More Than Fashion (21 page)

Our eyes met in the dim light, and then he strode toward me without hesitation. His hands cupped my face, and he kissed me in a way that took my breath away and sent a rush of warmth between my thighs. I kissed him back, pressing myself against his body, clinging to his shirt.

“Shouldn’t we go inside first?” I asked.

“I couldn’t wait a second longer to taste you. To touch you.” His breath tickled my ear as his voice dropped to a whisper. “This is our last chance to be seen on camera tonight. Have to make it good.”

Oh, right. We had to make sure we were providing the producers with enough footage to keep us on the show for another challenge. But once we got inside, it would be only us. No cameras. No viewers. And this time, neither one of us was going to leave in the middle of the night.

As we kissed, he slipped a hand under the bottom of my dress, sliding up my bare thighs. Higher and higher along my skin, only to discover I had nothing on underneath. He sucked in a breath. “Seems you couldn’t wait either.”

I gave him a sly smile and slipped my red panties into his hand, closing his fingers over it. “I might have gotten a little impatient.”

He made a
tsk tsk
noise. “Always losing these.”

“I don’t know what happened,” I said with a dramatic sigh. “It’s like they just take themselves off around you.”

He laughed, and we fumbled and kissed our way into the private suite. We could have stopped once the door was closed and the cameras were gone.

But we didn’t.

This wasn’t for the cameras. It was about doing what we’d wanted to do since we’d first met, before we knew we’d both be on the show, before we’d become competitors. Back when we’d been two hot, horny, single strangers in a bar. Tonight, with the door shut and the show and everything else on the other side, we could go back to that and forget everything else.

Once inside, he hooked one finger under my spaghetti strap and slipped it off my shoulder. I wasn’t wearing a bra, and the front of my dress dipped low enough to reveal one of my breasts. My nipple was already hard, and it tightened even more under his appreciative gaze.

“I’ve been dying for a glimpse of these ever since that first night,” he said as he eased the second strap off. The silky fabric slipped down my body, releasing my other breast. His fingers lightly trailed down the sides of them, raising goosebumps across my sensitive skin. “They’re even more beautiful than I imagined.”

“I would have shown you that night. I would have done anything you wanted.”

“You were drunk. I’d much rather you let me do whatever I want when you’re sober.”

With that, he lowered his head to my breast and clasped his lips to my nipple, making me gasp. His tongue flicked along my skin, and my knees weakened. I grabbed onto his shoulders, clinging to him as he worshipped one breast, then the other. He didn’t stop with my nipples either, but rained a trail of kisses all over my breasts, covering the curves and dips, the area under them, the valley between them. No inch of my chest went unloved, and soon I was dizzy with pleasure.

His hands were under my dress again as he kissed his way up, along my shoulders and neck, then returned to my mouth. When he slipped his fingers between my legs, he groaned. “So hot and wet down here, just like I remember,” he said. “I need to taste you again.”

His words brought back drunken memories of his tongue lapping at me until I had one of the biggest orgasms of my life. Yes, I wouldn’t mind him doing that again…especially now that I was sober and could enjoy it even more. But first, we had to get rid of some of these clothes.

I tore at the buttons on his shirt, although it was difficult to undo them with his fingers doing amazing things to me. He was way too good at distracting me, but I wouldn’t stop until he had a lot less clothes on.

I pushed his shirt off his shoulders, letting it fall to the floor, and he pulled me against him for a deep, hungry kiss. My taut nipples rubbed against his bare chest, and I reached for the front of his jeans, quickly undoing them. Together, we pushed them off his long legs and tossed them aside, along with his boxer briefs. Between fervent kisses, he grabbed the bottom hem of my dress and yanked it up, over my head and off me. It joined the rest of our clothes in a heap on the floor, and then, finally, we were naked together for the first time.

He didn’t kiss me, didn’t touch me—just took me in, staring at me like he could tease every secret out of my soul. His eyes were the color of a rainstorm, and I wanted him to wash me away.

