Breathe for Me (11 page)

And yet she couldn’t move. He didn’t either—didn’t take her mouth, didn’t plunge deep, didn’t do anything more.

A woeful whimper escaped her. She wanted him to do
everything
.

He lifted his lips from her neck at her small sound. Chelsea opened her eyes, holding her breath.

“You want me to take control?” he said, his voice roughened. He kept that intense focus, reading her every damn expression. “You want me to lead?”

Chelsea didn’t care whether he was questioning or commenting—only that he understood something she’d yet to admit to herself. She didn’t stop to think about it. Didn’t care about anything as long as he kept stroking her. He moved his fingers, slipping through her wet heat, so close to sliding right inside her. She sucked in a half breath. Waiting. Wanting.

“Chelsea?” He waited too, not moving that half-millimeter she so badly needed.

Her lungs still rigid, she forced herself to respond. A sharp, jerky nod. She pressed her lips together.

Damn
. She didn’t know why she couldn’t get the words out. Why she couldn’t move—to reach out and take. She should be able to do better than this. She was an adult, fully responsible for her own actions.

But action seemed to be impossible. She swallowed back the brick in her throat, struggled to explain. “I’m sorry to be so… selfish and…”

She stopped, her breathing choppy. Why were the words so hard to say? Why was she so choked? Why so tense?

With a single finger, he slowly stroked her again. “And?”

Her hips moved in a slow, small circle. “Lazy,” she whispered.

His smile flashed, lighting his whole face. “Don’t be sorry. I can handle taking control. And I can see how much you want me. From the look in your eyes to the sweetness of your body.”

She blinked, but couldn’t break their eye contact.

“And I’m sure that if I slide inside you now, I’ll feel just how much you want me,” he added.

Her belly quivered. Deeper, where she wanted him to delve and discover the truth he already knew. Her body clenched on unhappily empty space. She wanted him to fill her. To satisfy her.

Now
.

He bent his head. “I’m going to take,” he said, low and rough, right into her ear. “And I’m not going to let you be lazy.” His laugh was a shot of warm air. “So you don’t need to worry about that.” He lifted his head to read her response.

Unaware—uncaring—of what her own expression might be revealing, she stared at the implacable determination in
his
face. She shivered.

Something shifted in his eyes—his sudden smile softened the hungry edge.

“I understand that you can’t tell me exactly what you want yet,” he said quietly. “But if you say ‘no’, I’ll listen.” He angled his head to look even deeper into her eyes. “Do you understand?”

Warmth flooded her. She licked her lips, then swallowed. The action made no difference to how parched she felt—
so
hot. It was like she’d been struck by a solar flare and was sizzling. There was no shelter, no shade. And he had no mercy.

“Say my name so I know you understand.” His voice hardened.

Another shiver wracked her. His command made her want wetter.

“Say my name.”

She gasped as he repeated his demand—rougher. She swallowed again, trying to loosen her tense vocal cords. But this she could do. This felt right. “Xander.” The tiniest whisper.

His ice-blue gaze was fixed on her, so intense and compelling she couldn’t turn away. His sure hands held her in that firm, intimate hold—one tight against the curve of her sex, one at her breast. “Say it again.”

“Xander.” Stronger that time.

He bent his head. His teeth gently nipped her lower lip.

Another small sound escaped her. A whimper. Couldn’t he kiss her properly?

But he leaned his head back out of reach, a wicked smile on his face. “I like it when you can’t control your reaction to me. To what I do.”

It seemed she couldn’t control herself at all. His fingers worked again—sliding through her heat. Still not penetrating, but so teasingly close. Rhythmically he stroked, back and forth. Not quite swiping over her clit, not quick sliding inside—but teasing all the hypersensitive flesh in between. Her arousal heightened, heated. Until she was moving, her hips circling, rocking—back and forth and again.
More
.

OMG she was going to come—here in the hallway, where anyone could see. With him not even kissing her.

“You’re not breathing,” he said. “Darling, if you don’t take a breath you’re going to pass out.”

Dazed, she dragged her focus onto him. “I can’t.” The words barely sounded, her throat was so tight and dry.

He smiled. And her to immense disappointment he slipped his hand out of her waistband. He lifted both hands to frame her face. Smiling, he bent close and blew the smallest shot of air into her mouth.

She gasped at the intimacy.

“That’s it,” he murmured, sliding a hand down the length of her spine and bringing her in tight again. “Breathe,” he whispered. Bending closer he closed the gap between their mouths and finally kissed her.

She opened instantly—couldn’t not open when facing that kind of insistence from his hungry lips. Both his hands clutched her closer. His tongue swept into her mouth, twirling to learn her, then teased—short strokes, long. Leaving her in no doubt about the degree to which he was going to play with her. He’d play hard and long, take control and make her respond until she had nothing left. Certainty settled within her. She moaned again, deep in her throat as he adjusted the kiss, letting his teeth nip her lower lip before releasing her.

She dragged in a ragged breath. “That your usual mouth to mouth style?” She desperately tried to regain her sass—and her sanity. But it was obliterated in the heat.

“I’m a very, very good lifeguard.” He kept one arm curled around her but to her amazement he somehow he had her key in his hand. He kept her plastered to him as he unlocked her door and pushed her inside.

“Smooth.” She blinked as he shut her door and then walked her backwards down her little corridor.

He’d lifted her key from her pocket that easily? What other James Bond style skills did he have?

He must have read her thoughts because he winked. “Chequered past. Misspent youth.”

“But you crossed to the good side?”

“You got it.”

With the break in the intimate touch she felt bereft. Her bones wobbled as reality and doubt returned. He saw that too. He looked at her, purpose apparent in every line of his body. “Spread your legs for me, sweetheart.”

