Unwrapped (2 page)

Oh God
.
Why am I like this
?
Why can
’
t I be a good lover
?

She found herself backing away then, her whole body stiffening, until she lay beside him, wishing she were anywhere else besides in bed with a man whose desires she couldn’t fulfill.

“I’m so sorry, Simon,” she whispered. “Forgive me.”

“Of course,” he said, voice quiet, strained.

He
’
s lying
.
He doesn
’
t forgive me
.

“I want you,” she said.

“It doesn’t feel that way.”

“I do. I swear.” It was true. Unbelievable to him, probably, but so true.

“Please,” she said, rolling to touch his chest again. “Please—I want you inside me. I love you so much.”

Simon looked at her in the shadows, but she couldn’t read his expression. A certain darkness lingered there. Heated desire? Or disgust with her flip-flopping routine?

Either way, he rolled over onto her, situating himself between her parted legs. He kissed her neck, and as always when he did that, passion fluttered inside her once more. She did want him, she truly did. And as he pushed his way into her body, filling her, she groaned with the wonderful intrusion, reaching to meet his lush mouth with her own.

Things were different—so much more effortless—when he was on top of her, when he asked nothing of her, expected nothing. Maybe it just meant she was a selfish lover, she didn’t know. But now that he was inside, she felt his renewed heat and saw it 9

Lacey Alexander

burning in his eyes. Now that he was inside, he was hot for her again, and
she
was hot for
him
, and the world was suddenly perfect.

“I love you, baby,” she whispered.

“I love you, too. I want to make you come.”

Could any man be better than Simon? All this, and still he cared about her pleasure.

More than she did, possibly, because…well, she didn’t always climax, not even when he touched her there. His touch was scintillating, but she knew she thought too much, let her nervousness get in the way.

As was their routine—the only one she’d ever really allowed them to fall into—

Simon eased back, still inside her but upright, onto his knees. Using his thumb, he found her clitoris and began to stroke. “Want to make you feel so good, my sugarplum girl,” he murmured over her deeply, sweetly. “So, so good.”

His soothing voice combined with the darkness to help her slip away to somewhere else completely. In her fantasy, Simon held her down, gave her no choice,
made
her feel the pleasure. They were in a different time, a different world, where it was okay for her to feel dirty, to feel the slick way his thumbs stroked through her wetness even as his cock slid just as slick into her opening, to relish the hot pressure that rose in her, the fullness, the pleasure, the—
oh God
! “Unh!”

Despite herself, she cried out as the orgasm broke over her quickly, heard her own high sobs as the pulses pounded through her body, until finally she was dropped back in the bed, back to here, back to now—torn between that weird sense of guilt and the joy of having let go, even if just for a moment.

“So sweet, baby,” he purred over her, then kissed her, once, twice, his tongue mingling with hers—but then, short seconds later, he began pounding into her, hard, harder.

Yes
,
oh yes
! She loved his power, loved the way his thrusts echoed through her whole being. Now that her climax had passed and she’d come back to herself, she could no longer yell her pleasure aloud, but inside, her screams were deafening.

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Unwrapped

“Watching you come,” Simon said on a heavy breath, still driving his cock deep,

“gets me so hot… I can’t hold back.”

As he exploded inside her, she absorbed the hard plunges, filled with warmth to know she’d taken him there—although to her way of thinking, it was amazing she even aroused him at all, given her behavior. So she hugged him tight, thankful she’d made it through one more night of these weird, contradictory desires and could now simply hold her man while he recovered in her arms.

Please don
’
t give up on me
,
Simon
.
I love you so much
.

11

Lacey Alexander

December 6

Simon looked up over his plate of hors d’oeuvres, his cock responding at the mere sight of Emily walking into his office Christmas party. Her dress was simple, black with thin straps at the shoulders, but it showed plenty of gorgeous cleavage and hugged her sumptuous curves. Her dark hair was piled on top of her head in a glamorous yet messy style he thought worthy of a red carpet, baring her beautiful neck.

