Читать книгу Naked Pursuit - Jill Monroe - Страница 11

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“YOU HAD TO wear a shirt with buttons,” he said with a heavy sigh, his voice teasing.

“I’m pretty sure a firefighter can figure it out.”

“I could use both hands, but then I’d have to move yours. And I like your hand right where it is.”

As her hand was cupped around the hard arc of his sexy butt, Stella wasn’t all that interested in moving it, either.

Had she ever been with such a gorgeous man? Most of her romantic partners had been colleagues who, like her, subsisted on food from the vending machine with few hours spent at the gym. So tonight she’d treat herself by taking her sweet time touching, tasting and savoring this amazing male specimen.

“I guess I could help you with my other hand.” She lifted her left arm and clasped the material surrounding the top button. Owen’s fingers brushed hers and their eyes met. Neither dropped their gaze as they freed the top button.

Mmm, mmm, mmm. This was a new experience. Men had unbuttoned her shirt before. She’d even stripped for a guy. But never had she and her partner worked together, as a team, to take off her top. It was somehow more intimate and personal. She didn’t do intimate. Or personal.

They worked their way through buttons two and three. His knuckles brushed the newly exposed skin of her chest and stomach. She’d make an exception for personal this one time. Or all night.

Button number four was where the blouse-ripping had begun, so when they reached that point, Owen slowly slid her top off her left shoulder and then the right. He smoothed the material down her body until it caught and dangled on the handcuff chain between them.

His eyes crinkled in the corners and his gaze finally left hers to focus on the problem. “I guess we didn’t think this handcuff thing all the way through. I’ll go grab the key.”

But she shook her head and twined her fingers through his. “Not yet. I like a challenge.”

“Guess I should have played harder to get.”

She shook her head again. “No. Just hard.”

“That was kind of dirty talk, Doctor.” He brushed her lips with his. “I like it.” His voice was a delicious whisper that sent sparks of keen awareness along her nerve endings. Then Owen cupped her breast through the red silk of her bra, and it was like he’d lit her on fire.

Stella’s entire body burned and craved more. Craved everything. Her nipple puckered against the soft material. He toyed with her, slow strokes with the pad of his thumb, and Stella sucked in a breath.

Owen tugged on the strap of her bra. “I need to get you out of this,” he breathed into her neck. “And this time keep you out.”

Another blast of sexual awareness pounded her senses. “Yes,” she said, her single word long and drawn out. She wanted to be naked. Right. Now.

“I’ve never picked up a man,” she admitted. Not her style.

He lifted his head from her neck. A small sexy smile tugged at his lower lip. “I thought I picked you up.”

She shook her head. “Sorry to disappoint.”

His smile deepened. “Believe me, not a disappointment.”

She laughed, and it made her feel good. Light. Carefree. It had been so long since she’d been wrapped in the strong arms of a gorgeous man. Not that any guy in her past equaled the sheer appeal of this man. Rugged and sexy. Capable and sensual. Owen was built like a man who knew how to work his body.

Even though she’d met him only a few hours ago, she clicked with him. Strange. She rarely formed attachments to people so quickly. Her med school training had taught her not to put a lot of stock in first impressions, but instead to form judgments based on interaction and fact. But with Owen it was all impressions and feelings and gut reactions.

“I need two hands to work the clasp of this bra and I don’t want to contort your arm and hurt you.”

This was no passive encounter; she was a full participant in the baring of her body to his eyes. Her every sense was heightened. All her nerve endings quickened at his touch.

She helped him out and the clasp finally, finally gave. He smoothed the material away with his palms. Stella shivered from the heat of his fingers.

His breath came out in a heavy groan. “You are beautiful, Stella.”

“So are you,” she told him as she traced the lean muscles of his chest. A puckered scar wrapped around his rib cage. A burn?

“We should get the key now because in another minute, I’m not going to care.” Owen’s hands dove into his overnight bag, stopping every few seconds to drop a quick kiss on her lips. Her nose. Her forehead.

After a few moments, he settled his hands on her shoulders and stared directly into her eyes, his gaze intent and focused and filled with desire. “Clearly I need my full concentration to find this thing,” he said.

She nodded her understanding. Stella watched the play of muscles on his back as he bent down to the bag. She couldn’t stop herself from stealing a caress of his bicep or leaning in to catch the woodsy outdoors scent he carried with him.

His movements became more frantic. He unzipped pockets and felt in the corners of the bag. “Those jerks.”

“What?”

“Well, they left me the cuffs but not the key.”

