When You Least Expect (6 page)

“Thanks again for inviting me over,” Ariel said later as they drifted toward the door after they’d finished dinner and chatted for what felt like hours.

“And thanks for coming,” Matt replied.

“My pleasure.”

Matt was now standing close, closer to her than she could ever remember him being. She was awed by the size and strength of his body, how feminine and desirable his closeness made her feel. She licked her lips and then immediately chided herself for the silly, girlish move. But the chiding stopped, everything stopped, when he moved forward and pressed his lips against hers. It was a gentle kiss, not a mandate or a demand, but she could feel the power he kept leashed inside.

He trailed his lips across hers, planting soft kisses along the expanse of Ariel’s mouth. For a moment, she stood still but when she felt Matt’s exhaled breath, saw the way he tightened his hands around her upper arms, it let her know she hadn’t been alone. That he’d felt it too. Then he kissed her harder before he swept his tongue inside.

Ariel whimpered but then grabbed his shoulders and squeezed, telling him, and herself, how much she wanted this. Her message was received for soon he was kissing her deeply, passionately stroking every inch of her mouth with his heavy, wet kisses, and Ariel imagined how it would feel when he kissed the rest of her.

She would have stood there and let him kiss her all night, but lack of air forced her to pull back. As she sucked in deep, gulping breaths, she stared at Matt, his eyes alight with a passion that was also reflected in the hard pulse of his erection against her stomach.

“Do you want this, Ariel?” Matt asked, his voice low, gravelly with an edge of need.

“I do…”

She glanced away, but he cupped his hand against her cheek and turned her to face him again. “What?”

She took a deep breath and then met his eyes, heat spreading through her when she saw how hazy with passion they were.

“It’s been a long time… I may have forgotten how this is done,” she said and then she added a little laugh. It was a silly thing to say, but something compelled her to be honest with him, tell him where she stood.

“It’ll come back to you. And I’ll help.”

He said the last with a little lift of his mouth, but then any humor faded and only the passion remained. Ariel basked in Matt’s kiss, basked in the way his calm precision seemed only to underscore his desire for her. She returned the kiss, but she was not as controlled as he. She needed him, needed this and had no qualms about showing him how much.

She found herself pressed against the kitchen wall, and when Matt moved away, taking his heat and the intoxicating weight of his muscled body, she started to protest. The protest was short-lived for when she opened her eyes, he stood before her, strong, calm, but the riot of emotion in his eyes promising her a passion she wouldn’t ever forget. She reached out to seize it, lifted her hand to him, and when he entwined his strong fingers with hers, her stomach flipped and her knees went shaky.

Wordlessly, Matt led her up his beautifully carved, dark wood staircase and down an equally beautiful hall. What she’d seen of his home so far was breathtaking, but not nearly as much as the man who led her. She’d only shared herself with one other person, and though she had known where this was headed before she’d arrived, nerves had still fluttered in her belly.

But she wasn’t nervous now. Whatever happened in the future, whatever had happened in the past, this moment, what she and Matt had in this moment, was so right, so perfect, she had no doubts.

After they entered the bedroom at the end of the hall, she looked around quickly, noting how masculine and tasteful and Matt-like the room seemed. But the thought scattered when he recaptured her lips and laid his hands on her ass, his touch bold, encompassing as if touching her so intimately was the most natural thing in the world. Though she couldn’t quite match his ease, she touched him as well, slipping her hands under his shirt and moaning out at the contact, his muscle and hot skin as strong under her hands as it had looked to her eye.

When she dropped her hands and moved them forward, first over the tight ridges of his stomach and then across the front of his pants, he stilled and then tightened his hands on her ass, eyes drifting closed. Once he moved again, she did as well, teasing and testing his turgid flesh, and the way the fabric of his pants buffered her touch only made her more anxious. Even through his clothing, he was thick, hot, and Ariel squirmed with the rising anticipation of revealing all of him.

