Page 43

This kiss was different from our first. Less frantic, more deliberate. Her lips were soft against mine, tentative at first, then more confident as I responded. My hands grazed her waist, drawing her closer as her arms wound around my neck.

When we broke apart, both slightly breathless, I rested my forehead against hers. “Are you sure about this? Because if you’re not, we can stop. No pressure.”

“No, I’m not sure. This is probably the worst decision I’ve ever made. But I’m doing it anyway.”

“Gee, thanks, darling.”

She rolled her eyes and leaned into me. “I want you, Cal. That’s my decision. Right here, right now.”

That was all the encouragement I needed. I captured her lips again, deepening the kiss, my tongue exploring her mouth as my hands roamed her back. She made a small sound of pleasure that went straight to my dick.

Our kisses grew more urgent, hands exploring, breaths quickening. When I trailed my lips down her neck, she tilted her head back, giving me better access to the sensitive skin there. I took full advantage, alternating between gentle kisses and light nips that made her gasp.

“Bedroom?” I suggested against her throat.

“God, yes,” she agreed breathlessly.

I led her down the hallway, stealing kisses along the way, both of us laughing when I nearly walked us into a wall because I was too distracted by her to watch where we were going. By the time we reached my bedroom, her hair was half down from its elegant updo, and my tie was completely undone.

Standing at the foot of my bed, I paused, suddenly nervous. This wasn’t just any woman. This was Anica. Competent, brilliant, maddening Anica, who saw through my bullshit and challenged me at every turn. I didn’t want to mess this up.

She must have sensed my hesitation because she reached up to cup my face, her touch gentle. “We don’t have to do this,” she said softly.

“I want to. God, do I want to. I just... this is different.”

“Different how?”

“Different everything,” I admitted. “Different you.”

Her expression softened, and she rose on her toes to kiss me again, this time slowly, deeply, with an intensity that made my knees weak. As we kissed, her hands moved to the buttons of my shirt, unfastening them one by one until she could push the fabric off my shoulders.

“Greek god abs,” she murmured appreciatively, tracing the contours of my chest with her fingers. “I stand by it.”

I chuckled as I turned her gently, finding the zipper of her dress and lowering it, my knuckles grazing her spine as I revealed each inch of skin.

I followed the zipper’s path with my lips, tasting the salt on her skin, relishing the way she shivered under my touch.

The dress finally pooled at her feet, leaving her in nothing but a strapless bra and the smallest, laciest excuse for panties I’d ever seen, both in a deep blue that matched her dress.

“Christ, Anica,” I breathed, taking in the sight of her. “You’re... I don’t even have words. And I always have words.”

A flush spread across her skin, but she didn’t look away. Instead, she reached for my belt, unfastening it. I held my breath. My pants followed her dress to the floor, leaving me in just my boxer briefs, my arousal straining against the fabric with an enthusiasm that bordered on medical concern.

We stood there for a moment, both nearly naked, eyes drinking in the sight of each other. Then, as if by mutual agreement, we came together again, skin against skin, mouths seeking, hands exploring.

I guided her to the bed, laying her down with a gentleness that surprised even me. I wanted to worship her, to learn every curve and hollow of her body, to discover all the places that made her gasp and moan.

Anica paused. “Clean?”

“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “You?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

Starting at her lips, I worked my way down, kissing her neck, her collarbone, the swell of her breasts above her bra. I reached behind her to unfasten the garment, looking to her for permission. At her nod, I removed it, revealing her to my gaze.

“Perfect,” I murmured, cupping one breast as I lowered my mouth to the other. The sound she made when my tongue flicked across her nipple was enough to make my dick throb.

“You know,” she said, her voice husky as I lavished attention on her breasts, “for someone who talks as much as you do, your mouth is surprisingly useful for other things.”

I grinned against her skin. “You have no idea. This is just the preview.”

I continued my exploration, trailing kisses down her stomach, over her hipbones, along the inside of her thighs. When I hooked my fingers in the waistband of her panties, she lifted her hips, allowing me to slide them down her legs.

