I LET myself into my apartment and slammed the door behind me. Then I flopped facedown on the couch and screamed into a pillow.
What was the matter with him? Did he want me or not? Maybe it was just the forbidden aspect—he was hot for the nanny.
Or maybe I was the problem. What was the matter with me that I wanted him so badly? Was I trying to prove that I was still desirable because Neil had cheated on me? Was I just desperate for physical affection since Neil had been so stingy with it? Maybe I just needed to give up. Was sleeping with my boss really going to make my life better? Or would it just make me feel worse about myself?
Dragging myself into the bathroom, I stripped off my sweaty clothes and took a shower. I thought about tomorrow, when we’d be stuck in the car together for six hours—and that was just one way. What the hell were we going to talk about? Knowing Austin, he could be silent for the entire ride, but I’d lose my mind.
After I got out of the shower, I towel-dried my hair, brushed my teeth and put on the big white T-shirt I always slept in. It had been Neil’s at one point, and I sort of hated that I still liked sleeping in it, but it was comfortable, and I’d had it for so long that I never thought of it as his anyway. Plus, the only other pajamas I’d packed was a slinky lace nightie Neil had gifted me to wear on our honeymoon. I’d already thrown it out.
I checked my phone for messages—nothing—plugged it in, and turned off the light.
Stay away from that window, I told myself. The shade is already down, so you have no reason to go over there.
I went over there.
Timidly, I peeked around the side of the shade. Austin’s bedroom light was already off. Was he in bed already? Maybe he—
Three sharp knocks on the apartment door made me jump. With one last glance across the yard at his window, I slowly made my way to the door. Don’t get your hopes up, I admonished myself. He’s probably here to list all the reasons why he shouldn’t be here.
After a deep breath, I pulled the door open.
Damn, he was hot.
He’d showered too—his hair was damp and messy, and he wore the sweatpants he’d had on the night we’d kissed by the fire pit. His feet were bare.
So was his chest.
Deep in my body, things went loose, and then tight. My nipples tingled, and I folded my arms across my chest to hide their pointed tips. “Yes?”
“I want to leave early tomorrow. Can you be ready by eight?”
I tilted my head. “You came over here with no shirt on to ask me if I could be ready by eight?”
“Yeah.” He looked mad about it.
“You could have texted,” I pointed out.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d already gone to bed,” he said defensively. “You might not have seen it.”
“So you were going to wake me up?”
His scowl was back. “Look, just be ready.”
“I will.”
“Fine.”
“Fine!” I slammed the door in his face. “Jerk!”
Pouting, I stood there for a moment, fisting my hands in my hair, listening to the furious rapid firing of my pulse.
Then suddenly the door swung wide and he charged in, taking me in his arms without a word. Our mouths slammed together as he kicked the door shut, his scruff rough against my jaw, his hands sliding beneath my shirt. I slanted my head as his tongue plunged between my lips and ran my hands up his chest, chiseled with muscles and covered with hair. He backed me deeper into the apartment, never breaking the kiss.
He came back! He came back!
But part of me needed to know why.
“Wait,” I said breathlessly, gripping the back of his neck as his mouth worked its way down my throat. “Wait a minute. Why are you here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” One hand moved down the back of my panties, his fingers grabbing my ass, kneading hard.
“I want to hear it.”
“Fine. I’m here to fuck you. Want me to narrate it too?”
I laughed, because it felt so good to be touched this way, to hear him talk this way, to know he wanted me like I wanted him. The scent of him—clean and masculine—filled my head. “Yes.”
Suddenly he swept me off my feet and carried me to the back of the apartment. “I’m taking you into the bedroom now.” He tossed me onto the bed, whipped the shirt over my head. “I’m tearing the clothes from your body.” He yanked my underwear down my legs, his eyes roving all over my skin. “I’m looking at you naked and wondering how the hell I thought I could stay away from you.”
“Willpower?” I suggested as he grabbed me behind the knees and yanked me toward the edge of the bed.
“No one has that much willpower.” He leaned over me, bracing his hands on the mattress by my shoulders, and covered my mouth with his. His kiss was deep and demanding, his tongue moving against mine in a way that made my entire body shiver with anticipation. I grabbed handfuls of his damp hair as he kissed his way down my neck and chest, closing his lips around one hard nipple. He sucked greedily, sending bursts of desire swirling through me. Then he switched his attention to the other breast, tracing a circle around its taut peak with his tongue, biting it gently. Then his mouth moved from my belly button straight south, the velvet softness of his lips a delicious contrast to the texture of his scruffy jaw. He pushed my legs apart and rubbed his nose against my clit, inhaling deeply and teasing me with one long, languorous stroke of his tongue.
“Oh god,” I whimpered.
He straightened up again. “Okay, so here’s where I’m going to preview the coming attractions—see what I did there?—because my mouth is going to be busy from now on.”
