Читать книгу Her Secret Thrill - Donna Kauffman - Страница 11

JAKE HAD NO IDEA what he’d done to deserve this day, but he damn well wanted to find out so he could do it again.

Natalie was like no other woman he’d ever met. She was intelligent, witty, sharp and absolutely sexy. But she was also somewhat shy, or at least private. Definitely reserved when it came to sex. And yet she wanted so badly not to be. He was more than glad to help her out. In fact, it stunned him just what emotions and urges she brought out in him.

He had always firmly believed in seeing to his partner’s pleasure as well as to his own. But something about Natalie brought out twin urges to protect…and to dominate. He wasn’t all that surprised at the former. But the latter shocked him. He was definitely not that guy. And yet he’d never felt more natural than when he told her to walk across that room. Yes, he’d sensed she wanted direction, wanted to be absolved, at least a tiny bit, of the pressure of being in control.

But nothing had prepared him for the rush it had given him when she’d complied. Maybe it was because she’d done so with her head high. No meekness, definitely no submissiveness. It hadn’t been about domination or even control. It had been…primal. Visceral. This need to push her. Push her toward discovering her own pleasure…and toward discovering his. Maybe it was because he knew she’d push back.

And the idea of that happening rocked him even harder.

“Now?” he answered her command. And yes, it had been a command. He had never been one for that, either, never desired women who almost liked to punish men for giving them pleasure. But this command, it was about mutual pleasure. He could definitely identify with that.

And maybe that was the real thrill here. That they would push and shove, command and demand the absolute greatest degree of pleasure from one another.

He grinned down at her, hoping they both survived the onslaught. She squealed when he suddenly stooped and scooped her into his arms, holding her tight against his chest. “Bed or wall?”

Her eyes popped wide. He loved that.

“I beg your pardon?”

“No begging. I’m too far gone. I promise to make you beg next time, however. If that’s what you want.”

Her eyebrows narrowed. He loved that, too.

Then the most devilish smile curved her lips. “We’ll see who begs.”

He swore his knees went a bit woozy. Certainly his heart skipped one or two beats.

“Bed,” she said decisively. “Wall next time. If you’re lucky.”

“We’ll see who feels lucky when I’m done with you.”

He felt her squirm in his arms and knew he’d been right about the control issues. They would each test the other’s limits. And have the best damn time of their lives doing it. He wondered how long he could keep her here in this room where they could do anything and everything. No strings attached.

He carried her to the bed, aching just to slide her body down and onto his. But the brown paper bag on the bed stopped him. Her gaze fell on it at the same time. “Do you want to do the honors? Or would you rather me?”

He could see her getting ready to say she’d rather let him, but after the slightest pause, she said, “I’ll do it.”

She truly intrigued him. He realized he was like some bold adventure to her, that it wasn’t about him personally, but this secret thrill he’d come to represent to her. But rather than be insulted or offended by that, he had this undeniable urge simply to be the best damn adventure of her life. After all, it wasn’t like he wouldn’t be having a damn fine time, as well.

“I got several kinds.”

She smiled. “I know.”

“So just reach in and pick one. Unless you’ve decided you have a preference.”

He let her slide to a stand, then turned to yank the covers off the bed, while she dumped the bag out on the sheets. He sprawled across the bed, then smiled and beckoned to her with a crooked finger. “And the lucky winner is?”

Me, he answered himself, as she crawled across the bed, purple foil packet in hand.

She was comfortable in her own skin, he noticed, but mostly when she wasn’t thinking about the fact that she was naked in front of him. Part of him wanted to keep her distracted so she’d stay more at ease…and an equal part wanted to nudge her to confront it, to deal with it—and his part in it.

He rolled to his side, facing her. She didn’t look at him as she struggled to tear the package open.

“You want help?” His offer only made her more determined. He’d remember that.

She finally looked right at him…and tore it open with her sharp white teeth.

He’d do well to remember that, too.

“Okay,” she said, looking from the silky latex in her hand, to him. “Are you sure we got the right size?”

He couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Yeah,” he finally managed to say. “Here—” He held out his hand, but instead of taking the condom, he took her wrist and guided her hand to him. “Just put it like this.” He showed her. “Then roll it down. It stretches.”

He had planned on watching, but as soon as her slender fingers moved over him, pushing the latex down over his pulsing skin, he rolled to his back and groaned. He closed his eyes as she tugged and snugged it all the way to the base. He decided right then and there, he was never putting on his own condom again.

“Okay,” she finally said.

He forced his eyes open. “Maybe you need more practice.”

Her mouth dropped open, then snapped shut as she realized he was teasing. “You do have a whole bag full of them.” She was taunting. Daring.

He reached out and tugged her across his body. She yelped as he rolled her swiftly under him, pinning her arms gently but very firmly over her head. His legs held hers to the bed with no room for movement. He’d meant to taunt her back, make some smart-ass comment about seeing how many they could use in the next couple of hours.

But everything had changed the moment he had her helpless. There was not a shred of fear in her eyes. No. Exactly the opposite. Excitement, anticipation and…outright need shone from her dark eyes.