Most men, he supposed, wouldn’t get a hard-on just from watching their girlfriends walk into a room. Most men, though, didn’t have the conundrum that was Emily in their lives. Funny, smart, sexy and more than a little easy on the eyes, his Emily. But get her in bed and she was like a deer in headlights.

He had no idea why, other than what she’d explained to him about being raised to be prim and proper. He couldn’t seem to get it through her head that when you loved somebody, all that shit went out the window. Or it should, anyway. He swallowed back the little dart of disappointment that pierced his heart at the thought. They were perfect together—if he didn’t count how much she seemed to dislike having sex with him.

Elegant jazz versions of favorite Christmas classics provided the background to the party. The lavish, oversize lobby of Crain and Wilborn had been draped in sparkling red and gold, the large tree in the corner done in the same color scheme and sporting elegant glass ornaments. People sipped wine and mixed drinks and held paper plates festooned with holly leaves. As Christmas parties went, it was pretty boring. Which might explain why every eye in the place turned toward his sugarplum as she crossed the floor toward him. She had no idea what a knockout she was.

“Sorry I’m late.” She smiled up at him, then helped herself to a shrimp puff from his plate.

He leaned down to kiss her. “You look incredible. Glad you’re here.”

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Unwrapped

She gave him a once-over that stiffened his cock a little more. “You look pretty incredible yourself.”

He shrugged, but appreciated the compliment. “Just my everyday work attire, sugarplum.” A crisp black Armani suit with a red tie, chosen that morning with the holiday in mind.

“But you wear it so well,” she said.

And damn, if he didn’t know better, the look in her pale blue eyes would make him think she was feeling hot, seductive.

His gaze dropped to her breasts, their rounded inner curves revealed by the clingy dress. He wanted to slide his cock into that perfect valley. He was tempted to tell her that. With most women, after three years together, he’d be able to say that if he wanted, whisper it in her ear, a promise for later. But with Emily, he bit his tongue. She’d probably faint if he told her what he wanted to do with her breasts right now. At the very least, she’d turn fifty shades of red.

Just then, his colleague, Mark Wagner, sauntered up. Tall and lean like Simon, but olive-skinned with darker hair, Mark was a handsome flirt, and half drunk from the looks of him. “Long time, no see, Em,” he said, then planted a palm firmly at her hip, leaning in for a slightly-too-long kiss on the cheek.

Damn. Even watching some other guy put the moves on his girl added to the stiffness in Simon’s pants.

“Hi, Mark—how are you? Is Carolyn coming? Or are the twins keeping her too busy?”

Simon smiled.
Nice move
,
sugarplum
. She’d asked the questions in a completely sweet, confident tone, but they’d struck home, reminding Mark she knew exactly how much of a family man he was and that he should probably be keeping his hands and lips to himself.

Mark straightened, looking slightly cowed. “Yeah, Carolyn should be here any time now—had to drop the girls at her mom’s first.”

13

Lacey Alexander

“Good—I look forward to seeing her,” Emily said.

Simon forgave himself for having dirty thoughts about his coworker’s hands on her since, hell, their sex life was so bland and dry and awkward that he figured pretty much
anything
would arouse him at this point. He knew Emily was as troubled by their different tastes in sex as he was, but it was wearing on him lately.

Just then, his boss and friend, Cal Hanson, walked up and slapped him on the back.

“Drink up, buddy—life doesn’t offer an open bar just every day.”

Simon laughed. Cal, unlike him, possessed a sex life to be envied—and he liked to tell Simon about it, forcing him to suffer through tale after tale of seduction and debauchery.

Single and thirty, the same age as Simon, Cal had a knack for finding girls with sexual appetites and whims toward the kinky that Simon could only dream of. One of Cal’s many girlfriends had recently dressed up in a French maid costume and cleaned his condo in between fucking his brains out. And it hadn’t even been Halloween.

Nope, on Halloween Cal had gone to a wild party dressed as a sheik and come home with not one, but two hot harem girls who had taken turns pleasuring him, and each other, all night long.

