By Degrees (46 page)

“Sometimes less is more, though.”
 
He tugs again, loosening the connection holding the thick material up around me.

He leans in and puts his lips against mine.
 
I’m expecting him to attack me, but he doesn’t.
 
Just the gentlest kiss and he’s standing away from me again.

I’m breathless with the attraction I’m feeling towards him, already wet for him down there.
 
I’m so easy it’s not even funny.

“I missed you, babe,” he says.
 
The words make my heart spasm.

“Me too.”
 
My voice isn’t working properly.

“You sure?” he asks, coming closer and putting his hands on my upper arms.
 
He caresses me, moving his palms up and down over my chilled skin.
 
It sends shivers all over my body.

I nod.
 
“I tried not to, though.”

He play-frowns.
 
“Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know.
 
I guess I don’t want to miss you so much.”

“But you can’t help yourself,” he says smiling, obviously very happy with himself.

“No, I guess I can’t.”
 
Saying it out loud is almost freeing.
 
I’ve been denying it for so long, it’s a relief to finally stop trying and to give in.

He leans in and kisses me again, another barely-there pressing of the lips that makes me crazy with what it promises but doesn’t deliver.

“Take your towel off,” he demands.
 
“I want to see you naked.”

“You first,” I say, grasping at my last bits of modesty.
 
It’s so much easier for me to admire his body than to show mine.
 
I don’t really have body image issues, but that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable running around naked with a guy who makes me think the things he does.
 
The hard shell I built around myself over the last two years feels like it’ll come right off with my towel, and I’m afraid to let that happen.
 
I don’t do vulnerability well; not since Austin died, anyway.

“You do it,” he says.

“Do what?” I ask, as he closes the distance between us.
 
Our bodies are almost touching.
 
We’re so close, and yet, far enough from each other that I want to press forward to be nearer to him.
 
He’s like a magnet and I can’t resist the pull.

“Take my clothes off.”

I smile nervously.
 
“You already did almost everything yourself.”

“But I left the best part for you.”
 
He reaches up a finger and runs it along the edge of the top of my towel, stopping at my cleavage and putting his finger down in it.
 
It makes me think of how he squeezed and sucked my nipples before, and I have to bite my lip to keep from moaning out loud.

He leans in and kisses my neck, then sucks it gently before standing straight again.
 
“I’m waiting.”
 
He lifts an eyebrow, and I take a step back, my face going red.

“Fine.”
 
The sexy is off the charts right now.
 
I have to get us naked so we can get going on this thing before I have a stroke from holding back.

I get down on my knees, lifting the bottom of the towel so I don’t kneel on it.
 
Putting my fingers into the top of his waistband, I slowly peel the stretchy material down, revealing a very swollen cock right in front of my face.

Once released from its silk prison, it stands out straight and proud, practically begging to be touched and licked.
 
As he steps out of his underwear, I can’t help but reach up and grasp his hard length.
 
It’s hot to the touch and soft like velvet.
 
I run my hand from tip to base and back again, using the softest grip and slowest rhythm possible.
 
My fingers bump over the veins that are bulging out with his need.

He’s looking down at me, a storm behind his eyes.
 
“That feels so good,” he says quietly.
 
“I love looking down at you and seeing you touch me like that.”

He’s covered in muscle, but I know I can have him a quivering mess in no time flat, and it emboldens me.
 
I lick him just once and look up for his reaction.
 
His sharp intake of breath tells me all I need to know, but I ask anyway.

“Do you like that?”

He laughs without humor.
 
“Are you kidding me?
 
You’re killing me here.”

I move in for another taste and then another, wrapping my lips around him.
 
I can tell he’s trying to keep still but soon he’s no longer in control.
 
Running my free hand up his muscled thigh, I revel in the strong man before me and the idea that even though I’m the one on my knees, he’s the one that’s at my command.
 
It’s such a rush.

With a loud moan he backs away from me, pulling his cock from my hand and mouth and putting some distance between us.
 
“You have to stop,” he says, breathing heavily.
 
“I wanted this to be about both of us and you’re about to finish me off.”
 
He runs his fingers through his hair and stares down at his throbbing length.
 
“Holy shit, babe.
 
Where’d you learn how to do that?”

“Prostitution 101.
 
Took the class in college.”
 
I don’t know how to tell him seriously that he’s teaching me as we go.
 
I’m taking every signal he’s sending and letting it guide me.
 
I’m not that experienced in the bedroom, since Austin was my one and only and he wasn’t really into foreplay.

“Shut up,” he says, taking a big step towards me and helping me to my feet in a hurry.
 
He takes me on both sides of my face and pulls me to him, pressing his mouth to mine and kissing me with abandon.
 
Our lips open and tongues meet, sparking a fire deep inside me.
 
I need him to feed the flames and then put them out.
 
I want it all.

I’m pressing against him and it makes my towel slip, but I let it go.
 
The feel of his skin against mine is like a drug and I need some of it soon or I’ll go crazy.
 
The damp terrycloth falls to the floor at our feet and I waste no time making sure every inch of my torso is touching a part of his.
 
He’s hard and warm and hairy on his belly.
 
The sensations that rise up in me are taking over.

He pushes me sideways and turns me around so my legs are against the bed.
 
Suddenly I’m falling back and he’s on me, both hands on either side of my head as he suspends himself above me.
 
“Scoot back a little,” he orders.

I comply, loving the feel of the soft, cool sheets on my naked back. I’m glad I didn’t bother making the bed today.

