rich musk scent of his arousal. Forehead against his abdomen, she put her lips to his erection.
Brett gave a low, muffled groan and his hands clenched in her hair, but quickly loosened again. “Damn, Audrey.” He caressed her hair, encouraged her. His deepened voice, the way he touched her, even the way he held himself, told her how much this excited him.
And that excited her. For the first time, she understood the power women had over men—and she loved it.
Anxious to further explore this new aptitude, Audrey pushed down his boxers, too, then pressed him back a step. With the enticing image of supplication in her mind, she slid off the bed to her knees before him.
A short, hungry sound came from deep in his throat, and Brett again stiffened his knees.
Excitement left her trembling. He was so hard, throbbing, and thick. A drop of precum glistened on the head of his erection, tempting her.
She wrapped a fist around him, holding him still in one hand while with the other, she palmed the taut muscles of his rear. Everything about him was perfect and masculine and so stimulating to her senses.
She licked her lips as she looked at him and, impatient, Brett urged her forward.
Audrey didn’t think about what he might expect, or how to tease him further, or even about the proper way to do it. This was her moment of pleasure; she gave in to her own hunger and, after one long lick that ran along his length and ended at the crown, she drew him deep into her mouth.
His harsh groan vibrated in the quiet of the room.
Wildly excited by the taste of him, Audrey enjoyed his rich scent and his reaction. He guided her, groaning anew each time she drew him in, shaking as she pulled back. She put both hands on his backside and let him have her mouth, let him dictate the depth and speed and—
“God, that’s enough.” Brett went rigid, fighting himself more than her. Breathing hard, he started to pull back.
But Audrey didn’t want him to.
This was her first time taking a man in her mouth, and she wanted everything.
She clenched her fingers in the muscles of his butt and slicked her tongue around him.
“Audrey . . .”
He sounded in pain and, loving it, she licked him again, swallowing more of him.
For two seconds of suspended time, he hesitated, and then he gave up. His big hands curved around her head and he drew her in close again, eased her back, brought her in again.
Each time, his breathing rasped, and Audrey felt him throbbing in her mouth.
“Audrey,” he growled as she took him deep. “Suck on me.
Hard
.”
That command was almost enough to push Audrey over the edge, too. Feeling wickedly sensual, she did as he instructed, and he lost it. Fitting his thumbs into her hollowed cheeks, he let himself go.
His taste was unique to her, hot and salty. When his release ended, he dropped his head forward and petted her in a leisurely, affectionate way, stroking along her hair, her cheek. Audrey didn’t want to let him go. But now when she licked, he flinched as if it were too much, so she finally eased away and rested her cheek against his hip.
He reached down for her arm and tugged her to her feet. Green eyes glittering, warm with emotion, and soft with release, he stared at her.
Audrey licked her still-tingling lips.
Smiling crookedly, he touched his thumb to the corner of her mouth. After another beat of time, he shook his head on a small laugh. “I have to tell you, Audrey, that was one hell of a nice surprise.”
He sounded gruff, and Audrey blushed. “I’d never done that before.”
Maybe he could tell, because he didn’t question her. He just bent for a kiss and then tumbled her into the bed with him. “Now I need a minute to recoup.”
He’d sprawled on his back with his jeans and shorts still at his knees. Audrey scrambled up. She couldn’t imagine ever tiring of looking at him. Now his penis was semisoft, and for whatever reason, that appealed to her, too.
While she cuddled him in her hand, she bent to kiss his chest, those sexy abs, the tops of his thighs. She went off the bed to stand at his feet so she could finish stripping him.
He came up to his elbows, and that position sent new muscles bunching and flexing.
She sighed.
Shaking his head at her, Brett laughed and said, “You, too, hon.”
Distracted with his body, now fully bare before her, Audrey glanced at him in confusion.
“Take off your clothes, Audrey. I want to look at you, too.”
In all honesty, she admitted, “I don’t look as good as you.”
His wicked grin and mussed hair only heightened his physical appeal. “Let me be the judge of that, okay?” And when she didn’t immediately start stripping, he sat up and drew her between his knees.
The man had no modesty at all, but then, looking like he did, why should he?
She, on the other hand, didn’t enjoy the idea of being exposed, especially with comparisons at hand: him looking like a God, and her oh so average.
In one easy, practiced move, he pulled her shirt up and off over her head.
