Powerplay (3 page)

She looped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to meet her mouth. “I know what you want. I want that, too.” She plunged her tongue into his mouth, fisting her hands into his hair.

He groaned, grabbing her around the waist to hoist her up as he devoured her mouth. One taste of her set him off like someone had poured fuel on the fire that had started simmering when he laid eyes on her. He was going to combust if he didn’t sink inside of her soon. His head was telling him to slow down, but his cock was telling him he’d already wasted too much time. He needed her now.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her ankles at the base of spine. “Oh God,” she moaned, tearing her lips away from his, panting. “I’d allowed myself to forget what it was like…” 

“I never forgot,” he said, sucking the sensitive skin on her neck into his mouth. He set her on the countertop, thrusting his hands into her hair and tipping her head back so he had better access.

He remembered how much she used to love it when he licked and suckled her neck.

She flattened her hands against his chest. “Why don’t we take this into the bedroom?”

“Soon,” he muttered, trailing his tongue up and down her neck. She tasted amazing, spicy and sexy, that powerful scent that was unique to her. “God, I wanna lick every inch of you.”

She shuddered in his arms, bracing her hands on his shoulders. “Ah, that feels so good.”

He moved into the v between her legs, pressing his cock into her denim-clad pussy. “I need you,” he whispered, knowing she had no idea how true that was.

“I need you, too. Please.”

His hands flew over the buttons on her tight black shirt. He pulled back as he spread it open to look at her. Releasing the front closure of her bra, his breath hitched. Her tits were incredible, soft and full, with large, dusky nipples, begging to be kissed and licked.

“Are you just gonna stand there staring at me?” she asked, reaching for the buttons on his shirt. He grabbed her wrists, stilling her hands as he looked into her eyes. “You’re gorgeous, Jen.”

She dipped her head, a faint blush crawling up her neck to stain her cheeks. “You’ve never said that to me before.”

“What’re you talking about?” He thought about how beautiful she was every time he saw her. He must have said it out loud, at least a time or two.

“It was no big deal. I figured you were with hot women all the time…”

God, he was such an idiot not to have shown her how special she was. “I’m sorry. I should have told you more. I promise…”

She touched her fingertips against his lips and smiled. “Tonight isn’t about making promises, Mark. It’s just about two old friends reconnecting for one unforgettable night.”

Fear snaked up his back, coiling around his chest and squeezing his heart. She thought she was going to leave him after one night? No way was he going to let that happen.

Trying to keep it light, he said, “I’m gonna have to see what I can do to change your mind about that.” He licked the shell of her ear while rolling her nipple around his fingers.

She rolled her head back, bracing her hands on the counter behind her. “I need you, now,” she whispered. “It’s been forever since…” Her voice trailed off as she drew her bottom lip between her teeth, obviously reconsidering her words.

She looked so hot, sitting on his kitchen counter, half naked, her eyes heavy with arousal. It took everything in him not to take her right there. He cupped her breasts in his hands, stroking her nipples. “Since what, sweetheart? Talk to me.”

“Since we’ve been together.”

“Too long,” he murmured, reaching for the button on her jeans. “It’s been too damn long.”

With her pants undone, he reached down to slide the zippers down on her high-heeled ankle boots. She always wore high heels, probably because she was so short without the added height. Whatever the reason, it never failed to turn him on. The higher her heels, the harder he got.

When he’d finally rid her of the boots and socks, he grabbed her around the waist, brushing her breasts against his shirt as he set her on her feet.

She looked up, way up, and smiled. “I liked it better up there. Down here, I feel I’m at a definite disadvantage.” She got a wicked glint in her eye. “Unless…”

His heart almost stopped when she fell to her knees on the limestone floor in front of him.

“Baby, get up.” He thrust his hands in her hair. “You’re going to hurt your knees. This floor is too hard.”

She worked on his belt. “Not as hard as you. I can’t wait to taste you.”

He could have come just watching her. She was so damn sexy, so intent on giving him pleasure. He didn’t know what good deed he’d done to deserve this second chance with her, but he was determined to make sure he didn’t blow it. 

She pushed his dress pants and boxer briefs down his thighs, licking her lips when she feasted her eyes on his cock. “Hmm, this is what I’ve been waiting for.”

