Temperatures Rising (6 page)

It was only after sharing that bit of news that he noticed just how cozy he and Sherri had gotten together. Sometime during the past hour or so, they had eased into a more comfortable spot on the sofa. He was reclining sideways with his back against the armrest and she was sprawled all over him. Only when there was a lag in conversation did either of them realize it. Sherri quickly made a move to sit up.

The hand he placed on her shoulder halted her. “Please stay.”

She held his gaze for a long moment. Somewhere in her house he could actually hear the ticking of a clock, but for them it seemed time was standing still. That realization gaze him pause, and he continued to stare at her with the same intensity as she was staring at him. He became entranced, totally and irrevocably mesmerized, by the look in her eyes. In response, his body started getting hot; his desire was on the rise…as well as a certain part of his anatomy. The need to kiss her, touch her and play out his fantasies—the ones that invaded his nightly dreams—surged in him. But he fought back the temptation, determined to do what he’d promised and let her be in control. He had placed her in the driver’s seat, and he was willing to go wherever she transported them.

“It’s your call,” he said in a deep, husky voice. “You can play or you can pass. Which do you want to do?”

She continued to hold his gaze, and then she closed her eyes for a brief moment. When she reopened them, he immediately sensed a change in her and was well aware that she had made her decision. And by the look in her eyes, he had a gut feeling just what that decision would be. Yet his heart appeared to have stopped beating until she spoke aloud to confirm his assumption.

“I want to play.”

He simply nodded as intense heat fired up his blood. After inhaling deeply, he said, “Your serve.”

She slowly raised her body to lean forward, and he could feel the beating of her heart against his chest. Her hardened nipples felt right pressing into him, and her body’s heat was combining with his, causing a frisson of electric energy. Never before had he wanted a woman more, and when she tilted her mouth upward toward his, he leaned in to meet her halfway.

Her mouth closed over his, and in that moment the full impact of what they were doing blasted through his loins and he felt his arousal pressed solidly against her thigh. If she minded the hard contact, she didn’t show it. She was too busy tangling her tongue
with his and stretching up as far as she could to take the kiss deeper and make it last longer.

He grabbed her around her waist and gently pulled her body closer. With a compulsive need, he deepened the kiss like it was the greatest gift he could ever receive. Something he had been waiting his lifetime to have.

What made it even more special was that she had been the one to initiate it. She was surrendering herself to him willingly, and he was taking her mouth greedily. He had been right all along: she was a very passionate woman. He could feel her passion, taste it. And more than anything, he wanted to bury himself in the very heat of that passion, right inside her.

When breathing became necessary, she pulled away from his mouth and leaned against the back of the sofa to breathe in deeply while staring into his face. Their positions had shifted again and somehow she had him on his back beneath her.

Her lips were swollen from their kiss, her eyes aflame with desire, her face flushed with sensual need. At that moment he realized that Sherri Griffin was no ordinary woman. No ordinary woman had the capability to do the things she was doing to him. She had his entire body throbbing, his blood rushing through his veins, his insides on fire.

“It’s your turn,” she said, severing his thoughts.

His breathing deepened to a feverish pitch. “Are you sure?”

He knew what giving him a turn meant, but he wanted to make sure she knew, as well. Before she could respond to his question, he said, “I think it’s only fair to warn you that I’ve wanted you from that first day in Warrick’s office. Since then I’ve dreamed about you and me together this way countless times. Fantasized about it, as well. Once I take my turn, Sherri, I might not be able to stop. Chances are that I won’t.”

To indicate that she fully understood, she nodded. And then she swallowed deep in her throat before asking in a breathless tone, “Do you intend to play or pass, Terrence?”

He shifted both their bodies sideways and then leaned in closer and said in a deep, husky voice, “I intend to play.”

“Then it’s your serve.”

That was all he needed to hear.

