Chapter THIRTY-SIX
LEAH STEPPED UNDER the spray and let the water hit her face to remove the clown paint. She hoped the warm water and steam would calm her nerves. Not that she wanted to back out. It was just that… it had been a long time, and old insecurities bubbled to the surface. Did she remember how to do it? Was it like riding a bicycle?
Hell, she obviously had never been much of a biker chick—had been so bad at it that her ex had gone and biked with an older, less attractive neighbor. Not to mention, he’d turned to phone sex. She closed her eyes, accepting she had good reasons to be concerned. Then she remembered feeling the hardness between Austin’s legs as she’d slid down his body. He wanted her. She wanted him.
She could do this. Turning off the shower, she realized she hadn’t brought in a change of clothes. She started to re-dress in what she had on, then stopped. Snagging a towel from the rack, she wrapped it around herself. Feeling a surge of confidence, she shifted the slit to be a little sexier. She finger-combed her hair and did a leg check for bristle. No bristle.
Picking up her clothes, she gave herself a quick pep talk.
Ready or not, here I come.
Hair ball removed from shoe, Austin sat at the kitchen table. He hadn’t moved his eyes off the bathroom door since the water shut off. Leah walked out wearing nothing but a towel and a sexy smile. Some really nice body parts played peek-a-boo in the slit of her towel.
Did he really need a shower?
He wanted to undo that knot under her right shoulder and watch that piece of nubby cotton cascade down to her feet. He wanted her completely naked. He wanted to touch, to taste. He wanted her so much it hurt.
He wanted to make her want him equally as much.
She held her folded clothes in her hand, then set them on the end of the bed. The bed where he’d like to take her right now.
“My turn.” He forced himself to do the right thing.
The right thing ended up being the shortest shower he’d ever taken. Seconds later, naked and dripping wet, he searched his bathroom cabinet for condoms. He’d brought a pack a couple months back when he’d considered inviting someone up for the weekend, but had decided he’d rather keep the cabin his own. Oddly, he didn’t mind sharing it with Leah.
What did feel wrong was that he only had four condoms, which meant they were going to have to make a run to the store. Soon.
Checking the mirror to make sure he’d scrubbed off his clown face, he ran a hand through his wet hair. She’d set the dress code and he’d follow it. He tied the towel around his waist. Glancing down, he noticed a problem. He’d already pitched a tent under the nubby cotton. An impressive tent, too. Taking a deep breath, vowing to make this good for her, he hid two condoms in his palm and walked out.
She sat on the edge of the bed, frowning. “Do we have… protection?”
He turned his hand over.
She sighed. A touch of hesitation and sweet innocence showed in her smile. It only made him want her more.
She’s the dangerous kind.
He ignored Dallas’s warning and went to her. Dropping the condoms on the bedside table, he reached for her hands and pulled her up. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a kiss. He had to lean down, but not so much it was uncomfortable. When the kiss turned hot, he pulled back and brushed a damp strand of dark hair from her cheek. Her skin felt like silk.
He reached for the knot holding up her towel. “Think we can lose this?”
She cut her eyes up at him. “I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours.”
Grinning, he released her knot and watched the towel sweep down her naked body. He tried not to stare, but couldn’t help it. “You’re so damn beautiful.” His gaze moved over the sweet dips and curves of her body. He’d seen her without her shirt, but completely unclothed was amazing. Her breasts were round, tipped with soft-rose nipples. Her abs were flat, her waist so tiny that… He reached down and fit his hands around it. Her hips flared out. She had a perfect hourglass shape. So feminine. So… perfect. Between her legs was a dark triangle of hair. Not shaved the way some women did to attract attention. No, Leah was… real.
Her legs were like the rest of her, shapely. He glided his hands up her rib cage to her breasts. He traced her nipples with a fingertip. Her breath hitched.
“You like that?”
She nodded. “I thought we had a deal.” Her voice came out a little raspy. She pulled his towel loose. It slipped from his hips to the floor.
Her gaze lowered one second, then came back up, almost as if embarrassed. There was something charming in her bashfulness.
“Happy now?” He grinned.
“Yes.” She blushed.
He took her hand and pressed it against his chest and slid it down. The whole time he watched her expression. If he saw any hesitation, he’d stop.
She showed none.
When her hand found his dick, she cupped her palm around him and rubbed her thumb over his swollen tip.
“You like that?” She tossed his question back to him.
“Oh, yeah.”
He moved to the bed and pulled her with him. He rested on his side and let himself feast on her. Her hair, still wet, looked almost black. He brushed it off her shoulder, wanting to see all of her. “I feel like a kid in a candy store. I don’t know where to start.”
She smiled and then he did know. He touched her dimple. Then he leaned down and kissed the same spot. His mouth didn’t stay there long, though. He moved to her lips, to her neck, to her breasts. Bringing her tight nipple in his mouth, he suckled her with barely any pressure, not knowing if she was into gentle, or not so gentle.
He slipped his hand down to the soft patch of hair of her sex. Slowly, he slipped his finger between her cleft. When he found her wet with want, his dick got harder.
Moaning, she rocked her hips against his hand. But she kept her thighs closed.
Wanting some part of him inside her, he slipped a finger into the tight opening between her thighs. Moving his lips from her breasts, he breathed kisses down her rib cage. Stopping at her navel, he flicked his tongue inside.
