Freefall (The Indigo Lounge Series, #5) (4 page)

A glance at the sat nav shows a mile long road, leading to a dead end coming up on the left.

I take the turn and floor the accelerator.

She slams back against her seat. “God, slow the fuck down, would you?”

“I’m keeping a tally of that, too.”

The needle rises to a hundred, then one-twenty. One-forty. Her breath shudders out. “You can keep all the goddamn tallies you want. If you make me dead just one day into my twenty-fifth year, I swear you’ll never have a moment of peace. I’ll haunt you until you beg me to kill you.”

My foot doesn’t lift from the pedal, but I glance at her. “Yesterday was your birthday?”

She visibly shakes as she sees the row of white oak trees that mark the end of the road. “Jesus, slow down, Rusty!”

“Answer my question.”

“What question? God! Yes, yesterday was my birthday.”

“What did you wish for?”

“Not to fucking die in a psycho’s car today!” Her fingers have turned white and her face is ashen with fright. One nipple is fully exposed and I feel the blood rushing through my veins.

“Please!” The word explodes from her lips. “Slow down,” she whispers. “Slow down, slow down,
slow down!
” The words trip over themselves.

“What about your foul language?” I ask, returning my eyes to the road.

“Fine. I won’t swear again!” She starts shaking her head frantically as the trees rush toward us. “God, no!” Her right hand flies toward my thigh, digging in with a tight, nail-biting grip.

I narrow my eyes, scan the dashboard, then the tree line. After exactly three seconds, I transfer my foot from gas to brake.

The McLaren skids to a stop at the exact point where the road ends.

For several seconds, her breath gusts out in loud, gulping heaves, her eyes frozen in a wide-eyed fear.

Then she explodes at me. I easily block her blows, my arms gripping her as fear turns to anger.

“You are a FUCKING ASSHOLE!”

mason

I
throw open the door and drag her out through my side, making sure her feet don’t touch the frozen ground.

“Get your hands off me!” She flails against me.

I don’t stop until I round the hood and set her down on it. When she tries to stand, I stay her by inserting myself between her thighs. She’s too high on adrenaline to notice how amped up I am on my own adrenaline. And also by her state of undress.

“What the hell is wrong with you? And hour ago you bit my head off because you thought I wanted to kill myself, and what, now you’re helping me achieve the same goal?”

“I had no intention of killing us,” I reply. The car’s interior lights and bright headlights bathe her in a soft glow. Her near-dry hair is wild from her antics, and my attention is riveted to the pulse racing at her throat. “We were doing two hundred and ten on a mile and a half stretch of road. I calculated the distance and horsepower and knew the exact moment to apply the brakes. Of course, I didn’t calculate your nails digging into my thigh. Good thing I can control my urges, or we’d be wrapped around that white oak tree behind me by now.”

She gapes up at me, not sure what to make of my calm, matter-of-fact tone. Then she inhales sharply and shakes her head. “God, you’re crazy!”

“Am I?” I move closer, sliding my hands up from her covered arms to her shoulders. Her soft, silky hair caresses my fingers as I massage the tension from her rigid muscles. “Your blood is pumping and your heart is racing and right now, all you can think about is how glad you are to be alive. And in about a minute, your body will begin finding ways to disperse all that adrenaline.” I move a hand down her throat, pausing to feel her pulse hammer beneath my fingers, then I travel lower, between her warm breasts and heaving chest to where her robe is still secured by the belt. With a firm tug, I release the belt and her robe falls open.

“What the hell are you doing?”

She starts to close the gap, but I quickly capture her hands in one of mine. I press her back against the hood of the still-running engine and lean over her. Her eyes widen, but I’m satisfied to see it’s not with fear. Although a touch of fear would’ve been welcome at this point. This woman is far too cocky for her own good.

“You promised me you wouldn’t swear. Or call me Rusty. You failed on both accounts.”

She struggles against my hold, but she’s no match for me. Not that it stops her getting in my face though. “You were trying to kill me, you bastard! I would’ve said anything to make sure that didn’t happen.”

I lean in closer, until our mouths are a scant inch apart, until I can feel her breath mingle with mine. “So you lied?” I say softly.

