Say You Need Me (22 page)

“I want you, Serena,” he whispered against her ear. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone before in my life.”

The gentle sensation of his warm breath against Serena’s ear sent a searing jolt of excitement right through her. “Oh, Darrell.”

“Say you need me,” Darrell said. “Say you need me as much as I need you.”

“God, I need you,” Serena replied.

Darrell ran his hands down her back, smoothing them over her buttocks before slipping them beneath her shirt. His hands were like oxygen to a flame on her skin, making her flesh burn with sexual intensity everywhere they touched.

“The bedroom…” Serena managed.

His lips still on hers, Darrell kissed Serena fervently all the way to the bedroom. Man, she was driving him crazy. Everywhere he touched, she responded with a moan, and
her soft sounds were like fuel driving him on when a part of his brain told him he should stop. But stopping was out of the question, while she was pressing her soft body to his like she wanted to meld them together.

There were too many clothes between them. Darrell pulled her shorts down and ran his hands over her firm, round behind. A groan erupted in his chest when he discovered she was wearing a thong.

So he was right. Prim and proper on the outside, wild on the inside.

The combination was irresistible.

“Serena,” Darrell managed, when he pulled his lips from hers. “If you don’t want this, stop me now.”

She’d waited twenty-nine years for this, and she’d be a fool to put an end to what felt so right. She wanted Darrell, more than she’d wanted anything else in her life.

So she tipped herself up on her toes and reached for his mouth, throwing her arms around his neck with reckless abandon. When their lips met, she thrust her tongue into his hot, sweet mouth as if she’d invented the art of necking.

When he could no longer stand simply touching her, Darrell slipped his hand beneath the sides of her thong underwear and dragged them over her hips. Serena wiggled her body to help him take them off, then let them fall around her ankles. She stepped back to kick them aside, and Darrell’s brain told him that this was another opportunity to stop. But when Serena pulled her shirt off and sat on the edge of the bed, Darrell’s brain stopped working.

Lowering himself, he placed one hand on either side of her body, then kissed her softly. Serena stroked his face. Then he slowly urged her backward onto the bed. When
she was fully on her back, Darrell straightened himself. His eyes took in the beauty of her naked form. Smooth, chocolatey skin; firm, beautiful breasts; legs that went on for days.

He threw off his T-shirt, then his boxers, and rejoined her on the bed.

Immediately, she placed both hands on his chest, creating circular patterns on his pecks with her short nails. Each stroke made Darrell hotter and harder than he’d imagined possible.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered to her, right before he discovered just how sensitive her earlobe was.

His hands roamed her entire body, stroking, tweaking, exploring, until at last he couldn’t take another moment of not being inside her. He spread her legs and settled his body between her thighs.

But he felt her tense, so he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Do you have…I’m not on the pill.”

“I’ve got a condom in the other room.” He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

Serena giggled as he got up, and the sound made warmth spread through Darrell’s body. For some reason, he was glad to know she didn’t keep a supply of condoms on hand.

He returned so quickly, Serena almost didn’t know he was gone. Her whole body was alive with wonderful sexual sensations she’d never felt before. And when Darrell eyed her body with a slow, hot gaze, then blew out a small whistle, Serena felt like she was the sexiest woman in the world.

As Darrell covered Serena’s body with his, he lowered his head and took her nipple in his mouth. The gentle
suckling sent shivers of delight all over her body, it felt so good.

“Oooh,” she moaned.

“You like that, do you?” Darrell covered her other nipple with his tongue.

“Oh, my God. Nothing has ever felt so…oh!” Serena lifted her head to look at Darrell’s mouth over her breast, and a bolt of sensation struck her between the legs. God, the pleasure was like nothing she could ever have imagined.

“Touch me,” Darrell whispered, reaching for her hand. He brought it to his erection.

“Oh…my!” It was large, hot. She stroked it up and down.

Darrell growled. “Baby, do you know what you’re doing to me?”

Darrell devoured her lips, then spread her legs apart. Fleetingly, Serena wondered why she wasn’t even a little afraid, why this felt so right.