“Okay.” My insides quivered with nerves and excitement.
He ran his hands up the insides of my thighs. “I’m going to put my hands all over your body. I’m going to lick every last inch of your skin. I’m going to fuck you with my fingers and my tongue, and after you come just like that, I’m going to fuck you with my cock, deep and hard. And I’m not going to stop until I feel you come again. How does that sound?”
“That—that sounds good,” I panted, my toes curling over the edge of the mattress.
It was better than good—it was spectacular.
And he took his time about it too—especially when he knelt on the floor beside the bed and buried his head between my legs, lavishing my clit with more attention, skill, and patience than any man had ever offered. His tongue was a marvel, a tool of incredible dexterity and versatility, an instrument that could play any melody you requested, while his fingers accompanied it in perfect harmony.
And believe me, I danced to the tune.
I writhed and arched and undulated beneath him, my fingers twisting in the sheets, in his hair. He growled and moaned, every sound from the back of his throat taking me higher. I hooked one leg over his shoulder, lifting my hips in sync with the rhythm of his fingers inside me. He sealed his mouth over my swollen clit, teasing it with quick flicks of his tongue, sucking it with ravenous abandon until I was feverish with need, my lower body humming with rapture, my cries growing louder and more frequent and higher pitched until fireworks exploded in the blackness behind my eyes and my body convulsed with pure, primal pleasure. My god, it felt good to surrender to desire this completely, to have it course through me in waves that released all the tension from my muscles.
And it wasn’t over yet.
With one final, rasping growl, Austin tore his mouth from my body and rose to his feet. Breathing hard, I propped myself up on my elbows and watched him shed his clothing until he stood naked in front of me. Light spilled in from behind him, illuminating the outline of his body—the wide shoulders, the heaving chest, the narrowing torso, the solid arms. I watched one of those arms begin to move as he took his cock in his hand and worked his fist up and down its length.
“I wish I could see you better,” I whispered.
“You like to watch?” His voice seemed even deeper.
“Maybe next time.” I reached for him, pulling him over me. “Intermission is over, and I’m very eager to experience the second half of this show.”
A low, sexy laugh erupted from his chest as he stretched out above me, positioning his hips between my thighs. Then he stopped. “Fuck. Hang on.”
“What’s wrong?”
He hunted around for his sweatpants and pulled a condom from one pocket. “Nothing is wrong. I’m just careful. Always.”
I was on birth control shots, but I understood his fear.
“Just so you know, I haven’t been with anyone in years,” he said quickly.
“Years?” I repeated, stunned by the admission.
“I don’t mess around—this town is too small.”
“So you just walk around with condoms in your pocket at all times?”
“Xander gave it to me earlier.” He knelt between my legs again. “Even though I swore up and down nothing was going to happen.”
I reached between us to wrap my fingers around his heavy, hard cock, rubbing the tip of it up and down my slick center. “I’ll keep your secret if you keep your promise about making me come again.”
His erection thickened in my palm. “I am a man of my word, Veronica Sutton.”
“I know you are,” I said, easing his smooth, wide crown inside me. Then I let him take over, running my hands over his rippling abs and up his chest, squeezing his biceps as he notched deeper.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he said as he slowly worked his way into my body with slow, measured thrusts, giving me a little more each time. “You’re so beautiful, and so tight, and so wet—fuck.” His eyes closed, and his cock throbbed once.
I giggled—I couldn’t help it. “It has been a while, hasn’t it?”
He growled at me. “Be good, little girl. Or I won’t give you what you want.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” I pulled him closer and buried my face in his neck, kissing his throat, his jaw, his collarbone. Rubbing my lips against his scruff. “I’ll be good.”
He pushed in deeper, so deep I gasped. Then I closed my eyes against the sharp twinge, my breath caught in my lungs.
“Breathe, baby,” he said in that low, sexy voice I wanted to drown in. He began to move inside me with long, unhurried strokes, and my body trembled and tightened, the need building in me all over again.
“Yes,” I whispered, running my hands all over his arms and back and neck. “I want this. I want you. Since the moment I saw you.”
My words seemed to ignite something within him, and his thrusts grew faster, harder, deeper. I clung to him like he might drive me right off the edge of the mattress. Our breathing grew ragged, our bodies slick with sweat.
I moved my hands down either side of his spine to his ass, thrilling at the muscles working beneath his heated skin. Curling my fingers into his flesh, I pulled him into me, meeting every punch of his hips with a lift of my own, delirious with the effortless way our bodies moved together.
“Fuck—close,” he rasped, slowing his pace a little.
“Don’t stop,” I begged, opening wider for him, lifting higher, taking him deeper—so deep that he touched a magical spot inside me that made my entire body involuntarily contract around him almost painfully tight. “Oh, god—right there . . . I can’t—I’m going to—” But I lost the ability to form words as the tension snapped and the second orgasm crashed through me, relief rippling throughout my entire body, from my core to my limbs to my fingers and toes.