He stepped out of his pants, toeing off his shoes. If he had his way, he would have seen to her pleasure first, but he couldn’t refuse her act of kindness, not when he was so desperate to feel her mouth on his shaft. Later. He would make it up to her later. They had all night.

She wrapped her hand around the base of his cock, licking the pulsing vein running up its length. He clenched his teeth, trying to hold it together, until she started caressing his balls. “God… I…”

She surprised him by drawing his cock into her mouth, hard and fast. She drew back, sucking him off like it was her mission in life.

“Jen, fuck, I…” He couldn’t form a coherent thought, not when she started licking his cock like it was a cherry lollipop she was intent on dissolving.

She moaned, deep in the back of her throat, prompting an intense vibration that almost set him off.

He reached back to brace his hands on the counter behind him. He was feeling light-headed, bordering on dizzy. Never had a blow job made him feel like this.

She looked up at him, licking his tang from her lips. “I want you to fuck my mouth.”

Shit, if he didn’t get it together, she was going to finish him off in record time. “I don’t think…”

She stood up, peeling the rest of her clothes off until she was standing in front of him, naked. “Please, I need to get wild tonight. No regrets, no doubts, just do this for me. Please, just one last time, Mark.”

He wanted to argue that this wouldn’t be their last time. It would be their first of many, but he sensed she didn’t need to hear it. She needed to feel it, experience it. By the end of the night, he would make her a believer.

“Just tell me what you need, baby, anything, you know that.”

Mark had always been open to experimenting in the bedroom. All of her previous boyfriends had taken more than they gave, but he made it his mission to show her how good it could feel to be on the receiving end.

“First, I wanna make you come with my mouth.” She trailed her hands down his chest, refusing to look him in the eye.

He smiled, tipping her chin. “On one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You let me return the favor.”

She grinned, flicking the tip of her tongue across his flat nipple. “How can I say no to that?”

“You can’t.”

CHAPTER THREE

Jenna knew she was in trouble, sinking fast. He was everything she remembered and more, so much more. He was hot, sexy, and powerful, but he was also considerate and sweet, and that was going to be her un-doing. He wasn’t the same guy she remembered. Suddenly, he was the guy she needed him to be back then. Only one problem now: she was engaged to another man.

This couldn’t end well. At the very least, she should tell him about Kevin, about their arrangement, but if she did, he may send her away, and she wouldn’t have the unforgettable night he’d promised.

No, she’d just keep her mouth shut and enjoy him tonight. This was Mark, after all. By tomorrow night he’d be re-enacting this scene with another willing woman. She couldn’t blame him for moving on when she’d done the same, but she didn’t have to make it so easy for him this time.

She wanted him to remember her and this night because she knew she would never be able to forget it, no matter how hard she tried.

He leaned over to kiss her shoulder. “Hey, you okay? You’re not having second thoughts, are you? ‘Cause if you are…”

She reached up to cover his mouth with her hand, smiling. “Remember what I said, no doubts and no regrets, okay?”

He pulled her hand away from his mouth, his eyes dark and intense. “Jen, I don’t have a single doubt about this, about us. I could never regret making love to you.”

The force of his words made her stomach quiver, but she reminded herself that they were just words, spoken in the heat of a passionate moment. She wouldn’t read too much into them or the look in his eye that told her he was being sincere. Mark was masterful with the opposite sex, skilled at making every woman he slept with feel like she was the only one.  

“Good, now where was I?” She gripped his thighs and slid down, anxious to pick up where she’d left off.

“Wait.” He grabbed her arms to halt her descent, pausing to kick his pants to the floor at his feet. He gave her a crooked grin. “I just wanted to save your knees.”

If she hadn’t already been convinced he was a changed man, that simple act would have persuaded her. This was someone she could fall… No, she was not going to go there. She was already in love with her fiancé. Almost on cue, her phone rang. She’d left her purse on the counter and the vibrating cell phone was teetering on the edge.

Mark picked it up, holding it out to her, but not before looking at the screen. “Who’s Kevin Collins?”

“Shit,” she muttered, getting to her feet. She grabbed the phone and turned it off before turning back to face Mark.

