Naughty Little Secret (4 page)

into her house, and he didn’t have a rousing game of checkers on his mind. Oh, God. Would she wind up a police statistic?

“I can’t wait to be inside you, to make you mine.”

His deep, husky voice penetrated her panic and scratched her senses. Adrenaline jolted her. She opened her mouth to scream…but his hand still covered it.

Something about his words tore at her mind.
I can’t wait to be inside
you, to make you mine…
His voice sounded both menacing and seductive. Did he mean those words to be a promise or a threat?

Fear and thrill clawed at her belly. She couldn’t separate them. Her mind spun, her heart pounded, and an icy slide of dread shocked her bloodstream. With the erection he pressed against her thigh, he felt fully prepared to do exactly what he’d stated and had beyond adequate equipment with which to do it. Way beyond.

For a flash of a second, she struggled. She should have told Noah she needed extra security. Should have called the police. God, how had this man stolen into her house? Handcuffed her to her own bed? Yes, she wanted excitement, but not the kind that meant she and her funeral arrangements would be the talk of the five o’clock news.

“Shh. You’re going to scream. Long and loud. But not out of fear. I won’t hurt you,” he promised. “Ever. Just pleasure you.”

With one hand over her mouth, the stranger placed the other on her shoulder and skimmed her flesh just beneath the strap of her camisole.

Instead of tearing into her, he stroked her, his touch torturously unhurried. Lauren held her breath as his fingers moved across her skin, closer and closer to her breast.

What would he do? How would he touch her? It seemed unlikely he’d just seduce her and not hurt her. On the other hand, did the average serial killer have lingerie delivered to his victim’s office first? No.

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Naughty Little Secret

That realization only confused her more. She’d love to believe this was just a seduction. But why would he go to this much trouble just to get her into bed? She was hardly movie star gorgeous.

For some reason, he had gone to great lengths to get her beneath him—and doing a damn fine job with his opportunity—as he traced the swell of her breast, toyed with the hint of cleavage above the camisole.

She held in a gasp.

Against her better judgment, tingles erupted. Her nipples peaked.

Pleasure bubbled inside her, scraping against fear to create a totally new sensation. Jagged. Intense. Parts south suddenly gushed with moisture.

Oh, God. She was out of her mind. Her stomach coiled with fear and she got wet when he touched her. What was the matter with her?

Ashamed, afraid, aroused, Lauren trembled as his fingertips traced ever-smaller circles around her nipples. What should she do? Fight this stranger who’d invaded her home and promised to do the same to her body? Yes!

But his gentle invasion, his touch, sent frissons of excitement dancing across her skin, sugary sensations that pushed past her resistance and roused the dormant woman inside her. God, would it be too wrong to give in to the heat building inside her and let him have his way?

Before she could answer her question, he plucked at the ties, gave a little yank, and the garment opened, fell away. Lauren couldn’t see, but the cool air caressing her nipples told her he’d bared them to his gaze.

They tightened again. She held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t touch them.

Hoping he would.

“I’ve got to see this. See you.”

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Shelley Bradley

At her side, he shifted, leaned away, dropping his hand from her mouth. Then she heard the little click of the small light on her nightstand. Though she could see nothing behind her blindfold, she knew a muted golden light now suffused the room.

He curled his fingers around her breast and swiped a thumb across one of the peaks, groaning low and long. Lauren swallowed, her heart racing like a rollercoaster on a downhill run. He did it again. She bit her lip to hold in a moan.

The bed dipped beneath his full weight again, and he continued his attention to her breast, squeezing, rolling the hard tip between his fingers. “Gorgeous. I’ve imagined…”

His strained whisper scraped at her composure, her resistance. He burned her. Was she so desperate to be touched that a stranger who’d broken into her house and fondled her could turn her on? In a word, yes.

“Who are you?” The shaking in her voice was unmistakable.

“Shh. Later…”

“But—”

He transferred his attention to the other breast for a moment, plumping her flesh, stroking her nipple. Lauren’s words died, forgotten, under an onslaught of sensation.

