Fantasy Man (7 page)

Good
, he thought. She ought to be somewhat affected by all this romance. She was entirely too cocky, too sure of herself, for somebody so seemingly innocent. Part of it had to be an act, he knew that. He just wasn’t sure how much was a cover for her own lack of experience, how much was bravado and how much was because she knew she had him right where she wanted him. He hoped that last was a very small percentage.

He buried his nose in her hair, pressing a kiss against her temple. Her fingers tightened against his back. He kissed her again, his mouth moving toward her ear, breathing against that sweet curve. Again her reaction was subtle but there.

He dropped her hand and wrapped both arms around her, still managing to sway to the music, though their feet were barely moving. He kissed her lips gently once, and then again. He had no way of hiding his arousal now, so he didn’t try. This was, after all, what the evening was about. But he’d take it slow. If she wanted to be seduced, he’d seduce her. If she wanted to act like it was their first time, he’d act. Even if what he really wanted was to rip that dress off and fuck her right there on the floor.

He made himself think about something else. The Jackson-Fisher deal he was working on. His mother’s birthday next week. He needed to send her a card and call her on Thursday. His distractions came to a screeching halt as she kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself tight against him. He stopped swaying, couldn’t even hear the music for the roaring in his ears.

He gave himself up to her kiss, threw himself into it. She knew how to kiss.
Must be natural talent
, came the vague thought. He cupped her bottom and pressed her against him, his erection grinding against her through their clothes. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him. He hoped he could make it to the bed, hoped he could at least get up the stairs without embarrassing himself.

She was wild, her mouth and tongue seemed to be everywhere. She started to unbutton his shirt, but frustration won out and she ripped it open. Her hands caressed his chest as he fumbled with the closure at the back of her dress. Did it tie or button? He had no idea.

They were half way up the stairs when he found a zipper at the waist and pulled that down. They arrived in his bedroom and he realized he hadn’t lit the candles as he’d intended. It was dark, dammit, and he wanted to see her. Wanted her to experience every nuance of the seduction he’d planned so carefully for her.

He lowered her to the bed and braced himself above her. She had his belt buckle undone before he covered her hands with his.

“I thought you wanted to be properly seduced,” he whispered.

“If you don’t take those off and get in bed with me, I’m going to have to hurt you,” Quinn warned. He thought there was a note of humor beneath her words, but honestly, he couldn’t be sure.

“One second.”

He fumbled through the nightstand drawer and pulled out a lighter. The flame popped and he set about lighting the various candles. He heard her sigh as she realized what he was doing. When he finished he came back to the edge of the bed.

“Better?” He thought he might drown in the depths of those eyes. They were huge and liquid and shining with some emotion he couldn’t name.

“You’re not going to need those,” she said, nodding toward the condoms he’d left on the nightstand. “I took precautions.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Wow. This keeps getting better and better.”

“Come here,” she said. But instead she came to him, on her knees. She unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and tugged it off. Glancing up as if for permission, she unzipped his slacks and he let them fall. Clad only in his briefs, his erection bulging, she hesitated.

“Don’t stop now,” he encouraged.

She glanced up at him again, and he couldn’t help but smile. Oh, he was enjoying this.

She slipped her fingers inside the waistband on either side and tugged his briefs down. Then she simply stared. She hadn’t exactly gotten a good look at him that first morning. Of course she’d be curious.

He waited as long as he could, feeling as if he were about to come just from her looking at him. Then he shoved his briefs all the way off, taking his socks with them. At least one of them now was completely naked.

Funny. Usually it was the woman who ended up without clothes first with him. But nothing ever happened with Quinn in the natural order, did it? There she was, sitting back on her haunches in the middle of his bed, fully clothed except for her shoes.

“Your turn,” he said. “Turn around.”

She did as he asked. He found the fastening of the halter, three simple buttons. He released them and the halter fell forward, baring her back. And what a beautiful back it was. He caressed her shoulders, her collarbone, her throat, as she tilted her head back toward him. They were facing the mirror on his dresser and he stared at her reflection, at the perfection of her breasts. He cupped them in his hands, rubbing his thumbs across her nipples, watching them peak, feeling that ripple of reaction run through her at his touch.

Her skin seemed to shimmer in the candlelight, a soft bronzy glow, her areolas and nipples stood out darker than the rest of her. He increased the pressure of his thumbs, teasing them across her nipples again and again until she moaned in reaction.

The rest of that dress and whatever was underneath it needed to come off. Now. As mesmerized as he was by her reflection, he needed to see all of her.

