Two Week Seduction (16 page)

He was still coming when she leaned down to whisper into his ear.

“I love you, John O’Donnell. Now figure out a way for us to be together.”

Chapter Sixteen

Her alarm rang at 5:45 a.m., and Alea didn’t hesitate. She barely opened her eyes, dialing mostly by feel. Then she encouraged the rasp in her voice and reported in sick. She even added a cough for good measure. And while she snuggled back under the covers, fitting her butt to John’s groin, she groused into her pillow.

“Don’t judge me. I never skip work.”

“I didn’t say a thing.”

“You were thinking it.”

“I think a lot of things. Doesn’t mean they’re true.”

Uh-oh. That sounded a lot deeper than it should for this time in the morning. She twisted on the bed, turning to look at him. His hair was as rumpled as his short military cut would allow. Not quite a buzz, but close enough. His jaw was sexily shadowed. Very rugged looking. But his eyes were somber as they focused on her.

“You look very serious.”

“It’s O-dark-hundred. I’m asleep.”

“You don’t seem asleep.” For emphasis, she wiggled her hips against his thickening groin.

He tightened the arm across her belly. “Don’t start something if you just want to go back to sleep.”

Did she? As she was thinking, she started to yawn. Maybe she did want to go back to sleep. But then his hand started moving on her belly, stroking her stomach in a way that made her muscles jump and her skin tingle. “That’s not going to help me sleep,” she said.

“I didn’t say
I
wanted to sleep.”

“Mmmm,” she said as she snuggled deeper into his arms. “You say the sweetest things.”

But then his hand stilled on her belly. Though he nuzzled her neck, he didn’t continue with the kind of stroking she wanted. Guess he wanted to sleep. But then his voice rumbled through her skin as he spoke.

“We, um, didn’t use any protection last night.”

She nodded. “I know. But you’re clean, so we’re good.”

“Um…” He looked rather adorably awkward as he stared down at her. “But what about…you know…a pregnancy?”

“IUD, remember? So no baby.” Then she studied his eyes. This close, she could see every minute change in his expression, but she couldn’t interpret them. “Disappointed or relieved?”

“Both, I guess. Your children would be amazing.”

“
Our
children.”

He shuddered. She could tell he tried to suppress it, but they were entwined so she felt every ripple.

“John, we don’t have to think that far ahead right now. Kids are for some day.”

He groaned as he dropped his head into the pillow. That set his mouth against her shoulder and she felt his lips move erotically against her skin as he spoke.

“I never wanted kids. It was hard helping my mom and sisters pay the bills. Adding a wife and family? Way too much.”

She twisted enough to touch his face. “That was in high school. You’re not supposed to want kids in high school.” Unless of course he still felt that way. Which would be a problem. She wanted a zillion kids. “John?”

“It’s too much,” he whispered against her skin. “My brain is going to explode.”

“So go back to sleep. None of this has to be faced today.”

He quieted for a moment, and she closed her eyes. It was nice tucked tight together like this. It was even nicer when he started stroking her belly again.

“Mmmm,” she murmured.

“I can’t sleep,” he said. “So tell me what you want.”

“You saying you want sex just because you can’t sleep?”

He lifted his head and she saw a distinct twinkle in his eyes. “You have a problem with that?”

She smiled and stroked his face. God he was beautiful in the morning. All sleep rumpled and with an openness that was rare. “Not at all,” she said. “Start with my tat. I want you to always start and finish there.”

His eyes crinkled as he smiled. “That’s awfully deep for O-dark-hundred.”

“Got a problem with that?”

He grinned. “Not at all.”

So he started as she asked, his hand on her breast, his fingers deft as they stroked her skin. His touch was gentle, nearly reverent, but as her breath began to shorten, he got more demanding. He pinched her nipple, then pulled at it in a way that made her arch with him. And as she was pulled forward, he slid in behind, spooning up against her.

She tried to twist to kiss him. She wanted to see his face, to watch his expressions in this open moment before dawn, but he wouldn’t let her. He pushed her to face away from him on her side as his hand roved up and down her front.