“Your breasts are gorgeous, rounder than they look in clothes.”

“I sometimes wear a minimizer bra,” she blurted.

“Don’t. Ever again.” His voice was like the lash of a whip. “You’re too beautiful to hide.”

Pleasure shot down her belly, centering…right where he’d need it if he intended to get inside her. And the way she felt now, she didn’t think wetness was going to be a problem.

Was she insane? Was she actually contemplating having sex with a total stranger?

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Naughty Little Secret

She couldn’t. Shouldn’t. It was crazy. Certifiable. Totally insane.

All true, yet…Lauren felt his exhalation brush her lips, like he hovered right above her. Like he was going to—

Before she could complete the thought, his mouth crashed over hers in a kiss that tore her breath—and every rational thought—away. Fear barely had time to flicker inside her before it was lost in the feel of his hot mouth sliding over hers, his strong hands tilting her head so he could find the perfect fit. He groaned deep from his chest.

Lauren gasped at the scalding shock of desire jolting her. And her stranger took advantage of her parted lips, stealing inside and thrusting deep. She tasted his hunger, his hot, wild demand. Pure desire went to her head faster than liquor.

The man could kiss. Make a woman feel utterly possessed with just his mouth.

He slid his hands beneath her in an urgent grip, pulling her under every hard, hot inch of him. Then those big hands grasped her thighs and pulled them apart. Lauren didn’t even have the chance to draw a breath before he settled into the cradle of her thighs, as if he belonged there. Had every right to be there. With his muscled legs, he shoved her thighs wider.

Lauren opened her mouth. She really ought to protest. But another wild sweep of his tongue through her mouth and a rock of his hips that bumped his impressive cock right against her clit made her swallow her words. Against her better judgment—did she have any left?—pleasure arced through her, undeniable. Liquid heat doused her, drowning her protests. Senses spinning, her body ached with need.

He could soothe your ache. He could fulfill you.

As if sensing her inner struggle, he swept through her mouth again with possessive abandon. He coaxed her with the soft demand of his lips,

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Shelley Bradley

the tangle of his tongue with hers, the taut cradle of his arms around her. Harsh…but holding back to show her he could be gentle, despite the hunger she sensed whipped him every moment they touched.

Lord knew it lashed her like a cat-o’-nine-tails on steroids.

Had she ever ached this badly? Wanted with such sudden intensity?

Hell no. If Tim had been able to do this to her, she would have never let the man out of her sight.

“Want you,” he breathed harshly in her ear. “So damn bad.”

His words made her belly—and something a tad lower—pulse with a ferocious beat. Lauren stopped fighting the battle she couldn’t hope to fight. He melted her. Completely. Made her dizzy. Crazy. She’d never known anything like it.

Moaning into his mouth, she arched up to him and kissed him. He answered with a groan, curling his tongue around hers, entangling them again. She invited him to take his fill. Surrendered.

The stranger didn’t hesitate to take his possession deeper. He held her face in his hands gently, as if she were precious to him. But his kiss… He took her mouth again in a fierce mating, throbbing with harsh hunger. The flame of his desire ignited her even more. Lauren felt every crush of his lips and lash of his tongue against her own deep inside her, where she was now soaking and aching and praying he would replace it all with satisfaction. Soon.

She fought the cuffs, wanting to touch him, feel the sleek, hard flesh she knew lurked under his soft cotton shirt. They jangled with finality.

Arching, entreating, she whimpered into his mouth. On their own, her legs parted farther, wrapped around him.

“Yes,” he growled. “Give me everything.”

He rocked against her again, and the ache between her legs tightened. She was on fire now. God, the heat raged inside her,

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Naughty Little Secret

demanding she know the taste of his skin, the feel of his bunching shoulders under her palms as he thrust every inch of his cock inside her.

“Uncuff me,” she panted against his chest. “Please.”

“Next time.”

He drew back, and she felt cold without him. Until she heard the rustling of clothing. He was undressing.

This was happening, really happening. A stranger was actually stripping in her bedroom with every intent to have sex with her. Lauren would have thought she was dreaming if it didn’t feel so real.