He turned her over and she laid back willingly. Since he’d already undone the zipper at her waist it was a simple matter to slide the dress off and let it drop to the floor. She was wearing only a wisp of lacy black panties underneath. Reif decided to leave them where they were for the moment.

He didn’t know what made him able to slow down, except Quinn seemed worthy of every ounce of appreciation he had for her. Her long slender limbs that made her seem taller than she was, her firm breasts, her waist which tapered out to the curve of womanly hips and flowed into smooth, sleek thighs.

He ran the palm of his hand over all of it and she shuddered in response.

“Perfect,” he said. “So perfect.”

He kissed her. Their tongues tangled as he touched her breasts, her stomach, her thighs. She did the same to him, and though she shied away from his penis, it jumped in reaction each time she came close.

He lost track of time, knew they couldn’t do this forever. Quinn was squirming against him, but he held off touching her between her legs. He wanted to draw things out, knowing lengthy foreplay would result in the best possible sex.

Inadvertently, her wrist brushed the tip of his penis. “It won’t bite,” he growled into her ear.

As he’d hoped she would, she accepted the challenge. Her hand closed around him, getting used to the shape and feel. Then her fingers slid back, exploring his testicles. Reif groaned as she brought her hand back, stroking his shaft, her exploration driving him mad with desire.

To distract her, he pressed his hand between her legs. The crotch of her panties was already damp. He slid his fingers below the waistband, delving into the heat he found there. Quinn arched beneath his touch, abandoning her exploration of him.

He bent his head down to suckle, first one nipple and then the other. Tiny cries came from her throat between gasping breaths.

Sweet
, he thought.
So sweet.

Her nipples were swollen, standing erect and wet from his mouth. He figured she was close to the edge when he finally tugged her panties down over her legs. She was his, he could see it as he gazed down at her, fully and completely his and he liked that idea very much. She was panting, watching him. Music drifted up from downstairs. The candles flickered all around them. Outside a cricket chirped. But it all faded away as he lost himself in her eyes again.

He let his gaze drift down her body once more. Her hair had come down from whatever had been holding it up and was now a dark cloud around her face and shoulders. Her breasts begged to be suckled again, and the hidden flesh beneath the nest of curls above her thighs demanded further exploration.

He nudged her legs apart, noting how her brow furrowed as he did. But she wasn’t going to keep him from this. Not tonight. Not when she’d all but blackmailed him for it. Like that was the only reason. Like she had forced him to taste her, tease her, please her. He pushed them further apart and lowered his head. He sensed, rather than felt her draw back, but by then he’d wrapped his hands around the backs of her thighs. She wasn’t going anywhere.

At the first touch of his tongue she arched against him. My God, she was easy. Not one of those women who had to work to have an orgasm and who consequently made the man in their bed work to the point of exhaustion.

“
Re-i-f
.” His name came out on a tortured cry.

He glanced up. “Shhhh. It’s okay.”

“But I—”

He stabbed the tip of his tongue against her, effectively silencing her though she hissed with an indrawn breath. “Just let it go,” he told her. “Don’t think. Just go with what you feel.”

“Hmmmm—mmmmm.”

She still sounded as if she wanted to protest, but he didn’t plan to give her the chance. He cupped her bottom, opening her to him, spreading her thighs further apart. He used his tongue and his lips and his thumbs and his teeth on her. Pausing when he thought she was getting too close, taking her to the brink and back, until she was crying out each time, thrashing against the pillows, begging for release.

He gave it to her, letting her come beneath his tongue in a long anguished climax. She bucked and rocked and he held her, continuing to stimulate her until it was over and she drew away from him. She’d be ultra-sensitive for a couple of minutes. Best to let her rest before they continued.

He kissed his way back up her stomach, pausing at her navel, exploring that with his tongue. She giggled and tried to push his head away. He captured her wrists and held them over her head. He arrived at her breasts and licked and suckled the pointed peaks of her nipples each in its turn. She reacted to that. He rested his weight on top of her, pressing her down into the mattress, his cock between her legs.

“You’re something, you know that?” he asked as he kissed her shoulder. “Really something.”

For once she didn’t have a ready comeback. He looked at her and she was looking at him, clearly at a loss for words. So he kissed her. She knew how to do that, and it would distract her from whatever clumsy moment had been about to surface. Clearly grateful, she enthusiastically kissed him back while he sought entrance between her legs.

She tilted her pelvis up, and he slid into her in one full thrust. She was quivering beneath him, pliant, but on full alert, probably ready to eject him if he didn’t perform to her standards. What
was
Fantasy Man’s signature move?