“Look...Mason, I don’t know what kind of trip you’re on, but I’m freezing. You wanted to get some air, I’m guessing with a side order of death wish driving. You’ve done that, so can we go back now?”

“Not until we find a way to deal with your excess adrenaline. And address your foul mouth in the bargain.”

She swallows. I watch the movement of her slender throat, my own pulse nowhere near settled. Somewhere between yanking her from death by freezing and her turning up at the pool house, my interest has dialed up from zero to infinite. I want her with a craving that is unnerving.

I look back up and see the moment she senses the change in me. I almost feel sorry for her. She twists away and tries to dislodge me from between her thighs.

That’s when I look down. And freeze.

I knew she wasn’t wearing a bra but I’m unprepared for her total nakedness beneath the robe.

“You got into the car with me not wearing any fucking panties?” I croak, not sure whether the sight of her stunning body makes me crazier or angrier.

“Who’s got a dirty mouth now?”

I can’t pull my gaze away from the sight of her pussy to admonish her for that tart reply. Her skin is a flawless golden, as if she’s spent some time in the sun recently. And from the looks of it, she likes to sunbathe nude. Her body flows in a perfect symmetry of full, heavy breasts, a lean and shapely torso, to a thin strip of pubic hair that arrows to the hood covering her clit. My eyes stay riveted on that part of her body, my cock going from urgent twitch to full-bloodied throbbing, until she begins to squirm.

I look back up. “My swearing is justified. Yours isn’t.”

She squirms harder, and her nipples begin to tighten when my eyes are drawn to the perfect globes of her breasts. My mouth waters and the need to fuck builds in my groin.

“Okay, fine. I’m sorry for my potty mouth. Can we go now?” There’s a breathless quality to her voice, and I allow myself a smile.

“Does this usually work for you? You get yourself out of trouble by throwing out empty promises and apologies like confetti?”

She closes her eyes for a couple of seconds. “God, why did I think it was a good idea to get into your damned car?”

“I don’t know. Why did you?” I transfer both of her wrists to one hand and trail my fingers down the middle of her chest. Her skin quivers beneath my touch. I reach her navel and circle the cute button, my gaze rising up to capture hers again. Her green eyes are a touch darker now, and her mouth is parted.

“Because you looked like...I don’t know, like you shouldn’t be alone?” she whispers.

“You don’t sound sure. But let’s leave that for the moment. Did you think it was a good idea to come out without your panties, Keely?” I ask. My fingers drift to the top of her pussy, and I swear I can feel her heat beckoning my hand.

Her breath catches. “I didn’t think I’d find myself in a position where I’d have to explain my lack of underwear to anyone.”

My jaw tightens. “Anyone?”

“Fine. To you.”

“And?” My thumb is itching to stroke her, to feel if she is as wet and hot as I crave her to be. “Are you in a habit of going out without underwear?”

“My panties were wet and uncomfortable. And I thought we were going for a walk, not dicing with death in a sports car.”

I smile. “You had a choice right before you got into the car with me. You knew this would happen. But you got into the car anyway. So what shall I do with you now?”

Her breath shudders out, and her nipples tighten harder. “Why are you bothering to ask? You seem to think you know what I’m feeling and thinking.”

“I’m only going with the evidence before me.” Unable to hold back any longer, my thumb grazes her clit.

A small sound jerks from her, and her hips twitch upward, seeking more of my touch.

“Is this what you want?” I ask, my voice thick with the lust ripping through my insides. “Shall I give you the release you’re so desperate for?” My touch is firmer this time, and I watch her try and stifle a moan.

“You think I’m desperate just because of what you overheard at the party?” she taunts, but she’s still squirming and she’s no longer fighting to get free.

“Are you always this stubborn?”

“Only when I’m dealing with insufferable bastards,” she replies.

I lower my head and suck one nipple into my mouth. I bite with a lack of gentleness that makes her cry out. She starts to struggle and I soothe the ache with the tip of my tongue, while my thumb continues to flick over her clit. Her cry morphs into a moan and her gasp washes over my ear. I roll her nipple in my mouth, warming her, teasing and sucking until I earn another moan.

When I transfer my attention to her other nipple, I dip my finger lower into her pussy and am rewarded with another jerk of her hips. I test her hole, feel its tight wetness and groan.

