Breaking All the Rules (19 page)

But it was more
than that, the feeling inside him clutching tighter, more insistent. It was
like there was something physically holding them together, a palpable
connection between them. It was something he’d never experienced before, never
known was possible with another person. Yet here it was, stronger than anything
he’d ever felt before, as he looked into this woman’s eyes, this woman’s face,
felt her body pressed against him. The unmistakable sense of a link, deep and
powerful and so fucking overwhelming it damn near took his breath away.

He managed to
find his voice. “You feel that, don't you?”

She grinned. “Of
course I do.” She pushed her hips forward, grinding her pelvis against him. She
unerringly found the hard ridge of his cock, rubbing up and down along it.

Somehow he
managed not to lose it, choking back the groan that rose in his throat. He
pulled his hips back, away from the friction she was creating. “No,” he said,
looking straight and hard into her eyes. “
This
.”

She didn’t react
at first. Then her smile slowly faded. Her expression cleared, becoming uncertain
for the slightest of moments. Her gaze wavered, as though she wanted to look
away. She didn’t.

“It's just
physical.”

“
No
.” The
word came out harsher, fiercer, than he'd intended, everything inside him
rejecting her denial of what he knew deep in his core, felt in every part of
his being, more than anything in his entire life. Could see she felt too. “
It’s
not
.”

He watched her
eyes widen slightly in response. A trace of nervousness entered her stare.
Instantly a pang of regret shafted through him at his harshness. He didn’t want
to be harsh with her. That was the last thing he wanted to do. But having her
deny something this important, this powerful, this irrefutable wasn't just
infuriating. It was painful, a searing agony shafting through him, damn near
buckling his knees.

A plea rose from
his gut, a sudden, aching need desperate to be fulfilled.

Please, baby.
Just give me this. You’ve got to give me this. You have to give
yourself
this.

Nina didn’t say
anything. She simply looked up at him, her eyes wide and wary and unsure. He
didn’t know if she was nervous because he’d growled at her or because of the
feeling she was trying so hard to deny. Neither possibility was good. And
suddenly what he felt in his chest more than anything was something else.

The crushing
weight of defeat.

He was still
holding her arms above her head, still pressed up against her. He waited for
her to ask him to let her go. She didn't, remaining where she was, looking at
him.

He was about to
release her wrists anyway when he saw that look in her eyes change, clouding
with desire, hardening with determination.

Just before she
propelled herself up on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth against his once
more.

Bobby knew he
shouldn’t let her dodge the issue. He knew he should say something. But damned
if it wasn’t hard to think of anything else when she had her tongue in his
mouth. This time it was hers teasing his, drawing it out, urging him to
respond. And damned if he could resist. She tasted too good, felt too good.
Their mouths fit so perfectly together. And he was only a man. Every last bit
of resistance he had against this woman had already been used up.

With a grunt, he
could only give in, matching her stroke for stroke, taste for taste, kiss for
kiss.

Nina managed to
push her body forward, rubbing as much of her against him as she could, up and
down, back and forth. Her breasts. Her hips. Her belly. All made so fucking
perfectly to fit against him. And she was still wearing that damn dress.

He let go of her
wrists, needing to touch her, to pull her closer too damn bad. His hands
skimmed down her sides, seeking bare skin, finding only fabric.

Fuck the
dress
. There wasn’t time to get it off. Not when what he really wanted to
be doing was fucking her. Not when he needed to bury himself inside her and
look into her eyes when he did it, needed to know what he’d see then, if she’d
still be able to deny what she felt.

Reaching under
her skirt, he grabbed the top of her panties and yanked hard. He only intended
to push them down, lowering them enough to give him access to what he really
wanted. Instead he felt them fall away in his hands, tearing as though they
were nothing. He didn’t bother feeling regret or apologizing or doing anything
but tossing aside what remained of the fabric. There wasn’t time. As soon as
his hands were free, he pushed the right one straight between her legs. His
fingers found her pussy even his eyes found hers once more.