“John,” she said, but then lost her train of thought as he began to nip at the base of her neck, right between her shoulder blades. The skin there was especially sensitive, and the contrasting feel of his lips and his morning whiskers had her shivering with pleasure.

His cock was big and hot against her bottom, and she couldn’t resist moving against it. If he wouldn’t let her face him, then at least she could stretch her hand backwards. She couldn’t go far, but she managed to grip his thigh and squeeze the taut muscles there.

Meanwhile, his hand was getting more demanding. Leaving her breast, he slid it lower a little too quickly. Within a moment, he was pushing between her thighs.

“Let me turn,” she said. “Let me—”

“Shhh,” he said. Then his free hand was brushing away her hair to expose her neck and jaw to him. His mouth quickly followed to lick and nibble there.

Then his lower hand found her clit, pulling up into it sharp enough to make her cry out. It wasn’t painful as much as surprising. And effective. What had been too abrupt a second before was suddenly perfect now.

“You’re sure,” he said, his voice husky against her ear. “No need for a condom?”

“None.”

“Good.” Then he pushed her forward, lifting her leg enough to slip his cock between her thighs.

She wasn’t averse. In truth, he had stroked her enough to make her hungry for it. But she needed to see him. She wanted to touch him back.

“John!”

He stilled. “Too fast?”

“Too…desperate.” She twisted to look at him. “What’s the matter?”

He licked his lips, and his gazed hopped away from hers. “I need you,” he said. The words were simple, but the desperation in them was not. He meant more than simple lust, more than just for now. And she didn’t think he liked that. In fact, the more insistently he maneuvered into position, the more she realized he didn’t like it. He didn’t want to need her. And so he was taking her without allowing her to share in it. Without her giving back to him.

“John, please. Let me look at you.”

He leaned forward, kissing her when she would have simply faced him. And he stayed there, pinning her in place.

“Please, Alea.” And when she didn’t immediately respond, he added five words that said it all. “I need it like this.”

“Okay,” she said. What else could she do? It was what he needed, so she faced away from him. She let him kiss her neck and nibble at her shoulder. She let him raise her leg and finger her clit. And she let him angle himself just right before he thrust deep inside.

He was big, stretching her in that way that started uncomfortable but soon became right. And he lay there embedded in her while a groan shuddered from his body into hers.

“Don’t move,” he said against her shoulder. “Let me do everything.”

“John—”

“Please.” A breath. “I need to worship you.”

“I don’t want worship. I want love.”

He was silent a long moment. And then he pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “I know. But this is what I have.”

No way to argue that. He had to make up his own mind in his own way. So she nodded, lying still as his lips began their silent whispers against her skin. The hand between her thighs slid around, circling then thrusting hard against her clit. She arched as he did it, but he leaned forward, using his weight to hold her still.

And he just stayed there not moving except for his lips. He was still whispering something to her, but she had no idea what.

Then his finger began to move again. Pushing at her. Sparking fire in her blood and tightening the muscles in her belly. Her breath was stuttering in and out, her own heartbeat loud in her ears.

And still he didn’t move inside her. Just his finger and his lips. Circling, pushing. Pressing and then…a pinch.

She cried out as he did it. She moaned and she sobbed, but he didn’t let her move though her body writhed in his hold. And he didn’t thrust deeper inside. Just held himself still as she shuddered around him.

“John,” she gasped, though she didn’t know what she meant to say. “John, please.”

He didn’t answer. He just started moving his finger more aggressively. Harder. Faster. While her blood pounded through her body. Her hands, extended forward, clutched the sheets. And the tension grew.

“Come for me, Alea. Come now.”

She did. She convulsed in a spasm of pleasure that ricocheted through her body. It was harsh and wild, whiting out everything else.

And while she was still wrestling with the tumult inside her, she heard him groan. He might have thrust into her, but she couldn’t tell. She only knew he released because he was still pulsing as she quieted. Because his body was jerking against her as she caught her breath. And because his body soon dropped heavily against her back.

