Bad in Bed (9 page)

She told him with her mouth, matching his
demanding invasion with her own. As his erection pressed into her stomach, she
angled and bucked her hips, giving him no cause to doubt what she wanted. What
she needed.

When they came up for air, they were both
breathing hard.

“Anything to say?” He grated out the words between
breaths and Amber shook her head, incapable of speech. “Good. Then we’re
clear?”

Crystal
.

He kissed her again, as if to seal the deal.
 
Then he pulled away and spun her around until
she was facing the door.

Her palms landed hard against the wood and she
turned her head to the side as he leaned into her.

“I want to have you,” he murmured against her
ear. “Like this.”

Since there wasn’t a question, Amber didn’t
respond. At least, not verbally. She closed her eyes and fell under the spell
of his mouth as it moved down the side of her neck, then to her shoulder.

He moved across to her upper spine, his tongue
trailing down to the zipper of her dress. The slow slide of the zip as he drew
it down to her waist was the only sound echoing through the kitchen.

Amber lowered her arms as he drew the straps
away from her shoulders, taking his time to kiss along her exposed flesh.

When the top of her dress had bunched around
her waist, he lifted her arms and placed her palms against the door again.
“Keep them there,” he commanded. “Don’t move.”

She didn’t think she could if she wanted to.
And she didn’t. Her whole body felt fluid, anchorless.

He touched his hands to the sides of her waist,
drew his fingers slowly around until he brushed the undersides of her breasts.

Amber gasped as he traced along the sensitive
flesh, so bloody slowly she wanted to scream. Her nipples ached for his touch and
she wriggled.

“I said, don’t move.”

She dropped her head back against him, exposing
her neck. “Then for pity’s sake, touch me.”

His laugh bounced off the kitchen walls, a low
rumble of masculine enjoyment that went straight to Amber’s core. “You still
haven’t learned much patience have you, green eyes. Well, practice makes
perfect.”

He made good on the threat when he still didn’t
touch her, but kept on with that slow, erotic slide of his fingers on the plump
undersides of her breasts. He took advantage of her exposed throat and kissed
her gently at first, then grazed his teeth along her tender flesh, taking small
bites.

Amber moaned. Between her legs heat roared, and
she wondered how much more she could take.

When his fingers slipped from her breasts, she
wanted to complain, until she felt him drawing up the hem of her dress. When
the whole dress had bunched around her waist, Ethan slowly slid one hand down
to her pussy, cupping her. “You’re so fucking wet,” he groaned, pushing two
fingers against her folds. “Can you feel what you do to me?” With that, he
pushed his hard length against her ass, leaving her in no doubt how she made
him feel.

She nodded, feeling lightheaded.

“Tell me,” he whispered against her ear. “Say
the words.”

“I can feel you,” she managed, hot breath
scoring her throat. “I feel what I do to you.” She felt him smile against her neck.

“Good.” Still cupping her pussy, he dipped a
finger into her hot flesh, finding her clit.

Panting, Amber threw her head back as he
started to work the hard nub, all the while anchoring her with his free hand
around her waist and pulling her in tight against his erection.

She tried to move her hips, to gyrate against
him as the pressure built, but he wouldn’t allow her to do so. Instead, he
pushed himself against her, mimicking the movement of his finger inside her
pussy.

He slid in another finger, pushed deeper until
Amber felt her muscles clamp as she spiraled toward climax. She cried out,
pressing her palms against the door to try to get purchase on something,
anything. All she could do was ride it out, the screaming sensation that was
both torture and ecstasy in equal measure.

Her legs really did give out as she came back
down, and she felt Ethan’s grip tighten around her as he withdrew his fingers.

Deftly, he removed the bunched up dress with
one hand, leaving her completely naked. “Spread your legs.”

Amber was having a hard time processing what
he’d said because she was still off in some netherworld where orgasms like the
one she’d just experienced were permissible for mere mortals. Only when she
felt his knee between her legs, encouraging them open, did she fully realize
what he’d said.

As she stepped her legs apart, he put both
hands around her hips and pulled her ass away from the door so that she arched
her spine. She heard him reach into his pocket. Then there was the sound of the
condom packet being ripped open, the scrape of his zip, the low groan he made,
and then, thankfully, his hands were back on her hips.

He tilted her a little, so that her ass was
raised higher, then used his hand to guide his cock to her opening. He eased
himself inside her, inch by delicious inch, until he sank to the hilt.

Bloody hell, it was amazing like this. He
filled her to capacity, his hard, long length packed inside her as if they were
made to connect by every available centimeter.

He started to move, slow at first, then harder,
faster.

Amber’s breath pumped out along with Ethan’s,
his grip on her hips increasing until his fingers dug into her flesh.

Still he pumped, and she realized that she was
about to come. Again. Ethan roared out his own climax at the exact same moment
she reached hers.

The room spun, colors clashing, images blurring
as she soared off into some ethereal place, all the while connected to Ethan,
his hard length impaling her, his arms anchoring her.

Spent, Amber crashed back against him, her head
against his shoulder, her body limp in his arms.

Heavy breathing filled the kitchen and as Amber
gasped for air, her nostrils filled with the scent of fabulous sex and hot,
satiated man. She smiled as she leaned into him, enjoying the brush of his
mouth against her neck.

“God,” she gasped. “You made me come again.”

“You sound surprised, green eyes.” His cocky
tone mingled with the fight to control his breathing, which made her laugh.
“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. I’m just in awe.”