When she arched her hips off the mattress, and her thighs parted just a bit, he took advantage and moved down, positioning himself between her knees. Keeping one finger inside her, he parted the soft wet flesh and moved his tongue over the little nub that he knew would offer her the most pleasure.
Her taste, her scent, made his own hips rock. Her soft moan reached his ears. She tightened her thighs around his head.
“Slow and easy,” he whispered against her sex. “Make it last.”
Seconds later, he knew she hadn’t taken his advice. Her tight opening clenched on to his finger, and all he could think about was that squeeze around another body part.
When her orgasm stopped, he moved up. He reached for the condom; she reached between his legs. She tightened her fist around him, moving her palm up and down his length. The next thing he knew, she’d sat up and snatched the condom from his hand.
“Let me.” She pushed him back on the bed. Sitting straddled over his knees, she opened the condom with her teeth. He feasted on her, her eyes bright, her hair dancing on her shoulders. As she shifted, her breast juggled and her nipples stood tight and erect. Her thighs were open, exposing the pink wet flesh he’d just tasted. He didn’t think it was possible, but he got harder.
He waited for her to slip the condom on, but instead, she scooted down his legs, leaned over, and took him in her mouth. She moved her tongue around his engorged tip. It took everything he had not to explode. He reached down, grabbed her by her shoulders, and pulled her up. His dick almost slipped inside her as he got her where he wanted her.
He snatched the condom from her hands, reached between them, and slid it in place. Then because he couldn’t forget how good it had felt standing with her legs around him, he stood up and took her with him. Holding her bare ass in his hands, he guided her in place. Her sex surrounded him like a glove. He almost orgasmed right then.
“You’re tight,” he muttered.
“You’re just big.”
He laughed. “Just what a man wants to hear.” Holding her sweet ass in his palms, he shifted her closer, moving in and out. As good as it felt, he suddenly needed to be horizontal. Not pulling out, he lowered her to the bed, keeping most of his weight on his elbows.
She arched her hips up and took him deeper. Her lids fluttered closed. He whispered, “Look at me.”
She opened those brown eyes, wild with passion. She moved, setting a slow, easy pace. But then her legs came around his waist, and the position allowed him to go even deeper. Their pace quickened. She moaned again. When he felt her sex spasm around him, he let go. The orgasm shook him to the core. He rolled over and pulled her on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her. She dropped her head on his shoulder.
Her short in-and-out breaths against his chest felt both hot and moist. Holding her close, her heart thudded against his chest. He couldn’t remember any moment ever feeling this right. No woman had ever felt like this against him.
He moved his hand up and down her back. “That was…” He paused to find the right word. “Real.”
She raised her head and looked at him, a smile in her eyes. “Real? That’s all I get?”
He laughed and ran a finger over her cheek. “Let me try again. That was friggin’ amazing! You’re amazing.”
He kissed her. “We’re going to have to make a run to get some more condoms. I only have three more.”
She made a cute face. “I think that’s enough.”
He rolled on top of her. “Then clearly you didn’t enjoy that as much as I did.”
An hour later, they were still in bed, still naked, and down two condoms. He slipped his hand under the sheet, drew circles around her navel, and kissed the side of her neck.
Leah couldn’t decide if Austin was just a champion at sex, or if she’d just forgotten how good it was. She decided it was him. Especially when she saw the tent in the sheet.
He noticed where her eyes went. “It’s not my fault. You turn me on.”
She leaned in to kiss him. “If we keep this up we really will have to run to the store.”
He laughed. But stopped when Socks, her tuxedo cat, jumped up on the bed.
“He’s not going to hurt you,” Leah assured him.
“Right.” He raised his arm and pointed to a jagged scar. “How do you think I got this? And you’ve seen my ear.”
She kissed his scar. When she pulled back, he was sneaking a peek down the gaping sheet.
She pressed the sheet to her chest. “Seriously, they won’t attack you.” Spooky jumped up and slowly tiptoed over to Austin. “He really likes you.”
He studied the cat with caution, but didn’t push him away. “We sort of bonded. But your cats don’t like me.”
She frowned. “Probably because you squirted them with a water gun.”
“I didn’t squirt them. I only threatened to.” He eyed Socks, then watched Spooky curl up next to him. His expression softened. “He purrs when I pet him.”
She didn’t have the heart to tell him that most cats did. “Because he likes you.”
“Yeah.” He carefully touched Spooky, then glanced at Socks. “That guy hisses at me.”
“He doesn’t know you.”
“It’s rude.” Austin stopped petting Spooky, and his eyes went back to the sheet that had glided down her chest. He stopped petting the cat and slipped his hand under the cover and fit his palm into the curve of her waist. “You sore?”
“Not too sore,” she said, loving his touch.
That’s when it hit her. She was a kitten’s whisker away from falling in love with this man.
And that was a dangerous place to be.
But as his hand slid past her waist and slipped between her thighs, she decided she could use a little danger in her life.
Feeling brave, she rolled on top of him, straddled his thighs, and sat up. The sheets tangled under her knees. She ran her hands over his chest as he gazed up. He was so perfect he almost looked Photoshopped.
Skitter, sitting in the window, suddenly hissed. Leah glanced that way and saw the cat leap through the air toward the bed. Then she saw not one but two faces peering in the window.
Screaming, she tried to snatch the sheet, but in her desperate rush to cover herself, and Austin’s desperate attempt to get up, she fell sideways off the bed and plopped her naked butt onto the wooden floor, facing the window.