Dare to Hold (3 page)

“I’m not interested in a relationship,” she reminded him.

He inclined his head. “And I’m not asking for one. Not even asking for a date this time.”

“Just a fling?” she repeated, thinking he had to be kidding. Just like she’d thought he was kidding when he’d asked her out before. Because what would a hot, good-looking man like Scott Dare want with a woman who’d gotten herself knocked up and then pushed around by her ex-boyfriend?

Even when she’d realized Scott was serious about dating, she couldn’t accept. Because she could so easily see herself repeating old patterns with him. Falling hard and fast. Giving in. Losing herself. And now there was more at stake than just Meg.

But this time, Scott was offering something she could handle. A night with a beginning and an end, no expectations. No disturbing her resolution to stand on her own. To be a better mother than her own had been, no revolving door of men. No man, period. Just a hot night and a memory to keep her warm when she was alone.

“One night.” He reached out and rubbed his thumb across her lower lip.

His touch made her tremble, and her nipples tightened into hardened points, and the intensity in his gorgeous eyes had need building even stronger inside her.

“Is that what you want too?” he asked again, his gaze hot on hers.

His distinctive scent, a hint of musk she associated with Scott alone, filled her nostrils. Her stomach fluttered, and the desire to wrap herself around him and take what he offered built until it was a tangible thing, living and breathing inside her tightly strung body.

She nodded, unable to speak. Her throat had grown too dry.

“I need you to say it.”

Say what? She didn’t remember his question. Only the thought of letting him into her apartment … into her body filled her mind and her senses.

A low rumble sounded from deep inside his chest. “Say
I want you, Scott
. I need the words or I’ll send you inside alone.”

“I want you, Scott.” The words tumbled out, an easy capitulation that had been anything but. Another Meg Thompson decision she feared would alter the course of her life. And she was powerless to stop it.

Chapter Two

M
eg said the words, and Scott’s head buzzed with her heady admission. He’d been holding on by a thread since she’d admitted that her friends wanted her to have a one-night stand. If anyone was going to put hands on her, it was going to be him. Problem was, once he touched her … once he
had
her, one time wouldn’t be enough. But that was an issue he’d deal with later.

She opened the door to her apartment. They stepped inside, and he immediately pressed her up against the wall, his hips bracing against hers. “I want you too. And if this is what you’ll give me, I’m taking it.”

He leaned close, intending to kiss her, but her scent beckoned, and he breathed in the warm, sensual fragrance that made him hard and kept him up nights.

He dragged his lips from her jaw to her cheek. “You smell so fucking good.”

A small whimper escaped from the back of her throat, and his dick hardened against the teeth of his zipper.

“I need to taste you.” He settled his mouth over hers, finding her lips soft, her flavor sweet. Better than he’d imagined, and he wanted more. He nipped at her lower lip and slid his tongue inside, turning things hot quickly.

He discovered Meg was an equal partner in the glide and tangle of their tongues, in the click of his teeth against hers.

She threaded her hands through his hair and tugged, and he knew if she kept touching him, it’d be over before things got started. He pulled her arms above her head and clasped her wrists in one hand. “I call the shots.”

He watched her carefully and her eyes dilated. He grinned, liking her response. He’d always preferred control, more so after his marriage and life had fallen apart, and his older brother Ian had taught him not to apologize for who he was or what he needed. His cousin Decklan had introduced him to his favorite club in New York, and Scott had begun to understand himself even more.

“I’m not sure I like that,” she said, her mind obviously at war with what her needy body craved.

“When I make you come over and over, you will.”

Her eyes opened wide. And then she laughed. Damned woman actually laughed at him. He raised an eyebrow.

“What?” she asked, her eyes lighting up. “Experience tells me that was a cocky claim.”

“You did not just call my skill into question.”

She met his gaze, a combination of mirth and seriousness in her chocolate-brown eyes. “Maybe it’s the skill of all those men in my past I’m talking about,” she murmured, her voice dropping, honesty and embarrassment forcing her gaze down.

Olivia had told him Meg had a history of picking the wrong guys. A pattern that went far beyond the asshole who’d laid a hand on her this last time. Now Scott understood just how bad her prior relationships had been, and he intended to make up for each and every jerk in her past. Something that would take way more than one night.

But he’d start now. “Okay, baby, I’m going to lay down a few rules.”

Her mouth opened and closed.

So damned cute, but he wouldn’t tell her that.

“I am not your baby,” she said, but the gleam in her eyes told him otherwise. She liked when he called her that.

He grinned. “We’ll see.”

She narrowed her gaze. “And did you say
rules
?” Meg asked, unable to believe his nerve.

He nodded. “Rules. As in, you do as I say and you get to come. Often.”

How could she argue with that? Before she could even respond, he picked her up and into his arms, enjoying the warmth of her body against his. “Direct me to the bedroom.”

“Are you always this bossy?” she asked. And why oh why did her pussy spasm when he acted like this? A normal woman would be turned off, but not Meg. A guy took control and she wanted more.

“Yes. Get used to it. Back there?” he tilted his head toward the open doorway and, without waiting for an answer, strode to her room.

He paused by the bed, dipped his head, and kissed her hard. This was no first-date kiss, but then this wasn’t a date. This was sex, and she already knew it was going to be the best she’d ever had.

It might also be the last, so she’d better enjoy it. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers gliding over the hard muscles in his upper back, which she could feel through his clothing, then up through his silky hair. She inhaled, and his masculine scent raced through her, a heady reminder she really was doing this. With Scott, a man she’d wanted since meeting him, she thought, and her belly twisted with need.