As if he’d been waiting for me, Austin’s climax hit as mine waned, so I could feel every pulse of him inside me. Beyond the fading thunder of my heart, I heard his guttural moan. Beneath my hands, I felt his muscles twitch and shudder and still.
I couldn’t help the smile that crept onto my lips as he collapsed on me. A stellar performance, I thought. Technique? Ten. Choreography? Ten. Artistry? Ten. I loved every single moment from the entrance to the exit, and I want an encore.
Austin picked up his head. “Are you laughing?”
“Was I?”
“Yes. And as much as I like the way you laugh, that was not supposed to be funny.”
“It wasn’t! I swear, it wasn’t funny. It was very serious. I had two very serious orgasms.”
“That’s more like it.” He nodded with cocky satisfaction.
“I was just thinking about something that made me smile.”
“Oh yeah? What?”
“You standing there on my doorstep with no shirt on, a condom in your pocket, pretending like you’d come over to give me tomorrow’s departure time. Did you really think you’d fool me?”
“I wasn’t thinking much at all. I just wanted to see you.” He brushed the hair back from my face.
“You didn’t need to pretend otherwise.”
“You know how I am.”
“I do.” I locked my ankles behind his thighs and my hands behind his neck. “And I appreciate that you want to be respectful of me. But I’m a big girl.”
“You are. But there’s something about you that makes me feel protective. I can’t help it. Sorry if that’s toxic male patriarchy or something.”
I smiled and pulled his head down so I could kiss his lips. “You are not the toxic male patriarchy. You’re just a little bossy sometimes. And a lot stubborn. And sort of dictatorial about the way things have to go. But as someone who hasn’t ever had a man be protective of her, I have to say it feels pretty good.”
“So does that mean I can fight your ex-fiancé if I see him tomorrow?”
“No! I’m going to handle him myself.” I laughed. “It would not be much of a fight anyway, trust me.”
“I still want to do it.”
I smiled again at the ferocity in his voice. “I appreciate that. But actually, I think you should thank him. If he hadn’t been such a jerk, I wouldn’t have been stranded here in need of a job.”
“That’s true. And I don’t know what I’d have done without you this summer.”
My entire body tingled with pleasure at his words. “You’re not just saying that because it was fun to fuck the nanny?”
He groaned as he tipped to one side. “Don’t say that.”
“Why not? It was a riot to fuck the boss.” Laughing, I slipped from the bed. “I’ll be right back.”
In the bathroom, I cleaned up and washed my hands. In the mirror, I saw flushed cheeks, puffy lips, wild hair. But the girl who looked back at me was happy.
As I dried my hands, I wondered if Austin would still be lying there in bed when I went out. Was this like an overnight kind of thing? Would I get my encore? What if he was all This can’t happen again, Veronica when I walked out? Pulling on his sweatpants? Racing for the door?
But when I opened the bathroom door, I saw him lying on the bed, right where I’d left him. My insides tightened once more. Quickly, I switched off the living room light and hurried back to him.
“You’re still here,” I said, lying on my side with my hands tucked under my cheek.
“Is that okay?” He propped his head onto his hand.
“Yes. You can stay as long as you want.” I chuckled sheepishly. “I’ve been a little lonely up here all by myself.”
“Have you?” He ran his hand down my arm, shoulder to elbow.
“Yeah. I’m an extrovert, and I think I’ve just been starved for meaningful social interaction over the last couple years. I was pretty isolated caring for my mom. And I went right from her house to orbiting Neil, who kept me close while also keeping me sequestered. But I suppose it’s been good to have time to think.”
“What did you think about?”
The outline of his broad shoulder was tempting me, and I put my hand on his chest, brushed my fingers through the soft, dark hair. “Well, I’d like to say I’ve been up here contemplating the meaning of life, world peace, self-actualization. But the truth is, I’ve mostly been up here fantasizing about your naked body.”
He laughed. “Then we’re even. That’s all I’ve been doing over there. Or sometimes just one floor below you.”
“And how was the reality compared to the fantasy?”
“So much better. No comparison.” His hand skimmed the dip at my waist and over my hip.
My heart fluttered. “Good.”
“But now I have a problem.” In one easy move, he’d turned me onto my back beneath him, shackling my wrists with his hands, pinning them to the mattress above my head.
“I’m going to want it all the time.” He buried his face in my neck and inhaled deeply. “God, you smell good. Every single time you walk by me, I want to fucking eat you with a spoon.”
“I don’t see a problem with that. Not for the next week, anyway. After that, you’ll have to behave again.” It was good that we had an agreed-on end date. No potential for hurt feelings or misunderstanding.
“Then I better not waste any time.” He kissed his way back up to my mouth and claimed it with his own.
We got very little sleep that night. But as I drifted off wrapped in Austin’s arms, I felt happier than I had in years.
