Never Say Never (The Price of Fame Series) (12 page)

He reached between their bodies and pulled her hand from his slacks. She grumbled a wordless protest, and he laughed. At least it sounded strained.

“You’re the one celebrating, Miss Butler. If you kept doing that, this would be over way too soon.”

He reared up on his knees and she reached for him, but he batted her hands away. For the first time in her life, she pouted and the arrogant, pushy sod grinned.

“Patience.”

Sander slid the straps of her dress down to her elbows, exposing her breasts to his gaze. Cool air mingled with his hot breath as he dipped his head down and sucked a nipple into his mouth. Her hands were bound to her side, so she couldn’t grab his hair and hold him to her chest like she wanted to. Chloe let out a frustrated moan.

His tongue teased her areola with soft, sweeping licks, causing the fire in her belly to burn and the ache between her thighs to throb unbearably. She needed his big, sexy body naked, above hers with his long, thick erection driving her to dizzying heights. And Chloe knew he’d take her there. A man who made her feel like she was going to come from a mouth on her nipple couldn’t be a selfish lover.

After he’d finished with one nipple, he moved onto the other. Her back arched instinctively, urging him to be a bit rougher with her body since he’d trapped her arms. She slung a leg over his and tilted her hips toward his thigh, needing pressure where she burned the most to take away the ache.

Never before had she been so wanton, so desperate for a man, and it should have scared her. But Chloe didn’t have time to consider anything else when his hand slid under her dress, up her thigh right to her dripping sex. His thumb pressed against her lacy knickers, no doubt sodding by now, right over her clit. He growled when he discovered her arousal and bit the bud of her nipple. She cried out in pleasure, but Sander lifted his head, the apology showing on his face before he even said the words.

“I liked it,” Chloe assured him before he could consider stopping.

His smile was that of a man who knew what she wanted, and at the same time it reassured her he would definitely give it to her. He watched her face intently as his thumb slid beneath the lace of her panties and straight into her sex.

A moan escaped her lips, and he circled his digit, rubbing right against where she needed him to. Heat burned in her lower stomach and she closed her eyes, savoring the sweet torture of what he was doing to her. But his thumb disappeared a second later.

Snapping her eyes open to glare at him, she said, “What are you doing?”

Chloe watched as Sander brought his thumb to his mouth and sucked her juices clean off his skin. Her whole body shuddered, and she saw his eyes roll back and a groan of pure pleasure rumbled from his chest. Jesus, no one had ever done anything like that before.

If Dane had tried, she’d have been sure it would have killed the mood. Maybe even icked her out, but when Sander did it, it turned her on.

“I need to taste you.”

Before her mind could register the meaning in his words, he slid down to the other end of the couch, lifted her legs to rest on his shoulders, and shoved the skirt of her dress up past her waist. Wanton, half crazed with lust and practically melting, Chloe had never been this exposed, or half as horny. Her lungs wouldn’t work right as his gaze scorched her from her head down to her knees. He turned and nibbled her ankle as his fingers slid up her calves.

She briefly wondered if he was torturing her because she’d mentioned Paul, but the thought flew out of her head as he nibbled along her calf, flicked his tongue on the sensitive patch of skin behind her knee, and made his way up her inner thigh, which now shook frantically.

Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, intent on savoring every new shiver, every jolt of pleasure, and the feel of his warm lips and rough hands. She couldn’t remember sex ever being this good, and she couldn’t classify what they were doing as foreplay. Needing to grab something, but with her hands still stuck to her sides, she tightly clenched the material of her dress pooled around her hips, not caring if she never got the creases out.

His mouth pressed against her knickers, and his tongue pushed right into her clit, coaxing the swarm of heat and pressure in her tummy to grow into an inferno. She shook, panted, and tried to resist the urge to dig her heels into his back and haul him closer. Sander nudged the lacy material aside, and she felt his warm breath brush against her most intimate area. He paused and inhaled, and Chloe decided he was trying to torture her after all.

Just as she opened her mouth to protest, his tongue delved into her cleft and flicked her clit. She cried out as the sensation spiked through her already racing blood. Sander’s fingers dug into her outer thighs as he groaned his appreciation, just as
Hit Me Baby One More Time
cut through the fog of lust in her mind.