Need claws through me. I want to devour this woman with a hunger and possessiveness that is almost alien to me.

I look up and see the stark hunger burning in her green eyes, and I know I have her. I release her wrists and seize her nape. Freeing her nipple, I kiss my way up her throat, her jaw, then capture her mouth with mine. Unlike her attitude, her kiss is surprisingly timid. She barely parts her mouth to let me in, and her tongue is almost hesitant in seeking my own.

The idea that she isn’t used to kissing fires my blood, makes me want her even more. I flick my tongue against hers and she shudders. Angling her face to suit my needs, I go deeper, harder, and slide one finger inside her. Her pussy is slick, and hot and so damn intoxicating, I can barely think straight to slide out and back in again.

She makes a sound—a cross between a whimper and a growl—that sets me off. I press her back until she’s flat on her back against the hot hood and the running engine vibrates through her body. I prop myself up so as not to crush her and finger-fuck her pussy while feasting on her delectable mouth. Against her naked thigh, my cock is throbbing with an urgency that could become an embarrassment very soon.

But contrary to my decision when she got into the car, I decide not to fuck her. My needs are too great and specific to satisfy with a quick fuck in near freezing temperatures. Fucking her right here, right now would barely scratch the surface of my problem. And I don’t have any condoms with me. The reminder cools my temperature a little, lending me the focus I need to pleasure her.

Her frantic noises alert me that she needs to breathe, so I release her mouth but latch onto her breasts again. Her eyes roll shut, and she bucks against my finger as her breath pants out. I slide another finger inside her eyes pop open.

She raises her head, and her gaze meets mine. Whatever she reads in my face makes her wilder. I lift my mouth from one tight nipple.

“Are you ready to come, baby?” I slur, almost as intoxicated with what I’m doing to her as she is with receiving it.

Her face twists in a sexy grimace, and she nods frantically. I increase the piston of my fingers and return my thumb to her clit. Her hands fly up to my shoulders and dig in as her hips lift off the hood to meet my thrusts.

I cup one breast and squeeze her nipple, unwilling to lower my head because I’m hungry to see her face when she falls off the edge into ecstasy.

“Oh God!” Her nails dig in harder, and her back arches off the hood as her insides begin to clench around my fingers.

She’s so tight I have to twist my fingers to go deeper. The recollection that she hasn’t been fucked in months slashes across my mind, nearly pushing me into abandoning my resolve not to fuck her.

Color rushes up her chest and neck and I curl my fingers, stroking her sweet spot. I watch her explode, her moans guttural and deliciously helpless as she thrashes on the hood. I continue to tease her clit and finger-fuck her until her legs start to close.

“Stop. Please.” She sounds nothing like the mouthy Brooklyn girl intent on driving me nuts with her stubborn streak. She’s pliant and soft in a way that really isn’t safe for me to be around. Because this is how I like my women. In a position when I can bend them to my will, get them to agree to almost anything I want from them.

But I’m unable to move. Unable to stop watching Keely come down from her sensual high. I continue to slide in and out of her. She moans and moves her fingers from my shoulders to my hair. Her eyes open and she looks at me. She seems to want to fight it, but then her legs fall open again and her breathing changes. I stroke her pleasure until she’s panting again, then remove my fingers. I silence her groan of protest by placing my soaked fingers against her mouth.

“Lick,” I instruct harshly.

The spark in her eyes confirms something I’d been suspecting. Keely is used to calling the shots when it comes to her lovers. A tinge of regret goes through me. In another time, I’d have taken pleasure in challenging that dominant streak; in honing her fire until she accepts my leash without question.

“Do as I say, Keely.”

Another spark of green fire. But slowly she parts her lips, and her tongue licks between my fingers. I groan. The sound seems to please her, enough for her to lap faster, her eyes locked on mine as she licks her juices off the inside of my fingers. When she starts to turn her head to get at my knuckles, I turn them and spread the moisture over her lips.

Then I seal my mouth over hers, crushing her sweetness between our lips. Fire burns through my veins, and once again I debate the decision to hold back. I slide my hand between the robe and her body and cup her plump ass. Pulling her closer, I rub my aching erection against her wet pussy, every cell in my body screaming with the need to fuck.