But she didn’t wonder anything else when Darrell entered her with one hard thrust. She felt only the slightest pinch, then a flood of pure pleasure.

Pausing, Darrell looked down at her. She saw the question in his eyes, the surprise at learning she’d been a virgin, and Serena answered the question with an upward thrust of her hips. Once, twice, three times, then Darrell joined her, matching her movements, then taking the lead.

“Oh, Darrell…it feels so…” Her voice trailed off on a loud moan.

Darrell picked up the pace, deepened his thrusts, reaching a place inside her that was going to send her to
white-hot oblivion. With every stroke increasing the friction, she felt herself losing control.

“Wrap your legs around me,” Darrell told her.

Serena did. And Darrell’s thrusts reached even further inside her, a place that was increasingly getting hotter, and hotter…

And then she dug her nails into Darrell’s back and cried out when her body exploded with the most glorious of sensations. “Oh, my…”

Darrell swallowed her moan with a kiss, and Serena knew she’d found heaven on earth. She’d waited twenty-nine years for this, and good Lord almighty, this had been worth the wait!

As Serena’s passionate moans faded, Darrell stopped thrusting. Surely if her release had been this earth-shattering, Darrell’s couldn’t have gone off without her noticing.

“Hold on,” Darrell whispered. “I want you on top of me.”

Serena held onto Darrell as he rolled over onto his back. She moaned when his erection went even deeper inside her from this position. Darrell moved his hips upward, and instinctively, Serena met his thrusts.

“God, baby…” Darrell threw his head back and grabbed hold of Serena’s hips.

Serena’s hands covered Darrell’s hands. He moved her in a circular motion over him, and the friction started to build again. A long moan escaped her lips, followed by another one, then another, each getting shorter and more intense.

And then she exploded again, her entire body growing weak as her orgasm spiraled throughout her. Darrell
quickened his pace, gripped her hips tightly as he thrust hard and deep inside her. Then he moaned long and loud with his own release.

Spent, Serena slumped against him.

“Oh, baby,” Darrell said. He kissed the very breath from her.

“That was…amazing,” Serena finished, not sure how else to describe the life-altering experience they’d shared.

“Yes it was,” Darrell said. He wrapped his arms around her and Serena rested her head in the groove between his neck and shoulder. They lay together, neither saying anything more, their ragged sounds of breathing the only thing filling the room.

The moment Darrell knew Serena was sleeping, he let himself have it.

Good Lord almighty, he had just messed up but good!

A
virgin
?

Mentally, he let out a long string of expletives.

Of all the idiotic, monumentally catastrophic things he could have done, this topped the list.

Serena was a virgin. Well, she
had
been…until he’d damn well deflowered her.

By the time he’d figured out the score, it had already been too late. And then Serena had started gyrating her hips, telling him in no uncertain terms that she
didn’t
want him to stop. She’d felt so good, and so had he, and he’d been powerless to stop something they’d both clearly wanted.

Now, he felt like a jerk.

How had all this started, anyway? Serena had offered to have the charges against Cecil dropped—for him. Hell,
most people said a simple thank you when someone did something nice for them. They didn’t kiss and grope that person like a horny teenage boy, then take the woman’s virginity.

Darrell cringed anew at the realization that Serena had actually given him her virginity.

He’d known from the beginning that getting involved with her was wrong, that there was no future in it. Ultimately, he didn’t want to hurt her, and he’d sensed that for her making love would be much more than the physical act. But something about her drew him to her, and he hadn’t been able to stop what had been in motion from the first night he’d met her.

But Christ, he had no clue she’d been a virgin! If he’d known that, he sure as hell would have kept his hands off her.

He felt like someone had kicked him in the gut. Talk about complications! Women tended to get all clingy when they gave their virginity to a guy. One look at Serena told him it was already starting. Even in sleep, her mouth formed a faint satisfied smile.

Darrell had been hoping for a no-strings-attached nonmessy romp. Could he have picked a more inappropriate woman?

A virgin? He ground out a frustrated grunt.

His eyes ventured to her face again. He didn’t understand. If she’d been a virgin for so many years, why give it up for him?