Sander lifted his head, and her eyes sprang open. His gaze was dark, desperate, and his fingers didn’t release their death-grip from her thighs.

After he cleared his throat, he asked, “Your mother?” His deep voice rumbled through her, having a faster effect than her vibrator.

Panic sliced through the fog of lust, and he must have guessed because he pulled the straps of her dress back into place and passed her handbag to her. Britney was chiming on about loneliness, and as Sander released her ankles and climbed out from between her thighs, Chloe felt bereft at the loss of contact. The screen showed it was her house calling, but she remembered Freda would be there, so her panic was unnecessary. “Mum?” Bugger, her voice sounded like she’d been thoroughly ravished. Even though she hadn’t. Yet.

“Chloe, it’s late. I thought you were only going to dinner. Where are you?”

Hearing the worry in her mum’s voice, tears burned her eyes. Her mum wasn’t well, Chloe knew that and a wave of shame washed over her. She was busy getting her jollies and her mum needed her.

“I’m still with Sander. Sorry, I didn’t realize the time.”

Her mum paused a beat too long and her heart dropped to her feet.

“Are you spending the night with him?”

Her face burned. That wasn’t a conversation she was going to have. “Of course not. I’ll be home soon.”

She turned to Sander, hoping he wasn’t angry with her for leading him on, but the moment for wild monkey sex had passed. He didn’t look angry though. Worry was clear in the lines of his face as he sat across from her on the coffee table.

“If you’re sure. I can manage a night by myself, you know. I feel fine today. Freda’s daughter is home visiting so I said she could leave early.”

“What?”

“I don’t need a babysitter all the time, Chloe. I can look after myself.”

She pushed herself off the sofa, and smoothed down her dress as her blood ran cold. “Mum, I’ll be home soon.” She ended the call, then scrolled through her address list in search of a taxi company.

“Is everything okay?”

Sander rose from the table and slid his hands around her waist, but the urgency of getting back home to make sure her mum was okay overpowered the musky scent of him that made her long to lick him all over.

“No. She sent Freda home. I’m sorry, Sander. You have no idea how sorry. I have to go.” She turned to him, showing him all her emotions, knowing he couldn’t doubt how much she didn’t want to leave him, but had to.

He wrapped her in his arms, his strength, and she tried to absorb as much as she could. His hands smoothed her hair and he pulled back to look at her.

“I get it. Don’t worry.” His arms stiffened around her. “And I’ll find a replacement for Freda tomorrow.”

She gasped. “Don’t, Sander! I know how stubborn my mum can be. Freda will be okay, she just has to stand up to my mum sometimes.”

His brows mashed together and she smiled a little, trying to reassure him.

He pulled his phone from his trouser pocket. Chloe could see the bulge tenting the black fabric and her core pulsed. God, just thirty more minutes and she’d have known what it would be like to make love to him, but her regret made guilt clutch around her heart.

She watched as he searched his phone and hit dial. When they answered, he demanded they send a taxi immediately and she had to refrain from scowling at his rudeness, because if he felt any of the crazed lust she did, his emotions were probably a bit fragile right now and she couldn’t blame his short temper. Plus, he was doing it for her.

Sander ended the call and slid the phone into his pocket. “A cab will be here in two minutes.”

Chloe beamed at him and he hauled her close so she was pressed up against delicious muscle and his rock hard erection. Her blood heated again, but he didn’t kiss her like she wanted. Instead, he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, his hands settling on her hips.

“Sander, I’m sorry.” She felt awful at having to stop, and hideously deprived.

He released her hips, but cupped her cheeks. Tilting her chin up to meet his gaze, he smiled. “I’m sorry too, but there’s always another time. And next time I’ll feast on you all night until your throat aches from screaming.”

Chloe searched his face for a hint of exaggeration, and when she only found promise her knees almost gave out. Her breath caught just as his lips crashed to hers, and that was all it took to spark the fire, for her mind to consume with nothing but her lust for him. Christ, he was like a drug. One touch, one night, was never going to be enough.

