Chapter 25
twenty-five
“This is ridiculous.”
Standing in the center of his great room, I fiddle with my fingers while he changes the record on his turntable.
“Consider it foreplay,” he replies airily, adjusting the needle and tweaking the volume. “We can dance, and then I’ll take you. Promise.”
Since when does hearing a man say the word “promise” give me strange flutters through my abdomen? Am I losing my mind, or is it just him ?
Graham comes toward me with his usual loping stride. His dark gaze glides over my face. Smugness twists his lips. “Unless you’re nervous.”
“I am not ,” I reply, too loudly and too quickly.
He notices. His predatory smile sharpens. “Then let’s just do it.”
“Why?” I demand, still too shrill.
Bit by bit, his amusement fades. He steps up against me and lifts one of his hands to stroke my cheek. Earnest longing fills his eyes. “Humor me, bijou .”
Dios .
Why do I want to do things for him? What an absurd, down-right-stupid impulse.
An absurd, stupid impulse I immediately give in to.
Huffing, I kick my heels to the side and shoot him a glare. “Trust me, I’m removing them for your protection.”
A sliver of a smirk plays at his lips. “I trust you.”
The music starts off as static, but soon, I hear it. A quiet, sensual bossa nova track.
“Besides,” Graham adds, pulling me back into his body. “We should get used to this height difference before we go horizontal.”
A surprised laugh bubbles out of me. He has a point; I’ve never been in his presence without the advantage of high heels, and even with the platforms, he still towers over me.
Now, our natural statures almost seem funny. My face barely reaches his chest. The warm spice of cologne clinging to his collar tickles my nose.
“What now?” I ask, doing my best to keep my face impassive while I look up at him.
Instead of taking the clear opportunity to lord over me, he strokes his hand over my hair and gazes into my eyes. “All you have to do is come to me.”
The rough timbre of his voice sends a wave of goosebumps down my back. Everything in my center clenches tightly.
“I am,” I whisper. “I have.”
Graham winds one arm around my waist, bending it to cradle the length of my spine and thread his fingers into the hair at my nape. The other hand reaches low, resting on the juncture of my backside and my thigh. He folds me closer and starts to sway with me.
“I know, baby,” he murmurs, bending to lean his forehead against mine.
My rebellious instincts linger below the surface. I want to claw into him, shove him away, put him in his place. Because I can’t stand all of the feelings sloshing through me, battering my brittle insides like storm waves eroding walls of glass.
My fingers twitch, clutching at his shirt while I push down the uproar. He feels it anyway. The hand in my hair tugs gently, pulling my head back to put us face-to-face.
Turbulence shifts in his fathomless depths. For once, he speaks quietly. “Don’t fight me. You can rip into me all night. But just… give me this.”
No one has ever asked me for anything with such sincerity. And he didn’t even say please. How very… Graham.
I tuck my face against his throat, refusing to concede out loud. He doesn’t speak either, but his fingers massage my scalp in tender circles. My eyelids flutter closed. The hand on my ass glides higher.
On the miraculous occasions when we both manage to shut up, we have an innate sort of intimacy.
A foreign flood of heat sluices down my center, leaving a well of contentment in my chest while somehow stirring a molten roil of desire low in my belly. The heady combination weakens my knees.
Never one to miss a trick, Graham pulls my head back with another gentle tug. For one endless second, his midnight eyes are all I see. And then, his mouth seals over mine.
His tongue coaxes my lips open and skates along mine, rubbing me in slow, sensual slides that curl my toes. He dips his other hand into the back of my jeans. Just enough for me to feel his touch play lightly over the back of my thong. The sensation wrings a low moan out of me.
That sets him off. His fingers tense in my hair, yanking harder while he licks deeper. My palms smooth over his shoulders, feeling the strength he’s been hiding under his dress shirts.
Without any thought for what I’m starting, I push at his vest, wanting it out of my way. My fingers fly to his buttons next, unhooking them until the whole thing disappears.
I glory in the feel of his naked torso. His flawless skin stretches tight over every muscle—the ridges of his abdomen, the lean V bracketing his hips, his wide shoulders and long arms.
I stroke down his stomach, wanting to feel him everywhere. His lips find mine while I trail my thumb over the line of hair leading from his navel to his trousers. Once, twice—on the third pass, he snarls.
“I swear to God,” he mutters, running his open mouth down to my throat. “If I don’t have you now, I will go insane.” His hands find my wrists, spinning me toward the wall. “Get over here.”
I gasp, my chest heaving into his. He watches my breasts with dark eyes, lifting both of my hands over my head and restraining them with one of his, clutching tight. The other moves to grip my chin, holding me still for his intense regard.
Sparks ignite in his depths. “I’m going to fuck you until you beg me to take you more than once,” he vows, menacing and soft. “And I’m going to make you beg right now.”
Never .
I buck my hips into his body and pull at his grasp before letting out a frustrated snort. Graham’s black gaze glitters. The heat from his nude skin radiates over my chest as he presses his erection into me.
