Bringing Down Sam (15 page)

But he had more patience. He didn’t even try to pull her shirt off, much less her shorts. He merely carried her down a short hallway to his bedroom. When they reached the massive bed, he lowered her onto it and followed her down, their mouths still locked, each breath shared, the hot, frantic kisses having segued into slow, sultry ones. He eventually moved his mouth down her throat, kissing a path to the hollow. She lay on the pillows, her hands tangled in his hair, taking what he wanted to give her, caress after heated caress.

“You are so beautiful,” he told her. “I want to see all of you.”

“Then see me,” she said, moving her hands to the bottom of her tank top and tugging it free from her shorts. Sam brushed her hands out of the way—being oh-so-gentle with the injured one—and pulled her shirt up himself. His fingertips scraped over the bare skin of her midriff, testing each indentation, each curve, each slope, until he’d pulled the top up and off. Then he looked down at her, reaching out to trace the outline of her dark nipple against the lace that covered it.

“Oh, please,” she groaned, needing the rest of her clothes to be gone. She arched up enough for him to reach around and unfasten her bra, but he pulled it off oh-so-slowly. He followed the strap down her shoulder with his mouth, kissing his way down one arm, then proceeded to the other side to do the same. Finally, once he’d drawn the fabric away, he looked down at her breasts and made a tiny sound of appreciation. Or wonder. Or excitement. All of the above.

“Touch me, taste me,” she begged.

He didn’t hesitate, cupping one breast in his hand, his fingertips tweaking her sensitive nipple. She felt that touch everywhere and her hips jerked up reflexively as heat flooded her sex.

Lowering his mouth to her other breast, Sam teased her with a few light kisses, a gentle nibble. Then, when she was squirming beneath him, he finally covered the tip with his lips, and sucked deep.

She grabbed his shoulders, holding tight, unable to prevent her fingers from digging into his muscles. Whether she was holding on to her own sanity or making sure he didn’t stop, she couldn’t say. Nor did she think he would care, either way.

“I’ve been thinking about this since the first moment I saw you,” he admitted hoarsely as he moved to her other breast. Another kiss, another touch, another deep, hard suck and she was writhing beneath him. It was amazing. Intense. Fabulous.

But not all she wanted. 

“About
just
this?” she asked, knowing her throaty tone told him what she really wanted.

He laughed softly. “Not by a long shot.”

He moved down her body, stroking her skin, kissing her belly, tugging lightly at her gold belly ring with his teeth. Dipping his tongue into her navel, he worked her shorts open and pulled them down. He took her panties with them, and she lifted her hips to help get them out of the way, then kicked off her shoes. Finally, they were naked together on the bed. Though she’d never rushed to such incredible intimacy with a lover before, Eve felt no shyness, had no second-thoughts. Sam looked at the curls between her legs as if he’d never seen anything so beautiful, and she felt fully in charge of her sexuality, a powerful, strong woman who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to let her lover give it to her.

He lowered his mouth. And gave it to her.

“Oh, my God,” she groaned, pleasure hammering her, hard and fast. He slid his tongue into the lips of her sex, tasting his way up until he found her clit and sucked it gently.

She came hard. Fast. There was no slow build, delight just slammed her, making her shake all over. But even her orgasm wasn’t enough to make him stop; he seemed intent on devouring her, on making love to her with his tongue, and she could only lay there and take it.

 She had never felt like this, never been so completely aware of every sensation battering her body. Not just his mouth on her sex, his hands on her hips, his soft exhalations on her thighs, the thick, heady smell of sex and sweat and musk filling her nose with each breath, but the scrape of the sheets against her back, the brush of cool, air conditioned air against her overheated skin, the faint sound of summer birds winging away outside the window. She was completely in tune with every sense.

Only one thing remained. She wanted to feel him inside her so badly she thought she’d die.

“Please, Sam,” she insisted.

“I love how you taste,” he insisted, resisting her as she tried to tug him up.

“And I know I’ll love how you taste, too,” she said, licking her lips in anticipation of all the delightful intimacies she wanted to share with him. “But for right now, I want you inside me. Please. I
need
you.”