Slowly, so he wouldn’t wake her, Darrell carefully unlinked their fingers, which lay across his chest. Once apart, he edged his body to the side of the bed, then sat up. Surprisingly, he instantly missed the warmth of her body.

Fresh guilt flooded him as he looked over his shoulder at her. She looked so beautiful, so
content
.

How could she be a virgin yet give herself to him with such wanton abandon? What a paradox she was. Serena was all fire and passion beneath that sweet and demure exterior.

Why me?
The question sounded in his head.

Serena stirred, moaning softly. She reached for him. When she didn’t feel his body, her eyes popped open with alarm. But seeing him, she smiled.

“Come back here, you,” she said coyly.

Oh, damn.

“I was only taking a nap, not down for the count.”

Darrell stretched out beside her. “Is that so, Slugger?”

A playful pout danced on Serena’s lips. “That wasn’t very nice.”

Darrell ran a finger along her hips. “Really? Well, how can I make up for that?”

“That’s a good start,” Serena replied, then rolled onto her back.

Oh, man. Those breasts. That body. Darrell was lost.

What the hell. He’d already taken her virginity.

He couldn’t possibly do any more damage at this point.

“Just a second,” Serena whispered into the phone. A quick look in Darrell’s direction told her he was still sleeping. The poor thing was so exhausted the phone hadn’t even awaken him.

Serena’s face flamed as she smiled. Darrell certainly had a right to be exhausted after the hours they’d spent in her bed.

Biting her bottom lip to suppress a happy giggle, Ser
ena pressed the hold button on the phone, then got up. She grabbed her robe from the rocking chair and slipped into it. Knotting the tie on her robe, she stole one last glimpse of Darrell before heading out the bedroom door. The sight of his long form stretched out on her bed, naked as the day he was born, did her heart a world of good.

What they’d shared was so incredible, it almost seemed too good to be true. But there was no denying the reality of what had happened, and how Darrell had made her feel.

Part of her brain told her she should feel some regret at losing her virginity to Darrell, but she didn’t. Not one little bit. Because Darrell was her Mr. Right. She knew that down in the depths of her very soul.

Serena gently closed the door, then whirled around like a giddy schoolgirl. What an incredible couple of hours. She couldn’t wait for more.

Oh, God! Her sister was on hold. An extra pep to her step, Serena practically danced to the living room and picked up the phone there.

“What’d you do, stop to make dinner?” Kiana asked.

“You’re so silly,” Serena said.

Kiana paused. “And what was with the whispering when you answered the phone?”

“Nothing,” Serena practically sang.

“Oh, God.”

“Oh, God what?”

“Serena, tell me…no,” Kiana said after a second. “I must be going crazy to even
consider
that.”

“O-kay,” Serena replied, chuckling softly.

“Oh, God. You are acting too crazy. Tell me you didn’t—”

Kiana stopped short when Serena erupted in a fit of giggles.

“Oh. My. Lord. You
did
.”

“Did what?” Serena asked, when she caught her breath.

“You…” Kiana’s voice was hushed. “You didn’t
sleep
with Darrell or anything crazy like that…did you?”

“Kiana, why didn’t you tell me it was this fabulous?” Serena asked, as though her sister had conspired to keep a secret from her. “I might not have waited this long!”

“Oh, no. Oh, Serena. How could you?”

“I’m sure I don’t have to explain the details to you.”

“You have gone and lost your mind.”

“I don’t regret waiting,” Serena quickly added. “Like I’ve always said, I wanted to wait until it was right. And believe me, this was right.” Her body throbbed, remembering.

Kiana blew out a long breath. “Serena, what you’re feeling now is the euphoric stage. But tell me this, do you even know where this will lead? You barely know the guy.”

“I know him.” Serena meant every word. In the time they’d been together, Serena knew much more about Darrell than she’d known about any other man she’d ever been involved with.

“Look, I won’t give you any lectures. I’m certainly not an authority on love.”

Kiana’s tone was like a tiny prick in Serena’s elated bubble. “Did something happen with Geoff?”