He kissed the side of her neck before slowly
pulling out of her. “Me, too.”

She turned to face him as he tugged up his
trousers and slid the zip. He left the button on his waistband unfastened,
which looked sexy as hell. “Trevor never made me climax when he was inside me.
You have, every time.”

“That’s part of my awe-ness.” He smiled as he
pulled her against him and, she thought vaguely, how erotic it felt to be
totally naked against a man who had his pants on.

“Weirdly, that doesn’t sound conceited.”

He raised his hands to her face and drew her
hair behind her ears. “You’re so beautiful. Weirdly, you don’t know it.”

She smiled, a little disconcerted by his
penetrating gaze. It was as if he saw right through her, straight down to her
soul. “Now, that would be conceited.”

“But accurate.” He dropped a kiss to her lips,
lingered for a few seconds before he drew away, his eyes serious. “Stay the
night?”

It took her only a few seconds to make the
decision. “Okay.”

Chapter Six

Amber’s first thought on waking was that the scent
of coffee wafting from the kitchen was like nectar to her senses. Her second
thought was that her whole body felt indolent, sated, and yet, energized.

She turned her head to check what she already
knew. Ethan was up and in the kitchen with the coffee machine. She eased
herself out of bed, acutely aware of muscles that evidenced a very lively
night, and made for the bathroom.

Back in the bedroom, Amber slipped into her
dress, thankful that during the night when she got up for water she’d had the
foresight to retrieve it from the kitchen floor where it lay in a crumpled mess.
She smoothed her hands down the unavoidable creases before heading out to find
Ethan.

He’d pulled on his trousers and since he had
his back to her, she hoped he’d left that button undone again.

As she came near he turned. Yes indeedy, that
sexy button appeared to be currently redundant. His hair was damp at the edges,
evidence of a recent shower.

A trifle disappointed, since she’d hoped to
join him, Amber walked toward the hand he held out to her.

“Morning, gorgeous. What’s with the pout?”

“Nothing. This is the morning me. Not my best
time of day.”

He pulled her into an embrace. “We can always
change that.” He wiggled his brows. “Or maybe you’ve had enough of me?”

“Maybe.” She softened it with a grin and kissed
him.

“Not sore?”

“A bit.”

He gave her that lopsided smile that melted all
her defences and sent her hormones into overdrive. “Want me to help with that?”

“Sadly, no. I have to get to work.”

He frowned. “On Saturday?”

“The work of an event coordinator is never
done.” She kissed him lightly. “We’ve got to go through plans for a civic event
next Tuesday. My manager is paranoid because there are visiting dignitaries who
really push the boat out when it’s their turn to host. What about you? Don’t
lifts break down on weekends?”

“If they do, it won’t be me fixing them. That’s
why I have employees.” Again that grin. Almost irresistible. Almost.

“Well, if I don’t get my butt in gear and get
to work, I might be applying for an apprenticeship with your company.”

“Seeing as I have firsthand knowledge of your
skills, I might be willing to take you on.”

Unbidden, her old doubts and fears came rushing
back. How could she even begin to question them after the night they’d just
had? Ethan had been as exhausted as she was, had certainly seemed to enjoy
himself. When would she be able to put this ridiculous question mark over her
abilities to rest? And what happened to valuing herself as a person rather than
a sexual object?

With his uncanny ability of seeing right into
her head, Ethan tipped her chin up until she looked straight into his eyes.
“Leave it.” His tone was firm. “You are one hot woman. You’ve worn me out,
given me more hard-ons in one night than I’ve had in a month. You’re
responsive, beautiful, and probably more than any one man can handle.”

His words warmed her heart, made her feel as if
she really was all those things he said. Then a little memory popped into her
head, one that she’d been meaning to ask him about since the moment in the
restaurant. “When you first introduced me to Marco and he said that thing about
me being his present? You said something like, ‘not this time’. What did you
mean?”

He looked a bit sheepish, his eyes flickering
left and right and not landing on her. “Private joke. Stupid.”

His obvious discomfort had her antenna buzzing.
“Have you gotten him women as presents before?”

“No.” He had the grace to look insulted, then
turned from her and went to the kitchen counter where he poured coffee. “Not
exactly.”

Intrigued, she came to stand next to him. “What
does that mean?”

“Want breakfast? I’ve got eggs, cereal, and
bread somewhere.”

She moved closer, a woman on a mission now.
“Just coffee, thanks. So, how exactly?”

“Uh?”

“Marco. Not exactly getting women for him.”

He grabbed a cloth to wipe up coffee he sloshed
on the counter. “Look, it’s just a stupid thing we did. It didn’t mean
anything.”

“Then it won’t matter if you tell me.”

He placed the cloth to the side, turned, and
handed her a cup of coffee.

Since he didn’t look as if he was about to
offer anything further, Amber didn’t take the coffee but stood looking at him.

With a sigh, he placed the cup down. “You’re
not about to let this go.”

Amber remained silent.

“All right. Marco and I shared a woman once.
Twice, technically.”

She tried not to look shocked, although her
insides did a flip. They’d shared a woman and remained friends? “Did you both
know? That you were seeing the same woman?”

His eyebrows came together. “What?”

“It must have been a real shock. How did you
find out?”

He ran his hand over his mouth. “You’ve got the
wrong end of the stick. We shared her, you know,
shared
.”

It took a moment, but when it dawned on her, Amber
felt like an idiot, a sheltered, inexperienced idiot. “Oh, I get it.” Her
cheeks felt hot. “You and Marco. At—at the same time?”