Her gaze flew to the cute black-and-white top she’d worn. Sadly, it would now be a casualty to sex. The sound of ripping fabric filled the air as she tore at the seam from hem to sleeve. Her ruined top fell silently to the carpeted floor.

“That’s one way to handle it,” he said, a smile lightening his face.

“The bra’s going to be a problem,” she warned.

“I have a pocketknife in my jeans.”

“Do it.” He dug in his pants until he pulled out a small, yet serviceable knife. She hissed in a breath when his fingers grazed along the sensitive skin of her shoulder. Who knew her skin was so susceptible to touch? No, this man’s touch.

He lifted the strap and slid the blade underneath.

“Wait.”

He instantly stopped. Did he think she was having second thoughts? Now?

Ha—as if she would ask him to leave her bra right where it was. “Cut in the middle of the strap. That way I can tie it in the morning.”

With a few efficient moves he freed her bra from the chain between them. She tossed the bra aside and watched as it landed on the dresser in the bedroom.

“Hold out your hand, and I’ll cut off the band they put on us at the testing center.”

He did so and she returned the favor. Then she focused all of her attention back on the sexy hot man in front of her.

Owen pulled her into his arms. “I believe you were licking my ear and talking dirty.”

“Pretty talented, aren’t I? I can lick and talk at the same time,” she teased. He was about to reply, but she silenced him when she traced her tongue along his ear and sucked the lobe into her mouth. “Does this give you any ideas?” she asked after a moment.

He nodded. “Too many good ones.” His free hand caressed and stroked her breast, then moved lower. Butterflies flapped to attention inside her stomach as his fingers rubbed the bare skin above her leggings. He dipped his hand between her legs, stroking and teasing her through her underwear until her legs grew weak.

“Owen, you have to slow down,” she moaned into his neck.

Stroke.

Her clit grew heavy and tingly. “This feels too good.”

“Nothing can feel too good,” he told her, nibbling at the tender skin above her collarbone.

Stroke.

Her inner muscles began to clamp deliciously.

“Owen, I’m going to come too soon.”

Strooookkkke.

“Then you can come again,” he said, his voice tight.

But Stella also had a free hand, and she could play the tormenting game, too. She trailed her fingers down the hard ridge of muscle lining his spine, then smoothed her palms along the ridged rows of muscle on his stomach until she found the waistband of his jeans. His cock was a long ridge beneath the zipper and she quickly freed him. He sprang into her hand. Smooth and hard. She circled the head of his cock with her thumb. She’d meant only to torment him the way he was tormenting her, but feeling the evidence of his desire for her made Stella want him to plunge inside her. Fill her. Thrust until they both came.

“I don’t want to wait, Owen.”

“Yeah. No, I—”

She cut off his words by dragging him to the large bay window in the bedroom. Below, a large, beautiful courtyard with lights in the trees and a meandering path through flowers beckoned lovers for a late-night stroll. But not these lovers. No, Stella wanted only to be alone with this man in the bedroom of this amazing suite.

With a press of her finger, a filmy curtain drifted down. The street lights faded but the glow of the Dallas skyline still filtered through. Stella dropped to the curved bench beneath the window, the diamond-tufted cushion soft beneath her back.

“Here,” she urged. “Make love to me here.”

Owen’s eyes flared, but she couldn’t read his expression in the now darkened room.

He reached for the band of her leggings at her waist. He groaned as he slid her pants down her legs. “Those are the sexiest damn panties I’ve ever seen.”

She was kind of partial to the black scalloped lace herself. Stella wore nothing but scrubs all day, every day, so she needed the feel of silk and lace on her skin. Actually, right now she needed the feel of this man’s hands back on her skin. She lifted her hips to help him draw her panties down.

“Just like that,” he said, and his finger brushed along the curls between her legs.

“Hmm?”

“When I’m inside you, I want you to meet me just like this.”

Could she come because of a man’s words? But the thought fled from her mind quickly, replaced by the all-consuming images of his hard length deep inside her, stroking her as she raised her hips to meet his every thrust.

Owen reached for one of the wrapped condoms.

“Here, let me.” She tore the top of the package off, then grasped his cock, caressing him softly. She watched his face in the dim light as she touched him. His eyes were closed, his jaw tight with need. He stroked her with the barest of touches as she slid the condom in place. Slowly.

“Now that’s how to put on a condom,” he told her with a half groan.

Stella laughed, feeling carefree and sexy and so, so needy.

His free hand clasped her chin. He caressed her cheek with his thumb.

“You ready?” he asked.

So ready.

