Breathe for Me(16)

She dragged in a ragged breath. “That your usual mouth to mouth style?” She desperately tried to regain her sass—and her sanity. But it was obliterated in the heat.

“I’m a very, very good lifeguard.” He kept one arm curled around her but to her amazement he somehow he had her key in his hand. He kept her plastered to him as he unlocked her door and pushed her inside.

“Smooth.” She blinked as he shut her door and then walked her backwards down her little corridor.

He’d lifted her key from her pocket that easily? What other James Bond style skills did he have?

He must have read her thoughts because he winked. “Chequered past. Misspent youth.”

“But you crossed to the good side?”

“You got it.”

With the break in the intimate touch she felt bereft. Her bones wobbled as reality and doubt returned. He saw that too. He looked at her, purpose apparent in every line of his body. “Spread your legs for me, sweetheart.”

Was she really going to let him order her around like she was some brainless sex moppet? She clamped her treacherous upper thighs together and shook her head.

His smile widened.

Truthfully—albeit belatedly—she was embarrassed about how hot she already was. How wet. After just a few kisses? A couple of strokes? She’d nearly come fully clothed and in public. She didn’t do that.

“You know what I think?” He walked her backwards another three steps so she was against the wall again, only this time in the privacy of her apartment. “I think you like a little imagination.” He cupped her breast again, then slid firmly down her stomach, back beneath her waistband. “I think it pushes your button.” He leaned closer, his hand hovering above her mound. “Want me to detonate it?”

He watched her closely as if he was trying to see inside her head. But he so didn’t want to see the mess going on in there. And she didn’t want to think.

His fingers very slowly, carefully resumed the rhythmic, torturing strokes. She quivered, trying to hold back the incredibly intense response of her body. It was too much—so extreme it was embarrassing.

“Don’t hold your breath, darling. Breathe.”

She gulped the smallest bite of air. It wasn’t enough.

He leaned closer. Kissed her.

She couldn’t resist the urge any longer. She sucked his lower lip into her mouth. Desperate for a taste. She didn’t want the kiss to end, only deepen. For his fingers to keep flicking just there so she’d finally, finally come and be freed from this tension.

“That’s it.” Sounding pleased, he broke away. His light blue eyes bored into her. “You know we superheroes like a reward for all the good things we do. But we’re not always perfect. Sometimes we just take what we want even if we know we shouldn’t.” Slowly he teased open her blouse, one small button at a time. He parted the halves and ran his fingers along the lace-tipped edge of her bra. “Sometimes we just can’t resist. It’s the adrenalin. The relief. The rush from winning. We need to burn it off.”

He claimed her mouth again, his tongue plundering until she clung. He massaged the swell of her breasts, then slipped a hand to her back to release the catch of her bra. Thank heavens. She ached to be naked. As if he heard her, he pushed her blouse from her shoulders.

“And our heroine is carried away—literally,” he murmured as he lifted away to look at her reddened, aching nipples as he pulled down the lacy cups. “A guy that strong turns her on. But she wants to know just how strong he really is. Does he have superhuman stamina?” His lips quirked. “She can’t resist testing him. And herself. She wants to know whether she has the strength to take him. Can she cope? Or will he ravish every one of her senses?”

He stripped the bra from her, his fingers grazing down her arms. That slight touch, together with the freedom of her bared breasts, set off a storm of sensation inside.

“Part of her likes not having the choice.” He bent, licking around her areola until she whimpered. “He’s too strong for her. If he wanted, he could take anyway. She likes that edge.”

He put his lips around her taut nipple. Then she felt his teeth. Her lungs froze. In that moment when she was locked in anticipation, he bit down very, very slightly.

She cried out—shock and then pleasure rippling over her as he flicked his tongue over the sensitive nub then sucked her whole nipple into his mouth for a warm, blissful moment. But then cool air hit her breast as he released her.

