Chapter 4
Chapter Four
“ G ood morning, sunshine.”
Rachel opened her eyes and blinked hard against the bright light. She sat up as Ethan walked into the room with two cups of coffee. He’d put his clothes on, but had left his shirt unbuttoned so she had a crystal-clear view of abs she could bounce a penny on.
“It wasn’t a dream,” she mumbled as he handed her a mug of much-needed caffeine.
He shook his head with a big grin, seemingly pleased by her surprise at finding him there. “You sure are good for the ego, Rachel.”
She attempted to shake herself awake, shake herself aware. “Yeah, well, don’t go getting a big head about it or anything.”
“As well as for keeping a man grounded. You’re a woman of many talents and incredible beauty.”
At his words, she panicked. Oh shit. There he was looking like Mr. Universe and she was sitting in bed, naked from the waist up with morning-after hair and no makeup. She hastily put her coffee on the nightstand and looked for any piece of clothing close enough for her to lay her hands on.
Of course, it probably didn’t matter. Their night was over. The challenge completed. Prior to last night she would have been surprised to find him still in her apartment. Part of her would have expected him to simply leave a note saying thanks for the shits and giggles. Now that she knew him better, she knew he was enough of a gentleman to stick around and at least say his goodbyes in person. Her heart ached at the thought. She’d prefer the damn note.
“I need to get dressed,” she said at last.
“Okay,” he replied easily, sitting at the edge of the bed.
“I suppose you’ll be going then.”
“Going?” he asked.
“Yeah. I mean, the night’s over. I completed my dare. Thank you very much, by the way. So I guess this is the part where I say ‘It’s been fun’, right?”
He scowled. “You aren’t serious?”
“That it was fun?”
“I suppose we should get this part out of the way or the rest of this relationship is gonna suck,” he said.
She narrowed her eyes, wondering at his words and the sadness of his tone. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Your ex-husband—” he began, but she cut him off.
“I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Then I guess you should have left old Voldemort out in the hall rather than dragging him into the bedroom with us,” he said.
“What the hell are you talking about?” she asked angrily. She wasn’t about to go into the dirty details of her decade-long disaster of a marriage. Ethan already knew too much.
“He clearly fucked with your head. Made you feel insignificant, maybe even a little stupid, right?”
She sucked in a painful breath at his astute comments. As always, when faced with a question she couldn’t answer, she merely shrugged.
“He convinced you that men don’t stick around, right?”
“I—” she began, but Ethan cut her off.
“Well, he was a dumbass,” Ethan said hotly. “And you’re a dumbass for believing any of that shit.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said you’re a dumbass.”
“I’m a dumbass,” she repeated louder.
“Yes,” he replied, his voice rising as well.
She rose up on her knees and poked her finger in his chest. “Well, if I’m a dumbass, then you’re a liar.”
“Liar?”
“ Liar . You lied to me. You lied about your intentions. What is this crap about a relationship?” she asked.
“What the hell did you think last night was about?” he asked.
“What I was supposed to think it was about. A one-night stand. You were helping me live that cougar fantasy.” She pulled the sheet up to her neck to cover herself and wondered about the frustration on his face. She knew she hadn’t messed that up. She’d have remembered if he’d even slightly insinuated they were entering into a relationship.
“Fuck,” he muttered. “Yeah, that was what you were supposed to think. Christ, I’ve screwed this up.”
She forced a grin, hating how lost and forlorn he looked, wishing she could put a smile back on his face. “Well, you’ve certainly screwed something, but I don’t think it’s this,” she joked. He looked too intense, too serious. She just wanted her lovely, easygoing Ethan back.
Unfortunately her lame jest missed the mark.
“I’ve been trying to figure out a way to ask you out for weeks, but I knew you’d throw the patient/client thing and the age difference up in my face. When I saw that stupid list of names, that cougar challenge, I latched onto it,” he admitted.
She stared at him, trying to process his comments. His lips were moving, but the words she was hearing simply couldn’t be right. He wanted to date her? Her?
“You wanted to go out with me?” She closed her eyes and groaned at her stupid question.
“Why is that so fucking hard for you to believe, Rachel?” he yelled.
She jumped at his harsh tone, his angry face.
“Look at me,” she said. “I’m too old. I’m divorced. I’m?—”
“Come here,” Ethan said, gripping her upper arm in his large hand and dragging her to the mirror attached to her dressing table. Her attempt to hold on to the sheet failed, and she wanted to crawl under the bed as her naked body came into view. “Tell me what you see.”