Cool air touched her skin; the heat of his gaze burned her. “This is awful.” Even with his fascination plain, Audrey wanted to cover herself, to hide her purely functional bra and modestly sized breasts.
His attention smoldering, he asked, “What is?” Holding her shoulders, he looked at her from the waistband of her hip-hugger jeans to her belly, ribs, over her white cotton bra, to her shoulders and finally her mouth, and her eyes.
Audrey shook her head but couldn’t escape the lock of his intensity. A deep breath didn’t really help. “Wanting you like this. It’s not something I’m used to.”
“Yeah?” Spreading his fingers out, he trailed his hands over her chest, around her breasts—which exacerbated her need—down her body, around to her derrière and back again to the snap of her jeans. “How does it make you feel? Tell me.”
He expected her to think while he undressed her? To be able to speak? She wasn’t experienced enough for that.
Deciding she should be proactive, Audrey toed off her sneakers and started to shove down her jeans.
“Now, Audrey.” In one swift move, Brett turned her and tumbled her onto her back on the mattress. “Let me.”
He stood to the side of the bed but leaned forward and braced his arms on either side of her shoulders. He was so damn big, so tall, that he surrounded her with ease.
“First, though, answer my question.”
Never had a man looked at her like this, all concentrated and intimate and . . . connected. She couldn’t be this close to him without touching him, so she put her hands on his rock-solid shoulders, and she felt a deepening of need.
A master of understatement, she murmured, “I don’t feel like me.”
“What’s different?”
How to put it so that he’d understand? “I’m not a woman who gets this . . .”
Turned on.
“. . . Preoccupied. Or this bold.” He only waited, still looking down at her, until Audrey felt forced to elaborate. “I’ve never been completely naked in front of a guy before.”
Slowly, his sexy mouth lifted into a wolfish smile. “Let’s start there, then, okay?” He levered away from her to unzip her jeans and drag them, with her panties, down her legs.
Audrey gulped, but said nothing. If she got naked, they could finally get going. Without thinking about it, she said, “I can’t wait to feel you inside me.”
His gaze shot up to hers. His nostrils flared. “Woman, I’m trying for a little patience here. But when you say things like that, well, you blow my control.”
Shifting her legs, almost squirming in her hunger, Audrey said, “But I don’t want you to be patient.” And then, because she couldn’t stand it, especially with how he looked at her now, she added, “I ache, Brett.”
All humor left him. He came down beside her and took her mouth in a kiss that almost did it for her. Man, oh, man, he knew how to use that mouth of his, kissing her in a way that made her feel the sensual effects of it everywhere.
Arching into him, Audrey tried to feel all of him against her. Still kissing her, Brett pressed her onto her back again. Against her lips, he said, “Let’s take care of this ache of yours, okay?” And then his hand was there, between her legs, exploring, prodding, every touch inciting her . . .
He opened her and pushed a finger deep.
Her short nails sank into his shoulders and a groan ripped from her throat. Never had she known this kind of arousal. It defied description, and in some ways, it scared her. Feeling like this left her vulnerable to hurt.
What if Brett was only playing with her?
What if this was a one-night stand? She needed to get her fill of him while she could. She needed memories to carry her through after he left her.
And right now, she needed reassurance almost as much as she needed release. “Brett?”
He kissed her cheek, her jaw, her throat. Lifting to watch her face, he worked a second finger into her. Heat flushed her skin and left her breathless. Smiling, he lowered his head to draw on one nipple.
Like a bundle of sizzling sensation, her body felt alive and sparking everywhere.
When his thumb came up to toy with her clitoris, every pleasure amplified and concentrated until she knew she would snap. Her body bowed, a raw groan reverberated from deep inside her, and her muscles all trembled.
The climax raged through her, ebbing and intensifying until it finally, by slow degrees, faded away, leaving even her bones lax.
Brett released her and moved away, but he was back in what felt like a nanosecond. His weight settled over her as he positioned himself between her legs. Holding her face to kiss her, he pushed into her.
She’d been celibate so long; she’d
never
been with a man like Brett. He surrounded her, covered her, slowly filled her, and she loved it.
Yes,
this
was what she wanted. Lethargy left her, replaced with rekindled lust.
While waiting for her to get with the program, he moved slowly, gently. After a shuddering breath, Audrey opened her eyes and saw the strain on his gorgeous face.

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