We fell into each other, onto the bed, our bodies sliding, touching, rubbing, getting as close to each other as possible. He rolled me onto my back, and his body was a nice, firm weight on top of me. His hard length rubbed between my legs, so hot, so tempting, and I wanted him inside me already, but he had other plans.

He kissed his way down my body, covering every inch with his lips and his tongue, until I was both so relaxed and turned on I thought I might dissolve into the bed at any moment. He licked at my waist, my hips, the curve of my thigh, not rushing like he’d done that first night when I’d begged him to get me off. Now he took his time, tasting me everywhere, making me nearly delirious with want.

When he finally kissed me down there, I was so aroused I nearly came just from the lightest brush of his lips. He licked me slowly, leisurely, like he had all the time in the world to eat me out. I was already moaning, and for a brief second, I wondered how thick the walls were between this room and the others. But then I was swept away again when his long fingers entered me.

He flicked his tongue, building up a tempo that had me lifting my hips to meet him. I had no control over my body. I was completely captive to the way his mouth worked me, the way his fingers fucked me. I came hard and loud, my hands gripping his hair, my legs trembling, my hips rocking along with his movement. It kept going and it was so intense I almost begged him to stop, but I couldn’t speak, could only hold onto him and drown in the tidal waves of pleasure that kept sweeping over me.

My. God.

He finally pulled away, after my entire body had melted into the bed and even breathing seemed like a real challenge. I lay there, my muscles twitching, every inch of me warm and weak and happy. He slid up my body, his erection nudging against my thighs, and pressed a kiss to my neck.

“I love the way you taste,” he said, nipping at my ear.

The L-word in any context usually scared me to death, but he must have made me lose my head because I whispered, “I love the way you make me feel.”

His mouth descended on me, and with his skin against mine, sliding between my thighs, desire flickered inside me again. I wrapped my legs around him, nudging the tip of him inside me, silently begging him to slam the length all the way in. But he pulled back and turned to the side of the bed. The nightstand drawer opened, and he fished out a condom from inside. I didn’t even know there were condoms in there. He must have done some exploring the last time he’d had the suite.

He slid the condom on, and I watched, enjoying the view of him sitting above me—of his toned chest, the V of his hips, his broad shoulders and tattooed arms. His dark hair fell in front of his eyes as he worked, and something other than desire made my heart tighten. I pushed it away, and before I could dwell on what that emotion was, the condom was on, and he was easing his body over me again.

When he entered me, it was like a shower after a long, tiring day. I’d been craving him, aching for him, longing for him, since the very first moment we’d met. And now that he was finally inside me? It was even better than I’d imagined.

He held himself up on his arms, staring into my eyes, not moving but just feeling us together, joined as one. Slowly, he began to slide in and out. My arms and legs went around him, holding on for dear life, clinging to him as he rocked into me.

“I’ve thought about this every night since we first met. Every. Damn. Night,” he said, punctuating each word with a thrust.

“Me too.”

“I know.”

I laughed. “You know?”

“Oh yes. It kept me up every night. I couldn’t sleep, knowing you were in the other room, thinking about me, too. Thinking about how it would feel when I was finally inside you.”

“So cocky.” I loved the way he talked dirty to me, especially with that accent of his. “Did you touch yourself?”

“Yes. Bloody hell, I had to or I would lose my mind. Even with the other guys only a few feet away, I would stroke myself and think of you.” He pulled out of me, rubbing himself along my sensitive skin, making me nearly delirious. “Did you?”

“Yes. In the shower. I’d remember how good you tasted, how big you were, and imagine how good you’d feel inside me.”

He entered me again with a hard, quick thrust, and I cried out at the sudden impact, at the feel of being filled so completely. My nails dug into his back, and I lifted my hips as he pounded into me, our bodies moving together as one. This wasn’t just sex, not like it had been with the other guys I’d been with. This was something more.

I needed to take control of this, to grab hold of my ridiculous emotions. I pushed against his shoulders, making him pause, then rolled him over so I was on top. Oh yes. This was better. Like this, I could make sure this didn’t get too emotional. That what we were doing stayed sex and not making love.