T
errence had kissed her several times before, but nothing, Sherri thought, could have prepared her for this. He wasn’t just kissing her. He was staking a claim to her mouth that one would think went beyond a mere one-night stand. There was an urgent need within him. Demanding. And she felt it all the way through to her bones.

He was kissing her like she was the core to his very existence, and she could do nothing more than respond while her insides quivered and sensations surged through her nerve endings.

Then his hands seemed to roam everywhere, on
her breasts, underneath her skirt, touching her as if she belonged to him, not just for tonight but for days to come, weeks, months, years. The absurdity of that thought stuck in her mind, but not for long. The moment he used his legs to nudge her thighs apart and then put his hand between them to touch her intimately through her panties, any and all thoughts dispersed from her mind on a breathless moan. He pulled his hand back then and broke off their kiss, but she had a feeling he was just beginning.

And he proved her right.

Their eyes caught just seconds before he pushed back enough to start removing her clothes. He pulled her blouse easily over her head. Tossing it aside, he undid the front clasp of her bra in one smooth flick of the wrist. Once he had taken that off her, his gaze feasted on the twin globes and the hardened buds of her nipples. He sat back on his haunches, examined them in detail with his eyes, and she felt the heat of his gaze as it trailed all over her chest.

After getting his visual fill, he stood to remove her skirt. Words were not spoken between them. None were needed. It was accepted. Understood. She knew they wanted the same thing, and tonight they would be getting it.

With his fingers in the waistband of her skirt, he
gently eased it down her legs, baring all of her to him in the process. She was wearing a pair of bikini panties, but from the way he was looking at her she might as well not have been wearing anything at all.

The skirt went flying over the sofa, and she tilted her head back to look up at him. He smiled, and at that moment she was lost in a sea of desire so deep she felt herself drowning in it. But she knew there was no way he would let her go under. Tonight was far from over, and when he leaned down and picked her up in his arms, she knew it would be a long, hot night.

Following Sherri’s direction, Terrence headed for her bedroom as a gigantic need roared to life inside him. It had been there all the time, increasing steadily in slow degrees, but now it seemed to have taken on a life of its own.

He placed her on the bed and then followed her, easing back into the soft bedcovers with her, craving the taste of her mouth again. Tangling with her tongue sent erotic sensations rushing down his veins, and when he finally pulled back from the kiss, he knew he would take pleasure in removing the last garment from her body.

Straddling her, he began easing her panties down
her legs. As soon as he tossed them aside, his gaze latched on to the area between her thighs. That part of her held his gaze tightly, and he seemed unable to release it. He finally shifted his eyes to roam over her entire body, and the only word that came to his mind was
beautiful.
Every delectable inch of her.

He stood and began removing his own clothes and couldn’t get out of them fast enough. Seeing her in that bed naked and waiting for him was almost more than he could handle. He’d had more than his share of sexual encounters before, but none had him quivering from the inside out like this one.

He had taken off his shirt, but before he removed his jeans, he took out his wallet and retrieved the condom packs and tossed them on the bed. He pulled the others out of his back pocket.

She gave a little laugh. “So many?”

He undid his zipper. “Those are just a few. I have more in my car if we need them.”

Her smile was replaced by supreme wonder. “You’re kidding, right?”

He held her gaze. “No, I wouldn’t kid you about something like that. Evidently you don’t know how much I want you.”

When he pushed his jeans down past his thighs, he saw her take in the size of him through his briefs.
She inhaled deeply before saying, “If I didn’t before, I do now.”

He smiled and when he kicked his jeans aside he knew he had to get inside her body fast. There was pleasure and then there was pleasure, and he had a feeling they would be experiencing it to the highest degree tonight.

He could barely remove his last stitch of clothing knowing her eyes were directly on him. Once he did and looked up, he saw that her eyes were glued to his aroused member, both amazement and uncertainty etched in her features.

After sheathing himself in a condom, he decided not to waste any more time. He strolled over to the bed and, lifting a knee onto it, reached out his hand. “Come here.”