He looked angry. His dark features made him look even more severe. “Is he your boyfriend?”

She swallowed, trying to find the words to tell him the truth.

“You know what? Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know who he is. I don’t care. The fact is, you’re here with me now, and that’s all that matters.” He worked the rest of the buttons on his shirt, stripping to reveal a bare chest that attested to the countless hours he spent in the gym every week.

Her mouth watered at the sight of his raw strength. He was so powerful, so addictive. She knew she had to tell him now. It wasn’t fair to ask him to participate in the game unless he knew the rules. “I think you need to know about him, Mark.”

He clenched his jaw. “Fuck him, I don’t care about him. I care about you.” He stepped forward, backing her into the counter. “I want you, and I’m going to make you want me. By the time you leave here, you’re going to forget you ever met him.”    

A nervous giggle slipped from her lips. “Uh, I don’t think that’s gonna happen.”

He raised a dark eyebrow in question. “Oh yeah? Is that a challenge?”

She set her hands on his bare chest. “You don’t understand…”

He bent to kiss her lips, gently at first, then more demanding as she surrendered to his will. “What I understand is that you’re mine tonight,” he whispered. “All mine. I intend to make sure you remember what that feels like, baby.” He brushed her hair off her face. “Tell me something. Does he make you feel the way I do?”

No, never. But she couldn’t say that aloud. It would be a betrayal to Kevin. Not that he wouldn’t deserve it after what he’d done to her, but his night with the stripper had been about drunken sex, nothing more. She feared this thing with Mark went far beyond physical pleasure. He satisfied something in her soul that she didn’t even realize had been hollow until tonight.

“Kevin is…”

“Don’t say his name again,” he said through gritted. “Don’t say it—don’t even think it.”

She recognized the warning in his tone. Mark was fierce on the ice, often throwing down his gloves to challenge an opponent. She knew he would never hurt her, but she wasn’t stupid enough to try and push him beyond his limit.

“Fine, let’s not talk at all,” she whispered.

He dropped his head, taking her face in his hands. “Shit, I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to talk to you that way. It’s just the thought you with another guy is making me crazy.”

“There’s something you need to know about Kevin…”

“Don’t say it,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Mark was going to put his fist through a wall if she dared to tell him she was in love with this guy. She was standing there naked, offering herself to him; minutes ago she had been feasting on his shaft. She couldn’t do that if she was in love with some other guy, could she? Why the hell not? He’d been in love with her, and that hadn’t stopped him from fucking other girls not more than a month after she stopped taking his calls.

He had two choices. He could pretend he’d never heard the guy’s name and carry on with their evening, or he could demand answers and watch her walk out the door. He couldn’t let her go back to him. He didn’t care who this guy was, whether she thought she loved him or not; he was determined to make her forget. “Fuck him,” he whispered, lowering his head to take her mouth. The kiss was hard and demanding, his tongue unrelenting as he tried to drive all thoughts of
him
out of her mind. She was his, dammit. After tonight, there would be no doubt in her mind that he was the man she needed.

She tried to walk him down the hall to his bedroom without breaking the kiss, but he pulled away.

He drew a breath. “Just give me a minute. You go ahead, last door at the end of the hall. I’ll be right there.”

She smiled. “Why? What’re you up to?”

“Just trust me, okay?”

Her smile faded and she looked into his eyes. “I do trust you.”

He didn’t know why, but he sensed she was trying to send him a message. He watched her turn and walk down the hall to his bedroom as he grabbed the counter, stiffening his arms as he dropped his head. He had to find a way to get his head back in the game, but he couldn’t help but think about
him
and what he meant to Jen. 

Reaching into the drawer, he grabbed a box of matches. Stopping in the bathroom, he snagged a bottle of oil and headed toward his bedroom, determined to show her he intended to put her needs first, always.

She lay in the middle of his bed, her arms over her head, her legs spread slightly, waiting for him. She eyed the items in his hand. “What have you got there, handsome?”

He set the oil on the nightstand and bent to kiss her. He wanted to tell her he loved her, but the words were trapped in the ball of fear lodged at the back of his throat, so he said nothing.

