Getting His Way: Sapphire Falls Book Seven (15 page)

“Oh.” She shrugged. “Okay. I probably wouldn’t know the difference anyway.”

He gave a short laugh. “I think you’d notice if I could only make it halfway through.”

She tipped her head. “Would I?”

“Uh, yeah.” He put a hand on the back of her neck and pulled her forward. “But I think we’re going to be okay.”

“Well, if you need…anything…”

“Tess, can we stop talking about my potential erectile dysfunction?”

“Sure. I mean, you could start talking dirty about what you want to do with me,” she said hopefully.

He shook his head as he looked at her, almost like he couldn’t believe she was saying this stuff. “I don’t know if I can talk dirty to you, Tess.”

At that her shoulders slumped. “That is
not
good.”

“You want dirty talk, huh?”

“I do,” she told him enthusiastically. “I mean, I think I do. I love reading it.”

He ran his hand up and down her bare back. “Why don’t you tell me about some of this dirty talk?”

Oh, he wasn’t sure they were on the same dirty-talk page. Got it.

“Fuck me. Hard. Deep. I’m so wet for you I can hardly stand it. I need you, Bryan. Please. Make me come.”

Bryan went completely still, his eyes flaring hot, his breathing choppy.

That wasn’t a direct quote from anything, but it was in the same ballpark.

It seemed that maybe she’d done okay with it.

“Tess?”

“Yeah?”

“Take your panties off.”

Yep, this was definitely going in the right direction. She pushed back off his lap and shimmied her panties to the floor.

“Now get back up here.”

She slid back onto his lap and his hands went directly to her breasts. This time she didn’t have to ask him to tug or suck harder. He did, almost as if he was having a hard time holding back. Which was awesome. He skimmed his hands over her back, then down to her waist. He caressed the curve of her hips, slid up and down her thighs and had her squirming in minutes.

Tess simply put her hands on his shoulders and held on. He seemed fine with that.

“You’re gorgeous,” he told her. “I love your body. You’re so soft. Your skin is so soft. You smell amazing.” He just kept up with the sexy sweet talk as he touched her, kissed her body, pressed her down against his body.

But he didn’t say one dirty word. And he didn’t take off any of his clothes.

“Bryan, need more,” she said.

“I know, honey. I know.”

“Take your pants off.”

He didn’t chuckle. He didn’t smile. He shook his head. “Not tonight.”

She stared at him. “
What
? I thought you wanted to have sex!”

“Oh, Tess, I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted anything as much. But not tonight.”

“So I’m just…you’re not going to…you’re just going to get me all wound up and leave?”

He shook his head. “I’m not going to
just
do anything.” He ran a big, hot hand over her stomach.

Tess sucked in a breath.

“I’m going to make you come. But this is our warm up. This is just a taste of what’s ahead of us.”

“But, I…” She lost every single thought in her head, including the ability to even form words, when he ran his hand lower and cupped her, sliding his middle finger over her clit.

The touch was a strange combination of relief and torture. It was as if all the other touches had led up to that one, and at the same time, she needed so much more.

He ran his finger over her clit again and again, pressing slightly each time. He watched her face as if he’d never seen anything more fascinating. “That’s it, honey,” he praised as she moaned and moved against his hand. Then he slid lower and eased the tip of a finger into her. She gasped.

“God, you’re so tight,” he groaned. “This is going to be amazing.”

Her fingers dug into his shoulders. “
Bryan
.”

“That’s right. It’s me. It’s all me. And I’m going to make you feel so good.”

“I already do.”

“This is just a little bit. There’s so much more.”

Instinctively, she moved against his hand again and more of his finger slid into her.

“Tess,” he said tightly. “Easy, honey.”

She shook her head wildly. “More.”

“We’ll get there, but—”

She grabbed his wrist and pressed his finger deeper as she moved, the whole digit thrusting into her. “
Yes
.”

“God, you’re killing me,” he muttered.

She got the impression he wasn’t really talking to her. Which worked, considering she had a lot of great stuff to concentrate on other than trivial things like words and sentences.

Tess moved against his hand, the pressure of his finger so delicious she thought she could stay right there like that forever. Then he slid it out and back in. She let her head fall back. No,
that
was where she could stay.

Then he moved it faster, and
that
was amazing.

“Okay. Let’s do this,” he said. He circled his thumb over her clit while pumping his finger into her and leaning in to capture a nipple in his lips. Her hand flew to his head and she gripped his hair as sensations rolled over her. “Bryan!”

“Go with it,” he coaxed. “Let go.”

Her body felt like it was tightening more and more, like a rubber band being stretched farther and farther. Until, finally, it snapped. She seemed to come apart inside, pleasure coursing through her like she’d never imagined. She wanted it to go on and on, and it did for a few minutes, ripples and waves washing over her. But over time, it gentled and faded.

Bryan held her after she slumped against his chest, stroking her back. She could still feel the hard ridge of his cock under her, and in spite of her orgasm of only moments before, she wanted it again. With
that
.

“It never feels like that when I do it,” she said against his neck.

His laugh vibrated through her. “I think I’m glad. But I wouldn’t mind seeing how you do it.”

She pushed back. Okay, that was a little naughty. At least for Bryan with her. “Really?”

He stroked a hand over her head and chuckled, though it sounded tight. “Um, yeah.”

“Okay.”

He shook his head, as if in wonder. Was it her enthusiasm?

“Do you use your fingers or a vibrator?” he asked roughly.

“I don’t have a vibrator.” She’d
almost
bought one so many times, but she’d never gotten up the nerve.