She’d been so distracted by her own exploration, she hadn’t noticed him moving his hands, so she jumped with surprise when, with a surprising deftness, he popped her bra open. Then he stroked his hands down her bare back, and she shivered. As he lifted the hem of her shirt, she reluctantly broke contact and lifted her arms, the regret at no longer touching him taken over by the excitement of him touching her, of his hands against her skin.

He tossed her shirt and bra aside and stared down at her through heavy-lidded eyes. For a moment, she wondered if he was disappointed by her body, the one that had always been bigger than acceptable and that now bore the effects of pregnancy. But when his eyes darkened and went deep with a lust that was almost tangible, there was no room for doubt.

And she wouldn’t have been capable of it anyway when he skimmed his hands up her sides and then grasped her breasts, his hands the perfect roughness to make her crave more. He massaged her breasts and stroked her nipples in just the way she liked, as if he’d somehow been privy to her desires before today. And she was grateful, her body buzzing, her head lighting up with the intensity of the sensation.

His shirt under her palms reminded her that he was still clothed, something she planned to change. With a feat of will, she put some distance between them, ignoring the way her body protested his absence, and worked at his shirt. Much as he had done, she tossed it away and took Matt in, letting her gaze roam his powerful chest and arms and then following the path with her hands.

He let her touch him to her heart’s content as he worked to rid her of pants, but she froze when he cupped her sex in his big hand, that rough palm against her tender lower lips almost enough to send her to climax. He lifted, hand pressing tighter against her and she stepped back. It was too much—too soon—she wanted to make this last, see all of him before she lost her senses.

She worked at his pants, the
snick
of his zipper as it lowered ringing loud in the room and sending Ariel’s already heated blood to another level. The outline of his cock was clear through his boxers, and the sight of it was enough to push Ariel to continue, so she peeled them down, eyes glued to him as he was exposed to her hungry gaze.

His cock sprang free and Ariel looked down, taking in the tangled thatch of hair, his thick, heavily veined shaft, the soft-looking skin that covered his rod, and then the rounded head, tip red and slick with arousal. All of him, his broad shoulders, heavy pecs, muscled stomach, powerful thighs, combined to create an intoxicating picture. He was masculine perfection, and Ariel did not even try to resist the desire to touch him.

The weight of Matt’s hard, heavy cock in her hand had Ariel squeezing her thighs together to try to ease the insistent throb of her sex. She’d never been this turned on, this needy, and even though it had been years since she’d received pleasure from anything other than her own hands, she suspected the man had as much to do with her anxiousness as anything else.

His powerful body was pulled tight, his muscles bulging. The patient, somewhat detached Matt that she’d come to know was gone, and in his place was a passionate man who looked at her like he wanted to devour her. He’d have to wait.

She released his shaft, letting her fingers trail along his satiny skin before she kneeled in front of him. He stayed still but watched her avidly as she leaned forward and inhaled deeply, his musky, masculine scent filling her senses, making her almost light-headed with need. When she shifted, the crown of his cock brushed her cheek, the faint touch an intoxicating mix of hard and soft.

She moved again, let her lips brush his crown again and again, and the fluid that had seeped out of him wet her mouth. He moved finally, traced her jaw and then gripped her shoulder tight enough that she could feel how he struggled to maintain control. Stopping only long enough to smile briefly, she kissed the head of his cock almost chastely, the feeling of his hot flesh against her lips making her cunt clench with anticipation.

She kissed him again and again, and then she snaked her tongue out and moaned at the first taste of his slightly salty essence. She wanted more, so she lapped at his slit, and was rewarded with a fresh drop of his clear fluid and a tightening grip on her shoulder.

Mouth open now, she curled her tongue around the tip of his shaft and then sucked, taking him deep. His crown and thick shaft tested her limits, but the need to have as much of him as she could pushed her on. She could take less than half of him, but she sucked at him eagerly and worked the rest of him with her hands. A moan escaped her throat and vibrated in her mouth as Matt bucked his hips.