Unhesitatingly, she came to him, placing her hand in his and going willingly when he pulled her into his arms. She responded to him when he leaned in and closed his mouth over hers.

He slowly broke off the kiss and pulled back slightly. Meeting her gaze, he asked in a gruff voice, “Ready to play?”

The desire in her eyes deepened when she said, “Yes, I’m ready.”

Satisfied with her response, he traced her heated
flesh from the pulse point in her neck to her breasts. When he touched the hardened tips, she sucked in a deep breath. He watched the play of emotions on her face and knew her breasts were a hot spot for her, one he would enjoy using to push her over the edge.

Now was as good a time as any.

Lowering his head, his tongue replaced his fingers and he greedily began devouring her nipples. They seemed ready for his mouth. Her moans were sensuous music to his ears. As his mouth had its way with her breasts, his hands joined in and cupped them, tenderly kneading the firm mounds.

And then his mouth moved lower and he felt her shudder, which only heightened his need, flamed his desire. When he got to her stomach, his tongue blazed a wet trail around her belly button before finally moving lower.

His hands closed over her thighs, held them immobile as he lowered his head to the apex where her feminine mound awaited. With a guttural moan, he dived in with a possessiveness that nearly drove him over the edge of sanity. He felt her response when he began tasting her with his tongue and now understood why he had wanted her so much. The primitive part of him was absorbed in her sensual scent, her delectable taste, in every single thing about her.

The lower part of his body began throbbing with the need to be joined with hers, and moments later he gave in to the need. He lifted his head, met her gaze and smiled before slowly easing his body upward over hers, sweeping her into his arms.

He needed to hold her, kiss her, share with her sensations that were affecting him through to his bones. And when he released her mouth he knew he had to love her in the most primitive way known to man.

For him it was no longer an option. It was a necessity.

His eyes held tightly to hers when he eased between her thighs and lifted her hips high in his hands. With the head of his hard and heated erection poised at the entry of her feminine mound, he nearly trembled in greed. His gaze remained focused on her, studying her eyes, scrutinizing her face. He wanted to see her reaction, needed to hear her response, at the exact moment his body entered hers. Why such a thing was so important to him, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that it was.

It was then that he decided to seize the moment, capitalize on the sensuous chemistry and sexual awareness surrounding them. His pulse was beating rapidly at the base of his throat, and his erection was
throbbing hard in need. Slowly and with uninhibited deliberation, he pushed deep inside her, all the way to the hilt. Surprise then pleasure lit her features when her body accepted the full length and thickness of him. He heard her gasp, followed by a soft moan. Then he pulled out, just to thrust back into her again, watching her eyes dilate each time.

He held still for a second or else he would have exploded inside her, then and there. He needed to savor the moment, especially since this was the last time for both of them. He had to remember this was a one-night stand, but at that very moment, while on the brink of a sexual abyss, he didn’t see how that could be. How in the world, after this, he could not come back for more. And more.

Something within him uncoiled and propelled him to move. Maybe it was those sexy sounds she was making, or the scent of their joining that was floating around them, over them, cloaking them in the potent aroma of a man and woman mating.

“Terrence!”

He held on to her, dragging in a deep breath when her feminine muscles clamped him tightly, squeezing and demanding the hot rush of his release. He gripped her hips and with one final thrust gave her what she wanted, what they both needed, and felt her
come apart in his arms at the same moment he was ripped apart in hers. The same sensations that swept through him did likewise to her, rippling from head to toes.

His lips parted as he cried out her name, and when he felt his entire body get swept away, seemingly to the stars and beyond, he wondered if he would ever drift back down to earth again.

Sherri suddenly understood what it meant to be totally consumed in the art of making love. Terrence had taken her to a level of pleasure that she’d never traveled to before. The thought that this was what she should have been experiencing all those times she had been faking it hit a deep nerve. How was it possible for one man to so eloquently do what another one could not? How had Terrence given her the experience of a lifetime, her first big O, when Ben hadn’t even come close?