She wasn’t helpless, after all. She had him right where she wanted him.

“I’m going to take you, Natalie.” He knew it was the right thing to say when her pupils all but exploded in their rush to expand. “I’m going to fill you, every inch of you.” He nudged himself between her legs. “One…inch…at…a…time.” With each word he nudged a little more deeply. “I’m going to make you scream, Natalie,” he promised. She moaned softly, her hips pushing off the bed. He levered his body closer to hers, putting his mouth beside her ear. “With pleasure.”

He pushed slowly into her, keeping her legs pressed to the bed so she could barely arch into him. It was excruciating torture for them both…and unbelievably arousing. She was so wet for him, his control slipped—and slipped badly.

“Scream for me, Natalie,” he said hoarsely, and pushed all the way in, his hips coming down hard on hers.

She did scream, and bucked hard against him. He stilled, but only for a second.

“Again!” she rasped. “God, Jake. Do it again.”

“Yeah.” It was all he was capable of, and even that came out like a grunt. She was sweet and tight and goddamn if she didn’t take all of him and beg for more.

He pushed into her, making the bed jerk against the wall. Again. And again. And if he slowed down even slightly, she demanded it from him.

“Faster,” she gasped.

He kept her pinned. She writhed beneath him like a fury, but kept him locked so tightly inside her lean, little body, it might as well have been he who was pinned.

“Again, Jake. Deeper.”

He growled, unable to stop now. His hips moved like pistons, plunging and withdrawing, only to plunge again. Again and again she took him, kept him, released him only to clutch at him again. He’d never been driven like this, mindless like this.

Then she turned her head and whispered, “Come for me, Jake. Come for me.” And now he screamed. His climax was instantaneous and all but ripped out of him. It kept rolling over him and through him for what seemed like an eternity. Afterward, he barely sustained his upper-body weight on his elbows to keep from crushing her altogether. He was still shuddering, and he felt so completely drained that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to move again.

He pressed his face to the side of her neck. “You tricked me,” he murmured.

“Tricked you?”

He finally managed to release her arms and roll to his side, pulling her with him. “I was going to take you to the very limits…and then you tricked me into coming.”

“I didn’t think of it that way. Are you complaining?”

No way was he that good an actor. “Dear God, no.” He laughed when she grinned. “But I was sort of focused on doing that for you.” At the desire that spiked in her drowsy, sexy eyes, he pushed her to her back. “Not that I can’t take care of that now.”

She opened her mouth, then shut it again.

“You’re not going to argue, huh?”

She shook her head, laughter and need mingling in her dark brown eyes.

“Smart girl.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll be right back.”

She half sat up as he left the bed, but he waved her back. “Clean-up duty.” While in the bathroom, he also turned on the warm water and soaked a washcloth with it. Making sure it wasn’t too hot, he wrung out the excess water and returned to the bedroom.

She looked quizzically at the little white towel, but said nothing. He slid onto the queen-size bed and urged her to the middle. “Prop your head on the pillows.” She tugged several beneath her head. “And hand me the other one.” She looked at him, but said nothing and pushed the last one toward him.

He shifted between her legs, then began to tuck the pillow beneath her hips. Her eyes widened in that way they did, and he smiled. “Trust me.”

She shot him a look, but relaxed back on the pillows again. He wondered that she’d never played around like this before. Her previous partners must have been lawyers, too, he surmised with a private smile.

Once her hips were gently lifted, he spread her legs more widely. “Keep them here.” Before she could reply, he unfolded the warm towel and laid it right between her legs. She gasped and started to sit up, but before he could even say anything, she sighed and laid right back down.

“God, that feels really good.”

“Close your eyes and just relax. And enjoy.”

Even as she nodded, her eyes were drifting shut.

He let the warmth of the towel soak into her, soothing her where he’d so recently been roughly moving against that soft skin. She moaned softly as he gently pressed the heel of his hand down against the warm towel.

He maintained the pressure, then slowly moved his palm down, until one finger dragged slowly and gently in the crease between her legs. She gasped again, this time her hips moving up to push against his finger.

He stroked her again…and again, until she was moaning and reaching for his touch with her hips. The towel was becoming cool, so he slid it slowly off her, making sure it rubbed against her budded and highly sensitized clitoris before replacing it with his mouth.

She arched violently against his tongue as he invaded her. He lifted his head just enough to look up at her. “Reach up, Natalie. Hold on to the headboard.”

She opened her eyes and looked dazedly down at him. “Don’t stop,” she said hoarsely.

He grinned. “I have no intention of stopping. Hold on to the headboard, Natalie,” he repeated.

She reached blindly above her head as she continued to look at him.

“Hold on. Tight.” And then he slid his finger into her and up over her, making her bow right off the bed. “Now, Natalie. You come for me. You come for me hard.” And he kept his tongue right there, on her, at her, until she completely came apart over him.

He was so fully into her orgasm, it took him a moment to realize he was hard again, his hips pushing in voluntarily against the bed. Blindly he groped for the condoms she’d poured on the bed, even as he watched her climb that peak again. She shattered again, screaming this time.