She fought against closing her eyes and blocking the image, knowing Ethan wouldn’t allow her even that small escape.
“I see me,” she said, her voice laced with her usual smartass tone.
“And?”
“You,” she added with a smirk she hoped hid the despair closing in on her.
“Cute, Rachel. Real cute. Jokes work for you, don’t they? You don’t want to be serious, don’t want to handle any heavy stuff, so you laugh it all away. Does that help when you’re in bed alone at night?”
“I don’t have to stand here and listen to?—”
“Yeah, actually you do, because I’m not leaving this house until you see in that mirror what I see.”
“Is that right?” she asked, sarcasm dripping off her tongue. “And what exactly would that be, Ethan?”
“The hottest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. The funniest, sweetest, most compassionate woman I’ve ever met. The physical therapist who’s had me rock-hard and aching since the first damn day she made me do those stupid stretching exercises and the woman I’m going to make love to all day and most of tonight. We haven’t even scratched the surface on that list.”
“All day?” she whispered.
“And night,” he repeated.
“Oh my.”
He shook his head ruefully. “Hell, who am I kidding? I wanna fuck you every night and pretty much every day for as long as you’ll have me. So does that answer your question?”
She stared at her reflection in the mirror. He saw all that? She recalled her perusal of her face just the day before. All she’d seen was a woman in need of a dye job and with flabby upper arms. She studied her face again, looking at herself through Ethan’s eyes and suddenly the blinders of her pain, the hurt inflicted on her by her ex-husband’s infidelity, fell away.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen all that.”
“You’re living on an island, Doc, and you’ve burned down every bridge to the mainland.”
Had she done that? Yes, she had. Her gaze left her reflection and moved to his. She studied his dear, sweet face and realized he’d been building a bridge, trying to reach her since the first day they’d met. He’d offered her friendship and fantasy all rolled into one delicious package.
“Is this a bad time to say I’m sorry?” she asked.
He grinned. “I don’t want an apology, Rachel. I just want you to trust me. Believe the words that I say without always waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“That’s not going to be easy for me, you know?” she admitted.
“All I want you to do is try.”
“I can do that. Ethan?”
“Yeah?” he asked.
“Kiss me.”
He gave her a hot grin that oozed sexual intent. “Oh, I can do even better than that. Go lie down on the bed.”
“So,” she said, walking to the bed, “Indrani or the Lotus?”
“Both. They’re a nice complement to each other.” His answer was quick and sure as he pushed her to her back.
“You younger men, so greedy,” she teased.
“Lucky you,” he joked back.
“Lucky me.” She grabbed his unbuttoned shirt and tugged him toward the bed, pulling him down on top of her. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders as he captured her lips in a kiss hot enough to set the room on fire. “Why do you have so many clothes on?” she murmured when they broke apart.
“Mistake,” he replied between kisses. “Won’t happen again.” He rose briefly to shed his jeans and don a condom before leaning over her once more.
“You taste yummy,” she murmured, savoring the oddly intoxicating combination of toothpaste and coffee.
“You haven’t had your morning caffeine hit yet,” he teased.
“Don’t need it with you around. I feel amazingly energized.”
“Lucky me,” he said, mimicking her words.
“Lucky you. Now fuck me, Ethan.”
He grinned evilly and she moaned. “Not so fast, Doc.”
“Oh God, Ethan. I really don’t think I can wait.”
“Tough.” He bent down to take one of her tightly budded nipples in his mouth, toying with the sensitive skin until she was squirming beneath him. She gripped his hair in her hands, torn between forcing the “fucking” issue and keeping his lips on her breast. Once he’d sensually tormented the first one to his satisfaction, he moved to the other breast, giving it the same heated attention. He sucked hard, sending a lightning bolt of need straight to her pussy. Her back arched against the bed and she whispered desperate pleas for relief, but his sole focus remained on her breasts, specifically her nipples, and she wondered if anyone had ever treated them with such adoration, such unrestrained need.
Soon his lips left her breasts and wandered down her stomach. She giggled when he thrust his tongue into her bellybutton playfully. Her laughter died in a hiss when his mouth landed on her clit, his tongue pressing forcefully. She fought back the climbing climax, not wanting to succumb so quickly. She was in heaven and ready to unpack her bags for a nice, long stay.