“If you want me to let you go, I’ll do it,” he tells me, his voice low and even. “Or I can take you. But you’ll have to ask me nicely.”
Ignoring the pulse between my legs, I grind my teeth together. “Graham.”
The fingers gripping my wrists squeeze harder. His other hand moves from my chin to my temple, tucking loose hair behind my ear while he burns his gaze into mine. “Say it, bijou . Tell me to let you go. Or say ‘please,’ and I’ll take you.”
Damn him . I don’t want him to let me go. And he knows it.
“Please,” I mumble, dropping my gaze to his mouth.
His feral grin flashes. “What was that, bijou ? You’re muttering.”
I refuse to let him win, no matter how much I want him. Instead of repeating the word, I kiss him. I wait until he surrenders to my tongue teasing his.
And then I bite him. Hard.
He gives a jagged groan, instantly losing all patience and snatching me up. My hands fall to his bare shoulders, clutching the hard ridges as he lifts my body into his arms, settling my legs around his lean waist. He nips me back, then kisses me deep and hard while he carries me across the great room.
By the time he turns into his bedroom, I’m breathless. He breaks away to toss me onto his bed. “Clothes off, underwear on,” he demands, peering down at me in the unlit room. “I’ll be back.”
Walking stiffly, he makes for the door. Panting, I take a second to glance around me—another room with exposed brick walls and a large bed with some huge canvas hanging above the headboard. I shimmy out of my jeans and sit up just far enough to peel my blouse off.
Less than a minute later, Graham returns. His pants and socks are gone, leaving him in underwear that outlines his long, thick cock. Short, blue boxers—as silky as any expensive tie.
The thought of him wearing fancier underwear than me brings a smirk to my face. For a long moment, he stares. His hand reaches to the side and presses a switch on the wall. Soft light swells around us, bathing the room in a dim glow.
“I have to see you,” he rasps, stalking closer.
I catch a flash of red—my heels, gripped in his left hand. Before I can tease him about that or his ultra-short boxers, he surprises me by lowering to his knees beside the bed.
Never dropping my gaze, he reaches for my ankle, caressing up the length of my leg to tease the back of my knee before skimming his fingers back down.
The arousal pooling in my core leaks into my panties, dampening the center as he massages my instep, his midnight eyes glittering when they skim over my wet center. He pulls at each of my toes until my mouth goes slack. A small, satisfied smile plays at his full lips.
With deliberate slowness, he glides his touch up to my hips and hooks his fingers into the thong. “You’re going to take this off,” he tells me, even as he shimmies the lace down my thighs himself. “And put these on.”
Graham slips the shoes onto my feet before gliding his hands to my knees one more time, bending them so the sharp spikes of my heels rest on the edge of the mattress.
“Spread your legs for me.”
When I open myself to his wild gaze, he mutters roughly, staring. “Fuck. Look how badly you want my cock.”
I shiver as he slides his fingertips along my slit, parting me. He bends forward, just barely skimming his full lower lip over the top of my pounding clit.
That one touch has me grabbing fistfuls of his duvet cover. I barely resist the urge to tilt my hips up for him. Instead of giving me what I want, he pauses, raising his slashing brows at me. A cocky smile flirts with his features.
“I still didn’t hear the magic word.”
This smug bastard .
I swallow hard, ignoring the ache deep in my belly as I silently tilt my head, refusing to give an inch.
“Mmm,” he hums, gazing up at me. “I see how it is.”
A breath later, he slips his hand under my hip and flips me. Gasping, I land on my elbows, bent over the edge of the bed. Before I can even turn my head, his palm connects with the back of my ass, delivering a sound spank to the juncture of my thighs.
Once his hand lands there, he leaves it, rubbing a slow circle. I stifle a moan while every nerve in my core smolders.
“Now, tell me,” he murmurs, his voice black silk. “What is the magic word?”
Panting with outrage and maddeningly turned on, I cut him a severe look over my shoulder. “Fuck you.”
He spanks me again, sending another echo through my core. Inclining his head, his arrogant smirk deepens. “No, that isn’t it.” His eyes narrow, daring me. “Try again.”
“Graham, I swear?—”
Whap .
Something about the way he reacts—without a speck of hesitation—excites me. Restless from the wetness slicking my thighs, I shift, sticking my backside out further.
His mouth pulls into a grin, at odds with the dark heat burning in his eyes. “Is this what you wanted that day in the elevator?”
The first time I saw him, I thought I hated him. Is it really that I just wanted him so badly that it infuriated me?
The thought of Graham bending me over in the elevator and spanking my ass leaves me breathless. Still, I deny it.
“No.”
Whap .
I pant louder. His free hand reaches up, looping my hair around his wrist and pulling my head back. With my back arched, I see that he’s removed his boxers. His hard, naked body strains behind me. His solid length bobs every time he skims his palm over my rear.
“You know what I think, bijou ?” he murmurs, his obsidian gaze following his fingertips as they trail down to collect the wetness seeping from my center. “I think you put up a good fight, but you like it when I win.”
