Nine #2
I trembled in his arms, and he made a noise like he was dying.
“Shit, something’s wrong with me.”
“No.” I soothed him, kissing his eyes, his cheeks, his brows, and the bridge of his nose.
“I’m all twisted up,” he grumbled under his breath. “I fuckin’ hate this.”
“It’s okay.” I smiled slowly. “I’ll take care of you.”
He eased back and looked down into my eyes. “You can’t even take care of yourself.”
I felt like I could fly. “But I can make your life so nice.”
“The hell you can,” he almost shouted at me, rough as he rolled me onto my stomach, but gentle when he put his hand in my hair, knee between my legs to spread them.
I arched my back like a cat, up into him, and his mouth grazed my skin. The strangled sound that came out of him made me smile.
“Jory.”
I slid out of his grip and rolled over on my back, lifting my knees and holding out my arms for him. “You’re fighting so hard.” I sighed. “Just stop. Just breathe.”
He took a shuddering breath before he bent and gathered me close, holding me tight, pressing me along the length of him.
His hands slid down my body, and when his mouth followed, I begged him.
The change in him in so short a time was staggering, the understanding of what I wanted and his confidence in what he could do.
I didn’t need to offer any more instruction.
The mechanics no longer a mystery, his hands, his mouth, moved expertly over my skin as he chanted my name.
The rain woke me with its steady drum on the window. I smiled as warm hands moved down my rib cage, then over my stomach, kneading, caressing, gentle and arousing at the same time.
“Don’t you hafta go to work?” I teased him, surprised at myself for all the sleeping I was doing. Sex had never worn me out before. And maybe it was the concussion as well, slight or not. Who knew?
“I can’t leave you alone.” His voice was husky, slicing right through me, causing a shiver.
Stretching languidly, I rolled over onto his sculpted chest, my head over his heart.
“Fuck.”
I lifted my head.
“What?” he asked gruffly.
“I dunno.” I stared into his eyes. “You’re the one swearing.”
He put his hand in my hair and massaged my scalp, easing my head back down onto his chest.
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothin’s wrong. That’s the goddamn problem.”
And that made no sense, but I let it go, enjoying his hands on me too much to question him.
“Shit.”
I slid my leg between his, and he lifted my chin with a gentle hand.
Then his mouth was on mine, and I was rolled onto my back and kissed tenderly, slowly, as he took his time to taste me.
He worked his way down my throat to my chest, suckling my nipples in turn before his hot, wet mouth slid over my flat stomach to my cock.
He took me in slowly, drawing out and then back, his tongue swirling over my skin before he took me in deeper, licking me with long strokes of his tongue, sucking hard, his hands digging into my thighs and calves.
I hoped he would leave bruises, because I craved his marks on me.
When I felt the clenching inside, the tingling, I told him to stop. I felt like my heart was going to burst. His eyes never left mine, and I cried his name as I shuddered in his hands and he swallowed all I had. Afterward, he rose and pinned me to the bed under him.
“I love the noises you make when you’re happy.”
I just grunted because my brain wasn’t working yet, my body boneless and liquid under his…ready to melt into him.
“Your eyes get so dark, and when you say my name… I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you, Jory. I don’t even think people are supposed to feel like this. I think—”
“Shhh,” I said, pushing against him so I could roll him over on his back.
“No.” His voice was cracking, filled with emotion, arms wrapping around me, stilling my movement. “I don’t want you to—I don’t need… Just lie here with me.”
I was quiet, reveling in the difference between the boys I had slept with and the man who now held me in his arms. All my other lovers had expected a quick return for any gift given, but Sam’s desire ran to pleasuring me simply because it made him happy to do so.
“Sam, I—”
“Listen, I don’t want you seeing the doctor, and you’re sure as hell not going out of town with him.”
Wait. “Who?”
“The goddamn doctor.”
“How’d you know I—”
“I listened to your messages.”