“More,” she whispered breathlessly. Ethan answered her plea with actions rather than words, moving even farther down to plunge his talented tongue inside her pussy.
“I love the way you taste too,” he said, looking up at her with a cocky grin that said he knew just how much he was turning her on. His tongue thrust inside her and again, she tamped down the need to give way to her orgasm.
After several moments, he replaced his tongue with his fingers, two of his long, thick digits stroking her higher and higher until she had no choice but to dive into the whirlpool of sensation.
“Holy shit,” she cried out as he positioned himself above her once more, driving his cock into her as she was in the midst of her climax. His quick, hard thrust threw her into another orgasm, but he showed no mercy as he continued to move in and out, visiting that lovely G-spot he’d introduced her to last night.
“Indrani,” he demanded on one retreat, gripping her legs and pulling them up until her knees were pressed along her sides. The position left her more gloriously vulnerable to his cock as he powered into her.
“Ethan,” she cried as another climax began to emerge. He must have sensed her imminent eruption because he stopped moving.
“Wait for me, Rachel,” he demanded.
“I’m not sure I can,” she confessed and he grinned, kissing her lightly on the nose.
“Wait for me or I’ll get out the handcuffs and keep you on the verge of an orgasm for the rest of the day.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Hell yeah I would and I’d have fun doing it.”
“I’ll wait for you,” she reassured him quickly.
Ethan kissed her deeply, returning to her body with a slow, tantalizing glide. “Don’t worry, Doc. I’m pretty much a man on the edge as it is. This won’t take too much longer.”
She laughed lightly at his confession. “Then I suppose we should try the Lotus.”
Careful to keep his cock buried deep within her, he pushed his upper body away from her chest as she moved her legs inward, crossing them in front of her lotus style.
Both of them groaned as the position forced him in just a tiny bit farther.
“Hold on,” he said as he pulled out until just the head of his cock remained. He returned with a quick, hard thrust that left her gasping for air. Over and over, he moved until she was screaming his name.
“Now,” he said, and she plummeted headlong into her climax, the sensations in her body struggling for supremacy, racking her body with more pleasure than she’d ever known.
“Damn that was good,” Ethan said, helping her as she attempted to untangle her limbs, her legs feeling like wet noodles in the aftermath of her orgasm. “Honest to God, Rachel, I thought my balls were going to implode for a second. I don’t think I’ve ever come that hard.” He glanced down at his lower body while removing the used condom and Rachel laughed at the image he presented.
“Is it all still there?” she teased.
He grinned ruefully. “Doesn’t hurt to take inventory every now and again. You seriously knocked my cock off.”
She shook her head, pleased by his comment. “You sweet-talking fool.”
“Yeah, well, I’m about to get a whole lot sweeter.” As he spoke, he stood up and reached down to retrieve his jeans from the floor. She gasped when he pulled a pair of handcuffs out of the back pocket. “I’ll let you decide who gets cuffed first.”
“You’d let me put them on you?” she asked.
“If you wanted to,” he said, placing the heavy metal in her hands.
She smiled seductively at the thought of all the things she wanted to try, a lifetime of fantasies and desires. And now she’d found the perfect partner in crime. Ethan’s libido certainly seemed to rival her newly discovered one.
“Assume the position,” she said, standing and swinging the handcuffs in her hand.
His gaze darkened with lust and she watched the sudden rejuvenation of his erection.
“What are you going to do?” he asked as he stood, turning his back and placing his hands behind him. She clicked the cuffs in place, amazed by his acquiescence.
“I thought I could use a bit more practice on the blowjob concept.”
“Practice does make perfect,” he said, his rock-hard cock telling her without words how much he approved of her choice. She moved to face him and fondled his balls. He moaned at the touch before leaning forward to kiss her. “Just bear in mind that once you’ve had your turn, I get mine.”
She felt a fresh rush of arousal streak through her body. “What will you do once you have me bound and at your mercy?”
He placed a light kiss on her cheek before whispering in her ear, “It’s a surprise.”
“I love surprises,” she confessed.
“I love blowjobs,” he said and she laughed briefly as she sank to her knees.
She glanced up at him, taking his cock in her hand. “Maybe this would be a bit more fun if you added a few comments to the play. I think ‘Rachel, you’re a goddess’ or something to that effect would be nice.”
“Rachel, you’re a goddess,” he said quickly. “Now suck my cock.”
She laughed—and then she sucked.