Exposed (20 page)

Ethan locked the door behind him and set the alarm to stay mode. When he turned back around he heard light footsteps coming down the carpeted stairs.

Marisol appeared at the bottom of them, dressed in a pair of tights and a long, snug top that hugged her lean curves and ended at mid-thigh. Her long hair hung in damp waves around her shoulders.

A delighted smile lit her face when she saw him. “Hey, you’re here already.” She started toward him.

He met her halfway and grabbed hold of her shoulders, ignoring her gasp as he dragged her into his arms and hugged her tight. “Why didn’t you call me and tell me what happened?”

She returned the embrace, snuggling her cheek into the curve of his shoulder. “Because no one was hurt and they captured the guy. I wasn’t the intended target and I knew you were coming over anyway so I was going to tell you when you got here. I didn’t want to worry you.”

Didn’t want to worry him? He made a gruff sound, pressed his face into her hair that smelled all soapy clean. “Anything at all scary happens to you or around you, I want to know about it. Asap.” The thought of anything happening to her made him crazy with the need to protect her.

“Okay, I promise,” she soothed, running a hand up and down his spine. “But I’m fine. Really.”

He let out a breath, eased his grip a little but didn’t let her go. Knowing bullets had been fired anywhere near her scared him. “You sure?” She didn’t seem rattled at all, but this latest event had to have frightened her.

“At the time, yes. But once I knew they had the shooter in custody and that I wasn’t the target, I felt better. The marshals acted fast. I had good protection. Now that you’re here, though, I feel
way
better.” She wriggled in closer, sighed.

Ethan closed his eyes and took a moment to savor this. She was safe and warm in his arms and seemed content to be there. She was letting him in more and more, and for that he was grateful. Made things harder though. He already knew it was going to be tough to leave her when they pulled out of Miami within the next week. He’d been gearing up to end things between them when he returned to Virginia, make the break nice and clean, but he knew it wasn’t going to happen.

There was no way he could simply walk away from his feelings for her. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this into a woman, and the connection between him and Marisol was strengthened by their history together. He wanted more time with her after he left, to see if they could make a relationship work. The distance would be hard but they could make it work if they were both willing to try.

“Just glad you’re okay,” he murmured into her hair. His entire body buzzed with awareness. The way she’d allowed him to strip her barriers away in her office this afternoon had left him in a constant state of arousal. Every time he thought of how she’d reacted when he’d settled his mouth between her legs, he got hard.

And he’d thought about it a
lot
over the past few hours they’d been apart.

Marisol nuzzled his chest with her cheek, the trusting, intimate gesture making his heart squeeze even as it flooded him with arousal. “I missed you this afternoon,” she murmured.

“You did?”

She hummed in affirmation. “I was distracted the rest of the day.” She tilted her face up to nibble at his jaw, her hands wandering from his back to his shoulders, then down his chest.

He loved it, loved everything about what she was doing, but given how turned on he already was, he felt the need to slow things down. Once clothes started coming off, things could get out of hand in a hurry.

He curved his hands around her waist and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead. “Hey. We don’t need to do anything else tonight.” Yeah, he wanted inside her, but if not, he’d be content to just crawl into bed beside her and hold her flush against his body for a few hours. Savor her warmth and listen to her even breaths as she slept, trusting him to take care of her.

She paused, leaned back an inch or two to look him in the eye. “But I want to.”

Her sea green eyes were bright with desire and anticipation. He still needed to be sure she wanted more for the right reasons. “You don’t owe me anything because of this afternoon,” he said quietly.

One side of her mouth turned up. “I know. I’ve been dying to get my hands all over you, and yours all over me, ever since you and Alysa got together that once.”

The mention of the name surprised him so much that he laughed. “What?”

She broke eye contact to stare at his chest. “I uh, may have…heard you guys.”

His smile faded. “You heard us?” As he recalled it, they’d been up in his room while he had the house to himself that night.

“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “I came over to say hi. You didn’t hear me knock. The door was unlocked, so I went inside and I…yeah.”

