Chapter 16
“It’s well past your bedtime, princess, are you sure you’re up for a game of Wheel?” Wolfe asked, making his way into Aspen’s apartment behind her and moving toward the living room. “Is the show even on in the nine ‘o clock hour?”
“Shows how little you know, rookie,” Aspen teased, using one of the many nicknames Connor preferred to call those in his circle. “On Demand, baby.”
After changing out of her dress and into shorts and a tee, Mia grabbed a couple of bottles of water and set them on the coffee table before plunking down on the couch next to Connor.
She then used the television remote to scroll through the listings and selected the latest version of the popular gameshow.
Tonight spiraled out of control from what Aspen initially thought would be a chill evening getting to know Mia’s friends to a night of barbs and chirps as they called them between some of the hottest men she’d ever seen.
All of that faded away as Connor began his discreet and lingering touches and strokes against her back and arms above the table, and all sorts of naughtiness under the table with his roaming hands across her bared skin and higher under her denim dress.
Should she have stopped him? Yes.
Was she turned on beyond reason? Absolutely.
She didn’t think of herself as an exhibitionist, but the added layer of trying to control her emotions to avoid detection while Connor’s hands worked their magic showered her with a thrill she’d never expected.
She was so bothered by the time they made their way to the outside of the restaurant, she had to physically hold herself back from threading her fingers through his golden hair that brushed against his shoulders and clutch it in her hands while she directed his kiss to her lips and lower.
Instead, he beat her to the punch...and what it punch it was.
It seemed that every time they kissed, Aspen lost her sense of reason. Hell, even time.
She may offer herself internal pep talks about focusing on her business and a busy schedule, but yet a few touches from the man with more layers than a Pillsbury Grand Biscuit and the pressure of his lips against hers had Aspen soaring into the clouds.
Aspen didn’t know exactly where tonight would go.
She hoped, though. The instant she spied Connor at the table at dinner, she recalled their stolen moments and end of night kisses the last few weeks.
And by some miracle she primped and primed her body complete with shaving all of those hard-to-reach places and slathering her body with her Thousand Wishes lotion in preparation for a fun girls’ night out.
“Texas Roadhouse.”
“Huh?” Aspen was so fixated on ‘should she,’ onto ‘oh, hell yeah I want to,’ she didn’t realize Connor had already solved the first puzzle.
“Texas Roadhouse was the answer to the first puzzle, which I smoked you on, by the way.” Connor turned toward Aspen and perused her body head to toe, eyebrows pinched in concern. “Listen, BB, if you’re too tired...”
Without thinking, Aspen drew her fingertip to Connor’s lips to keep him from talking.
“No, I really like you here. And I’m not tired.”
That smirky smile that touched one side of his lips lifted. Connor caught her hand and laced his fingers between hers.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Connor’s icy-blue eyes soaked up every inch of Aspen as the studio audience cheered about something or other from the game. He continued to hold her hand and stroked her palm with his thumb.
Aspen could have been holding a winning lottery ticket and wouldn’t have moved from her spot on the couch in this moment. She knew Connor was seconds from kissing her, and she was ready.
“What do you say we make this next puzzle a little more interesting?” Connor’s husky voice slid over her like a warm, sexy caress.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Winner gets to decide.”
“Kind of like the other night? I don’t have any plates to clear,” a seductive smile tilted her lips.
“Doesn’t matter what you decide, BB,” Connor scooched closer to Aspen, their noses nearly touched. “It could be to throw back shots or walk to mail a letter to the Justin Bieber Fan Club.”
“You wanna send a note to the Biebs?”
“When I win, you’ll find out,” Connor boasted and gently rubbed his nose against hers before returning to watch the television. “The puzzle is ‘A Saying.’ Game on, BB.”
As the contestants continued to spin the wheel and guess letters, Aspen worked to sound out the puzzle as well.
“I-I-I’ve been working on the railroad.”
“Not even close, BB,” Wolfe shot back.
“Ok, Captain Confidence. There’s only a few letters on the board and you already know?”
Connor slung his arm around Aspen’s shoulders and pulled her close while settling them against the back of the couch. It was such a simple, homey gesture, but one that sent a zing of want directly to Aspen’s core.
“First, your attempt at a solve doesn’t have enough letters in the puzzle. Second, the puzzle answer is, ‘I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
“I’d like to solve, Pat,” the excited contestant called out gleefully. “I’ve. Got. A. Good. Feeling. About. This.”
“Seriously, BB? Working on the railroad? What the hell?”
Annoyed at once again getting beat by Wolfe in the game show, Aspen elbowed his side. “You solve puzzles your way; I’ll solve them mine.”
“Except mine is the winning way.”
“You’re just lucky.”
In an instant, Aspen was lifted from her upright position on the sofa to being splayed across the cushions with Connor atop her and nestled between her legs.
“Damn right, I’m lucky,” Connor pushed a coppery curl away from her forehead.
“Is this your prize?” Aspen giggled. “No late-night post office run to mail your perfume-covered-fan-letter to Justin in Canada?”
“BB, little do you know. The Biebs and his wife call Beverly Hills home,” Connor said, while winding his finger around a curl of her hair he’d just pushed off her face. “And now it’s time for me to collect my prize.”
“What’s that?”
“This.”