“Oh.” I shifted onto my side, and he immediately spooned around me, his thighs against my ass. I didn’t want him to see me smile. “He bought me a plane ticket.”
“I don’t care if he bought you a fuckin’ pony,” he assured me, the annoyance clear in his voice. “You go nowhere with him.”
“Yessir, Detective.”
“I already went and packed up all the rest of your clothes, so—”
“What?” I tried to move, to turn back so I could see his face, but he wasn’t having it. He was so much stronger than me that if he wanted me down, I was down. If he wanted me immobile in his arms, that was where I would be. “You packed the rest of what?”
“You heard me,” he said gruffly, almost growling.
“I told you I got all the crap from your bathroom this morning, but I went back and got every stitch of clothing you own. It’s all in my guest bedroom.
I put your laptop in the living room, and I grabbed your MP3 player and all of your books. You don’t have much stuff.”
“No.”
“I got your comforter too, ’cause I figured you liked it.”
“I do like it but—”
“You can’t stay in your apartment. I mean, I went there without a key and got your stuff. Think about it.”
“Yeah, but—”
“I want you to be safe,” he said as his mouth closed on my shoulder. The man could not keep his hands or his mouth off me.
“I’m not five, Sam.”
“No, but…you need looking after.”
“But what are you going to—”
“For now you’re here ’cause I gotta watch you. That’s all anybody needs to know.”
“Okay.” I was thinking. “So as soon as the case is over, I’ll pack my stuff and…”
“Listen to me,” he said slowly, kissing the back of my neck. “Let’s just worry about things as they come.”
“Easy for you to say. I’ve got rent to pay and—”
“No. I talked to your landlord, and until he replaces the door and puts decent dead bolts in that place, he gets nothing. I told him he was lucky that you never asked him to do shit around that place.”
“Great,” I muttered. “Now he’s gonna hate me.”
“I’m surprised no one else ever said anything about your locks.”
“Well, Nick did say that—”
He bit my shoulder before he sucked it hard. “I don’t wanna hear about the doctor.”
I chuckled. “Okay.”
“And your dancing days are over.”
I smiled wide, but he couldn’t see it.
“Do I hafta mention the doctor again?”
I cleared my throat. “It’s not fair if you date and I—”
“I won’t.”
“Uh-huh.” I nodded. “So where were you last night, Detective, when you were supposed to be picking me up for dinner?”
Deep sigh as he clutched me tight, stroking my hip, nuzzling his face into my hair.
“On a double date.”
“I knew it.”
“It was planned weeks ago; no way to get out of it. But when I’m with you, my brain short-circuits, so I completely forgot until my buddy reminded me.”
“Okay, so that’s what I’m saying. You’re single and straight, so all your friends are gonna—”
“I’ll take care of it.” He rubbed a stubbled cheek against the bare skin of my shoulder. It sent a shiver right through me.
“If you screw some girl while I’m—”
“Then fair’s fair,” he said, his voice husky and so, so sexy. “You can sleep with a girl too, baby.”
“I love women,” I assured him. “I just don’t love women, ya know?”
He chuckled before rising over me, propping himself up on his elbow to look down into my face. “Do people tell you all the time how beautiful you are?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.” He smiled evilly, his eyes sparkling. “Look at you—you’re gorgeous.”
He thought I was beautiful, it was all I heard. I felt the heat race across my skin as he ran his thumb over my bottom lip, leaning into me.
I moaned, almost whimpering, and his mouth touched mine. I felt his hand slide down over my hip as his tongue slipped between my barely parted lips. It was too much for me. I closed my eyes for just a minute.
“Jory Keyes,” he said softly, his fingertips smoothing over my eyebrows. “What if I missed you?”
My body was back to being heavy, and I felt myself sinking down into the bed, the warm mass of muscle and bone engulfing me.
“Go to sleep, baby,” he soothed me, his lips on my eyelids. “I’m here.” It was the last thing I heard.