She pulled in a deep breath, deciding not to think about it since it didn’t matter any longer. Terrence had given her pleasure beyond measure, and from the way she saw things, she had pleased him, as well, which lifted a great burden off her shoulders. Nothing was wrong with her. She could be both the recipient and giver of pleasure.

Something else Terrence had shown her was the fact that she was capable of falling in love again, because as much as she didn’t want it to happen, as much as she didn’t need it to happen, she was afraid she could be falling in love with him. She inhaled deeply, thinking that he was the last person a sane woman would want to give her heart to.

“Sherri?”

She glanced up and met his gaze. He had slumped down beside her and was drawing in deep breaths of air. “Yes?”

“We’re not through yet tonight. I gave you fair warning.”

She nodded, remembering. He had. She felt his touch between her thighs and immediately her body responded. And then he was there, leaning up on his elbows, all in her face, about to get all in her mouth. And the only thing she could think of at that very moment was that she was ready, willing and able to go the next round with him. More than anything, she wanted to make love with him again. She would share her body with him, but she was determined to keep her heart under lock and key.

The opening and closing of the bathroom door jerked Terrence awake, made him recall just where
he was and in whose bed he had spent the night. He glanced out the window. It was morning.

He stretched his body and then leaned up on his elbow to glance at the clock on Sherri’s nightstand. It was just a little past seven. When he heard the sound of the shower going, he slumped back down beneath the covers. He was tempted to go join her but doubted he could move his body. To claim he was sensuously exhausted was an understatement.

Just how many times had they made love? How many orgasms had they shared? Hell, he wasn’t sure. At some point he had stopped counting. Her need to mate had been just as fierce as his. Before last night he’d never had a reason to care about any woman’s past relationships, but in Sherri’s case he had a feeling her past lover hadn’t been taking care of business properly. Some of the positions they’d tried had been new to her, but she hadn’t hesitated to go for it, finding satisfaction and giving him his. He smiled when he remembered he had basically ridden her to sleep right after an orgasm had hit them both. He hadn’t been able to stop his body from thrusting into her until he had nothing else to give. It had been only then that he had slumped down beside her and pulled her into his arms, where they both succumbed to blissful slumber.

He threw his hand over his eyes when something occurred to him. He had known making love to her would be powerful, but what he hadn’t expected was for her to blow his mind in such a way that the very thought that this would never happen again between them was totally, absolutely unacceptable.

He inwardly groaned. When had the thought of leaving a woman’s bed without looking back ever bothered him? Most of the time when the sex act was over, he was the first one gone. But not this time. He wondered how he could convince her that last night should be the beginning for them and not the end. And he knew why. The woman had gotten under his skin, and one night of lovemaking wouldn’t be able to get her out.

He actually liked her. He liked her smile, which she was giving him more of these last couple of days, and he liked the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. He liked the way she made those little sounds right before she came and the way her body responded so quickly whenever he touched her.

Amazingly he was beginning to understand her, something he’d never taken the time to do with other women. He doubted she realized it, but when they had been holding their in-depth conversations, he
had listened carefully and had heard everything she’d said and had picked up on a number of things she hadn’t said. He couldn’t help but admire a woman who knew what she wanted and worked hard to achieve it. She wanted to one day manage WLCK, and he could respect that and had no doubt she would achieve that goal.

But what he needed to show her was that she could have the best of both worlds. A career and a man. From the information he’d been able to weasel out of Warrick, her fiancé had broken their engagement, claiming she had made her desire for a career more important than her desire for him. Meanwhile he’d sought the attention of another woman. Jeez. What kind of ass reason was that to cheat? Even he was smart enough to know it was the quality and not the quantity of time that mattered in a relationship. His father had proven that when he had juggled being a single father and an attorney. Evidently no one had explained it to Sherri’s boyfriend.