“Can I kiss you down there?” he asks, leaning down to nuzzle my neck.
 
The shivers make my nipples extra hard and goosebumps sprout up all over me.

I panic at the question, not sure if he means what I think he means.
 
“Down where?”
 
I know it’s a stupid question, but I can’t help but ask it.

“I’ll show you.
 
You tell me to stop if you don’t want me to.”

He’s suddenly gone from view and the weight of his body shifts to my lower legs as he settles himself down there.
 
And then his tongue is on my clit and I spasm with the pleasure the simple touch brings.

“Tarin!” I gasp.

“Yeah,” he whispers, moving his tongue around some more.
 
His hands slide up from my knees to where his face is, stroking my inner thighs.
 
The combination of sensations is maddening. I can’t stop my hips from moving in a sensual rhythm along with his tongue.

My ability to think rationally quickly disappears in the wake of his touch.
 
I can’t even tell what he’s doing down there, but whatever it is, it’s bringing me closer and closer to something that’s going to rock my world.
 
“Tarin!
 
Please stop,” I say.
 
I sound almost like I’m crying.

He stops immediately.
 
“Am I hurting you?”
 
His voice is full of concern.

“No,” I gasp out.
 
“You’re going to make me finish too soon.”

He crawls up towards me with a devilish gleam in his eye. “Sorry,” I say, feeling bad that I’m ruining such a great time, that I’m such an amateur at this whole thing.

“Sorry?
 
Sorry for what?
 
Sorry I’m so awesome at licking your pussy that you’re going to come?”

“Don’t say that word,” I say, giggling like a schoolgirl.

“What word?
 
Pussy?”

“Stop,” I say, still laughing, but now also trying to crawl away from him.

“Why?
 
Does it make you uncomfortable?”
 
He grabs me and forces me back under him.

“It’s a dirty word,” I say, embarrassed that I’ve actually said that out loud.
 
Truth is, I don’t hate the word.
 
It makes him seem darker when he says it, though.
 
Maybe that should make him less attractive, but it doesn’t.
 
It has the opposite effect and now I’m worried that I’m going to fall even more for him than I already have.
 
All for the love of pussy.

“But you like dirty words, don’t you?
 
I know I do.”
 
He’s teasing me now, his eyes crinkling at the corners with his smile.

“Are we still having sex?” I ask, trying to distract him.

He leans to the side a little and then uses a hand to guide the tip of his cock over to my entrance.
 
He moves it around, settling it between my folds before putting his hand on my breast under him.

“I don’t know,” he says, just before pushing himself into me a little.
 
“Are we?”

A whimper sneaks past my lips and I nod.
 
“Yes, I think we are,” I whisper, lifting my legs to give him better access.

“Yeah, I think we are too,” he says, pushing in more, reaching under my ass to pull my folds apart and bury himself deeper.
 
“Oh, god, yeah.
 
We’re definitely having sex right now.
 
Jesus Christ…”

His eyes close and he’s lost in the sensations.
 
The expression on his face tells me he’s as bad off as I am in this whole thing.
 
I’d cry with joy if I wasn’t so overwhelmed with the heat and wanting to just scream.

“Sex now, cry later,” I whisper as I close my eyes.

He stills.
 
“What’d you say?”

I shake my head rapidly, hating that I said that out loud.
 
“Never mind.
 
Just … do this.”
 
I pull on his ass, trying to force him in.

“Do what?” he asks.

I open my eyes and he’s smiling down at me again.
 
He’s evil.

“You know what.
 
Have sex with me.”

He pulses in once and then stops.
 
“No, I don’t like that word.
 
It’s too sterile.
 
Tell me what you want to do.”

“Have sex,” I say, gasping when he pushes into me hard and fast.
 
My body responds greedily, arching up for more.

“Nope.
 
Not that word.
 
Use another one.”

“You’re trying to get me to talk dirty, aren’t you?”
 
I pull his ass harder and arch into him.
 
We both moan together.

He massages my breast and pinches my nipple between two fingers.
 
“Say it and I’ll do it.
 
It’s that simple.”

I buck underneath him, trying to force him to do what I want from underneath, but I can only get so much satisfaction that way.
 
“Please, Tarin. Don’t tease me.”
 
I’m sweating from the exertion and anticipation.

“I want to hear you say it.”
 
He goes dark on me, all the humor gone to be replaced by pure sexual need.
 
Playtime is over, and maybe it should scare me but all it does is make me want him more.
 
I cannot get enough of the dichotomy that is Tarin, warm and tender one minute, dark and dangerous the next.

“Tell me what you want me to say, and I’ll say it,” I whisper.
 
Grinding my clit up against the base of his cock is building something in me, and I know it’ll only take a little effort on his part to throw me into the abyss.
 
I’ve only ever been there once before, but now I want to live there.
 
I’ll do just about anything he wants at this point, and I think he knows this.
 
Something about the way he’s staring down at me tells me he knows he’s calling the shots.
 
The tides have turned and the coin has flipped.
 
By degrees, the servant has become the master and the master has become the servant.
 
I never even saw it coming.

“Tell me you want me to fuck you,” he says in a menacing tone.

I pause, watching his jaw pulse out with the restraint he’s exercising.
 
I know he wants me as much as I want him, but for some reason he needs to make me do this.
 
The old Scarlett, the one who was hired to straighten his life out would have balked.
 
The Scarlett I am now, the one who wants Tarin in a whole other way does not.

“Fuck me, Tarin.
 
I want you to.”