He laid her down on the center of the bed, his movements sure and gentler than she’d expected. Then he rose. He removed his jacket and tossed it onto the floor, took care of the holstered gun, placing it on the dresser—and boy, did she find a man with a weapon hot. Especially this man. She couldn’t stop staring as he yanked his shirt up and off, revealing tanned skin and a light sprinkling of dark hair across his chest that ran down his abs and tapered into the waistband of his jeans.

He was a sculpted work of art, and she watched him greedily. Ran her tongue over her lips.

“I want that tongue on me, baby.”

She couldn’t believe the calm, collected, always-in-control Scott Dare was a dirty talker during sex, and her stomach flipped in excitement at his words. She wanted her tongue on him too. She, who could normally care less about oral sex, wanted to take him in her mouth and lick him all over.

“So come here and let me,” she said, shocked at the gravelly tone of her voice.

His gaze narrowed. “Who calls the shots?” he asked, unbuttoning his jeans and pulling them down over narrow hips. He’d hooked his thumbs into his boxers or briefs, she didn’t know which because they were gone along with his jeans and she couldn’t tear her gaze away from his thick, hard cock.

Jesus.

“Was that an answer?” he asked.

Had he asked a question? Her breasts were heavy, her nipples hard and hurting, and her panties now soaked with the evidence of her desire for him. And she was lying in bed, fully dressed while this gorgeous specimen of a man stood aroused before her. She couldn’t focus on anything but getting naked too.

She reached for the hem of her shirt, and suddenly he was over her, pinning her to the bed. “You can’t deny me the pleasure of peeling those clothes off you. I want to see every inch of your skin.”

He lifted the shirt and eased it upward, his calloused thumbs trailing over her sensitive flesh. He pulled it off, leaving her in just a flimsy bra, one that would have to be replaced soon, because it did little to conceal the now-larger swells of her breasts.

His gaze never left her body, his eyes darkening as he drank her in. “You’re gorgeous.”

He swiped his thumbs over her already-aching nipples, and she moaned, his words arousing her as much as his touch. He trailed his fingertips down, then slid his hand into the waistband of her leggings and soon removed those too. Of course, he took her panties along with them in one smooth move.

As he continued to stare, she wanted to crawl beneath the covers, suddenly aware of herself in ways she hadn’t been when focused on him. Her breasts were bigger now, and although she figured that was okay, her stomach wasn’t flat and tight. She’d always had a slight belly, but everything had shifted lately, making her overly focused on her flaws.

No way he hadn’t noticed them too. She slid her hands over her stomach, and he swore, grasping her wrists and pinning them over her head.

“Let’s get something straight, okay? I’m here because I want you. All of you. From what’s inside that pretty head of yours to the sexy body spread out for me now.”

Her eyes widened at the force and sincerity of his words.

“Know what that means?” he asked.

She shook her head. She didn’t know anything. This man had her so off-balance she was spinning. She’d agreed to one night of hot sex. Instead, she was getting a lot of dirty talking and attentive man. She didn’t know what to do with either.

“That means while I have you in bed, you’re mine.” He nipped her jaw, then kissed her hard on the lips. “Keep your hands above your head and let me give you what you need.”

“Again, you seem awfully sure of yourself,” she said, falling back on sarcasm. Because what could she say? She was so out of her depth.

A knowing grin pulled at his lips. “Guess you’re going to make me prove myself, huh?”

Her mouth grew dry. “Guess so.”

He proceeded to do just that. He kissed, licked, and nipped his way down her neck, pausing to nuzzle at her collarbone, an erogenous spot she hadn’t known she possessed, before licking around the lace edges of her bra. Her nerves tingled, the rest of her becoming increasingly aroused, and she writhed and twisted on the bed, arms above her head, with him effectively holding her hostage. She didn’t care as long as he continued to pay homage to her body.

He unhooked the front catch of her bra with way too much skill and peeled the cups off her heavy breasts. “I need to taste you, baby.”

Her sex clenched. Her nipples peaked even tighter. And when he latched on to one sensitive tip, she felt the tug deep in her core. “Scott, God.” She arched up, inadvertently pushing her breast deeper into his mouth.

He cupped one big hand around her other breast and began to pluck and play with the nipple, pulling and pinching with his fingers, his mouth continuing to do the same with the other tip. Sensations pummeled her and rocked her hips back and forth, her pussy seeking the same rough, hard contact he was giving to her breasts.

He pinched a nipple harder and she whimpered.

“You’re sensitive, aren’t you?”

She nodded. “That’s sort of … new. I never—” But she was so close. Could she really come from him playing with her breasts alone?

“You will now.” He followed that comment by lavishing her with the most wonderful tugs, pulls, and twists of his fingers and wet laps of his tongue.

As if he’d tapped into a powder keg, sparks flew from her nipples to her clit, a dull roar filled her head, and suddenly he slid his fingers over her sex, adding to the maelstrom. The sounds surrounding her were unfamiliar, loud, and she realized, coming from her. He slid two fingers back and forth over her clit, the pressure building and making her ready to detonate.

“Come, baby.”

His words triggered the explosion, and her body began to pulse and fly, her orgasm a living, breathing thing that consumed her, body and soul. The waves of pleasure went on and on with Scott in control, his rough voice and slick fingers taking her on a glorious ride.

She came back to herself as he braced his hands on either side of her shoulders, his large body over hers. “Good?” he asked.

Her lips lifted in what had to be a loopy grin. “Yes, hotshot. You proved you’re a man of your word.”

“Not yet, I haven’t.” His gaze met hers, that penetrating stare zeroing in. “I promised you’d come often. That was just once.” He slid his erection back and forth over her sex, and what little breath she’d regained left in a whoosh.

“Condom.”