Reif wanted to laugh. Sex with Quinn was a hell of a lot of fun. But more than he wanted to laugh he wanted to fuck her brains out. When he was done, if he was still alive, he wanted to start all over again. He rose above her, pulled out almost all the way and plunged back in.

That got a startled “
Oh
!” out of her, so he did it again. She felt so good. Tight and hot and interested in sex in a way some of the women he’d been with weren’t.

He wasn’t going to be able to hold out forever. This time when he plunged back in she adjusted herself, forcing him to ride her higher, at a different angle, increasing the pressure on him.

He stopped thinking and gave in, just as he’d told her to earlier. He did whatever felt good, whatever came naturally. Thrusting into her, finding his rhythm, bracing himself above her. It shouldn’t have been any surprise that she was right there with him, that she was doing what he was doing. Whatever felt good. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise when she climaxed again at the same time he did. He could feel all those muscles of hers clench around him, heard her triumphant cry.

Then it was over and he collapsed on top of her, unable to move.

He hadn’t passed out, he was pretty sure. But he’d gone somewhere out of his body. He just wasn’t sure where, until he heard Quinn say, “Wow.”

He lifted his head and tried to focus on her face. He pushed some of the hair from her eyes so he could see her. “My sentiments exactly.”

He tried to move off of her but she held on to him.

“Don’t go. I like this.”

“Squishing you?”

She had her arms around him and her fingers now played in his hair.

“I don’t care.”

Reif groaned. He slid an arm beneath her and rolled over.

He heard the smile in her voice as she settled down on his chest. “Cool.”

Chapter Ten

Reif knew he’d surpassed himself in lovemaking tonight. Because of Quinn. He’d taken advantage of her that first time. He’d always believe that whether she agreed with him or not.

Lying here now, with Quinn’s weight on top of him, a sense of connectedness he’d never felt before washed over him.

Oh God. Had he fallen in love with her? He stroked her hair as he looked down at her. Her eyes were closed, one hand curled over his chest. Would that be such a terrible thing? Hell yes, because it would give her power over him. She didn’t feel the same way about him, he was pretty sure of that. She wanted her freedom, to have a good time, and that was it.

Okay,
he told himself.
Let’s not jump to conclusions. Just because you like looking at her, you like talking to her, you like arguing with her, you
definitely
like fucking her, that doesn’t mean you’re in love with her. So you don’t have that empty let-down feeling. So what? It doesn’t mean a thing. Not a damn thing.

Quinn stroked his chest. Her fingers brushed across his nipple. She picked her head up, as if remembering what it felt like to have him stroking her. She sat up and used both hands, stroking his chest from shoulder to abdomen, pausing to give both nipples extra attention.

Reif had never found his nipples to be terribly sensitive, though many women seemed to be under the illusion that men’s were just as sensitive as their own. It wasn’t true. Even now, it wasn’t the stimulation that was getting to him. It was watching Quinn touch him that turned him on.

He stroked the tops of her thighs. She bent forward, burying her face in his chest, kissing and licking him. He dug his fingers into her hips, felt himself growing hard in what had to be record time for someone his age. She became aware of it, too. She moved up, doing what he’d done to her before, kissing his collarbone, his throat, his shoulders, using her mouth everywhere she could reach. He clutched her to him, grinding up into her, lifting her off the bed.

Reif got control of himself, holding her head in his hands, forcing himself to slow down, concentrate on the kiss for now. Of their own volition, his hands slid down to her breasts, letting them fill his hands, teasing them.

Quinn shuddered above him, moved against him. He half sat up, suckling first one nipple and then the other. She buried her fingers in his hair, hanging on, doing exactly what he needed her to do. She ground against him until he couldn’t stand it anymore. He grabbed her hips, forcing her to move faster as he thrust up into her again and again and again. He came deep inside of her, arching off the bed, holding her close, so close.
Don’t let go
, he thought.
Don’t let go of this.

Finally he was able to ease his grip on her.

“Wow,” she said again, but this time she seemed puzzled, not amused.

Reif opened his eyes and looked over her shoulder into the mirror. He thought he saw a dark imprint on the smooth skin of her lower back. He stared. The darkness grew. The imprint of his fingers.

He pulled back and looked into Quinn’s eyes. “Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head. “No, not—what’s wrong?”

Reif pulled away from her, turned her around and examined her back just above her waist. He touched her with his lips. “Look what I did. I’m sorry.” His eyes met hers in the mirror. “Baby, I’m sorry.”

“What? You didn’t do anything.”