He finally relented, kissing and stroking his way back up her body. He paused only long enough to reach over to the bedside table, open the drawer and pull out a condom. She reached down to help him don it, the shared intimacy so erotic their hands shook with anticipation.

At last, he moved between her parted thighs, the thick tip of his erection nudging her curls, finding her wet, hot core. She arched toward him in welcome, wanting him to plunge deep, but he was restrained, cautious, as if afraid he might hurt her. He began to sink into her, inch by inch, and she held her breath, gritting her teeth, arching her back and loving every damn thing about it.

Still using exquisite restraint, Sam made a place for himself inside her, going deeper and deeper, filling her until she was breathless with shocked delight. When he finally plunged to the hilt, Eve had to gasp a few deep breaths, filled with wonder and awareness. Everything was him. Every breath. Every touch. Every sight, sound, taste. They were totally and completely joined and for a brief moment, she honestly couldn’t remember who she’d been before he became a part of her.

He cupped her face and gazed down at her. “Are you okay?”

“More than,” she insisted, twining her arms around his neck.

He withdrew a little, then slid back into her. Again. Again. Each time pulling out a little further, each time pushing back a little harder.

She raked her nails across his back, demanding he give her everything, and pushes became thrusts. Hard. Wild. Eve was groaning, crying, twisting her head on the pillow, lost to pleasure as he filled her again and again.

As if he simply couldn’t get enough of her, Sam lifted her legs over his shoulders so he could drive even deeper. That was when groans became screams and she began to sob, wanting it harder, faster, intense and frantic.

He kept pace, giving her everything she needed and so much more until she flew apart again in a body-quaking orgasm. And finally, as if he’d merely been waiting for her to be ready, he gave in to his own.

"Never introduce her to your family. They'll say they love her and nag you to get married, or she'll take it as a sign that you want their approval. Either way...you lose!" -- from 101 Ways To Avoid Commitment

Moments later, as the euphoric rush began to fade, Eve acknowledged what had just happened. She waited for a feeling of mortification to fill her, or embarrassment at her utter lack of inhibition, but there was none. Maybe if Sam had given her one of those playful grins, one of those knowing looks, she would have blushed and wished she could take back the impetuous decision she’d just made. 

He didn’t. His expression was pure excitement, pure passion. He was just as affected as she, judging by the rapid breathing he tried to bring under control as he lay beside her on the big bed, now rumpled and smelling of wild sex.

“That was crazy,” she said, a sense of wonder in her voice.

He nodded. “The right kind of crazy.”

Oh most definitely. Somehow, in spite of the fact she hadn’t known him for more than a few days, it felt perfectly right to be lying in his bed, shaking with satisfaction and pleasure. All the worries, all her resolutions about not getting involved with him, had just evaporated. She was fulfilled in a way she hadn’t ever been in her entire life. He’d imprinted himself on her; she could taste him in her mouth, feel him in each inch of her sensitized skin, and she suspected she would for a very long time…long after they parted.

She’d never experienced anything like it.

He ran the tip of his index finger on her cheek. “You know, I didn’t intentionally drag you into my den of iniquity to  have my wicked way with you.”

“Sure ya didn’t, bad old womanizing Sam Kenneman,” she replied with a laugh. Then she glanced around the room. “Speaking of, this bed looks pretty normal. Your haters would be crushed. I was picturing a round one with black satin sheets and a red velvet bedspread.”

“And a mirror on the ceiling?”

“Uh-huh.”

He nodded toward something on the far wall. She glanced over and saw a large mirror over his dresser. It offered a nice side-view of them on the bed.
Very
nice. She wondered if he’d been watching them a few minutes ago, and suspected he had. She sure would have.

“Wish I’d seen that earlier,” she admitted, a shiver of excitement washing through her. She would have loved to see his golden-brown hair brushing her pale thighs, and the way his thick cock disappeared into her body.

“Next time,” he whispered.

Mm. That didn’t sound like a question…he apparently had no doubt there would be a next time. She liked that cocky confidence. And definitely agreed with the sentiment.

“Back to my point. I’m not some player who staged this whole thing.”