As he released her, she hoped she could have more than one night, and judging by his raging arousal, she guessed he wouldn’t be too hard to convince.

“Let’s get you downstairs before I tie you to the bed and keep you here for a week.”

He took her hand and pulled her along to the door. If it was anyone other than her mum who’d called, Chloe was certain she’d ignore it. Because Sander sounded like he meant every word, and if she had another chance, she couldn’t wait to find out if the smug, arrogant god who lit her up could back up his talk with actions. Her tummy sizzled at the thought.

The taxi idled by the curb when they made it outside, and she remembered her tumble on the couch and looked down to her dress. Bugger, it was covered in wrinkles. Her cheeks burned as she imagined what the taxi driver would think of her. She probably looked like just another hussy, slipping out of a celebrity’s house after a few hours between the sheets. Her eyes stung as she remembered feeling the same way every time she left Dane’s house.

“Chloe.” Sander tilted her chin up and looked her in the eye. His voice held a note of warning. “Don’t even think it. If I were lucky enough to have you in my bed one night, I would bring you breakfast in the morning and make love to you until we both couldn’t move. I don’t know what that fucker did, but I wouldn’t send you home after sex. Not unless you wanted to leave.”

A lump lodged in her throat again, but it wasn’t anger. She could see he was serious, honesty burned from his blue eyes until she thought it might burn her.

His expression softened into a small smile, and he brushed a sweet kiss on her lips. “Go make sure your mother’s okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

As she slipped into the car, she couldn’t wait until the following day. She gave the taxi driver her address, and all the way home fantasized about Sander, his tongue, and the shockingly sexy way he’d licked her juices from his thumb. Shifting in the seat, she tried to ease the pulsing pressure between her legs, but it was no use.

Smiling, she watched the bright lights of shop fronts and streetlights whir by through the window of the car. Chloe knew the suspense of waiting for him would probably kill her, but she thought in the end it might make their union explosive.

Chapter 8

Sander clenched his fist so tight around his Blackberry he thought it might crumble as he made his way to the coffee shop two days later and pushed the door open. Same as every morning, the smell of fresh coffee beans and pastries filled the air, but he wasn’t there for coffee.

For the last three nights he’d struggled to fall asleep. The memory of Chloe on his sofa with those supermodel legs over his shoulders had him tossing and turning until the early hours of the morning. Work at the station kept him busy, as did planning out the tour with last year’s contestants on the show, so he’d only managed to have one brief conversation with her the morning after he’d taken her to The Ivy.

He had slept in this morning and now, since she refused to answer her damn phone today, he was about to be even later to the radio station.

The shop was busier than usual. He could pick out all the regulars, but there seemed to be a new crowd, and he followed each of their gazes to a flustered Chloe who appeared to be giving the coffee machine a beating. He smiled, despite his panic, as relief lightened his mood. She wasn’t ignoring his calls on purpose. They were just busy today.

Sander knew he should get his ass to the studio and prepare for the day’s show, but he wasn’t on for another hour, and fuck it, he could improvise. Wouldn’t be the first time. After making his way over to the counter behind Chloe, he slid onto the bar stool and fought back a chuckle when she kicked the unit below.

“Is nothing going to go right today?” she asked no one in particular and slapped the side of the machine.

“Maybe it would work better if you gave it some TLC,” he suggested.

She whirled around and aimed a steel handle at him. He guessed it was something that was supposed to stay attached to the machine. For the first time since he’d met her, Chloe wasn’t wearing her I-can-take-on-the-world mask. Wisps of gold and brown hair escaped the fancy twist at the back of her head. She didn’t appear to be wearing any makeup, and her light skin glowed while a flush stained her cheekbones. Her perfectly arched brows had drawn into a frown, and he wondered if he was the reason for her irritation.

“I don’t have time for jokes, funny guy. Look at the place, it’s mobbed!” She threw her arms in a wide circle, and he barely managed to hold back a grin.

“I suppose a quick coffee’s out of the question.”

If looks could kill, Sander thought the look she threw him would manage it. This time he did laugh. Holding up his hands, he explained, “I only came by to make sure you were okay. You didn’t answer your phone.”