And she realized that she was right back to being a big dork.

She thought she’d gotten over that a little. But here she was, thirty years old, no sex life, no boyfriend, a twenty-some-year-long crush, without even a vibrator. She didn’t have a career—she just had a bunch of jobs—she’d never really been anywhere, she’d never really done anything noteworthy.

Tess felt her face getting hot. She started to push back from him, but Bryan tightened his arms around her.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“Nothing. I just realized…how…embarrassing this all is,” she finished miserably.

“There is
nothing
to be embarrassed about,” he said, brushing her hair back from her face again. “Tess, you’re amazing.”

She rolled her eyes. “You mean I’m
sweet
.”

Bryan sighed. “You have no idea how much more sweetness most of us need, honey.”

She pushed on his chest again, and he loosened his hold. “Either you get less dressed or I’m going to get more dressed,” she told him.

Hot, dirty sex would change up her M.O. She was a thirty-year-old virgin with a stupid crush and no great stories to tell. She
had
to change
something
. She couldn’t get to Denver yet. She couldn’t leave Sapphire Falls
yet
. But she could change the sad-little-virgin thing.

“Not tonight,” Bryan said. Though he didn’t seem especially enthusiastic about it.

“Fine.” She reached for her clothes and pulled them on without her bra or panties. “I’ll buy a vibrator tomorrow.” And she would. Absolutely. It was time.

She started to turn away, but Bryan leaned and grabbed her wrist before she could. “Tess.”

She looked at him with a sigh.

“This is going to happen. With us. And it’s going to be amazing. But it’s going to happen the right way.”

She shrugged. “Maybe it shouldn’t. Maybe I need to get over yo—”

“No.” He got to his feet swiftly. “Neither of us is getting over anything. This is going to happen.”

She was supposed to already be over him. Her shoulders slumped as she finally admitted the truth. She was never going to be over him.

“Let me take you out tomorrow night,” he said.

“You mean on a romantic date?”

He smiled. “Yeah.”

“Candles? Dinner? Dancing?”

“Yes.” He seemed very happy about the idea. “Whatever you want.”

She felt the regret filling her chest. How could someone feel
regret
about anything after having an orgasm?

“But see, that’s not true,” she told him. “If this was going the way I wanted it to, we’d
both
be naked and sweaty and spent right now.”

“We’ll get there.” He sounded like he was gritting his teeth.

Bryan Murray had been calling the shots—or rather
not
calling the shots—between them from day one. He’d gotten his way for far too long. It was her turn.

“Really? About the time you get comfortable saying ‘bend over, Tess. I want to fuck you from behind’?”

His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed. “Why can’t things be sweet and romantic, Tess? What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s wrong with wanting hot, dirty sex?” she shot back.

“I’ve done the hot, dirty sex thing!” he exclaimed. “Now
I
want more than that.”

Tess felt her throat thicken with emotion. “I guess we just want different things.”

“No.” He shook his head adamantly. “There is so much more I want to give you than orgasms. Sex is…sex. But a long-term, serious relationship—dating and making love and making a home and building a family—that’s an adventure neither of us has been on. Let’s do that together.”

She stared at him. There was no way he’d just said that.

“Did you just offer to get me pregnant as a substitution for me traveling the world?”

He blanched. “Well, not—not like that.” He huffed out a breath. “I thought you wanted all of that too. I thought that’s what you were here waiting for.”

She felt her mouth drop open. Whoa. A million thoughts spun through her head. Then she snapped it shut. “You think you want me because
I
want to marry
you
,” she said. “You’re looking for a new adventure—this family-and-settling-down thing—and you’ve had to give up your career of inspiring people to make their dreams come true. So, of course, your mind went to me. Because I’m Tess. I’ve always been here, the same girl, wanting the same things forever. This way, you can settle down and make someone’s life-long dream come true.”

She should be mad. She was a little…shocked. But it made sense. This was Bryan. He cared about her. It might not be passionate, crazy love, but he did care. And making her happy, after all this time, would be appealing to him.

Tess felt her heart softening. And cracking slightly. She wasn’t staying here anyway, but even if she was, she didn’t want to be his good deed.

She put her hand against his cheek. “You’ll find someone who wants all of that with you.” Her heart thumped as something else occurred to her. He’d had hook-ups, but he hadn’t had a relationship since the accident. Was he afraid he wouldn’t find someone serious? Because of the accident? “Your accident won’t matter to the right girl, Bryan.”

He frowned, looking confused and hurt at the same time. “My accident doesn’t matter to
you
.”

It didn’t. This was Bryan. “No. But you can’t cling to me just because of that.”

God, she couldn’t handle thinking that he really thought no one else would love him the way she did. Had. Okay, did.

“I’m
clinging
to you?”

“I am sweet,” she said. She knew three women in Sapphire Falls who would marry him tomorrow, give him ten kids and grow old with him. But he wanted Tess because she was a sure thing and because he thought he was saving her from her sad spinsterhood. “I’m sweet enough to tell you goodnight before this gets even more complicated.” If he took her virginity, he’d never feel like he could leave her alone.

She walked to the door, still feeling tingles between her legs as her shorts rubbed over the sensitive skin that Bryan had stirred to life.

Dammit.

She opened the door.

Bryan came to her, his expression nearly impossible to read.

Tess swallowed hard and made herself not look away. She was throwing Bryan Murray out of her house. After he’d given her an orgasm. Her first orgasm ever with someone else. A sob caught in her chest. She really needed him to go.