her skin, touching, teasing, rubbing his fingers against her nipples. Pleasure shot through her. She clamped down on his tongue and sucked. He groaned. When she released him, he nipped her bottom lip before dropping his head to her breasts and drawing deeply on her left nipple.
She felt the pull all the way to her belly. Every inch of her burned. Her muscles tensed. She touched everywhere she could reach—his broad back, his arms, then lower, pressing her palm against his erection. He retaliated by slipping a hand between her thighs. Now it was her turn to groan.
His searching fingers found her very center. He pushed her bikini panties aside and moved his fingers over that part of her—the bundle of nerves already quivering in anticipation. She was so ready, so swollen, that it only took a few quick strokes to steal her breath and make her cling to him. Then he shifted, pressing his fingers inside her and using his thumb to rub her to near ecstasy.
She couldn’t catch her breath, she thought, torn between the way his mouth moved on her breasts and the way his fingers moved between her legs. Couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but feel the waves of pleasure building inside of her.
She had to hang on to him to stay upright, to concentrate on her balance. He straightened and kissed her mouth, claiming her with a passion that pushed her closer to the edge.
Then she felt it. The telltale hum that began deep inside her, the warning clenching that her orgasm was nearly there, practically a sure thing. And just as she braced herself for the release she knew was going to be incredible, Josh stopped.
She stared at him, unable to believe what was happening. His hands reached between them and she realized he was unfastening his jeans. Before she could join in and help, he’d freed his thick erection. She quickly pushed her panties to the ground and stepped out of them. He grabbed her around the hips and boosted her up, so she was pressed against the wall, her body settling onto his arousal.
This was impossible, she thought frantically. She’d never done anything like this. She couldn’t touch the ground, she was completely dependent on him supporting her. There was no way she could relax enough to—
He moved inside of her. He pushed in hard, thrusting up and back, filling her. His body rubbed against her, teasing her swollen parts even as he pleasured her from the inside. She wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms around his neck and hung on for the ride.
It didn’t take long. She’d been so close that in a dozen or so thrusts, she wasn’t thinking anymore. She was feeling how he stretched her, savoring every aroused nerve ending quiver, giving herself over to the promise that any second now she would explode.
She came with a cry, her body shuddering, drawing him in deeper. She lost herself in the pleasure. He pushed in faster and deeper, taking everything she offered, drawing out her release until she was too weak to do much more than lean into him. Then he was shuddering, as well, going still, his hot breath fanning her cheek.
They stayed like that far longer than she would have thought possible. When she was sure he had to be ready to collapse from holding her, he slowly slipped back, gently lowering her legs to the floor. When she’d regained her footing, Charity did her best to straighten only to find she was still a little wobbly. Josh grabbed her around the waist.
“You okay?” he asked.
Okay? How could she be okay? She’d just had incredible up-against-the-wall sex with a man she barely knew. Something she never did. She’d run a background check on the last guy she’d slept with, and that had been after three months of serious dating. What did she really know about Josh except he was probably going to break her heart?
“The question wasn’t supposed to be that hard.”
“Sorry,” she glanced into his eyes, then away. “I was thinking.”
“Dangerous, especially now.”
She tried standing on her own again and managed to stay upright. The shoes weren’t helping, so she stepped out of them, which lowered her about three inches. Her right sandal landed on top of her panties.
Physical balance wasn’t her only issue, she thought. Her head was spinning. What the hell had just happened? Not that she needed that question answered. Maybe the better issue was why. Why hadn’t she stopped to think?
He gently touched her cheek. “Are you okay?” he asked again.
She nodded, figuring he wouldn’t want to know the truth. Second thoughts didn’t begin to cover her emotional freefall. Thirty-eighth thoughts were more like it. She’d had sex with Josh. Willingly. Wildly. In those moments, in his arms, she’d been someone else.
Or the person she was always meant to be, a little voice in her head whispered.
No way, she told herself. No. That wasn’t it.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Her shirt was still tucked into her skirt, but was hanging back down over her butt. Her bra was somewhere on the floor. It only took him a few seconds to look decent again, but she had a tougher road. Rather than risk struggling, she pulled up her shirt and reknotted it, figuring she would deal with the bra and panties later. When she was leaving.
Unless she was supposed to leave now.
She’d never been one for casual sex and honestly, she didn’t know the rules.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, his hazel-green eyes staring deeply into her own.
“I doubt that.” He would have to be beyond psychic to make it through the maze that was her mind.
“I don’t do this every day,” he told her. “The rumors, the things people say, they’re not true.”
“They’re mostly true,” she said. “The first week I was here, I saw that woman waiting in your room. I haven’t seen her around town, so I figure you imported her.”
“No. I didn’t ask her to be there. Hell, I didn’t know her. She got someone in housekeeping to let her in.”
Information she was sure he thought she would find comforting. “Now you’re going to tell me you told her to get dressed and sent her on her way.”
“I did.” When she would have looked away, he touched her chin. “I mean it, Charity.”
The funny thing was, she wanted to believe him. Talk about confusing.
He took her hand and drew her into the room. A single lamp in the corner provided a little light. He flipped on a couple more.
“Can I get you something?” he asked. “Wine? Coffee? Dessert?”
She hesitated. Wine sounded good, but she couldn’t face the thought of one of the room-service people seeing her in Josh’s room, then telling the entire town about it.
He motioned to his left. “I have a private stash.”
She followed the movement.
What he had was a mini-fridge and a small under-the-counter wine refrigerator.
“Something red?”
He grinned. “My favorite color.”
While