Connor began the slow dissent to her lips, holding her gaze the entire way.
Even before he made contact, Aspen felt the weightlessness of arousal his mere presence generated within her body.
And when he brushed his lips against hers, there was enough energy in the connection to launch her to the heavens.
He moved agonizingly slow, learning the curve of her lips, already swelling from his gentle, yet persistent, teasing assault.
Eager for more, Aspen arched her back, melding herself to his broad chest and snaking her legs around his lower back to draw his jean-covered thick erection against her needy center.
Connor ground his cock against her core, causing Aspen to let loose a wild moan. He took advantage of her wanton plea and slid his tongue inside her waiting mouth to deepen their kiss.
He shifted his head to change the angle of the kiss as he drew his hand under her shirt, up her torso and across her lace-covered breast.
Aspen gasped as Connor captured her nipple between his thumb and index finger and began rolling the distended nub with variating degrees of pressure that sent strings of pleasure to dance wildly in her lower belly.
Connor ceased his erotic kisses, making Aspen feeling empty and even needier in one fail swoop.
“Need to taste you, babe,” Connor gusted.
Without ceremony, Connor slid Aspen’s t-shirt up and over her head, tossing it to the floor. He then slid one hand behind her back and with an effortless flick her ivory bra unclasped, its straps instantly falling from her shoulders.
He tugged the bra from her body and threw it to join her shirt on the floor. Resting on his knees between her legs as she was splayed on the couch. Connor’s greedy stare consumed her body, taking in her hair that fanned out over the cushions.
Aspen’s chest heaved in anticipation of his next move. She couldn’t wait a moment more. “Please, Connor. Please.”
Without a word, Connor dipped his body and began kissing his way up her stomach, paying close attention with his lips and tongue across her ribs, sternum and finally, finally, upward to capture a beaded nipple in his mouth.
Connor’s ministrations of her breasts, alternating between his mouth and fingers had Aspen on the verge of an epic orgasm, as evidence by her involuntary grinding of her pussy against his rock-hard erection.
That feeling of release began to ebb as Connor retreated down her torso, kissing the same path as he started, leaving Aspen edgy and unfulfilled.
When Connor reached her belly button with soft kisses, he swooped off her shorts and underwear in one fluid motion, his lips trailing in the wake of the material.
Writhing underneath him, Aspen urged Connor’s mouth to the place she needed it most.
As if he could read her mind, he nibbled his way up her inner thigh, pausing at points to brush his stubbled-covered face against the sensitive skin. His decadent attention to detail left her thrashing with want, a consuming need to find her release.
When Connor latched his perfect lips around her nerve-filled clit and inserted a thick finger inside her wet channel she came instantly, a scream ripping from her chest, her heart beating so rapidly, she could feel the rush of its pulse in her ears.
While Connor rode out wave after wave, pumping his digit and using his expert tongue across and around her pulsing bud, she needed more.
“Please, Connor. I need you.”
Connor’s intense gaze connected with her own eyes, and he offered her one final, languid lick.
“What do you need, BB?”
“You,” she gushed. “I need you. Please make love to me.”
For a moment, Connor paused, she wasn’t sure if it was her plea for him to make love to her or simply the intensity of her words. She’d examine that later. Right now, she needed to feel her Viking deep inside of her.
“Your wish is my command, babe.”
Connor stood from the couch, pulling his clothes from his body. He grabbed a condom from his wallet and tossed the foil-covered latex onto Aspen’s tummy before sliding his ebony boxer briefs over his hips and onto the floor.
Aspen’s need was monumental, but she did take a moment to explore the colorful ink covering his massive muscles.
The ink in the form of water, angels, anchors and chains covered much of his skin.
There was a deep story there, but Aspen couldn’t begin to process that when her body needed to be one with Connor’s.
Connor sheathed himself with the condom and climbed up Aspen’s body until his chest pressed against hers and his hands glided across her cheeks.
“You’re so damn beautiful, boss baker,” Connor said, then kissed her softly as he slowly pushed his erection into her waiting heat all the way to the hilt. “Mine.”
Sensation swirled around Aspen. It felt like every molecule was somehow fused with Connor’s and they were one on every single level.
With each thrust from Connor, her need for release built to a frenzied level,
“Connor, I’m close. I’m close,” she chanted, black dots filling her vision as her body became weightless.
“Come for me,” he demanded and offered several quick and demanding pulses.
Aspen’s channel tightened as her orgasm tore through her body.
Connor followed her with a guttural groan, and Aspen could feel his own release pulsing into the latex.
Breathing heavily, and still connected, Connor leaned down and captured Aspen’s lips in a scorching kiss.
“You’re amazing, Connor.”
“You’re amazing, BB.” Be right back,” Connor carefully rolled away from Aspen and left the couch.
Sated from the most intense orgasms of her life, Aspen’s eyelids slid closed, suddenly having no strength to hold them open.
A few minutes, or possibly hours, later, the most comforting feeling surrounded Aspen.
Once again bracketed in his ink-covered arms, she felt puffs of his breath sweep across her cheek.
She lingered in the blissful world of semi-consciousness to savor his hold, his strength radiated from his entire body, just before sleep drew her back into its depths.
Home was the last thought that played in her mind and brought a smile to her lips.
Then...nothing.