The look in her eyes, the lip bite, and her hand on his cock told him that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t ready to go to bed quite yet.
If Tiana could have articulated a single thought or constructed a single word from the tangle of neurons that had just been short-circuited by pleasure, she would have told Niko that she needed him. Not just wanted, not just desired, butneeded, as one needed oxygen or shelter or the touch of another living soul. But her brain was a riot of static, her body the epicenter of an earthquake from the mind-blowing orgasm he’d just given her, and if he’d asked her to recite her own name, she might have come up blank. So she’d had to show and tell him her answer.
Niko was above her, his forearms braced on either side of her head, and every shallow breath he took fanned over her lips. His heat, his scent, and his very presence pressed in around her until the room itself seemed to shrink, but it wasn’t enough. She still needed more.
She began to move her hand. She had no lubrication, but he was so hard, so rigid, and his silky skin stretched taut over a rigid core. When she ran her palm up and down his length, he jerked as if she’d shocked him. The tip leaked fluid, and she could feel the pulse of blood beneath her fingertips. It made something in her clench, deep and greedy.
He dropped his head then, his forehead pressing to hers as if he was trying to crawl inside her skull. Their lips brushed, neither quite kissing nor pulling away, and in between those near-kisses his voice rumbled through her. “Fuck.” But it wasn’t a curse, it was worship, confession, plea, all of it rolled into that single word.
She’d never been that bold before, but not allowing self-doubt to creep in, she continued to surrender to her base, animalistic wants and stroked him slowly, her grip sliding from base to tip, her thumb circling uncertainly but with desperate curiosity at the head. His shaft was hot, almost feverish, and she marveled at the way it seemed to grow harder in her palm. His hips bucked, ever so slightly, into her touch, and the sensation of controlling him—of having any power over him—sent a thrill through her that was almost as satisfying as the orgasm that had just left her boneless.
Niko’s body grew heavier over her, his arms trembling just enough for her to notice. He seemed to be holding himself off her with a monumental effort, as though he was afraid to let go, afraid to crush her. There was something exhilarating in that restraint, in his refusal to break or bend the boundaries of her consent. But she wanted him to. She wanted the weight of him, wanted to be held down and devoured and dissolved.
She realized, with a start, that she was whimpering. Little noises escaped her, embarrassing and raw, and yet Niko responded to each one as though it was a symphony. His hand found her shoulder, traced her clavicle, then slid to cup her jaw.The gentleness of the gesture contrasted with the wild, feral edge in his eyes. He was looking at her as though he was starving, like he’d been denied for a lifetime and was finally, finally allowed to feast.
She was so lost in the sensation that she barely registered when his hand left her face and found her wrist. In one smooth motion, he pulled her hand from stroking him and pinned it securely above her head. The movement was effortless, but the effect was explosive, her core fluttered, her thighs jerked involuntarily, and the air left her lungs in a rush.
“Too much,” he ground out, eyes squeezed shut. But still he didn’t let go. He moved the other hand to her opposite wrist, and with a single motion he had both her arms pinned, his vise grip keeping her utterly still. She could have wriggled free if she’d wanted to, but she didn’t. She wanted to be immobilized, to be at his mercy, to finallynotbe in control for once in her life.
Her own hips were restless, an animal wanting to be uncaged, and she began to rock them upward, grinding into his body. Her clit was hypersensitive after what he’d just done to her, but the pressure, the rhythm of their bodies moving together, was a fresh torture she needed more of. She could feel his cock, thick and insistent, trapped between their bodies. Each time she moved, he slid along her slick folds, dragging against her swollen nub, and the friction was almost unbearable.
Niko used the leverage of her pinned arms to steady her as he rolled his hips, his shaft slipping perfectly along her folds. He didn’t enter her, but the tease was even more exquisite. She could feel her own arousal, wet and insistent, coating him with each pass. He adjusted the angle, his hand coming down to hold her hip, and suddenly the tip of his cock was rubbing right on her clit with every movement. She was so sensitive she could barely stand it, and yet she arched up for more, desperate for it.
She was losing herself. The world shrank to the point of contact between her body and his. Her toes curled, and her vision blurred, black dots dancing behind her eyelids. She could feel another release building she was just trying to hit the right spot. She wanted to scream, but her voice was gone, stolen by the speed and force of sensation. It built and built, a tidal wave with no crest, and just as she thought she might faint, her body shattered again.
This time it was different, sharper, more violent, the kind of orgasm that left her shaking for minutes after. Her back arched off the mattress, heels digging in, and she might have blacked out for a second. She came so hard she almost sobbed, her hips bucking helplessly beneath him.
When the final aftershock hit her and she was catching her breath, he released her wrists. She lowered her arms, and he brushed the hair from her face, and the tenderness nearly undid her a second time. He kissed her temple, her cheek, her nose, each touch soft and reverent.
She blinked up at him, her vision watery, and allowed herself to be still, to be cared for. For the first time in her life, she didn’t have to perform, didn’t have to anticipate or preempt or placate. She just…was.
A rush of warm fuzzy feeling infused through her, and it had nothing to do with her orgasms. She didn’t want to think about what was making her feel that way, because then she’d have to think about what had been missing her entire life and what would be missing in a few weeks when this arrangement was over.
Her limbs were heavy, but, thankfully, when she tried to move them, she found she was able to. She moved her hands to his head, then his neck, then his shoulders, arms, and back. The more soft kisses he gave her, the more she wanted to touch and explore him.
When he moved down slightly to her neck, his lower body also realigned, and she felt his engorged crown at her opening. She sucked in a startled breath, and he lifted his head and looked down at her.
“We can stop. Do you want to stop?”
“No,” she exhaled. “No.”
She was thankful she was able to get even those two words out.
Niko reached beside him and grabbed a condom she hadn’t realized he’d had. She guessed with as much experience as he had, he was good at always having those around. He opened it, and she watched as he shifted to one side and rolled it on.
She’d never thought of a man putting on protection as a particularly sexy act, but damn, watching Niko Costas roll a condom down his dick was fucking hot. Her inner walls clenched as he stroked it, then lined himself up with her.
“Are you sure?” he asked once more.
She understood why he was so worried about consent. It was important, and she actually found it not just endearing but another turn-on that at every step he was making sure she was still on board.
She flashed back on all the men in her past who’d never once asked. Who’d just assumed. Brock and the handful of men she’d been with before him.
The care in his question made her heart squeeze. “Yes,” she replied, and then, remembering the effect she’d noticed her response had on him in the cabin, she added, “Yes, sir.”
Whoa. She hadn’t been mistaken. Nikodefinitelyliked her saying,yes, sir.
His nostrils flared, his jaw tightened, and his whole body seemed to coil with want. His head nudged at her seam, and she felt her inner walls clenching, trying to pull him into her body.The anticipation sent a wild, frenzied spike through her, and she bucked, trying to move this along, but he held back, teasing.
