“Is that what you think?” He edged closer, cocked his head. Pinching a curl, he tugged it and watched as heat flared bright in those chocolate eyes and her carnal lips parted on a soft gasp. “That you can just strip off that suit, slip out of those shoes and I won’t be reminded of, what? How soft and delicate this skin is?” He rubbed the back of his finger down the satin of her cheek. “Of how cultured and sexy this voice is?”
He lowered his hand to her throat, necklacing the slim column. If she’d stiffened or shoved at him—protested the hold in any way—he would’ve released her. But she didn’t. No, Mycah’s lashes fluttered, and she slightly leaned into his palm, as if relishing the show of dominance. His cock jerked behind his zipper, blood roaring south to fill his flesh in a flood that left him almost light-headed. He ground his teeth against the lust that scalded him.
Inhaling, he dipped his head, dragged his nose up the tendon that ran along the side of her neck. “What? You think taking off your clothes will somehow erase this scent that’s grace, woman...sex?” He shook his head, brushing his lips over the line of her jaw and nearly growling at the skin-to-skin contact. “No, Mycah. Stripping can’t make me forget who you are. And it for damn sure wouldn’t make things easier for me. Just. Fucking. Harder.”
“Achilles.”
“Yeah?” He grazed another caress over her jaw, her chin, unable to help himself. Not sure he wanted to.
“Kiss me. Please.”
So demanding.
So polite.
And both had him crushing his mouth to hers in a greedy onslaught.
That first taste. It crashed into him like a meteor set on a collision course with Earth. Hot. Cataclysmic. Fatalistic.
She opened for him without hesitation, and he dived deep, taking immediate advantage. The kiss was...carnage. It left him wrecked, wide open and damn near shaking. He sent mental orders to his hands to be gentle on her hair, to not fist the strands so tight, to not pull so hard. But they didn’t listen. They didn’t loosen. Thank God Mycah didn’t seem to mind. No, the opposite. From the hot, tiny whimpers that he swallowed directly from her greedy tongue, she appeared to want it...crave more of it.
So he gave it to her.
He tugged on those rough silk curls, hauling her head back, angling it and diving deeper. Consuming more. Leaving nothing untouched, undiscovered. Every lick, every suck, every lap stoked a need that crackled and raged. But he wasn’t satisfied with burning in those flames. He wanted to be devoured by them.
Untangling one hand from her hair, he lowered it to her throat again, feeling the mad thrum of her pulse under his palm. Reveling in the rush of it. Because it was for him. He sent blood pumping through her, excitement and lust rushing through her.Him.
The knowledge lit up his veins, and he snatched his mouth from hers, ignoring her small cry of disappointment to latch on to that thin patch of skin. He tongued it, tasting the richness of her scent, grunting at the bite of her nails in his shoulders. His hips punched forward at that hint of pain, mating with the pleasure twisting and bucking inside him. He ground his cock against the soft swell of her belly, growling like an animal. His gut clenched, lust a vise clamping tighter. And tighter.
“Fuck,” he muttered against her damp skin.
Lifting his head, he captured her mouth once more, unable not to. Heneeded... God, he hated saying that word even in his head. Hated that it was true. But he did. He ached for her taste on his lips. Hurt for the cushion of her flesh against his throbbing dick. Hungered for the almost plaintive sounds that escaped her—that let him know he wasn’t in this struggle by himself.
Though it cost him, he levered back and away from her. But just for a moment. Long enough to reach behind him, grab a fistful of his shirt and pull it over his head. Lips swollen and eyes hooded, Mycah watched him. And as he dropped the bunched cotton to the floor, she lifted her hands to the top of her own shirt, but he stopped her with a hard shake of his head.
“Let me.” With fingers that suddenly felt too big, too clumsy, he plucked at the little pearl buttons, pushing them through the corresponding holes.
His heart kicked against his rib cage in steel-toe boots as he revealed smooth brown flesh encased in light purple lace. All moisture fled his mouth, and he didn’t stop until he skated his palms over her shoulders, sliding her shirt down her arms and to the floor.
“Fucking beautiful.” The last word scratched against his vocal cords as he traced a path along the pretty edge where lace met skin.
Gooseflesh broke out where his fingertip tread, and he jerked his gaze up to her face, amazement sparking inside his chest. Yes, she’d allowed him to strip her of her shirt, let him touch these gorgeous breasts, but still... Part of him still couldn’t believe it. Still wondered when she’d change her mind.
“Whatever you do tonight,” she said, grasping his larger hand in her smaller, more delicate one and pressing it harder to her flesh, “don’t treat me like I’ll break. I can take it, take you. Give me all of you, Achilles. Don’t hold back on me.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking, Mycah, telling a man like me not to hold back.”
As...ominous as that sounded, he’d gone into that bar to forget about his dead sperm donor, about brothers he hadn’t known existed, about being forced into a world he wanted nothing to do with.
About being rejected, scorned by that world—again.
So yeah, he’d gone there seeking nothing more than to lose himself in oblivion—alcohol and sex. And that didn’t lend itself toward control or setting limitations on himself. And once he got his mouth on that dusky valley between her breasts or that dip where her torso and thigh connected—or her dark, wet sex... Yeah, control would be a pipe dream.
Mycah shifted closer and lifted her arms, burrowing her hands into his hair, her nails scraping over his scalp.
“Do your worst.”
He shuddered, at her words and at her touch. Pleasure streaked through him. Groaning, he gripped her hips and, hiking her in the air, nudged the chairs out of the way and set her on top of the dining room table. Her soft, startled gasp segued into a sharp cry as he bent over her and sucked a diamond-hard, lace-covered nipple between his lips.
