Chapter 5
FIVE
CEE CEE
He keeps watching me, and it’s starting to get difficult to breathe. He’s mesmerizing. More than that, there’s this thing in the air between us and I think it’s sex. My mouth is dry because any liquid in my body is pouring out between my legs.
When he speaks, it feels like a jolt of electricity. “Are you hungry?” He draws another slow slip of wine over his lips and I can’t help watching as he gulps it down. “It’s late.” The cut, angular lines of his face, the ink sprinkling up his neck, the way his eyes never leave mine. It’s intoxicating.
The way he looks at me, my belly does flip flops and there’s a direct connection to this warm and tingling feeling between my legs. I’m so wet. I mean, drenched. My panties are done, gone, and my pink jeans surely are sporting evidence as well.
My rational mind has left me because I’m playing over a scenario in my head that has me seeing the rest of the ink that must cover his body. But he asked me a question. What was it? Food? How can I possibly think about food right now?
“No,” I say, barely more than a whisper, “not really. It’s been a strange evening. I’m not even thinking about food.” I shake my head and take a gulp of wine, trying to push away thoughts of his body covering mine. “It’s…odd. I’m upset about my dinky room back at Mrs. Takashima’s, but less than I think I should be. You know? You were right, it’s just stuff, and honestly I didn’t even have that much stuff anyway. What I did have wasn’t sentimental or anything. But still. I think I should be more upset than this, but I’m not. I think it was just the shock.”
I watch as he sets down his wine glass. The clink of the glass meeting the granite of the counter sends a chill over me.
Those eyes of his are something else. They bore into parts of me I’d long forgotten about. Parts I swore I would never feel again. But this near stranger looks at me like we’ve known each other for a very long time. I’d never put any stock in the whole idea of kindred spirits, but I’m re-thinking that position.
It sounds ridiculous, but I can’t push it away. I let out a little breath as I try to find the voice of reason in my head that seems to have abandoned me.
Thorne takes one of those breaths. The kind you take before you say something important. When he tips his head to the side, grabs at his chin I’m already dying to know what’s about to spill from those perfect lips.
“There have been times in my life when I’ve had nothing.” His hand comes down to rest on my knee. “Several times, in fact. And, well, now I have more than enough, but you know what?” His gruff voice sends shock waves into my chest as he gently takes the wine glass from my hand and sets it next to his with a clink.
He brings that hand back to settle, warm and heavy, on my other knee and that perfect smile tips his lips upward as he gently guides my legs apart and places his body between.
Oh my god. I’m melting. Seriously. I’ve become a puddle. And no reason nor rational thought can penetrate the raw lust that is coursing through my body. I’m on the edge of cumming and it’s just from his eyes.
I realize, breathing is unnecessary. How do I know? Because I’ve forgotten how and yet I’m still here.
“No. What?” I echo his words. I’d almost forgotten he’d asked me a question.
His hips shove forward, his hands move up the outsides of my legs and up to my waist. He’s not subtle, but somehow I like that. It feels right. He’s clear about what he’s doing. No innuendo or games.
The image of that guy that does the yawn-stretch then puts his arm around you comes to mind and I nearly bust out laughing at how opposite Thorne is from that beta bullshit.
He brings his face to within two inches of mine as he pulls me forward, spreading my legs wider around his body until I feel the hard steel of what is a massive erection under his impeccable suit pants pushing directly into the sure-to-be soaking, dark pink circle of the crotch of my pants.
“This is going to sound crazy, but I’ll tell you, little bird, I’ve learned that life has too many twists and turns and you need to grab the good when it comes calling. So that’s what I’m doing.” His fingers turn to claws and sink into the soft flesh just under my waist, above my ass. “Having money doesn’t mean you’re happy and being poor doesn’t mean you’re unhappy. You, CeeCee, are making me very happy right now. Happier than I’ve ever been.”
A flash of how many other women a man like this must have used that line on hits me in the chest and sinks all the funny, wonderful feelings into my toes.
“That’s a terrible line, you know. Do women really fall for that?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never used it because it’s not a line.” His eyes darken and something inside me tells me he’s being truthful.
The timbre of his voice hardens. “The truth is, I haven’t kissed a woman in more years that I can count, CeeCee. I’m not a desperate man. I’ve learned some hard lessons in my life. Learned to trust my gut about people, life, business. Want to know what my gut is telling me right now? About you?”