One corner of
his mouth curled upward. Oh, yeah, she was wet. It was like dipping his fingers
in a damn puddle. At least until he shoved one finger inside and felt her clamp
down hard around it. A jolt of energy shot straight up his arm, back down his
body, right to his groin. It sure as hell wasn’t his finger he wanted her soft
heat wrapped around.

He needed to be
inside her.

Now.

Even as he
thought it Nina went for his belt, her fingers fumbling to loosen the clasp.

Somehow—God only
knew how—he managed to think clearly enough to reach in his back pocket for his
wallet. Yanking the condom from it, he tossed it aside. He tucked the foil
wrapper between this teeth just as she popped the button on his pants.

They moved
together, working in unison, limbs flying in a frenzy, the desperate sounds of
their breathing coming faster and harder, filling his ears. She grabbed the
condom wrapper from his teeth. He jerked the zipper at his fly loose. She
ripped the wrapper open. He shoved his pants down past his ass. He didn’t push
them down all the way. There wasn’t time. Her hands were already reaching for
his cock, the rubber in her fingers. He almost groaned as her fingertips slid
over him, rolling the condom over him, his cock jerking at her touch. He could
have come right then and there, from wanting her, from just how aroused and
frustrated she had him.

Enough.

Now
.

The condom was
barely in place when he knocked her hand loose, grabbed her hips, and drove
into her in one hard thrust.

She was hot and
soft and tight, and once he was buried to the hilt he stopped, freezing
completely. He couldn’t move any further, couldn’t shift a muscle. He could
only remain where he was, locked in her heat, a sigh on his lips, his mouth
automatically moving back into a smile.

Yes
.

He felt her
hands in his hair, holding onto his head, keeping his face even with hers.
Bobby stared right into her eyes again, his heart pounding out of control. The
heaviness in his chest was there, but different somehow. Fiercer. Harder. Raw. Almost
feral. It only built as he looked into her eyes, her pussy gripping him tight,
his cock only seeming to thicken and get harder to fill her more. It was
perfect. It was right. This was where he belonged. This was where she was meant
to be, with him. She had to feel this. It was too much, too damn strong to be
denied.

He raised a
brow, daring her try and disagree.

Tell me you
don’t feel that. Tell me you don’t feel how fucking
right
this is
.

She didn’t say
it. She didn’t say anything. She peered straight into his eyes. He could read
the pleasure she was feeling, see just how turned on she was, but nothing else.
Nothing of her thoughts. None of the deeper emotions she had to be feeling
because there was no way on earth she couldn’t be.

And then, just
for an instant, he caught it—a glimmer of…something deep in her eyes. It
happened so fast he couldn’t tell what it was. Doubt? Want? Recognition? He
didn’t know, but he saw it. His heart grabbed tight, the reaction so fierce and
instinctive he knew he wasn’t imagining it. His senses were responding to
something, because there was something there. And that hope inside him flared
to life again.

Yes
.

Then she
tightened her muscles around him, seeming to draw him deeper into her, urging
him back into motion. Even as she did it, she wrapped her arms around his neck,
pulling him close, drawing his mouth to hers.

With a groan, he
gave in. He had to. He couldn't hold back any longer. The instant their lips
met, he pulled his hips back and thrust into into her again. Harder. Deeper. He
felt her moan against his mouth, could practically taste it against his tongue.
Power and pleasure and pure exhilaration surged through him. And he wanted
more. He drew back and drove into her again. Then again. She rocked against
him, taking him, gripping him tightly. She was everywhere, her arms around him,
her mouth on his, her tongue against his, her pussy squeezing him. She was
everywhere, and she was everything. His last remnants of control slipped away,
his body taking over. He thrust into her again and again, harder, faster, his
hips moving on their own, acting on pure instinct.

He lost himself
in the sensations ripping through him, washing over him, as he felt the
pressure building in every cell of his body.