“If you touch me now, I’ll explode.”

A whisper of misgiving shifted through her. “I’m afraid. I—I’ve never been tied down.”

He leaned over her, and Lauren felt his heat seep inside her, the brush of his bare skin arousing. “Get used to it. I’m going to love having you bound and under me so I can watch you come while you’re at my mercy.”

Oh, God.
He’d already stripped down to his skin. Now, he was stripping her of her defenses. His wicked words, coupled with the confession that he wanted her badly, tore away at her patience. But something tugged at her. Something familiar about his voice. Had she heard it somewhere?

A fast, fierce kiss put an end to the thought. His clever tongue swept through her mouth and captured hers. The kiss became a tango of shallow breaths and urgency, all fueled by his buttery-rich skill. He kissed her ruthlessly, like a man with just one thing on his mind.

He was making her think about sex, too. In fact, she couldn’t think about anything else.

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Shelley Bradley

The cacophony of sensations ricocheted through her body, settling right where she ached like she’d been without sex for centuries, not a couple of years.

“Hurry,” she demanded.

“I’ve waited so damn long. I’m not rushing this.”

He’d waited? For her?

The puzzle made no sense, but his gruff whisper shot both a fresh thrill and a protest through her. Her body throbbed like a ceaseless toothache. He was going to make her wait.

“You’ve flushed the prettiest pink. Everything about you turns me on.” His raspy whisper throbbed inside her.

His voice…low and rough and arousing. A hint of something familiar.

Should she know it?

Lauren frowned, trying to puzzle it out with her overheated brain. But he settled on top of her again, her sensitive breasts meeting the hot slab of his chest. Think tank time was over.

A light dusting of hair grazed her nipples. And he was hard everywhere—pecs, abs, cock, thighs—all taut and ready and covering her with the intent to take. Electricity sparked every sensitive spot on her skin. Lauren softened around him, her body fitting against him perfectly, molding her every curve to his hard angles. Amazing. Like pieces of a puzzle made for each other. Perfect.

She raised her hip to him. “Now.”

“I’m dying to.” The words were a tortured moan. “But I have to get my mouth on you first. I have to taste you.”

Before she could protest, his lips brushed the side of her breast. Heat curled everywhere he kissed and laved. He lifted his head, and Lauren swore she could
feel
his gaze on her nipples. More blood rushed to them, engorging them.

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Naughty Little Secret

“Fucking beautiful,” he murmured as his tongue curled around the sensitive tip.

Pleasure washed over her, cascading down her senses like a hot fall of liquid desire. She moaned, arched toward him—and he rewarded her by sucking her breast deep into his mouth. Voracious. His hard pulls tugged the ache between her legs into something sharp and impatient. A gentle scrape of his teeth, a subtle nip, then explosions of sensation detonated all through her, and she cried out.

“So responsive,” he praised as he transferred his attention to her other nipple.

He laved it with the same care, a hard suck, a small stinging bite.

The pleasure ratcheted up, the ache clamping down deep in her sex. She clenched her hands into fists. Perspiration filmed her chest. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.

Lauren could only want.

And when he smoothed his palm down her belly, yanked off her thong, and slid his hot finger through her aching wet slit, she cried out.

“Oh, hell,” he panted against her breast. “You’re bare. Do you shave?”

“Wax,” she moaned.

“That’s so damn sexy.”

It was merely cleaner to her, but everything he did was sexy.

Everything he said made her feel sexy. No one had made her feel like a desirable woman in a
very
long time. She wanted more. Now.

She opened her mouth to make a demand of her own when he circled his fingers around her swollen, humid opening, sensitizing her to his touch. Before she could take another breath, he plunged two fingers deep.

Oh, God. She was dissolving. Disintegrating. Coming apart already.

How much of her mind would she lose if he thrust his cock inside her?

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Shelley Bradley

“I knew you’d feel amazing,” he groaned.

But she barely heard. Pleasure ripped a cry from her throat. He was sending her into a spiral she had never experienced, had barely imagined in her wildest fantasies. And he thought
she
was amazing?