I swallow the lump that has lodged in my throat. My arms prickle as the hairs stand on end and there is nothing but truth in his eyes. The lights inside the loft are soft. They cast deep shadows under the angular cut lines of his face. He’s stunning and I’m rapt in whatever this force is that is pulling me toward him. I nod, wanting very much to hear what he has to say next.
“My gut is telling me you fell into my life for a reason. It’s also telling me that someone like you will not come around twice and I’m not willing to let this opportunity pass. I get that we don’t know each other, but tell me you don’t feel this. What is happening right here. In the empty space between us.”
His words are so deep and full of carnal lust it feels like something primal, animal, something reaching back into the history of the whole human race. He’s closed the gap between our faces, his lips now so close I can smell the hint of wine on his warm breath. The brutality in his gaze lights up that part of me I put away long ago. I’ve been waiting for this. For him. He’s right, I want to push back, to tell him this is ridiculous but I decide for once to listen to my gut and take the chance.
“I feel it.”
The slightest smile drags his lips upward, revealing the white teeth behind, teeth that I imagine biting into my flesh. For the first time in my life, I understand the desire for a sting of pain.
“You’re about to feel something else.” His hands move up my back, fingers spreading into my hair as he grips tight and the pain is everything I’d hoped for, so full and intoxicating as his mouth engulfs mine. Lips wide, his tongue swooping inside and our breaths coming in gulps. There is nothing about his kiss that speaks of any doubt he may have that I would accept this. His confidence sends bells and whistles into a frenzy inside my head.
He retreats, but only to pinch my lower lip between his teeth for a moment so that I feel his ownership. It’s not just a kiss, it’s a claiming. Primal. There’s that word again, but really, there’s no other. My eyes roll back in my head as his grip in my hair tightens and his lips are on me again.
There’s no air but I don’t need it. Our kiss accelerates and takes me over. I’m at his mercy as his hands move down to lift my ass in one motion, pulling me to his body. My legs instinctively wrap around his waist, my arms on his shoulders as he pulls us tighter, pinning me there and grinding my splayed hips against his massive hard on.
The wetness between my legs doubles in an instant as he begins to move us up and down against together, his mouth and tongue owning me as my body heats and tightens.
I’m still moaning into his mouth when he stops, holding me steady and breaking our kiss.
Breathless, I try to focus on his face, his own breathing coming fast and hard and I see the fire in his eyes.
“I want to taste your cum. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, CeeCee? My mouth on you. You’d do me that honor, wouldn’t you?”
I nearly lose it right there and he doesn’t wait for an answer. He carries me to the bedroom. Once again, the voice of reason in my head tells me I should be scared.
Terrified of this man.
But I’m not. I’m enveloped in a feeling of safety. Of being under his protection in some way. His lips are shiny and wet from our kiss as I stare into his face. He lowers me to the floor and runs his hands down my hair.
“When was the last time you came, CeeCee?”
I shrug, not wanting to answer.
I’ve not had much success in that department, either by my own hand or the one man I was with.
Not a man. A boy.
And that should have never happened. But it did, and it was the beginning of the end, the first crumbling stone that tore down what used to be my life.
“When was the last time someone kissed you?”
“Years.” I try to think. “Five, maybe?”
“Take your sweater off.”
It’s an order, not a request, and I don’t hesitate to obey which surprises the hell out of me but also excites me in a way I couldn’t have dreamed. I strip off my sweater, wondering who I’ve become with this masculine creature that seems to know me in ways I don’t even know myself.
“Bra off.”
Without thought, I reach around to the back and unclasp it, slowly lowering it, exposing myself to him, my nipples drawing tight under his gaze. His look alone feels like thousands of fingers exploring my bare skin. He steps forward, regarding me, and I’m shocked at how secure I feel, how I don’t even want to try and cover myself. I never thought I could feel like this. My body is far from that of a runway model.
He lets out a painful breath, stripping off his suit jacket and tossing it on a velvet chair next to the bed , then loosening the red silk tie and sending it to join his jacket.
He pulls us together, flesh to flesh. The scent of masculinity and his intoxicating cologne finish me off. I’m completely lost as his lips catch my neck and he lets out a moan that shakes me down to my soul.