“I didn’t imagine you bribed your cat into assaulting me so you could get me into your steamy hot bathroom next to your steamy hot self.”

He lifted her hand to his mouth, focusing on the bandaged spot below her thumb. “Sorry about that.”

“I’m fine,” she whispered, loving the way his lips brushed her skin as he tenderly kissed it better.

“Steamy hot, huh?” he asked, a self-satisfied tone in his voice.

“Oh,
so
hot,” she replied, seeing no reason to deny how he affected her. It had been made pretty obvious by her physical reaction to him. Then, needing the reassurance, she asked, “Seriously, though, you’re not sorry about how this ended up, are you?”

He barked a loud laugh. “Not even close.”

“That’s good.”

“But I’d really intended to change and then take you out to dinner somewhere.”

She rolled onto her side, to face him, sliding one leg over his and draping her arm across his flat stomach. Her head rested on his out-flung arm and she felt the bunch and play of the thick muscles beneath his sweat-slickened skin. “We could stay in and eat.”

There went the wicked smile. She melted, down deep, remembering how he’d devoured her, knowing by his expression that he’d like to do it again. Well, that might satisfy his hunger, but her mouth was moist with want, too. She was dying to taste him, to explore every inch of him, and started by moving her mouth to his neck and kissing him lightly, licking at the salty flesh.

“My point is,” he insisted, as if wanting to assure both of them of his feelings, “despite how readers of my book might interpret this, I’m not manipulative or dishonest. I didn’t set out to trick you in order to get what I wanted.”

Eve froze. Her mouth closed, her fingers clenched reflexively, tangling in the spiky hair on his chest. Every inch of her went stiff as reality came crashing down, recrimination and accusation flooding her.

God, what had she done? She’d slept with the man—made wild love with him—while he still had no idea what she was really doing here or why they’d really met. She’d used him for incredible sex after having agreed with her girlfriends to try to embarrass and humiliate him, and to break his heart if she could. All the things he’d just asserted that he wasn’t—dishonest, manipulative—she
was
.

She rolled off him, onto her back, throwing an arm over her face.

“What’s wrong?”

She swallowed hard, trying to think of an answer. Because everything was suddenly so wrong…just after it had all seemed so right. She’d never been as happy to be naked in a man’s arms, at least until she remembered she had no right to be there.

No right until she cleared the air, anyway.

Her earlier plan to just say goodbye and head home was no longer an option. Things had gone too far between them for her to do anything except tell him the truth. No matter how hard it was, no matter how angry he might get. She owed him that much.

“Eve?”

Before she could reply, a loud knocking intruded. Someone was banging on Sam’s front door. Eve didn’t know whether to bless the interruption, or to curse it. Because, as much as she needed to unburden herself and apologize, she couldn’t think of a worse way or time to do it than while in Sam’s bed, sated and filled with pleasure from their love-making. Apologies and explanations this massive deserved a foot or two of physical distance, at the very least. Or maybe a mile.

No. She wasn’t chickening out. This wasn’t something she could say by phone.

But clothes wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“Somebody’s got very bad timing,” he muttered when the knocking increased in volume.

The expression
saved by the bell
popped into her mind, but she cursed herself for being cowardly.

“Maybe they’ll go away,” he said, a hopeful note in his voice.

The knocking continued, growing even louder.

She sighed, murmuring, “Or maybe not.”

Muttering a curse, Sam rose from the bed. “Don’t move,” he said as he grabbed some clothes and headed into the adjoining bathroom. He came back a moment later, dressed, flinching as the knocking grew even louder.

As soon as he was gone, she began to picture the conversation they’d have when they came back, and they couldn’t have it if he she was lying here naked. First, because she felt too vulnerable. Second, because it could be construed as manipulative—and she didn’t want to distract him with sex when she had some serious apologizing to do. Third, because it would be too easy to forget about the conversation and jump his bones again.

She could perhaps cut herself a break for one slip when she’d been completely taken off guard by their unexpected nearness, his hot, slick, nearly naked body and that steamy bathroom. But sleeping with Sam again while her lies hung between them would be just plain wrong. The thought of it made her feel...dirty.