And when he finally stilled, she was able to pull his hand forward to kiss. “Better?” she asked.

“Beautiful.”

Beautiful? She might have asked what he meant by that, but before she could frame the words, she felt his body drop even more bonelessly against her.

She stilled, listening to the rhythm of his breath, the steady beat of his heart.

“John?”

Nothing.

“I love you.”

Against her back, she felt his mouth curve into a soft smile before he pressed a kiss to her skin. And then…nothing.

He was asleep.

And soon, cradled in the cocoon of his body, she too drifted off.

…

It was hours later when she woke. Even before opening her eyes, she knew he’d left her bed. Her back was cold and the mattress no longer dipped heavily toward his side. Then she heard him, the sound muffled but clear enough.

“I know.” Pause. “Jean, I heard you the first time.”

His sister. The one with the twins. He was probably talking to her on the phone.

“Fine. I’ll be there in an hour.” Silence. “Yes. An hour.”

She rubbed a hand over her face. Well, at least he was still here, though apparently that wasn’t going to last long. She scrambled out of bed and did a quick freshen-up in the bathroom. Then she headed for the living room while pulling on an oversized tee.

He hadn’t left, thank God. She’d been terrified he’d bolt while she was in the bathroom. But he was leaning against the counter, drinking a mug of coffee, and looking at her stack of law school acceptances.

Gulp.

“Morning,” she said.

He was looking at her over the mug, his gaze making a slow perusal of her outfit. “Morning. I like that shirt.”

She looked down, belatedly realizing it had strategically-placed handcuffs on them. She snorted. “I’m game if you are.”

He choked on his coffee.

She laughed. “When did you get the idea that I was a prude?”

“With the exception of this last week, you’ve been the innocent sixteen-year-old sister of my best friend.”

She headed for the coffee pot, but he was there before her, pouring her a mug. “I was never an innocent sixteen-year-old. Maybe back at twelve.”

He held up his hand. “Stop! Leave me some illusions.”

“I think it’s because you have fantasies about debauching a sweet sixteen-year-old.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Always wanted to invite someone to sit on little Johnson.”

“I have news for you. There’s nothing little about Johnson, uh…John.”

That, naturally, just made him grin wider. She settled back against the counter, echoing his pose as she sipped her elixir of the gods. This was nice, this sharing of smiles in the morning. Er…almost noon.

But as they stood there with their drinks, his expression sobered. A moment later, he was looking down at her spread stack of acceptances, and she knew her moment of comfort was at an end. She held onto the silence as long as she could, but eventually he gestured to the envelopes.

“So, um, none of those are open.”

She nodded. “I actually got the acceptances online. These packets came afterwards.”

“Yeah. But you haven’t opened any of them.”

True.

“So which one are you going to? Or are you waiting to hear from someplace else?”

“They’re all in. These are the yesses.”

He pointed. “Stanford, NYU, University of Michigan. Big name schools.”

It wasn’t a question, but she answered it anyway. “My mother is so proud. Even Dad didn’t get into Stanford.”

“Congratulations.”

She nodded, not answering.

“You don’t want to go to law school, do you?”

Her gaze shot up to his. “Of course I want to go to law school. Do you know how much time I put into those applications?”

He didn’t answer, just held her gaze for an uncomfortably long time. She tried to look away. She really did, but every time she tried, she found herself looking back at him a split second later. And all the while, she felt her cheeks slowly heat with embarrassment. She always made a point to appear confident and in control. But in this she was floundering, and that made her feel stupid.

“Alea—”

“Look, I just don’t know which one is the best place to go, that’s all. They each have something to recommend them.”

He didn’t respond, just finished his coffee, then rinsed out the mug in the sink. After a minute or so, she started talking just to fill the silence.

“I heard you on the phone. Was that your sister?”

“Yeah. She needs my help with her car. I told her I’d stop by this afternoon.”

“In an hour. I heard.”

He shrugged. “Actually, I have to go by my mom’s first. And my motorcycle is still at the school.”

She blinked. “Oh shit, I forgot. Let me get my keys. I’ll take you.”