She wanted him to do it again, to do the same to the other. But instead he spoke—soft and teasing.

“The truth is she can’t say no to him. She doesn’t want to stop him. Because she wants it all. She wants him to take it all.” Xander’s voice lulled her, drawing her deeper into the web of desire. Mesmerizing.

He was spinning a sexual fantasy around her and she leaned into it, embraced it. Escaped into it.

Because it was true.

She wanted him to test her, to totally push her. She wanted to feel all his strength.

“I’m going to take it all,” he promised.

He spread her legs and knelt between them. Firmly he curled a hand around her ankle and lifted her foot, placing it back further apart from the other. He shifted his knees, pressing them against the arches of her feet, ensuring she was kept spread. He skimmed the tips of his fingers up her legs—brushing her scar, her thinner calf muscle as he did. Chelsea tensed. But his fingers kept moving. His eyes were locked on hers, but he said nothing. His hands skimmed up until he grabbed the hem of her skirt, bunching it so he could get to the skin beneath. Then, still holding the fabric, he locked her fists in his big, capable hands. Her lashes lowered as she watched his dark head draw nearer. His hot mouth open, his tongue lashing, he teased her.

She jerked and then leaned back against the wall. She groaned, unable to stop the raw sound of yearning. She wanted her panties off. She wanted his hands back on her bare skin, his mouth too. The heat and wet of his tongue through the thin cotton covering her wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

She rocked against him, wanted to come so badly. Wanted to feel him inside her. Wanted the insane moments of ecstatic relief that only orgasm could bring.

Her legs shook. She couldn’t stay standing. She was going to come—and in doing that she was going to crumple to the floor. She whimpered, sighing again and again with each lash of his tongue across her cotton covered clit. She didn’t want it like this, she wanted it bare.

But it hit. Quick, sharp, sweet ecstasy convulsed through her. Her hands twisted, tightening on his—gripping him hard as the waves rippled through her. Joyous, decadent, thrilling waves—that washed through her far too soon.

And as the tension left, her legs slithered. But the ache was still there.

He stood quickly and scooped her into his arms. She looked into his face and saw the satisfied, predatory smile of a man who had a woman exactly where he wanted her. Where she wanted to be. But it wasn’t enough.

He walked quickly. She felt the softness as he placed her on her bed. His hand was firm on her shoulder, pushing her back to lie flat. Her excitement mounted again as she felt his hands feathering light strokes up her shins, to her knees. She arched towards him as his hands came to her waist. He slid the skirt from her, leaving her only in the plain white panties that had only the slightest lace trim along the edge.

“Very sweet.” He gazed over her. “Very hungry.” He ran a hand up her thigh. “And right now, very much mine.”

In a second his tee-shirt was in the far corner of the room.

She raised up onto her elbows to watch as he unbuckled his belt and then unfastened his jeans. He stopped and pulled something from the back pocket.

Any last little concerns had long ago disappeared in the heat. This was an experience she couldn’t deny herself. In fact, it was perfect—a sating of her needs without emotional entanglement. A fantasy with a guy who didn’t want a relationship any more than she did. For wildly different reasons no doubt. But the outcome was the same.

Avidly she watched as he rolled on the condom, lost in the moment now. She was glad she was lying down—her legs quivered. She should have known he’d be hung. With shoulders like that, his height, it made sense every part of him was in proportion. All but giant. Partly wary at his weight and size, the rest of her couldn’t wait to embrace the challenge.

He’d be all challenge.

Lying back on the bed, her legs splayed, she couldn’t help lifting her hips in an uncontrollable dance.

“Now,” he said lightly, watching her every tiny movement. “Where was I?” His gaze zeroed in on her panties again. “Oh yeah.”

The mattress depressed as he crawled onto the bed. This time he straddled her legs—keeping one knee either side of her so her knees were forced together. So not what she wanted.

He chuckled. “If it’s my fantasy, it’s my call how we play.”