He set about lighting a few candles. Taylor had placed them strategically, insisting candles enhanced the romantic ambiance in a bedroom. At the time, he couldn’t imagine using them, but tonight he was grateful she’d had the forethought he’d clearly been lacking.   

He’d never known a woman worthy of putting forth that kind of effort, until Jen. He’d do whatever it took to make her his. It irritated him knowing he had millions of dollars sitting in the bank, but the one thing he wanted more than anything may still be out of his reach.

When he lit a candle on the nightstand, she grabbed his wrist. “Hey, are you okay, hon?”

Hon.
She’d always called him that when they were together. She’d given her affection so freely while he’d been so guarded. He’d been afraid of encouraging her. He didn’t want her to start wanting more than he could give. He cursed himself now, wishing he could turn back time.    

“I’m okay, baby.” He closed his eyes, drawing a deep breath. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he said quietly, “I made a lot of mistakes with you. I’m sorry.”

She drew him down for a kiss. “It’s okay. I don’t blame you for anything that happened. I think you’re a great guy. We were just at different places in our lives.” She sighed. “Sometimes, I wish I could run away for a while, you know? Just escape the demands and expectations of my family, my career, my…” She shook her head, a tear trickling down her cheek. “Everything.”

He brushed the tear away with the back of his finger. He wanted to protect her, to take care of her. He didn’t know what was troubling her now, but would do whatever he could to ease her burden.

“I’ve got a place in Barbados. Maybe at the end of the season we could go there for a month or so, you know? Just kick back and relax.” The thought of spending that kind of time with her, just the two of him, made him want more, so much more. He didn’t want her for a month, he wanted her forever.

She stroked his cheek, looking into his eyes. “That’s sweet of you to offer, but I couldn’t.”

He propped his head up with his hand as he lay on his side, looking down at her. “Why not? Listen, I know you’re busy at work, but everyone needs a little down time once in a while, sweetheart.” He knew she could afford to take the time off. She was one of the most successful agents in their city, a lucrative position to be in, even during a downturn in the economy. “Come on, when was the last time you got away?”

Her eyes slid down to his chest, and he knew her last vacation had been with Kevin. He cursed himself for asking. He didn’t want her to think about him now, not while she was in his bed. 

“I’m sure your place is beautiful, and I’d love nothing more than to get away for a while, but…”

He slid his hand down her body, resting it on her taut stomach. He wanted to touch and taste her all over, but not until he was sure that she was ready. They had all night to make love.

“We can go anywhere you want. Just pick the place, for as long as you want.” He knew he was in the rare position of being able to offer her that gift, and he wanted to show her, starting now, that he would do anything he could to make her happy.

She closed her eyes and smiled, as though she were indulging in a fantasy. “Let’s see, if I could go anywhere in the world…”

“Jen, open your eyes.” He tipped her chin until she looked him in the eye. “Baby, I’m serious about this. I can give you anything you want, anything you need, just say the word. If you’re feeling stressed, I can make that go away.” A twenty-five million dollar contract could buy a lot of luxury vacations and days at the spa to help ease her stress.

She sat up, looking uneasy. “You know what, Mark? I don’t think my coming here tonight was such a good idea. I think I’d better go.”

He felt his heart rate increase, his pulse pounding. “What the hell are you talking about?” He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back down on the bed. “Why do you want to leave?”

“I came here tonight thinking this was going to be just like old times: great sex, fun banter, and I’d go home in the morning with a few more nice memories.” She sighed. “But it’s turned into so much more than that. It’s getting too intense. I can’t handle that. It’s not what I want.”

He struggled to find the words to convince her to stay. He knew he had to pull back before he scared her away. He had never been in this position before. He was always the one trying to discourage women who were intent on getting too serious; never had he been the one trying to convince a woman to take it to the next level. He hated being the one putting himself out there, risking rejection, but he was tired of living with regrets where she was concerned.

“Look, I’m sorry. We won’t talk about this anymore, okay?”

She laughed, shaking her head. “This is crazy. You were always the guy who couldn’t wait to hit the sheets. Now here we are, and you want to waste our time talking.”

He bent his head to kiss her. He needed the distraction, or he was going to run the risk of opening his big mouth and saying more than he should.