Now it was his turn to flush. “Wow, that’s…okay.”

She hummed in agreement and kissed the point of his chin, her pert little breasts pressed to his chest. “And God, I nearly died of jealousy.”

Yeah, he had no idea how to even respond to that. And now that he thought about it, Marisol had been conspicuously absent every time he’d seen her mom or sisters for the rest of his leave. “Is that why you avoided me that week?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Ethan cupped her jaw, bringing her gaze up to his. “I was a nineteen-year-old kid and I barely remember her because she meant nothing to me. You
matter
to me.”

She gave him an adoring smile that made him want to devour her. Just eat her up, one bite at a time. “I know.”

“Good.” Hell, he’d had no idea she was that into him back then. Of course, she’d been way too young for him at the time and he wouldn’t have ever dared touch her, not even if he had thought about her that way. Which he hadn’t.

But she was all woman now and old enough to decide what she wanted. If it was him, he’d deliver. With all the gentleness and skill she deserved from a lover.

Her
first
lover.

A dark wave of possessiveness rolled over him at the thought. He wanted that right so badly it was all he could do not to pick her up and carry her to the nearest bed right now.

Thankfully his feelings for her curbed the impulse. She wasn’t just someone to have a good time with. And she’d never said she wanted full-on sex tonight anyway.

She deserved tenderness, patience, and as much pleasure as he could give her. There were plenty of other ways for them to enjoy themselves while still leaving her technically a virgin if that’s what she wanted. It was her call.

He swept his thumb across her cheekbone. “Whatever you want, kitt’n. I’m all yours.”

At the endearment her eyes lit up. Her eyes glowed as she smiled at him. “Thank you.”

Without another word she took his hand and led him upstairs. Ethan’s pulse raced as they hit the top of the stairs. The master bedroom was dark. She flipped on a bedside lamp, illuminating the queen-size bed and the chocolate brown sheets turned down invitingly on it. Still holding his hand, she sat on the edge of it.

He followed her down, his hip touching hers. She was nervous. He could read it in the sudden stiffness in her shoulders, her slight hesitation before she lifted her gaze to his.

He squeezed her hand. “There’s no pressure. We do only what you want, and if you say stop, we stop.” He didn’t want her to be nervous with him or worry that he wouldn’t respect her boundaries.

She shook her head. “I’m just…I don’t want to disappoint you.”

His chest constricted. She had no idea how much she undid him. “Sweetheart, you could never disappoint me, trust me. And I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“Okay,” she said with a nod, then came up on her knees. Eye level with him, she set her hands on his shoulders, her expression determined. And a lot aroused. “I want to touch you. All of you.” The impassioned way she said it hit him hard.

“So touch me,” he said, lifting one of her hands to his mouth and pressing a damp, lingering kiss to her palm. “All of me.” He was dying for it.

She sucked in a breath when he stroked his tongue over her palm. Setting her free hand on the side of his face, she leaned in to kiss him.

Ethan met her halfway but let her lead, opening to the gentle pressure of her tongue as she sought entrance. She moaned softly and pressed closer, all but crawling into his lap. He set his hands on her waist to keep a few inches of space between their bodies and ordered himself to keep them there, at least for now.

This afternoon in her office he’d taken what he wanted, what he’d needed. He wanted to give her the same opportunity now. And dear God in heaven, it turned him inside out to know she wanted him so badly. That she trusted him enough to allow him to be her first. The thought of any other man touching her now made his hackles go up.

Marisol’s hands wandered down to the hem of his T-shirt and worked the fabric up his torso while she kissed him. He broke the kiss only long enough for him to tear the garment over his head and throw it aside. He had no idea where it landed, and didn’t care. Her reaction to seeing his naked chest had him hard all over.

She stared at his torso with a rapt hunger that made his heart thud in his ears. He was already erect and aching, but that look on her face seemed to shrink his skin, tighten it, turning it ultra-sensitive.