Simon didn’t care about conquests or anyone cleaning for him—but he’d love to have a girl who was that wild and free. Was it possible to have a great relationship like what he shared with Emily and also have a wild, crazy, no-holds-barred sex life? Was he asking too much? Hell, he’d settle for
less
than wild and crazy—he’d be thrilled out of his mind if Emily just gave him a blowjob, or let him eat her pussy. He’d gone down on her a couple of times, but she’d gotten all stiff and quiet on him and he’d known that instead of turning her on the exact opposite was happening.

Now he looked at the woman next to him who was expertly chatting up his boss, clearly the envy of every other female in the office lobby. How could she be so very vibrant and exuberant—yet so distant and unhappy when they got naked together? It made no sense.

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Unwrapped

And the truth was, he wanted to take their relationship further—he and Emily had a great time together, they understood and respected each other, and in most ways, she embodied everything he could want in a woman. But sex—or the lack of it—was an issue for him. Maybe that made him shallow, but he couldn’t deny that it put a damper on what they shared. Could he really be happy tying himself for life to someone who didn’t enjoy sex?

He shook his head, banishing the thought for now.

Cal had just dragged Emily to the nearby bar, insisting she needed a drink—Simon heard him bellowing about the open bar again. So Simon took Cal’s advice and drained his scotch and Coke, ready to get another himself—when Dana Landers grabbed his arm.

He looked into her dark eyes, but his gaze automatically dropped farther, to the deep V of the red cocktail dress she wore. Her large breasts were very much on display, and whether he liked it or not, it added to his erection. He hoped like hell his reaction didn’t show on his face. “Hi, Dana—having a good time?”

She tilted her head, her expression playful and seductive. Dana had been flirting with him since she’d started working at Crain and Wilborn six months ago. Now, she rubbed his arm through his suit. “Kind of. But to tell you the truth, I’m in the mood for another kind of party altogether.”

He slanted her a wary grin. “What kind of party is that?”

She let out an enticing sigh, her breasts heaving with the gesture. “The private kind.

Cerise and I—” she motioned to another girl from the office, a recent college grad and blonde beauty who he knew was also a cheerleader for the Bengals “—were thinking of heading back to my place and we were hoping you might want to come with.”

Simon peered down into her eyes and took in the scope of the invitation. As starved as he felt for hot, no-inhibitions sex… Well, he’d never done the threesome thing himself, but if he didn’t have Emily, he knew he’d be doing it tonight. Both girls were 15

Lacey Alexander

majorly hot and his cock now officially throbbed with the dirty visions entering his mind of him with two sexy babes who knew how to have fun in bed.

But he
did
have Emily, and even if she hadn’t stood just a stone’s throw away, he wasn’t a cheater. He spoke kindly, though. “Dana, you know I have a girlfriend.” He punctuated the comment with a lift of his eyebrows and a scolding grin.

She smiled boldly, unashamed. “We don’t mind.”

“But I do, I’m afraid. And besides, she’s here tonight.” He found himself pointing Emily out, still at the bar. “Black dress, talking to Cal.”

Dana studied her. “Wow, she’s hot.” Then she lowered her chin provocatively. “She could come along, you know. Cerise and I aren’t greedy.”

At this, Simon just laughed. Both at Dana’s flexibility and how much Emily would freak out if he even told her about the suggestion.

But then a picture entered his head. Him and Emily sitting on a sofa at Dana’s place, watching Dana and Cerise fool around. Would that excite her? In the little fantasy in his head, it would turn Emily crazed with need. She would be so aroused that she’d lift her dress, straddle him, and fuck him, right in front of the other girls. She’d pant and moan and ride him hard, and she’d be so fucking beautiful doing it that he’d probably drop to his knees and beg her to marry him right on the spot.

Sweat broke out on his brow, but not exactly from excitement. Shit, how had his hot fantasy led to ideas about a
marriage proposal
?

He sighed. Probably because it had been on his mind lately. He really wanted to spend his life with Emily—if only she liked fucking him more.

He blew out a heavy breath as he refocused on Dana and her inviting cleavage.

“Tempting, honey, but afraid we’ll have to pass.” Then he bent closer. “Here’s a tip, though. Try Cal. He’s into that kind of partying.”

Dana looked disappointed. “It’s really
you
I wanted.”