He reared up, all but ripped the condom out of the packet and yanked it over himself. Then he was pulling her hips right up off the bed and onto him. Her legs flew up and locked tightly behind him as he gripped her hips and pushed into her almost violently. He couldn’t get deep enough, she couldn’t push herself onto him hard enough.

He kept his eyes on hers and watched as she climbed again. He slid a hand from her driving hips and rubbed his finger over her, just above where he was buried so deeply. She shrieked as she came even harder than before. And his climax came thundering right after.

They both slumped to the bed in a tangled, moist heap, the room filled only with the sounds of their heavy breathing.

Finally Jake managed to move. He pulled a pillow under his head, grabbed another from where it had been shoved in the frenzy and tucked it under her head. Then he turned to his side, pulled her slick body against his, tucked her head beneath his chin and let himself fall blissfully asleep.

NATALIE WAS TRYING to slide quietly from the bed, when he finally woke up. “What time is it?” he murmured.

“Two. I have to catch a plane out of La Guardia in a couple of hours.”

“Why are you whispering?”

She paused in gathering her clothes, then grinned. “Because you were sleeping,” she said, still whispering.

He finally shoved the rest of the cobwebs aside and sat up. So, it was over. He felt as if it had just begun. “Let me grab a quick shower and I’ll go to the airport with you.”

That stopped her. She stood up, clutching her gold-colored silk top and impossibly spiky black heels. “I— I don’t think we should. I mean, it’s a long ride out, and I’m sure—” She gave a little self-conscious laugh. “Actually, I’m not sure of anything at the moment.”

He slid off the bed and walked over to her. He tugged the shirt and heels out of her hands, glad when she didn’t put up much of a struggle. He pulled her against him. “I’m sure of one thing.”

She eyed him warily. “What is that?”

“I’ve never spent a more enjoyable morning in my entire life. Thank you for that, Natalie.”

She smiled then, looking almost shy. “I can return the compliment.”

“I know you want this to be a sort of once-in-a-life-time adventure.”

She tensed and started to pull away.

He tightened his hold just enough to keep her in his arms. “Hear me out.” He waited until she nodded. “I know your career is your focus. Right now, I’m pretty busy in that regard, as well. We both travel a lot, and that makes relationships almost impossible.”

She seemed to relax a bit.

He looked into her eyes, then took a breath and said, “So since we’re both in the same boat, neither of us looking for something permanent, the kind of thing we’d have to share with the other parts of our lives…why don’t we just share this.”

“This?”

“Yeah.” He motioned to the room around them. “This.”

“You mean, like have an affair?”

“I don’t know if it has a name.” He touched her hair. “I think we both enjoyed some of the things we explored here today. It was good and fun. But it was also kind of safe.”

“Safe?”

“Yeah. I knew you weren’t looking for more than this, and you knew the same about me. It sort of frees us up to just relax and enjoy. And explore a little more than we otherwise would.” He tilted her chin up, when she looked away. “Didn’t you feel that, Natalie? A sort of secret thrill in getting to do things you wouldn’t normally do?”

She looked at him for so long, he didn’t think she was going to answer. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath, until she did finally speak.

“Yes. Yes, this was…exciting.” She looked at him. “And no, I don’t normally do this.”

“Nor do I.”

“So what are you proposing?”

“That we exchange travel itineraries. See where and when they might intersect. When they do, we can get together and…explore. Safely. No other strings.”

“No intrusions into the other parts of our lives.” She said this almost to herself.

He felt hope blossom in his chest. “Right. This is just for ourselves. No expectations other than that when we’re alone together, we leave everything else outside the door and just enjoy each other. Maybe explore some of those other hidden desires and wants you’ve wondered about but haven’t wanted to give your partner an insight into.”

She pulled out of his arms. “I don’t know, Jake. This was undeniably wonderful. But I don’t know if I can just…I don’t know…schedule something like this into my life. It seems so—”

“Perfect,” he said, unwilling to give up. “I’m not seeing anyone seriously. You?”

She shook her head.

“Like I said. Perfect. Consider it an outlet. Something you give yourself, like a trip to the spa or something.”

She laughed.

“Okay, okay, but you know what I mean. What’s so wrong with that? No one has to know. And if we meet someone in our personal lives that we intend to get serious about, then that’s it. No questions asked. Otherwise, it will last as long as we both want it to.” He walked to her. “No intrusions into each other’s lives. We control this. It is what we want it to be. Nothing more, nothing less.”

She looked into his eyes again, then finally looked away. “I don’t know.” She pulled away again and went to the bathroom. “I just don’t think I can do that. I’m sorry, Jake.” She disappeared behind the bathroom door. He didn’t pursue her.

What he did instead was to grab some hotel stationery and write down his itinerary for the next several months. He jotted down where he’d be, on what dates, and at what hotels. He tucked it into her purse for her to find later. Maybe by then she’d have a change of heart.

At the bottom of the note, he wrote, “Now you know where to find me.” And he signed it “Your Secret Thrill.”