And then he was gone, and Ariel despaired at her now empty mouth. Matt pulled her up and captured her lips in a scorching kiss, his tongue tracing her mouth, his cock hard against her thigh.

He ended the kiss abruptly and then moved swiftly to lay them on the bed, Matt’s huge, hard body atop hers, his heavy, welcome weight making her cry out.

“Matt…” she said, and as she spoke, she widened her legs and pressed her sex against him, his hot skin searing her and making her already wet pussy even wetter.

She skimmed her hands down his sides, over his hard stomach, to his cock. He stilled again, and then mimicked her movements, moving his hands down her breasts, over her stomach, and down to her mound, and lower until he traced her slick lips and then nudged her clit with his finger. She widened her legs and he took advantage, spreading her lips and then passing his fingers over her hole, all the while massaging her clit.

He unfurled one thick finger and pressed it inside her and then added another. Her cunt clenched around his fingers, and she cried out, idly wondering how full his thick cock would make her feel if his fingers stretched her almost to capacity.

As he stroked in and out he fumbled at his nightstand and retrieved protection. The loss of his fingers was tempered by the excitement of watching him sheathe his hardness. Matt gripped his cock and then approached, spreading out on top of her again.

She sucked in a breath at the slight sting of his entry, but that discomfort was a drop in the ocean of pleasure he was unleashing. Inch by inch, he entered her as she opened to receive him, breath freezing in her chest when he was finally seated.

“You okay?” Matt asked, voice rough and deep with passion, his hard, hot cock pulsing inside her.

“Better than,” she said, and then she squeezed around him experimentally, trying to accustom herself to his girth and length.

He groaned and then moved, and pleasure reverberated through her, starting at the point where they were connected and spreading through her. And then he moved again, deeper this time, his groin bumping against her clit, and all thought left.

She touched as much of him as she could, moving her hands over his strong back, the muscles of his ass, his lean flanks, and he did the same, gripping her hips and then cupping her breasts as he thrust, his strong, sure motion making her cry out. Her distended nipples brushed against his palms, and when he captured them between his fingers and stroked his thumbs over them, she squeezed her walls around his cock tight.

Wave after wave of pleasure washed over her, and she cried out, body first tense and then lax as she shuddered through her climax. She held Matt as she came, her only touchstones his hard body on top of her, his rigid cock inside her.

He went impossibly harder, stilled, and groaned his own climax on a low breath. They stayed connected in that most intimate way, the beat of Matt’s heart matching her own. She brushed a hand against his hair, slightly damp with the sweat of his exertion, kissed his hard jaw, his masculine lips.

“Can you stay tonight?” he whispered against her mouth.

Her response was a kiss.

Chapter Seven

“What are my girls up to today?” Matt asked as he walked toward Ariel’s front steps.

“Hey, Dr. Matt!” Dani called as she ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his legs.

“Hey, Dani-girl,” he replied, squeezing her shoulders.

In the three weeks since their first date, Ariel had seen him several more times, whenever she’d had a chance, really. And he’d come to the park with her and Dani and stayed over for dinner a couple of times. Ariel and Matt hadn’t really defined their relationship, not in so many words, and in truth, she’d been nervous about Dani spending time with him. She’d never done this before, hadn’t even really contemplated it, but somehow, while she’d been thinking about things, Dani and Matt had been busy becoming the best of friends, using the few times they got together to build what seemed to be an ever-strengthening bond. Dani wasn’t shy; being so just wasn’t in her makeup, but she’d especially taken to Matt, called him her new best friend—absolutely raved about him
all
the time.

And it seemed Matt felt the same. He was kind, attentive, patient. Fatherly. It scared the crap out of her and made her so happy that the depth of that happiness scared her even more. It was one thing for her to get involved, but Dani…? She’d have to be careful, make sure that her daughter wasn’t hurt.