Stella nodded and he stepped between her legs, grabbed her by the hips and pulled her ass to the end of the cushioned bench seat. He teased her clit with the pad his thumb. “You’re so wet.”

She shivered at his touch, and then he slipped his finger inside her at an agonizingly slow pace. Stella sucked in a breath as delicious tingles bombarded her body. But as desperate as she was to have him buried deep inside her so she could lose herself in the powerful wave of sex, it had been a long time for her. She hadn’t had a boyfriend since she’d started med school, and...wow, had it really been over two years? She began to count in her—

The head of his penis replaced his gently exploring finger, and all thoughts of math and time and calendars fled. Now she was all about sensation.

With a shift of his hips, Owen slid inside her with a slow and steady thrust. Her inner muscles instantly clamped along his length and she held her breath.

“You with me, Stella?” he asked, his deep voice strained. “You’re so tight. You feel amazing.”

She lifted her eyes to his face, and while it was too dark to read his expression, Stella felt the tension emanating from his body. Oh, she was with him. Stella nodded.

But still he didn’t move. Sweat broke out along his brow, proof of his effort to hold back so he wouldn’t hurt her.

“I’m with you, Owen. I want you so bad.”

Slowly, as if the man didn’t trust himself, he withdrew from her only slightly, then thrust inside again. She moaned as a surge of pleasure made her shiver. “More. Again.”

Owen didn’t hesitate this time, pulling from her body and thrusting over and over. He easily found the tempo that drew the deepest moans and most powerful trembles from her body.

She’d been right. Owen knew exactly how to work his body. And hers. Stella locked her feet behind his back and his free hand found her breast. He rubbed the tip with his thumb and she lifted her hips to meet his thrusts.

She grabbed the hand that was cuffed to hers and he twined his fingers through hers. An unexpected wave of tender intimacy rushed through her and sensation exploded inside her. Her muscles clenched with the power of her orgasm, and her shoulders and hands shook.

His big, beautiful body pumped into her, and then he came, too, his moan lingering in the air like something to be savored. He slumped beside her on the narrow bay window bench, their cuffed hands still intertwined. Her breathing was harsh but his was even more ragged.

She smiled, content to watch the shadowed lights of the city through the sheerness of the curtain.

After a moment he propped himself up on his elbow and looked down into her face. He ran his finger along the curve of her jaw.

“I want to make some joke right now about how I still have a fire that you need to put out.”

“I think I could help you out with that. Or I could tease you about how you’re almost a doctor so you should have the perfect prescription for this discomfort I get right here.” He drew her hand to his cock. “It happens whenever I’m around you, Doc.”

She gave him a mock stern look. “Sounds serious.”

“But we’d never make those kinds of jokes.”

“Nah, nothing that corny,” she agreed. Then Owen swooped down and landed his mouth against hers and kissed her. As he cupped her face, his tongue slid between her lips. Her free hand went to the back of his neck to draw him closer. Stella pressed herself against his chest, giving as much to their kiss as she took.

And suddenly they were no longer playful, or looking to make corny jokes, and she was not chalking their night up to ending her man-fast.

“I want to spend the weekend with you,” he said.

Had there been sweeter words? His statement was exactly what she wanted to hear, and she hadn’t even realized she’d wanted it.

“Me, too.”

“Just not on this uncomfortable bench. I barely fit.” And then he swooped her up in his arms and dumped her on the bed. He stretched out beside her and she rested her head on his chest. His heart pumped a steady rhythm beneath her head, enticing her to doze. “Now that’s more like it,” he said, his voice heavy with sleep.

She stifled a yawn behind her hand. “I think our eventful night is catching up with me.”

“Same.”

“I mean, I’ve never been kicked out of a roller rink before.”

Owen’s chest rose as he chuckled. “I’ll never get a big head around you.”

She lifted her head to gaze at the glowing red numbers on the bedside clock. “It’s been hours since PharmaTest gave us that medication. Even if we weren’t on the placebo, with the passage of time and the adrenaline we’ve burned through since escaping that place, I’m thinking any immediate effects would have passed. Guess we really didn’t need the cuffs. Memories of tonight still intact.” Forever.

“I’d search again for the keys, but I have this gorgeous brunette pinning me to the bed.”

She snuggled against his side. “You complaining?”

“No, ma’am.”

“You know, I kind of feel sorry for that lady who checked us out.”

“Larissa?” he asked.

Stella snapped her fingers. “That’s her name—good memory. Poor woman. There she was, just trying to do her job, and she wound up with the four of us.”

