“Take it off.” He barely recognized his own voice in the gruff command.
She turned around and reached for the light switch.
“Leave it on.”
She hesitated but left it alone. Then, she let the yellow dress slide off her body to pool at her feet, her eyes on him, a sexy come-hither upward curl on her full lips. “Like what you see?”
“‘Like’ isn’t the word I’d use.” He curled a hand around her wrists and pulled her arms up above her head, pinning them to the door with one hand. “‘Obsessed with’ seems about right.”
Eyes watching her face for her reaction, he brushed the back of his knuckles over her hard nipples, pressing against the pale pink of her sheer bra. “‘Can’t get enough’ comes to mind.”
Desire swirled in the dark depths of her hooded gaze, and he pinched her nipple through the material, and she let out a needy moan. “‘Want it all’ is definitely correct.”
He put his leg between hers, moving it so that his thigh rubbed against her panty-covered mound. “The question is, what do you like?”
He unsnapped the front clasp of her bra and sucked her nipple into his mouth, raking his teeth over the hard nub. “Do you like that?”
“Yes,” she said, her voice breaking.
Rolling her other nipple between his finger and thumb, he moved his leg away from touching her. She let out a frustrated groan that he felt down to his balls. He cupped her breast, rolling his thumb in circles around her nipple again and again before taking his hand lower, stopping only when he got to the top of her panties. She pushed her hips forward, silently begging for his touch. Poor Gina. She was as lost as he was. He kissed the spot where her shoulder met her throat, that pulse point that was always so sensitive to his tongue, his lips, his nipping teeth.
“Are you wet for me?” he asked against her flushed skin.
She let out a tortured moan. “Yes.”
He slipped his fingers beneath the elastic of her panties, brushing against the tight curls at her apex but not going any farther. “Do you want to fuck me?”
“Yes.” She bucked against his hand, undulating her hips in an obvious effort to get him to touch her where she needed him.
But he wasn’t going to do that. Not yet. He needed her to understand what this was about. They weren’t just fucking. Not anymore. This was more. “Do you want me to fill you up and make you mine?”
Lip caught between her teeth, she nodded. “Yes.”
“I want you to be mine.” It was a declaration, a promise, a prayer. He picked her up and headed for the stairs. “No one else’s.”
…
It was just talk, the kind of out-of-your-mind, turned-on-beyond-belief talk that didn’t stay true in the light of day, but Gina wasn’t going to think about that now. Not with Ford touching her like that and looking at her like he really meant it—like he’d fallen for her the way she had for him. And that’s what it was, and that’s what made this so good and so bad at the same time. She loved him. There wasn’t any two ways about it. Ford Hartigan didn’t have to make her his, she already was.
“Be careful of the wonky step,” she said as he carried her up the stairs.
His grip tightened on her. “You don’t have to worry when you’re with me.”
He brought her into the bedroom and set her down near the foot of her bed. Then, he started to unbutton his shirt, and her jelly legs decided it would be better to watch the show from the bed. Her legs were smart.
Totally unconscious of the fact that she was in her underwear while he was doing a strip tease—even if he probably wasn’t thinking of it that way—Gina took in the moment, packing it away in her memory bank for a night probably not that long from now when Ford would be gone.
His shirt went first, followed by him reaching behind his head and yanking off his undershirt. That gave her an unobstructed view of his muscular chest and arm-porn-worthy biceps. She meant to stay on the bed, really she did, but her legs—smart legs, remember—had other ideas. While he flipped off his shoes, she was next to him, tracing her hands across the expanse of his shoulders, circling his flat nipples with her tongue, and lowering herself to her knees to better follow the happy trail leading from his belly button to the button of his jeans.
When he reached to unfasten it, she swept his hand aside and did it herself, watching the exquisite anticipation that made his nostrils flair and darkened his green eyes. She pushed his jeans down, then his boxers, and wrapped her hands around the base of his hard cock, stroking up and down.
“Gina,” he said, the rough edge of his voice sending a thrill through her.
She cupped his balls and took a slow lick of the swollen head. “Yes?”
“You’re not being nice.”
Up and down she stroked. “Really? I thought I was being very nice.”
The vein in his jaw ticked, visible proof of the tenuous hold he had on his control. “This is about you tonight.”
“And this isn’t?” she asked, twisting her grip as she moved her hand up and down his length.
He closed his eyes and said on a harsh exhale, “No.”
Silly men. “You don’t think I get turned on watching you fight off an orgasm?” She leaned forward and swirled her tongue around the head of his cock, relishing the salty pre-come at the tip. “Because I do.” She took him in deep before letting him go. “I do a lot.”
He shut up after that—unless she wanted to count the rumbling sounds of approval as he threaded his fingers through her hair and held her in place while he moved his hips back and forth with slow, precise movements that had both of them on the edge of sanity. She did not want to count that. Instead, she slid her hand between her legs and underneath her panties.
“Fuck,” he said, his voice tight. “Are you playing with yourself?”
Since her mouth was busy, she just nodded.
“I want to watch you.” His hands in her hair held her in place as he took a step back. “Show me.”
Whatever wanton woman had taken over her body was more than willing to comply. She stood, slid her panties off, and got up on the bed. Ford watched, fisting his dick, as she spread her legs. Everything was so sensitive that it only took a few strokes with two fingers around her clit for her to be on the verge of coming.
“Yes, that’s it,” he said, moving closer to the edge of the bed. “Don’t hold back.”
She didn’t. She couldn’t. Fingers slick with her arousal, she touched herself, bringing herself closer and closer with each movement until there was no holding back. The vibrations started, and in the heartbeat before her orgasm hit, she realized that Ford wasn’t watching what she was doing with her fingers, he was watching her face.
…
There was no coming back from this. Ford knew it. Watching Gina come apart was almost more than he could take.
He grabbed a condom from the drawer in her bedside table and tore the wrapper open with more force than necessary, but he was using all of his conscious effort to stop himself from sinking deep within her without any protection. She opened her eyes and looked at him with lazy satisfaction in her gaze as she watched him roll on the latex.
“I think I might be done,” she said, even as she caressed her tits.
He grabbed her ankles and pulled her down to the edge of the bed. “We both know that’s not the case.”
“That’s true,” she said, lifting her legs straight up.