He lost himself
in her, in every bit of this woman that filled his senses, that was more than
he could begin to process, that was all he wanted in the entire world.

And as he
finally let go, exploding in a furious wave a split second after he felt her do
the same, he knew.

This was it.
This was everything.
She
was everything.

And he would
never get enough.

NINA RECOGNIZED
THE INSTANT Bobby fell asleep. She always did. He was lying on his side behind
her, the big spoon to her little one, his arm slung over her. Finally she felt
the last bit of tension ebb from his body, every muscle relaxing, his arm
becoming heavy on top of her. And she knew.

He was asleep.

It was time to
go.

She began to
count to a hundred to make sure he was sleeping deeply. She couldn’t risk
waking him.

Couldn’t risk
him trying to stop her.

She should have
felt satisfied, relaxed, practically boneless after all the times she’d come.
She didn’t. The tension had been building inside her for hours now, only
getting stronger as she waited for him to finally drift off.

His words
continued to slither through her mind, an insidious whisper she couldn’t shake
or silence.

Do you feel
that?

Even now, the
memory of the words, of his voice as he’d said them, was almost enough to make
her shudder.

She hadn’t
understood what he meant at first, or maybe she just hadn’t wanted to. Then,
finally, looking deep into his eyes, she’d instantly known what he meant.

Yes, she’d felt
it, that tug deep in her chest that seemed to be pulling her to him, that
seemed as though it was connecting them, a tangible, physical link tying them
together. She’d tried denying it, tried to convince herself she was imagining
it, even as it pulled harder, tighter, the longer she looked into his eyes. No,
it was real.

And it had
scared her more than anything she’d known in her entire life.

She’d been torn
between running right then and there—and wanting to finish what they’d started.
Desire had won out, first then and several more times over the next few hours
as they gradually made their way to the bedroom. She’d done her best not to let
her feelings show, to smile and laugh and keep things light, even as she could see
the happiness in his eyes, guilt and pain stabbing low in her gut with every
glimmer.

Even as she knew
the whole time she had to go.

Because it
didn’t change anything. He was still going to have to leave, and she couldn’t
spend her life waiting for him to come back. If anything, it only made things
worse.

Nina finally hit
one hundred in her silent countdown. Holding her breath, she eased from the bed
with painstaking slowness, her heart pounding so loud she was afraid he would
hear it and wake up. As she rose to her feet, she gently lowered his arm onto
the mattress. He didn’t move, apparently not noticing anything, and she let out
the breath she’d been holding.

Once she got
outside, she could call a cab. She needed to move, needed to get dressed.

Instead Nina
stood there for a moment, looking down at him. The blinds on the windows were
open, allowing the moonlight to fall over his face, illuminating every hard
plane and strong angle in a silver glow. God, he was beautiful. She drank in
the sight of him, knowing it had to be her last glimpse.

The tug in her
chest came again, harder, fiercer, and this time it outright hurt.

It was exactly
what she’d warned him about, exactly what she’d known would happen. The longer
it went on, the more painful it would be in the end.

The knowledge
sent fresh anger rushing through her veins. She let it build, using it to fuel
her drive and get her moving. The reason this hurt now was because he hadn’t
listened to her, because he’d refused to respect her feelings and her opinions—and
her as a person. If he had just let things end days ago, she wouldn’t be
experiencing this unbearable agony that was damn near buckling her knees. He’d
done this to her, to both of them. All the more reason to get out of here.

This time she
had no trouble turning away. Spotting a notepad and a pen on the bedside table,
she quickly scrawled a note. She folded it in half, then gently turned back and
placed it on the empty pillow next to him, careful not to look at him. As soon
as it was done, she gathered her clothes from the floor and hurried for the
exit on her tiptoes, desperate not to make a sound.

Only to falter
when she reached the door.

One last look…

The need surged
inside of her, almost frantic in its desperation. It was immediately followed by
a rush of pain at the idea of seeing him, at knowing it would be the last time.