His fingers brushed feather light down the place he had just kissed. He kissed it again. “I did. I held you too tight.”

“Reif? Don’t ever apologize for holding me too tight.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You didn’t,” she told him. “I don’t think you could.”

He wondered if they were talking about the same thing. His tired mind couldn’t be sure. He lay down and brought her with him. They needed to sleep. There’d be time enough tomorrow to consider such questions.

* * * * *

Reif woke a couple hours later. He didn’t open his eyes all the way and barely looked at the clock. He didn’t particularly care what time it was. What he cared about was that he was hard again, and there was a warm, naked woman right next to him. It was the same way he’d awakened that other morning, with Quinn’s backside pressed up against him. He moved closer, rubbing his swollen cock against her.

She didn’t move. He slipped an arm around her and cupped a breast, teasing the nipple with his thumb. She mumbled something unintelligible. He rolled her to her back and caressed both breasts, teasing the nipples before lowering his mouth to each in its turn. He heard her gasp as she awoke.

He moved up and kissed her, nudging her thighs apart with his knee. He sank against her, letting the length of his cock settle between her thighs. He rubbed against her, seeking admittance but not entering. Not without Quinn’s okay.

“Are you up for this again?” he asked. He nipped her earlobe and trailed the tip of his tongue along her throat.

She moved beneath him in answer, so he gave her other ear the same treatment, then sank his teeth into her skin at the base of her neck.

“Tell me now. I want to fuck you so bad.” His cock was demanding release of one sort or another. “Yes or no.”

“Yes.”

He wasted no time, but hiked her knees up and drove in. He did what he’d wanted to do earlier, fucked her hard and fast, kept it simple. When it was over he felt a ridiculous urge to thank her for it. Making love to her was so easy and his affection for her grew by leaps and bounds. He drew up close to her, she liked to sleep on her side, he noted, facing away from him, one knee drawn up. Fine. He spooned her, draping an arm over her waist.

“Reif?” she whispered.

“Hmmm?”

“Is this…unusual?”

“What?”

“Having this much sex. All at once I mean.”

Reif thought about it. Tried to remember the last time he’d done it three times in one night. Usually, well, unless it was the beginning of a new relationship, it was once a night if he was lucky, and maybe again in the morning, and sometimes neither. But he hadn’t been in a relationship for a while, six months at least. Maybe he was overdue, had been saving it up? But then there was that morning with Quinn weeks ago—

“Are you asleep?” she whispered.

“No. I was just thinking.”

“About all the other women you’ve been with? Finding a place to categorize me? Somewhere between ‘Not bad’ and ‘Pretty good’?”

Reif picked up on the note of insecurity in her sarcastic tone. He tightened his arm around her waist. “No.”

“About what then?”

How could he answer that? Tell her he was more easily aroused because he was with her? Because he liked her so damn much? Because sex with her was uncomplicated? Was he supposed to say he was afraid he might be in love with her? Not a good idea. He didn’t think he could explain how he felt, anyway. She wouldn’t understand. Lucky for him she fell asleep without waiting for his answer.

* * * * *

Sometime during what was left of the night, Quinn had switched sides. So when Reif awoke he was lying on his back and she was on her side facing him, one knee drawn up against his thigh and her arm extended across his stomach.

He wanted to fuck her again.

One night with her was supposed to get her out of his system. That had been the idea, hadn’t it? He laid his arm across his eyes. Damn. Instead of getting her out of his system, it was more like her essence had gotten into his bloodstream. He was wondering how he was going to let her go now. Out of his bed. Out of his life.

Would he have to go back to that empty let-down feeling the next time he had sex with a woman? Right this second he was having a hard time imagining sex with someone else. Someone who wasn’t Quinn.

He lowered his arm and looked at her, what he could see of her. Her face was half-buried in the pillow, and her tumbled hair covered most of what wasn’t. The sheet was pulled up above her breasts, her arm slung across his chest.

He picked up her hand and held it between his. She had long slender fingers, delicate bone structure. He kissed the tip of each finger, then pressed a hot wet kiss against her palm.

She resisted waking up. He turned on his side and slid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her. Rearranging her hair, he pressed kisses at the corner of her mouth, along her cheek, her temple, below her ear. Then he simply held her.

It felt so good to wake up next to her, to be able to hold her. Yes, he wanted to fuck her again as well, but that could wait. Right now, this was enough. She squirmed in his arms and he eased his hold so he could look at her. He pushed strands of hair back over her shoulder as she blinked her eyes open, still sleepy and warm.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.” She yawned, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. “Time is it?” She snuggled next to him, draping one arm over his shoulder and closing her eyes again.