A moment later she began exploring his bare skin with her fingertips, trailing them over the muscles in his shoulders, across his pecs. When they moved lower over his abs and she bent to press her mouth to the top of his left pec, his fingers bit into the indent of her waist.

Her soft hands and tongue teased him, drew every muscle in his body taut until he was breathing hard, his erection squashed painfully against his fly. Then her fingers dipped beneath his waistband. His abs contracted and he leaned back, stretching out on the bed to give her better access.

She undid his jeans and worked them over his hips when he lifted them, then slipped her fingers into the top of his boxer briefs and drew them down. Her gaze went straight to his rigid cock and stayed there as she slid to her knees beside the bed. Ethan squeezed his hands into fists to keep from reaching for her, stayed still and let her do as she wanted.

After stripping his pants and underwear off she rose to her knees and set a hand on his belly. The muscles twitched beneath her palm. She flashed him a questioning glance before focusing back on his cock, and he wondered exactly how much—or exactly how little—experience she had. Had she ever touched a naked man before? She must have.

His quads bunched when she curled a soft hand around him. He bit back a groan, couldn’t tear his eyes away from her as she gave him an experimental stroke. Her touch was light but he felt it all the way to his toes.

Suddenly it was hard to breathe, as though steel cables were wrapped around his chest. Then she kissed a spot right beneath his navel and he forgot to breathe at all.

He reached out to slide a hand into her hair, the need to touch her overwhelming. She squeezed him gently in her fist, lifted her gaze to his as she trailed her tongue southward, toward the head of his aching erection.

Ethan swallowed and braced himself, waiting for the moment when her mouth touched him. Then her smooth, wet tongue stroked over the ultra-sensitive head. He clenched his back teeth together and held his breath. She swirled her tongue over him again, let her lips part and began to slide him into her mouth.

The sight of her on her knees taking his cock between her lips made something in his brain short out.

He’d had plenty of blowjobs but none of them had ever been this hot. Watching Soli discover what pleased him, watching her explore her own sexuality with the use of his body was the most arousing thing he’d ever witnessed in his entire life.

That primal tide of possessiveness rose inside him again. He wanted to make her his, couldn’t stand the thought of another man’s hands on her. Hell, just the thought of her doing this to another man made him crazy.

Mine. She’s MINE.

Gaining confidence now, she took him deeper between her lips and sucked. He moaned at the exquisite sensation. Those gorgeous, sea-witch eyes gazed up at him, filled with arousal and a wicked glint that told him she loved driving him wild.

He slid his other hand into her hair as well, stroked her scalp gently. Then she sucked him harder and he almost lost it. He threw his head back and dragged in a shaky gasp, let it out on a deep groan as pleasure streaked up his spine, hot and electric.

Marisol sucked him deeper then raised her head until she nearly released him before she plunged back down again. Ethan grabbed fistfuls of her hair now, tried not to pull too hard, but Jesus, her mouth felt so goddamn good.

One of her hands curled around the base of his cock, fisting tight to hold him where she wanted him. Her sultry mouth drove him out of his skull as her free hand smoothed up and down the inside of his right thigh. Almost like she was trying to soothe him.

Sweat broke out across his chest and the base of his spine. The sweet pull of her mouth was too much and yet not enough.

Torture. Beautiful, sensual torture.

She swirled her tongue around him, rubbing over his most sensitive spot and he couldn’t help but arch his back. He barely heard the sound of encouragement she gave over the roar of blood in his ears, the pressure in his cock growing with every heartbeat. He was too close, didn’t think he could hold on much longer.

“Soli, you’re gonna make me come if you don’t stop,” he warned, his voice ragged, a little desperate.

She slowed but didn’t stop, her gaze fastened on his. He shuddered at the sight of her like that, lips all shiny and swollen as they stretched around his aching flesh, her eyes glittering with lust.

For
him
. An image straight out of his wildest fantasies.

But then it occurred to him that this might not only be the first blowjob she’d given anyone, but that she’d probably never swallowed before, either.

And fuck, but the thought of being the first to come in that hot little mouth almost pushed him over the edge.