Images blur through my lust-addled brain. The day Graham snapped me up and shoved me into the wall of Pod C; how he coaxed me into his arms when I cried in the stairwell; the fact that he convinced me to give him a whole night instead of a single hook-up.
Dios mío .
He brings his fingers to his mouth, licking them clean. He groans quietly while greed tightens his expression. “Christ, you taste good.”
A spark settles into his features, quirking his lips in the feral grin that scorches my blood. “I already knew that, though. I licked you off my fingers the first time I touched you.”
Recalling the way he reached up my skirt and swirled his fingertips over my pussy sends a clench through my core. My legs part of their own volition, tottering on my heels as I lean back to brush my ass against his erection, teasing him.
The fist in my hair constricts, pinning me with more force. Graham mutters curses under his breath.
Another stinging slap bites into my rear. I gasp, so turned on I feel dizzy. Without preamble, he snaps the back of my bra open. It falls onto the bed, leaving my tight, tingling breasts bare. A second later, two fingers plunge into my heat, curling the way I love. I moan into the mattress.
Whap .
Graham steps closer, pressing his scorching-hot hard-on into my hip. “Let me give it to you, baby,” he tempts, his voice softer. “All you have to do is say?—”
“ Please .”
The word finally vibrates out of me, echoing through the room.
And then he’s on me.
Graham flips me with a hard yank. One arm snakes under my torso, positioning me close as his free hand flies to my aching breasts.
My nipples harden into points, pressing into his palm while he kneads each one in turn. He pinches them hard, rolling each peak until it lengthens under his touch. His eyes burn like hot coals, branding me as they loop over my bare body.
“Goddamn you,” Graham hisses, his lips finding mine. “You’re so beautiful.”
He is, too—all hard planes of muscle, lean and warm to the touch. I rake my nails down his broad back, enjoying the way his erection twitches between us.
While he cups both of my breasts, I grip his length and give a gentle tug. “It’s all for you, baby,” he rasps. “Take it.”
For a beat, I just stare, mesmerized by his perfect package. The long, thick cock is shaved bare, giving me a perfect view of his entire shaft and the full balls drawn tight at its base.
My teeth sink into my lip while I imagine fitting him into my mouth. There’s no way that will work, but I’d have fun trying. While my mind races with the possibilities, I grip his naked length and stroke him. His head falls back on a gasp.
“Jules. Fuck. Go slow.”
I don’t let up, showing no mercy as I twist my fist over his wide, pulsing head. “Funny,” I say, piercing his gaze with mine. “I haven’t heard the magic word.”
My teasing snaps his control. His mouth catches mine with bruising force, biting my lower lip while his hands slide down to my ass, gripping it roughly.
I continue pumping Graham’s cock in and out of my hand, working him until a snarl tears from his chest. He snatches my wrists up, drawing my hands over my head like he did in his living room.
“You’ll ruin me,” he grits, settling between my thighs. “I knew it the second I saw you, but I had to have you anyway.”
He trails his lips and teeth down to my neck, nipping and sucking while I grind my soaked pussy along his throbbing erection. He adjusts his hips to press his length right against my clit, wrenching a broken moan from me.
Graham moves rhythmically until my core cinches with anticipation, desperate to feel the same thrusts inside me. Another cry floats out of my mouth as I realize that I’m about to come from those practiced rolls of his hips and nothing else.
“Yes, baby,” he praises, hoarse, biting at the tender slope of my shoulder. “You’re so wet. I can feel you throbbing. You’re going to come now, aren’t you?”
“ Graham .” His name sloughs up my throat as my clit pulses, sending tingles through my core and arching my back.
His tongue teases mine in long, hot strokes that nearly make me come twice in as many minutes. Before I can help it, I whimper into his mouth.
I expect some version of the gloating grin I love so much… despite all my efforts not to. But Graham silently releases my wrists, entwining his hand with one of mine. His eyes close as he presses our foreheads together and dips his other fingers into my folds, earning another sharp breath.
“Christ,” he mutters, stroking into me. My pussy eagerly clasps itself around his fingers. “Juliet.”
My hands roam up his back, into his thick, overly-long hair. I comb the strands back to their usual order and tug on the roots as he touches me. When he has me trembling and mewling beneath him again, he suddenly rolls away.
Condom , I realize, hearing the slide of a nightstand drawer. He can’t wait anymore.
I sense he’s beyond the need to tease and torment. I am, too. Instead of denying him, I move further onto the mattress and open my legs eagerly, offering myself up.
With protection in place, Graham kneels between my thighs. He brushes the backs of his knuckles over my cheek in a surprising, tender gesture that sends a slick rush through my sex and a burst of wetness to my eyes.
“Like this,” he says quietly, grasping my left leg to hook my red heel over his shoulder, lifting my ass from the bed to align our centers.
I stretch my arms overhead, finally surrendering to him.
Just for tonight .
It is all we can have. And I want it so badly.
With one last pass of his molten gaze, he locks eyes with me, wraps his strong hands around each of my hips, and pushes inside.