Was she really going to let him order her around like she was some brainless sex moppet? She clamped her treacherous upper thighs together and shook her head.

His smile widened.

Truthfully—albeit belatedly—she was embarrassed about how hot she already was. How wet. After just a few kisses? A couple of strokes? She’d nearly come fully clothed and in public. She didn’t do that.

“You know what I think?” He walked her backwards another three steps so she was against the wall again, only this time in the privacy of her apartment. “I think you like a little imagination.” He cupped her breast again, then slid firmly down her stomach, back beneath her waistband. “I think it pushes your button.” He leaned closer, his hand hovering above her mound. “Want me to detonate it?”
 

He watched her closely as if he was trying to see inside her head. But he so didn’t want to see the mess going on in there. And she didn’t want to
think
.

His fingers very slowly, carefully resumed the rhythmic, torturing strokes. She quivered, trying to hold back the incredibly intense response of her body. It was too much—so extreme it was embarrassing.

“Don’t hold your breath, darling. Breathe.”

She gulped the smallest bite of air. It wasn’t enough.

He leaned closer. Kissed her.

She couldn’t resist the urge any longer. She sucked his lower lip into her mouth. Desperate for a taste. She didn’t want the kiss to end, only deepen. For his fingers to keep flicking just there so she’d finally, finally come and be freed from this tension.

“That’s it.” Sounding pleased, he broke away. His light blue eyes bored into her. “You know we superheroes like a reward for all the good things we do. But we’re not always perfect. Sometimes we just take what we want even if we know we shouldn’t.” Slowly he teased open her blouse, one small button at a time. He parted the halves and ran his fingers along the lace-tipped edge of her bra. “Sometimes we just can’t resist. It’s the adrenalin. The relief. The rush from winning. We need to burn it off.”

He claimed her mouth again, his tongue plundering until she clung. He massaged the swell of her breasts, then slipped a hand to her back to release the catch of her bra. Thank heavens. She ached to be naked. As if he heard her, he pushed her blouse from her shoulders.

“And our heroine is carried away—literally,” he murmured as he lifted away to look at her reddened, aching nipples as he pulled down the lacy cups. “A guy that strong turns her on. But she wants to know just how strong he really is. Does he have superhuman stamina?” His lips quirked. “She can’t resist testing him. And herself. She wants to know whether she has the strength to take him. Can she cope? Or will he ravish every one of her senses?”

He stripped the bra from her, his fingers grazing down her arms. That slight touch, together with the freedom of her bared breasts, set off a storm of sensation inside.

“Part of her likes not having the choice.” He bent, licking around her areola until she whimpered. “He’s too strong for her. If he wanted, he could take anyway. She likes that edge.”

He put his lips around her taut nipple. Then she felt his teeth. Her lungs froze. In that moment when she was locked in anticipation, he bit down very, very slightly.

She cried out—shock and then pleasure rippling over her as he flicked his tongue over the sensitive nub then sucked her whole nipple into his mouth for a warm, blissful moment. But then cool air hit her breast as he released her.

She wanted him to do it again, to do the same to the other. But instead he spoke—soft and teasing.

“The truth is she can’t say no to him. She doesn’t want to stop him. Because she wants it all. She wants him to take it all.” Xander’s voice lulled her, drawing her deeper into the web of desire. Mesmerizing.

He was spinning a sexual fantasy around her and she leaned into it, embraced it. Escaped into it.

Because it was true.

She wanted him to test her, to totally push her. She wanted to feel all his strength.

“I’m going to take it all,” he promised.

He spread her legs and knelt between them. Firmly he curled a hand around her ankle and lifted her foot, placing it back further apart from the other. He shifted his knees, pressing them against the arches of her feet, ensuring she was kept spread. He skimmed the tips of his fingers up her legs—brushing her scar, her thinner calf muscle as he did. Chelsea tensed. But his fingers kept moving. His eyes were locked on hers, but he said nothing. His hands skimmed up until he grabbed the hem of her skirt, bunching it so he could get to the skin beneath. Then, still holding the fabric, he locked her fists in his big, capable hands. Her lashes lowered as she watched his dark head draw nearer. His hot mouth open, his tongue lashing, he teased her.

She jerked and then leaned back against the wall. She groaned, unable to stop the raw sound of yearning. She wanted her panties off. She wanted his hands back on her bare skin, his mouth too. The heat and wet of his tongue through the thin cotton covering her wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.

She rocked against him, wanted to come so badly. Wanted to feel him inside her. Wanted the insane moments of ecstatic relief that only orgasm could bring.

Her legs shook. She couldn’t stay standing. She was going to come—and in doing that she was going to crumple to the floor. She whimpered, sighing again and again with each lash of his tongue across her cotton covered clit. She didn’t want it like this, she wanted it bare.

But it hit. Quick, sharp, sweet ecstasy convulsed through her. Her hands twisted, tightening on his—gripping him hard as the waves rippled through her. Joyous, decadent, thrilling waves—that washed through her far too soon.

And as the tension left, her legs slithered. But the ache was still there.

He stood quickly and scooped her into his arms. She looked into his face and saw the satisfied, predatory smile of a man who had a woman exactly where he wanted her. Where she wanted to be. But it wasn’t enough.

He walked quickly. She felt the softness as he placed her on her bed. His hand was firm on her shoulder, pushing her back to lie flat. Her excitement mounted again as she felt his hands feathering light strokes up her shins, to her knees. She arched towards him as his hands came to her waist. He slid the skirt from her, leaving her only in the plain white panties that had only the slightest lace trim along the edge.

“Very sweet.” He gazed over her. “Very hungry.” He ran a hand up her thigh. “And right now, very much mine.”

In a second his tee-shirt was in the far corner of the room.