“And she was right. Participating in medical studies like that is important to me, and we made it way more difficult for her.”

Stella bit back the urge to ask him more about why he’d participated in the drug trial. She’d been volunteering for medical experiments since her freshman year of college. Growing up in a house of physicians, she understood the value of medical research. But Owen had suggested he’d lost someone. This drug trial must have been much more personal for him.

“How’d you end up at PharmaTest? The plates on your truck say Colorado.”

“The building used to be the volunteer center for a different organization. Thought I might kill a few hours there until I met up with my family. Which reminds me, I should call my mom so she’s not waiting.”

“We should also call Larissa. Just to let her know we’re okay.”

“Good idea. I think the number was on the ID bracelets.”

Stella slid out of bed and started for the dresser across the room, only to be jerked back. She lost her balance and landed on the bed with a flop. “That didn’t go as planned.”

He leaned over her, his head upside down in relation to hers, and kissed her forehead. “Guess we’ll have to go together.”

He walked behind her toward her partially torn blouse. It had been so cute at one point. Oh, well, no use mourning when her top had given its life for her pursuit of pleasure.

“Please tell me you aren’t going to try to put it on for a third time.”

“Hadn’t crossed my mind.” Yet. She tugged her phone from the pocket of her discarded shirt and grabbed the PharmaTest bands off the dresser, Owen close behind. She turned and his gaze lifted.

“Were you checking out my butt?”

“Not anymore.”

Because now his gaze flipped between her breasts and her eyes. Her nipples hardened like they’d been caressed, and Stella smiled. She enjoyed being desired by this man. She wanted nothing more than to slip between the sheets beside him again.

After carefully dialing the number on the bands, she pressed the speaker function on her phone. The call went to voice mail.

“Hi, this message is for Larissa at PharmaTest. This is Stella Holbrook.”

“And Owen Perkins,” he said into the phone.

“We just called to let you know we’re great and you have nothing to worry about. In fact, we’re staying in the most beautiful room on the second floor at the Market Gardens. We hope we didn’t cause too many problems for you when we bailed on the test earlier. Bye.”

Stella pushed End.

“Do you feel better?”

“Yes, and we made that call just in time. My phone died.” Stella left her phone on the bedside table and tossed the wristbands into the trash. After the shortest conversation a man could have with his family, Owen closed his phone and leaned against the stack of fluffy pillows. Then she settled against his chest and closed her eyes.

He drew a lazy pattern on her back. “Stella, this was kind of a rough day for me, and tonight, being with you...just, thanks.”

“Mmm.”

“You falling asleep on me?”

“Who are you again?” she asked, her voice heavy with sleep.

Beside her, Owen tensed. “Are you serious?” he asked.

“Just kidding,” Stella told him, her mouth wide with a smile. But she couldn’t keep her eyes from closing again.

His arm tightened around her shoulders while his cuffed hand gently squeezed hers. “Say my name,” he urged.

“Owen.” Then, like a patient inescapably lulled by the pull of anesthesia, she succumbed to sleep.

* * *

STELLA’S EYELIDS FLUTTERED open slowly. It was a rare day when she woke up without the help of an alarm. On one side, she was deliciously warm. But on the other, her backside was frozen against the hard, cold marble of a...bathtub?

She forced her eyes open. She wasn’t snuggled into a cozy blanket; her head was cradled on...on a warm male thigh.

And the man...whoever he was...his body clearly liked what it assumed would be happening next.

“Ahh!” Her voice was a cross between a yelp and a shriek. Stella scrambled away from the man, her hand slapping against his skin. She flew up and off the stranger at a record-setting pace, only for something to catch her wrist and force her back down. Hard.

Her eyes met his, then lowered. Was that a flame tattoo on his...

“Who the hell are you?” she asked, looking up. Way up.

His eyes narrowed, the brown in his hazel eyes growing dark. “Who am I? Who are you? And careful, you almost got me. You’ve got a mean left arm.”

Yeah, because her right arm was cuffed to his left. “Sorry, I was startled. I don’t wake up every morning with a man’s hardware staring me in the face.”

“This is new to me, too,” he mumbled. “This marble is cold. How about we get out of the tub?”

And maybe they could find him a robe or something, because...wow. When she wasn’t noticing his tattoo or his hardware, she realized this man packed a pretty serious punch. A solid chest with that perfect T of chest hair. Ripped and toned, the guy worked out. Religiously. Normally she didn’t go for the big-and-strong type. She preferred the science geeks, like her.

She wrapped her hand around the corner of the black-and-white marble tub, and together they stood. She sucked in a breath.