“Around seven.”

“Mmm.”

He lifted her hand from where it lay on his shoulder and moved it to his cock, wrapping her fingers around it.

The corners of her mouth lifted. “Let me guess. You want to have sex. Again.”

“You should be a detective.”

She squeezed his cock a little too hard, first as payback, then stroked him as he’d taught her last night.

“Too much?” he inquired, praying her answer wouldn’t be yes.

“Umm, I have to use the bathroom.”

“Okay.” He watched as she rolled away from him and strolled toward the bathroom naked. “Hey, want to take a shower?” he asked just before she closed the door.

She stuck her head back out. “With you, you mean?”

Reif grinned. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Yeah, I bet.” She closed the door without answering.

Was that a yes or a no? He heard the shower come on. Best not to press his luck, he supposed. He stared at the tented sheet just below his waist, thinking about showering with Quinn. His hands covered with soap skimming over all that smooth skin. Her hands covered with soap, sliding over him.

He groaned.

The bathroom door opened partway, grabbing his attention. The shower kept running. Quinn did not appear. Well, that was an invitation if he’d ever seen one. He tossed the sheet aside and leapt out of bed.

Through the opaque shower door he could see her in a blurry silhouette, her head back as she soaked beneath the spray.

He stepped inside to join her and forgot to breathe all over again. With her arms raised overhead, her breasts rode higher, her ribcage visible above the inward curve of her waist. Water ran in rivulets down her thighs to those perfect toes with their painted nails.
Mine
, Reif thought.
All mine.
Somehow he would make it so.

He stepped closer. Quinn opened her eyes as his erection brushed against her stomach. He captured her head in his hands and kissed her. Her hands floated down, her fingers digging into his waist. Without breaking their kiss he dropped his hands to cup her breasts, stroking the already erect nipples, the water adding to the friction.

She slid her hands around to cup his buttocks before she eased away from him to stroke his cock. He stopped kissing her while she touched and caressed and stroked him. When he slid wet fingers between her legs she arched back. She continued to stroke him, but her eyelids drooped as she tried to concentrate on what he was doing to her.

He saw her teeth sink into her bottom lip as his thumb edged higher against her swollen nub. She dropped her head back and a long, “Ahhhh,” of approval escaped her lips. When her hand closed around him in an especially firm grip, he couldn’t take it anymore. He picked her up and braced her against the tile wall. She wrapped her legs around him as he drove into her. She held on to his shoulders, but her head lolled back, her eyes half-closed.

“Look at me,” he said.

When she did he kept his gaze locked with hers as he moved inside her. The warm water pelted down, leaving droplets on the ends of their lashes, rivulets running down their bodies, neither of them looked away, neither wanting to admit something profound was happening between them.

Tears of emotion welled in Quinn’s eyes. She felt herself rising on that peak again. The pace of his rhythm increased, his eyes laser focused as he ground into her. Her fingers dug into his arms as she held on, pressed against the slick tile of the bathroom wall.

She cried out as he came in her and she soon followed, crashing first up and then down, melting against him. He slid out of her and turned so that he was braced against the wall, still holding her.

She didn’t know where the sobs came from. They welled out of her with surprising force, stunning both of them. She curled herself against Reif, buried her face in his chest. His arms were around her. She could feel the tension in him.

“Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head vehemently.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head again, unable to look at him, unable to stop crying, unable explain. He’d taken everything she had, drained her. It was as if she’d given all of herself to him and had nothing left. He’d consumed her. She didn’t want it to stop. But she knew it had to. Their night together was officially over.

Reif slid down the wall to the tub, turning the shower off as he went and turning on the faucets instead. Warm water rose around them as she lay there collapsed on top of him. With one hand Reif stroked her wet hair and the other moved up and down her back in a slow rhythmic pattern, calming her.

The tub was oversized, thank God, or the two of them would not have fit at all comfortably in it.

“Want me to wash your back?” Reif asked.

She nodded, not feeling capable of speech, embarrassed by her outburst. She presented her back to him, sitting between his legs. He worked up a lather with the soap, moved her hair aside and began to massage her shoulders and back with strong, sure fingers.

She took the soap from him and washed his feet, stroking her fingers down his toes and between, smiling when he twitched in reaction.

“That tickles,” he said.

“Good.”

Without asking he poured shampoo in his hand and began washing her hair, kneading her scalp with his fingertips. She sighed with pleasure. Later they traded positions and she returned the favor while he soaped her toes and tickled the backs of her knees.