Looking up the length of her body, I met her eyes, silently asking permission. She nodded, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

The first taste of her was everything I’d imagined and more. She was warm and wet, her flavor a heady mix of salt and sweetness that made my head spin. I savored her, using my tongue to trace slow circles around her most sensitive spot, careful not to give her too much too soon.

“Callan,” she gasped, her hips rising to meet my mouth. “Stop teasing.”

I chuckled against her, the vibration making her shudder. “Bossy even in bed. Why am I not surprised?”

Before she could retort, I slid a finger inside her while my tongue focused its attention exactly where she wanted it.

Shit she was tight. Her reaction was immediate and gratifying.

A sharp intake of breath, followed by a moan that I felt in my bones.

If there was any chance I wasn’t going to hurt her, I knew I needed to stretch her out a bit first. But fuck, she was already so wet. That, at least, would help.

I watched her as I pleasured her, fascinated by the way her expression changed, the flush that spread across her chest, the way her hands alternated between gripping the sheets and tangling in my hair.

She was uninhibited in her pleasure, vocal about what she wanted, and I was more than happy to comply.

Adding a second finger, I chuckled against her clit when her hand tugged at my hair.

It burned in the best possible way. Her hips bucked up as I sucked and licked.

“Right there,” she directed, her voice breathless as I curled my fingers inside her. “God, yes, just like that.”

I increased the pressure, the speed, working her body. This woman, no, this goddess was allowing me to worship her with my touch and my tongue. Fuck. If I lasted until she came, it would be a miracle. Her thighs began to tremble, her breathing quickened, and I knew she was close.

“Let go,” I murmured against her. “I’ve got you.”

Her release, when it came, was spectacular; her back arching, her inner muscles clenching around my fingers, my name falling from her lips like a benediction. I worked her through it, easing the pressure gradually as she came down from her high.

When I finally made my way back up her body, she was looking at me with a mixture of satisfaction and challenge.

“Your turn,” she said, pushing at my shoulders until I rolled onto my back. “I want to taste you too.”

Who was I to argue with that? I watched, heart hammering, as she positioned herself between my legs, her hair falling around her face like a curtain. She tugged off my briefs, tossing them over her shoulder to land somewhere on the marble floor.

“Holy shit, Cal,” she whispered, her wide eyes meeting mine. I smirked, shrugging as I folded my arms behind me. “Fuck.”

“Thank you.” I winked at her, and despite her shocked expression, she rolled her eyes.

“How the fuck am I supposed to fit you in my mouth?” She ran a finger up my dick, and my muscles clenched as I held back a groan.

“You’re a problem solver. You figure it out.” I ran my hand over her knee and up her leg. “I think it’ll involve some choking though.”

“Fuck you.”

“I’m hoping you will.”

Anica wiped the smirk right off my face as she gripped me at the base of my dick. I gasped, my lungs forgetting how to work.

“God, fuck.” I leaned back against the pillows, closing my eyes to restrain myself. “Anica,” I growled.

“Yes?” She grinned at me like a little vixen as she began to stroke me. I nearly lost it when she leaned over and spat on the head, rubbing her saliva and the precum down the shaft.

She took her time, exploring me with her hands first, learning what made me growl and groan.

And when she finally took me into her mouth, I nearly lost it then and there.

The wet heat of her was perfect, her tongue tracing patterns that had me seeing stars.

She was as methodical in this as she was in her work, noting what made me react most strongly and focusing her attention there.

“Fuck, I was right about your hands.” I cleared my throat, smiling like an idiot at the ceiling as I tried to distract myself so I didn’t explode too soon.

“What?” Pausing, she stared up at me through her eyelashes, licking the head of my cock with her eyebrow raised. “What about my hands?”

“At Rhodes. Little hands, excellent head.”

“No one says that.”

“Sure they do, they—Fuck!”

The goddess somehow managed to take half of me all the way to the back of her throat before I’d finished speaking.

I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately grasping at anything not related to Anica sucking my dick that would keep me from losing it here and now.

But I think I’d challenged her with the comment about her hands because she’d picked up speed with her mouth, adding her other hand in tandem with the first.