I sat up, taking him even deeper, and pulled my long hair back. He sucked in a breath, his eyes locked on me, taking me all in. In this position, he felt even bigger inside me, but I was in control now. I rocked my hips once, twice, three times, making him groan. His fingers gripped my hips, urging me on, but I wasn’t ready for this to be over yet. I arched my back as I began to slowly ride him, moving in the exact way to build up that delicious ache all over again. Higher and higher I spiraled as we moved faster and faster, until every nerve ending in my body screamed for release.

He took my hands in his, locking our palms together, our fingers intertwined, pressing against each other for support. I leaned on him, and he held me up as the orgasm swept over me, making me tighten around him and cry out his name. His fingers squeezed mine and his hips rose up to meet me, his eyes slamming shut as he let go.

I rode him until we both had nothing left and then fell onto his chest. His arms went around me, his breath rising and falling, making my body move up and down with him. For a long minute, we simply held each other. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d done that with a guy. Maybe never. But I was too relaxed to do my normal routine of fuck-and-run. And for once, I didn’t want to leave.

I managed to smile at him as he brushed a piece of sweaty hair off my forehead. “That was worth the wait.”

“You’re so lovely,” Gavin said, trailing a finger slowly down my cheek.

“Stop it,” I said, but I smiled so he knew I didn’t mean it. I could listen to him say things like that all night long.

He sighed. “I know. I’m just as upset about it as you are.”

“Why are
you
upset?”

“Because I have to look at you all day and somehow restrain myself from kissing you senseless.”

“You don’t have to restrain yourself now.”

He rolled us over so he was on top of me, staring into my eyes. “Good because it’s damn near impossible to resist you.”

“Then don’t.”

For the next few hours, he didn’t. And he was very much
not
a gentleman.

***

When I woke, it was still early, the day only beginning to brighten, the sky a dark blue through the windows. Not quite time to get up yet.

But I was awake and there was a sexy, naked guy beside me. He lay on his side, eyes closed, one tattooed arm stretched above us under the pillow. The other arm was draped across my waist, his inked hand curled around my hip possessively. We must have grown hot sometime in the night because the covers were tangled down at our feet.

Lust flared within me at the sight of his naked body, at the way he reached for me even in his sleep, at the sight of the rose on the back of his hand. I didn’t want to wake him when he looked so peaceful, but I didn’t know if we’d ever get this chance together again.

I moved closer, fitting my body against his, skin to skin. He stirred and his hand slipped down to my ass to pull me even closer, but he didn’t open his eyes. I lightly brushed my mouth across his jaw, his stubble rough against my lips. I wondered how fast I could turn him on. One kiss? One touch? One word?

“Gavin,” I whispered in his ear.

He nuzzled against me, already growing hard. “Need something, love?”

There was so much power in knowing what I did to him. “You.”

His eyes fluttered open. “I’m yours. Now. Tomorrow. As long as you want me.”

His words made me tense up. There were no cameras in here. No microphones. No audience. Whatever he said was for me alone. And his expression was serious, as though he meant it in more than a sexual way. Like he wanted something real between us.

But the idea of being with Gavin outside of the show terrified me. I wasn’t ready to face that possibility yet. I didn’t want a serious relationship, with him or with any other guy. I was still in college and trying to figure out my life and my future. Settling down was not in the cards for a very long time.

Gavin was the first—the
only
—guy to ever make me consider something else. But it was too much, too soon. So I climbed on top of him, bringing us both to heaven again, because that’s what I did when I needed to distract myself from my problems. He was just another guy, and this was just sex. Nothing more.

I just had to keep telling myself that until I believed it.

CHAPTER TWENTY

I
nstead of sending us to the workroom for our next challenge, they directed us to the runway. Kelsey arranged us in the chairs we sat in during judging, and she put Gavin behind me. For once, she didn’t smile at us, and I got the feeling something was wrong but I couldn’t imagine what.

Lola was back and walked down the catwalk to face us in a slouchy charcoal dress. “Before we get to today’s challenge, we’re going to shake things up a bit.”