with compassion, every thump of my heart promising retribution if I ever meet her ex. I tug her into my arms, ready and willing to give her some better memories. ‘I’ll give you anything you want, Blair.’ I cover her mouth with mine in a slow, lazy exploration of our duelling tongues, because I’m weak where she’s concerned, and I’m done being patient. I wrap my fingers around the back of her neck and hold her mouth on mine. Without breaking the kiss, I bend my knees, scoop my arms around her waist and lift her so she’s plastered against me from shoulders to thighs. I kiss her until we’re both panting hard and then I allow her to slowly slide down to the floor, so her breasts and the heat from between her legs slide all over me. I twist my mouth away with a groan. ‘Fuck, you’re so sexy. Get naked—let’s abuse my sofa.’
She laughs, steps back out of reach, pressing one fingertip to my lips. ‘Uh-huh. You get naked.’ Her voice is breathy. Having me willing and ready to be her man-toy excites her so her nipples prod through her bra and T-shirt.
My hands settle on the swell of her hips. I want her close, at arm’s length, as if our disagreement has left me craving a deeper connection.
She smiles a sexy half-smile. ‘Touch yourself again.’
I lift one eyebrow, biting back my eagerness to comply. ‘You like that?’
She nods, her breath hitching. ‘I liked that you couldn’t stop yourself the first time. That you wanted me that much.’
Something in my chest surges anew at her stark honesty, her embracing what she wants. She completely dismantles me. ‘I want you more now.’ Fuck, what is she doing with me—a distrustful, workaholic divorcee? There must be a thousand men her age lined up. That last thought has my jaw clamped so hard I hear my enamel creak.
‘Show me,’ she says, reaching for the hem of her T-shirt.
I yank my own shirt off over my head, pop my fly and release my cock, my heart thumping when her aroused stare drops to my crotch. I grip myself, lazily tugging while I shove my jeans and boxers down my thighs with my free hand. I stare into her eyes. ‘I want you, Blair.’
She licks her lips. ‘I see that. But do you trust me?’ Her bold question hangs in the air as she slides her jeans down her legs and kicks them away together with her shoes.
‘Yes.’ The truth of that single word surprises me, but it’s not a lie or false assurance to get laid.
Like this with her, just the two of us, I’m as authentic as I’ve ever felt.
‘We’ll see,’ she says, wriggling free of her bra and swiftly adding her lacy underwear to the pile of discarded clothing on the floor, until she’s gloriously naked, and every muscle holding me together strains her way.
‘Look at you,’ I croak out, my eyes gorging on her naked breasts, her tight nipples and the sweet haven at the top of her thighs. My chest tightens with repressed need. Need to go to her, to touch her and make things one hundred per cent right between us, where words fail me. Because I’m not as brave as Blair, not as open and fearless. But I want to give her what she needs. This is about her—her pleasure, her in control and me making amends, no matter what it costs me.
‘Don’t stop,’ she whispers.
I groan, the effort to be everything she wants weakening my knees. She chews her lip, her stare still torn between my face and my hand pumping my cock.
She joins me then, her hand slipping between her thighs, and her fingers find her clit, her whole body jerking in confirmation and her eyes half-drugged with lust as we stand face-to-face. Open and exposed and vulnerable.
‘That’s a wondrous sight.’ I’m struggling to talk, so good is the vision of her pleasuring herself while my dick is in my hand, but I don’t want to rush this. I want to show her that I care about her despite the years that separate us or what anyone else thinks. But we’re on her timescale.
She sways, a flush staining her chest, and I’m jealous of those slick fingers between her legs. I want to be the source of her pleasure. I want her moans and her ecstasy and her orgasm so she sees the way I feel about her and her beautiful seduction, without words.
I pump faster, the needs of my body growing harder to ignore.
She rushes me then, the slam of her naked body colliding with me almost knocking me off my feet. Her mouth crashes to mine and I scoop an arm around her waist and fill my other hand with one deliciously round arse cheek, backing us up towards the sofa as I struggle out of the rest of my clothing while I walk and try to get my mouth back on hers.
At the last minute, I trip over my own shoe, my feet tangled up in my discarded jeans, and I lunge for the sofa, holding on to her waist and taking her down with me, so my fall ends with me on my back and her sprawled all over my chest.
We laugh and kiss and laugh some more. But as we emerge from the moment, the fire is still there between us, still there in her eyes, nicely banked.
‘Perfect,’ she says. ‘This is exactly where I wanted you.’
I sober at the reminder she’s in charge, my punishment for careless words. Not that lying under this naked woman is in any way a negative. But old habits die hard, and I can’t help but wonder. ‘What are you going to do with me?’
‘I’m going to take care of you.’ She kisses me, a lazy, decadent feast of lips and tongue and her sexy little moans. She straddles my thighs, loosening the hair tie from her hair so her ponytail spills free. There are two of them. I watch in fascination and mounting excitement as she loops them together and slips one around each of my wrists, sparkling eyes returning to mine. ‘It’s symbolic—I know you could easily snap them if you wanted to.’ Her hand delves between her legs, gripping and tugging my cock. ‘I’m going to make you feel good.’ She holds her breath for a beat or two and then says, ‘Is there any reason I can’t take care of you without the condom?’
I swallow hard, struggling to look away from the exquisite and candid beauty of her eyes, the thought of being inside her bare shutting down at least eighty per cent of my brain. ‘No—I care about you.’ I cup her face, my wrists still bound, fighting the urge to pull her mouth back down to mine for another kiss. ‘I’d never put you at risk.’
‘Me neither. And I’m on the pill.’ She smiles and then holds my face between her palms, her fingertips gliding into the hair at my temple with such tenderness I go completely still. ‘I’m going to remind you that it’s okay to let someone be there for you, to hold you up or catch you when you fall. That you don’t have to be strong alone. That’s it’s okay to trust me like you say you do.’
She rises up a fraction, her eyes hypnotising, and slides the head of my bare cock back and forth through her wet folds, the friction almost too good.
‘Blair—’ I bite out a warning, clarity over what she wants from me, that she sees me so clearly, stripping me bare. Because physically I do trust her—fuck, I’d bend myself into a pretzel shape if that’s what she wanted. But the emotional stuff? The feelings I’m too chickenshit to probe? Handing her that much power...?
Her hand slides across my chest, her fingertips trailing through my chest hair until her nails dig into my clenched pec.
Her voice when she speaks carries the same, hypnotic, lulling tone. ‘You’re so big and strong. Powerful and in control. You make me feel small, somehow cherished, just with a look or a simple touch. I want you
